and the heart of the alvinator.
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Monday, June 30, 2003 New Photo Album Added Just posted Shannon's Law School Graduation Party photo album link. posted by alvin | Monday, June 30, 2003 Wedding Recap Ray/Raysa's wedding in Huntington Beach was pretty cool. I flew down Sat. morning, and ended up sitting next to a brother and sister, 11 and 12 years old, respectively, who were returning to Ontario airport (in LA), after an Alaskan cruise with their grandparents. The younger boy showed me pics of some "Totem Pole National Park." I can't say I was that excited about totem poles, but I could see the joy in his eyes as he was sharing, so I showed interest. The girl showed me pics of her dog, and asked what type of music I liked. She was into more of the punk rock type of styles. Let me also give props to Southwest Airlines. So, freaking efficient. 2 eprops. I think I will buy some stock in Southwest. Sojin drove an hour to pick me up from the airport, and we headed to Pat and Oscars at Ontario Mills. Both of us had no idea of where Ontario Mills, or even what Ontario Mills was. On the plane, I asked the brother and sister where a big mall near Ontario was. They told me to find some place called the Galleria, however, no Galleria existed. As I was pointing directions to Sojin even though I have never been to Ontario before, she goes, "You point out directions like you know where you are going." hehehehe. Tom joined us for lunch also. We got the pasta for 2...and honestly, that can feed 4 people. A medium salad, and like 10 breadsticks (we could have gotten 4 more breadsticks if we really wanted to). Two big plates of pasta too. We ended up having lots of leftovers, and unfortunately, none of us could take it home. Anyways, we walked about the Ontario Mills. It reminded me a lot of the Great Mall here in Milpitas, with the Vans Skate Park and Dave and Buster's. It was good to hang out with Tom and Sojin. I met them last year during my summer missions trip to China, although they were on a different team than myself. Sojin dropped me off at Jamba Juice and Lisa came to pick me up at Jamba Juice and I met her friends Joy and Carol. It was about an hour drive from Ontario to Huntington Beach, and we actually arrived late to the wedding...although we left at like 4:30 p.m. We had some interesting car conversations. Carol came to the wedding as Lisa's guest. As I was doing my personality assessment of Carol (go Meyers-Briggs) as I only met her for the first time, she was surprised by how much I could know her personality. I was basically just telling her what strengths and weaknesses typically go along with her personality type. I guess I sounded very smart...although I was just regurgitating information I have learned through the years of people with similar personality types...=P. The wedding was held at the Hyatt Beach Resort and Spa, and it was beautiful. The most difficult thing with outdoor weddings is that of getting the "sound" correct, but overall, I was very impressed with the sound (it was due to the wind blocking plastic). Anyways, after Ray/Raysa got married, they released two doves. The ushers released 6 more, (3 on each side). Pretty cool for the 20 seconds. We sat in the 2nd row, and one of the doves was having trouble getting high enough, and looked like it was headed straight for me. Luckily it started flapping harder and got higher. Phew...=P. There was a short reception and the banquet was fantastic. The flow of the "banquet", driven by the emcee, who actually is a Christian radio DJ, was awesome. The flow went really well. I was very impressed. Our table was pretty fun, as I had to drive some of the plate/glass banging that is typical with Chinese weddings. The guy sitting next to me, Tony, helped me out a lot. One time I just started spontaneously, and the plates made this really deep bass sound, it took about 10 seconds before Tony helped me out. He asked for pre-warning next time. During the slide show, which btw was pretty professional, had old home videos. Impressive. But during one of the transitions (Brian, the guy who was running the slide show was from our table), he was having some trouble with the DVD player. I looked at Tony and we began banging plates again to relieve some pressure off of Brian so he could fix the DVD player. Ray/Raysa were a bit too easy to get kissing though. Anyways, I hope with future weddings there is more of a challenge. There also was a time to honor the marriage covenant, which I thought was cool. Ray/Raysa started dancing, and the emcee asked for married couples who had been married 5 years of less to come out to the dance floor, 10 years of less, etc. Then after the song was over, the emcee asked the couples who had been married the longest to share some words of wisdom as to what was the keys for success for a long marriage. Pretty cool. Anyways, this entry getting long...but overall, I really fun time in LA. Congratulations to Ray/Raysa. posted by alvin | Monday, June 30, 2003 Saying Goodbye Being in this season of life as a young adult, I am saying my goodbyes to some friends. At RW, we prayed for Ed and Tina who will be leaving our community. I would have to say that these are definitely bittersweet times as they put closure to their time at RW and transition to their next season of life. However, I am definitely excited for both of them as they are moving on and transitioning...trying to discover and live out what God is calling them to do. As I talked with Ed at the Nuthouse after RW, I kept saying how excited I was for him as he heads back home for a bit, and then sees where this SIL project takes him. I think for me, back in undergrad...I realized closure in life is very important. I see the time as RW prays and in a sense "commissions" these people out, it helps to bring closure for these people. Some people have left RW without this type of sendoff, but I see this as both a time for our community to say goodbye and also for the people to say goodbye officially. Of course, people are definitely welcome to come back and visit...but honestly, things are different when you're not there week to week. So, I just wanted to say goodbye to Ed and Tina. They have both been a blessing in my life. posted by alvin | Monday, June 30, 2003 Friday, June 27, 2003 Allergies/Asthma Hmm...this season in particular, my allergies and asthma have