there's so much i have done and have NOT yet done on my winter break... i'm surprised it's slipping by so fast... this sunday i'm going back up.

yes, i am going to miss my cupertino home and living area while in davis: i admit it: it's basically on 2 counts: 1)my friends... sniff 2)phil's room... for the 3 weeks that i have been at home during december, i have been just setting up and leaving all my guitar equipment, laptop and lap mic all ready to go in there... i could not do this in davis in my dorm room for security reasons, not to mention it's always very quiet in my house, ideal for recording. it's not like i cranked out a complete album this break period, but i've had substantial time to love the way that i worship God :) it's too bad that i hadn't figured out to use the drum synthesizer kit beforehand, or i would've saved having to rerecord a song and thus i could start on my 2nd one. *note to self: create fast-paced worship song before next break so that you and wes can jam together*

there's a lotta stuff that has happened this break... i'm surprised how much we've gotten together to hang out... there's too many memories for me to scratch my brain and write down... i know, i usually write everything down in great detail like Luke the doctor of the Bible, but it's all too fast.

-wed, went w/the others to TonyRoma's to celebrate Jon and Norm's bday. it's kinda funny cause Jon's so lazy he couldn't even choose where to eat that quickly... i remember taking 1 second to choose where to eat on my bday when i was asked. before that we had played bball, so that was nice *i miss being able to play bball w/the others so much, it was fun getting some hook shots in as well as a couple of blocks* *i need to find some program to up my jumping height! i really want to be able to dunk on a rim that's about the height of the one found at redwood christian park! i am SO CLOSE to being able to dunk, well, i dunno, i can just barely reach over the rim, i need maybe 6 inches more God, just 6 inches more!* i still can't believe Laura doesn't like cheese or bell peppers... dude, that's already 2 of my favorite foods!(well, uncooked red bell peppers rank pretty high amongst my favs of veggies)! well, it's cause she ordered french onion soup, and didn't know that it came with cheese... the cheddar was clotted together to the onions making it look like a huge booger(hey, i would've eaten it if i had ordered it, but i was full) lesse, we came back to mike's, and then we gave jon our presents: he got happy feet from the others, skechers from mike, and a gi-joe 2-pack w/snake eyes and cobra commander from me(i was very pleased to see that he liked my gift). we watched some espn and iron chef too(there were some jokes like the instant replay and slow-mo... what else, a pen?) those chefs are very creative... bread in soup... i'm not used to that concept though... although the steak looked nice. for me though, food's food... if you take the time to appreciate it, you'll enjoy eating almost anything... maybe that's why i can eat just about anything. oh yeah, it was funny weighing myself @mike's cause i was leaning to one side and thus shocked to see that i was 114... what, i lost THAT much weight? then i straightened up, and saw that i was 124... whew... some weird farting exhibition when nearly every socal person except norm had left... and some weird stick m&m's into my navel stuff too... haha...
-day before, we got to mike's house to celebrate new year's day... watched "she's all that": the "super size my balls" joke was funny. watched the strong-man competitions... those were... interesting... i can't really remember what we did there... a bit too shady, just TV and some stuff. i remember song recording earlier...
-monday, we just got together at lunch for some taco bell, then headed towards norm's house... we then headed to sheng kee for dinner(haha... we saw some restaurant that literally said "Phouc Nga")... since we couldn't bowl or do other stuff. haha... norm ordering in chinese was hilarious. i still can't believe the chinese word for sandwich on the menu was "san do wich" :) ordered grilled eel... that was good... i love that stuff. so at the sixers vs. warriors game, it was really good... i think we got a good game that night. noteworthy moments:
*it took a while for me to get used to not hearing any announcers, since i've never been to a bball game... it was kinda funny hearing jeremy say out loud, "why aren't there any announcers?"
*also funny was how the girls were cheering for AI and the boys were cheering for the warriors... you could just tell from listening to the crowd... i even heard a girl shout "GO Allen Iverson!" and how the crowd that cheered for the sixers sounded more feminine... not to stereotype; i like the sixers too, it's just that it was warrior territory...
*arenas flipped the bball into the air... richardson then sprinted over for an alley-oop attempt, but missed it... it was kinda funny how everyone in the arena was like "OOOOHHHH.... awwww" i think mike saw it first(he went "OOOOH!" first) cause when someone flips a ball near the top of the key, you KNOW they're attempting an alley-oop... no one shoots like that
*ok, so the announcer had some promotion deal going on where if the warriors shot over 100 pts, everyone would recieve a coupon for a free chalupa @taco bell... when we got to 99 pts norm and jerm's chants changed from "go warriors" to "chalupa!" of course, you know what we said when he shot that free throw and hit 100... :) so it was kinda funny... jerm was chanting for the warrior girls (:D), norm was chanting for the chalupa (:D), me? i was chanting for boykins (:D), who, btw...
*boykins got 10 pts... so it wasn't groundbreaking, and he didn't lead the warriors, but i was surprised... it was just fun to cheer for some guy who's THAT short... 5'5... it's like a kid playing ball w/a 30+ year old! that layup attempt+ a foul for a 3 pt conversion was SWEET... occasionally i heard "c'mon, take him(referring to A.I.) boykins!" from the crowd... haha... i was alternating between yelling "yeah boykins!" and "go number eleven!"
*jaimison hit a 1-handed dunk wide open going for a fast break point... got the entire crowd out of their seats and cheering...
*overall, i think mike summed it up when he said that there were a lot of turnovers during this game... there were a LOT of missed shots and bad passes, strips... on both teams... it was still a very good game... the warriors tried hard... dunleavy made a lot of good 3s... oh yeah, jaimison hit a 3!
-sunday, we got together @laura's house again... haha... fun, fun... and watched die hard 3(samuel l. jackson can't load an mp5navy... that's sad, oh yeah, it was funny how they were so smart solving all the riddles in the movie) as well as con air... while eating 31 ice cream... that was simplistic, but fun.

