Northern Lights

Saturday, October 31, 2009

I've wanted to see the northern lights ever since I was a kid and have always been fascinated by this one scene in Balto with all the snow and the crazy green lights. Yeah so I want to go to there in real life.

2 winters ago...Patti, Paul, Becca, and I spent an evening watching Balto and baking Christmas cookies (pumpkin cheesecake cookies to be exact). The movie ends with a grandma and her grand-daughter visiting the balto statue and the grandma is like, "OH BALTO, ID BE LOST WITHOUT YOU". Ironic, because so many people get lost in central park looking for that ridiculous statue. Anyways, we traveled to New York City that following spring break in search of good food and that ever elusive Balto statue. We found expensive, subpar food at some swanky Manhattan restaurant and then hiked 31 blocks to central park. Long story short, we never found Balto. Instead, we played on some sad little playground with a slide and a lot of mulch. I remember there being a lot of mulch because Becca got face-planted in a whole lot of it after coming down the slide too fast. There was also, of course, the obligatory trip to FAO Schwarz to buy bulk candy.


In a letter that Paul wrote to me from Armenia last month:
"Have you seen the Balto statue yet? Last time I went, I searched for it. And searched. And searched. What actually got us there was soemone who pointed us in the right direction after I went crazy and started yelling, "DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE BALTO IS?!?!" So next time you have a difficult question, yell it to the nearest crowd."

Purple People Eater

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

I made up this game to pass time with the kids during mandatory carpet time. They love it and so do I, sadly. It's like mafia for pre-schoolers, except there's no way they can win. I narrate and start our adventure by making sure at least 1/2 of the kids are proficient in karate, swordfighting and tree climbing. We enter the jungle and start chanting this song that the Purple People Eater sings and it goes, "I'm makin a purple stew, I'm makin a purple stew. With purple potatoes and purple tomatoes and (insert names of naughty children) toooooo". I then make up a story of how those kids got caught by the PurplePeopleEater and have the remaining survivors cast votes to determine whether or not we go try and save their captured peers from the stew pot. By the end of the game, I've got a whole lot of dead kids lying around me in complete silence. It's beautiful.

Also, one of the kids took me aside and asked with a very serious-bus expression on his face, "is the purple people eater REAL?"

My work here is done.

Christ magnified in your life

is to stop worrying what lies behind and ahead. To stop stressing over where should I go from here and to focus on what should I be doing right here right now.

You are exactly where you're supposed to be right now.

And right now, it feels like I'm facing a gauntlet of trials, roadblocks, discouragement, and impending doooooom. But it gives me enormous hope to know that God specifically planned and placed each and every one of these hurdles in my life for a reason. He's able to take all the hurt and trouble and put it to good use.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

- Romans 5:1-4

mercy

Monday, October 19, 2009

is when someone says to you "Don't worry about it. I love you" after you've smashed into their car door. I hardly know her. But she kept hugging me, smiling, and reassuring me everything was ok.

is when your dad takes the blame so that your insurance rate doesn't explode through the roof. Awesome dad is someone who says sorry for initially screaming his head off, asks if you're ok, and gives you a pat on the back.

Definition of retardation = me

God speaks to me through car accidents.

As Auntie Mei walked out my front door, she turned around and said, "i love you". I don't know much about her except that she goes to my church, her husband died from cancer a few years back, and she helped send me to Nicaragua. This was the first time I've ever really spoken to her in person and the first words she hears from me are, "I just hit your car". And her response is, "I love you". Crazy. This all could have been avoided had I not volunteered to pick up my little brother from piano lessons so that my dad could stay home to give Auntie Mei a flu shot. I could have taken my own car instead of the van that was doomed to back up into her car. I could have put on my glasses. It all could have turned out differently I suppose.

But it didn't.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back - Luke 6:35

Resolution #2: stop over-committing

Sunday, October 18, 2009

I think my best friends know that I have a tendency to flake. Despite my disappointing them time and time again, they forgive me. A lot. And I don't know why or how...but that's how good my friends are. I know I don't deserve them.

Thank you for being my friend. I'll keep trying to stop being such a crappy one.

One of my greatest fears is disappointing those closest to me. Seems hard to believe seeing as how I'm a professional at accomplishing just that. But that often leads to my next problem: over-commitment. Initially, it solves the problem. But in the end, I just end up disappointing everybody and myself.

Bobby Lu's tips for successful resume writing

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Did you do any activities in college / leadership that is relevant at all? CS clans don't count, FYI.

Just listing your tasks gives no real insight into your abilities, and is actually pretty boring. But if you can say you designed unique graphics to stick in a presentation about saving whales which was presented to gandalf the gray etc. it adds more personality and uniqueness to your resume. In the same number of words that you are using now.

Overheard in Pre-school
"Stay away from me! I just farted!"
"but all boys like farts..."

"I'm dooooone" (pouty-faced)
fellow 3-year-old: "NO! TWO MORE BITES!"

(pointing at me) YOU'RE A CHICKEN NUGGET WEENER

happy birthday matt

Thursday, October 1, 2009

This is the story of how I planned an entire day around 3 dozen birthday cupcakes. It's my little brother's 17th(?) birthday today. I planned to bake cupcakes and throw him a surprise bday thing during tonight's teens group. Woke up bright and early yesterday to drive to the only cake supply shop in the area. Drove to Harris Teeter to purchase cupcake ingredients. Drove to work. Came home, found out Matt caught the swine (again). All this cupcake crap for a boy who won't make it to his own bday party. So I've been baking for the past 2 hours. I figured I might as well. But I'm not quite sure what to do with all these cupcakes.