been bothering me tons. I don't have the itchy eyes or runny nose as I used to as a kid, but have a lot more congestion and phlegm (yummy). Back in elementary school/junior high, I used to get allergy shots, like 4 every week. I always went with my mom on Friday afternoons after school, and sometimes due to a reaction of increased dosage, I wasn't able to go play with my friends...sucked. oh well. Anyways, I make a lot of noise in my cube, blowing my nose and stuff...hehe. Nobody has said anything yet, so that has been good. =P. posted by alvin | Friday, June 27, 2003 Thursday, June 26, 2003 Blind Spots of the Submissive Wife I was browsing around family ministries and came across this article. They have very conversative views. I thought I would let me readers also take a look and see what they think. www.familyministries.com/Submission.html Personally, I think it is a bit extreme. posted by alvin | Thursday, June 26, 2003 Quick Recap Sorry I haven't been posting as often as usual. Things at work have definitely picked up. I feel like things are pretty busy for me overall, but mainly, it's post-work social activities that have taken up my time. Celebrated Dave Myung's 25th b'day on Tues. He belted out a rendition of Guns N' Roses, November Rain. It was awesome. Bowling was pretty fun too. I haven't bowled in a long time. Yesterday, had dinner with Ming-Gih. It was good reflecting back on college days. Always a good laugh. "sit long, talk much." "note to self." and of course we recounted sneaky route. hehehe. Work has been pretty busy, and I have only got to work out once this week. argh...heading down to LA this weekend for Ray's wedding. looking forward to it. posted by alvin | Thursday, June 26, 2003 Monday, June 23, 2003 Weekend Recap Alright, a quick weekend recap. I had Jamba Juice for my Fri. night dinner and then headed off to ALCF prayer meeting. I was taken aback at how fast "Rivermark" in Santa Clara is growing. It is really close to my workplace, and going there is pretty convenient. At Red Robin, I noticed some guy in yellow tights and a bird costume for their grand opening. After I got my jamba juice and walked back to my car, the bird man wasn't there anymore. I got to ALCF prayer meeting pretty early, around 7:05 p.m. It was good just to sit there and relax for a bit before prayer meeting started. Afterwards, I didn't talk to many RWers and proceeded to head to 24hr. in Mountain View. I like the Cox Ave. 24hr. the most, since the equipment is used less frequently, the water fountains are actually cold, and the showers have actual curtains. Anyways, got home by 11:30 p.m., which I consider pretty early for a Fri. night, and hit the sack because I knew I had a long Saturday ahead of me. I woke up to head up to El Cerrito (about an hr. drive), to get a tux fitting for Wayne's wedding happening in Sept. We met up at Jason's house, and playing with his 3 year old son, Joey was pretty cool (he will be the ring bearer). Joey just had a good aura around him, and just during the car ride over to the tux place (Men's Wearhouse), when I would turn around and look at him, he would smile. Anyways, it was good spending time with Wayne, Peter, Jason and Joey. Let's just say that Men's Wearhouse has some poor customer service, as it took us a good hour and 15 minutes for them to finish. The tux rentals are a lot cheaper than other places though, and that's probably why it's so cheap. They almost forgot to let me try on a jacket and shirt. Anyways, Wayne, Peter and I had lunch at Pt. Richmond, at some Italian place overlooking the Bay. It was a great view, and the food was pretty good. We each got the lobster ravioli (only 5 pieces), and had to eat a lot of bread to fill us up. It was pretty chill, and I headed home around 1:30 p.m. I had to stop by Macy's to look at the wedding registry stuff for Ray's wedding this weekend. Since you can actually just get the item shipped to the house of the people getting married, you actually don't even need to go to the store. I'm sure you could do it online to. So, anyways, lesson learned. I bumped into Victoria, a friend from high school (she was actually on the journalism staff with me...and worked with me in the News section of the paper), going into Macy's. She is actually going to GRX and was getting baptized the next day. She used to be in small group with Joyce from Davis. Small world. Anyways, after Macy's, headed home. I was contemplating going swing dancing at the Doghouse, and thought I could get cranking on the Sunday School lesson on philosophy, but as I came home around 3:30 p.m. I was exhausted, and had to take a nap. I had a dinner party to go to for Kurt, at his parent's house. Kurt used to go to RW, and now is attending Singapore Bible College. He has a heart for missions, and it was good to hear how God was working in his life. It is definitely different when I go into a place where I don't know that many people, but it was good nonetheless to sync up with Kurt and get to know some of his extended community. Dinner was great. After this, I headed over to Slim's b'day party at Hunan homes on El Camino. I ended up having two dinners that night. So full...=P. Anyways, after hearing some funny stories about Slim and his antics from the college years, I headed home to finish prep for Sunday School. I ended up hitting the sack at 12:45 a.m. Alright, on Sunday, went to church, and was touched by Pastor Harrison's message on God. He preached on Psalms 8. 