just some bible verses that have been on my mind lately:

Ephesians 4:17-19 and Ephesians 4:26-27

i've felt that these verses have taught me something about the way i should react to nonbelievers who just shut God out...

take it from Jesus' example himself; he did not become angry who mocked him and heaped insults upon him, but instead looked up to heaven and said "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing."

'k, i just felt it on my mind to post top 4 of each conference in the nba and random ish:

-top 4 teams in the west:

1.san antonio
2.seattle
3.phoenix
4.sacramento

san antonio's a no-brainer... IMHO, they ARE the best team this year... no sufficient weaknesses with them... basically their defense has always been there, their bench has always been deep, they have always played team ball... but this year, they got scary offensively real fast; i don't even think you can label the spurs as being "boring" on offense anymore; duncan seems to only need to put in 30 mins or so these days; they build leads that greatly, and then their bench can just keep the lead. everybody talks about great rookies and their successes, but tony parker(who usually doesn't get mentioned for young talent) is only 22... scary huh? he's like nash, but can actually play defense. how many times have you seen the spurs win by at least 20 pts?

seattle and phoenix are both big entertaining surprises... i'm giving the nod to seattle though because they are better AS A TEAM... they are deeper, they play team defense quite well, and they have found ways to cover their main weakness(lack of an interior); danny fortson has been superb. i would consider them the biggest threat to san antonio's road to the finals(not to mention they've actually WON against the spurs, unlike phoenix, even when they had nash); phoenix has been great, but i'm putting them at 3 because of their sheer lack of depth; look at how they're doing w/o nash. they also don't use their bench too often. they can't play defense, and they lack so much in depth(i personally hate nash too, because he can't play d). yes, they're doing great so far. but i like to look at the "completeness" package and ability to cover weaknesses, and so far, suns look great, but not superb.

i was stuck w/4; i really doubt sacramento is really no 4. but no other team in the west seems good enough to take the 4. and sac HAS been on a 6-win streak. so i'll give it to them by default. maybe cuttino mobley added something to this team. however, his d is not that great; above-average at best, moderate usually.

-which team impressed me most in the west?

well, for me, it was sorta hard to decide between j-rich's recent huge upstart, showing that he could finally lead the warriors, or seattle continuing to be in TOP playoff contention. honestly. i'll go w/warriors though. i think everybody thought they were done this year. and the win record says that. to see j-rich suddenly come out gives me hope... (chris mullin, you're forgiven) if golden state could just get a good rebounding center and shot blocker, we might actually have a chance of making the playoffs next year.

-which team disappointed me the most in the west?

ugh... hmm... i'm giving the nod to minnesota. i kinda already knew houston gave up too much depth in getting t-mac to be an immediate threat, and it annoys the hell outta me seeing anybody chink/taiwanese rooting for houston. DEPTH, chinks. DEPTH. denver could have made the list, since there were high hopes @the beginning of the season w/the aquiring of kmart. but it's minnesota. think about it; last year they ended at no 1 in the west. they were like no 4 in defense. they were deep. this year, they have pretty much the same cast. but where are they? out of playoff range(just barely); they show a lackidasical effort. they don't lockdown on d no more. kg's still kg, but apparently, the rest of the cast aint 2k4 calibur material. i would even say they disappoint me more than detroit this year.

-top 4 team in the east:

(man i'm loving this year; i hate the fact that detroit isn't as monstrous as last year, but i love the rise of the east; annoyed the hell outta me seeing how everyone treated the east like it was the "leasten conference"; now you've got at least 5 new east teams that are looking good on top of the tried and true, and if pacers weren't involved in the scuffle, you'd have to add them to the list as well this year)

1.miami
2.detroit
3.cleveland
4.washington(who knew? :D)

miami's a no brainer; they lack depth, but they have been able to cover it quite well; i love dwayne wade's mentality towards the game, and shaq has been serious about giving miami something they don't have(i might add, he's also appeared less cocky on tv)

detroit's up there, but even i have to admit, they're not the monster they are last year. they get the nod above the cavs though because they're deeper than cleveland. they have been winning games though, but they haven't been DOMINATING GAMES... they're still a good team, but not a GREAT team this year. of course, this may have something to do with the way they raped la, as well as most of the eastern conference on the way to the finals and won a championship last year... ppl have high expectations for those who are proven winners.

cleveland... lebron james DOT COM... nuff said. he's overexceeeded the hype, and though it annoys me w/the bandwagon fans(i like lebron a bit myself, just that the fans annoy me), facts are facts; he's for real. just wait 4 more years, and see if he isn't like kobe 2.0 or something equivalent. the team though, isn't that great, but it has some good spots, so it's not a lbj-only team: "z", drew gooden...

washington... WARRIORS :D i love how they're doing good this year(they should get more airtime; i wanna watch them more); hughes has been great; areans has been great... jamaison has been great... they're getting the nod above orlando because though i like orlando, they don't play d yet... they have the athletic talent to though...

-which team impressed me the most in the east?

wow, this one's gonna be hard... you've got washington, orlando(dwight howard WILL be good), cleveland, miami... but i'll say: CHICAGO! :D when's the last time you heard them being in playoff contention? that's right: the last time mj took up house there. then after that, they sorta disappeared; they were a joke team; you were either a loser or a faithful loser for loving the post-jordan chicago bulls. but suddenly, this year, they look good. kirk hindrich's been a sorta john stockton/jeff horny-sack(yes, i spelt it wrong on purpose) hybrid, being great on d and offense. eddy curry, lou deng, ben gordon... all these guys are good. and for the life of me, they play hard on both ends... i would love to see them get some national airtime real soon...

-which team disappointed me the most in the east?

i have to swallow my pride and say detroit. yes, they're still winning games. but what were their main strengths? their depth and their lockdown d. their offensive capabilities are above-average AT BEST. so they have to win it on the defensive end. but they don't seem to be locking down compared to last year when they seemed to just under-70'd teams at will, or won by 10 pts or more. and you could argue how much depth they lost; the pick w/mcdyess seems good, but menmet okur seems like a really special player they lost. i could say the same w/colliss williamson(they didn't even use derek coleman). and unless if darko and delfino suddenly get better real soon this year, you can give up on them DOMINATING games this year. they might reemerge in a couple of years if and when darko and delfino get real nasty, but for now, they're good, not GREAT.

(the consolation is that scottie pippen, a great player, has said that he still thinks detroit will repeat this year)

there you go... i think in the future i'll write something about team usa bball and building a team that can compete, as well as long... overdue... thoughts about the team that DID go to greece.

fyi, alice kim is nicholas cages' wife, if you didn't know already... i think he's just weird and messed up. don't believe me? he's talking like he's been korean all his life: "kimchee's good for my soul... etc..." i think he's just trying to suck up to his wife.

futurama and family guy are hilarious. that and chappelle's show. i honestly believe no 3 other tv shows can make me laugh as hard as these 3. and fyi, futurama is not a sci-fi only type of cartoon. it's more adult-referenced than the simpsons. last night on adult swim, futurama made fun of star trek. they had the 3 crew members of futurama fight to the death against the actors of star trek. william shattner w/the "hey! maybe i can throw my boot at them, like in episode 14!"

-"why do you act like i know karate? just cause i look japanese?"
-"we never asked you"
-"i wish you had" (looks downcast)

wow... warriors actually got non-bay-area fsn airtime yesterday! on tnt! impressive! actually got to watch the game yesterday night! i wonder why... what's the reason? tnt couldn't fill the time w/law n order? :D

but what was more impressive...

j-rich: career high 42 pts, 3 rebounds, tied season high 8 assists, 3 steals, and one EMPHATIC block on kenyon martin(attention k-mart shoppers... get out!)

troy murphy also posted 17 rebounds... and got 22 pts...

it's funny... i used to think mike dunleavy was gsw's best player, gsw was done when they got rid of dampier, and that j-rich was only for show, and i also used to think troy murphy wasn't that good... thought chris mullin was crazy for keeping these 3... now... it appears that j-rich is probably gsw's best player... he can create his own shot(something he has until this season, apparently not been able to do quite well), create shots for others, and play d... and troy's starting to improve... mike's slipped a bit, but he's still a good compliment... so... i think we just need to get a better center... somebody who can crash and rebound very consistently, and provide good low post offense and defense... foyle's not that good...

now go to la and beat the living snot outta those hollywood bandwagon fans!

(i'm writing here because my.ucdavis.edu is crapping out on me and won't let me access my email or account... damnit...)

