elaborating on the ...of the week's, i thought it was a good idea(to be honest, the idea wasn't exactly OG; i found it out from www.sonichurricane.com, a good SF-related site, and i guess today it just seemed like a good idea to try to begin)... i might have more topics, but for now, we'll keep it at the ones i posted. and when i'll do them, i'll keep it short and post what the thing is, instead of elaborating; if you want specifics on one of them, you gotta comment on which one you want eleboration, and maybe i'll bring out some thoughts.

anyways, sports game of the week: warriors def sacramento on sunday. why's this strike me? because of a number of things: sacramento is TONS better than warriors right now. and yet, it seems like gsw's the kryptonite to many superman-ish-teams. it's funny how pistons can beat warriors, but kings murdered them on a sunday ago or two. but gsw beat kings like mad this season. on sunday, they showed that they got the better of kings in this year's regular season series, losing only 1 home game. what also sparked my interest is this: this time, their player whom they've been having the most problem against, jrich, was missing; troy murphy acted like a white KG and posted his own double-double, leading gsw to the win. i would've loved to go to that kings game and stood up against the crowd to root for the warriors.

btw, seeing how the pistons are sliding again, makes me wonder that maybe every single player on this team is THAT valuable(compared to each other)... look at how much they ran into trouble when ben wallace took time off due to the 6 game suspension, or his death of his bro. now look at how they slide when rip went out injured; i've never seen billups run into so many TO's before! and i have a feeling that if tayshawn ever gets injured in the future, though they never let him carry the team to victory yet, that they'd suffer too; he's their best all-around player. however, the truth about the pistons, is that their best player, is IMO, not even a player: larry brown. that's right. makes me wonder just how much influence a coach has upon the game. i'm thinking that a coach has influence upon the gameplan that a team has to carry through, as well as motivational encouragement; am i missing anything else? maybe reputation? they're more willing to listen to him if he's got a reputation for winning, or turning low-tier teams into winners?

seeing how good friday and easter's coming up, i wanted to paraphrase the book of the week that i read: it was about a jewish businessman whose older daughter converted to christianity; he tries to use logic and research to disprove what she's come to believe, and ends up being converted to a christian, as well as his entire family. he is now a pastor to jews and gentiles alike. anyways, in one of the chapters, he tries to tackle exactly why christianity spread apart from judaism. now, i'm not gonna tackle the entire thing, but i wanted to elaborate on easter, as this book opened my eyes on that issue(it goes far beyond what the bible says; a bit of history is needed)

the reason is this: if you remember correctly, jesus died when? on the 1ST DAY OF PASSOVER. when did he rise? 3RD DAY OF PASSOVER. think about that. why do we celebrate easter about half a year away? wouldn't it make more sense to celebrate it during passover? because the christian gentiles at the time had utter disregard for jews, despite the fact that we all know christianity is a jewish religion 1st and foremost. passover at that time, was celebrated according to the jewish calender, not the secular calender. the 17th of nisan(the original passover date; sometime around late march and early april), was not a meaningful date for christians. so what they did was proclaim at a council in cesarea that ressurection day would be celebrated on the date known as the "feast of eshtar," producing easter sunday. they then widened the gap even further by later proclaiming that all believers celebrate the resurrection on easter sunday, and even later, that anyone who attempted to celebrate passover in the church was to be excommunicated. so sad...

now, i realize that the original passover date was around late march to early april; the date we about have easter sunday. however, i think it would also be a good idea, to ALSO(not exclusively) celebrate easter on what is now present-day passover. does it make you a better christian if you do so? no... but i believe that you show even further respect for jesus if you do so. remember that those who knows more, more will be entrusted with him. now that you are REALLY aware of when jesus died, doesn't it do more justice to him to worship him in a like mind around passover?

just some thoughts.

have a happy good friday and easter; remember all that he's done for you... and then some...

Academictips.org - Memory Techniques, Memorization Tips

i'm gonna have to go back to this site and print its contents out at the library

... of the week's(something new that i'd thought i'd post each week that's on my mind):

book: stan telchin - betrayed
song: jeremy camp - restored
food: tsing tao's spicy noodle soup(yes, since i'm home, i ALWAYS think about it)
bible verse: jeremiah 29:13
musical equip: tascam guitar cd trainer
video game: tekken 5
sport game: (haven't thought about it yet)

i gotta find a meditation spot in cupertino; so i've got one in davis, now i need one in my hometown; i'm thinking of memorial park...

so that means i gotta find 4 meditation spots:
cupertino, dry weather: memorial park
cupertino, raining: ?
davis, dry weather: UCD, arboretum
davis, raining: ?

i'm back...

and i need to get the saturn fixed... again... i'll do it tomorrow...

it gets so many problems... and started showing me the "service engine soon" sign again on the road, and that's been about 4-5 months since the last time the engine got fixed... ugh...

it's a love-hate relationship, haha...

so while i did plan a LOTTA stuff today, i guess that leaves me with just writing down lessons on "celebration of discipline" today...

there's no snacks in my house, haha... but i'll be okay; i've been trying to check myself to make sure i don't fall too much in love with food.

i'll go to guitar center, bereans and MAYBE golfland(tekken 5!) tomorrow...

(btw, i've begun to realize something; if you're planning on visiting the arcade, you need to blow $2+(or depending upon the machine's cost for 1 game, 8 games) if you intend to get better playing against others... $1 just doesn't cut it no more, so for me, i guess that means i have to cut down on the times i go)

k, showertime, then i gotta write on the cpu

CNN.com - Appeals panel won't order Schiavo fed - Mar 23, 2005

wow... how sad... and the fact that her history spans back 10 years...

ok, i gotta get back to cramming for my last final, but for a quick word: it's made me wonder... if you requested that if you became a human vegetable, that others pulled the plug on you, and it came to pass... would that be committing suicide in god's eyes? and hence, would you be sent to hell for that? i've really wrestled over this question a lot before... well, not really wrestled with it, but i've never reached a definitive conclusion. i mean, how can you be committing suicide if you are basically, beyond recovery? braindead people can't think at all. so they are literally useless. and yet... you're killing a human. and human worth is so high, that to request that others pull the plug on you is still suicide. ugh...

i know that my mom's wishes in this case would've been that yes, i'd be allowed to pull the plug.

it's not all that bad for asian guys

HAHA!

ok, after much searching on the internet, i think i've finally found the preamp/miniamp that i've wanted...

TASCAM GDGT1MKII

nice eh? and a good training tool too(i can use the thing to practice on cds)... i'm just hoping that i can use the headphones AND lineout at the same time without a cd inside... if that's possible, i've got one sweet ass preamp...

and it's only 150 at guitar center this month...