1 O LORD , our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise [2] because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings [3] and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD , our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! I was just reminded on how big God is. He did an object lesson on the size of the sun (an average star), and its comparison to the earth, the Milky Way, etc. and how much energy it produces per second. During the song of response, "Your Beloved", I was tearing up (and this is very atypical of me) as I was singing and reflecting on the words. God is so big...and sometimes I make him so small. Afterwards, taught Sunday School on the lesson of philosophy. Man, teaching philosophy was a very, very challenging subject. So, I went to play in a Chinese bball tourney, one game with Will, Chung-wei, and Lolo. They asked the night before at Hunan Homes if I could come out and play with them. I said, sure, why not. These guys don't tell me it would cost me $11, and in retrospect, if I knew it would cost $11 for one game, I would pass and head out to Menlo Park to ball with RWers. We were down like 21-9 after the first half. I missed most of my free throws which was pretty bad (could have gotten at least 6 more points), and missed a couple fast break shots. However, in the 2nd half, we closed the gap to within 4 pts., 32-28, with about 3 1/2 minutes remaining, but eventually lost 38-28. We just ran out of gas, because there were only 6 of us on the court, and 3 of us played the whole 40 minutes. I ended up with 9 pts. Overall, pretty fun, since I haven't played in a league/tournament for over a year. Afterwards, just went home, and spent some time cleaning my room, playing guitar, and chatting with friends. Pretty laxed, and I got to bed by 11:30...pretty good. =P. Overall, a pretty packed weekend. Lots to do this week...and heading down to LA this upcoming weekend for Ray's wedding and will be syncing up with Sojin and Tom and Lisa down there...cool. posted by alvin | Monday, June 23, 2003 Friday, June 20, 2003 A Healthier Lifestyle Hmm...eating healthier has been on my mind lately. I work out about 2-3 times a week in the gym, a little less than 2 hrs. each time (including changing, stretching, showering, etc), maybe swing dance once every other week, and play bball at least once a week. However, I have been drinking a bit more soda (like 3 cans a week...hey...it's free at work), and still have a sweet tooth for both candy and chocolate. Even at swing dancing on Monday night, they had chocolate, and I helped myself to like 5 pieces. yummy. So, to maximize my workouts and active lifestyle, the next step is really to eat healthier (practically speaking that means eating more fruits and veggies and cutting down on fast food.) However, I think I realized that part of my upbringing has this 'laxed nature towards fruits and vegetables, so I rather eat sweets and crank down some chips...hehe. Part of it is laziness. Now, you have to realize, that due to my allergies...I taste about 25% of what a normal person can taste. I was thinking why I like chocolate so much. I guess it's the sugar content. I eat fast-food as a matter of convenience. Remember my entry on 4 filet of fish...hmm...I think next time, I will just eat 2. Anyways, I remember one time in college, back at Eel when I was living with Calvin, I was eating some potato chips. Now, if you know Calvin, he is widely regarded as one who eats healthy. Lisa and him were the big proponents of healthy eating in college (Lisa is a registered dietition these days). Anyways, Calvin snatched the bag away from me and said, "No chips." I was pretty upset and was about to dogpile him myself, so he returned the bag to me and I continued eating. In retrospect, I reflect now and think it was a good thing that he did. Props to Calvs. I think with nutrition, it's an aspect of wanting to do it for yourself, and it can't be enforced from others. Motivationally, it has to come from inside, and the desire that eating more nutritiously has to come from within the person. I remember I did a one-year commitment to not eating donuts...and I fulfilled that commitment. So, anyways, I think I will just get a Jamba Juice for dinner tonight before RW prayer meeting. Without having good physical health, it affects all other areas of life. Something I have been pondering. Anyways, after SNAP group last night, I went home and taught my mom some swing dancing moves (single-step basics, inside-outside-turns)...we remodeled the house last year and have this pergo floor thing that works well for dancing. Mom really enjoys dancing, and is a pretty good follower. She asked what I do when I dance with tall girls. I said, "Umm...I have to be more careful." However, when I tried to dip her, she just started laughing...what's up with that? My dad says he knows the tango (yeah right)...and I'm waiting to see him demo that for me. Props to mom...no props to dad since i haven't seen any real stuff yet. posted by alvin | Friday, June 20, 2003 Thursday, June 19, 2003 Professional Boredom Ever been in a job where you feel bored professionally? To fix the problem, you invest in things outside out work to keep yourself busy, but find out that it just isn't helping you out because it's professional boredom. Hmm...I would charactertize it as a restless feeling. I need to get out of this funk, and discipline myself to grow more professionally. This will mean less time on the Internet, and more time reading high speed digital design books. =P. Also, I'll be on AIM less too...my goal...no more than 1 hr. per day. Progress begins with the first step. On another note...my wrists have been hurting lately. Not sure the cause, but I think it was because I was trying to pull to much weight during wrist curls in the gym. Need to start smaller and build on it. posted by alvin | Thursday, June 19, 2003 Badge Deactivated Hmm...I come into the office this morning, and somehow my badge doesn't open the door. I go to the admin and ask what's wrong, and find out my badge was deactivated, and they don't know why. Interesting...foreshadowing of what to come...hehe. posted by alvin | Thursday, June 19, 2003 Wednesday, June 18, 2003 TheSpark.com Check out this personality test...add my e-mail address after. http://test3.thespark.com/person/. posted by alvin | Wednesday, June 18, 2003 Flakey Folks Hmm...as I was discussing with Heidi over AIM, I thought I would blog some stuff about flakiness. Looking up Webster's dictionary, this is the closest definition. "To lose interest or nerve." Why nerve? I have no idea. However, I think flake is used as a slang, as a person who commits to something, but then eventually backs out. Anyways, flaking is one of my pet peeves. I remember back in high school, as part of Key Club, we would always cap on people who flaked. When the leadership was held accountable to saying how many people were going to show up for certain community service events, and then it ended up only being half, it reflected poorly on the leadership. When we had initial sign-ups for activities, and then called to confirm with people...we would always get about 50% flakes. It was pretty much expected. Well, I think even in college, and now as a young adult, flaking really hasn't changed. I guess, overall, flaking just makes things