(lemme know if you want the bible notes i wrote out on gracy and mercy)

ok, so, i know martin luther king jr's a great christian leader, so i'd thought i'd do a great honor to him and what good he's done in the name of jesus, by fasting 24 hrs(or more), starting tomorrow morning... i dunno whether i'll start the fast right when i wake up, or after eating a hearty breakfast, but i think this is a good idea... i dunno what i'll be doing during the fast, except maybe studying for my science classes, but i'll try to put aside some time to spend in quiet w/god. maybe i'll also look online for some examples of what martin luther king jr's done...

this guy is one of the greatest close-to-modern day christians ever... when everyone else around him was simply trying to get back at the white man, he saw past each and every single white man's hate of him, saw the white man for who he was, not for the things he's done... this is what jesus would have done himself. he hated the sin, not the person. and in great respect to the white man, he disobeyed peacefully laws that he thought were wrong. but refused to resort to violence or sin. he turned the other cheek. and continued to do so, even when he knew it might bring death. i've heard about him getting up to just pray for 3 hrs before he started any type of work... wow...

martin luther king jr, i salute you... for being more than just another "pioneer black person..." this is for the christians that live and breathe today... for showing us christ's love personified through actions... for faith w/o deeds is not faith at all. we all could take a moment to really think about what you've REALLY done, as well as what you did NOT do, instead of using the extra 24 hrs of free time we get to do whatever we want...

again...

martin luther king jr., i salute you...

edit: i remember hearing something on air1 from "groundwire:" those that often see past your ugliness are those with the power to change you

jerm: youre so cool!
me: eh?
jerm: nm
me: haha
jerm: dont mind the computer
me: ok, so i'm not cool :-(
jerm: nonono
jerm: you are so cool
...
jerm: hi
me: do you still know where your nerf crossbow is?
jerm: huh?
me: check this out: http://www.nerfhq.com/
jerm: oh
jerm: ok
me: go to the articles section, there should be an article on how to mod your crossobw
me: to shoot farther
jerm: you're so sweet
me: haha... thanks, i try

http://www.nerfworld.com/modsdir.htm

btw, that "double forward toss" that philly did vs vikings was l33t...
teddy bruschi was awesome vs the colts...

the nfl playoffs are shaping up to be very fun to watch... i think we're gonna be seeing eagles vs patriots this year... and i like both teams... both are just well built; both play incredible defense(philly's known for blitzing anything down, and pats have an incredible coach leading their defense), and no one's gonna argue against brady's no-mistake, just-solid play, or donovan's incredible abilities...

but just to note, even if either, or both of these teams don't make it to the super bowl, the other two are equally great to watch; steelers are really something this year and countered both the eagles and pats this year, and atlanta, well... michael vick experience(although their d needs some work, so i'll give the upper hand to philly, but pats and steelers are really a toss up)...

ok, that's the last time i slack... but god was merciful to me this friday, so even in my sleep-deprived state, i was able to (i think), do reasonably(as in B+ to hopefully A- range) on the 2 quizzes i got on friday. the good thing is because i chose not to come home this 3 day weekend, that i have plenty of time to get things done and get WAAY ahead before school starts again... i just have to hope i don't EVER sit down and say, "i'm gonna watch nfl playoffs til monday night!"

cafe night was nice @msm; they had one of their former worship leaders use an electric guitar and played lead fills and riffs... a first... however, i think he could've turned himself a bit more up; i dunno though... THAT'S just me... which reminds me, i gotta get back to playing the electric guitar. also, pastor started w/spiritual disciplines, with meditation today, but the emphasis he placed was upon the definition as seen in psalm 1; maybe this is just me, but he made it seem the same as "studying the word." i like richard foster's definition though; simply the ability to hear god's word; stop trying to make yourself heard, and just sit down and wait for god. to make it short, i still remember that prayer and meditation are not the same. neither is study.

i found out jerm's anniversary edition of street fighter has the sf2 animated movie(yes!?!?!) on it(still haven't seen tekken animated movie, but i heard it's pretty short), so i watched it friday night out of boredom... it's funny though... i've watched the movie before, but on this cd, it's shortened a LOT(probably to save space on the cd, since it's already massively huge w/2 games). which led to a couple of problems; they took out some of the best scenes in the movie or made them a lot less visually appealing; like when ryu dragon punches sagat and you see all this blood fly cause of the scar he just landed in his chest. here, they took all those scenes w/blood out, so it just looked like ryu knocked sagat down, nothing big. and i think they were trying to make it suitable for young children, so they dubbed different words in for the swearing, which, IMO, turned out to really make me laugh out loud... hmmm... vega can't call chun-li b****, how bout witch? or instead of m-----f-----s, how bout we use "pieces of meat?" it's not exactly the same. watching the movie wants me to use denjin ryu and ssrk ryu in 3rd strike again... ryu is too cool.

joe dumars told grant hill he was probably going to get cheers when he played yesterday; grant hill bet that he was going to get booed... sounded like a mixture on espn... but i heard he did get a warm welcome...

well, well, well, look at how the suns got exposed yesterday... no depth, no defense... and no nash... and how lakers are shallow now... hehe...

hehe... tom tolbert said it was the "ra-show" yesterday... couldn't agree more... he had 6 blocks, and a couple of other slew of things... great backup center...

but to close, plz warriors, get a frikkin win and go on a streak...

edit: i forgot to say steve francis mustve been on the and1 tour last night against the pistons... what was that, like 4 steps before he bounced the ball to himself for a self alley-oop? :D

ucd bball team NARROWLY defeats ucr on on-road victory... not that i REALLY care(until we go division I, not II, which sadly will shortly happen after graduation); ucd's bball team as of right now is like composed of 90% white people, and 1 black person. which explains the lack of slashing on offense, the attempt to lay back on 3s, and the lack of athletic D... the black guy supplies all the D :D it's not that the other guys don't try, but well... let's just say he's the only one who gets up... and being we're close to sactown, i wouldn't be surprised that the majority of peeps here want nothing but offense...

speaking of sac, i think doug christie for cuttino mobley is a bad idea... for both teams. you throw out the kings' d(or whatever type of d there used to be), and you gave up the chemistry that is francis-mobley for magic... if magic wanted to up their d(which was why they did the trade in the 1st place), they should get their coach(whom i heard is not very D-related) to start teaching it... or be fired... but that's just me...

i wish we didn't have to eat/sleep/drink... imagine how much extra time we'd get... on the other hand, modern-day society would adjust to make us work even more time... so there's that drawback...

nerfs aren't as big a commodity as super soakers... but nevertheless, i regret buying the hydro bazooka over the master blaster, and not buying the super soaker 10(REALLY small, but yes, you could pump it and shoot; now you can't find it anywhere) i was lucky to find out woodland target still sells the new skool super soakers, so i got one for myself, and i'm thinking of getting another just for future purposes. oh, and 1 more nerf.

Meat Lab

well, i shouldn't be surprised... this IS davis(and not berkeley, which is a good thing; protestors would surround the area)... check out the prices, not bad eh?

and at 2.00/lb for beef ribs, why not? plus, i bet the meat is fresher...

extended hrs reading room

muga

josh smith got hops... on offense AND defense!

robert horry's been getting up too a bit more this season...

but we all know warriors are gonna own heat tonight :D

i gotta start going to sleep earlier... i think everytime i have my laptop on @home, that i tend to just stare at it... and that makes it hard to wake up early. meaning my study time in the afternoon sucks, because i'll fall asleep, instead of making something outta it. it's still an improvement over last quarter, where i'd just stay home and play 3rd strike or jedi knight.

the apple cinnamon pancakes that i tried to make @the apt weren't too good; the apples made it hard to flip, and well... tasted good though... gotta figure out a better way to add the apples. i'm thinking of adding them after i've flipped the pancakes over once.

i gotta get back to playing the electric guitar again...

there's this thing we understand in genetics, involving the issue of complementation; suppose an organism lacks a gene 13. if it gets paired with an organism that lacks a gene 14, or something other than 13, and they produce offspring, they produce a healthy, non-diseased organism. and for some reason, that thinking has led me to see how we are all imperfect in god's eyes, yet with true fellowship with each other, we become a perfect entity, a perfect body of christ.

fyi, i've tried all types of gel ink pens for writing(because i like how it's a LOT bolder than regular ball point ink pens, making it very easy to read your notes), and i've found the 0.7 Pentel Energel to be THE best one... incredibly good, ink NEVER smears, and a nice medium-fine line... rubber grip, refillable, and an interesting quirk; if you clip it to a pocket or clipboard, the ink automatically retracts. pilot G-2 0.7's my choice for runner-up, as it has a bolder line and cheaper, plus you actually see refill cartridges everywhere, but it'll smear a bit more...

LOL! GGPO PACKERS!

habitual readers of my journal: if you have a bible verse that's truly stuck in your mind, and feels deep to you recently, plz share... either on the comment lines below, or in your blogs; i'll check either. or if you aren't on my list of links on the left, lemme know where your blog is, and i'll check out your deep insight. i dunno where i should go now, now that i've researched "mercy" and "grace" and "prayer requests to god" to death now.

'k; maybe i should go on a blog-fast... or internet fast... or tv fast... these would all be good... they eat way too much of my time often.

kelis - milkshake has got to be THE WORST SONG EVER... how do ppl even like this crap? but more importantly, how did this crap even become mainstream?

in other news, big dismal - rainy day is one of my favorite christian rock songs at the moment; it's the song on the passion of the christ soundtrack(i don't have the cd, it's just that if you wanna buy it, it's on that cd)... i thought kutless was the one who wrote the song, but i was wrong... and i think the lyrics are great...

www.bigdismal.com

i love the chorus; very good definitions of love and faith:

love- it keeps us hanging on/ even when all hope is gone/ i believe that your love rains down on me/ faith- it carries us away/ and takes us to a place/ far above this world/ i can see you in the clouds/ like a rainbow shining down/ on a rainy day

i keep asking jerm if he wants to play 3rd strike w/me, and he keeps telling me he's gotta practice(aka i don't wanna play you cause i'm hooked on world of warcraft)... my response is always to imitate ai and come right back with "PRACTICE!?!??! we're talking about PRACTICE here! we're talking about PRACTICE here!"

i know every1 in davis has seen these 2 emails, but for the rest of you:

December 15, 2004

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

By now you may have seen or heard initial news media reports of the
tragic shooting death of a young man on campus late yesterday afternoon
after he fired first at UC Davis police officers. It is the first
officer-involved shooting death to occur on our campus.

I write to provide you with as much information as can be shared at this
point in the investigation, to convey our police department's belief
that this was an isolated incident and that the campus is secure, and to
advise you of support services that are available to those in need.

Here is what we understand to have happened: Three UC Davis police
officers responded at 5:06 p.m. yesterday to a report of a suspicious
person outside the student housing office. The man was reported to be
acting in a bizarre manner, using irrational language and reportedly
threatening a student. When the officers approached him, he brandished
a handgun and fired at them, causing the officers to return fire. Paramedics
responded, but the man died at the scene.

