Old times

This past week at the office has been like most of the second half of last year - staying till 10-11 pm, bidding farewell to daylight and non-coworker human contact. I am so looking forward to Memorial Day weekend.

Due to the need to rest my battered hands and wrists, I haven't been doing my pushups and pullups the past week... throwing in all the food this upcoming weekend will probably blimp me up coming back to work on Tuesday.

I annoy myself. When I have free time, I don't use it wisely, and when I don't, I spend too much time pining for it.

Possible big-picture things for me in the second half of 2004 - study for GRE, take GRE, leave job and take grad school pre-reqs at a local college, grad school apps... any, all, or none of these options could happen. I need to be disciplined about looking into these things.

I'm rather envious of my brother right now... he just got back from two weeks backpacking in Europe, and tomorrow he leaves for Hawaii. Grr... I want to do either one of those! Guess I'll just have to live vicariously through him.

Close shaves

Yesterday my coworker almost got hit by a car in the parking lot. As he was walking into the office, a car backed out without looking and took off down the street as my friend stared in disbelief, shot through with adrenaline. There are a lot of unintelligent people driving out there. I'm reminded of my car-related almost-mishaps:

In Berkeley freshman year, I was walking back from church at CFC (before eventually settling at Layman) when I crossed a T-intersection with a car waiting to make a right turn. As I neared the other sidewalk, I felt a slight impact and my knee buckled just a bit, and I turned to see the stopped car accelerating away. The guy had hit me while turning! More like firm nudge me, I suppose, but it's still not fun to be nudged out of the way by a 1 ton car.

Similarly, junior or senior year, I walked outside my apartment to go to class. As I looked left in the direction of oncoming traffic on the one-way street, I felt myself get pushed out of the way, and turned to the right to realize that a car parked on the street had backed up into me (without looking again!) and sped off. I didn't have the presence of mind to bang on the guy's trunk while he was hitting me, though.

One time driving on 85 S, I was in the left lane on a curve to the left. It was about 11 pm at night and the freeway was pretty empty. Suddenly, around the bend, I saw an overturned car in my lane, forcing me to make an emergency lane change to get out of the way. That's a dangerous spot to be in if you overturn your car since oncoming cars can't see you around the bend.

Ramblings

Pulled this from somewhere online...

Prison vs. Office

In prison you spend the majority of your time in an 8 x 10 cell.
At work you spend most of your time in a 6 x 8 cubicle.

In prison you get 3 meals a day.
At work you only get a break for 1 meal and you have to pay for it.

In prison you get time off for good behavior.
At work you get rewarded for good behavior with more work.

In prison a guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
At work you must carry around a security card and unlock and open all the doors yourself.

In prison you can watch TV and play games.
At work you get fired for watching TV and playing games.

In prison you get your own toilet.
At work you have to share.

In prison they allow your family and friends to visit.
At work you cannot even speak to your family and friends.

In prison all expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work required.
At work you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

In prison there are wardens who are often sadistic.
At work they are called managers.

***

A new reason to hate the Lakers: Karl Malone leading with his knee on layup attempts - that's just dirty. It's almost enough to tempt someone into thinking how sweet it would be if he got some of his own medicine from someone bigger than him, like if Ben Wallace kneed him in the chest.

"Cast Away" is a pretty good survival story. If you want to read another thought/question on the movie, highlight the next few lines...

What would you do if you returned from somewhere after 3-4 years and found out that your wife/husband had moved on and married someone else? Fortunately in this movie, Tom Hanks' character's loved one was only his possible fiancee at the time of his disappearance, so there was a relatively clear-cut right thing to do when he returned to the land of the living. But it'd probably be much more of a problematic situation if it was a husband/wife situation, particularly if you take the Biblical picture of marriage as the two becoming one...

I suppose the romanticized story would be that of Odysseus and his wife in The Odyssey, since she held steadfast to the hope of his returning for quite a while, fending off suitors even though she had no concrete proof that her husband was still alive. I wonder though, at what point does a person need to move on.

Current CD: This Beautiful Mess, Sixpence None the Richer. The first few tracks have been surprisingly rocking.

Annoying revisited: Got to play about 3 games of hoops yesterday on a gorgeous day at Fair Oaks Park before getting tripped up and sprawling, aggravating my hands and wrists from the previous week. I may need to take a few weeks off to let them heal. Grr...