extremely inconvenient. For example, when organizing RW to go to the Warriors game, 3 people flaked (which accounted for like 5 tix). I had to find replacements for these tickets. This was definitely not that bad of a circumstance, just inconvenient. I think there are clear circumstances where flaking is acceptable...such as emergencies. However, when people flake due to "tiredness" or "lost interest in that activity", I think that is dumb. I would prefer people just put themselves down as a maybe, thus lessening expectations, and when they show up...then good...if not...then good too, at least they knew they couldn't be committed. However, imagine if you sent out an evite, and everybody put themselves down as a "maybe"...that would be terrible, since you couldn't really plan it well. Anyways, just a thought. One of my own personal convictions is that if I said I will go to something, I will be there (even if I have lost interest or feel tired). That's why I enjoy planning out my schedule, and realizing that certain activities would take a lot of energy from me, I plan ahead of time to make sure I have enough energy to keep up with it. Hmm...but the question remains...that is you have committed to something...but don't "feel" like going anymore because you probably won't have fun...what do you do...you still go. You already gave your word to something. Anyways, I have a tough time trusting flaky people (not to say that they are untrustworthy...but moreso unreliable). If I need a ride/pick-up to the airport and someone flaked on me, most likely the next time, I won't ask them for a ride, or a pick-up...unless I have exhausted the other people ranked lower on my mental flaky list. So a question to my readers...how do you feel about flaky people? posted by alvin | Wednesday, June 18, 2003 Yosemite Photos Link The Yosemite photos have been linked. Check them out. posted by alvin | Wednesday, June 18, 2003 Monday, June 16, 2003 Yosemite I just came back from a weekend excursion to Yosemite with RWers and it was awesome. I had a really good time. Setting low expectations is very important. I think one of the concepts that strikes me a lot is "shared experiences", and this was definitely a time of that. Last year at Yosemite, I hiked 1/2-dome, but this year, I decided to go on the "extreme" hike that started at Tenaya Lake to Clouds Rest, and then up 1/2-dome and then back down, a total of 22 miles. However, with the group I hiked with, we cut out the 1/2-dome portion and returned by 7 p.m. We woke up early at 5:30 a.m., ate breakfast/lunch and headed out. We had to drive over an hour to get there. 15 people went on the extreme hike. A couple observations. 1. An extreme hike...this should have been called the extreme "punishing" hike. First, none of us have hiked this before, and unfortunately, the trail was extremely poorly marked. Without Eben's skill in navigating, we would have gotten lost. 2. Hiking in snow kinda' sucks. 3. My body is not built like a hiker's body. 4. The new type of Pringles is good. 5. The fastest speed of a hiking group is dependent on the slowest person. Every year so far, the expectation is set that the tougher hikes...1/2-dome, extreme hike people need to be in fairly good physical shape. We had to split off into 2 groups, and then again split a third time when hiking. 6. Setting low expectations and making choices. Throughout the Tenaya Lake hike, I kept telling the group that making 1/2-dome would be very difficult, thus trying to set low expecations for the group. After we came down from Clouds Rest, 9 of us in that group, 5 people broke off and started running down the trail to try to hit 1/2-dome in time. They ended up being at the base of the final switchbacks at 4:30 p.m., and ended up coming back to Curry Village by 10:30 p.m., hiking in the dark for over 2+ hrs. There were people in that group of 5 that clearly wanted to do 1/2-dome. For myself and Mel, we have done 1/2-dome b4, so the same type of motivation didn't really drive us too much. Personally, I don't like the 1/2-dome cables (although I have been working on upper-body more consistently at the gym). As Mel and I reflected on not going to 1/2-dome, we both decided that was the right choice for us. (Nancy and Chi-an were also with us, and although both of them have never been up 1/2-dome, they decided that it wasn't worth it to do it). 7. So, I will give some props to Anthony, Eben, Dave S, Sonia "The Terminator" and Lynn for actually completing the extreme hike. Also props to Mimi/Tilden, Lee/Sophia for going back to Tenaya Lake and driving 1 hr. after the hike (getting lost multiple times) with the 3 cars that originally went to Tenaya Lake and bringing them back. 8. I had a lot of joy as I saw people coming back, and welcoming them back at the pizza place. I guess the spiritual lesson is that of being found. As each group came back, it was great to see them, like seeing long lost friends and stuff coming back. I would have to say that the group of 5, that came back at 10:30 p.m. made me very anxious and worried, as they were hiking in the dark. I had trouble focusing on conversations around the pizza place as I was waiting for them to come back. 9. A moonbow. Looking up Wester's dictionary...this word does not exist!!!!! However, Mike, Nicole, Mel and I headed out at 11:30 p.m. to Yosemite Falls to just see the waterfall. As we arrived it was pretty crowded. I was using Mel's flashlight, which had a nice strobe feature. I turned it on and tried to get Mike to dance to it, but alas, we needed to provide better dancing music. Mike, btw...was willing to do a lot to get a mention in this blog. Anyways, as we arrived to this place, I was complaining and saying that I wanted to go back because I was pretty tired. However, we ended up staying out for 1.5 hrs. Crazy. As we were waiting with this bunch of people, supposedly for the moonlight to hit the falls, I realized a couple things about myself. A) I get a bit impatient when I'm not driving the schedule for something, or don't know when the schedule for something is coming to an end. B) My jokes get lamer throughout the night, and they start to not make sense. Alright, so anyways, we say a "moonbow" which was basically a rainbow, but created with moonlight instead of sunlight. Mike took a photo, but alas, it was pitch black. We started cheering because everyone else was cheering. First time I have seen something like that. 10. Since the whole RW group split off into 3 different sections, I didn't actually see all the people until Sunday, which I thought wasn't too good. I guess as RW continues to grow, it will be harder to get to know everyone. I felt bad after I asked Lani if she graduated yet. I knew b4 she was working for awhile as a teacher...hehe. 11. On Sunday, during the sharing time, I had the chance to facilitate the time, and I remember as I was saying words of appreciation to people who made the trip possible, I kept using the phrase "thanks of appreciation." What the heck was I thinking..."thanks of appreciation," doesn't even make sense to me. "Words of appreciation." 