NBA.com: Billups, Richardson Named Players of the Week

woot! go warriors and pistons! (haha... warriors beat the kings in series... take that, sacto! didn't even NEED jrich to get the job done for the 2nd time at sacto!)

"i think we're going to be tough to beat the rest of the season, especially for teams fighting for the playoffs. We want to try and ruin a lot of those team's chances. That's all we can really play for right now." -mike dunleavy jr.

*grins* such a nice guy, that dunleavy...

there's so many warriors' last names which i can't pronounce off the top of my head...

here's an interesting nba question; me and jerm went back and forth yesterday; which player has better backup; lebron or kobe? both teams have been slumping a lot lately... jerm argued that the lakers provided kobe with more depth, cause lamar odom is a good big man, and various other guys... (so i guess he's inferring that the reason why the lakers are doing worse is that they need more time to mesh, and or kobe is not as good as lebron) i thought z and eric snow, as well as a buncha others on cavs gave lebron better support. i dunno; maybe the fact that cavs overall do better than lakers is maybe cause i believe lebron will become a better player than kobe, but i'm still a believer in the team concept.

it's gonna be quite interesting in tinseltown if the lakers don't make the playoffs... maybe they're gonna cut loose on kobe? well, i wanna say "i told you so" but then kobe wants this i guess... so either you're gonna look like a genius cutting shaq loose, or you're gonna hafta step up and say "i accept this"

btw, i never got around to answering my stupid little question i threw out there about my bibles and headbands:

i have three of each; 2 of 3 of both my headbands and bibles are blue and green(green student bible given to me from phil, blue pocket bible which i bought and use exclusively on ucd; blue headband is the official ucd headband, and i got the green headband because i was into paul pierce at one point)... the 3rd bible is that old, large, worn out monstrosity that i carry around ctcc for so long, and has tabs falling out left and right. the 3rd headband is a white one made w/dupont, so it's probably the best one, supposedly has a patented fabric that helps keep sweat away from you; i originally got it cause ben wallace is wearing a white headband all the time, but now he's switched to red :( ah well; i'm not gonna bother buying another one; i have too many already.

1 more, that's it; just one more... see you guys back on wednesday.

i have got to stay on track a lot more during spring quarter; if you don't keep up RIGHT at the beginning, it doesn't matter how much you try in the middle; you're gonna end up cramming...

leave it to me to make french toast look like crap... it looked like it was diseased before i put it in the frying pan, due to the chunks of butter... tasted good though, and it WAS my 1st time trying to make it from scratch... next time fools, next time... ask jerm about the tastetest...

Pray for me; looks like i might have to attend jury duty
my jury number btw is 700, so you can see how i'm just hoping the numbers fall short before the week of 27th... it's so close... i gotta find nelson and talk to him on sunday.

The Purpose-Driven Life by Warren, Rick - Berean Christian Stores

is this book good? i hear ppl talking about it all the time

also, while we're talking about this, what's a good book to learn about the scriptures that deal w/prophesy? any recommendations?

(for some strange reason, i have always wanted to buy and own sun tzu's "the art of war - victory without combat", but i don't think it's gonna be much use, even if i take up martial arts @ucd)

my current library of christian songs 

woooooooowwwwww...

i'm loving the warriors... especially considering they beat a defensive-lacking team, the suns...

the game on thursday was so fun to watch... yes, it killed me to watch warriors not defend all the way, but jrich and davis are so fun to watch when they're hot...

classic, fun(to me) match on sunday... spurs and pistons... call it what you want, but you can't win games w/o defense... you may see airballs and blocked shots all over the place and see a terrible game, but i see the skill and defensive pressure both teams and esp the wingmen and post-defenders are going to put on each other... it takes skill, and both teams are here to win, not impress you...

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

don't come to me complaining about how it's no longer sunny and starting to rain again, or how your hair and clothes are gonna get messed up, or how you don't like the wetness, or i may feel angrily compelled to backfist you across the face...

at least it's not downpouring like crazy... light drizzles are kewl... trust me, they are...

tekken 5's gonna be really kewl... they even did the memory card thing that vf4 did... although, i feel that my win record's gonna be crap...

MSNBC - Cardinal's plea: Don't read 'Da Vinci Code'

if the cardinal's gonna tell ppl not to read this book, the least he can do is provide reasons why it's false... b/c the way i see it, all this is gonna do to the general unbeliever is make them think, "what's so bad about it that you're trying to hide from us?" and make them want to read it even more. calling a book "rotten food," and then being able to back it up...

and even if catholics want to read it, then you could just provide some books that disprove it...

although, i really don't know... supposedly, if we were to call this book "evil," then it's best not to dabble in it at all, instead of using it to test your faith?

i mean, i have heard the arguments in the book ARE convincing to some ppl, but i think if you're strong in your faith and have a good knowledge of the bible, you should have no problem... it's just that everybody's looking for some reason to disbelieve the gospel.

now to finish strong... 7 days left...

4 finals left...

fast food chains gonna be see a lot more of me this and next week... during dinner of course...

see ya'll back on wednesday, or thursday of next week...

tekken 5's out now(or real soon)! ooooh, now i don't know whether to get espn nba 2k5 still, or to save money to get tekken 5 instead...

(or instead of espn nba 2k5, blow the money on ttt, since i'm playing tekken 3 again, and i can't for the life of me get down jin's EWGF, b,f+2,1>2, DEWGF combo; can't do the DEWGF consistently; i need to work on f,f *pause* d,df~2 more...)

waitaminute, i think i've heard some reports that t5 devil jin = ttt jin...

alright, if they can confirm that i can practice b,f+2,1>2, DEWGF, then tk5 it is...

man, i dunno what it is with me, but i've been getting blessings and blessings from god this week. and i'm not talking about the "oh, i managed to wake up in time for class even though i hit the snooze button stuff," or "i should've gotten a parking ticket, but i didn't," it's even better than what happened last end of fall quarter. i'm talking about the stuff related to fasting and prayer i did this week. granted, my fast was over yesterday afternoon, but it's enough to show me the power of fasting, prayer, and meditation, all working together. if that isn't something worth talking about, what isn't?

i'll probably pay some extra hours for it tonight, as i've got a lab due tomorrow and other ish, but it's worth it.

i'll just cut and paste the entries i made today... you gotta read it to believe it... plz be patient and read both entries... i hope that you will gain something from it and be encouraged further from it... whatever i quoted was what i wrote directly out of my diary... as King Nebuchadnezzar best put it in Daniel 4:1-3,

To the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world:
May you prosper greatly!
It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.
How great are his signs,
how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;
his dominion endures from generation to generation.