i'm gonna log off, too much talking... but here's some final thoughts...

i'm hoping that someday we(CTCC friends) can just get together and just jam... like how we've been meeting up together this break constantly and just doing stuff? imagine just getting together like that, but bringing our instruments... it's cool how we hang out and how some of us love worshipping God with our instruments... maybe i'm daydreaming about this, but maybe it's not too far out of reach? i know wes expressed to me how if i wanted some bass help for recording songs he'd help me, so maybe it's not too far out of reach...

i think i'll dl jake-army of love when i wake up... i really like that song.

oh geez... nobody calls me to hang out this break... i'm gonna end up wasting it... either jerm's taking care of his sis @home, or, yeah... maybe i'll just call back... right after i sign off...

oh, my gawd(pushes hand downward)... like, LIKE OH MY GAWD(pushes hand downward)
(geez i hate how some teenage girls talk... and i can't believe it took me 19 years to finally jot something like this down... then again, i'm just writing what comes to mind right now)

'k, i'm signing off... i can't think... something about being home for 2 weeks w/o work to do has really numbed my thinking process... but that could be due to the fact that i'm not doing anything so there's nothing to note.

*sigh* i am so lazy getting up these days i get up at noon, so i'll make my message for thur and Xmas short so i can rise up early and praise God...

I HATE NETZERO POPUP ADS! 1 PER 10 MINUTES IS OK, BUT STOP SPAMMING ME EVERY SINGLE MINUTE! GEEZ...

ok, yesterday i went over to justin's house for dinner, which was nice... hahah... dinner at the lins'... you might get wrong impressions if you didn't know WHICH lin family i was talking about... it was very nice... sukiyaki... and then i played some cs @their house afterward. like i said before, i have the weirest CS config for movement, i don't think the 2 could figure out why i use pinky-ring-middle to move. i think i am either getting good at that game(or i should say better, i still get about a 25% kill:death ratio), or the students in the bay area suck a little. cause i got overjoyed somewhat when lotsa ppl named "Player" showed up, cause then you know they're a newbie, esp if they don't even know how to name themselves :) i should get their IP address sometime, so i can play w/them more. 2 memorable instances playing w/them:
-throw a flashbang down a tunnel, then attempt to rush in when some terrorist on my team misthrows his flashbang, and it blinds me... kinda annoyed and laughing, so i backtrack so i'm not in the line of fire, then type out "next time aim your flashbang better"... he basically threw it from behind me so that just as i was about to enter the tunnel it bounces off the arch overhead and lands at my feet
-'k, so another round... i've rushed in as a terrorist w/an ak-47, taken out 1 counter-terrorist, then guarded the bomb site so a teammate planted his C4 explosive. ...then i hear the bomb ticking faster and shriek outloud "AACCK!" (justin heard me and laughed) so i pulled out my knife(running speed's faster when you carry light weapons) and rush out, but a newbie counter-terrorist is there and starts shooting very slowly with a weak weapon at me(i know it's either weak or he's a newbie cause i was getting hit maybe 10 times in slow intervals before i died)... but i'm panicking and more interested in getting my ass out of the bomb site than shooting him down(which now reflecting if i did i would've gotten an easy kill), so i continue dumbly running straight ahead with a knife and taking the hits til i died... HAD i pulled out my AK-47 instead, i mightve gotten a kill AND still made it out

