ramblings of a beggar

The Original and Remake of The Karate Kid

2010-07-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

SPOILER ALERT- I will be talking about major plot points in this post.

When I first heard they were doing a remake with Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith, I was a bit skeptical for a couple of reasons. 1) The original is so great and I didn't want them to mess with that. 2) With Jackie Chan, they were obviously going to feature kung fu, which means calling it the Karate Kid is stupid. I know the Kung Fu Kid doesn't have the same ring to it, but still. Despite my skepticism, I warmed up to it before its release and decided to see it with my family.

To be honest, I walked away liking the movie quite a bit. It's not as good as the original overall, but with Jackie Chan starring as Mr. Han and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith produce the new one with Jerry Weintraub (who produced the original) is a good sign. A lot of the movie is the same as the original, including major plot points, the way a scene moves, and even some dialogue. Here are some of the major comparisons.

First, let's get the acting part out of the way. Both Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith were good, but Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita are definitely a much better acting duo. A few of the scenes show this, but I think the most pertinent one is at the end during the final fight when the protaganist talks to convince his teacher to heal him so he can continue.

Another part that doesn't work out as well in the new one is the "how is what I'm doing training me" part. The original had a series of tasks- wax on wax off, sand the floor, paint the fence, paint the house- to keep the story moving. In the new one, Mr. Han has Dre take his jacket off, hang it, drop it, and pick it up over and over again. It was too repetitive and the story got stale at that point. However, the payoff was just as good. It didn't have the humor of Mr. Miyagi slapping Daniel in the face, but the realization that the student was learning the entire time was just as good, ending in the line, "Kung fu is everything."

Changing the way the teacher loses his family proved to be a good plot change. In the original, Mr. Miyagi was abroad fighting in World War II, and received a note that both his wife and newborn child died due to complications giving birth. He copes with this by getting in his army uniform and drinking a bottle of whiskey (or was it scotch?). In the remake, Mr. Han lost his wife and 10-year-old son in an auto accident where he was the driver. He copes with this by rebuilding the car every year that was in the accident and then destroying it on the anniversary of the accident. This works better because the medical side of giving birth has gotten a lot better, and giving a 12-year-old some alcohol doesn't quite cut it.

Some other notes about the movie:

Despite a review I watched, Mr. Han is not really beating up the kids who gang up on Dre. All he does is block their attacks and get them to hit each other. He even makes this point after the fight is over.
The final kick is more like what was originally written for the 1984 movie. Ralph Macchio said in an interview that the crane kick was written as jumping off on one foot, kicking with it, and landing on the same foot (since his other leg was injured). He realized that was impossible so he ends up landing on his injured leg. In the remake, the back flip causes Dre to take off, kick, and land all with the same leg.
It was interesting to see Yu Rong Guang as the "bad guy". I was a little disappointed to not see him fight in the remake and New Police Story (another movie he did with Jackie Chan) since he is really gifted in martial arts. After all, he was the Iron Monkey!
A bit of interesting side trivia is that Will Smith got Pat Morita to guest on an episode of Fresh Prince in a very Mr. Miyagi-like role.

Those are my thoughts. It's not worth it for everyone to see it in the theater, so I'd say rent it to those people. It's at least worth that. Hope you enjoyed the review!

blessings

Family stuff

2010-05-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

A week ago my niece "turned 2, on May 2." She is able to say that (many times I might add) any of the thousand times that we asked her. So we got together at Lance & Char's house that evening to celebrate with the family. It was great to see everyone and to see how smart Valentina is getting. She can certainly disobey and be stubborn, especially when she is tired, but there is almost no limit to how smart she is getting and how cute she is. She received some musical instruments, a toy train, and a toy that releases bubbles. She was very excited.