(this one i started out seeing another weakness of mine, and then it just made me sadder and sadder thinking about it; in case you don't know as I reference in the entry, me, jon, jerm and sam all have a small group thing we do every tuesday night outside of msm and whatever-church-group-sam-goes-to-in-ucsb)
(begin quote)
I see another weakness of mine; I get easily ensnared by the prospect of new things. In some cases, this is good b/c as a genetics future wannabe, it’s good to want to know more and explore and find out more. But this is also bad, b/c it means I am that much more easily ensnared by the “treasures” of this world.

In the case of fighting games, that means I can so easily be ensnared by a game I haven’t tried mastering or playing. As of right now, I am hooked upon the ol skool versions of SFII. It ended up distracting me during my MCB class b/c I started thinking and replaying the matches I played against someone @the MU instead of the class subject.

And I also see this wanting of temporary, new things in the way I buy stuff sometimes. Always wanting new things, never satisfied with what I have; is everything I buy that useful? Is this the meaning of the 10th commandment? To not be envious of what we don’t have? Or the 2nd commandment? This is terrible. Nothing I have tried is really that new, that satisfying in the long run. I can say all I want, but fighting games are basically pushing buttons and tapping joysticks. Music is basically hearing the same notes played in different rhythms; it’s JUST NOISE! Basketball is pushing a stupid ball through a new. And all these things get us angry or saddened just b/c we can’t do them consistently? Useless. Lacking.

Soloman was right(Ecclesiastes 1:8-10); nothing is new. AT ALL. How weak I am. How lacking my soul is. I guess I could tell the others tonight about how I’d feel, but they’d probably brush it off, saying “oh, we all have wants” or “as long as it’s in proper perspective with your placement of God first,” but really now, do you realize how much we think of finding joy in these things?

I guess I really don’t know where I’m going with this; I don’t know exactly how God is going to rid or diminish my want of things new or that I don’t have, and I’m not trying to say we all should give everything away and just be like monks. I guess what I could do is bring forth this issue as a confession before the other guys tonight and ask them to forgive me on part of God, as well as to ask God to begin that work of being content only in God.
(end quote)

(you needed to read the above to truly appreciate the entry i made below; i then spent a long time in prayer just griping to God, and then spent some moments in meditation, trying to let God speak to me; what followed was just gold... i don't know how else to put it... this meditation experience felt the most real to me out of anything i've done; it was like me and god were talking to each other without words; i was adding something with my imagination to the vision, and he was doing the same)
(begin quote)
(We all know that imagination allows us to use our mindpower to create images in our mind, and that it’s a suggestive way to meditate before God, but what I’m about to say next felt more like a communication w/God w/o words, making this feel so genuine, like no other meditation experience I’ve ever felt. I’m trying to recreate the imagery as best I could, but some of the words I said or heard couldn’t be remembered exactly.)

I just had the most incredible meditation experience ever; I was contemplating how sinful I was for wanting temporary things, and then God just took my imagination and used it for his glory. I saw the personification of James 1:22-25 and John 6:33-37;

I was standing in front of a large body-long mirror, which was the perfect law(as seen in James), and then saw my hungry, thirsty self. I looked dead, shriveled, gray. And then I complained to God, saying “How can I ever change myself? I am just so weak, I can never be satisfied. I know I need you, but I don’t know how.” And I said some other things along these lines.

All the while, Jesus was in the same room as me, slightly behind me, looking at me and the mirror. And then after hearing me, he tells me, “Then I’ll become a part of you.” He turns into a slice of bread, then says, “Take me and eat me, and I’ll become you(or a part of you).” But I protested, saying, “My Lord, please, no! My vessel(body) is weak and imperfect! You don’t want to dwell there!” And Jesus replied, “I love you too much. I can’t let and see you go hungry like this again. I’ll let my body be broken and destroyed so that I can live in you and be a part of you. That way, you will become perfect b/c I dwell in you and am perfect myself. You just need to believe in me, and that I can do it.” I said, “Lord, I believe; help me to believe,” and then took him and ate him.

The vision ended there, b/c I started thinking(by myself, not visions given to me) about whether Jesus would come out of my body as poop, but that b/c he’s perfect no poop would come out, so then I basically decided to just open my eyes.
(end quote)

Davis Police Department Weekly Crime Synopsis - City of Davis

just 4 more hours of fasting to go, or such...

you'd be surprised(or not) what's in your fast food... take a look at jack in the box or wendy's or burger king's official websites... it's like 80% hydrogenated soybean oils, 15% EDTA preservatives, and 5% actual meat(well, not exactly, but the long list of crud that follows the actual meat makes it seem that way)... i dunno if this'll motivate me to eat even more at in n out and redrum exclusively... not that eating out's healthy in the 1st place... man am i thankful i like cooking, or i'd be in a bind...

i guess i am kinda stupid about this, cause the truth is that you KNOW this stuff isn't healthy, so you wouldn't be that surprised, and yet, when you do look @the ingredients, you are taken aback...

have fun eating out... I'M out...

Photos that will never make the news

my christian diary entry, after about 1 day of my 2-day fast:
"I have come to the realization of why fasting’s important in a Christian life; habitual fasting helps us to remember God’s provision and how weak we are. There’s a lot more reasons why it’s so important as a stepping stone God uses to draw us closer to him, but I’ve realized that(at least for today) it creates adversity and trouble when it is not there. As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a lb of cure.” However, it is well-known that Christians have to suffer adversity to grow, so how can we solve this problem? Fasting: we allow habitual occurrences of testing to occur upon ourselves so as to place ourselves in the rich soil for spiritual growth; it’s easy to be loving, patient and kind when all is well. Does this mean we’ll never suffer trouble outside of fasting if we do so? Of course not, but we become that much more equipped to handle modern society’s problems. Note that this thought only deals with fasting as a mechanism God uses to help you grow; there are many other benefits and insights to God using a combination of prayer and fasting to reach you that I personally haven’t discovered yet; I would hope with God’s grace that I can eventually discover these things sometime soon."