The three officers have been placed on administrative leave while an
investigation is conducted -- a routine action in cases when an officer
fires his or her weapon. I know from conversations with Police Chief
Calvin Handy at the scene last night that these officers have been
deeply affected.

A three-tiered investigation is now under way, involving the UC Davis
Police Department, the Yolo County District Attorney's Office and the
Yolo County Critical Incident Response Team. Also, the California
Department of Justice is assisting our police in reconstructing the
scene.

As I write, we are not yet able to release the identity of the man or a
possible motive, but we have confirmed that he is not a student. We
will provide updates on the campus's Web page, www.ucdavis.edu, as
information becomes available to us.

Such tragic incidents -- thankfully rare on this campus -- are shocking
and cause profound sadness. Should you find counseling support helpful,
please seek our counselors' assistance. Students should contact
Counseling and Psychological Services at 752-0871. Faculty and staff
should contact the Academic and Staff Assistance Program, 752-ASAP.

Students who may be experiencing difficulties in completing exams this
week because of this incident are encouraged to contact Interim Vice
Provost for Undergraduate Studies Fred Wood at 752-6068.

Sincerely,

Larry N. Vanderhoef
Chancellor

January 5, 2005

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

When I wrote to you just before the holiday break about the first
officer-involved shooting on this campus, I promised to provide you with
more information when it became available.

As we start the new quarter, we are still awaiting investigation results,
but we have a bit more information we can share.

The man who was shot and killed Dec. 14 near the student housing office
in the vicinity of Regan Hall has been identified as 26-year-old Martin
Louie Castro Soriano of Antioch. He was not a UC Davis student but is
thought to have been distraught over a breakup with a former girlfriend
and to have come to campus to contact her.

Three of our veteran police officers responded to calls for help that day
from students who reported that Mr. Soriano was acting in a bizarre and
threatening manner. Our officers tried unsuccessfully to subdue him with
Taser stun guns. After he fired several shots at them with a
semiautomatic gun, one of the officers returned fire. Paramedics
responded but the man died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the
chest.

I know this was a very difficult circumstance for our officers and that
they are deeply concerned over the taking of a life. But I know, as
well, they were trying to protect the lives of others who were nearby.

We expect investigation results in February from the Yolo County District
Attorney's office, the Yolo County Critical Incident Response Team and
the UC Davis Police Department. The coroner's office is also expected to
have completed its pathology report next month. In the meantime, tips
are still sought on the police hotline, 752-9944.

Such tragic incidents, thankfully, are rare on this campus but are
shocking and cause profound sadness. Without a doubt this holiday season
has been marked by an unusual measure of sorrow -- from the massive loss
of life in South Asia to the tragic loss of two of our students here at
home, the heartwrenching deaths of an employee's remaining two children
in a Christmas Day car crash and the unexpected death of one of our most
beloved elected officials, Congressman Robert Matsui.

As a family, we share those losses, seeking both to find and to give
comfort. If it'd be helpful, please take advantage of our counseling
services. Students should contact Counseling and Psychological Services
at 752-0871. Faculty and staff should contact the Academic and Staff
Assistance Program at 752-ASAP.

Sincerely,

Larry N. Vanderhoef
Chancellor

now i praise and exalt and glorify the king of heaven, because he has shown me mercy. and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

and we will give you glory/ bring you honor/ king above all kings/ you deserve our everything/ we will lift our voices/ with your praises/ jesus you are our king

my throat feels dry, for some strange reason

holy crap! they have super soakers @woodland's target! no bull!

i had no idea there was a building on UC Davis which is always open, and designed solely for studying... it's really quiet in there too.

and it's not the library, not the mu griffin lounge.

OPEN 24/7.

we gotta have one last nerfwar before we grow old... whoever gets the largest house has to host it. i'm planning on buying 1-2 more nerfs before we do it. anyways, a (partial? almost forgot what i have; i had to rack my brain to try to remember) list of what i've got:

bow n' arrow- jerm thought this was the best nerf gun we had; however, i'd say that's only cause the arrows included tended to not be bent, unlike all the other blasters we got, making this one VERY accurate; nothing like aiming about 5 feet away with a double crossbow, only to have the missiles fly like 3 feet up and to the right
nb-1- pump action blaster; shoots missiles; i really liked this one
ripsaw- lol! we never really used this... the 1st and only time i did, it was so noisy; it's so easy to see if your opponent's gonna fire, cause then they start revving the blaster so much and the noise grates on your ears; otherwise you can rapid fire 3 balls, but they travel fairly slow
sawtooth- mine partially broke, but it was like a bolt action gun; pretty cool; 5 dart clip
hydro blaster- also partially broken; fires single balls; before it broke, it was designed to be able to fire water WITH the ball
double crossbow- my all time fave; like nb-1, but you could shoot up to 2 missiles, and holds up to 6 missiles; fairly accurate
t-3- the last one i got; maybe the best one in terms of features; up to 3 blasters; a ghetto bow n arrow, dart blaster, or combine to shoot both @the same time; pretty interesting...
missilestorm- rapid fire 4 missiles; pump action

i think i MIGHT have another one, but i can't really remember... i thought i had nine nerfs

shoot man, too many memories; i like how there's like 3+ peeps who had crossbow, lol; made things a bit too boring. i really liked jerm's arrowstorm; fired up to 6 arrows rapid fire, but you could make it fire darts REALLY WELL.

btw, if we play again, we better not get the arrows or missiles any more jacked up than they are... last time i checked, nerf doesn't sell missiles or arrows no more

it appears MSM this quarter is focusing upon the spiritual disciplines, as explained by richard foster's book, as well as Dallas Willard's; wonderful! as if the timing couldn't be better, considering i'm trying to right myself onto the right track at about the same time by beginning to REALLY practice the disciplines again! the funny part is that there's NOT going to be a sermon on fasting though, but then again... it seems a lotta msm'rs like to eat...

of course, dif ppl, dif disciplines... but i used to think fasting was kinda useless too. the truth of it is, i think it's definitely a lot more useful than i used to perceive.

for me, i'll concentrate upon fasting, prayer and meditation for the majority of this year(i'll let worship come as it is, not try to put a priority on it yet)... just a long year of trying to actually hear god more.

for a while, the post i made yesterday will be THE post of the year for me... there is nothing like having god grant you a miracle... you don't need to be on a deathbed, you don't need to be spiritually ill; if you've got a need, and the faith and persistence to pull for it, god will deliver. that of course, doesn't mean god's a genie. but then again, IF you've got a NEED...

however, i would like to say something about fasting(seeing how it's one of my steps in my n.y. resolution towards nurturing my relationship towards god better); i was so uneasy about checking my grades that i waited til yesterday to check, seeing as today school started. so i decided to fast for ~24 hrs yesterday just to show god this was something i really cared about; no food til 12 AM(i would've done it earlier, but then i'd have to explain to my mom why i was fasting @home). i mean, take a look at verse 21(look at the footnotes); fasting and prayer have always went hand in hand in biblical times, why not?

to have gone so long w/o trying to fast, and then suddenly try it, i was so tempted to snarf down the remains of the breyer's reeses ice cream in the fridge; but then i had to clamp down upon myself and say NO; STICK IT TIL THE END... apparently, i depend more upon food for comfort than i believe; if it weren't for my rediculous metabolism, i might be 180 lbs now... it reminds me of what richard foster said in his book of disciples; what you are made of will come out when you fast(which is why from now on if i want to fast i'll start by foregoing dinner, seeing as it's my biggest meal i eat out of a day; bigger challenge i guess); if you're angry @heart, it'll come out; if you're lazy, it'll come out; me, i guess the temptation to give in or become sleepy(?, but true; felt like taking naps) kicked in... also weird was that near the midday, i didn't feel hungry, but had HEADACHES instead... (i know, i know, after a while of fasting, you don't feel hunger pangs, but that's like after 7 days)... and the point is not to see how tough you are, but what you need help in... that's something i'll have to think about when i try it again... i'm also thinking maybe dinnertime + 24 hr fast(ie something of a 30 hr fast) would be good here, maybe even add another day, to really see what i'm made of.

it's strange, really, i have always hated the anger that is part of me, and yet, somehow, i can use it to motivate myself too. hard to describe, but basically, i'll start internally yelling at myself when i'm tempted(you may wonder why i'm saying this; it's partially how i was able to get myself through the fasting), or slacking.

to close, maybe habitual fasting will help show me back something that i've been missing all along in christianity... it is, after all, pretty hard to stack everything self-operated christianity is upon study, prayer and meditation...

*had a bout of insomnia yesterday, despite knowing that god already took care of me... i think the apt heater was too hot for me; jerm and jon are just too pampered @home... they should live in my house... then they wouldn't even want to turn ON the heater; not that i like my stingy-mom's attitude towards saving money either...*

*denjin hadoken rocks btw, and all the good players @the mu playing 3rd strike are top tier whores... sad; all i see is chun-li and ken... mostly ken...*

*i'm thinking of getting the mark tremonti power wah... in the future... distant future...*

*ROFL! watch the vid!*

and to think i used to believe god would only perform miracles if you were on a deathbed or your SPIRITUAL health depended upon it...

because of god's never-ending grace and mercy, i am still a student at uc davis, not kicked out or dismissed; my status is now "good standing."

there's too many bible verses and lessons that i picked up on grace and mercy and using prayer to petition to god, that i read up and tried to apply to my prayer during the 2-3 weeks that i was on winter break, just asking god to give me another chance...

so i'm gonna have to write them down upon a .doc file sometime soon... because what i learned was astounding.

i'd spend too much time to try to explain everything that went on in the last 2 weeks on this blog, when i should be getting some sleep for my nine o clock class, so i'll end with the very first lesson i picked up:

"there is nothing we can do to earn god's grace... there is everything we can do in a lifetime to show him that we're thankful"

thank you, thank you, thank you, god... you won't be regretful you gave me another chance at davis...

new year's resolutions for 2005:

1) spend more time with god in prayer, fasting and meditation: ~3-5 prayers/day, 1 ~24-48 hr fast/month, 1-2 meditations/day
2) spend more time serving my fellow christian brothers and keeping them accountable
3) work on the study habits ie spend more time @shields library
4) serve others(i'm thinking of joining awana)

now i just need to not fall away...

