The Constant Wanderer

FAIL

2009-04-07T23:02:00.004-04:00

me: did you finally fix your internet?
Eric : Yea it works now
me: what was wrong with it
Eric : Not sure
Eric signed off 10:54 PM
Eric signed on 10:54 PM
Eric signed off 10:54 PM
Eric signed on 10:54 PM
me: are you sure
Eric signed off 10:54 PM
me: haha

(the shirt is captioned "adorkable")

Why I love Kroger

2009-01-28T21:11:00.003-05:00

Hello friends. It has been four long months since my last post, so if you are reading this, that means you are a true friend.

My favorite neighborhood grocery store was having a sale on blueberries today. They were selling a 6 oz box for $1 (as opposed to $4.99) for "plus members", so wanted to picked up 6 boxes of it. During checkout, I tried to input my "plus card" info using my phone number but couldn't get it to work, . So I called the cashier over to help me.

"Hi. For some reason my plus card isn't working. I put my phone number in and it does't recognize it but it worked last night."
"Enter your phone number in again"
(slightly annoyed) "I tried it 4 times already"

"Sir, the reason it doesn't work is because you are typing in the wrong area code. You pressed 732 instead of 734"
"... ... ... my area code is 732"
"oh ... then I can't help you, sorry"

Not only did she assume that I'm an idiot, but she provided no help whatsoever! So did I end up paying $30 for blueberries? Did I panic and storm out of the store? No, I turned to the girl lined up behind me and borrowed her plus card and walked out of Kroger with a ton of blueberries. VICTORY IS MINE!

When I got home, I tried to log on the Kroger website to see why my account wasn't recognized. I typed in my email but it said no account existed, so I went to the help page to find this. See anything wrong with the instructions? Oh Kroger, why are you always so helpful?

Be afraid, be very afraid

2008-10-06T18:34:00.005-04:00

If you weren't scared of China after watching the opening ceremony at the Olympics, I have some news for you. Chinese people can grow volleyballs! YES, volleyballs. With just the will power of a lowly peasant (and biotechnology), the Chinese can now grow whatever they want from calabash.

Not that I have any idea what calabash is, but I'm pretty sure they are going to take over the world soon. If I were you, I would hide in your basement and stay there forever.

pictures courtesy of xinhuanet.com

Life Lesson at Jimmy John's

2008-10-04T23:48:00.002-04:00

How Much is Enough?

The American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow-fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while. The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.” The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will this all take?” To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”

“But what then, senor?”

The American laughed and said that’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.

“Millions, senor? Then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

My Addiction

2008-09-29T15:00:00.005-04:00

This is a cry for help. I am addicted to deals, more specifically, I'm addicted to free giveaways. Today I saw this free razor promotion through slickdeals and I promptly signed up without thinking twice. That's the moral hazard of having a dedicated junk mail account. Anyhow, this is what the sign up page look like. If you pay careful attention to the language, you might find it somewhat weird, but then again, I didn't pay that much attention.

When I pressed the submit button, I realized my mistake:

Ken: haha this is so stupid
Eric: what
Ken: well, i am so stupid
Ken: i just don't look at what slickdeals i do anymore
Eric: huh?
Ken: i think i signed up for a free women's razor
Ken: haha
Eric: HAHA
Ken: they are usually guy's ones though
Eric: yea i know
Ken: and the promo page didn't say anything
Eric: thats pretty funny
Eric: i wuold blog about that
Ken: until i submitted and there's this woman raising her hands
Ken: i'm thinking "great, why is it a woman?"

So if anyone needs a razor in 4-6 weeks, let me know. I'll be sure never to touch it.

She-Bear Alert!

2008-09-22T15:33:00.005-04:00

Last Wednesday night as I was walking home, I was attacked by a pack of she-bears! I never knew Ann Arbor was a town with a bear infestation, but after that night, I will never walk home alone again. The she-bears were apparently lead by a strange bald man walking around with a staff in hand, I tried to chase after him after the attack, but he proved to be more fleet footed than he looked.

Anyhow, even though I escaped with my life, I did suffer some battle scars. Here's the first one:

To the untrained eye, this might look like a second-degree burn, like one would get if he didn't use an oven mitt when taking a pizza out of the oven. But I assure you that this is no stupid accident, it was a vicious claw mark from a she-bear!

The wound evolved in the days ahead and is looking quite manly of late. Darn you bears!

bubble gum podcasts

2008-09-15T11:17:00.004-04:00

Now that I'm back in school, I walk 1.1 miles everyday to and from school. This gives me about 15 minutes (x2) to put to good use. So I've been trying to find good podcasts to listen to, but when I went on iTunes, this is what I saw:

Osteen and Ophrah dominate the podcast world! This is sad. It's almost as sad as the current state of our economy. I wonder how the health and wealth Gospel will do in a recession. Hmm ....

Picasa finds Jesus!

2008-09-14T21:55:00.004-04:00

Picasa came out with this amazing face recognition feature which lets you quickly tag people in your photos by analyzing your photo albums. I must admit that this is pretty amazing (though scary at the same time), but it's completely useless to me because I don't have a real photo album on picasa. All I have are photos I have used on my previous blog entries. So when I tested this feature on my photos, here is what came up:

I quickly tagged "Jesus" as the first entry ... HAHA. That picture came from this entry.

rope jumper

2008-08-30T10:07:00.002-04:00

At Meijers with my friend Jason, trying to find jumper cables to jump his dead car battery.

me: (at the car supply aisle, to jason) go look in the next aisle

jason: I don't see it, let me ask someone

me: (walking over to see Jason talking to a fobby chinese clerk)

clerk: go down 3 aisles on the left

me: (walking - noticing that we're now at the sports equipment aisle) are you sure you said jumper cables?

jason: yea, on the left

me: these are jump ropes, not jumper cables! I guess he didn't understand your English

** For some reason this seems a lot less funny ina blog entry than in person **

Give me your male goose

2008-08-30T09:55:00.007-04:00

At Sam Ash buying some guitar tools

me: do you have peg winders?

sales clerk: Right over there (pointing to the plastic flimsy ones)

me: (thinking)

sales clerk: (sensing my hesitation, then proceeds to up sell me) Do you want the ones with wire clippers on it?

me: yea

sales clerk: (standing silently devoid of movement)

me: may I have a gander?

sales clerk: (giving me a puzzled look)

me: ... umm ... have a look ... just to see

sales clerk: isn't gander a male goose?

me: uh yea, I guess it could mean that too ...

haikus are easy ...

2008-08-19T18:30:00.000-04:00

During my 15 hour flight back from HK

While in my half asleep / half awake trance, I heard some bustling up front and saw flight attendants handing out hot towels. My hands were thoroughly clean and I didn't want to be disturbed, so I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. Moments later, I felt a hovering presence around me - someone was intruding in my space. I struggled to prop my eyes open and when I did, the flight attendant was standing there staring at me. Being pretty dazed and confused at this point, I just muttered "no thanks" and shut my eyes again. But he refused to go away, he kept standing there gawking at me.

I opened my eyes and blinked a couple times to see what was going on, and the only thing I managed to get out of my mouth was a "huh?" Then I heard the poetry reading:

haikus are easy
but sometimes they don't make sense
refrigerator

Apparently the flight attendant specialized at reading people's shirts. He chuckled to himself a couple times then looked that the woman sitting across the aisle from me and repeated the haiku again - this time adding "get it? re-fri-ger-a-tor" at the end. The woman wasn't amused. She had no idea what a haiku was, and probably didn't even understand English all too well. I wasn't very amused myself, so I closed my eyes again and drifted back to sleep.

Eavesdropping with Ken (Part 2)

2008-08-18T22:24:00.002-04:00

At the Hong Kong airport check-in line. Two American girls were being sendoff by a group of local HK folks.

HK guy: you will be so far away from here
US girl: we will be worlds apart
HK guy: yes, men are from moooss, women are from weenus
US girl: ....
HK guy: (repeating himself louder than before, thinking the girl didn't hear his wittiness) men are from moss, and women are from weeenus!
US girl: Venus ... women are from VEENus.
HK guy: haha, women are from WEENus.

Eavesdropping with Ken

2008-08-07T07:00:00.002-04:00

At the Venetian Casino Floors @ midnight
Prostitutes roaming freely trying to prey on lonely men.

hooker: hey handsome

ignorant man: (surprised - does a double take) huh?

hooker: are you feeling lucky tonight?

ignorant man: huh?

hooker: do you want it?

ignorant man: what are you selling again?

It blows my mind how obtuse people could be. I just pretend I don't hear them and walk away.

outsourcing to China

2008-08-06T09:51:00.004-04:00

Dedicated to those of you who love Dell's wonderful technical support =)

Two days ago, calling Dell technical support in HK.

*** Try #1 ***

computer: "Thank you for calling Dell XPS 24 hours support. For Cantonese service, please press 1. For English service, please press 2. To repeat the selection, please press 0."

me: (pressing 2)

csr gal: blah blah bla blah Dell blah bla grah huh duh

me: Do you speak English?

csr gal: ooger booger blah blah bla dui bu qi wo bu hui shou ying wen ladida

me: gah ... (hangs up)

*** Try #2 ***

computer: "Thank you for calling Dell XPS 24 hour support. For Cantonese service, please press 1. For English service, please press 2."

me: (pressing 1)

csr guy: blah blah bla blah Dell blah bla grah huh duh

me: (in Cantonese) Do you speak Cantonese?

csr guy: ooger booger blah blah bla dui bu qi wo bu hui shou guang dong hua bla bla

me: (in Mandarin) can you find someone who can speak Cantonese please?

csr guy: (in Mandarin) oh ... hold on to see if I can find someone who can

ads we don't mean ...

2008-08-06T00:17:00.000-04:00

I went to Macao last weekend and stayed at the Venetian Casino Resort. The place just opened earlier this year so the everything is spankin' new. They have a huge casino, good restaurants, lots of expensive shops, shows like cirque du soleil, an outdoor minigolf course, and an indoor gondola boat ride along with opera singers - entertainment for the whole family.

They also have a lot of shameless promotions everywhere too, plastered on every wall and corner so people don't forget all the ways they can spend money at their hotel. With every gambling ad, they always have "Gamble Responsibly" in small print and a link to some obscure website. I think they even provide advice/classes on how to do "Gamble Responsibly" too, but you and I both know that the big casino bosses are praying no one takes that message seriously.
After all, if everyone gambles responsibly, how are they going to make any money?All they want you to do is to spend money, wager your life savings for a miniscue chance of actually beating the house. So why do they put these ads up (other than for legal reasons)? It's somewhat double-handed it peeves me a little. It seems to me that they just want to wash their hands from their guilt.

Everyone else does it too:

Beer/liquor companies tell you to drink responsibly while trying to convince you that drinking more is cool.
Tobacco companies give classes or tips for people to quit smoking even though they really want you to smoke 10 packs a day.
Condom makers tell teens to stay abstinent while posting racy ads all over magazines and tv spots telling people to have sex.
Oil companies tell people to use alternative energy when they expand their plans to drill for oil at wildlife refuge.

The world is full of contradictions.

p.s. - i love this ad.

Overheated

2008-08-05T09:26:00.004-04:00

It turns out my dream the other day was prophetic.

Really? Someone stole your laptop?
Hmm ... not literally.

And it happened in a subway stop at night?
Well it happened at my office at 3pm ... but it was RAINING.

So you punched someone in the face?
Close, I almost punched Dell and Nvidia in the face.

Anyway, my computer blew up. Fine, it was just the graphics card, but it effectively "blew up" because nothing worked after that. Fortunately, it didn't take me by surprise - since it's a very well known issue with a lot of nvidia video cards. Basically, the people who make video cards screwed up BIG TIME and shipped out millions of defective chips that overheats. The companies (Dell - in my case) who sold the laptops to us are too cheap to give us new cards, so they are hoping the cards hold up until your warranty expires. Oh I love America! And the best part is ... even if your computer is still under warranty, they will replace your defective graphic cards with another one of the same model, which means it will eventually fry itself in a couple more months.