"I’ve also come to realize that due to the above paragraph, that unless if God directly tells you to, there’s no useful purpose in fasting beyond 10-12 days w/o solid sustenance. What you want to use to glean yourself is the hunger pangs, fatigue and what no from starvation. As you know, after 10-12 days, the pains stop until ~40 days. But b/c we use that hunger for God to shape us, I really don’t see a reason to fast beyond that time; if it doesn’t hurt(and hence, can’t be used to bring you closer), why fast?"

i'd also like to add that when fasting, it's not that good of an idea to do any strenuous activity, which is quite weird, since if you try strenuous activity on a buldging stomach(as i have painfully experienced after the 200 m dash to the bus stop after a pot-full of dinner soup), you feel DA PAIN. but it's true also for fasting; your stomach will hurt; slow your motions down, take your time walking around.

everytime i'm tempted to cut my fast short or delay it, i have to ask myself "what are you doing this(fasting) for?" then i have to remind myself that god is more important that the bowl of noodles i would've been whipping up, then consuming at the apt or what not. yeah, it is a struggle each month to attempt to fast; to begin it, and then to prolong it. i really had no idea i loved food this much. but i know about how valuable it is, so i'll keep fighting myself to do it once a month.

(although i would like to end the fast tomorrow w/a jack in the box fish n chips combo w/fish fillet... that'd be good, but whatever, that's later)

L33t cereal

with that tidbit of humor, study hard peeps... it doesn't mean a damn thing if but were hardworking the entire quarter, but don't finish up strong...

depending upon whether i get selected for jury duty or get cut on the week of 27th, i may have a 3-4 day break...

gonna fast for 2 straight days w/o food... sunday dinner, all of monday, tuesday breakfast and lunch... b/c i've lost sight of what this life is all about...

good thing that sore left thigh was only a 1 day thing... it feels fine now... time indeed heals all wounds.

comcast sucks so much recently... again...

my left thigh's aching so much... no, i didn't think i broke any bones or sprained anything, but it hurts... but i grit through it... like ai and brett farve.

TTIIIIIIIME! (man oh man, that makes me laugh so hard; ask jon and jerm for specifics if you don't know why it's so funny to me)

nerf n-strike maverick is so k3wl...

man, i can't believe how cheap stuff is at guitar center during their green tag sale... ridiculously cheap stuff...

stop trying to play by the world's rules for a change if you remember to do it...

i can't believe koreans play THAT type of a prison game... at a msm junior guys' fellowship... ugh... felt like a sausage party... rock scissors paper has now hit an all-time low...

other than that it was fun... i still need to work on my foot quickness though; if it were better, i'm sure football and basketball would be a lot better for me... not too sure how to go about doing liners though.

hmm... nba's so interesting these days... walker's back in boston, so that'll solve the problem of chemistry(of pierce fitting in and having to take the load of the team), and flat-out make boston a much better team than with payton. everybody knows about the cwebb trade, which, imo makes both teams better, not by much, but still a lot better; kings had peja and cwebb clash all the time, and we all know sixers need someone other than ai to go to all the time. and davis is now in a warriors uniform; this is so exciting! they just need some big men now! plus, you got detroit starting to turn it up on d like the world champs they are. plus, spurs aquired more pieces in place of rose(not that they would need it; spurs have ANY weaknesses?)

i'm noticing that prince is starting to pour it on in the pts category now(20+ in the last few games); i'm predicting that in the late future(think 6-7 years down the road), he could be a legitimate all-star. the reason why he doesn't get noticed is because he's not a stat player, but i think he is either the piston's no 1 or 2 guy(i guess maybe number 3 if you consider billups for the offense and ben wallace for the defense, but he's great on BOTH ends of the court) no one's gonna argue with his defense, given what he's done with tmac and kobe, and he's a good rebounder and i read somewhere that somehow always knows when a person's open and hits them with an assist. of course, i could be talking out of my ass, since not only do i like the pistons a LOT, but prince is probably my 2nd favorite player on that team. but the truth is this: he's improving, he's young, and he's got a long ways to go. hence, i think he's only hitting the tip of the iceberg for his potential.

i was listening to dream job, nba edition, and i do agree; i think they should make the all-star game count for something; you get home court advantage for the nba finals. otherwise, it never really counts for anything, and the players sometimes don't feel like they should get into it for fear of injuries.

i'm not too sure i should be joyful that god is revealing every single weakness to me; i like that i now know what my enemies are and where to concentrate upon improving my relationship with god, but i don't like how many of them there are. didn't fast at all the last week, but here's another weakness of mine i saw; i can't "finish strong." basically, i get to the weekend, and then i get lazy. so maybe the issue is not fasting on the weekdays at all(since i never play videogames on the weekdays), but the issue lies with the weekends; no classes, no bus to take you to the uc davis campus to study til 11:00 PM, so if you aren't strong with yourself, you have a big chance to get lazy and screw everything up. that's my weakness.

ooooo... ooooo indeed...

and kings are pretty close to dealing away cwebb as well... looks like a good move imo.

chinese in houston

i have no idea whether barry did the right thing or just dug himself into a way deeper hole, given what he did on tuesday...

Your Brain is 46.67% Female, 53.33% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

at least i'm not more female than male... i'd be disturbed... though i am slightly confused about what this means considering it's pretty close... am i too girlish inside?

but here's something i wanna leave w/you: the man thinks w/his dick... the woman thinks with her heart... god thinks with both... it's true... my analogy isn't actually too formal, but it's da truth...

Oh sure, I can stop whenever I want eh?

Napster doesn't go nostalgic... ie they don't have some music groups on their program at ALL... like big dismal, 12 stones, umm, there's a lot more...

i'll try to refrain from the huge temptation to comment about the nba all-star weekend, or bball at all...

it was great to finally see michelle and phil again after what seems like an eternity...

anyways, i saw my nephew for the 1st time this weekend... k3wl; it's weird being an uncle at 21 and having the evidence stare right back at you. biut that's what having an age gap between you and your older sibling of 8 yrs does i guess; it has its benefits. anyways, very huge eyes, has a nice smile... very nice. one thing that irks me... do all babies cry like crazy? seems like almost anything that did not involve michael looking at phil or michelle set him off. oh yea; i didn't know how i was supposed to carry him... *shrug* guess that's something i better learn fast...

so i ended my fast of a weeklong denial of no videogames... what did i gain? well, i think i lived out the meaning of Matthew 12:43-45; i did myself no good to just deny myself videogames(despite it being a good idea), because i found out that whatever else i used to use to waste time, simply magnified itself; i ended up spending a lot more time on nba.com... so, the issue then, of course, points out another weakness of mine... when i do a "non-food" fast again, i'll have to deny myself of videogames AND sports AND blogging AND web-surfing for one full week. the internet part's kinda hard to enforce, because i do have to go online to print out lecture notes and stuff, so i guess i could limit the sites to myucdavis.edu and hotmail.com. but that's not all; i HAVE to lean upon God...

richard foster's completely right; whatever your weaknesses are, will be seen and magnified during any fast:

what i have learned about myself from the cumulative fasts i have done this year have shown me just how weak i am.