This weekend my nephew performed in a school play. It was a different take on a bunch of common fairy tales, but infused with a good dose of girl power and environmental issues. Very cool that it was a little like Shrek in playing with the fairy tale formula. Christian was Prince Charming in the section that retold Cinderella. He is very talented, as were many of the other kids in the performance. While I do not have a picture of this performance, I do have a picture of him with his new electric guitar, which I took the same day as Valentina's family birthday party.

changes

2010-04-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

I got laid off from Sony and was a part of a month-long trial as a jury member for the federal district court. The federal court experience was a good one, though there were certainly many boring moments. The hard thing was that it coincided with the store closing. There was a 2-week period where I had not been that busy for awhile. I could have just done jury duty and put off work at Sony, but decided against that since the store was closing. Therefore, I ended up going into Sony during the evenings after being in court as well as when I had days off from the trial. But now all that craziness is over. I miss the people I worked with at Sony but I'm thinking it's a good thing to be done.

One smaller change is that I finally got internet at home (though I am writing this in a coffeeshop). Like I told my friend, Mary, I like to join the current decade a little late. It's probably why it took me so long to get a digital camera or an MP3 player. Working at Sony definitely helped with getting my electronics updated.

2 things to check out that you may now know too much about

2009-11-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

One book and one movie on two very different topics. But they are both enjoyable and give you lots of information on its given topic. The first is a book called Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor Movement. The second is a documentary movie called Scratch. The former gives you an in-depth look of a labor strike in the mid-90s from the workers' point of view. The latter gives you the history of the DJ in hip hop music.

I grade part time for the Labor Education dept at UIC. Staley is a new book published this past year by one of the professors, and is really an engaging story. Not only does it talk about the struggles the Staley workers faced, but also gives you a brief history of the company as well as some nuggets of labor history in general. I found myself very drawn into the story while reading the book, and was fortunate to go to a Q&A with the authors and a couple of the workers who were a part of that labor movement.

In a similar fashion, the documentary, Scratch, gives you an overview of how the DJ started hip hop music with some turntables. It is plenty enjoyable for those both familiar and newly initiated with the genre and lifestyle. A lot of rare interviews and performances from legends in hip hop including DJ Shadow, DJ Q-Bert, DJ Babu, and loads more. If you find a copy of either of these, I highly recommend checking it out.

Braveheart...and Collateral

2009-10-01T16:39:00.000-07:00

The last time I watched Braveheart all the way through was a few years ago...until yesterday. I finally dusted it off my DVD rack. Strange since it was one of my favorite films of all time. Watching it again reminded me of why I love the movie so much in the first place. As Robert the Bruce's father says in one scene- "Uncompromising men are easy to admire." For all you Braveheart lovers out there, just a quick note that while it is based on a true story, many characters, events, and details where fictionalized or altered to fit the movie story better. Despite that, it's still obviously a great movie.

The action scenes are still exciting, from the first revenge battle sequence to the Battle of Stirling. The dramatic scenes still work amazingly well, particularly the ones with no words and filled with stares and looks. I was just reading through all the goofs on imdb and was surprised to see so many. I don't care though. It's still a great film. I'd probably watch it more often if it wasn't 3 hours long.

The last time I watched it in its entirety was really late at night with some friends during a visit to Iowa a few years ago. There's a girl I know there named Jaime who absolutely loves the film, even more than I do. She can pretty much quote the whole thing. I miss those Iowa friends. I haven't seem a lot of them in awhile, especially Jaime.

Another movie of note is Collateral. It's probably my favorite movie with Tom Cruise because his assassin character is so well developed and he sheds a lot of the personality that you see in most of his other films. It's also directed by Michael Mann, which almost automatically means that it's good.

totally not getting married

2009-09-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

I know most of my friends don't agree with me, but this is something that I've considered for the past year or two now. I was just at my cousin's wedding in Detroit this past weekend. It was beautiful, from the rooftop ceremony to the non-conventional breakfast food reception "dinner" to the beautiful couple that is my cousin and his wife. With all the relatives around, of course it was prime time for them to ask me where my girlfriend or date was. Not seeing anyone, I respond. Well when are your aunts from Hawaii going to come back and visit then, they ask me. I don't know. Hopefully another occasion will come.