BLAH. Just as I was getting back to my blogging routine, my computer dies. Maybe this is a sign, a prophesy. Hmm .... death to Dell and Nvidia!!! I am shaking my fist at you and am getting ready to punch you in the face!

*** good thing mine is still under warranty - and I plan to make sure it blows up again right before my warranty expires so I get a brand new card***

a cynic's view on our hearts

2008-08-01T02:22:00.000-04:00

Let me start by saying that I have nothing against cops. My grandfather was a cop, some of my friends are cops, and if I were to play cops and robbers right now, I would want to be the cop. I especially admire them for their courage and selflessness in risking their lives to protect people like us. But when I see things like this, I shake my head in disgust.

Power corrupts.

And not just cops ... power corrupts our politicans, our pastors, our celebrities - everyone just wants to know how much they can get away with (Even batman was distraught when he realized what he had to become to stop the joker). Sure, being a police officer isn't easy, but do you seriously have to go knock a guy over and then lie about it in the police report? There were no cars forced to weave and stop, the biker wasn't trying to run into you, and I didn't see you fall to the ground ... in fact, you were the one who sped up to take the guy down. If you had good reason to arrest the guy, that's fine, but don't lie about the circumstances to make it look like you're the good guy? ARGH.

Yesterday a lawyer and a cop convinced me to never voluntarily offer information to the police under any circumstance, and now I really understand why. You really should watch the video yourself, but here's a 3 point summary:

1) Anything you say can only be used against you, never to help you.
2) Cops make honest mistakes - and their mistakes can screw you over big time.
3) There are countless ways cops can frame what you say to incriminate you, even if you're innocent.

So what's moral of the story? People are evil. You are evil. I am evil. Everyone is morally corrupt and is drawn to do evil things no matter how hard we fight against it. I know I'm painting a pretty grim picture of humanity because of one idiot cop - but let's face it, if you had that kind of power over people (and the law), if you had no accountability, you would eventually act the same way that cop did.

Thankfully, there is one solution to our wickedness.

Impostor Alert! (part 2)

2008-07-31T12:36:00.002-04:00

More updates on my alter ego. My whip-wielding self is apparently living the good life out there in sunny California. I received an email today from a BMW dealer saying:

Mr. Ken,

BMW will cover warranty on wiper inserts for only 3 months. Will need to replace wiper insert’s. Labour will not be charged to you only cost of wiper inserts. BMW recommends changing wipers every 6 months. Your x5 will be ready at 10:45am.

This short email sounds just as fishy as the last one.

Why is a Brit working at a BMW dealer in SF? (Maybe he's an undercover MI6 agent)
Why is evil-ken asking about windshield wipers ? (killer laser wipers maybe)
Where does evil-ken get all that money to get an x5? (why isn't he environmentally friendly?)
WHY AM I JEALOUS OF MY EVIL SELF?

I should really email back and tell the dealer to ship the x5 to jersey ...

Who's got your back? (part 2)

2008-07-30T23:34:00.003-04:00

Question: What happens when you write blog entries late at night?
Answer: You end up dreaming about them!

The combination of last night's entry and this video of a lawyer explaining why you should never ever talk to the cops (even if you're innocent) made me dream funny things last night.

I was sitting on a bench at a dimly lighted subway platform waiting for the train to come. For some bizarre reason, I had nothing with me but my laptop - no backpack, no case, just the laptop. Someone called me for help and so I left the laptop on the bench to see what was going on. When I got back a moment later, an old jenky machine sat in the place where my awesome laptop used to be. I was confused but examined the machine further and came to the obvious conclusion that it wasn't my laptop. Without a second thought, I ran up and down the station trying to find the perpetrator. It wasn't long before I saw someone sitting on a bench playing with a laptop that looked just like mine.

me: "hey that's my laptop."
guy: "no it isn't, I found it."
me: "you stole it, that's what you did."

He didn't budge and I was absolutely certain that it was my laptop - so I did what every person in their right mind would do - I punched him in the face twice, snatched the laptop from his hands, gave him back his old nasty machine, and walked away. In my head I was thinking, "If a cop stops me, I'm pleading the 5th. Not gonna say a darn thing."

the end.

p.s. - I'm not a violent person .... no really I'm not.

Who's got your back?

2008-07-30T11:38:00.004-04:00

I recently found out that one of my friends got beat up in broad daylight because he refused to let a mugger take his iphone. It's pretty amazing because he actually wound up keeping his iphone, but I'm more impressed with the fact that he had the guts and craziness to take a stand. If I were in the same situation, I wonder what I would do ...

This got me thinking ... if someone randomly attacked me on the street, which one of my friends would get my back? Which ones will act like a wimp and run away?

I'm going to keep girls out of the discussion because other than a few notable exceptions (like p & ricefire) , I can't imagine any of them getting in a fist fight. Clawing and scratching maybe ... but not a fist fight.

I was originally going to type out a list of names and what I think they would do in that situation - but something tells me that would be a bad idea. (If you really want to know what I think, we can discuss it in private). So you people out there reading this , you better get my back if I ever get into a fight. Be a MAN, do the right thing!

the random and mindless

2008-07-29T05:48:00.007-04:00

These two pictures made my day. A word of warning, the second picture is actually pretty disturbing ... but so hilarious. Here are more costume pictures from ComicCon.

People in HK wear some funky/funny shirts. I saw an obese woman wear a bright yellow shirt which had the word "elephant" printed in the front. I just wondered to myself ... why oh why would you do that to yourself? The mental picture is just too powerful.

The weather here has been terrible the past week, temperature is reaching the upper 90s with 100% humidity. It's basically a sauna outside, I can open my mouth and drink the sweat off the air.

I woke up yesterday morning to a heavy smog all over the city. I had originally thought that it was just a fog due to the humidity, but in actuality, it was smog! According the the papers:

On Monday, the city recorded its highest ever air pollution index (API) reading of 202 on a remote island for a brief period, while in Shatin, where the core Olympics events will be held, the level hit 173 with the general public advised to reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities.

While the air pollution is shortening my life and making my lungs black, I can confirm that smog makes prettier sunsets. It was simply gorgeous last night at dusk - the sky was purplish orange and the waves were making pretty shapes near the shore. I'm not sure if I want the smog to go away or not.

the sad

2008-07-29T05:42:00.000-04:00

I was feeling a bit under the weather the last couple days. Interestingly, the sudden fatigue and headaches coincided with my mom's arrival to the motherland (and a week of sleep of deprivation). My ancient body simply can’t handle sleeping only 5 hours a night anymore.

My mom and aunt flew back from the US to attend a Buddhist ritual for my late grandfather, who passed away in January at a ripe old age of 104. I had grieved for the loss of my grandpa already, so the reminder of his death didn’t upset me. What made me extremely frustrated and sad was the blatant idolatry and ancestor worship that took place. Since most of my extended family are not believers, there wasn’t much I can do about it – but even still, the whole thing was ridiculous.

1) They had to pay an insane amount of money to the temple to put my grandpa’s nameplate and photo in this room full of other people’s nameplates. The amount of your donation determines the placement of this nameplate. So you basically pay more to get better spots, though I’m not sure what it’ll do to your eternal destiny – maybe you can reach nirvana quicker, who knows.

2) To assist in the sendoff of the soul, a group of monks help the process with a full day’s worth of rituals. It includes chanting, bowing, kneeling, offering incense, offering food, worshipping the male Buddha, worshiping the female Buddha, more off-key chanting, burning of some fake paper money, more bowing and kneeling, more incense, more chanting (repeat x100).

3) The worst thing is that the people participating in the ritual, including my mom, had no idea what was going on. When the head monk told them to bow, they bowed, when he told them to sit, they sat, when he handed them the incense, they burned it … and during the endless chanting – half of them fell asleep because they didn’t understand what the monk were saying (the Buddhist scripture probably didn’t carry any meaning for them either). If they had thought through why they wanted to do the ritual and knew what each part symbolized, I would respect the whole thing a lot more. But their completely ignorance fueled my anger. My cousins even joked around saying that it was more like exercising (all the bowing and kneeling) than anything else.

I had refused to take part in any portion of the ritual, so I sat on the side to observe and pray (to Jesus, not the Buddha). When my cousins couldn’t take it anymore, they came over and we would chat – and thankfully we snuck out to get some ice-cream for an hour or so. If we hadn’t done that, I think I would’ve gone mad. The monks gave me some dirty looks when I kept refusing to take the incense. He definitely gave me the “what are you doing here-just take the incense and kneel down” look. Maybe that’s why I had the headaches and wanted to puke …

Do people just mindlessly worship idols? This is sad.

The countdown

2008-07-29T04:53:00.000-04:00

9 days until the Olympic Games begin
10 days until I hop on a plane and fly back to America.
11 days until I own an iPhone 3g
12 days until I party it up with my Cornell friends
13 days until I get to sleep in on a Monday morning

Men are simple machines

2008-07-23T10:58:00.003-04:00

My friend Matt posted a pretty interesting blog entry which got some thoughtful responses. When I'm not mellow, I tend to not write very thoughtful things ... and since I already made a somewhat sarcastic response, I'll hold off and just rant on this blog.

Honestly I've never heard the phrase "Don't let yourself go" in that context. When I read it I thought ... "go where? you shouldn't go where?" Is this a west coast thing or am I just totally removed from pop culture. Good thing I can figure things out from context. Anyway, all I really wanted to do when I started writing was to show this picture:

This is a great illustration of one of the most important truths in life: Men are simple beings. In fact, this is exactly why it's near impossible to ever make a female robot. There are just so many more intricacies about womankind that machines can never imitate.

Being a woman is hard, there are just too many knobs to turn.

Impostor Alert!

2008-07-20T04:46:00.005-04:00

I come across a lot of strange characters as I unfold my plan for world domination, so I am usually not too surprised by strange emails or stalkers. But l was a little weirded out last week and I found out there's someone impersonating me in the Bay Area. Here's the strange email:

Hey Ken,
How's it going? Hope Italy was awesome. You getting settled in to your new gig now (you start this week right?). You left your whip here, so thought you may want us to send it to you or drop by and pick it up. Anyways, we miss you here.
Cheers, Nick

I can't really put my finger on it, but there's something fishy about this email. I don't want to alarm you, but you should be careful if you see someone walking around with a whip. And if he looks anything like me, you better run! I am guessing that this impostor probably looks like this (how many people do you know who actually carries a whip everywhere?):

a little bit of insanity

2008-07-06T14:37:00.002-04:00

It's 2:40am and I'm still awake watching Federer and Nadal duke it out at the Wimbledon Finals. Federer already made an improbable comeback and it's a matter of time before we find out if he is really the tennis god everyone thinks he is. I'm dead tired right now so I really shouldn't be blogging, but since I'm up at this crazy hour of the night watching some incredible tennis, I might as well show you some insanity from this weekend.

As my friends and I were walking through the supermarket this weekend, we heard people screaming and yelling. Naturally, to satiate our curiosity, we walk toward the noise and the crowd. Apparently there was a big promotion that day - chicken drumsticks for 1 kuai (~.125 USD)! At first I didn't understand what the big deal was, but my friend Karen tells me that there's a drumstick shortage where she live - so people just fight for them whenever they are available. This is a scene of the drumstick fighting:

AHHHHH I HATE RAIN DELAYS!!! I can't believe I stayed up to 3am and won't get to finish watching the tennis match!

do you feel like a man?