where do i go from here? well, there's nothing i can really do, except pray to God that he'll be willing to change who i am; alone i can't do it, although i'd love to; the only way is for God to do so. that doesn't mean i can't plant the seed, but the growing part will be done by God.

fasting indeed, is an integral part of any growing christian's diet. no wonder the modern day individual experiences no spriitual growth.

apparently jerm's not the only bad dancer

didn't even know the air force had bad dancers :D

k, i got home kinda late, and found the next gen of tsai's all asleep at 11:00 PM... hmm... apparently phil and michelle got O.L.D. dot com when they got married... and while it's good that the heater's FINALLY on at home, i'm surprised how frequently it keep turning on... hey, cupertino ain't THAT cold...

anyways, i haven't seen michael yet, but that'll happen tomorrow...

time for some meditation... then sleep... can't waste tomorrow... i keep praying to god to help me treat every single minute of my life as gold...

therein lies a minor problem though... i WANT to not waste every single minute of my life; i like to think every moment that we get another chance to live on this earth (before finally being eternally consigned to heaven or hell) is a gift from god, so that if we do waste that time, we're essentially not giving thanks to god for what he's given us. wasting our talents, money, etc. and yet, i know that god wants us to not play by the rules of the world, to take our sweet time when we come to him and spend time with him, however way we do it. so i am constantly caught in this dilemma of how to take my time slowly and sweetly, but not waste so much time that i screw my studying time over. what to do?

so tired... at least the midterm's done... average effort i say... with some luck on the grading on the midterm, i could get a B+(or even A-), instead of barely making a B-... could've been a lot better... i gotta stop blowing my weekend time away...

just 1 1/2 more hours...

maybe i'll take a long shower before i actually head home... ykno, so my mind stays sharp while driving home and not groggied...

and my right thumb hurts so much... i think i clipped my nails a little too close to the meat, and then when i was chopping jalapeno peppers last night, they might've gotten under the skin... ugh... hurts...

summer might turn out to become very fun... if i end up getting a bio job/internship up in davis(most likely), and jon and jerm spend most of the summer in taiwan on missions, phil can actually take their rooms and just hang w/me... as he's got stuff to do in davis during the summer, and needs a place to stay... this could be really cool... kinda like days of old, but with no mom and dad around... (makes me wonder though why phil has to do so much med stuff in davis... out of all places, but then, it's all better that way)

ok, take care of this mcb 161 lecture which is happening in about 15 min, and then i'm outta davis... screw getting the last graded quiz back, that can wait til tuesday when i get back... i'm just exhausted dot com from cramming for the biochem midterm...

approx 17 more hrs until i can see my bro again...

but first i'll have to brave another midterm first...

btw, chopping up jalapenos and stick them in stagg beef chili is great... i never knew how great fresh jalapenos are, and the kick they add to food... too bad they're not cheap, so don't count on me doing this again for a while... but man, how i love spicy stuff... i'm not one of those cocky overboard ppls though, so yes i like spicy stuff, but i think i'll settle for something short of habanero or capesian, or those sauces which scorch your tongue for prolonged periods... i like the mouth burn, but something close to 15 min is really not my style. i also for some reason don't like tabasco sauce, cause the sour, vinegar smell i think adds a different type of style to the hotness...

jeremiah 29:13... keep this verse with you wherever you go... it's gold...

i find that when i'm not trying to look up bball stats or 3rd strike ryu tips and videos online these days, that i'm spending more and more time @daviswiki.org.

seriously, i think i learned more about davis and the way uc davis works by this site alone than anything else.

some interesting stuff i've picked up:

-parking's free on weekends anywhere(didn't know that)

-pools are free to swim in if you show your reg card(whoopie; i'm gonna be lap swimming on the weekends in spring when i buy some swim trunks)

-said this before, but yes, ucd does sell their own meat. cut and butcher.

-lists what you can do in sacramento(malls, chinese markets, etc)

-etc... too much to list, too easy to get lost and lose track of time.

-this really cracked me up yesterday; it's a joke fraternity that often advertises alongside the rows of frat signs near the huge grassy center area:
click here

etc... have fun!

and oh yea; go warriors...

most of the times i love rain, and the recent sudden outpour in davis again has been great...

there's just one problem...

NOW where do i choose my meditation spot to be?!?!?!? i don't wanna get my pocket bible soaked...

's gotta be somewhere quiet and lonely, hopefully outside, dry, but on campus... and that's a hard gem to find in rainy days...

...

i'll find a way... no... god'll find a way...

aw man, bulls vs kings tonight; i've always wanted to see the new bulls! too bad i probably won't be able to, cause i've got a midterm to look after on friday, and other ish to be concerned with, such as our tuesday little accountability thing. well, maybe i might be able to get a few peeks at them...

funny how jordan basically ruined the careers of two of the greatest ballers to play the game... the person whom many consider to be the greatest baller to play the 4 spot has to leave w/o a ring... the shooting guard whom many consider to be the best at shooting off the screen also has to leave w/o a ring... they both came so close, but got away empty...

not that i'm complaining... i respect both players, but i never really liked karl malone or reggie miller.

edit:

heh, this probably means jerm's not going to be a pacers fan anymore, once this season ends... ever meet sports fans who are like that? they don't truly grasp the great strengths of a team, choosing instead to concentrate upon 1 single player?

seems like i watch a lot more kings games on comcast to root for the other team, heh heh. celtics, bulls, warriors(yayyay!), and now: pistons are coming up in march, i'm SERIOUSLY going to enjoy that; if detroit manhandles sac the way they did on lakers last season, i dunno, i might just get a big grin on my face... detroit's starting to pick it up now, so i guess they were just trying to be cautious not to pick up injuries in the 1st half of the season, or getting used to things, although everybody at the get-go were looking to see if they'd just come out strong every night. i'd think, with the emergence of miami, cleveland, as well as some really good west teams, for people to take detroit seriously, they have, HAVE to go on a huge winning streak where they just hold everybody down defensively. sorta like last season, when they first got rasheed, and then just raped about 5, 6 teams in a row, holding them all down to below 80 pts(or was it 70?)

anyways, i watched about the remainder of the bulls game, and i have to say, i'm impressed. kirk hindrich really does play good defense, and he shares the ball a lot. his ability to steal is awesome. and he handed out 12 assists. he's not like where he'll do something jason kiddish, but he almost recognizes who to give the ball to right when he crosses the half court line and nears the perimeter key. there were a lotta plays where he gave it up right to eddy curry cause he saw him alone on the low block. eddy curry is also a great big man, and ben gordon is something really special. he split the kings' double team, then just took it in... crazy.

although, most norcal ppl are gonna be mad tomorrow when they realized brad miller was called for an offensive foul instead of correctly getting a 3-pt play.