I have this friend named Jennifer. She's a friend from college. Didn't even hang out with her very much then, but now she's one of my favorite people here in Chicago. She's become a very good friend. I started to teach her guitar about a year ago. She's social enough that I could introduce her to other friends and she would carry on a conversation. I am very comfortable in my own skin when I hang out with her. Sometimes we would talk about relationships in general. She's asked me a couple of times what kind of girl that I go for. I would say the type of girl that I'm friends with and who I trust. Oh, and someone who plays guitar, too, but then she'd be onto me. I should mention that Jennifer met this wonderful man in Africa during her time in the Peace Corps who she is now engaged to. By no means would I get in the way of that. In fact, I'm very much looking forward to the day when I can meet him (he's still in Africa). But that still leads us back to the title.

In Blue Like Jazz, Don Miller says that if you like someone you should tell them. I never brought this up with Jennifer...yet. I will. Even though I have no intention of having a romantic relationship with her at all, I think it's still important to talk about stuff like that.

There really isn't anyone else in Chicago. I was just talking to my brother about this last night. I told him how I'd want to ask out someone who I started become friends with and who I trust. No one else really fits that criteria who is available. It's amazing that despite the number of people that I meet, hardly anyone takes the time to become friends and build some trust.

It was nice talking to my brother last night. We hadn't seen each other too much lately, but we got to have this nice, serious, but short, conversation on the ride home. He really put the whole "relatives bringing up girlfriends and other things every time you see them" into perspective for me. To be honest, it really started to bug me at my cousin's wedding. Don't get me wrong. I still enjoyed myself and was really happy for them, but I couldn't really reach out and be social too much while I was there.

I think I'll end here before I start branching out into a million other things...

blessings

reading

2009-09-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

I was never into fiction before, but I totally dig spy novels now. I read Casino Royale and then went through all the Robert Ludlum Bourne books. Obviously the books are better even though I've devoured all the movies. But now I have no more spy novels and I can't decide what to read next. Therefore, I'm going back to read books I've already read. Stupid since I have atleast 117 books on my "to-read" list but I'm getting reminded of why I liked those books in the first place. Said books are Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel and Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. I hadn't been into Christian spirituality books in awhile but as I said, I'm being reminded of why I like those books so much in the first place.

If you're not sure if you should go through those books or not I recommend a chapter in each of those books. I can't remember the exact chapter in Ragamuffin Gospel, but there's a powerful story about a time that Brennan Manning was attending an AA group retreat. In Blue Like Jazz, chapter 7 titled Grace (though almost all of the chapters are good to me) still sticks out the most.

I'l have to get back to you on that chapter in Ragamuffin. Until then, keep reading...

life update

2009-03-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Denver was awesome! Pics are up here. I got to see a bunch of people I wanted to see, including a band called the Autumn Film. I checked out some art in Boulder with Kim, met some cool people during a game night at my friends' Sara & Patrick's place, went to a couple bars, and watched the Oscars.

Checking out one of our DSLR cameras at work. Really need to learn more about these, especially since I want to own one in the future. So if you're around Chicago and want to help me learn more, please let me know. Otherwise, I'm sure there will be a lot of the city and my niece to shoot.

the most fun AND worst night in recent history

2009-02-15T10:37:00.001-08:00

So I went to see Matt Wertz Friday night. It was a good show. It was with a couple friends plus a couple of their friends. You know how it is. The only problem was sitting back at the bar the whole time. I'm a fan of Matt Wertz but I don't know his songs well enough to where I would have enjoyed being down on the floor by the stage. And everyone back by the bar were talking louder than usual. I understand it's at the bar in the back and some talking. But there were some points where I was like- what are you doing at a live show at the House of Blues? A lot of people were not even paying attention at all to Matt Wertz and talking the whole time- rather loudly I might add. wtf. Why not go to a bar that is playing pre-recorded music?

Afterwards I went to a bar were my buddy Jimmy was performing with his band. That ended up turning out to be a lot of fun, but insane. The band was good and it was a good time, but ended up drinking too much alcohol and alcohol I shouldn't have had. I was in pretty bad shape and it took a whole day to recover but it was a fun just being with so many of the Sony guys outside of work.