ESPN.com - NBA - NBA Standings

someone enlighten me... why is detroit NOT 3rd, when they are 17-13, and new york is 16-14, who IS 3rd? different divisions in the conference? explain how that works...

btw, bulls are looking good recently... weird... ahh well... good thing i started wearing my bulls tshirt again...

tis a sad thing for warriors to finally get their win streak snapped

NBA.com: Richardson, Dunleavy Spark Warriors Past Raptors

woohoo! get 5 warriors! get 5!

ESPN.com - NBA - Recap - Pistons at Wizards

i'm glad billups was billups, but if detroit wants to DOMINATE, they have got to start getting rid of those deficits in the 1st half... and they have to win by at least 10 pts.

BibleGateway.com Passage?Lookup: Matthew 15:21-28

i can't believe how inept i was not to discover what is more or less, the meaning of the parable in matthew 15:21-28 for 21 years, until just a few minutes ago...

i'll admit i was always thrown off by the part about jesus talking about not being right to throw bread to the dogs, where the canaanite woman responded that the dogs would eat the crumbs that fell anyways, and jesus responding that she had great faith.

now i understand; that's why jesus had said in verse 24 to the disciples that he was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel; the bread was meant for the children. he had responded to her in a symbolic picture of himself, and the canaanite woman, unlike the jewish crowds who would constantly go "huh?" about his parables, caught on and answered in the same way back.

that brings up a question though; why would jesus commend the woman's answer for being of great faith? does this mean that the dogs eat the crumbs, miniscule as they are, because they believe even the smallest of bread crumbs will fully nourish them? and does THIS show great faith? does it mean that the dogs eat the crumbs, in the hopes that they'll soon receive the FULL piece of bread for eating the crumbs? and THAT's their great act of faith? does it mean that the dogs sit under the table, in the hope that anything reminiscent of a bread, even crumbs, which are considered to be TINY, will come down? and is THAT the great act of faith?

apparently, in the book of matthew, jesus might've mentioned him being the bread that came from heaven, but maybe matthew was not around to hear it; however, he might've alluded to it in this passage. why else would he mention it not being right to take bread and toss it to the dogs?

man, this passage is STILL deep... there's layers of meaning behind verses 26-28... it's gonna be on my mind for a while...

(if i'm not fretting about my future, that is)

bored, but anyways, here's the entire scoop on in n out's secret menu; you'll need to look @both wiki sites to get the full picture... i've known about both sites for a time though.

In-N-Out - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Davis Wiki - In N Out Secret Menu

interesting... i could ask for chopped chiles eh? i could try that once... 2 cheeseburgers, animal style, one w/chopped chiles...

and, considering that they have chiles, it'd be cool to try fries animal style w/chiles once...

root beer float sounds kinda cool, but it's more for showing off your knowledge of the secret menu; it REALLY costs a LOT less to just buy the ingredients @safeway and make it yourself.

and my hands are FREEZING... i'm gonna make a cup of hot water before i go to bed.

sooo... nets led by at largest, 806 pts eh? must suck to have lost :D (btw, i did in no shape or fashion try to alter the picture; just took a screenshot as seen on espn.com; 10:18, dec 27th) 

NBA.com: Pistons Prevail Over Nets

wow... wallace x2, prince, AND "dice" all had 4 blocks apiece. big ben also just cleaned the glass, and prince had a huge all-around night.

yay! warriors have won 2 straight! and not against suckage teams either!

eagles at rams wasn't THAT exciting... TO was out, and andy reid wanted his team to just play injury-free... hence, they were playing w/their secondaries...

As taken from ESPN:

12:20 PM "Shaq is the first Heat player introduced and gets a raucous ovation. He nods to his wife, who's sitting with family and friends across from the Miami bench, and then raises his right arm to salute the audience. Eddie Jones, another ex-Laker, is introduced next, meaning Udonis Haslem is the afternoon's first player to get booed. ('I think it was 89.2 percent cheers,' O'Neal said later, 'and 11.8 percent boos.' Folks were laughing too hard to tell him that adds up to 101 percent.)"

89.2+ 11.8 = ROFLMAO!

R.I.P. Reggie White

yay for warriors for t3h win!

but nay for niners for the embarrassing way they lost...

(might as well be thankful for xmas day nba games... both of them went the way i hoped they would go)

i'm so stressed out at night these days... must be at least 1 hr each night i toss and turn... the future's unknown, possibly dark potential is getting me down... btw i still haven't checked grades...

actually met joe chung on monday at target... that was a surprise.

cupertino library's pretty nice... best thing is probably the huge aquarium they have downstairs. at first i thought they didn't have microsoft office on their cpus like saratoga, but i was wrong.

btw, i think heat's gonna win over lakers... or at least i'm hoping it turns out that way.

i need to mail packages more often; i have no experience doing this stuff; next time i try to mail phil a gift, i need to actually WRAP the gift before going to the post office; i thought they would wrap it at the post office... boy was i wrong... but since i already accidently paid for the postage, and had the guy slap it on before i could say anything, it would've been a waste of 5+ dollars to go back home, wrap it, then come back... it's PRETTY obvious what i'm giving to phil...

----------------------------

there's nothing we can do to earn god's grace... there is everything we can do in a lifetime to show our thanks for it

but then, what is prayer then? it's not "earning god's grace," yet we know that prayer can change lives... so i've gotten weird thoughts about this... yes, the whole point of it is to talk with god, and yet...

what about the issue of selfISH prayer? i know god favors the selfLESS prayer when it comes to others, but what about the selfISH prayer? yet, i've known that he's granted these before, so you can only hope.

but no matter what selfish reason you approach god for a request, there's at least 2 things you're doing right for in this case; 1) you acknowledge that he alone has the power to change things (and your life), and 2) you acknowledge that he alone has the mercy to want to change things to help you. i like to think about hezekiah who was granted 15 extra years to his life, or the leper who approached jesus and said, "jesus, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

and where is the line of FAITH and OVER-CONFIDENCE? where's that lie? james states that when we ask for something from god, we must believe, or it's highly unlikely that we won't get anything. but how do i judge between what is true faith, what is being insecure(as opposed to knowing i have to pray more), and between that and what is overconfident?

then there's the matter of abraham and issac; in this example, we see that abraham desperately held onto the faith that issac would be saved, but ultimately trusted in god more to say, "ok, i'll obey you." however, i don't think all of us when we trust in god, will get our "issac" back, per see.

jesus himself in times of anguish stated that what he should've said was not "father, save me," but "father, glorify your name" of course, what all of us want to say is, "father, save me, SO THAT you can glorify your name." i don't think that'll work that way though.

which makes me all the more perplexed, afraid, and hoping that god will take care of my future, and HOPEFULLY, my plans match his. *deep sigh of distress."

i guess even though i know almost no one reads my blog, i'm still afraid to post my greatest sins on here.

wow, how did miami pull off that amazing comeback vs the patriots? i've never seen tom brady screw up that badly before monday's game, and suddenly, he's got more than 2 INT's in one night! he's overall, the most solid qb... his numbers from up-close to all the way out are very consistent... actually, new england's probably overall the most solid team all-around, and yet, miami refused to die... they made a game of it... unlike the niners... :(

i wonder if pacers had artest and j.o. and stephen, would pistons vs pacers then have been on abc this xmas day? (probably not sez a large part of my brain; no definite superstar for the casual bball fan to bandwagon on = abc's not gonna show it) i really want to watch this over miami vs la... both teams are built correctly from the ground up and play team ball and defense... although part of me says the game's in detroit's favor with a 7-3 chance... no o'neal, no artest, no stephen? oh sure, the crowd'll boo them all they want, and pacers have shown great heart despite them being out, but facts are facts; detroit, if they play well and don't do anything stupid, they got the game in the bag. detroit has had a habit of coming out weak in the 1st half almost every game this season though, so i think that seems to be their crux...

i would think, that for pistons to surpass the team that they used to be last season, darko needs to become better than okur, and delfino and coleman better than williamson... otherwise... they apparently gave up too much depth in the offseason.

i'd post more, but i promised i'd spend more time w/god each day starting after fall quarter ended, so i gotta read some before i hit bed

They never give a break w/the soap opera in LA do they?

you'd THINK it'd be over by now... just when it seems that kobe and shaq have moved on...

then the mailman jumps on...

and the surprising thing is... i think the general public, in a weird way, loves this type of drama... despite the fact that they're ragging on and on... "oh, kobe shouldn't do this, oh karl shouldn't do this..."

did i mention how foggy it's been in davis for the past week or so?

it's so thick up til the late morning, and in the early night, that you swear you could cut it in two with a knife or something, but you can't...

it's almost totally symbolic of our limited ability to see into the future... what you think is there isn't necessarily there... til it's right in front of your face...

funny how we've gotten fog, but not rain... but i like it better this way... better not to know what the future holds, than to be drenched in the present...

3 more days...

dayamn, alter bridge's debut cd IS gold...

i am hooked already... and i'm writing this on the night i opened it and listened to 2-3 of the songs on the way back home...

you don't know what you're missing from rock music til you hear it(and if you think the cd is just noise, then you just don't get rock music); mark tremonti IS talent...

thank you, GGPO, and g'nite...

(btw, spurs just raped on saturday night... damn... i wish i could see highlights... how in the hell did they shoot over 80%? as a team?!?!?)

the beginning of the end has now begun...

it is in times of adversity that you see what type of a person you truly are...

help me to stand strong, god...

let's do dis thang...

