Saturday, January 31, 2009

25 Random Things (from facebook)

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)




1. I never do surveys, questions, etc., which is why this is a very rare occasion. I hardly ever update my status on facebook. But if Harper did it, in addition to a million others, I guess I'll do it too. And for Sarah Holcombe, and now Amber John, too, I will do it.

2. I played oboe for band and orchestra and electric bass for jazz band while in school. Sadly, my skills deteriorated throughout high school which is why I didn't play in college. Fortunately, I picked up acoustic guitar my last year of college, and for the most pat, taught myself.

3. I own way too many martial arts movies. I always have fight scenes in my head. And I have read Jackie Chan's autobiography.

4. Related to #3, Joey Arroyo made me do the hardest workouts ever for taekwondo, capoeira, and cardio kickboxing. The best ones where when my leg would give out the next few days when going up or down a staircase or just walking.

5. I have had Joker lines from the Dark Knight in my head for way too long a time now.

6. I don't have any sort of TV cable or channels at home as a way to not "waste time" but I do that anyway watching movies while I'm at home.

7. I am always excited to hear good stories, including ones in the form of documentaries. Some of the favorite ones I own now (that you should check out) are: Favela Rising, Beyond the Gates of Splendor, and Born into Brothels.

8. I always enjoy meeting new people and learning about them. I usually don't share about myself unless I have someone's complete attention.

9. I used to draw people. I have not drawn people in awhile but I would like to start again.

10. I used to perform with a juggling group in college. It's nerdy but a lot of fun. We did some crazy shows.

11. I lived with 2 of the main guys I juggled with for a few months. I had temporary return juggling doing a Jugglers of Death shows with them for Vaudeville Underground. That was probably the craziest show I've done with them.

12. I try to read when I can. I usually stay away from fiction but I've recently been reading book that were made into movies. Currently I'm reading Bourne Supremacy and High Fidelity.

13. The people I work with at Sony Style are probably the best group of people I have been able to work with at any job I have had.

14. My friends are more important to me than just about anything. That's why I try and travel just to see them.

15. I've recently started to take pictures a lot more. So you can always see what is going on with me at www.flickr.com/photos/cwilke

16. I haven't dated in a long time. I don't think I will get married despite what many of my friends think and tell me. I'm not ruling it out. It just seems unlikely at this point in my life.

17. I have a nephew in the 7th grade and a niece who is 7 months old. I love them both a whole lot.

18. I used to be addicted to video games. But it only got as far as Super Nintendo. After that, the addiction died down, much to the joy of my parents. But it would come back every now and then, playing Xbox with my old college roommate or my nephew.

19. I like going to live shows. Especially before artists get popular. I still boast, way too much I might add, over getting my friends into Mat Kearney before he got big.

20. I went to Europe on a family vacation when I was in jr high. During the trip, I got very sick with back pains and throwing up. Luckily, I got better by the time we stayed at our cousins' house for the last week.

21. I have been to Las Vegas only once for my brother's bachelor party. The common phrase "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" holds true for me. ;-)

22. I strongly believe that there is a purpose for everyone here on earth. Sometimes those purposes do not get realized. It should be something that each person is uniquely passionate about. It's hard to explain all I believe about this topic, but one other thing is that I believe it is never too late to start pursuing something that you are passionate about.

23. I think true beauty and true masculinity are found inside the person. Outward appearances should only be a reflection of what is inside.

24. I would like to have a house one day for homeless people to live in.

25. I would love to have the faith that Amber John and some of my other friends have. The type that she describes in #22 of her 25 random things. Strange that I feel this way since I have been a youth pastor, but I still feel like a toddler in my faith.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

weird day at work

Yesterday I go out of the store to eat lunch at Subway. I'm walking back and I notice that Express is closed. I keep walking and there are more and more stores with their doors closed. Weird? This never happens. I get back to Sony Style and our doors are closed. Angelo lets me in and I'm just wondering, "what the hell is going on?"

Apparently there were a couple guys suspected of carrying guns in the mall. Here is one article about the incident.They tried to rob an armored car (I didn't find that out until today). All the stores were closed for a couple hours in the afternoon while mall security and a SWAT team searched for the suspects. I still had a bunch of work to do and everything, but weird day.

What was funny were the customers still around and one in particular that called the store. He was calling from the parking lot and wanted to know if we could bring him a GPS Navigation system to the mall entrance and pay cash at the door. Umm....no. Nice try, though. Yes, you may have driven far to get here, but the mall is locked down for a reason.

Needless to say, the mall was back to normal after a couple hours, probably with less people though. I wasn't around long to find out how empty it was that evening.

Monday, January 19, 2009

much awaited randomness

Wow- I really suck at blogging. So here I am sitting at a friend's house waiting to tutor, and I happen to have my computer also, so here we go! Perhaps I'll just post some random things that have happened the past few months:

1) Christmas was awesome! I got to spend part of it with said friend's house. Lunch on Christmas Day with my family was a lot of fun. Mom cooked an amazing meal as usual. I played some guitar, which has become a new tradition. Christian performed some comedy! He was great. He's been really influenced by Demetri Martin. He performed some of his jokes really well in addition to making up a couple of his own. My alternative Christmas gift worked out a lot better this year. Last year, I wanted my family to support a business owner or worker in a third world country by buying something from a World Vision gift catalog, or something to that effect. Well, turns out no one did it, and I was left leaving a lot of gifts at my parents' house. Well this year I just had everyone write about one of their favorite days of 2008 in a Christmas card. Obviously I was asking for a lot of repetition because Valentina was born in May, but I got a much better participation rate.

2) Working at Sony has lasted longer than I thought. Those first few months I was really feeling things out for awhile. Not sure if I would stay or not. Now, I just work hard and I love the people I work with. We all get along really well and clique with everyone, even if they are only working there temporarily. It has always been like that, from before I started working there.

3) I have made some great friends the past few months. Some are ones that I hope will build into strong friendships. Only time will tell at this point. You can see my recent flickr photos to see who I mean.

4) Although I haven't practiced in a few days, I am finally learning new songs again. This really hadn't happened for a couple years. But now I'm learning to play "Neon" by John Mayer, "This Love" by Maroon 5, "Whisper to Me" by Warren Barfield and a couple others. It's nice not playing the same stuff over and over again.

I guess that's enough randomness for now. Until later...


blessings