Got to see Hideyo and Ben T last night after watching the "Alias" finale at Karen/Alinna/Jenie's place. Good to catch up with those guys. We've established that Ben's NBA prototype was Manu Ginobili, while Eric H's was Fred Hoiberg. So, every time the latter his a three-pointer from now on, we're going to yell, "HOIBERG!" Try it, it's fun.

Incidentally, the Alias finale was intense, but it seemed a little disjointed. Plus, there were numerous plot holes and it didn't seem that existing storylines were resolved by the end of the show. Now we have to wait until January...

This past Wednesday, May 19, was my one-year anniversary at my current company. I plan to write a lengthier reflection on the experiences and lessons of the past year, but that'll probably come sometime this weekend. Sure seems like it's been longer than year, though...

For now, here's another personality test for sci-fi fans. I got:


A venerated sage with vast power and knowledge, you gently guide forces around you while serving as a champion of the light.

Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not - for my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life greets it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, and binds us. Luminescent beings are we, not this crude matter! You must feel the Force around you, everywhere.

*****

Other items...
Annoying: since my hands/wrists got banged up at hoops last week, wasn't able to play table tennis at the office this week. I feel my skills deteriorating...

Current book: Lord of the Rings (3rd time!). Going through the Book of Job for QTs.

Current CDs: "Psalms" by Shane Barnard and Shane Everett, "Who We Are Instead" by Jars of Clay

Byron and I finally finished the Palantir of Sauron level on the "LOTR: ROTK" PS2 video game on Wednesday. Shamefully, we needed to use the "extra health" cheat code to do it. Cal/Danny, how did you guys beat this level?

Rooting hard for the T-wolves to take down the Lakers.

Ever notice that after you leave high school and finish all your math and math-related classes in college, pencils have virtually disappeared from your everyday world? No one uses them in the professional world. Poor pencils...

AMC Mercado's prices have gone up to double digits ($10). I don't go to many movies as a whole anyway, and this certainly isn't going to encourage me to go any more often.

Hoops

Not a good weekend for me hoops-wise... my Spurs got eliminated, and got upended contesting a shot Friday night at JLau's church's gym, landing on my back and brusing my hands. I was somewhat pleased with the way I was moving without the ball, though.

I don't have a whole lot to complain about with regards to my Spurs though, since they won the title last year, overachieved this year, and will be contenders for years to come. Prediction: 2007 Finals, Spurs vs. Cavs (Duncan vs. LeBron, in the modern-day Hakeem vs. Jordan matchup).

Now I'm rooting for whoever's playing against the Lakers.

A hearty congrats to Michael and Ivana Yen (Yen cubed!), who tied the knot this past Saturday after being engaged for a couple of years. Beautiful wedding at the Berkeley Rose Garden (weather was beautiful and the flowers were blooming, 'twas my first outdoor wedding) and the banquet was at old reliable East Ocean in Emeryville, which has quite good seafood... much better Chinese banquet than usual. Also props to 5824 for their hospitality.

Survey

Pulled this from Eva's blog...

1. What time do you get up? 8:15-8:45 am. Quick sidenote that my coworkers found amusing... on those days when I need to get up, but the bed is just too warm and comfy, I'll roll over onto my stomach and plant my face into the pillow. This lets me enjoy the comfort for a few more seconds until I can't breathe anymore, which forces me to get up. Try it sometime!

2. If you could eat lunch with one person, who would it be? Rich Mullins. Check out this site with song lyrics, magazine interviews, etc. I particularly like this compendium of assorted interview quotes... one of the most insightful men I've ever read about or enjoyed the music of.

3. Gold or silver? Gold. As in "Blue and..."

4. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Shaolin Soccer. Last DVD at home was Fight Club a few Saturdays ago. Intriguing flick.

5. What is your favorite TV show? Here's a couple, in no particular order: Friends, Simpsons, Alias, 24, NBA, other pro sports, Iron Chef, Good Eats.

6. What did you have for breakfast? Today? Some Triscuits and dried peach slices. But usually I'll have cereal with raisins.

7. Who would you hate to be stuck in a room with? An obnoxious bandwagon fan of a successful large-market team.

8. What/who inspires you? Persistent, passionate people that are living for a clear purpose.

9. What is your middle name? Don't have one.

10. Beach, City or Country? Mountains and/or forest.

11. Favorite ice cream? Mint Chocolate Chip.

12. Butter, plain or salted popcorn? Kettle corn.

13. Favorite color? Black. But if that's a hue and not a color, then anything dark (navy blue, green).

14. What kind of car do you drive? Infiniti G35 sedan.

15. Favorite sandwich? Ooh... tough one. There are a lot of good sandwiches out there. For the time being I'll say the club sandwich on focaccia bread at Sufficient Grounds in Berkeley.