IKUZE!

Wow...

i bet bob must be losing sleep tonight... geez, this is like reggie miller on knicks all over again...

maybe it's time i finally consider sonics one of the tops in the west? i thought they'd be all shooting, but apparently, they've found ways to cover their lack of an interior, and their zone defense i hear, is great... sooo... lookout spurs... you got company... at least for now...

what the hell? bulls beat the cavs?

so remember your people
remember your children
remember your promises oh god

your grace is enough
your grace is enough
your grace is enough for me

i'm @the hutchinson cpu lab right now writing up my paper which is due in less than an hr, and...

OH SHIT! it's the invasion of the freshmen whose passtimes are coming up really soon!

edit: it's actually the invasion of the idiot freshmen girls; there were these 2 idiotic girls who had the STUPIDEST reasoning for not taking a class... i'll try to imitate their convo:

girl 1: take asa 1 WITH mEEE!
girl 2: i don't wanna take THIS class! i HATE that building!?!?
girl 2: remember? it's the class we used to take philosophy in!
girl 2: (looks over some more other classes)
girl 2: and HART's so far!?!?! we have to walk so far!
girl 2: (more registration typing)
girl 2: i like THIS class... but i don't WANNA be waitlisted!
girl 1: what's your waitlist number?
girl 2: 1
girl 1: oh *names some other girl*'s taking that class...
girl 1: you'd take it w/her...
girl 2: i don't WANNA do so much reading!
girl 1: c'mon now, we're in bio and chem, we do a lot of reading!

to be fair, i don't remember the conversation that well, but some of the tidbits were pretty memorable... because while both of them were so idiotic, girl 2 was especially annoying with THE... MOST... STUPIDEST reasonings for not taking a class... i seriously wanted to stand up and just go, "WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU!?!?! BITCH, TAKE A CLASS CAUSE YOU LIKE THE SUBJECT, NOT CAUSE THE BUILDING'S TOO FAR, OR YOU HATE THE BUILDING! OH NO, I CAN'T GRADUATE, CAUSE THE CLASS I NEED TO TAKE IS AN EXTRA 5 MIN WALK AWAY!!!! JEEZ..." (and fyi, if you're waitlisted no 1, you're pretty much in...)

(yeah, i got anger issues)

i was supposed to go to bed early, OR stay up late and get a lotta work done... didn't do either... lemme explain... some person started a thread on srk.com in the general discussion forums(where you can post anything not game-related) about how God contradicts himself, blah, blah, blah, etc, etc, etc... the thread is currently on its 22nd page, because the atheists won't believe the christians, and the christians are trying to keep going at it...

i had no idea this thread was up, until last night, so i spent a majority of it just reading what other ppl had to say... because i lurk on the boards, and don't really post, i just read(although i was seriously tempted to post)

i'm not gonna talk about it, cause you can find the thread on your own, but i'll post some reflections about what i think whenever topics like this come up...

-ever since i read The Case For Christ, it's more or less become obvious to me that although the Bible's main goal was not to be used as a tool to convince others that this stuff is real(the story of God's agape love is more or less the main goal), that you could do that... because the Bible IS truth, almost everything within it, when a grain or two of salt is applied, states the truth, and has never contradicted its original messages. so ever since that freshman year, every time i've seen an argument brought up, it's usually taken out of context, or there is some other meaning by going back to the original hebrew or greek text. but as i come back to every single argument, it has more or less strengthened my beliefs, not diminished them.

-a lot of the arguments you hear against christianity are basically things taken out of context. for instance, the person who started the thread(get this), basically said david and johnathan were homosexuals because they kissed each other and loved each other deeply... he was basically pulling quotes right out of the bible and taking them into incorrect context. another is how he states god contradicts himself because he essentially killed many people in the bible... (like sodom and gommorah, etc) when it should be obvious that god is a being of justice, not vengeance.

-i'd like to think that based upon what i am now, i think(given enough time to think), i could stand a *decent* chance of arguing/debating w/an atheist about the validity and context of the bible(in order to reaffirm god's nature), as long as i had bible.gospel.net next to me. however, i sometimes question whether i would be trying to win them over in Christ's love, or for my own selfish pride, so my fellow christians don't look foolish. the point of trying to talk with an atheist is not to, per say, pwn them at their game, but to try to win them over. it's not whether i win and they lose, it's whether THEY win or they lose. this is not a sport; it's an attempt to stop them from inching closer to the cliff. once i turn it into a "ha! you're wrong, you suck!" type of thing, that will put them off, and make it even harder to win them over... even if i am right, and my arguments are sound, if i'm not trying to actually suggest and reflect the same godly love in myself for them, their attitude will most likely be one of hurt pride, and even more unwillingness to concede and just say, "fine, you win, i convert..." i find that whenever i either read arguments here, or take part in them, i'm carrying a competitor mentality, not a mindset of love, not one of "please believe me..." that is a problem i need to change.

-many people who start the arguments have their mindset; they're not open minded about it... so they're not bringing up questions in the hope that maybe they'll find some end-all truth to the answer, they're bringing up the arguments in the hope that you'll fall... that is the truth.

-finally, every time i see something like this, i have to remind myself of the difference between head knowledge and spiritual knowledge. yes, i think i know an awful lot about the bible. but has that reflected upon the way i lived my life? not really; i tend to go about college with a slacker mentality, then don't even spend time w/god each day. how can i, claim to be a christian, when i don't reflect how a christian should live? even devils believe in god's existance. seeing and doing are two complete different things; to be a "true" christian, you need to do both.

ok, that's enough... contemplating for this long hurts my head.

1st time i've had communion @a campus-oriented church... so it appears that college-oriented churches have C & E communions, opposed to the avg church, which tends to have 1/month.

i can't believe how much phil cares for me... it's rediculous... simply christian-like... i should give him a call sometime soon.

heck, i should give god a call soon.

and tell him, thanks for caring for all these times, even when i put you aside.

comcast's been so unreliable for internet the last few days... on and off... on and off... and i hate the fact that they're so overadvertising themselves on tv so much... to be that SOO reliable internet service that everybody wants them to be... sorta like how ea sports/games acts like they're the best gaming company in the world... when it should be blatantly obvious to everybody that they're not...

nice... warriors > pacers tonight...

Good, they punished the guy who threw the cup, and the guy who walked on the court, as well as the person who threw the chair

battle of the defenses this friday(and champions); yes, i like the pistons more, but i can't stress it enough, i like the spurs and the pistons... it will be interesting to see if pistons can hang, especially since their troubling start... they have all their pieces back though, so we'll see... btw, i think pistons' troubling start has overshadowed the fact that mcdyess has more or less, very well meshed w/the pistons... of course, you could argue that meshing only works if it equals more wins...

Rip's blog sez brown ain't gone retire anytime soon

ok, so it's been about a month or two into the nba, here's some reflections of mine:

-i was not surprised that rockets were NOT going to be very good; they gave up too much depth to get t-mac... it also annoys me how a lotta azn friends of mine suddenly jump on the rockets bandwagon... niggaz, plz... maybe in the future, but not now... not w/this crappy depth...

-i wasn't expecting nuggets to got suck dot com(talentwise they should be rolling)... wasn't expecting seattle to be GOOD(considering all they can do is shoot, admittedly very well, but just shoot)... wasn't expecting suns to be GOOD... and cavs look really good as well... buncha other surprises, like pacers holding their own despite their crippling losses...

-what i was NOT expecting though, was that magic were going to be REALLY good, really soon; everybody knew they were willing to sacrifice a few years to get good, since they gave up tmac; but i don't think i personally expected them to be in playoff contention right off the bat. i do like their cast though, much more than rockets; i've always been a francis fan, and it seems their team has a lotta depth now. currently, their strength is best determined by grant hill's ability to recover; in the near future, it'll be determined by how much dwight howard is the kg that he hopes to be...

-washington warriors being good, and depressed about why in the hell we got rid of them in the 1st place... nuff said... it also depresses me how gs wizards got suck, and suddenly, clippers being in playoff contention, AND better than gsw... did st. jean reincarnate into chris mullin?

-i've really admired dwayne wade's attitude towards the game... his selfless offense, his hard commitment to D, and his willingness to go to his strengths. i think he only took 1 three-pointer at one point, but i think i admire this sophomore the most, more than lebron, or melo.

-detroit pistons breaking near even surprised me... there's a couple of reasons for this though; one is that they could've been depressed after that brawl incident, and it's just carried into their attitude towards each night. another is possibly because they gave up too much in the offseason; maybe okur and williamson really help this team a lot more than we give credit for, and the last one, is possibly just cause they're taking games a lot easier... (fakers syndrome)... that said, i never rooted for detroit in the 1st place because i think they're the best... that idea is just stupid, and makes you bandwagon on teams more often than not. i've just always admired the defense that ben wallace and tayshawn prince bring to the floor, and everytime they play, i truly am awed by their effort and selfless actions. of course, that doesn't mean i don't hope they'll get another ring, but just that i won't jump on the spurs 100% because they probably stand the best chance of getting that ring this year IMO.