2008-07-01T02:48:00.003-04:00

One of my friends recently told me that he plays basketball not because he enjoys it, but he plays only because he wants to feel like a man. It's an interesting thought which deserves a deeper examination. I took a cursory survey from several female species and asked them what they think a man should act - here are the top results:

Have confidence
Be responsible and take ownership of mistakes
Know how to treat a woman
Have nice biceps
Open jars!
Not afraid of bugs
Not afraid to carry a girl's purse

In all seriousness, I think we fall prey to how the media portrays gender roles in our culture. This is quite dangerous because it can lead to unrealistic expectations which in turn lead to disappointment and insecurity. This is why I decided to defy gender roles this summer and sleep on this bed ...

Take note of the following characteristics:

Winnie the Pooh bed cover
Pink thin blanket
Buzz LightYear sheets
Mickey Mouse body pillow
Plush baby bottle doll
Pillow with hearts and flowers

(this is actually my cousin's son's bed - which I stole from him for the summer)

How to get love and happiness

2008-06-25T07:22:00.007-04:00

Since so many of you have asked, I'm going to let you in on a secret: love and happiness can be bought on the internet ... and for a good discount! Here's the proof:

It's more than just happiness, but it's authentic happiness! 10% off on ebay, what a deal.

Even a better deal is true love, it's 15% off. How awesome is that? If you don't believe me, just go to live.com and search for yourself!

While we're on the subject of search, I've recently been suckered into signing up for Blingo - the search that gives away prizes. My crazy friend actually won 2 sets of movie tickets in the past year, so I'm going to try my luck too. Feel free to sign up yourself. That's all the news from the internet for now.

Robots vs. Dinosaurs

2008-06-18T08:57:00.009-04:00

Let's get real. The greatest threat to humanity right now is not nuclear holocaust or space invaders. It's a toss up between trans-human robots and killer dinosaurs. Here's a quick recap of the (very real) threats:

Dinosaurs (Go check out this mind-blowing article.)

Some crazy scientists have figured out how to "activate" hidden genes in chickens to trick them into growing dinosaur parts. Soon enough, there will hordes of dinosaurs running around out neighborhood eating up our children! Here's a quote from the lead scientist:

‘I have to admit that I’ve certainly imagined walking up on a stage to give a talk, and having a little dino chicken walk up behind me,’ he says, ‘That would be kind of cool. There is now nothing to stop us bringing back dinosaurs but ourselves.

The only way to prevent this from happening is if we eat all the chickens in the world before it's too late!

Robots (read this or watch this)

Another group of equally crazy scientists, who probably watched too many episodes of Battlestar Galactica, are trying to figure out a way to gain eternal life by downloading memories and uploading them into robot bodies. Simply put, they are trying to create Cylons!

Sandberg and his fellow transhumanists plan to bypass death by using technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), genetic engineering and nanotechnology to radically accelerate human evolution, eventually merging people with machines to make us immortal.

The article gets a little heavy at the end with the ethical issues, but it's still an interesting read. Even the new firefox3 hints at the imminent robot takeover (type "about:robots" in the address bar).

only in asia ...

2008-06-15T06:25:00.004-04:00

... do you get to buy these strange and interesting items:

First up we have snacks modeled after men and women items. Even if it's just marshmallow, why would anyone ever eat something like that? Would you eat poop-shaped chocolate?

Here we have something more practical: a tissue holder/dispenser. Unless you have an apartment with a really fobby decor, I'm not sure how you can pull this off.

if only the heart was this simple ...

2008-06-10T10:21:00.005-04:00

I happen to love praising God in song. So much so that if there's an organized choir in heaven, I would sign up the moment I get there and gladly worship for eternity. Wait ... scratch that. If the choir sings in a slug-like tempo and only to the accompaniment of a gigantic organ and prohibits any body movements such as clapping or swaying, then I'm totally out. Maybe I'll go sweep the golden streets or something.

Anyway, I visited an International Church in HK the other day and was introduced to some new songs. One in particular sticks out in my mind for a couple reasons. For one, it was completely ambiguous as to who we were actually singing to for the entire first verse:

"I'm falling, falling, falling in love with you. (x3)"

There were other words in the latter verses that clarifies that "you" refers to Jesus, but these are the only words I remember. I tried to search for the actual lyrics but only found secular love songs for obvious reasons. So that's not so exciting and borderline sketchy, but then the worship leader switched things up by singing that phrase in Chinese.

"我深深爱上你. (x3)"

Singing those two phrases in different languages back to back blew my mind. In English, the word falling gives you the imagery that someone is uncontrollably being sucked downward into love. Perhaps that's the reason why so many people in the West "wait" for love to happen to them, as if one day the ground under them will vanish and they'll fall down a precipice of love - a free fall in which they have no control over whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, that could and probably happens to a lot of people (just look at John Cusack in Serendipity). But in Chinese, the phrase "爱上你" has the character "上" which means "up" literally. So in some ways, loving someone has this upward imagery (at least to me) - as if you have to put work in and and climb skyward.

I'm no literary expert in Chinese or English, but having those two images juxtaposed against each other is powerful. Can one "fall" in love in one culture and "climb" into love in another? Do grammatical constructs change the way people perceive what love should be like? It's interesting how the two languages portray love so differently. In truth, there's a balance that needs to be struck down the middle. Love isn't something you just happen to trip over and fall into, and neither is it something that is devoid of chemistry and requires painstaking work constantly. All this just makes me wonder... am I falling in love with God, or climbing up to be in love with Him.

Heartbreak Hotel

2008-06-06T00:00:00.003-04:00

Since Rob and Jen just hooked up, I've decided to move my matchmake scheming to the Most Eligible Bachelor in RCCC (don't ask me why the website is still so ugly) ... Eric "mr. hot stuff" Han. But before we go into that, let's take a moment to analyze the fallout of Rob being taken off the market.

As many of you well know, Rob was featured in one of Eric's blog posts last month. His incredible Rockband vocal skills took the world by storm and he quickly became one of the most recognized and coveted bachelors in Central Jersey and beyond. Even I was not immune to Rob's quick rise to stardom:

me: "rob is now in a relationship"me: eric just said on rob's wall "you just broke thousands of girls hearts in the state of new jersey"

girl in oregon: and one in oregon

me: oh ... i knew it

you're in love with rob!

girl in oregon: im just using you

me: it's clearyou are USING me

girl in oregon: to get to Rob!

Let us take a moment to revisit Rob's debut single: The Rockband Remix:

I personally tear every time I watch that video. The ending is so dramatic that my heart flutters and I start fainting. Now that Rob is safely in Jen's arms (or the other way around), let's shift our focus on Eric. Here's a recent conversation I had with him:

Eric: hahaha, i think everybody already knows (rob and jen are dating) anyway
me: well i did publish it on my blog
Eric: yea they only read it because there's a link off my blog
you know, the popular one
me: right ... because the young college girls read it
Eric: and now they all know that rob is off the market
i'll be counseling them all week
me: yea a lot of hearts were broken
Eric: a pandemic of depression
me: you should swoop in and take advantage of the current situation

So there you have it, ladies. Forget about Rob and pay attention to Eric! He is young, single, and looking for an eligible young lady to woo and romance. Here's a picture of him under the cherry blossoms.

Feel free to leave testimonials and love notes for Eric here.

Neither hot nor cold

2008-06-05T12:55:00.006-04:00

I visited a small group bible study with my friend Jeanne tonight. Since it was my first time there, I seriously considered breaking out of my usual persona and instead adopt something crazier just for the summer. For some reason, I have always wanted to be the obnoxious one in a bible study, someone who asks random questions, goes off on tangents, offers unsolicited advice, promotes blasphemy ... you know, all the good stuff. Honestly it would just be entertaining to see how the leader will handle it, and even more interesting to see how much I will get away with.

sg leader: Our group is named 40 degrees. Does anyone want to guess why we're called that?

me: Because you guys strive to be lukewarm so God will spit you out of His mouth?

sg leader: ... the previous leader thought that it would be nice to be called 40 degrees because it's hot.

me: I'm pretty sure 40 degrees is lukewarm, maybe the last leader didn't know what he was talking about.

sg leader: everyone asks now and again, why not 100 degrees? why not 1000 degrees? I honestly am not sure.

me: yea, why do you blindly follow what people tell you to follow?

sg leader: ok let's get started on today's lesson.

I didn't actually say any of those things aloud, the rebellious side of me wish I had. Here's proof from the "Greeks" that 40 degrees is lukewarm. To the previous leader's credit, I think he was referring to air temperature - but that's besides the point. It's still a silly name.

i love doctors ...

2008-05-29T11:58:00.010-04:00

Since I am a full time student again, I no longer have spiffy health benefits with vision and dental plans. This means that every time I go for a checkup, I have to pay out of pocket and then starve myself for a week to make up for the difference. This is probably why I am extra irritable when I go to the doctor and am met by incompetence. If I'm being charged an arm and a leg for an eye examination, it should at least be professional ... hmph.

Strike #1
The receptionist asked me to fill out some forms. When I returned to the counter, she asked, "Where is Prudence?" She said as if she was monologuing - you could have substituted any moral descriptors in the sentence and think you were at a Shakespearean play. "oh where is courage? where is faith? where is love?" Amazingly, I knew exactly what she was talking about. She was referring to a patient who came in before me named Prudence (not the best name I know), who coincidentally has the same last name as me.

"I'm not related to Prudence. (for my own amusement) I know not prudence."
"Oh that's weird, you two have the same last name. I have never ever seen that before. wooow ... very weird. The same last name ..."
(lady, are you psyho? you work at an asian doctor's office and when I walked in there were six asian people waiting, how can you be surprised that two people who have the same last name come in one after another? I willing to bet that this happens at least 5 times a day.)

She still had a confused look on her face as I went back to my chair. Even now I can still hear her in my head screaming, "Prudence, are you here? Prudence?"

Strike #2

When my name was finally called, I was greeted by two korean nurses who were both at least a few years younger than I was. They were both young and was probably working there for the summer, the look of inexperience was so obvious on their faces. They both liked to giggle and smile because they kept doing it over and over for the next 5 minutes when they were with me. Maybe I had something in my hair or something, I'm not sure what was so funny.

I gave my glasses to the younger girl to have it checked, she looked at me and the glasses then asked, "Are these bifocals?" I was so shocked by what she said I started laughing, followed by a string of no's. She was embarrassed and blushed a little, "I meant the progressive ones, we have to ask just to make sure." I raised my eye brows slightly and replied, "Right, of course."

The slightly older nurse asked me to sit in front of an eye machine and put my chin on the device. She then proceeded to adjust the knobs to get the scope to line up to my eye and was unsuccessful for a good three minutes. It was obvious that the scope pointing to my nose and not my eye, but she kept wondering why I couldn't see anything. Another minute passed and she started asking me questions ...

"Why is it so low?
"Do you know why this isn't working?"
"ahh why doesn't this work?"

After a few whimpers from the older one, the other girl came to her rescue. She had the bright idea of adjusting the chin rest ...

"Why don't we move your chin up higher?"
"The scope is pointing at my nose, are you sure you want to raise my chin higher?"

She pretended not to hear me and proceeded to adjust the position. About 10 seconds into executing her master plan, she realized it accomplished exactly the opposite of what she wanted.

"Hmm ... let's move it down instead."
(with my sarcastic voice) "Now that's a much better idea!"

Strike #3
The doctor was a relatively young korean doctor, he didn't have a ring on so he was probably single. I would dare say that he was good looking, maybe that's why the two young nurses loved working there so much. When he was examining my eyes, he kept leaning close to me to adjust the lenses. - which was normal. The strange thing was that he kept brushing his leg against mine. Initially, I thought he was doing it by accident. But when he kept on doing it, I started to get weirded out. Even though it wasn't a sensual kind of touch, it was still weird that a guy is rubbing his knee against mine.

"Can I adjust the chair? Your leg is rubbing against mine."
"Oh sorry."

Now that was awkward ... needless to say, I'm never going back there again.

Rain vs. Colbert

2008-05-24T20:05:00.003-04:00

This is one of the most hilarious clips I've seen in awhile.