12. Mosquitoes still love me. I got bitten over 10 times. 13. Final observation...I'm getting old. =P. Overall, I had a great time at Yosemite, but obviously was pretty exhausted. I didn't enter that many deep conversations, and I think since physically I was so exhausted, it was difficult to put my mental brain power to work. But as I said originally, shared experiences allows for opportunities for deeper relational building later on. Praise God for that. =P. Thanks to Pao-Siang for organizing everything. posted by alvin | Monday, June 16, 2003 End of an Era Two things come to mind when I think about this blog entry. First I am saying goodbye to "the Admiral" David Robinson. Robinson went out in style as the San Antonio Spurs just won the NBA championship. This guy is a total class act, and deserved to go out on top. He is a very well respected Christian and is well known around the league for his generosity and spirit. Good job Robinson. On a side note, he actually scored 1350 on his SATs. Smart guy. Second, I am saying goodbye to my jansport backpack. I had to send him in for repair. He has had a broken zipper for over the past 3 years, but I haven't had the heart to send him in yet...so, he is going on a full lifetime warranty journey back to his home. He will be home soon, but I may receive a different backpack instead of my original. Anyways, here's a poem I wrote about it a few months back, that was published on Mary Ann's website. ode to my backpack Feb 10, 2003 my jansport backpack has traveled on my back, in it, i put everything; nothing i lack. it has gone through the wind, sleet and rain, and never complains about having pain. it never talks back or expects things from me, and even has carried items that are free. it's side pocket carries my water, only sometimes does it falter. my backpack...a good friend of mine. has always been to me very kind. thank you backpack; you are very keen, i must wash you soon so you can be clean. posted by alvin | Monday, June 16, 2003 Friday, June 13, 2003 Friendster So, I'll leave this person's name disclosed (but let's just say milk12milk), pointed me to this site: Friendster. If you look at the site, the first sentence in bold..."Friendster is an online community that connects people through networks of friends for dating or making new friends." Her thoughts: "Very strange I still think - it has potential - not for dating, but for meeting up with old friends". I didn't sign up for this site, since I think it's an interesting way to meet people, but thought I would give reference for my readers in case they were interested. Disclaimer: I want to say explicitly that milk12milk is not using this site for dating purposes, although it may seem implicitly inferred that she is. posted by alvin | Friday, June 13, 2003 New Links Alright, finding out that so more of my buddies have xanga's/blogs...I added more links. I will organize them into communities to better suit the needs of my readers. posted by alvin | Friday, June 13, 2003 Graduations So, since I live like right behind Lynbrook High, I always get a view of their graduation ceremonies. It was a lot more crowded than previous years. It was interesting that I noticed that for the valedictorians, they would announce a person's name and then go "valedictorian." I thought that was a bit too much, huh? Anyways, graduation always reminds back to Davis and my support of "Sneaky Route." I can't say I invented it, but I did introduce it to the CEF community (however, I did coin the term). So, when I graduated, the engineering graduation is always the first one. However, after graduating, you don't need to return your gown until later, so basically I held it for the rest of the graduations. I think there are a total of like 7 different undergrad graduations at Davis. Anyways, I discovered that you get special treatment when putting on this gown. For engineering graduations, there are no tickets necessary, but for every other graduation, you have to get tix. Engineers have no friends, everybody knows that...anyways...I remember that for multiple graduations thereafter, I would put on my gown to join the graduates, after the initial walking in. One of my principles was to not take away from the current graduates. You need to realize that many of the graduates walk in and out of where they are sitting to "go to the bathroom" or just "leave early", so it is pretty common to see people walking in and out, so we are unnoticable as we join the graduates. At Davis, they don't let normal people just go up and take photos along the sides where the graduates sit, but if you wear a gown...man, there is so much power in it. Anyways, during other fellowship friends graduations, I would put on my gown, go down there to take photos with CEF friends, and toss tortillas and hit beach balls, and just make a lot of noise. King also started in this trend, and man we had a lot of fun. We would walk out with the graduates, so we could be first to the refreshments. hehe. =P. Some distinct memories... 1. One time, people were short on tickets...so, we used the gown as entrance, entering where the graduates line-up and saying we needed to use the restroom. 2. Cam was recording us on his camcorder, walking into the locker room (Ming-Gih was also there), putting on our gowns and then going down. However, during this process since we took so long, we missed Sandy going across stage. Sorry sandles. =P. 3. During the same time as 2. as we were walking down the stairs to where the graduates were at and also where there is "on the floor" seating, security didn't let "normal" people down saying they had to wait and stuff. I hesitated a bit, but then security waved us down to hurry up and get back to the ceremony. Too funny. Ming-Gih, Cam and myself were laughing pretty hard. The power of the gown. 4. On sorta' a dare, Will and Calvin take their gowns and head down to one of the smaller graduations. Will is fairly tall, and borrowed a really small gown. As they walked down there, the gown only came up to Will's knees. Too funny. However, they actually sat on the wrong side where the graduates names weren't called yet, so they had to exit and re-enter later. 