25 Random Things (from facebook)

2009-01-31T12:07:00.001-08:00

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.

weird day at work

2009-01-27T17:52:00.000-08:00

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.

much awaited randomness

2009-01-19T18:52:00.001-08:00

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

Give Me Your Eyes music video

2008-09-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

I first heard this song at work. One of my bosses, Jeff, had this song on a compilation CD he makes frequently. I loved it almost right away and asked him who it was by. He said it was Brandon Heath, after mistakenly telling me Carolina Liar (hehe, sorry Jeff)! But anyways here's the video for the song, which is also really cool. And apparently, I'm still supposed to check out the band Carolina Liar...

Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes from Brandon Heath on Vimeo.

my friend Mary

2008-08-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

So I was facebook stalking one day and saw that my college friend, Mary, was going to be in the Chicago area last week. I contacted her to have lunch with her one day while she was in town. Turns out she had this big wedding to plan for Mindy, who also went to Cornell. Originally, Mary was going to come to the city to eat at El Cid, a nice Mexican place in my old neighborhood. But since the actual work for the wedding got put off I had to go meet her in Wheaton. First, I decided to help out by going there before lunch time. That led to me being invited to the wedding.

I ended up attending the wedding and it was pretty awesome. I only knew 4 people there but everyone was cool and talked to me. That doesn't always happen when I'm in a group of strangers but it ended up working very well this time. You can go to Mary's blog(s) on facebook to find out about the actual wedding. Maybe I'll post a blog about it later. Look up my flickr page for pics.

The next day, Mary came with me to Ben and Amber's to hang out with more Cornell people. I just hoped to have lunch or dinner with her one day. I love it when you take a chance (i.e. going to a wedding with a lot of people you don't know) and it ends up paying off beautifully. I hadn't talked to Mary in person or on the phone for years before this past week. And look how much better friends we are now because of what transpired. Love it.

that's right, i do have a blog...

2008-07-15T18:31:00.001-07:00

My bad for not posting anything in so long. Things have been happening and not happening at the same time. I know that doesn't make sense. I like my job at Sony but I've been struggling with $$. 4th of July weekend was fun even though I had to work all of it. But I did get the chance to hang out in Pilsen for the 4th of July extravaganza. You seriously have to go to see how ridiculous the fireworks are. Everyone on their block buys like a $1000 worth of fireworks and sets them off all night. It's pretty insane.

Recently I ran into a deaf/mute woman on the way home from work on the bus. She was trying to get to a bar she works at. At first it was kind of hard to communicate but then we got the hang of talking to each other. Lots of hand motions and writing down on paper. So anyways, it turns out she wouldn't be able to get to her work the way she was going so I offered to drive her there. It was interesting and it's been awhile since I've had a random interaction with a stranger like that.

Life goes on and hopefully, so will this blog...

blessings

Some of the funniest things you just can't plan

2008-04-01T19:55:00.001-07:00

On Saturday night I'm hanging out with Jenn eating Korean BBQ. Just in case you haven't read her facebook note yet, here's the basic plot:

She brings up ex-boyfriends. First, she brings up #6 to be specific, and the story of how she broke up with #5 a little later on. Shortly after that she thinks she recognizes the people sitting at the other end of the long table we are eating at. One guy there gets up to go, and the rest of the 4-person group follow. We are done a few minutes after them and leave.

Then in the car (while still in the parking lot)...
"F---! That was ex #5 sitting at the same table!!!"
(a lot of laughing ensues)
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Hmmmm.....I'm sure he didn't hear you retell the story of how you broke up with him."
"Just drive, Chris..."

"How did you not recognize him?"
"It's been 4 years. Am I supposed to remember who everyone I meet looks like?"
"How about the ones you've had a relationship with."

And then we go on to talk about various relationships one should remember physical appearances, and banter back and forth about the same crap. Man, when Jenn separates herself from people, she severs that connection! Note to self: If you want Jenn to remember who you are, be sure to talk to her and see her every now and then. Too funny...

leadership conference in St. Louis

2008-02-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

I just got back this past Sunday night from a conference and it was pretty exciting to be there. There were several highlights from the weekend, but one of the biggest ones for me was the opportunity to hear Dr. Robert Rohm speak, which was a first time for me. Dr. Rohm is an expert on personality styles and speaks all over the world. His book Positive Personality Profiles is incredibly helpful in learning how to relate to others better at work, in your home, etc.