Stephen Colbert from the Colbert Report and Korean Pop star Rain have a longstanding rivalry ever since last year. The two have have fought over the top spot in Time Magazine's "Top 50 Most Influential People" and have been trash talking each other back and forth. If you have a few minutes to spare, you should go here and catch up on the news.

If you don't have the time, just watch the video. It'll be worth your time.

Quote of the Day

2008-05-23T15:13:00.004-04:00

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from the perturbations of love is Hell."

C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves

Strange Jesus Merchandise

2008-05-21T01:43:00.010-04:00

Deluxe Jesus Action Figure

Miracle Eyes Jesus Sculpture

Stuff like this really freaks me out. I can't imagine what you can do with a Jesus action figure. Do you let your kids play with the Son of God alongside G.I. Joe and Barbie? Would action figure Jesus give his five loaves and two fish to feed little ponies? And what's up with the glow-in-the-dark hands?

Strange Dreams

2008-05-15T13:44:00.003-04:00

I fell asleep last night with the impression that I can never be a good criminal. I had just wasted many hours of my life playing Grand Theft Auto 4 and kept failing on this one very difficult mission. For those of you who don't know what GTA4 is, it's a game where you play as bad guy who goes around killing other crooks and drug dealers. It's a pretty morally messed up game, some people even call it a murder simulator. I only play it so I can prove to tell myself that I can never be a crook.

Onto my strange dream ... I was outside playing basketball with my friends when a young kid walked over to where we left our stuff and started rummaging through it. Ironically, our "stuff" consisted of a pile of machine guns and Uzi's ... since that's how we roll here in the hood. There were probably some drugs in there too but I couldn't tell from a distance. Then all of a sudden one of my friends screamed, "everyone GET DOWN!" The little girl apparently had picked up an Uzi and started waving it around like a wand, pointing it at us while laughing her head off. Now that I think about it, where did she come from, where were her irresponsible parents?!?

Anyhow, I was lying prone on the ground when the girl started shooting. I held my friend's head down while wondering what was going to happen next. Then out of nowhere I heard sirens from a distance, and seconds later swarms of cops surrounded us. Chaos ensues and I woke up at the sound of gunshots (someone had texted me and woke me up).

I'm still not sure if there's any redeeming value to this story. If you figure out any, let me know.

Hitchhiker's Guide to Preschool

2008-05-14T00:01:00.003-04:00

A strange thing happened to me a few weeks ago.

I was driving to dinner and was stopped at a traffic light when a lady started walking toward my car. As soon as I noticed this, I secretly wished that the light would immediately turn green. After all, isn't it a sin to be late for dinner? When I realized that the light wasn't changing any time soon, I reluctantly rolled down my window while wishing that she would just leave me alone.

- are you busy right now?
- well I'm driving to dinner, what do you need?
- can you drive me to pick up my son at preschool?

It sounded harmless enough ... driving a mom to pick up her son at school. Then again, I have seen this scenario play out in horror movies and nothing good ever happens to the stupid driver who picks up hitchhikers. At that moment of conflict, the words of this song came to me. After a bit of processing, I knew that the decision boiled down to one simple question: is my fear of being taken advantage of and the inconvenience of losing time greater than my willingness to help one in need?

I asked her how far the school was and let her into my car. The conversation started out normally, but when she asked me the same questions over and over again, I became a little nervous. Things didn't get better when I asked her where the preschool was, all she said was "My son's name is Israel, and his name means peace." (which I knew wasn't true) To top that off, she told me that she was legally blind and had failed her driving test 5 times.

There was a point when I thought I was being duped, but fortunately for me, she wasn't lying. The preschool did exist and she really had a son is actually named Israel. However, the fun wasn't over just yet. On the way home, with Israel buckled in my backseat, she said she had something important to tell me.

-Can I hold your hand?
- What? You want to hold my hand?
- Yea, can I hold you hand?
- ehhh ... I'm driving, I think it'll be rather dangerous if I hold your hand. Why would you want to hold someone's hand in the first place?
- I'm half Indian and half Puerto Rican, in my culture that's normal.

After I refused her several more times, she suddenly reached over and grabbed my left hand! (You might have to imagine this a little, but I usually drive with my right hand on the wheel and resting the other on my leg) So there I was, holding hands with a strange woman while her 4 year old son is in my back seat. I tried to gracefully let go but she wouldn't have it, she held on to my lifeless hand with both of hers and kept talking as if nothing abnormal was going on. She then said ...

- By holding your hand, I can now read you?
-(did I pick up a cult member? or is she demon possessed?) What can you read?
- I can see that you are a student, that you love your mom, that you're gentle, sensitive ...

I don't remember what I was thinking at that point, all I wanted to do was to drive her and her son back to her house as soon as possible before she casts a spell and turns me into a frog. She probably held on to my hands for a good 5 minutes before we got back to her house. And when we arrived, she tried to convince me that she was a really good artist and that she wanted to show me her paintings. I told her that I was already late to dinner and had to sadly pass up her offer. Then I drove away a bit shaken but thankful that I was still alive.

So what's the moral of the story? Always drive with both hands on the wheel!

A Sign of Things to Come

2008-05-13T14:02:00.006-04:00

Surely We Can Change
by David Crowder

And the problem is this
We were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned
Even when it wasn’t hit

And I don’t know
What to do with a love like that
And I don’t know
How to be a love like that

When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do

Where there is pain
Let there be grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Help them be brave
Where there is misery
Bring expectancy
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Something

And the problem it seems
Is with you and me
Not the Love who came
To repair everything

Where there is pain
Let us bring grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Let us be brave
Where there is misery
Let us bring them relief
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Oh surely we can change
Something

Oh, the world’s about to change
The whole world’s about to change

Restoring some faith in the Democractic process ...

2007-08-01T01:44:00.001-04:00

I am a cynic when it comes to our government and its leaders. With all the scandals, corruption probes, election sideshows ... who can blame me, right? I am sure religiously watching "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" doesn't help either. (tangent: have you seen the Colbert and Rain segment? It's hilarious!)

Last August, Senator Robert Menendez sent me a couple responses (part 1, part 2) to the letters I wrote him about the Dafur Genocide. When I read the letters, I thought they were just typical propaganda letters used solely to get my vote. I even poked fun at him for using his interns to write really bad replies. Today I stand corrected.

It really surprised me when I found out from NPR that Menendez is actually one of the strong supporters for stopping the genocide at Dafur. He even openly criticized the watered-down peacekeeping resolution the Senate is trying pass for the region. When I heard that audio clip, I almost felt proud, as if my letters actually accomplished something. This will probably boost my morale for our government for a month. Hopefully I'll use it to get more involved in our governmental process by getting my voice heard instead of running away from it in disgust.

Check out this site - they rate senators on how pro-dafur they are. Menendez actually gets an A+ ... who would've known?

Modern Tibetan Monks ...

2007-07-21T00:51:00.000-04:00

There's a 40 year old Tibetan monk sitting next to me. He's not meditating, not praying, not chanting. If it weren't for his robes, I wouldn't be able to tell him apart from everyone else in this Internet cafe. His face is about a foot from the computer screen, his eyes intently focused on episodes of Naruto that he's been watching for the past hour.

I am not an expert of Tibetan Buddhism, and my stereotypes of Tibetan monks are probably very backwards - but who would have thought that monks spend hours on end at an Internet cafe watching anime. Hmm ... he's actually watching some other Chinese movie now, so maybe this is some sort of video marathon he's putting himself through.

More serious thoughts on Tibetan Buddhism later ... must make it back home alive first.

Every Nation ...

2007-07-01T13:13:00.001-04:00

... tribe, people and language, standing before the throne ... (rev 7:9)

That's exactly how it's like here at CM2007! Just being able to meet and talk to people from all around the globe has been amazing. Where can you talk with an African about the ministries in their country one minute, then literally turn around and hear stories about how God is moving in Ukraine?

The highlight of the day is definitely the Korean led prayer seminar. There's just something special about Koreans and their passion and commitment to prayer. But it's definitely not just the Koreans who have a heart for prayer though ... today I found myself surrounded by people from all nations, praying for each other, crying out to God for mercy and revival for our generation. I paused in amazement when I heard the HK people on my right, the Koreans on my left, the Russians behind me, the Africans and Indians in front of me - all of them praying in their native tongues, earnestly yearning for God to use us to do a great work in this world.

What a beautiful picture of what it will be like in the future ...

No Longer in The Zone ...

2007-06-27T11:34:00.000-04:00

Here are some highlights from the past few days:

1) Friends - even though everyone is a bit different these days, it's great to catch up and reminisce about the old times.

2) Crazy taxi rides - there was one time a bus was about to push us into the highway divider, somehow everything was ok - the typical taxi ride.

3) Kiddies in split pants - how come their butts are purple? It's great when the parents just squat their kids on the side of the road and make them poop.

4) Bottles of toilet water - probably the worst marketing ploy or the worst translation ever.

5) Cake! Hmm ... it should really say "Welcome back!" rather than "Welcome Baok!"

T.I.C.

2007-06-23T10:46:00.000-04:00

It has been two years since I last stepped foot in this country. In some respect, things have really changed - new buildings, new shops, more western amenities, a booming capitalist economy. But as much as these changes make westerners feel less out of place in a foreign culture, there’s no escape from some of the craziness that goes on here.

Today I made a pilgrimage back to a familiar place. Having not slept much the past few nights, I made the rookie mistake of purchasing “hard seat” train tickets when I could have easily bought “soft seat” ones. Unless you’ve experienced the train system for yourself, you probably won’t understand how much of a difference one US dollar makes on your riding experience.

I fought through a sea of people to reach my assigned seat, only to find that two people squeezed into the seat I had paid for. Being the mean person that I am, I kicked them off and attempted to take a nap with my earphones on. In the middle of the trip, the guy next to me taps my shoulder to wake me up, saying …

man: young man, I recommend you take those earphones off
Me: (a bit taken back that he just woke me up to give unsolicited advice) why?
man: HOW can you not understand the most ELEMENTARY of explanations?
Me: huh?
man: listening to music like that will mess with your brain wave. You won’t be able to think and it will destroy your brain cells. Don’t you get headaches when you listen to music?
me: no, I feel fine
man: take it off for an hour, and tell me if it doesn’t help …
me: (takes my ear phones off – secretly wishing if I took then off, he would stop talking to me)
man: am I right, or am I right?
me: yes, you make a lot of sense …

The Real Adventure ...

2007-06-21T06:45:00.000-04:00

starts now!

I just spent my last day in HK and am now wandering around the mainland by myself: alone but free. The motherland greeted me with a short rain shower as if to baptize me back into the land of bicycles, crazy taxi drivers, cheap food, vicious old ladies who have no concept of waiting in line, hot bath and saunas ... etc

It feels nice to be back, if only for a short few days.

Rain & Sky

2007-06-16T22:00:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was the first day in a week that I actually saw the blue sky in Hong Kong. It's incredible how much it rains here during typhoon season, but what's more incredible is that it only rains when I'm walking under the open sky without an umbrella. I think the rain is playing a game with me ... and I'm definitely losing.

Apparently I am also losing my HK-nese aura. Sometimes people would first speak to me in Cantonese, then after they take take a harder glance at me, they would start speaking English or Mandarin! Isn't that weird? I guess I am looking more and more foreign each day ...

Even though I find it a bit strange and slightly insulting, that's the reality of things though. Honestly I don't think I can stand too much of this tacky asian-subculture. There are definite things that I love about HK (food, family, asian snacks ... etc), but then again there are things that are wildly irritating.

I think HK is just one a big social experiment. Think about it: let's toss 7 million people in a small island+tiny peninsular with soaring real estate prices and an overly competitive job market, where people are confused whether they are Chinese or Hong Kongnese because they are tossed back into Communist rule after 99 years of democratic Western governance. Add a little bit of Korean and Japanese cultural influence and then you'll get some weird results.