too bad the celtics got murdered by the nets... ok, it was kinda expected, since the nets are #1 in the east, but still, by a 30 pt deficit? and what... you get 38 to 1 in the 1st quarter? now that's just pathetic. but at least the kings won, on laker territory! so happy about that... down w/la! too bad i didn't watch THAT game... it was highly anticipated, and a huge rivalry feeling(fight between fox and christie, shaq calling kings "queens")... no handshakes during the tip-off. btw, this is kinda late in knowing, but i'm relieved that christie was the one who got into a fight w/fox, and not bibby... had for such a time thought it was bibby... nice... so his beliefs DO reflect how he acts on the court :) oh yeah... t-mac got some HUGE pts yesterday too! that's really nice in knowing...

btw i find it hilarious that divac's doin a "It's Crunch Time" commercial now... haven't seen it, but is it sorta like the dialogue that Shaq does? would be kinda funny... you can't really tell what either player is saying :)

ok... so Case For Christ really is a really nice read(btw happy late bday Jesus!)... it was interesting, cause one of the experts Lee Strobel interviewed in the book is this Christian pastor... who's a Jew... Lee then sidetracks from the usual immediate interview to ask him how he came from a Jew to know Christ and... it was just awesome... basically, long story summed up, the man went back into the Old Testament, read it carefully and found SO many predictions about Jesus being the Messiah, that he calls up his mom to send him a Jewish bible just to be sure Christians weren't tossing about words, and it turns out it's the exact same thing! he then goes into the New Testament and finds out Jesus is actually about Jews in the gospel! reads further, and finds out the Jews are actually the ones who tried to get the news to the Gentiles first! what's more, Lee also shows the example of another jew who is so shocked by what he finds in the old testament about Jesus that he challenges 3 rabbis to disprove this evidence, and they simply couldn't... it's really amazing... go read the book... my short schpew won't even really cover what i think right now and know from reading it...

just to end, a short conv clip w/laura that i thought was funny(and maybe it's just me):

me: plans for tomorrow?
laura: mm nope
laura: well watching a basketball game
laura: at 7
laura: but other than that
laura: nothing
laura: i dont htink
laura: i'll make a bag
laura: hehe
me: haha
me: that's cool... what type of bag?
laura: handbag
laura: haha
laura: id unno
me: what material?
laura: cloth
laura: y
laura: ya

ok, and my mouse's crapping up too, so i'll just quit right now... plans for tomorrow? read more Case For Christ, finish my song(which i have NEVER gotten around to finish recording), then see what's up... oh yeah get IP addresses for CS... etc, etc.

Unknown to the World: about say, 40% finished recording... i'm about done with the chorus and verse one, BUT need to rerecord the power chords for the chorus. guess there's a reason ppl tune down the volume during chorus. it still sounds kinda nice. might want to record some tambourines just to get a rhythum sense in there... damnit wish i could play a drum set. and/or owned one... turntables would also be nice. but when that's done, i'm concentrating on writing a worship song so that me and wes can get together and jam for it. that'll be fun.

NBA double header on Xmas day: ok, Kings better wipe the damn Lakers' asses across the floor. as for the other game... GO MUTUMBO! (and/or Paul Pierce)

what else...

The Case For Christ is starting to become a very interesting read for me. Jesus has always stated how ppl who believe without seeing are going to be more blessed than those who believe BY seeing... but it's still awesome and spellbinding how much evidence there IS of Jesus existing, of him performing miracles and of him being the Son of God that even as a believer seeing that evidence can increase your grasp of Christianity tenfold. for instance, the fact that Jewish ppl referred to Jesus as a sorceror actually means he DID perform miracles. they could not disprove that. so instead, they tried to find some other explanation for it, but of course some of the other explanations don't sound as reasonable. it's really too much to cover what i've learned... part of it would take too long for me, and part of it would also take too long on this site.

it's strange how i miss PART of Davis, though it almost has to completely do with the high speed internet access part: watching VF movies and playing CS... but i'd rather be here playing my guitar in near-perfect silence recording songs to God any day than that deserted place. sometimes i wonder if silence really IS golden... it can be in a lotta cases.

kinda interesting watching my friends play Mahjong yesterday... hmm... Monopoly and/or Risk CAN take friendships apart... sorta... it can look kinda funny playing it with your friends. oh yeah, and it's been so long since i've played Super Smash Bros... Captain Falcon and Link are so fun to use.