The Best Blonde Joke Ever!

seems like everybody's giving up something for lent... well... i wouldn't call this something i'm giving up for lent(40 days? why's everything gotta be given up right @lent for 40 days? you telling me you try not to make sacrifices each month to remind yourself of who god is, til lent? and why's it almost always gotta be food?), but one of those things i'm gonna hafta do.

i planned to fast 1-2x each month to remind myself of how god is my king. but this time for feb fast no 1, i'm not doing food; i'm doing something more akin to what daniel in the bible did. i'm giving up my delicacies.

so obviously, this one's gonna be a bit longer. (who fasts for what i'm gonna say for only 1 day? LOL) but let's see how it goes:

no street fighter for 1 week(maybe i might even push it to 2, or 3)

by no street fighter/no fighting games/no video games, i mean:

-i do NOT at all even step inside the muga... if i wanna get some twenties to refill my wallet, i go downtown.
-i do NOT visit srk.com or cv.com or anything related to fighting games or sf
-don't bother looking at any online document relating to sf...
-and don't touch the ps2 at the apt either...
-when i get back, i also can't go to golfland...
-if i do go to fry's, i can't stop by the x-arcade(if they still have 3rd strike there); if possible, try to avoid going to fry's AT ALL...

why am i doing this? it's simple; i'm so sick of having to "rely" on this... i always planned on trying to cut back my arcade time after being given a 2nd chance, but to no avail... studying time's up, but every time i make it to the weekends, instead of keeping up w/the good work, in sheer exhaustion, i just unload in front of the ps2... and waste all the time i've spent in front of the books, so i have to play catchup again... so the least i'm doing is throwing this up on the web and hoping that now that it's made public, that i have to remain true to my word... yes, i know i can do this... but the reason is because not of what i'm losing, but what i'm gaining... when you sacrifice, you'll gain, not the otherway around.

i don't HAVE to do this... but when you believe you're blessed, you should follow up on it. those who have more will be judged higher. and the more i spend in deep, real prayer, the more i believe there is so much that i have been blessed with, either the little, more frequent, daily things, or the big, rare great blessings. stop trying to follow the crowd and follow what's right for a change. so i have to follow up on it. just cause your friends play W.O.W. for huge amts of time each day does not mean you should cave in yourself and play 3rd strike the same way... 4 classes/quarter is a lot, but then, with that, i should aim higher.

anyways, it's on starting today... so, it'll either end this saturday, or if i wanna push it to 2 weeks, ends next saturday.

(in the future, i think i'll try fasting from the web(i'm been meaning to try to fast from blogging) AND videogames, due to the sheer time that both take outta my daily life, but you always learn to crawl b4 you walk, so let's try this first, k?)

in other news:

i think getting a preamp for me for some reason has just become a lot more impt than saving money to get a delay pedal... alter bridge has convinced me that the delay isn't thinking about quite yet... having a preamp though(playing on a worship team sometime in the year sounds good), would greatly help playing on a stage...

*sigh* nfc still can't beat the afc...

anyone else surprised by the firing of flip? i was... i believe the fault still lies w/the players(specifically, sam i'm NOT and shopping spre)... however, despite the fact that this looks like a blame game, you could argue that players and coaches are interconnected, so if one's screwing up, perhaps the other's also to blame. maybe mchale can turn some things around... hopefully.

looks like boston's starting to earn their 3rd place, hope they can do it, but they did suffer a tough loss @home to the kings...

ouch... warriors couldn't beat hornets, came SO close, but couldn't beat suns...

anybody else get this weird, fuzzy feeling on your tongue after you eat cooked spinach?

heard this pass my ear on sportscenter, but was it really true that reggie white tried to study up on judaism in order to become closer to christianity? heard that ppl ended up thinking he was trying to convert to judaism... and that disturbed him greatly. i would agree too; christianity IS judaism... for him to do so, was to deepen his christian belief, not muddle it... there was this vision he had, where he saw something in hebrew written on a paper in a treasure chest, which was what he was seeking in his entire life... it was "redeemed" in hebrew... also, is reggie white's wife a jew or something? she looks white, so i'm not too sure.

napster's gonna see me sometime in the near future buying 1-2 of their prepaid songcards...

yeah, sacramento isn't exactly like davis... the arden center, aka the cal expo, has a lotta stuff... i'll have to go back some other time; guitar center's there, as well as a buncha other stuff...

our msm bible study group decided to go to cheesecake factory in that area after friday, and while some of us ordered dishes, others ordered different slices of cheesecake and sampled them...

oh yeah, speaking of which, guess who we saw sitting at the cheesecake factory behind us, eating a meal?

mike bibby!

(no, i didn't go up to him and ask for an autograph... neither did most of the others; it looked like he was going to eat, so it would've seen rude to do so; it was funny, because i think we would've left 2 hrs earlier than expected, but since we saw him, some of the girls couldn't decide whether to go up to him or to remain by themselves)... and it was funny, cause when we did go outside, we saw all these cars w/shiny rims on them...

random trivia about myself:

do the number of bibles that i own equal the number of headbands(that i use for various sports) that i own? how many of my bibles' book covers match the color of my headbands?

just something to think about if you don't have anything else to; can't believe it hit me today; i'll answer the question about a week from now.

you always learn something new each day, provided you're just willing to actually open your eyes and your ears...

for today: it is good to desire spiritual gifts; however they strengthen your relationship with God, not the belief of others... prophesying is what does help unbelievers.

other; s.fierce(close) will not combo into DP off of a jump-in with ryu in 3rd strike; c.forward is much better, and a lot more consistent.

shin nen qwuy luh...

whenever your new year is, may god continue to enrich your relationship with him and draw you closer to him, to everlasting springs of love...

celebration of discipline: yeah, this book is deep... and it's always good to go back and review it...

as for me and the supposed 2nd new year, i better be getting a fat red envelope soon :)

(this is the mad ups for being a chink over a kook, even though we all know we go to msm and dkc :D although, knowing my mom, i'll prob just get a penny or something :D)

my tv sports cycle during the year is something like this:

winter: nfl, nba spring: nba summer: tennis, olympics if available fall: nba, nfl (always considered myself more of a summer olympics guy than a winter olympics guy)

so now you know; i'm a casual baseball fan. if that wasn't that obvious so far. so yeah, after the pro bowl, you'll know what i'll be thinking about sportswise.

so yea... i'm starting to wonder really how much of minnesota's failures and downfalls this year are tied to mchale's ineptitude to satisfy cassell and spre's checkbook. or are the two players to blame...

yay for gsw for t3h win tonight against the magic!

booo, the eagles lost... was close though

i agree w/jerm; if to was fully recovered, eagles could've either won or tied it at the end of the 4th. he didn't have his speed, although he did make a lotta good catches; he just couldn't followup and burn the d all the way to the goal...

on another note, i made my 1st batch of guacamole for the super bowl... pretty good...

i also got a pocket bible, specifically for those times i spend by myself w/god each day on the campus

k that's it from me... maybe next year eagles... otherwise good run this year... but it obviously don't mean a thing if you don't get that trophy...

