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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

then the mailman jumps on...

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

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

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

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

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

3 more days...

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

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

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

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

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

the beginning of the end has now begun...

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

help me to stand strong, god...

let's do dis thang...

IKUZE!

Wow...

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

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

what the hell? bulls beat the cavs?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(yeah, i got anger issues)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

heck, i should give god a call soon.

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

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

nice... warriors > pacers tonight...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

stop caring about horizontal depth, u scrub...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who the hell cares? My thoughts exactly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ps controller sux... seriously...

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

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

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

yea i'm speechless...

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

ugly...

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

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

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