friday's fun night was... interesting... the skit section was better last year, but i think other than that Alice did a very nice job of duplicating and even going beyond what we college freshmen tried last year. the skit might've been better if more ppl brought wacky props. that why last years' skit contest was better. but the poems were still very funny, probably the highlight IMO of the contests... esp our groups' fob poem :)

i am BLANK, pretty much unloaded all my thoughts just now...

nothing else satisfies me like worshipping God with all my heart... for this moment in time...

gonna love jamming with you God in the morning and afternoon... so please do me a favor and fan the flame, instead of snuffing it out. and oh yeah... please help get my ass outta bed at exactly 9 AM PST this friday... please.

-read "Case For Christ"
-jam w/God
-maybe read "Celebration of Discipline"

that'll be my top agendas for this friday.

nice... wes'll maybe help out w/bass for a song i record. that'll be cool.

i guess i'll start by griping about how cold my house is... completely forgot the natural coldness of my crib... my fingers are numb as i'm writing this, which means it's even harder to type. AND, i think i've got a headache.

finally got around to testing all the recording equipment i got from my church friends... works. i have a lot more to screw around with, cause it can mix very well, but i have to be able to fool around with it in order to get the volume of the electric guitar not to drown out my voice, yet still remain loud. also, i have to figure out how to convert it to .mp3 format. if i can figure it out even more, i might even be able to add some tambourines in there. but that'll be for any worship songs i can think up of.

TO's too funny... pom poms?!? hahah... I ROCK SO MUCH! I ROCK SO MUCH!

skiiping? jerm talk slower!
why does qq get so scared? and then there was the incident when jerm tried to freak her out...

way to spend your sunday... in a library, when you could've gone to church and hung out with mike.

ok, for the past 3 days, i went with sam, sarah, jon, norm, jerm, mike, alan, tim, eddie(laura sadly couldn't go w/us) to reno. what happened that was notable:
mon: woke up to hear that our trip was cancelled... went back to sleep, woke up to hear that we were going cause weather was improving. got 8x20 piece chicken nuggets for sharing between both suburbans, then took off. ended up going into the wrong lane at the toll bridge on the way to davis, so we ended up blowing $2. snow conditions when it started made it hecka hard to see. slowed down to 30 mph i think. sam pissed outside the suburban in the snow, got a cold dick, and got a fever the next day. then some guy got the stupid idea to check out boreal when it was snowed in, and we got stuck. massive peeing somewhere before reno... before THAT we ended up going into a weigh station by accident. @the rest stop i laughed at the bumper stickers they had up, some of them were funny. when we did get to reno we ate at some restaurant in the nugget(jerm got a 2.45 oj; if he had added 50 cents that would've been a meal) it's kinda funny, i ordered the fried catfish, and some of the others thought how maybe i just knew how to order stuff... jerm said from then on he would order whatever i ordered. we got back and slept. norm woke mike up @3 to tell him that he couldn't sleep :) jerm and norm sorta static-electrified each other and kinda pushed each other in their queen bed :) i chose the reclining couch, but didn't figure out it could recline that night, so i ended up getting up halfway through the night, propping up another chair, and sleeping like that, leg on one chair, body slouched in the couch.
tues: basically, the guys who were skiing left. leaving me, sam(he was sick), sarah, jerm, and mike. jerm's snoring went right through our room to wake sarah and sam up :) anyways, this was the first time i've seen sarah hang out with us without sam around, cause we went to breakfast and left sam in bed to come back later. got some apple cinnamon walnut french toast, which was very good. got back, and me, mike and jerm left for circus circus. ended up wasting $14 apiece, and too bad they closed off about 60% of the games. got 2 fishes, 1 pony and a bullemic bear from the chicken catapult game. some of the games there were interesting though...
fishing game... no matter what you got something, but the real good stuff was to get the rare red dish, and there was no time limit, so we just sat there looking like dorks waiting forever for a red disk... hahah, jon got the medium duck later that night, and got the Xtra large duck on wed... looks like there's something that we can beat tim at eh?
basket game... you toss a ball into a peach bucket... only jerm got this one for an ugly dog
roll the bowling ball... try to roll it so it rests in the dip... only mike got this one for a turdish beaver :) haha... i wanted that
roll the ball so it's +30 or -12... norm got this later that night for a huge bear...
drop the ball in the goblet... norm got this one INSTANTLY later that night for a seal
drop the ball in the shell... only i tried this one and got the pony later that night
we played a LOTTA racing games that night, which prob contributed to our huge loss of money... the camel, and esp the bingo game wasted money like crazy... all for a dogbee, but it was funny watching the guys play that game.
so basically later we head back and pick up sam and sarah... they were swimming... interesting... we joked about getting massages and facials and plain just ending up like women. ;) sam turns out doesn't want to ski that day, so we all go to johnny rockets for lunch then go to the nearby bowling alley to bowl... it was very slippery and long, but fun. sarah would throw these slow, but fairly accurate bowls down the lane, jerm would just drop his balls. i got maybe 4 strikes in our 2nd game, 2 of which were one right after the other on the 10th bowl.
later, we took the elevator down(hey, it's our cupertino library!) and took a look around... hmm... virtual golf arena, mini art gallery, huge candy factory(!), arcade(haha... mike wanted to challenge us to DDR, must be his game... incidently, i played Police 911 earlier), etc. by then it was 5:00 so we headed back to get the others so we could go to a buffet. we ended up taking 1 suburban and packing everyone in. at the buffet, there was so much meat and stuff. lamb, prime rib, ny steak, list goes on and on. good seafood too. too bad i couldn't eat more, it was good stuff. and don't worry, i didn't OD on meat, i know how to restrain myself.
played some circus circus, this time with everyone(we spent so much time on that bingo game), then went to bowl. it was pretty fun; a lotta weird bowling memories, like norm's between the legs. next time i bowl, i'll just remember to follow through more... i find i get better when i do that and don't do anything flashy, unlike others.
get back, and everyone's just farting... well, in our apartment... jerm and norm are just lighting up, but jon and mike are occasionally too. i'm... just glad i've got the couch :) chips... oh that is so cheezy... but FUNNY!
wed: basically, we first go to another buffet for brunch, then go back to circus circus. i'm not used to consuming mass quantities of food; i'm pretty sure i left my appetite in UCD. we go to boreal, meet up for 1 last time, take a picture, then head off. hahah... just when norman gets out of the suburban he slips on the ice and falls. :) and so we spent the last moments of our vacation... heading home.