16. What characteristic do you despise? Dishonesty and inauthenticity.

17. Favorite flower? I don't do flowers...

18. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? For sightseeing: Europe (I'm guessing I'd find Rome fascinating). For rest, relaxation, and reflection: Yosemite Valley. To see what the hype is all about: Hawaii.

19. What color is your bathroom? White. Most of it, at least.

20. Favorite brand of clothing? I am not a fan of shopping for clothes. But I have high admiration for Teva sandals. They last forever.

21. Where would you retire to? Isn't "retiring" basically switching from tasks where you get paid to tasks where you don't get paid? Wherever God takes me, I suppose.

22. Favorite day of the week? Weekends!

23. What did you do for your last birthday? See this post. I'm still not exactly sure how I got tagged with the "Princess" moniker.

24. Where were you born? Logan, Utah. My dad was in grad school. We moved to the Bay Area when I was in 3rd grade.

25. Favorite sport to watch? NBA hoops. I'm an unabashed hoophead. Warriors and Spurs fan since the early 1990s.

26. What fabric detergent do you use? Tide.

27. Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi. I'd prefer juice though.

28. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Definitely night owl. Nothing nicer than reading a few chapters of a good book late at night before hitting the sack.

29.What is your shoe size? 9

30. Do you have any pets? Nope. But my family used to have a parakeet when I was really young. We lost the parakeet when I opened the cage and let it fly out because I wanted to let it go "talk with the other birdies." It didn't come back. I'm still scarred.

Mishmash

Today's post will cover a variety of topics:

Sadness in San Antonio

I was at the office and away from my desk when Derek Fisher hit the miraculous game-winning turnaround to give the hated Lakers a stunning victory over my Spurs in Game 5 of their Western Confernence semifinals. I suppose it's for the best that I wasn't watching it at home, because I'd probably have stuck a fork in my eye.

Reading some articles about the Spurs protest (not humanly possible to catch, turn, shoot in 0.4 seconds) doesn't seem to be necessary since the 0.4 seconds on the clock was probably inaccurate anyway. I have seen some commentary though that this could ensure the Spurs get good, unbiased officiating in Game 6 to stave off any potential conspiracy talk.

I think I'll be extra aggressive tonight playing at JLau's church...

Fortunately, the majority of Laker fans I call my friends aren't bandwagoners, since there's nothing worse than a bandwagon fan gloating about their team's success. They should take this quiz to see if they're really a fan. I got an 11 on it and should have gotten a 12, I brainfarted on one answer... and I'm a Lakers hater!

Follow-up to height post

I was 5'9" as a freshman in high school, which is relatively tall for Asian, so I thought I was going to continue to grow. As I had just begun to play hoops around that time, I spent a summer working on a hook shot to use in post play once I got even taller. Unfortunately, I stopped growing completely. Doh! The only difference from my physical stature now and 10 years ago is that I've gained about 10-15 pounds, but otherwise haven't changed much. I wouldn't mind being 3 inches taller, which would put me at 6 feet flat.

On the other hand, a quick google search reveals that the average height of the American male is right around 5'9 to 5'10, which puts me right at average. It is kind of nice having everything (airplane seats, clothes, shoes, etc.) designed for a person of my size.

At Canaan, interestingly enough, it seems that the majority of guys are actually fairly tall, ranging from 5'7 to 6 feet. Too bad not very many play ball...

Toys, video games, and growing up

Interesting statistic in this article - " Contrary to popular assumptions about game players, the average age of regular gamers is 29 years old, and statistically, there are more women over the age of 18 playing games than teen-age boys."

Think this is true?

"Boys prefer video games to toys" - this article depresses me. Video games appear to have pre-empted good old fashioned toys for the child growing up. No wonder obesity is at an all-time high among kids... instead of getting out and playing great childhood games like handball, wallball, dodgeball, tetherball, or standard sports (hoops, soccer), they're inside playing video games! Not only that, but since video gaming is purely reactionary, kids don't even get to play with toys and develop their imaginations, to develop a love for stories.

If I ever have kids, I think I'll restrict their TV/video gaming time and give them a whole bunch of Legoes (or is it Legos?). 'Course, I'll also have to begin training them for their future professional basketball careers at an early age.