5. In the same graduation (Helen, Nate, Lisa), I strategically bought some tortillas and packed them in my backpack, and along with Ming-Gih headed down, after Calvin and Will headed down. We sat on the right side, and sat with some science graduates section (i think evolution and ecology). The people go, "We have never seen you b4 in our classes." We're like..."yeah, it's cool. have some tortillas." We just threw them around there, a lot of fun. Ahh, graduation was so much fun in Davis, trying to get through the 3 hrs. of sitting around. I miss those times, good memories. posted by alvin | Friday, June 13, 2003 Thursday, June 12, 2003 AC Back On So, they fixed the AC now on the 3rd floor. Much more pleasant to be inside the building. Anyways, my sister is leaving for Japan today for 6 weeks to do a teacher cultural exchange. Basically, she is the technology lead for using laptops in her classroom and such. So, she is going to Japan. This morning at 12:15 a.m., we, as a family (minus my brother since he lives elsewhere), prayed for her. It's fairly rare that we pray together as a family. The last time was when my sister went to Washington D.C. with the visiting Japanese teachers. I guess I really treasure those times we can pray together as a family, but it usually only happens during trips, surgeries, or stuff like that. I'm blessed to be part of a Christian household. posted by alvin | Thursday, June 12, 2003 Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Melting The AC on the 3rd floor of our building is broken. Talk about cost cutting. The corner of the building I am in, gets the most heat too. I'm melting. At least it's not as hot as China was. =P. posted by alvin | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Fight at 24Hr. Fitness Hmm...last night after lindy class (where we learned the importance of maintaining momentum), I went to work out at 24hr. fitness on Cox Ave., the Saratoga location. As I finished my first cardio set on the elliptical machine, I went to get some water. Near the intersection between the weights and the cardio equipment, a bunch of high school kids started gathering. There was some discussion going on about something, and then some yelling ensued. The water fountain is located in the weights portion of the gym, and since they blocked off the intersection, I went to lift weights for a bit. As tensions continued to heat, the 24hr. fitness employees tried to separate the people, but eventually, punches were thrown. A couple different fights were happening (at least two, but I think three). The only fight I had a good view on, had one guy tripping some guy on some weights, and then pummeling him as he was on the ground. After about 1 minute of fighting, all the fights stopped, and people were asked to go outside. The person who got tripped had a fat bruise on his neck from falling on the weights. Some policemen came afterwards, so they had quite a fast response. Afterwards, the employees still didn't know what caused the fight or what actually transpired. I guess I really didn't try to help or stop the fight since I didn't know any of the fightees, and I attribute it also to the "spectator theory". Since there were many people around at the gym, I didn't really feel like it was part of my responsibility to step in and break up the fight. Was this the correct response? I'm not sure. Anyways, not knowing what the core issues were with the fighting, there was definitely something deeper that was embedded in these youth. I think the issue of pride and ego factors in, where neither parties really wanted to back down. Anyways, it was quite an interesting learning experience. Later, the employees of 24hr. joked to me, saying that next time there was a fight, a $5 viewing fee would be required. posted by alvin | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 Monday, June 09, 2003 Short Weekend Recap Alright, so Lily's and Jerry's wedding was pretty cool. Definitely the quickest one I have been to, almost 35 minutes for ceremony, but another 45+ for pictures. Crazy. Anyways, it is always good to see old college friends. Lily and Jerry have been together a long time...and it was good to see them finally tie the knot. Lily "Lipsmacker" Tang, looked stunning and Jerry...well...Jerry always looks sharp. I realized that it was the first time I have seen Mel and Vern's baby Benjamin. Weird to think how old we have all gotten. Ahh...time flies by so quickly. Anyways, I realized at weddings, there's not that much opportunity to go into deeper topics, but mainly just touch upon the ins and outs of what's going on in everyday life...like, where people are working, if they are dating, where they are living, etc. I mean, it's like shooting the breeze with old friends. It was unfortunate, that King and I didn't sit together at the same banquet table, since we are both pretty obnoxious and make a lot of noise. Hopefully, at further weddings in the future, they will sit us together. =P. I prepped quite a bit for the college sunday school class, and enjoyed it a lot. The lesson was on the validity of the bible. thanks to the one reader who posted a comment on my question......hahaha. I guess, I realized I have a lot of joy when I teach. I enjoy most the idea of preparing the information in a teachable format that the students will hopefully understand. I can't say I'm the most effective communicator, but I am growing and learning in the process. I think I will seriously consider exploring teaching at the college level (community college, smaller private universities). Maybe I need to consider getting my PhD...yuck...