-i'm done recaping... i can't think.

i dunno whether to say i'm relieved that finals are over or not...

+now winter break starts... time to jam with my guitar like crazy... and RECORD what i jam... not to mention worship on sunday... it's gonna be great...
-i really want to redo my chem final, like restudy all over again, and maybe revise my SAS paper again... oh geez... God please answer my prayer or i am dead... so much about pre-med... and i seriously thought i had studied for it too... God, this is what i mean by giving me good study habits... i just don't have them... HEEELLLLP MEEEE!!!

me: yea... haha... i played CS w/jerm yesterday and today morning :-)
wes: ohhh nice
wes: so the mouse is working quite nice eh?
me: yeah, it is
wes: u getting good?
me: somewhat...
wes: what was your best record
me: against newbies i get over 100% ratio of kills/deaths :-)
wes: haha
me: hey, you wanted my best record; it's against newbies, but you wanted it right?
wes: how about overall
wes: really?
me: ok... let's say on average i get about 25% ratio of kills/deaths
wes: i see
wes: not bad
me: yeah
me: y'kno in CS you can spraypaint on the ground or walls a certain design that you select in the options?
me: so i made one that has YLT on it :-)
wes: yep
wes: haha
me: now i'll just have to get a double kill and spray it :-)
wes: :-)
wes: i went like 24 n 8 once n bhd
me: nice...
me: i went like 1:22 the last time we played :-)
wes: since then ive been doin pretty good
me: the 1 being from that stray grenade i dropped
wes: hahaha
wes: dont worry i started out the same
me: but you had a mouse... that's already a sizeable advantage
me: newbie w/touchpad= free kill
wes: ahh thats with a touchpad..hehe didnt know
me: might as well have just played DOOM style: arrows and left hand fires
wes: :-P

more conversation fun on AIM...