2 more weeks... to hang strong and not slack.

stop caring about horizontal depth, u scrub...

twenty-one might mean something you're the type who consistently likes to go out and get hammered... but i'm not that type of a person; in fact, i can safely say, that i have yet to even get drunk. i'm basically too busy to try to catch up with everything that i'm supposed to do, that i have no time to get hammered. because then i'd spend even more time trying to catch up.

i don't even make enough salmon steaks marinated w/miso to warrant that special privilege now... and if anybody younger than me goes up to me asking for me to buy alcohol for them, i might raise an eyebrow...

i also don't play texas hold em or blackjack, so you know where i'm going w/this...

so while i'm not exactly depressed about who i am now, it's not that i'm exactly leaping for joy either.

nevertheless, having made it this far on earth without getting shot or knifed, etc, or any other worse thing, is a blessing... so i'll thank god for that. i do have a lot to be thankful for, so rather than ponder about what useless garbage privileges i picked up today, i'll just reminisce on everything given to me, and be thankful for it all.

and i wonder, has joe stopped caring about his "punks'" b-days? no shoutouts now... wait, i know, socal has corrupted him... knew it... bastard...

ok, i know you can't see it too well(due to the blackness of the pot bottom), but that was my 1st try @hong sau neo ruo mein... tasted pretty good... well, i didn't cook the beef, i just reheated it... it was already pot-roasted, thanks to mom... but everything else i did... had no sesame oil though, so i had to use olive oil instead... and no bok choy, so spinach instead... but it's great... that was a pic of the leftovers, since i couldn't finish it...  

Who the hell cares? My thoughts exactly

Man, bay area fball and bball are t3h sUx...

Good thing sports aren't the only hobbies i'm into...

so far, this thanksgiving break has reminded me so much why i like this holiday 10x over christmas... nevermind the fact that xmas' significance totally owns thanksgiving flat up(jesus himself matters tenfold over whether some pilgrims managed to make it safely to america)... the attitude around thanksgiving, minus the gluttony is a hundred times more genuine... the commercialism of xmas has totally ruined its true value... not entirely, but it's pretty close.

i just wished i didn't have any hw to do over thanksgiving break...

i dunno if it's the fact that we were playing flag football, not tackle, but jerm is very easy to keep away from the qb... me, clement, and calvin had too much fun keeping jerm from getting close to mike. it was funny too.

to close, count your blessings this break; i don't care how many downfalls you've had this year, i don't think they'll compare to the blessings you've gotten from God...

http://worstlookingsiteever.tripod.com/3spowercombos.html

tayshawn prince, IMO, has the potential to become something of a taller, slower manu ginobili... hell, he already penetrates more than he spots-up shoots :D and if he does, it's usually as a 3 ball. and let's not get started on his d... (btw i still like both players on both teams, respectively... they're both fun to watch)

shortshort xx shinshoryuken flat up owns jerm... hell, anything in 3rd strike i shortshortsuper flat-up owns jerm

read the sports guy's comments(@espn.com of course) on artest punching the wrong guy... apparently, the identity of the guy who threw the beer was a fat, bald-ass idiot.(somebody plz find this guy)... that, and the guy who threw the chair; both should be punished heavily.

see you guys around in about 2-3 days... R U ready for sum 733T @$$ fb@11?!?!!??

aside from ron artest's insanely long punishment(i thought it should have been just SLIGHTLY larger than stephen jackson's, unless you can make a case to me that instigating the thing deserves a total season ban), i think david stern pretty much got it right. ben wallace seems a bit unfair, but then you do have to remember that he didn't do anything that huge... i don't think he was trying to get the crowd to start throwing stuff at artest(would you be mad if your team was down 15+, the game was pretty much over, and one of the better guys on the other team fouled you HARD when you went to the basket? yea prob), and it did seem like things were starting to cool down a bit before that idiot threw a cup full of beer @artest... if anyone's to blame, it's both the guy who threw the beer, and artest.

of course, pacer fans probably feel this is quite unfair, seeing how their pacers more or less lost playoff hopes in one night... look on the bright side though folks... it's like a replay of david robinson being injured, leading to them acquiring tim duncan... wouldn't be surprised if something similar happened to indiana.

the only thing besides adjusting the punishment on artest... the fans @detroit should be equally punished... ESPECIALLY that guy who started it all by throwing the beer cup... if that happens, then it'll be fair. if anything at all, find who originally threw that cup, and make him(or her?) take the majority of the blame.

ps controller sux... seriously...

level of proficiency for my most used 3rd strike chars:
1- chun-li, ken
2- ryu, akuma
3- yun
4- sean
5- dudley

once we get a joystick, hugo's going on that list somewhere... but for now, i'm going to try for yang and q... urien maybe in the near future...

ESPN.com - NBA - Fists, objects fly near end of Pacers-Pistons

yea i'm speechless...

it's kinda funny how they kept showing the replay of the fan approaching artest on the court, only to get dropped by him... then jermaine runs over and lays into him right when he's starting to get up...

ugly...

they should find whoever threw that 1st beer cup and punish him...

and quentin richardson had it right on; there's gonna be a lotta lawsuits going on... ppl are just too greedy not to take advantage.

i can't wait to play against eugene 3rd strike sometime in the future... when we've got a joystick...

as to whether you think pistons can still hang w/the powers of the west, after everybody's back, and healthy, and hearing and watching them wipe the floor w/minnesota, which has to be one of the top 3 teams in the entire nba league, i think the answer is quite obvious. put another way, kg couldn't do what he normally did; he committed a lot of turnovers.

but personally, i'm just amazed that prince actually crossed over his defender and took it strong to the hoop in style... damn!

then there was billups running all the way back to block kg's layup.

man, i am in a perpetual state of exhaustion these days. no rest til thanksgiving break comes over for me...

and jerm's getting better at third strike.

MTV.com - Music - Video Premiere - Linkin Park / Jay-Z: "Numb-Encore"

???

ok, i like linkin park's style, and like jay-z some, but this is like white on black... i don't see this tour happening... skaters and gangstas all in the same arena? did somebody get shot? :D

not to mention jay-z is like a part owner of the new jersey nets... can you imagine him taking the pa before, in between, and after games to announce and promote his latest album/release? ugh...

yeap... pretty soon we'll be having wu-tang financial doing our retirement plans, just like chappelle's show jabbed at...

(joe hahn let his hair down as seen in vid? is he going fob-style?)

i don't consider it being hardcore... you either play the game the right way, or you don't; either competent, or a scrub. either playing the game the right way, or you're LEARNING to play the game the right way. plz, that's not considered hardcore; that's considered approaching the game the right way. i don't consider you a hardcore cs player just cause you can awp better than me; i consider you a better cs player(and me a noob :D).

3rd strike chun-li basics for dummies(by me):

down/toward+heavy kick for up-close crossup; combos into crouching medium kick

down+medium kick in air when right above opponent; can do another air attack/parry before landing.

early heavy kick in air for air-to-air, also decent jump-in

medium kick in air for jump-in

crouching light kick for up-close poke; ditto with crouching jab; use these a lot; good for leading into a throw, keeping the opponent blocking low to pull a strong+forward overhead, etc. flows very nicely into other moves.

crouching medium kick(it's forward, jerm! forward!) for medium-range poking.

crouching roundhouse for anti-air, and medium-range-guarenteed hit when no meter

standing back+heavy punch for anti-air, as well as medium-range when you need to beat stuff out, as well as far-range whiff for building meter

standing fierce, for pretty much the same as crouching forward for poking uses, except you want the limb to hit opponents who are a bit further or standing.

main combo:

crouching forward, cancelled into super art 2, cancel the last kick with down, up/toward really quickly, follow with 2 fierces, or roundhouse.

(in REALLY, EASY TO UNDERSTAND TERMS: down+medium kick, then immediately before you even stop to see if the move's going to come out, roll the joystick a quarter circle forward 2x and press any kick... wait until the last kick comes out, then time a quick down-to-up/toward motion right when it comes out... time your air attack to hit the opponent while you're going up)

(i have still yet to see if chun can do shortshortsuper like the likes of shotos or dudley)

other decent moves:

crouching medium punch; much like crouching forward, but it's slower, but longer-ranged, and slides under a buncha stuff.

standing heavy kick; seems to beat out low attacks fairly well.

that's it; combine, watch some match vids.

and stay on the ground more often and use your normals, jerm! WATCH SOME COMP @OUR MU ALREADY! THEN YOU'LL LEARN HOW TO PLAY BETTER! NORMALS, FOO! NORMALS! NOT SPINNING BIRD KICK! NOT RYU'S HURRICANE KICK! NORMALS DOT COM!

(btw, i love shortshortsuper, because it's probably the one combo in sf where it integrates nicely into your offensive gameplan without being afraid of being retaliated if the opponent blocks instead; doesn't add too much damage to your super, but it's long enough for you to see that you need to stop @the 2nd short; best... sf... combo... ever...)

can someone tell me the last season that the 49ers got suck dot com? how in the hell do you lose to the panthers? pathetic... i'll still love the niners no matter what, but oh man...
here's my 2 cents though... i don't care if tim rattay is not a spectacular qb; just don't bumble the ball AGAIN! niners are, for the present time, a defensive oriented team; give the ball to kevan barlow as their main way of bringing it up the field, w/occasional passes. then stop them with d. plz, just, rattay either needs to leave, or stop bumbling the ball. a great team doesn't need an exceptional qb. don't believe me? look @the patriots. yes, tom brady's good. but he's not up there w/brett farve, donovan mcnabb, michael vick DOT COM... but he's solid; just does what's needed, at the right time, gets it done efficiently. kinda like what chauncy billups was during 2k4 finals in the nba. that's what sf needs right now, a solid qb, and we don't have that. i can't remember the last time niners had got suck dot com that badly.

t.o.'s still hilarious... i thought his figure skating dance was great. personally, i'm starting to really like donovan... i like how he acknowledges things screwed up because of him when plays don't go their way... just watch his body language. of course, that may just be him... the way he expresses it, but it's a cool thing to watch.