=P. Sunday was the beach trip with RWers. I had a great car ride up with Jenkins and Ryan. Jenkins has some funny stories. Both of them come from different backgrounds from me, so it was good to learn from them more about life. At the beach, I enjoyed just standing in the wet sand, letting the waves hit my feet and trying not to get my shorts wet. Anyways, a short two hour trip, and then off to dinner with PESI folks. And then Finding Nemo..."thannnnnnnnnnnnkkkkkkkkkkkkk yooooooooooouuuuuuuuu". hahahahaha. posted by alvin | Monday, June 09, 2003 Finding Nemo So, I saw Finding Nemo last night, 9:30 p.m. showing with some RWers. After an afternoon at the beach with RWers, I had dinner with some local PESI alums (Christine, Iris, Daphne) at Pasta? in Mountain View. Brian and Will couldn't make it. It was actually Daphne who finally convinced me to watch the movie after giving her high recommendations of it, so being the spontaneous "P" that I am (sarcastic tone), I decided to go. Spencer's brother actually helped to work on the film, although when the credits came out, I was too late to actually see the name, and just joined in to the RWers loud congratulatory cheers, cheering "Spencer's brother." I would have to say that probably most of us didn't see his name. hahaha. =P. Anyways, movies are like $9.25 now, and Daphne said it was worth it...and after watching the movie...I would say it too, and I don't say that for many movies. It was funny and I will use some good random inside jokes later. I needed to wipe my eyes some during some parts of the movie, since it was pretty touching. I felt the characters all had good human characteristics, which made them able to relate to. My favorite were the sea turtles who were on a journey on the "EAC". Go Jellyman. A definite must see. =P. posted by alvin | Monday, June 09, 2003 Friday, June 06, 2003 Apples... Hahaha...this is pretty funny...spamderella. Check out her Thurs., June 5th entry. Hmm...I have never thought about girls that way...but hey, a different perspective is always good. =P. posted by alvin | Friday, June 06, 2003 Xanga vs. Blogger Hmm...It bugs me that xanga does not allows users to post comments without first registering as a xanga user, and then xanga peeps can't link to blogspot's people pages. Hmm...so...hmm...i'm contemplating changing...bandwagonning is fun. posted by alvin | Friday, June 06, 2003 Unexpected Lunch I had the chance to have a "spontaneous", "P" type of lunch with Jason, (the "Eradicator") yesterday. Why he calls himself the "Eradicator", I have no idea. Anyways, we were going to have a RW lunch next week, for people who work close to the Zanker/Montague Broadcom site. However, Jason thought it was this week, and I usually bring lunch into the office, but it so happened that yesterday I was driving over to the cafeteria. I happened to also go earlier than usual, and it was pretty good timing. God ordained. =P. One of the benefits of the cafeteria is that it is "subsidized," so employees can get a pretty full meal for less than $5. You used to be able to get a full meal for less than $3, but alas, the internet bubble bursting has changed all that. Although I do see Jason quite a lot, in comparision with a lot of my college friends, I guess I haven't had much opportunity to talk with him at a deeper relational level since Tilden and him switched small groups at RW. We talked about engineering stuff, (yeah...i love a person who can relate to that), to the dissonance feeling I sometimes feel at RW, to his next season of life. It was a really encouraging lunch. The Eradicator is a quality guy...and for the ladies...he is "single and free to mingle"...but be forewarned that's he's an ESTJ. =P. posted by alvin | Friday, June 06, 2003 Thursday, June 05, 2003 Losing Novelty I remember RWers mentioning that back in Jan. and Feb. when Tina and I went crazy in sending swing invites to the RW community (almost one every 1-2 weeks), that swing dancing seemed to lose its novelty. Umm...as we went swing last night, in part of Tina's B'day celebration week, I had the most collisions ever on the dance floor. I'm starting to get a bit more risky, and might need to pull back on some of that (i'm risk adverse). Anyways, back to losing novelty...I am planning a sabbatical from swing dancing starting in july. I guess it's an aspect of not feeling the same type of challenge as to when I first stepped onto the dance floor. I'm not saying that I'm good or anything like that, but that the learning curve is definitely not as steep as before. There is definitely more to learn, and I hope the "beyond the basics" class on monday nights will help to solidify the basics and also help me to add new some moves. Anyways, I hope the sabbatical will give me a better perspective on swing dancing and the role it plays in my life. =P. I guess I realized when I'm not challenged, I can get bored easily. I think even with this blog, I feel it is losing some novelty. As Antung has pulled out from blogging, and it seems that although my counter does increase, I don't feel my readers are very engaged. I started blogging back in late January. I guess I'm affirming a part of my character, where I enjoy difficult and challenging things, where the learning curve is steep, and it takes hard work and discipline to make progress. Hmm...I'm not sure how that part of my character fits into this whole blogging thing losing it's novelty. Maybe since the blog is not something new and exciting, it doesn't make me so passionate about it. Just some thoughts. posted by alvin | Thursday, June 05, 2003 Wednesday, June 04, 2003 Corked Bats Hmm...Sammy Sosa was ejected yesterday for using a corked bat. I decided to do some quick research to see how having a corked bat really helps, and actually the information seems a bit inconclusive. So, the process by which baseball players do this is taking off the cap of the bat, and boring a small hole in the bat. Then, they put some foreign substance, such as cork, and then put the top of the bat back on. It makes the bat lighter, but also makes it more keen to breaking, since a foreign substance is introduced. The stuff I have read isn't convincing if it helps or not...but whether it not it helps...MLB bans corked bats from being used. It is interesting that Sosa positions himself as not knowing that the bat was corked...and that he uses a corked bat during batting practice for the fans. It is interesting because the Cubs manager, former SF Giants manager, Dusty Baker, didn't know that Sosa had a corked bat, even if only used during batting practice. Well...it's clear that he made a mistake, and he confessed that mistake. MLB confiscated the rest of his bats, and will see if any of the other ones are corked. Even if he uses corked ones during batting practice, he should know which ones are which and to not use corked ones during the actual game (that seems like a no-brainer to me). But oh well. A clear mistake. We'll see how things transpire. I guess what got me interested is to really see how a corked bat helps. Can you imagine a whole bat made of cork? I can't see they providing much power to hit home runs...