I miss handball. That was fun in elementary school. In 4th grade, Charles C and I dominated doubles. 'Course, he did all the work - as a tennis player, he could hit from both sides! I was kind of like that teammate of Wilt Chamberlain's who said, "Yeah, Wilt and me combined to score 110 points - he scored 100, I scored 10."

Praying for the impossible

Some things gleaned from yesterday morning's devotional time in Luke 1, about the parents of John the Baptist:

v. 5-7, 11-13, 23-25 (emphasis mine)
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."

So you've got the priest Zechariah and his wife who are faithful followers of God, living uprightly and in the public eye (since the priests had very specific roles in the nation of Israel). Since they're in the public eye, the fact that they're childless is probably that much more of a disgrace and a shame, since that culture (and most cultures around the world, modern America is unusual). They're also old and well past childbearing age. God performs a miracle and Elizabeth becomes pregnant, she gives thanks for Him "taking away my disgrace among the people," and John the Baptist is born and eventually prepares the way for Jesus.

What I find interesting about this passage is italicized - the visiting angel implies that Zechariah and his wife have prayed/been praying for a child, even though it was physiologically impossible. In my mind as I visualize this, you have this elderly God-fearing couple who has lived for years with the shame of having no child/heir. Maybe they tried for years. Perhaps they view the sympathy from others as patronizing. Whatever it was, their circumstances led them to cry out to God for a miracle - praying not just for the improbable, but the physiologically impossible. And God, knowing that John the Baptist would play an integral role in the preparation and beginning of His Son's ministry, granted a child to them in order to bring glory to Himself:

v. 57, 65-66
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.

Ultimately, God may do what seems to be impossible to our eyes so that "people would talk about all these things." This is challenging me to pray in a different light. Maybe someday I'll have the privilege of witnessing the impossible.

SAT style

Couple of analogies, SAT-style, that I've heard or discussed with some coworkers today. Agree or disagree?

HEIGHT:GUYS :: WEIGHT:GIRLS

As in, almost all guys want to be taller, just as almost all girls want to be thinner.

MAKEUP:GIRLS :: CLEAN APARTMENT:GUYS

As in, "This isn't quite the real me, but I'm trying to make myself look better."

"Sin is incurable by the strength of man, nor does free will have any validity here, so that even the saints say: 'The evil which I do not wish, this I do.' 'You are not doing the things which you wish.' 'Since my loins are filled with illusions,' etc."

You are Martin Luther! Yeah, you have a way of letting everyone know how you feel, usually with Bible quotes attached, and will think your way through the issues, although sometimes you make no sense! You aren't always sure of yourself, and you can change your mind about things, something you actually consider a strength. You can take solitude, especially with some music.

What theologian are you?

A creation of Henderson

"We have to assign heads to something!"

Like 51 million other people, I watched the "Friends" series finale last night at Karen and Alinna's place, along with Byron and Eric. It was rather predictable plot-wise, but it pretty much gave fans what they wanted to see, as opposed to the controversial-and-still-talked-about Seinfeld finale. It was about time to end the show though; both the actors and the characters have pretty much hit the end of their creative capabilities in this world.

Some other "Friends"-related comments...

- Wednesday night I caught most of the Dateline special. They had a short segment on the Rembrandts, the poor duo/band that composed the theme song for the show ("I'll Be There For You"). Apparently they were relatively successful before landing the "Friends" gig, with a few Top 20 hits and such. Then they composed the Friends song, which basically ended their musical careers - while it was hot, no one wanted to hear their other stuff; and after it got cold, they couldn't get back into the business without being viewed as "one-shot wonders." The story wasn't all bad though, since they made quite a pile of money off the initial popularity of the song and continued to receive income from syndication. Got me thinking... would I rather do something I love and possibly make money at it, or would I be willing to do something I don't love quite as much in exchange for complete financial security?

- Some of the clips that were shown in the retrospective reminded me of how funny the show used to be, which only highlighted how far downhill it went the last couple of seasons. Chandler used to be hilarious... scenes with him and Joey tended to be my favorites. The scene referenced in the title of this post is one of the most memorable for me - "He had that cute little mole!" "Well, the mole came off." "We're going to flip for our baby?!" "Heads!" "Yes!" "We have to assign heads to something!" "Okay, ducks will be heads because ducks have heads." [pause, you can actually see Chandler licking his lips in anticipation] "What kind of scary-ass clowns came to your birthday?"