The Motherland ...

2007-06-12T05:41:00.001-04:00

There is a perpetual haze that hovers over the city, constantly threatening to pour acid rain down upon us. I have been back for only two days and I have been caught in a torrential downpour both days. You might think that I'm not a very quick learner, but let me tell you a secret ... I actually like the rain. Especially in this type of hot and humid weather, a sudden thunderstorm here and there is really a gift more than anything.

It hasn't been that hard adjusting to the climate, other than the fact that I'm a living ball of sweat whenever I have to go out in the afternoon. I just don't understand how people wear those really fitting (tight) jeans and run around like it's winter time. I'd bet that they are all sweating profusely underneath, and maybe they use a sweat absorbent material in the inseams.

Now that I'm officially unemployed, I'll have more time to think and write, hopefully I'll get all my thoughts sorted out soon enough so I can blog again.

The Tank Man

2007-05-23T13:25:00.000-04:00

"After all others had been silenced, his lonely act of defiance against the Chinese regime amazed the world. What became of him? And 17 years later, has China succeeded in erasing this event from its history?"

June 4th, 1989 changed my life.

As a young boy I watched the coverage on TV, thinking that it was cool that there were so many tanks and soldiers. I'm not sure why the chaos and the blood didn't bother me, perhaps I was just too young to really grasp the significance of the Tiananmen Massacre.

When I lived in East Asia a couple of years ago, I remember talking to some college students about Chinese history and the Communist government. I was shocked when I found out that they had no idea what actually happened. They told me that they were taught by the teachers that only a handful of people were injured, that the People's Republic Army went to stop the violence, that it was no big deal.

It would be an even greater tragedy if the Communist government succeeds in erasing this event from their history. The people has a right to know what really happened ... do you know? If not, go watch this.

A Different World

2007-05-22T18:42:00.001-04:00

I used to think that if I tried hard enough, I can understand how someone's mind works.

I was wrong.

There are too many people out there who I simply don't get. Most of the time I can make sense out of it why someone would do this or say that ... even if I wouldn't react the same way, I can at least understand the logic behind their actions.

But then there are these people who make ridiculous statements or do really nonsensical things. I guess people are just irrational in general ... I just need to admit that and live on.

Don't Save Your Receipts ...

2007-05-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

You can learn a lot about a person by just looking at the receipts in his/her wallet. Take mine for example - gas station, gas station, supermarket, quiznos, train ticket to NYC, movie stub, chinese food, bank withdraw, gas station, hallmark store, quiznos, supermarket. If you haven't figured out how to interpret this, here are some pointer:

1) Definitely a commuter, who else needs to pump gas that frequently?
2) Probably don't bring lunch to work - and happens to eat a lot of quiznos
3) Supermarket for cough drops?
4) Watched Spiderman at 430pm on a Friday? Wait ... isn't Friday a work day?
5) Has $27.013434 left in his checking account balance - he's poor!

I could go on and on but you get my drift. At least there wasn't a receipt for lingerie, now that would be embarrassing.

Just like how receipts can paint a picture (however incomplete) of a person's life, the actions that we take can speak volumes about what we believe in. I've actually been quite bothered by this for the past few weeks ... I can't understand how we can spend so much time talking about things like ice-cream, dating, sports, or even poop but we never talk about things that matter. As leaders of the ministry, should we not spend more time praying and caring for people? Should we not concern ourselves with serving the community and witnessing to those around us? If so, why do most of us (myself included) just sit on our butts and just go with the flow?!?

Faith without works is dead. Convictions without action is useless. It's time to act!
James 2:18

If 1 Is The Loneliest, Then What's 26?

2007-05-14T01:46:00.000-04:00

Every year it grows bigger and bigger. When you're young, you happily embrace these annual additions, but after 20 some years, the appeal is really losing steam. 18 is important (vote), 21 is special (alcohol), 25 is a milestone (quarter century) ... but anything after that? What are we striving toward anymore? The fact that it has reached 26 scares me more than I let on externally.

Comparison is a dangerous game. Perhaps spending the weekend with my married-and-having-kids friends wasn't such a good idea. How can you but feel just a little ... behind?

Perspective is key though. There are tons of people out there who thinks 26 is small number - that the world of opportunities is just starting to open up. And that's EXACTLY what I believe too of course!

Exciting things are going to happen this year ...

The Silk Road!

2007-05-09T00:03:00.000-04:00

Exciting things are brewing in my little world: choosing between business schools, planning summer adventures, going to friends' weddings and my sister's graduation ... so many things to look forward to, but yet I feel a bit sad that this chapter of my life is coming to a close.

The center piece of my summer plans is to travel a portion of the silk road. Two and a half weeks of craziness, I can't wait! Since my friend is doing most of the planning, I really have no idea what to expect at all. I guess this is where faith in your friends comes in handy. As long as I don't get jumped and killed by desert bandit, I think I'll be happy. Can you imagine me using my crappy Chinese to communicate with the locals? Yeah, it'll definitely be an adventure.

Alright I'm going to get myself in the habit of blogging regularly ... no promises, but we'll see what happens.

I HATE Ken!

2007-04-03T16:55:00.000-04:00

[look closely at what's engraved on the rock next to me - my friends(?) made me pose there]

In the past few weeks, I have come to the sad realization that there are people out there who hate me at first sight. Perhaps the word hate is a bit too strong ... dislike might be more accurate. For example, this happened to me this past weekend when I was visiting DC.

(Sunday Morning: 10am @ McDonald's)

me: Can I please get a #10 please? (the mcGriddle AKA death by breakfast)
lady: Okay anything else?
me: Can I please get juice instead of coffee for my drink?
lady: You don't get no drink with #10.
me: What comes with the meal then?
lady: (pauses for a moment) You get your choice of coffee, tea, or juice.
me: (raising my eyebrow just a tad out of confusion) ehh ... ok, I'll just have coffee. Does the meal come with anything else?
lady: nope.
me: Can I please get a hash brown then?
lady: Another one?
me: What?
lady: You already get a hash brown with your meal.
me: (very confused at this point, but was overcome by my love of hashbrowns. took a glance at the menu, noticed a hash brown costs $1.34) Yes, I want another one.
lady: okkkkkkkay ...

[15 minutes later]

(My friend Simon comes back from purchasing another hash brown - he loves them too)
friend 1: oh you got 2 of them.
simon: yea, they were 2 for $1!
me: what?!? the lady never told me that.
friend 2: they don't tell you their deals.
simon: when I went up to buy one, she told me it was 2 for $1
me: ... ... ...

Me Me Me!

2007-03-23T10:31:00.000-04:00

Well, they say that guys are visual beings ... the more detailed version is here

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

First Day of Spring

2007-03-21T19:20:00.000-04:00

Today is the vernal equinox, marking the triumph of light over darkness. Starting today, the day will be longer than the night, which means that everyone who suffers from seasonal depression will start getting progressively happier. Whee!

I'm still not sure how to bridge this culture/generation gap with my parents. It's good that they are learning more about how to use the computer, but the opportunity for miscommunication is just incredible. This morning I put the message "the fever starts today" on my googletalk. When I got home, my Dad told me to take some medicine. When I asked him why, he said that my Mom had told him that I'm getting sick from a fever ...

I guess my parents still don't understand what spring fever means.

Valley of Vision

2007-03-20T17:21:00.000-04:00

In the Valley

When You lead me to the valley of vision
I can see You in the heights
And though my humbling wouldn't be my decision
It's here Your glory shines so bright
So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown
To be low is to be high
That the valley's where You make me more like Christ

Let me find Your grace in the valley
Let me find Your life in my death
Let me find Your joy in my sorrow
Your wealth in my need
That You're near with every breath
In the valley

In the daytime there are stars in the heavens
But they only shine at night
And the deeper that I go into darkness
The more I see their radiant light
So let me learn that my losses are my gain
To be broken is to heal
That the valley's where Your power is revealed

The Track

2007-03-19T20:15:00.000-04:00

I feel like I'm running in circles.

Week after week I follow the same routine, repeating the same mindless tasks that I know ultimately are without meaning. Slowly I'm sapped of my physical vigor, my emotion fervor, and my spiritual zeal. I'm tired of this ... does anyone else out there know there's so much more to life than fun and games?

We have but one life to live, let us not get stuck in this suburban mediocrity.

We need to live like we believe in παλιγγενεσία.

songs of narnia

2007-02-18T20:23:00.000-05:00

A couple scenes from this weekend's youth retreat where I was a small group leader:

me: hey, so what did you guys learn at the workshops this afternoon?
kids: tons of stuff
me: which workshops did you go to?
kid: the songs of solomon one
me: what did you get out of that?
kid1: well, the language was kinda weird, but it's good to know the historical basis for it
kid2: yea, there's this one part with the fauns
kid1: yup - fauns: half human, half donkey
me: what?
kid1: you know, like Mr. Tumnus - half human, half donkey
me: ... ... ...

(15 minutes later - walking to dinner)

kid3: yo, you know that part about the horse woman?
kid4: yea, it's kinda weird that she looks like a horse
me: ehh ... you know she doesn't really look like a horse, right?

Fish ...

2007-02-02T10:24:00.000-05:00

This is one of the most interesting articles I have read this week. There are so many quotable lines from the article that I dare not spoil it for you. Alright I lied, if I don't put quotes here, you'll never click on the article.

Here, women propose marriage and men can't refuse "I had no feelings for her," said Nananghe, now 65.

"Then when I ate this meal, it was like lightning. I wanted only her."

"It's women who do the asking, and once they have, men are powerless to say no."

"I learned the hard way that here, a man never approaches a woman," he says.

Death by Cellphone

2007-01-22T11:47:00.000-05:00

I don't smoke, but after reading this article, maybe I'm doing something just as bad for my heath.

Using my cellphone still hurts my head. I'm afraid that when I go get a physical checkup, my doctor will tell me I have a terminal brain tumor and die within the year. Yea, I'm such the pessimist.

Don't tell me that I didn't warn you.

Farewell 2006!

2006-12-31T22:53:00.000-05:00

People do strange things.

On the one day in the year when I have a valid excuse to stay up all night, I left a party early and came home to sleep. My parents are out partying, my sister is out partying, but I came home to get some down time.

I think I'm officially old, who the heck sleeps before midnight on new year's eve? I wish I didn't have to tire myself out so much these past few week, but I really have no choice. It's all over soon though, no matter how crappy things turn out, at least I'll be able to relax and find myself again.

Ok, old man has to hit the sack now. Farewell 2006, I'll miss you much.

Great ... I Write Like a Woman!

2006-12-29T12:51:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon this website that tries to guess which gender you are depending on a writing sample you submit. It's supposedly based on an algorithm developed by a very intelligent Israeli researcher who have worked years studying empirical data. Frankly, I think it's a piece of junk, because it tells me that I write like a woman ... not that there's anything wrong with writing like a woman of course, but I'm a MAN!

As you guys probably know, I've been spending every waking hour writing these lovely essays for the past couple weeks. When I put my writing samples for testing, it almost always comes back telling me I'm a woman! I took a couple blog entries and still ... it tells me that I write like a woman.

It's ok though, I felt a lot better after submitting some writing samples from famous people.

Robert Frost's famous poem says that he's a woman too. John Donne - he's a woman too. Even my extreme-sledding buddy Matt is a woman. Hmm ... maybe it's not so bad to write like a woman after all.

P.S - YES! I wrote like a MAN in this blog entry! HAHA!

I'm Losing my Mind ...

2006-12-20T15:44:00.000-05:00

Stumble into the office at 8:30am
Wanted to drink tea
Loaded the green tea pod into the coffee machine
Pressed the brew button
Walked to my desk and took off my coat
Walked back to the machine
Looked for my tea
IT'S NOT THERE
"who stole my tea?!?!?"
Tried to find the evil culprit
Looked for my tea again
Realized I never put a cup to catch the tea
"DOH! That was really stupid!"