=P. posted by alvin | Wednesday, June 04, 2003 Why do you believe the Bible is true? I'm co-teaching this Sunday School class at CBCSJ, and this Sunday, I am teaching a lesson on the validity of the Bible. As to facilitate some more comments on my blog and also to get my readers thinking, I wanted to ask my readers why do you believe the Bible is true? posted by alvin | Wednesday, June 04, 2003 Tuesday, June 03, 2003 Tremendous resources... I just visited this website. A plethora of Christian resources...www.summit.org. I also like this site...www.str.org. Good stuff on apologetics. Finally check out...www.equip.org. posted by alvin | Tuesday, June 03, 2003 Screen Resolution Hmm...I have been resolving my head that 1280x1024 is okay for my 21" monitor, however my eyes feel different. I feel much more comfortable with 1024x768. However, I can see a lot more on the screen at 1280x1024, thus making me more productive...but my eyes seem strained. So, I'm going to stick with this 1024x768. posted by alvin | Tuesday, June 03, 2003 Lunch lessons... I had the chance to have lunch last week with Kim, Vic, Maria, Calvin and Alison. It has been awhile since I synced up with my Davis buds. It's amazing that Kim has returned from a year in Thailand, and I didn't even ask much about her experiences. Maybe when we have our next Scrabble Sharing club I'll get some more info, or if she has some post-experience sharing event that would be good. On arriving to Vic's office, Calvin and I checked our her cubicle. She actually has two 19" monitors side by side, which I thought was pretty impressive. Anyways, Alison is the 3-month old daughter of Maria and Mark. I asked Maria how she learns about parenting, and she said that through mentors are the main way. It was actually the first time I have seen Alison, and I wondered during lunch what she is actually thinking. Who actually knows what goes through the mind of a 3-month old? Anyways, I had the chance to hold her after lunch, and I really enjoyed it. She wedged herself nicely into a comfortable position, but after about 10 minutes, got a bit antsy...so I gave her back to Maria. I like babies because playing with them sorta' makes my concerns and issues go away because life is simple for them: Eat, sleep, play, pee/poop. But I guess the realization is that...parenting is tough stuff. Not easy...challenging stuff and I'm definitely not ready for it. Anyways, lunch also made me think a bit about how I learn. I guess I learn a lot through observation. At work, on the dance floor, on the bball court, in the gym, at church, etc...I process a lot of stuff about life just watching it pass by. I learn also through trial and error...making mistakes and then realizing that it wasn't the right way to go. I also learn from mentors (the idea of learning by example too), people who are older than me, who have been through what I have gone through before. And I also learn from books, ideas of challenging my own thinking and thought processing. I love to learn, and to be intellectually challenged. That's part of why I miss school...not the homework, but the challenge of thinking. posted by alvin | Tuesday, June 03, 2003 Monday, June 02, 2003 Dissonance As defined by Webster's dictionary...definition 2..."lack of agreement, consistency, or harmony; conflict". I have always desired to live my life without dissonance...seeking harmony in many areas of my life. I guess, as I have been reflecting on my own involvement with RW and my home church, CBCSJ, I've been trying to reconcile my feelings and examining why I feel certain ways. As I thought about "what do I want?"..."what am I really seeking in this?", I haven't really come to any conclusion, but wanted to share some thoughts with my blog readers. Back in college, our fellowship, CEF, heavily emphasized church/fellowship consistency...meaning that if you went to CEF...it was highly encouraged you go to DCCC (even if people really didn't enjoy the Sunday service). Since we were affiliated with DCCC and met there, there was definitely a desire for our fellowship to fit in more with the larger church community. I was one of the biggest supporters of this, realizing that turnover in college was quick, and developing community was very important. We also held people off of leadership due to them not going to DCCC on Sundays. Anyways, now I am on the flip side of things, where I attend CBCSJ on sundays, and RW on fridays. I would have to say the loose affiliation RW had with ALCF since we met in home settings in the past couple years, led to less dissonance in my life, but now the dissonance is pretty strong...and part of me is trying to understand why I feel this way. Growing up at CBCSJ, I always had a small youth group...maybe 7 at max, and there are not many people around my own age. I enjoy RW because I can journey alongside people at the same stage of life, trying to seek and understand what God wants for them. I realized that the dissonance is that I feel like I'm losing an aspect of community because I miss out on Sunday service at ALCF. A big aspect of community is that of shared experiences, and having more shared experiences provides the opportunity for deeper relationships. Maybe in a sense, I don't feel like I fit into the RW community because I don't attend ALCF, and that is where I need to change my thinking...community is much larger than just Sunday church attendance...it's about being able to share, participate and journey together in life. posted by alvin | Monday, June 02, 2003 Out of touch with Technology... Hmm...I think I have to discipline myself more to go to Fry's to actually see what the latest consumer technologies are. Working in the PC server space, I don't see what the latest consumer technologies are. I won't buy these things...but moreso see it as a way to keep my engineering mind aware of what type of technology is available. Technology changes so fast... posted by alvin | Monday, June 02, 2003 |
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