NBA.com: Sprite Courtside Countdown

vince carter outdid my 360 random shot...

and how did mo peterson do that blind?

it's interesting watching kings vs warriors at "the other guy's" tv network... and had ridiculous amounts of fun the 1st half, then just got frustrated the 2nd.

basically, no offense, but the kings announcers were more or less treating the warriors like crap... they weren't saying anything, but when you say stuff like "wow look at all these teams who come in here and walk away with triple-doubles" and ish like that...

it also peeved me how a lotta ppl in the crowd cheered for the kings... ok, so kings and warriors are both norcal teams. but cmon now... at least they cheered louder for the warriors.

watching the game more-or-less still proves what i believe; warriors need a good 4 or 5. (man, imagine how beastly the warriors' backcourt would've been if they still had arenas)

on the flip side, the good stuff is that pistons and celtics won...

man, i gotta stop playing 3rd strike on a ps2 controller and play on the real thing against real ppl at the mu; i get so used to the controller that i can't unload hadoken xx denjin at will. "practice? we're talking about PRACTICE here!" only practice i'll need is against others...

i pray that i might be able to discover my untapped spiritual potential, that i might discover what spritual gifts god has blessed me with, before i believe that the holy spirit has not baptized me...

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

really? *grins*

rudy t's stepping down... outta nowhere...

"god has already cleared me..." that's cool, dawg... now SHOW ME, T.O.! andy reid better be wearing a skirt or some tights when the super bowl's done!

Pistons meet Dubya

physics on wheels and stuff like that is making me dizzy... it's way too weird...

seems that as you grow older, your toys simply grow more and more expensive.

check this out:
128 mb usb drive: 19.99(most were 29.99; i was luck to find one for 20 dollars at fry's)
foam cushion mousepad: 14.99(comfy, and the old one was wearing out anyways)
nerf air maxx 2000 2-pack: 5.41(practically a steal, as w/the leftover credit from target, i was able to cut 9.99 down by 50%), and gave one to jerm; i've heard if you mod this particular nerf(they have instructions online on various webpages), it becomes gold; you can fire it up to 100 feet...
and if i was filthy rich, i might've spent even more money this weekend. but i'm trying to hold back; i want to get a ucd sweatshirt and a pocket bible.

anyways, it appears i was wrong; all targets apparently carry super soakers now; wasn't just yolo county area.

yo ballers: i'm making a word .doc that if you print it out, you can use to help design plays for 3-on-3; its useful, for if you wanna kick your game up a notch. if youre not one of the davis 3, email/aim me and ill see if i can hook you up; for you others, you can just use MySpace to find it.

warriors really need to get a good 4 or 5.

t.o. needs to outdo moss during the super bowl. and donovan mcnabb needs to go "jeff garcia and beyond"

just my luck...

i've been selected for jury duty...

(reminds me of how getting old ISN'T everything; i knew that all along, but then again, maybe i needed to be reminded)

why can't the ucdavis winter break be a whole week, instead of a partial wed-fri and another partial mon-wed?

now i have to decide whether to postpone some finals, or miss a few classes.

utter bull...

although, i know it's not exactly set in stone, as the lawyers have to decide whether i'm partial or impartial, or ish like that, plus i have to consider what the case issue is. etc.

great... i hope this is not like "the runaway jury," where some hired agent followed me all the way to davis to find out exactly who i am, thus deciding i'd be a good choice for a jury.

and i hope, even if i'm selected, that the subject is something so blatantly easy for me to decide for myself, that i'd never even choose the other side.

although, every person has a chance to make a difference in this world at different times; maybe missing 1-2 classes isn't that bad after all; i preach being impartial myself too; maybe this is my chance to see whether i live up to what i think.

can someone who's been on jury duty enlighten me on the specs? is it like "12 angry men" where they have to be all or nothing?

from those who have been entrusted with more, much more will be demanded of him...

this biblical quote is suggesting nothing of the sense that you are better than your peers; no, this quote is showing that because your mindset is "better than that," because of the way your talents and gifts are shaped, you should be "better than that."

i find it so tough to remember AND do this, but it's the truth... following peer pressure's so overrated...

vacaville target has some really good nerfs...

yolo county area targets ALL have super soakers...

there is nothing like coming to god in the middle of the day, and EMPTYING everything out for a good 30 min or so... as college is in session, i've found it harder and harder to devote so much time to god 3x a day(i do pray in the morning, but it's not very long, and deeper in the night, but i would say it's iffy; sometimes passionate, sometimes rushed, cause i just want to hit the bed), but that's the beauty of ucd's arboretum... just give me earplugs, a black gel ink pen, a clipboard, and a pocket bible(don't have this yet; will have to do some searching soon), put me out there on a bench after my midday classes have ended, and the time you spend out there w/nature and just praying and emptying your soul is great... it's gold...

fyi, best earplugs i've ever used are howard leight's; look for these red-orange ones, and they should be either 33 db reduction or 34 db. those are best for studying imo. the best for sleeping(yes, i do use 2 types of earplugs) are flents Quiet Down!... these ones are green, and have a 22 db reduction(you want it to not be exactly as tone-deaf, because you DO want to be able to hear your alarm :D), and a little more comfy on the ears.