Priorities

2006-12-14T22:56:00.000-05:00

This is what I've been struggling with for the past month ...

My Christmas Wish

2006-12-11T13:29:00.000-05:00

This has got to be the coolest idea ever! I admit that it's not entirely original, as we've seen this in countless futuristic movies before. But to be fair, if KZ can actually pull it off, it would be amazing. I think I would want to move there and eat some goat cheese ... ehh ... maybe not.

So, for those of you who are in the business of fulfilling Christmas wishes. That won't be you, Santa, because I know you're not real, which means you probably won't be really this anyway. ... all I really want for Christmas is that we have this dome thing cover the 5-mile radius around my house. That's not too big of a wish, is it? I think I've been good this year.

Well, if this summer dome thing is possible, then wouldn't they be able to do a winter dome where they reflect most of the heat from sunlight and make an ever-winter-land? Sounds like a wonderful idea to me. Think about it, one hour you could be snowboarding down the mountain and then the next hour you can swim on the beach. Sounds a bit too amazing ... which means it will never happen. Oh well ...

Stuffing Your Car

2006-12-07T14:36:00.000-05:00

In light of recent events, I have decided to stock up my car in case of an emergency. Here are some things I plan to buy for my car:

1) A lighter - just in case I need to start a fire
2) Map & Compass - I'll keep going south until I get out of the cold
3) Bottles of water - Wouldn't want to die from thirst
4) Protein bars - yummy and tons of energy
5) Flares - if I don't use it for an emergency signal, it'll be used to kill bears
6) Candles - i'm afraid of the dark (ok not really)
7) An axe - so I can chop down trees and have firewood
8) A blanket - buuuurrrr i hate the cold
9) A big sword - just in case other animals attack
10) A whistle - so people will know where I am

OK I think that's enough for now. Am I missing anything?

Farewell Mr. Kim ...

2006-12-07T14:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a sad day. I found out that the senior editor of CNET, a website I frequently visit, died after stranded on a wilderness Oregon road for a week. James Kim and his family were on their way home from Thanksgiving vacation when their car got stuck in the snow. Basically the family were stranded in the cold for a whole week before rescuers found them. And by that time James Kim had ventured out on foot to find help ... read more about it here.

The Story Highlights
• Body of 35-year-old James Kim found about half mile from car
• Wednesday night autopsy for father found dead in Oregon wilderness
• He walked eight miles in rough terrain to get help for his stranded family
• Kati Kim and daughters had also set out on foot when they were found

Farewell Mr. Kim, it's rather sad to see you go. I used to watch you on CNET and often wondered how you can have such a big mole on your face but look rather cool - in the geeky kinda way. Go watch the tribute here.

Lies!

2006-12-06T12:31:00.000-05:00

An article was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute earlier this week claiming that using cellphone do not increase the risk of cancer or other diseases.

I say that's a BIG FAT LIE.

I am not a research scientist but I know things are bad for me when it makes my head hurt. Whenever I use cellphones for a prolonged period of time, I always get this ringing inside my head. It hurts my brain, I can practically feel my brain cells dying! Those bluetooth headsets don't help either, they do the same thing - decimating my braincell count every fleeting moment.

Sigh .. it's sad but technology has almost completely destroyed my genius. As long as you never ask me to fix your computer or do your differential equations HW for you, I think I'll be just fine =)

“People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.” - Calvin & Hobbes.

Love Until it Hurts ....

2006-12-04T22:21:00.000-05:00

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. – Mother Teresa

"Love until it hurts." This is a phrase my college friends and I often use to encourage each other. There was a point when we realized that our understanding of love was just too shallow. We found that the closer we got to each other, the harder it was to love without prejudice. What else could you expect ? When masks come off, when past hurts are revealed, when hidden sins are brought to light ... would our human love be enough?

Mother Teresa was a great role model for us. Her sacrificial service to the unwanted, unloved, and uncared for inspired millions around the globe to combat social evils in their communities. In my mind, what sets her apart is her full embrace of the brokenness around her. Never once did she shy away from living and serving among the rejected in our society. At a time when mainstream media brainwashes us to compulsively satisfy our every selfish desire, Mother Teresa went to places where she would experience much brokenness and pain. It is this type of countercultural lifestyle and the example that she led that shaped me into the person I am today.

It is refreshing to look at Mother Teresa’s example of sacrificial love in light of today’s consumerist culture. In a society where personal comfort takes priority over services of social compassion and mercy, Mother Teresa gives us a new perspective on how we ought to live. Her words fittingly capture the essence of genuine love – that no matter the cost or the pain, genuine love just keeps on loving ... unconditionally.

Yummy Food

2006-11-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

You Are Thai Food

Trendy yet complex.
People seek you out - though they're not sure why.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Save Me!

2006-11-09T11:30:00.000-05:00

Wow, has it really been 3 weeks since my last post? Where has the time gone? Traveling around so much certainly doesn't help, but who cares now that I'm back.

Some people think up great ideas for new inventions, some people ... don't. Here's a Russian guy who came up with the genius idea of putting a panic button inside a coffin. YES! A panic button! So just in case you decided to take a long nap and people mistakenly thought you were dead, you can alert your friends to dig you back up.

This is a must for people who believe in the literal bodily resurrection. Wouldn't it just suck if you resurrected but found yourself buried under six feet of dirt in a coffin? I think they should put a cup holder and a TV in there too - you never know how long it'll take for your friends to dig you up.

Word of the Day

2006-10-21T09:30:00.000-04:00

Shoutout to everting for informing me of this ... I am dictionary.com's Word of the Day! Did you know that my name means all of those things? I'd bet you did! Feel free to use my name in any creative sentences you can think of. Best submission gets a personally baked loaf of banana bread from yours truly.

Word of the Day: Ken
October 20th, 2006

ken \KEN\, noun:

1. Perception; understanding; knowledge.
2. The range of vision.
3. View; sight.

He was to make several important discoveries, the most significant being that infantile paralysis was caused not by germs, as cerebrospinal meningitis had been, but by a mysterious agent just then emerging into the ken of science.
-- James Thomas Flexner, Maverick's Progress

So we are predisposed -- if not preprogrammed -- to accept tales of animals who display human motives, understanding, reason, and intentions. It takes a far greater imagination to conceive the possibility that a dog's mental life may assume a form that is simply beyond our ken.
-- Stephen Budiansky, If a Lion Could Talk

Libussa, the youngest, particularly beautiful, unworldly and serious, was able to see what was hidden from other people's ken and to prophesy.
-- Peter Demetz, Prague in Black and Gold

Ken is from Middle English kennen, from Old English cennan, "to declare, to make known."

He Stole My Idea!

2006-10-18T04:37:00.000-04:00

This guy totally stole my awesome idea: Picture Search! I had this idea a couple years ago and was going to tell google to implement this feature. How cool would it be to be able to search for a picture by sketching it on the screen? Too bad that this guy stole my idea ... evil evil person! Fortunately for me, it seems like the implemention just isn't very good right now, take a look:

Does the picture that I drew look more like the actual picture:

or this one?

Hmm ... a big cookie for anyone who can actually get the search to return you the correct picture. Oh yea, some Thailand picture here.

A Strange Yet Familar Place

2006-10-14T13:36:00.000-04:00

Bangkok is a crazy place. Busy streets, little cars, cheap food, huge shopping malls ... I would be overwhelmed if it were my first time here.

Random thoughts:

1) There are languages that are melodious and pleasing to the ear, Thai is not one of them! I can listen to someone speak Korean, French, and Mandarin all day long, but Thai drives me crazy.

2) Thailand is a spiritually dark place. There are temples at every street corner and hordes of people worshipping idols everywhere. You can feel that something is off ... there's darkness everywhere.

3) Food is so good and cheap here! I had an amazing chocolate banana crepe today among other things. This probably means I'll end up a couple pounds heavier when I leave in a week.

4) All Thai girls wear tons of make up. I am not sure why, but everyone has an inch of powder on their faces at all times. Maybe this way the transvestite can blend in a little easier.

5) Bangkok is a dangerous place. Whenever you walk around at night and see a group of scantily clad girls roaming about the street corner on stilletos, you know something is seriously wrong. Careful careful.

6) It's disgusting to see ~~old white guys~~ foreigners walking down the street with some half-naked young Thai girl in his arms. What's sad is that it's pretty normal here, half of Bangkok is the red light district.

More random thoughts later. I better get to bed to counteract the jet-lag.

Far and Away ...

2006-10-13T15:02:00.000-04:00

I AM TIRED! It's 5am at home and 6pm here at Toyko. In another two hours I'm going to hop on another plane to fly to Bangkok. From what I can tell, I'm either incredibly tired or incredibly awake. I'm at the border between delirium and lucidity and don't know which side I am stepping into. For all I know none of this will make sense later, but heck who cares, I'm in Toyko ... no one understands me anyway.

One of the benefits of being stuck on a plane is that you have a lot of time to think. And a mind is a dangerous thing, you never want it to wander off too far into the deep end, especially when you're in delirium.

I thought about how awesome it would be if I could fly, how different life would be if I were far away from home again - living another adventure, how sad it would be if my friends and family were taken away from me, how empty I would feel inside if I lived in a world where no one understands me. I wondered how life would like if I were on an episode of LOST along with the people on the plane with me. Think about how strange it would be to fight "the others" with a horde of Japanese people ...

Okay I'm definitely delirious and can't think straight. I need to go walk around and clear my head ... I wish you were here with me.

The Biggest Loser ...

2006-10-04T23:04:00.000-04:00

is me.

I never thought that this day would come. But sadly, we all have to accept the hard cold truth some time in life.

Did you see that? I'm OVERWEIGHT! Lately people have been reminding me that I look bigger now than a year ago. They have good reason though; livings in East Asia for 2 years starved me, so I was a good 15 lbs lighter a year ago, but now I'm OVERWEIGHT!

I turned on the TV last night and saw the saddest show in the world: The Biggest Loser. It's so horrible on so many levels that I don't even want to start talking about it here. (notice that one of the contestants is named Ken.) Ok honestly, I wouldn't be posting this if I really have a problem with my weight. Fine, I still want to weigh less, but I don't think I'm fat or have a poor body image.

With that said, it's a real tragedy that people are so pressured by our society to be skinny. The media really messed this one up big time, all the women in the world want to be thin, and even guys are getting into the fray these days. I wish that everyone can be happy with exactly how they look. So what you were born with a bigger body build, does that make you less of a person? NO. Does that make you less beautiful? NO. Does that mean you will never find someone to love you? NO!

Check this article out on the thin pill.

P.S. - "It is possible to be overweight but not having too much fat, especially for those with a large muscle mass from body building or other muscle building exercises." <-- yup, that's me

Public Service Reminder!

2006-09-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

Another Mail Story ...

2006-09-27T14:01:00.000-04:00

3 years and 2 months. That's how long one of my letters was lost in the United States Postal Service!

I had sent out my first prayer letter in August 2003 and one of them just got sent back to me last night. It probably got stuck under a big box somewhere and never found its way out of the post office until now ... how sad.

It was fun to read that letter again though. It made reminisce about my two STINT years and how much I learned about God and myself. I would go into more details but I wouldn't want to bore you. So read the letter if you have a spare moment. And if you're really bored, there are 15 other letters out there, documenting my two years overseas. Go and find them, it shouldn't be too hard.

Look What I Got in the Mail ... (Part 2)

2006-09-20T23:30:00.000-04:00

Look!!! I got another letter from my Senator.

Mr. Menedez (or his interns) probably read my blog and found out how much I detested his last letter, so he (or his interns) decided to write me another one to appease me enough so I'll vote for him in November.