i'm amazed mu has not fixed mvc yet... it plays ok... but the screen is jacked up... 25% of the screen is off the screen, so you can't see your opponent when they get into the corner on either side. (imagines dumb reset possibilities that aren't supposed to be part of the game)

w0rd... if srk.com is down... JUST F5 THAT SHIT DOWN! :D

(btw, "andore" is the newest gamescrub to hit srk.com... opens his mouth before his brain begins to operate... srk.com should have a "dumbfuck" filter... say too many stupid statements/accusations and you get banned... it seems all these idiots are popping up all over on srk... ryurules21(now banned), gill(now banned), masterakuma(plz, somebody ban this guy), now andore(ditto w/the idiot before))

ok, essay revision time.

jedi knight's finished... on both sides... fuunny how they give more cutscenes when you're using the light side though. now onto the fun multiplayer game... i'm pretty sure i'll end up using light side more than dark side online, although that remains to be seen... or whether i might use the uber disciple ranking...

third strike: characters i play on learning sometime in the near future: urien and yun.

i bet i'm gonna turn out looking black in the next msm directory; when the guy tried to take my photo, i thought i heard, "one..." then he snapped the pic... so i wasn't smiling when that happened. ah well.

and we played mafia @msm fellowship yesterday. i was one of the mafia... and we won. it was great... good strategy on our part.

i feel bad for ben wallace... he must have like at least 8 older siblings... that's a lotta peeps he's gonna mourn for if he lives to a ripe old age... anyways, get better soon man! pistons need your defensive effort!

i dunno whether i REALLY like the kings anymore... not that me considering myself norcal means i'm a kings fan at no 1, more like a warriors fan... i still like em, but... eh... you could say they're hella bad defensively... plus, now they look like the lakers of past(teammates bickering, etc)...

dreyer's pumpkin ice cream is hella good. has cinnamon and nutmeg in it. pumpkin pie style. now, if they made it ol skool 31 baskin robbins style(add chunks of cheesecake, complete w/graham cracker bits), that'd be top tier(btw, why don't they bring back that flavor? that was good stuff...)

speaking of which... mmm... pumpkin pie.

http://espn.starwave.com/media/nba/2004/0707/photo/g_kobe_frt.jpg

what the hell is kobe looking at in that pic anyways? :D

dialect is dialect... don't hate on it... what, you think you're better just cause you speak the language of a better society, or a better state, etc? bullshit.

our apt now has 3rd strike, and my fingers are just CRYING that i need a joystick... ps controller... so... frikkin... bad... for fighting games. but i still manage to have a 30+ win streak on jerm :D it's partially cause sometimes i'll just watch ppl playing 3rd strike in the mu, so i understand theory-fighter-wise how to play the game, but it's also cause he always has these patterns he goes into occasionally, like not tick throwing(hence i could just sit and block all day if i wanted to), not being able to combo into super, doing special moves that leave him in bad recovery if blocked, etc. he also almost always eats overheads when getting up. the big one though, is that he just doesn't know how to poke well right now. i have a lotta weaknesses too right now, but concerning what i'm playing with, they're manageable.

don't get me wrong though, it's not like jerm's trying to improve upon himself. but i guess i'm not the only one suffering from the crap ass ps controller. the d-pad sucks; you can't roll it at all. if you do, it feels really awkward. sony must've been on crack when they were designing the pad. and i'd say ditto w/x-box controller(crap ass)... best pad i've ever used of any system, was interact's propad 6. THAT was a good pad. not a lotta features, but it was smooth. i pulled off dragon punches on either side at will. if i couldn't do something, it was because of me, not the pad. of course, a mass stick is still the ultimate for me... when it comes to joysticks. but it costs even more than an x-arcade... so we'll shoot for that(should be fine for our purposes, unless we go slam-crazy on the joystick or yank it til it breaks)

retreat was great...

too many parallels w/the good ol summer redwood though... sometimes, i end up associating retreat with a place where you go to get back in touch w/nature, play bball on a saturday afternoon, eat so-so cafeteria food, etc... met a lotta ppl during the retreat, and saturday night's sermon really spoke to me.

the fact that me and jon went outside into the cold night on saturday night when they gave us time to pray, and just confessed our sins to each other, then prayed for each other(compared to just throwing prayer requests @each other), is a really great start to improving a christian relationship... i think the idea of corporate confession is great, i just never had the courage to try it... i think it'd be a good idea to expand this and see if me, jon, jerm can't like once a month get together and just confess and pray for each other.

it's funny though, in our small groups, two korean guys start going "so-CAAL!" two others then chime in with "sa-cra-men-TO!" then me and this other guy named david go "bay areA!" then i throw out "WO-RRIORS!" :D he echoes, and i follow w/"we got suck... and we're proud of it!" david then mocked one of the so-cal guys "that's right... who beat you in preseason?" :D

jedi knight's so fun... can't wait to start the whole multiplayer thing all over again. or just give one of my cds to jerm, so we can play together...

jedi knight: dark forces 2 is such a fun fps game. not to take anything away from counter-strike, but yeah... definitely underplayed... there's like only 8 consistent ppl on msn's zone.com playing that game. a lotta ppl might say the force powers take away from the game, make it unbalanced, but i actually think they're well-balanced enough to throw a sort of balance into the game you don't find in most other fps games... the force powers counter each other(i don't think there's one dominating force power; absorb uses a lot of energy, grip has a lotta ways to be broken, and protection gives up too much to be useful in multi), and no weapon is overall TOO dominating... they could've made the grenades function much like cs does; in jk, you have to hold down as long as you want to throw, and it changes the arc too while you're at it... so many times i've botched a grenade throw because i didn't hold the grenade long enough. technically, you could even rock w/fists and force powers alone... (haven't gotten around to multi yet, cause i'm gonna try to finish the single game first) light side's a lot better playing w/guns, but dark side does a lot better inside. so you notice the balance there.

it's funny, cause when i first tried to play cs, i drew upon my previous knowledge of playing the trial version of jk online vs others...(which, btw, wasn't too good, cause i played w/keyboard exclusively, not w/the mouse) now that i actually bought the real version for $10, i can't help but strafe and stop much like i do w/counterstrike. and sometimes i'll throw a grenade into a room right before i rush in.

but then again, sometimes i'll just run into a room and pull everybody's weapons away w/my force powers, then just proceed to hack the limbs off of everybody w/the lightsaber... just like old times.

there'd better be 30 game rooms up once i get done w/the single player and get back to playing multiplayer w/this game.

new nba season, new temptations to pull me away from doing work properly...

-for all those ppl who were hyping up the rockets to be the next shaq and kobe, detroit certainly made them look like them... prince made tmac shoot HORRIBLY(go prince!), and yao was also very limited in his shots... i love ben wallace and prince. both wallaces had putbacks, and sheed was on fire the 4th.

-how in the hell did ak get 8 blocks against the new lakers? :D well, i think we now know lakers are not invincible. jazz are certainly a step higher than the nuggets, since this team plays d. i'd still say, that the lakers might look slightly better than the heat, just cause heat is shallow, and lakers have a little more depth.

-and magic are gonna be good sometime soon... even as a rookie, dwight howard already had an extremely good well-balanced game. with francis, a returning grant hill, a developing howard, as well as various other former core rockets players, i'm gonna enjoy watching them.

me and jerm need to pool our money together to get an arcade quality joystick for the ps2 soon(we now have have 3rd strike and street fighter ae, thanks to jerm), and the regular ps2 controller is a BITCH when it comes to fighting games... jerm has a blister on his thumb, and my right index was bleeding yesterday. i like how jerm's a lot more committed to trying to play fighting games; most of my other friends don't want to learn.

and i should buy espn nba 2k5 sometime soon.

NBA.com: Rip Hamilton's Blog

wow... anyways, whadda team player; i loved this snippet from rip; shows how he knew how to defer to others, and as a result? he's maybe the best offensive player who moves w/o the ball:

"I just received the news that the NBA General Managers voted me No. 1 in the NBA.com poll as the player who best moved without the ball. It's quite an honor and also a little crazy considering that Reggie Miller, a legend, didn't get the nod. Reggie is still the Godfather of that distinction, especially coming off screens. I will admit that I stole a few tricks from him. A lot of tricks, actually. He's constantly in motion. You really don't want to guard a guy like that.

I first started to learn to move without the ball when I went to Connecticut. Although I never really took much pride in it until I got a chance to play with Michael Jordan when we were in D.C. together. When I played with him, he dominated the ball. Since I like to have the ball in my hands, too, I knew we both couldn't play with both of us dominating the ball. If we were both going to play well together, someone was going to have to move without the ball. Guess who that was? I had to figure out another way to make things work so I can still be effective. My coach at the time, Doug Collins, taught me how to make backdoor cuts and try to get easy baskets and eventually I learned how to feed off of M.J. Ultimately, that one season I spent with him really helped my game. Being voted No. 1 by the GM's really tells me how far my game has come."

and...

Ben Wallace Interview

here's to the warriors making the playoffs... good luck gsw...
here's to the pistons repeating...

here's the newest td victory dance that to's done...

this sunday, against the ravens, after t.o. did a td, he immitated ray lewis EXACTLY and did ray's funky pre-game warmup dance. call it a diss if you want, call it funny(that's what i'm sticking to), but all in all, this is the truth... once ray lewis is taken off the madden nfl cover(seems like everybody who lands on the cover, that nfl season, does poorly... mike vick last season, anybody?), he's gonna rip t.o. a new ass.

i got a usb keyboard, so i don't have to worry about my laptop keys crapping out on me anytime soon(and by thus, ruining a good laptop)

for some reason, i get dizzy playing single player fps'... dunno why.

indeed...

the lord gaveth, and the lord hath taken away... may the name of the Lord be praised

well done, red sox... well done. i wonder if alice had any problems going to sleep last night due to boston's rowdiness?