*sigh*...

this is, hopefully, the 1st, and last time i ever pull an all-nighter this quarter(or any other quarter here) at davis...

god, have mercy on me...

new third strike ryu denjin setup learned: far standing mp, jab hadoken xx denjin, charge for 2-3 hits, do yo thang...

apparently far standing mp carries a whopping +4 on block(highest advantage ryu can get on a blocked move), so they have to red parry the hadoken. it might be strong hadoken though to force the red parry. but jab will shield better, unless they can jump outta it.

although, my execution on doing hadoken xx denjin sucks so much right now... as well as my gameplan. plus, all the ppl @the muga can't even beat dp xx denjin or knockdown, jab hadoken xx denjin whenever i can get the dp to hit or the knockdown.

i'll be coming home this weekend. cause the superbowl's next weekend. go eagles!

and fyi, phil will be visiting the bay area around feb 19th; i'll be home as well then. all yo peeps can finally see michael in person(as well as me :D)

btw, has anyone seen that new dr. pepper commercial? the one where they're playing "stacy's mom" in the background as a mom driving a minivan pulls up to a buncha kids playing sports or something?

laugh... out... loud... hilarious...

they cue the music and camera angles like they're trying to make the mom look sexy, ykno? and the kids gaping at her... it's only later in the commercial that you learn the kids weren't bum rushing her... they were bum rushing the van filled w/dr pepper... but oh man, it's so hilarious.

first time me and jon saw it, i couldn't stop laughing, and jon was like "errrr... what the..." i came right back with "that had the potential to become the sickest commercial right there."

(i ran outta space to comment, so i'm gonna hafta reply to grace's response here... stupid backblog)

i think backblog has always had only 10 smilies to use. not that i use em anyways. go for the ol skool ish; :) <- works fine. i use :D all the time though.

and on the issue of somehow knowing all these stats all of a sudden: it's not that hard; it just sorta comes naturally. what comes first is the LOVE OF THE GAME. then afterward, you just become amazed at how the players of the game play the game, and you can't stop spouting stats fresh off of espn.com to back up what you saw.

how do you get this love of the game? my suggestion: just sit down, and start watching some games... front to back. instead of trying to watch from both sides of the game(like in the case of the upcoming superbowl, eagles and patriots), try to follow one team, and root for them from the opening tip-off, til the end of the game(and don't switch sides mid-game if the team you root for is losing; that's a big no-no in my book; stay true; don't be a bandwagon fan :D). pretty soon, you start loving the game for what it is, and then somehow, you start caring about stats or the guys on the team you rooting for coming up huge. "OH! DID YOU SEE WHAT HE DID!" will quickly become part of your vocab :D

the only reason some girls never get to that "love of the game" part is they get together on superbowl sunday, see guys' rowdy reactions to big plays(and not the game itself), and their initial reaction is, "i don't get it; all these stupid guys going rowdy over some man being able to throw a ball and another man being able to catch it." or, "stop acting all depressed cause your team lost." they see the facial expressions, not the game. kinda like that old spice commercial. either that, or some girls see their girlfriends' reaction like that, and they proceed to think they should follow suit. but i'm not a girl, so don't ask me on the patterns that girls do too much. :D

grace, you have a bf right? if he's a big sports fan, next time you two do things together, ask if you can just join him and watch some football every now and then. or basketball(*gives a thumbs up*). or whatever you think you or he would like. this might help out.

(but great, now i got started on blogging, and can't stop)personally though, for me, i got started really liking sports during senior year in high school; my apps were done, i had only 5 easy classes, there was nothing to do, and nbc still had the nba, so i could watch some games(i had no cable @home). i did something rare, and actually watched a basketball game front to back. it also helped that the game was so close, that they had to stretch it to 2 overtimes... i was hooked, and the more games i watched, the more i grew to love this stuff. when i started seeing and appreciating more of the defensive stuff that basketball players did, that got me to loving hard-hitting stuff; guess where that led to; that's right; me starting to really love football.

but of course, you could always say my love of video games helped make this happen; i love sega sports, and when they came out w/nba 2k, that was video game basketball, for the 1st time in my life, done right. it flowed; i played a lot of it during high school, and it, combined with a few nba games on nbc, got me hooked. one of the reasons i also grew to love tennis was also cause sega made virtual tennis, and that it was so fun and realistic.

1 for 1...

go eagles! this is your year! now win it all!

edit: whadda know; i'm 2 for 2; the patriots won... but i stand corrected; the game wasn't close at all; big ben played a sloppy game, and the patriots took advantage of it. near blowout status; 40-something-ish to 20-ish.

edit: i pick the patriots to win the super bowl over the eagles, but i'm giving them a SLIGHT advantage, not a huge one; both teams are very well built, and play hard on both ends. both had OUTSTANDING seasons. and w/to back in the lineup for philly, that's great news(can you say pass creator?). so while i stand by what i'm saying, the truth is that i'll be rooting for philly. cause i like donovan and to. i do like the brilliance of the patriots' defensive coach, tom brady's overall solid play, and corey dillon though. but trust me; this superbowl will be a battle on both ends for both teams. it'll be great(even greater if philly wins or to scores a td, cause then andy reid will have to wear tights or put on a skirt :D). unless if you're just stupid enough to be there for the party or cause all your friends are watching.

which reminds me... superbowl must be THE time of the year where girls have to actually watch football (or sports for that matter) to be in the "in" crowd... else they just look plain geeky. it is, i think, one of the few events in the US where ppl HAVE to watch(that explains why so many commercials vie for the superbowl spot so much)... some of course are doing it for the commercials, some for the party, but others... there is, was, and will be only the game(and oh, deep down inside, how good it feels to know you're part of THIS group, and not the others; you have your heart set in the right place :D)

so while it's obviously not true that ALL girls don't like sports(i tend to think for them, it's not the activity they're doing that counts, it's who they're doing it with; girls = relationally involved beings, males = activity involved beings), it's more likely that they just don't care(unless if all their friends are football fanatics). until the super bowl. and they're only doing it cause all their friends are watching too.

which reminds me of fall quarter 2004 when the red sox were playing @the yankees; my bible study group was just chillaxing before getting started, so we were watching the game; being that our group was bisexual(heh heh...), there were some girls who obviously didn't care about sports, or follow it up on a regular basis. i joked to the other guys about how matsui looked a lot like jackie chan, and i get a response from a girl who asks, "jackie chan's playing?"
-silly rabbit; why would yankees want to play jackie chan during the playoffs? you wanna choke? oh wait... they still did...

out, around to the nearby elementary school, up to the other apartment complexes, and back... supposedly, in 10 min or less...

not that i'm impressed w/myself; i used to do a lot better... i was at my peak in 7th or 8th grade... 6:20 for a mile time, if i am not incorrect... that was when i was on the swim team, and my pe coach made us run for 10 min every other day...

but it felt good... should do this more often... go to sleep early, wake up early, take a jog... exercise is good, and helps keep you alert...

i saw a couple that seemed to not be able to stop kissing each other(peeved me off) at safeway... then i saw what they were buying... only one thing... a small little box called "simply sexy"... i presume it was condoms...

where do i go from here? where does god want me to go from here? so, he's granted me his grace... now how do i followup? only time will tell...

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