It's interesting how this letter read very differently from the previous one. Notice all the action verbs in the past tense:

I have supported "blah blah blah"
I have routinely worked to improve "blah blah some amazing cause"
I also supported "blah blah legislation"
I joined in "a blah blah effort to do blah blah"
I co-sponsored "blah blah ... ladida"

Yea, you don't really have to read the letter, it basically repeats itself over and over again. It reminds me of a little boy trying to convince his parents he did all these good things so his parents would allow him to go to a friend's sleepover. "Yes I mowed the lawn, I did the dishes, I vacuumed the house ... etc"

*Yawn* I wish I could give this guy the benefit of the doubt. Someone needs to help him write a letter that communicates to the readers that he really cares for these issues.

P.S. - ooo ... it tells me that I paid for this letter to be sent out, great! "Prepared, published, and mailed at taxpayer expense." Hmm ... then why does it sound so much like campaign propaganda?

P.P.S - Hey Tom Kean! If you're reading this blog, you really should send me a letter too!

The Countdown ...

2006-09-18T21:59:00.000-04:00

Stalkerbook ...

2006-09-18T21:15:00.000-04:00

Maintaining friendships used to be an art. It was something that you invested your time in, requiring both effort and intention. But nowadays, technology is cheapening this whole process. Sites like facebook and myspace are practically broadcasting every minute detail of your life to your network of friends. Every time you write a note, make a comment on a photo, contact a friend, change your profile details ... everyone is alerted to it. It's aggravating, not only because I don't want to really know all those things, but because it's giving me a false sense of connectedness to my friends. Just because I know that person X was feeling "superbly delirious" or that X is not dating Y, it doesn't mean I really know what's going on in their life. It's so sad, I getting sick and tired of this ...

Do you think by reading this blog you really know how I am doing or what's occupying my mind? Do you think I really broadcast my deepest thoughts on blogspot?

I mentioned in the last post that I had a little run-in with facebook, this is what happened ...

robin: you know what sucks?
me: what?
robin: theose new facebook features
me: haha why?
robin: cuz it says... ken is no longer single
robin: so now i must inquire
me: i thought i deleted that feed so other people wouldn't see it!
robin: yeah you're no longer single
robin: oh interstring
me: i just thought i'd like a little privacy so i took off the relationship status
me: but now it broadcasts to people that i'm no longer single?!?!
robin: so you limited to only single girls huh?
me: haha ... well, i would prefer not to get into a romantic relationship with any other demographic
robin: true. good job ken, that's smart searching
me: wait so you still see that feed?
robin: yeah apparently
me: still?
me: this facebook is like stalkerbook
robin: yeah i think facebook jumped the shark with this one
robin: so are you still single?
me: YES I AM
me: i don't know if i should be happy or sad about having to reaffirm that to people
robin: ok, i'll inform all of those whose hearts were broken from that facebook posting
me: do you have a mailing list?
robin: yes
robin: allsinglegirlsforken is the alias for the dl
me: yea because if you had to do it one by one, it would take you forever
me: hey, why don't you take the "single" status off your facebook too?
robin: cuz i wanted the privacy in the first place
me: then I can write to alltheHOTsingleGirlsLoveRobin mailing list
robin: oh, i like the hot qualifier
robin: i guess i should add the asian qualifier to yours
me: only the best to you

friend1: you are no longer single?
friend1: HAHHAHAHA
me: WHAT THE HECK
friend1: woah...ken!
friend1: wat's going on?
me: STUPID FACEBOOK

friend2: hahaha according to facebook "ken is no longer single"?!?
me: sigh

friend3: so you're no longer single
friend3: congrats on your status change though
friend3: this is big news
friend3: bye. and congrats

friend4: you're no longer single?
friend4: who is the lucky girl?

friend5: Ken is no longer single. 7:48pm
friend5: that's in my news feed
me: sigh
friend5: i love how in your photos, you have only one pic
friend5: that might start many rumors
me: i want my privacy
friend5: especially since you're not single
me: ...
me: but it's only of ME
me: and no one else
friend5: no
friend5: not when you go into "view more photos of ken"
friend5: it's the pic from chris
friend5: the heart in the sand
me: WHAT?
friend5: mhmm
me: are you serious?
friend5: yeah
friend5: just untag it
me: i didn't know it was tagged

Whoa ... Where Have I Gone?

2006-09-18T20:10:00.000-04:00

I didn't realize until today that I haven't updated my blog for almost three weeks! This really makes me wonder where the time has gone. What exactly have I been doing in the past three weeks?!?! Here are some of the things that happened ...

Survived the Backpacking Trip
Saw my sister off to School
Went to the US Open
Watched Little Miss Sunshine
Mulled over the futures of my cell group
Gained some weight (?)
Watched the Illusionist, thinking that I was going to watch the prestige
Signed up for some test
Ate some gigantic mangos
Wronged by facebook
And much much more ...

Yes, I know my life isn't very exciting. I don't even know why I told you all that.

Dreams ...

2006-08-26T18:46:00.000-04:00

I was watching ESPN late one night and saw this special on the Make-A-Wish Foundation and how professional athletes are doing their part to make the dreams come true for children with life-threatening medical conditions. It was a very inspiring story on how the Colorado Rockies signed a one-day contract with this boy so his dream of playing for the Rockies would be fulfilled. The story reached its climax when the boy met his favorite slugger and they started hitting balls together off the T. Oh it was a great story ...

However, I couldn't but notice the look on the boy's face when he met his hero for the first time. For a split second his face completely froze, probably due to the excitement or surprise, but then I saw in his eyes something strange ... disappointment, utter disappointment. I could totally be wrong, but the more imaginative side of me thinks that at the exact moment when the boy's dream came true, a shot of reality hit him and he realized how unfulfilling the dream was. Perhaps he realized deep inside that there's a void inside of him that cannot be filled by any athletic hero or celebrity, that there's a yearning no mortal can fill.

I can't say for sure that's what went on inside the boy's mind, but what I do know is that this is something that happens to us all the time. We conjure up these grand dreams and spend our entire life chasing after them, and then if/when they come true, we realize how inadequately it satisfies us. But the sad thing is not that we arrive at that state of disappointment, it is when we, after arriving at that realization, continue to lie to ourselves and chase after the next superficial dream.

God & Knives

2006-08-25T18:06:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I went hardcore camping here in the States. The last time was probably when I was in High School, when I was a proud boy scout. You can stop laughing now, there's really nothing wrong with being a boy scout. It's rather the cool thing to do actually, you get to learn about nature, animals, wilderness survival ... etc. Ok, I told you to stop laughing already. *hmph* Fine, don't ever beg me to start a fire or build you a shelter when we get stuck somewhere out in the woods!

So I was going through my old camping equipment and noticed that my knives were pretty crappy, so I decided to get a new one. The woods is a dangerous place, you never know what kind of vicious creatures are out there trying to stalk you as their prey: like bears, cougars, raccoons, bunnies ... etc. In all seriousness, the knife is more for cutting rope or carving wood. If you really want to kill a bear, I suggest you get a really really big knife.

I was reading the warranty card and the safety information (you should always do this) and found this message from the founder of this company:

Message from Al Buck (In memorium, 1910 - 1991) (As written in 1976)

If you are a new Buck knife owner, "welcome aboard." You are now part of a very large family. Although we're talking about a few million people, we still like to think of each one of our users as a member of the Buck Knives Family and take a personal interest in the product that was bought. With normal use, you should never have to buy another.

Now that you are family, you might like to know a little more about our organization. The fantastic growth of Buck Knives was no accident. From the beginning, management determined to make God the Senior Partner. In a crisis, the problem was turned over to Him, and He hasn't failed to help us with the answer. Each product must reflect the integrity of management, including our Senior Partner. If sometimes we fail on our end, because we are human, we find it imperative to do our utmost to make it right. Of course, to us, besides being Senior Partner, He is our Heavenly Father also; and it's a great blessing to us to have this security in these troubled times. If any of you are troubled or perplexed and looking for answers, may we invite you to look to Him, for God loves you.

For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son; that whoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John: 3:16

Al Buck

Interesting, huh? Who would've thought that you'll get a message like this when you buy a knife.

A New Look ...

2006-08-22T17:57:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been compelled to make some changes in my life, and as you can see, those changes are carrying over to this cyber realm. I hope that you enjoy the cleaner, more "fancy" look. That dots template was wearing down on me.

Honestly I am on the verge of burning out. Too many social events, church obligations, family chores, and personal goals to attend to. It is at times like this that I wish I had the ability to manipulate time, that way to ensure that I can do everything I wanted to do and get a full night sleep to recharge for the next day. Unfortunately, not only do I NOT have that super power, but I am also a workaholic. That deadly combination has knocked me out many times before, and now it's back for a quarter-century attack!

I have always joked with my friend since college that I wanted to be a farmer in Africa someday. Maybe if the hermit side of me takes over, I might just try to farm fruitlessly in the Sahara before too long. Just imagine having a simple life, away from the internet, blogs, television, conflicts, drama ... etc. I wish life was like that ... simple and free.

Anyhow, enjoy the new look for the blog.

Look What I Got in the Mail ...

2006-08-16T01:05:00.000-04:00

(click for larger image ... so you can actually read it!)

I am such a cynic because:
1) Even though the senator sent me back a letter, I still don't think he really cares
2) I think his interns probably wrote this for him
3) I don't think he knows where Uganda is on a map (do you?)
4) I think the letter has such a defensive tone to it ...
5) I think this guy wants my vote more than he cares about saving the impoverished and suffering people

ALIVE!

2006-08-14T17:09:00.000-04:00

After several days of fretting about my dead RAZR, I came to the realization that it wasn't going to come back alive. So I started my grieving process and went to the verizon store to get it exchanged. To make a long story short, I have a working RAZR now. It's probably a reincarnated unit that had issues before and fixed by technicians, but I'm not complaining.

Hooray for a new phone! Boo to gatorade drowning of my old phone!

P.S. - I might've lost your number through this process, so feel free to email me your latest info.

The Cup

2006-08-08T00:37:00.000-04:00

This vision came to me when I was sitting in the sanctuary this Sunday ...

In front of me are a pair of hands holding a cup, not just an ordinary cup, but something resembling a chalice. I can faintly see the symbols etched onto the side of it but can't make out what they mean. It's not before I stare at the cup for a few seconds longer before I realized that it was meant for me.

In my head I knew something strange was going on: I look at the wine filled cup and I have no desire to take it. Even though I knew it was for me, there's something inside of me that keeps me from desiring what's being given to me. At this I asked, "Is this really my cup?"
"This is the cup I've prepared for you."
"But it's entirely too big, I don't want to take it."
"This is your cup, take it."

I sat there motionless, not knowing how to react. Thoughts are running through my mind and I started to question my own heart, wondering why something so simple could be so hard to do. I stared at the hands awhile longer, then reached out to receive my portion.

Farewell My Dear RAZR ...

2006-08-06T01:42:00.000-04:00

Dearly Beloved, we join hands tonight to mourn for the death of my three month old RAZR. Her shocking death was so unexpected that it brings me such uneasiness to my heart. The cause of death is not yet determined, but the evidence points to a violent drowning. She was last seen alive in my friend Simon's gym bag, which suffered from a deluge of gatorade from a leaky bottle. Attempts to revive her were of no avail, as only hissing sounds emitted from her body during all attempts of resuscitation.

Let us take a moment of silence together .... *long silence*

I'm trying hard to hold back the tears, but I am still holding on to the hope that a miracle will happen. My soucres tell me that water damage instantly voids the warranty so there's no chance that Verizon will replace my phone. However, some who have experienced the same tragedy before found their phone revived after 2-3 days of thorough drying. Alas! There is still hope! On the third day my RAZR will rise again ... (I hope)

Even if she doesn't resurrect, I won't be too heart-broken. I've been reading Job for my devotions lately, and if he can go through all that, a drowned RAZR shouldn't shake my world. Maybe the bank account will hurt a lot, but in the grand scheme of things, life is still grand.