grace: ricHARDDDDDDddddddd
me: hey whassap
me: decided it just wasn't fun anymore w/o someone making fun of ya?
grace: are u goooood at biology
me: oh, THAT... heh heh
me: um, maybe... what's your question?
grace: hahah
grace: ok.. its sorta long
me: it's ok... i'll either cut you off or listen the entire time... shoot :-)
(she asks a 2-part question and i answer the 1st part)
me: so i think that could answer question A
me: ... wait a minute... are you trying to mooch off of me?
grace: maybe...
grace: BUT U CAN MOOCh off of me!
me: ...cause if you are i'm logging off
me: oh... i can mooch off of a hmm... how to put this...
me: coughcoughdimwitchokegacksputter :-)
me: that just makes me feel SOOO much better :-)
me: tell you what... you tell me what you think the answer to question B is and i'll either tell you if it's right or wrong
me: i've already answered 1/2 of your questions
me: ... i bet you're not even trying... you're probably asking someone else now that i won't answer your 2nd question :-)
grace: hAHah faj;sldfj;alskj
grace: thANKS richhardd
me: see, trying to cover it up with your aldjadsj;lfdsjaldkjf
me: hey look i'm grace i talk like afjdk;ljdsa;fsj;
me: :-)
grace: hAHA nerdnERdnerd
me: hey... look who's got a guarenteed spot in UCD?
me: eh? eh?
me: i will be taunting your sorry ass in UCR if you don't figure out how to have good study habits soon :-)
grace: i HAVE GOOD STUDDY ahbits!
me: haha... which explains why you said you didn't last time?
grace: oh
grace: darnit!
grace: really
me: haha
me: please... stop making me roll around with laughter :-)
grace: HAH.. jfa;lskdfja;lsfa;ls bE NICE
me: i am nice... in a weird sarcastic way :-)
me: can't you picture me grinning as i'm writing this?
grace: no
grace: ahhahaha
grace: well yes
me: haha... see... don't you LOOVE that christmas spirit? of me grinning from mocking you?
grace: oooooof course
grace: ahhaah what're u doing
grace: when ju omcing back/
me: see, this is why you're going to UCR... i can't understand what the heck you just wrote :-)
me: now, can you rephrase that... in ENGLISH?
me: :-)
me: oooh... wait... when are you coming back... OOOH... ok... saturday afternoon... why, bored?
grace: OKKKK i dont tlka like that!!!
grace: i talk .. coherently
grace: moST OF hte itme
me: ...now i just DON'T GET WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE SAYING! do you mean most of the time, cause you wrote "most of hte itme" what the heck is "hte itme"? :-)
grace: well
grace: it means the time
grace: HAhah

getting better @CS... i had my moment today... down to 1 on 2... with an AK47... headshot the 1st CT, then strafed back and forth and gunned down the 2nd one for a 2-in-a-row kill, giving our team the win... jerm was watching since he was already dead... he was like "Go ReCharred!" haha... YLT? anyways, it's pretty fun playing CS w/jerm... and i guess i'm not a complete newbie, because i HAVE watched jon play for some time in UCD now :)

i have the weirdest CS config ever... it centers around the fact that i am left-handed and play electric guitar... thus my left-up/down-right is controlled by pinky-ring-middle... and i make use of the fact that i was given an optical mouse w/a wheel, so i reload with the wheel and toggle the 2nd weapon w/the wheel.

plan to create a YLT and nha un doc spraypaint for CS... also plan to record at least one of my songs over break...

also, just registered for my 4th class... i hope God was helping me when i was doing it, cause i have no idea if the electives i chose would be right for me.

talk later... gotta study... pray for me...

oh yeah... now Davis' bowling alley does keep track of your scores electronically, so that's cool... i still mainly go there to play MVC1 now, not bowl... but if you guys ever wanna... why not...

i am about 50% into my SAS essay, am kinda braindead about it though... it's due on saturday, and i can turn it in up to 6 pm... doubtful i'll want to stay that long in UCD though. my math final's done for, so it's just that and chem(i think i can say chem's about 50% done with)...

i would hope that God helps me not to forget him and to foster in me a desire to do the best i can with anything i do... i would also hope he gives me self-control in order to discern what is right from wrong, or what is better from what is worse.

someone pray for all the schoolers that we all know... we ALL need motivation to study... it's what gets the grades... i just want the motivation to learn...

problem w/me playing CS is that i get too panicky when i see more then 1 person at once and so i overaim the mouse... i could turn down the mouse sensitivity, but i think it's more due to my uncalmness that causes this.

i'll talk later... i can't really think right now, and need to study.

i'm doing better at CS- both at playing it, and capping my time :) btw, now everyone on my dorm floor wants to play with opposing force and blue shift :) chem study when i get back, then off to the MU

talked w/olivia today! heh heh, whoopdedoo...