(the sad part is now the curse is on sf... now THIS bay area team is the one to go the longest w/o a world series win)

going out to downtown davis' 31 to share a 3-scoop sundae(had a buy 1 get 1 free coupon) w/a friend was hella cool... esp on a night... should do this more often.

i found it interesting that last night everyone in my apt was asleep by slightly after 12:00 considering that our internet, for some reason, was down... haha... that's funny... very funny. goes to show how much our life is attached to this thing called the internet. i would like to rag on the others some more, but i'm not invulnerable either...

there was this interesting diagram my dkc small group leader gave us on humans and stuff, how we've grown apart from our original design and how we're continuing to downfall(i described it to one of my group buddies as "when they created fox" :D) i think i'll try to capture it w/my webcam and post it up soon... once the apt internet is back to normal.

brett favre was #2 of fsn's top 10 toughest football players; mike ditka made the list at around no 8... here's what some guys had to say about him...
-you couldn't keep him down then, and you can't keep him down now, now that he has levitra...
-that one play, he's like bowling over 6 defensive tackles; he's not even trying to avoid them; once he finally gets into the end zone, he collapses, and he's just laying on the ground; exhausted; it's like he got an erection or something.

the curse might actually be broken! of course, anything's possible... red sox rallied from 0-3 to make it 4-3, but then again, this IS the world series. i'm predicting red sox in five. a sweep's not out of the question though. btw, you'd think, with all the red sox players giving thanks to god, that these are the CHRISTIAN sox...

sir charles suggested peja for ron artest... way out of the blue... but i could see it working... kings have concentrated too much upon their offense, and aside from a few gems in their lineup, their defense is simply not there.

if you're having trouble staying awake, chew gum... suckers disappear after a while... and then you're left hanging. gum sticks to you and stays as long as you want it to stay, even when the flavor's gone(duh...)

w0rd...
that's all that matters...
not what you're wearing...
not how many wwjd bracelets you've got on...
not how many christian t-shirts you've got spewing catchy phrases and pics such as "jesus rocks" (which still cracks me up btw, even though i don't own it)...
not whether you've got a chain around your neck professing your faith, whether you wear it like you think you're the next big xn o-lang to hit the streets...
if THE w0rd is not in you, then you have no true faith. if you have no true faith, then you have no true deeds.
everything revolves around THE w0rd; it was spoken to give everything life, then it spoke again to give everything NEW life.

is the w0rd in you? is it in you?

because, without it, all things are lifeless. are you lifeless?

my main guitar setup as of right now; (from left to right) crybaby wah pedal, dod fx75-b stereo flanger pedal, boss sd-2 dual overdrive pedal. 

say what you want about it, but i've always felt that worship music is always better if you're in the spot, either in the audience, or playing the music yourself, surrounded by close band members, the beat lifting you up. a lot of times, the studio stuff by the artists tend to be too soft. honestly. i love it so much more when you're right there. the music is there. and you feel it. and today was good, great. but i always try to take care that i am not bouncing to the beat, but because i am joyful at god's presence, which is hard... so i always end up saying something like this in my head during worship: "please let my actions be about you, not the music."

i think i've never really told anybody new(or the worship team) at the fellowship in davis that i play the electric guitar, out of fear i might end up serving on the worship team doing it just cause it's "what a good christian would do", or feeling a sense of pride in my ability to play lead electric guitar, but oh man... how i crave to once again play alongside a good drummer and acoustic rhythm guitarist and bassist, free to just fool around and figure out how to back others up. sometimes i get so caught up with the idea that i start imagining the lead guitarist alongside the davis worship team and what he(i) would play for fills, or a possible riff... it is something you don't feel anyplace else. and honestly, if i were to do that 16 hrs out of a 24, that'd be heaven for me; singing and playing songs to god and getting all caught up with the whole shebang.

if i ever worshipped god like i do when alone at home, but at a fellowship, assuming it's an upbeat song and every band member's playing loud and stuff, i think i would end up distracting everybody else. you can already see it slightly... i'm clapping my hands, but my body's bouncing with the rhythm, head slightly bobbing... my posture constantly changes, from looking up at the screen, to closing my eyes, and head tilted downward, nodding slightly with the rhythm. i basically am not still. if i went all-out, not only would it be quite difficult for me to do so, but it'd distract others... basically, at home, sometimes i will literally jump... and not like a small hop... no, i'm talking about like one of those bball hops where you plant both feet, pump your arms and get up high. and i do that spontaneously during a song, usually during a melodious build-up(or did i mean harmonious? sorta like during the transitions)... it looks weird, to be frank, and not only are friday nights done in a lecture hall, allowing no room for movement in most cases, if i did so, i KNOW i would be distracting a lot of other ppl. so i refrain. but i wonder about me holding back... i wish i had the ability to mentally block ppl out... that would be so useful sometimes...

interesting thing of note: @msm, if they start out a worship song slow, then make it upbeat in the middle, no one actually starts clapping; you need to start the song fast for them to do it; case in point; i thought "prince of peace"(you are holy) tonight was awesome... but they started slow, then picked it up... nobody tried to clap; i tried to get it started, and jerm started following, but it was pretty much just us two, and so i gave up. at least with the loud, upbeat drummer, i don't think clapping was necessary.

you're my prince of peace, and i will live my life for you.

---------------------------

here's something to shift the point; as christians, how are we supposed to vote for politicians and laws? some would say "according to what God would do." but we're being a bit vague; nevermind what the various small political sects are doing; let's look @the republicans and the democrats.
the 1st emphasizes that as christians, we need to uphold the law; we need to do what is right. we need to stand strong and hold our values, or we'll succumb, or something like that. do you let a blind person run over a cliff? hence, their negative stance of abortion, stem cell research, etc...
democrats, however, emphasize the "freedom of choice." to them, what you want to do is your right, or your problem/solution. they have no right to interfere. interfering would simply contrast with the principles this country was founded upon.

so what's a christian to do? many of us are very quick to say, based upon the elephant's enforcing of christian laws, i'm going republican. i am one too; my voter registration card says so(although i've never voted yet, just registered). we need to stand and hold our values, that's the stance we're supposed to take. however, jesus taught us that we should never turn religion into a crux for others; his harsh treatment of pharisees emphasized that. stop trying to turn christianity into a law, making it harder for others to follow. also, jesus did not force us to convert; he simply destroyed any obstacles in our path, so that, if we wanted to be near him, we could; if we wanted to simply stay away, we could do so too. the "freedom of choice" thing, is indeed very christianlike.

but hear me out; does that mean we should not lord ANY thing despicable over others? here's another way of putting it; if we had no punishment for robbery or murder, don't you think that would blow the crime rate wide open? some of those laws help keep down certain acts, even if it's still, more-or-less, "freedom of choice"(we're not chained down by the police 24/7, so we COULD commit murder if we wanted, but then we'd be pursued). the punishment helps keep those acts from occurring a lot more, from ppl who are less conscious-driven. so where do we cutoff the "freedom of choice," and where do we allow it? it's an interesting question, and i don't think i'll be able to answer it in this entry. but i would like the reader to mull out it; so many of our political bickering is basically, over whether to enforce a law or give "freedom of choice."

my personal opinion is this; if it causes harm to another person, it should not be allowed. of course, now we dig into deeper debate; some will argue the fetus is not really a living human being. do we punish ppl for squashing ants? those are living creatures too. if we spilled our semen while during sex, that would be essentially, killing a human being, is it not? etc... others argue that we will be endangering the life of a mother if it came down to the mother either being able to live, OR the fetus(ie one will die). how can we judge who will live in cases like those? etc. and of course, if we put in exceptions in the banning of abortions/etc, couldn't some lawyer slick-talk his way to explain the ability to use abortion in a lot more cases than allowed? etc... i've taken many philosophy classes(at least 2 where i had to ponder medical stuff, so i know), but i think at the end of road, even if we come to a definite conclusion, it wouldn't be definite for some; some will continue arguing.

the whole point of this entry though, but not to really reach a definite conclusion... but take things into context, and continue thinking of counter-point to counter-point to counter-point to... and pray... that always helps. consult your bible, and maybe we might someday reach the end of this... and hopefully, either find a convincing end-all argument to ban abortion, or convince others the value of respecting each other, so we don't need to worry about the need of enacting stupid laws like these.

(man, my fingers are like asleep; i think i saw so many grammer errors while typing... but i hope you understand what i'm saying enough to not need me to repost... i'm kinda tired... but if anything looks confusing, you can also comment, asking for clarification)

This may help you Jerm, if you're planning on taking class Tekken 101 w/me

the Ling Xiaoyu FAQ by JKim looks fairly good; give it a try.

(note: not every FAQ here is good)

don't forget, jerm... we finally tekken tomorrow... prepare to get raped everytime i decide to choose nina or jin... or law... maybe bryan. :) and bring some lube; you gonna need it :D cause the rape GONNA BE HARD!

(in the near future, i may decide to actually post some pics of what i cook using my webcam, just for fun, for those peeps who don't live in my apt...)

think the curse is gonna be broken? :D

and lastly, is it just me, or do gel pens seem to run out of ink faster than regular ink pens? it's been 1 month, and i've already gone through 4, maybe 5 bic gel pens. compare that to last year, where i pretty much only ran out of ink from my bic pen 60% of the way through the school year.

HOOPSWORLD.com | Will Tayshaun Prince ever become an All-Star?

i almost most certainly agree... but add one more thing to tayshaun's list of things to improve upon:

his handle.

but i gotta admit; i LOVE his defense. hold that shit down, foo!

Counter-Strike Tactics, Tips and Guides @ FidosRevenge.com!

pretty good guide; surprised i never found it

i love this dog tag that i wear on my neck, because besides looking kinda kewl, it has reminded me of god being by my side at the moment more times than not(at least more than the wwjd bracelet i ALSO wear, but on my right wrist), as well as reminding me to do the right thing and to press on w/it, to not go lazy, or give up. it's great; wearing bible verses on yourself aren't bad in themselves, as long as you don't think you're more righteous than your fellow man for doing so.