*Update #1* - Monday morning and I put the battery back in its place, the keypad lighted up, but the phone still doesn't turn on. There is hope ...

Never Again ...

2006-08-03T11:57:00.000-04:00

Last week I received my hospital bill for the accident I had last month. In total, the hospital wanted to charge me $2,200 for their services, which included making me wait in the ER for 3 hours and one doctor's 10 minutes time to stitch me up. If I had known that it would cost that much, I would've done the stitches myself!

I guess I can justify why the doctor charged me $500 for 6 stitches, but for the hospital to charge me $1700 for waiting in the ER?!?! I just can't over that. This just makes me to conclude that the healthcare system in this country is completely out of whack. Luckily I had health insurance, if I didn't, I would be eating rice and beans for the next year just to make up the cost for one little trip to the hospital.

When I first received my bill, I was informed that I owe the hospital $1,600 because the insurance company rejected my claim. I took a little time to investigate and found out that the insurance company rejected my claim because the hospital made a big mistake when they were filling out the claim form. So for the whole week I had this outstanding balance of $1,600 looming over my head ... wondering if/when it will get sorted out.

That's why today is a good day, my claim finally went through, and because of this, I can finally resume eating meat again. Hmm ... how I miss my meats.

Morals of the story: NEVER go to the ER + make sure you have health insurance!

Violence?

2006-07-28T12:50:00.000-04:00

I don't really watch TV these days. There just isn't anything captivating to watch, and most of the shows on prime time TV are pretty trashy anyway. Sex, hatred, violence ... that's the general theme of today's shows. Fortunately, there are a fair share of wholesome channels such as Discovery, TLC, Food, History, and Animal Planet, but no one really watches those channels like they do MTV.

While we're on the topic of violence. I read yesterday that Pac Man was rated as 64% violent according to a video game rating, which translate to "very bad violence". This scares me, because just last week I learned that there are people out there training monkeys to play Ms. Pac man, which is arguably even more violent than Pac Man. The conspiracy theorist side of me is afraid that there are evil people out there engineering a race of killer monkeys to launch an attack against humanity. Pretty scary stuff ...

The Chinese Fight Club

2006-07-27T10:59:00.000-04:00

The first rule of fight club is that you don't EVER talk about fight club. Since this rule effectively makes the club exclusive, it's no wonder why I have never heard about the fight club in China before.

However, today I was reading the news and I found out this article. Yes, it may seem ridiculous to some that a guy can beat himself up that badly, but it's not like we haven't seen it done before, just ask Ed Norton.

... my sarcasm is out of control these days ...

Does the Chinese government really think they can fool anyone with this explanation when they try to kill someone who opposes them?

... a six-week official inquiry has concluded that Mr Fu shattered his own vertebrae. "No case can be established because the injuries were not caused by another person," said the Zigui police station. Investigators told Mr Fu they were unable to find any other footprints near the slope down which Mr Fu said he fell after being twice struck with a wooden pole.

*Sigh* Blantant acts of injustice just piss me off ... this is just as terrible

Smart Monkey! Here's a Banana ...

2006-07-21T11:09:00.000-04:00

After watching this clip of a monkey playing pacman (this one is great too), suddenly a wave of new hope penetrates deep into my heart. To know that we, human being, evolved from these hairy creatures brings me unspeakable joy. Now I have a strong (perhaps even prophetic) conviction that my offsprings will be little geniuses. They will be so immensely intelligent that they will master the game of pong at the ripe young age of 25! To know that our lives have such grand purposes, to haphazardly evolve into fitter creatures, without an intelligent creator of any kind, oh ... it brings my soul such comfort.

*please do note the sarcasm*

Fun with Blueberries

2006-07-14T19:00:00.000-04:00

I LOVE blueberries!

Last night a bunch of us went to my friend Dale's house to pick blueberries in her huge garden. It was so much fun. Other than the fact that it was harsh manual labor that requires you to bend or kneel down and sacrifice your tender flesh to vicious insects, we had a blast. There's really nothing like eating luscious blueberries off the tree, plucking out the biggest berries and stuffing them in your tummy, and of course - blueberry fighting!

Needless to say, I ate a lot of blueberries yesterday.

*** warning - don't read beyond this point if you're faint of heart ***

Despite a pretty weird dream, I was still in blueberry heaven when I woke up this morning. I even brought a whole quart of them to the office and finished them before lunch time. So ... *ahem* ... a surprise came when I went to the bathroom later this morning. After I finished doing my business, I looked and saw GREEN POOP.

So here's a word of warning for you, if you eat too many blueberries, your poop will turn green! Here are some articles of proof for you (search blueberries) - just so you know I'm not weird. Since I'm such a nice friend, I also warned my berry picking compadres. Here's an excerpt of our conversation:

me: wait until you poop
Dotty: i did! i don't think i ate as many blueberries as you did
Dotty: the color wasn't normal but it wasn't THAT greeen
me: hmm ... well, now you know
me: eat more
me: i'm eating them now
Dotty: yeah, i want green poo
Dotty: did you take a picture?
Dotty: you can email it to the rest of the bluerberry pickers
me: eww ... that's nasty

No Men Needed ...

2006-07-14T14:06:00.000-04:00

It's scary how far humanity has come in the past decade with genetics. With the first phase Human Genome Project completed, scientists are starting to understand more about the functions of certain genes and how they influence us physiologically. Stem Cell research has been a big deal too, as I'm sure you've heard and thought about some serious ethical questions regarding that.

Today some scientists announced that they have figured out how to grow sperm cells from stem cells. They also said that it's possible that women can generate their own sperm!

"The advance in reproductive science raises new opportunities to treat male infertility and the possibility that women could make sperm.

The professor behind the research believes that, when safe, the advance could help men with certain types of infertility to become fertile, to remain fertile for longer and, controversially, could even one day enable a lesbian couple to have children that, at the genetic level, are truly their own."

I haven't fully thought about all the implications or the ethics on this yet, but the one thought that came to mind is that it's theoretically possible for the women to kill all the men in this world and still survive! Sounds like something out of a bad sci-fi movie ... just imagine Eve without Adam ... scary.

The Dentist

2006-07-13T17:17:00.000-04:00

I feel like I'm on a roll , last night I answered my first question in a long time and now I'm blogging here. Perhaps I am getting too stressed and need some type of outlet ... hmm.

So I had my biannual trip to the dentist earlier this morning, which on normal circumstances wouldn't be such a big deal. But I was a tad scared that the dentist would bust my lip open again so my heart definitely beat a bit faster when she took up her sharp metallic tools.

My doctor moved to a new and swankier office down the street and now they have a LCD TV right on top of the dentist chair. Stop and picture it for a moment: you're lying on your back, a bright light shining into your month while someone with sharp tools is scraping at your teeth ... but when you look up, you see a TV! What a genius idea!

Maybe it's just me, but I just couldn't get myelf to open my eyes to watch TV while the doctor cleans my teeth. Plus, I was trying to figure out why everyone who works at my dentist's office had "D"names: Donna, Dolores, Dawn, Dana, Darlene, and the Doctor. Isn't that pretty weird? Maybe it's some sort of freaky cult ...

YHWH

2006-07-05T15:54:00.000-04:00

God is the most God-centered being in the universe. - John Piper

People always asks, "If God created us so that we can glorify Him, doesn't this make Him pretty vain?" Well, I don't think that vain is the correct word for it, but it does make Him very God-centered.

Take the Exodus story for example, God appointed Moses to deliver the Israelites from slavery from the hands of the Egyptians. There were ten deadly plagues and God hardens pharaoh's heart time and time again. So ... why did God do that?

Let's take a look at some scripture:
Exo 7:3,5 "But I will harden Pharaoh's heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt ... The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the songs of Israel from their midst. "

This theme repeats throughout the next few Chapters (7:17, 8:22, 9:14-16, 12:12, 14:4), God demonstrates His power through these plagues so that both the Israelites and Egyptians may know and believe that He is the Lord and be honored (14:18) through it.

When it was all over, The Israelites finally believed.
"When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and His servant Moses" (Exo 14:31).

It may be hard to take in, but I believe that there are times God allows atrocities to come upon us so that we may be awoken from our disbelieve and acknowledge that He is indeed the Lord. Isn't it interesting that God tells the Israelites to turn back in their journey (14:2) to camp before the Red Sea so the He can show His power and thus casue the Israelites to put their trust in Him? All this makes me wonder just how much God will do to bring us to Himself ...

side note:
"Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided." (Exo14:21)
Why have I always thought that Moses just went up to the edge of the shore and shouted "PART THE SEA," and then the waters drew back within seconds?

Six Stitches ...

2006-06-28T22:58:00.000-04:00

As I lay there on the sterile sheets covering the narrow hospital bed, an old man on my right moans in pain and mumbles nonsensical words to himself. "He's probably delirious," I thought to myself. It has been more than twenty years since my last emergency room visit, and fortunately this time around my dad didn't have rush me through the doors with a blood drenched cloth over my face.

Still waiting for the anesthesia to kick in, I look to my left and see a faint outline of a severely swollen foot through the privacy screen. The man and his wife are speaking in a foreign tongue, I can understand nothing but I sense that she is deeply concerned for his welfare ... how sweet. The female doctor walks to them with X-rays in hand, probably still trying to figure out what to say. They talk at length about the broken bone while I wonder how much longer before it is my turn. The bleeding has mostly stopped by now, but I am still holding onto a stained towel just in case the open wound starts spewing blood again.

The poor man on my left is still trying to figure out what the doctor is saying, "So this fracture is better than a broken bone?" he asks incredulously. The doc, slightly caught off guard, stutters a bit before she replies "No No ... uh ... I mean Yes ... fracture ... broken bone ... same thing, same same." I haven't heard the phrase "same same" used since my blue sky vacation in Thailand over a year ago. Why do people intentionally use poor grammar to communicate to those who have a hard enough time understanding normal English grammar?

A nurse walks towards me holding several bottles of antiseptic and various metallic instruments. I subconsciously flinch at the sight of the tiny needle, knowing that it'll be used to stitch me up. Vivid details of how the doctor jabbed a big needle into my hurting lip just minutes ago keep flashing in my head. Trying to distract myself, I look around and see that several nurses hovering around a computer screen. I squint a little to make out what they are looking at ... a red and white webpage design ... pictures of pillows and bed sheets ... IT'S OVERSTOCK.COM! I can't believe they are trying to buy stuff on the web when I'm bleeding to death just meters away.

Honestly I don't think the anestesia is working, but the tradeoff of telling the doctor just isn't worth it. Who in their right mind would want to get two more shots on their lip? Stitches can't possibly hurt that badly, can it? I read a study recently that claims that the anticipation of pain is often worse than the pain itself. It's hard to deny such a claim because everyone knows how your mind can really mess with you, especially one with such vivid imagination.

The doctor covers my eyes and most of my face with a blue cloth and proceeds to stitch my open lip together. My head jerks to the left as she pulls it through my lip over and over again. This must be what a fish feels like, being hooked on a string. Six stitches. That's how many it takes to mend the wound caused by a freak accident: a violent collision of a hard head and my soft lips during a basketball game.

Six Stitches ...

Sunny Delight

2006-06-23T17:19:00.000-04:00

Some of you have asked me what we finally decided to name my discussion group. So here's your answer, we named it "Sunny Delight." It was a great struggle to find a name as witty and corny as the previous name, but alas we located a suitable name just in time. (Keep in mind that this is a collegian cell group, so the lameness is still allowed!)

WHY?

That's a great question. Let's take a look at Revelations 22:5. Here John describes New Jerusalem by saying, "And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever."

So in short, we want to be a group that delights in the light of the Lord. And to top it off, Sunny Delight has a great slogan, "Unleash the Power of the Sun." Since we love to be such witty wordsmiths, we're going to adopt it with "Unleash the Power of the Son" instead.

Sonny Delight ... get it? HAHA! I told you it was corny ...