olivia: richard, can i ask you what fuels ur faith?
me: um... hmm... a good worship song, maybe hope?
me: i've never been asked this question before, so i don't know how to answer you :-)
olivia: that's cool...
olivia: just wondering what keep u on track with God... or draws you to Him.. what makes you want to worship HIm?
me: umm... when something makes me stand in awe of him
me: that makes me wanna worship him
me: when someone offers some new insight that i haven't thought of before
me: that makes me get drawn closer to God
olivia: cool.
olivia: mee too.
me: and also when i can remind myself that i have something special in Christianity that nonbelievers don't, that also draws me closer to God
me: there's a lotta stuff that fuels my faith, those are just the general stuff
olivia: ... what gets you daily? Do you talk with jon? do you read? do you go and listen to sermons?
me: i sit and muddle
olivia: hm. :-)
olivia: muddle, eh?
me: yeap
olivia: i'm so glad that God meets you in your muddle time
olivia: :-)

stupid hotmail won't let me in for the past 3 days... anyone else get this problem, or is it just me?

what i find interesting is basically after talking to jerm on the sermon down in riverside, is that:

-the end will come after all the nations have heard the gospel, then support for Israel will withdraw, and then read my other log of this day for more info...

what if you know God and have accepted Jesus, but sin RIGHT when Jesus comes? are we still taken into heaven? jerm asked me this and i didn't know how to respond... i would assume that Jesus would understand and STILL take you into heaven, but i dunno... still this fear... makes me occasionally get on my knees and ask for forgiveness from God cause i fear i don't have it right and might be taken right there.

this kindles an interest for me to start the later books of the old testament... imagine how much stuff has been predicted that has NOT occurred yet.

should we be worried? no, if you're a christian, then this promise applies:

Psalm 91:7-8: A thousand may come at your side, ten thousand at your right side, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

notes of the sermon @norm's church on 12.8.02... i think it was very interesting and bilical based... plz read my notes that i took... it will clear up a LOT of the questions about what happens near the end of the world.

Luke 21: End of the World Near?

Destruction of temple: parallel to Twin Towers?

What Jesus predicted turned out to be exactly true... think of when the temple was taken down stone by stone
So think of what will be fulfilled in the future that God predicted

Matthew 16:2-3- You can see the obvious, but you can't see the signs of the times, according to Jesus when he's talking to the stiff-minded ppl

You can't find out when Jesus will come back, but you always hear those rumors of when he will come

You can however see many signs of that time coming...

Israel- about 2x of Riverside, Zechariah 12:9
(when Jerusalem is surrounded by armies, the end is near... God wants to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem)

Ezekiel 36:22- God brought back the Jews although they were scattered amongst the nations

Ezekiel 36:28-30- Israel has become right

2nd sign: Ezekiel 38-39- Magog... no love for Israel... modern-day is Russia... marches against Israel w/allies(Persia?)

Ezekiel 38:8

Ezekiel 38:9-11

summary of events to end of world
---------------------------------
1st: Israel regathered- DONE
2nd: Israel dwells in confidence- DONE
3rd: Israel has hostile enemies- DONE
4th: Israel isolated; not yet... we the US still support them

as we have kept supporting Israel we would be blessed, but pressure is increasing to withdraw from Israel

after the conflict, God draws back the army, and Israel will mourn, and a revival will occur. he will then pour out his spirit upon Israel.

before this, the rapture will occur. it is not until we meet Christ before the following occurs...

Revolution 13:16-18
there is an antichrist who will come and draw others to himself. he will attempt a peace that supposedly end the conflict between Jews and Palestinians. then he comes up with the idea that someone only allowed to buy w/a mark.

think of the microchip that can be implanted in their skin...

you should be looking for CHRIST though, not the antichrist...

somebody pray for me... haven't gone to fellowship or church in Davis this week... not that i'm falling away from God(i feel like i'm communicating with him more than last year), but i've been going to sleep more later than before... so that totally ruins my strength to get up for church... i'm hoping that i will study and finish all my stuff before friday night so i can attend fellowship again...

haha... our live Math review session on TV looks like a cooking show... with letters substituted for ingredients... oh, lesse, we'll just add a dash of variable y to here(writes on equation on screen), then mix and take this over here, a little subtraction, and viola! we get the equation for a parabola!

i think i will be watching online church again tonight... given if i have the time...

must put a time cap on CS when i play, or i'll just run loose... it happened late last night, it could happen again.