- In the episode of Monica and Chandler's wedding, where Chandler brushes off Ross' handing his vow notes to him, Ross does this head inclination and slow straightening trying to keep his dignity. I've been told that some of my friends thought of me when he did that. If I were to compare myself to characters on the show, I'd probably be a cross between Chandler and Ross, since I try to be funny but often I just come across as geeky. If you were one of them, which one would you be?

Thanks for 10 years, although it probably should have been about 6. This generation's pop culture will never be the same.

Now the way is clear for the underappreciated "Simpsons" to take their rightful role at the top of the sitcom heap...

thunk

So I got rear-ended yesterday morning. I was idling at a stoplight on De Anza Blvd in Cupertino waiting to turn onto Highway 85, when I noticed a tan Oldsmobile minivan zooming up in my rear-view mirror and not braking fast enough. Next thing I knew, I heard a thunk and was jolted forward slightly.

Fortunately, the car appeared to get away with just a few minor scratches on the rear bumper - no apparent structural problems. It was just a little bump, after all. My neighbor owns a body repair shop and is going to look it over tomorrow morning to get an estimate. I got the contact and insurance info from the lady who hit me, and took a couple pics with my digital camera just in case. It really shouldn't be much of an issue. As for her, I just hope that she's not overly distressed - assuming that I take her at her word, she was on her way to have surgery, which was why she was distracted while driving.

This'll mark the third issue I've had with the Infiniti since beginning to drive it last September. If I haven't told this story yet, my dad bought the G35 for himself, but then traded with my mom when he realized that the Infiniti was causing him to drive too aggressively. I then traded with my mom since she only drives about 3 miles a day. It's a sweet car... the only things I don't like about it compared to my previous car are 1) the relative lack of trunk space and 2) not-as-good gas mileage. Otherwise, the handling is great, the power is great, and it's fun to drive. I still haven't gotten comfortable with calling it "my" car though.

While making the rest of the drive to work in silence (my CD player has been malfunctioning the past few days, so I've been engaging in quietness), I mused a bit on the idea of stewardship and how I handle the blessings I've been given. In general, I'm a pretty simple guy:

My favorite jacket is an old, hooded gray sweat-jacket I've been wearing indoors since high school. It's kind of like my "Mr. Rogers vest"... I put it on when I get home. Much of my wardrobe has been around since college. Most of my "nice" clothing comes as hand-me-downs from my younger brother... he has a much stronger sense of fashion than I do, and is more willing to buy new things, so I get his older-but-still-stylish stuff. I wear T-shirts and jeans just about every day to work.

I don't have much desire for the biggest and best electronics like computers, stereos, video games, or cameras, and I drove a relatively nice but stylistically unremarkable Volvo wagon for most of my college and post-college years (earned me the nickname "Dad", it did). I've never lacked for anything - in fact, God's blessed my socks off - but my upbringing was very much focused on the practical and enduring rather than being influenced by the vagaries of style.

Keeping in mind that there's nothing wrong with possessing nice things (electronics, clothes, car, house, etc.), as a Christian, it does mean that there is a greater responsibility to maximally use the more that I have in a more effective way, ultimately for the purpose of magnifying the God of my life. While it's been a blessing to be relatively free from the world's trap of "Buying things you don't want to impress people you don't like", I think that I still have much to learn in the way of being a good steward of the things that I do have.

I need to learn how to take care of my stuff, maintain it, and put it to good use. I need to learn to exert the same level of care with the cheaper things as well as the more expensive things. For example, I don't need to freak out about scratches or dings on the car, but I do need to be responsible about getting regular maintenance and using it to give rides to people. I need to open up my home to others. I need to have more hands-on knowledge and experience with investments. I need to develop good habits of giving monetarily to different causes.

Even more than that, I have my time and skills to offer in order to make the maximal impact on the world. Right now, career-wise, I think this might take me into some intersection of technology and health, but whatever path I end up on, I hope that I might be a good steward of my knowledge and abilities as well as my possessions.

I believe Jesus set the example of stewardship during his time on Earth - his entire life was centered around the purpose of bringing glory to His Father through obedience, teaching, investing in people's lives, and finally dying on the cross and being resurrected to life. He made the best use of the time and circumstances He was given in order to accomplish all that He was given to do ("It is finished"). I can only hope that I'll be able to do and say the same.

You are God, You're the Way, You're the Truth and You're the Life
King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, Lord Jesus Christ
And by Your shed blood... the Great Redeemer
You saved my soul, You paid the price
You saved my soul, now have my life