oh yeah, i know we've wondered about this thought before; is God able to sin? i mean, he really is God, he can get away with it, can't he? and of course ppl will respond, "no, cause it goes against his nature." and then it goes back to the thought of his absolute power. so my answer to that is this: YES, God is able to sin, because he is able to do whatever he wants. BUT, he has a reputation to hold up, and because it's the very definition that defines him as the biblical God, he MUST hold up this image of him being a holy, righteous, just God, slow to anger, quick to forgive. basically, God wouldn't be called God if he sinned... he would have absolute power still, but he would NOT be called God. think about what would happen if God really did decide to sin... people would go, "oh, because God's able to sin, I can sin too... God's the creator of the universe and knows everything doesn't he?" if God did sin, then we could argue that atheists are right... because if what we define as a God doesn't match our God, then do we really have a God? but thank God that he's willing to hold up this definition of being a God, and because of that, we have hope...

stuff to do tonight:
finish studying for Math(shouldn't take too long)
write some more for SAS final paper
online church
write some notes on worship
and then when all's said and done... visit the MU for some MVC1 ass-whupping, maybe come back and play some CS

know what Phil gave me for my bday?

Half-Life Platinum Collection...
includes
half-life, opposing force, team fortress classic, blue shift, and counter-strike

that's so tempting...

well, actually i'd still prefer MVC1 over this, but hey, something else to do in Davis now.

i'm getting better @ MVC1... can now combo into Chun-Li's air QCF+2K more reliably... and can rushdown a lot better with her. still need practice with my Ryu though. though it was kinda funny doing a semi tick-throw with him against a challenger yesterday... i guess the 1st time he played against me he knocked out my Chun-Li with his Wolverine dead and Strider still alive, then my Ryu comes in and i immediately do QCB+2K(which i guessed correctly), and overrid his attack for the win. next game i have Ryu and he has the same team w/Wolvie on point, he blocked my QCB+2K(which is counterable but only if you acted quick), landed and threw him which KO'd his Wolverine.

if i answer to you on AIM that i am studying, it can range from writing a term paper, to taking notes, to actually studying for a test... i now lump everything required to do better in college as "studying."

SAS final requirements: 20% completed
Chem final requirements: 10% completed(because that 10% is an estimation of how much i've remembered)
Math final requirements: 80% completed(because that class is braindead easy... i think... but i'm not going to take risks, i'll study manana)

can't wait til Xmas... but i'm not really into that fruity Xmas cheer stuff... it's all about the fellowship... i dislike how fruity commercialism makes Xmas... totally distorts what its true meaning is.

to do list for the rest of tonight...
-after eating, study for chem(gotta start sometime... i can leave the math stuff til the last minute)
-go to MU and play some more MVC1
-come back and write up some notes on worship, pray for others
(i can also figure out my 4th class at the last moment, like 1 day beforehand, so no worry there)

here's the thoughts i'll leave the reader with tonight:
"Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."
-Proverbs 30:7-9 *surprising how this was written by Agur son of Jakeh and not Soloman... also, note how in v2-3 he expresses his humility towards Proverbs 9:10*

always pull the Mike Shinoda when worshipping, and be content in all circumstances.

i would totally trade this concert for Sum 41 playing today...

Spot Rock Tour

and it's taking place @UCI too! grrr... heh heh, well they ARE playing earlier in Sac, so i guess i can't complain, but still... Relient K, Pillar, Sanctus Real?!? that's already 3 christian bands i like...

unnamed new song from David Crowder Band... listen for free

pray for jerm's right knee... no heal, no exercise, and that's bad.

i found this on the final slide of a Powerpoint presentation for my SAS class from a guest speaker, available for download on the class website:

"Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference."

i know that it's the attitude that counts... not the grades... i really want to earn that A... God's not going to give it to me. that's why i want an attitude from God where i WANT to learn, and that will make things so much easier. so when i went into Chemistry 2A, i didn't go in thinking that it's just a buncha chemicals, i went in thinking that i'm studying God's awesome design and structure for objects. therein lies the problem now... with that change of angle, it doesn't make it seem better if i'm not getting an A, cause then i'll be lamenting "I'm flunking God 2A!!!" heh heh... but yeah God... give me that attitude.

worship involves 2 things... the outward and inward. the outward is your appearance and what you do, the inward, your attitude. with only the outward comes legalism. on the other hand, if you really had an attitude for glorifying God on the inside, it WOULD be reflected by your outside... often our reluctance to show our attitude on the outside is more due to our fear than our style. but people don't realize this, and they need to be reschooled to learn this. also, a worship session is much more different from a concert... whereas a concert has musicians performing for many, a worship session has many people performing for one... in that case, the audience is as much a performer as the musicians on stage. also keep in mind that worship is the very nature of our obeying God, and how we should follow him. God also expects you to worship him with all your strength. finally, true worship often involves a sacrifice.

more to add later... should eat.