If you don't know about these personality profiles, you basically start with two questions. Most of the time (you can change your mind later on), are you:
1) more outgoing or more reserved?
2) more task-oriented or people-oriented?
You then have 4 different personality profiles D-I-S-C, based on how you answered those two questions. Keep in mind that people are a combination of all 4 of these, but most people are predominantly one or two of these.
D= outgoing and task-oriented
I= outgoing and people-oriented
S= reserved and people-oriented
C= reserved and task-oriented

Dr. Robert Rohm is also a world-class speaker. One of the best speakers that I have seen in terms of delivery, amount that I learned, and examples used to illustrate points. It's pretty neat and interesting that Rohm's 4 daughters are dominantly each of the 4 different personality profiles.

All in all, it was a great weekend, with over 20,000 attendants hunger to learn. More on the conference later.

blessings

an idea whose time has come

2008-02-08T15:51:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased Glory Road on DVD. It's in the middle of a line of inspirational, based-on-a-real-story movies put out by Disney, that seems to be a trend now. That's fine because I like them quite a bit. This particular one is about how a coach named Don Haskins took a little known school called Texas Western (now UTEP) to win the NCAA championship and legitimized black basketball players in the NCAA, who up until that point had been discriminated against in this area.

Because of this discrimination, Coach Haskins plays only his black players in the championship game against Coach Rupp's University of Kentucky. This game was one of the greatest upsets in NCAA history and one of the most important games in the history of basketball. An interview with Pat Riley (one of the Kentucky players) showed how the true importance of that game wasn't seen until later on when history started talking about it. Of course blacks were/are competent enough physically and mentally to play in the NCAA.

All of this to introduce the topic. You cannot stop an idea whose time has come. "God chose an interesting venue to take care of this problem," said Pat Riley in the same interview. It wasn't until later that they realized the game was about more than just a college championship. You can say the same thing about several things in America's history. One is the automobile roughly 100 years ago. And now there is the internet, and how much that has become and will be a part of our lives.

Are you a visionary? Can you see the trends? Can you see what is right (as in the case of blacks playing in the NCAA)? Or are you like one of those people 100 years ago who said, "An automobile?! Nobody is going to want that!" Let's all learn and grow together.

to God be the glory

2008-01-20T19:32:00.000-08:00

This post is dedicated to Zach Blickens, a friend of mine who is a youth pastor and worship pastor at River of Life in Cedar Rapids, IA. You can find more info about him and his wife's ministry here.

Last Thursday, I heard a message on Daniel 2. Daniel is a great example of a young leader. Many people of faith can benefit by taking his example of leadership. In this chapter, King Nebuchadnezzar can't sleep due to repeated dreams that keep him awake. He demanded his magicians, scorcerors, and "dream experts" to not only interpret the dream, but first tell him what the dream was. If they can't, they will be put to death. Well this was impossible and they said no man can do this. Daniel and his three close friends- Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah- got wrapped up in this, too. They came together and fervently prayed to God for wisdom. God granted them the mystery of the king's dream and Daniel ended up telling the king his dream in great detail.

I encourage you to read about the dream and the whole chapter. There are many points to be made, but the one I want to bring up is how Daniel gave the glory to God. First, when he received the mystery of the king's dream, he praised God. Then, standing before the king, he gave God full credit for being able to relay the king's dream and its interpretation. In addition to that, he gave credit to his friends twice in the chapter for their accountability to him. After all, they prayed fervently to God with Daniel and ate the vegetables and water diet with him in the previous chapter.

Now why do I dedicate this blog to Zach? Because he always praises God for gifts that he and others have, good things that happen in his life and those around him, and probably even the bad things sometimes too. He doesn't take credit at all when he receives compliments because he knows that everything good comes from God. So when I try to be more like that, I think of Daniel's character in these few chapters, and Zach too.

Ode to Mink part 2

2008-01-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

One of my best friends, Stephanie, just got married after Thanksgiving. Lots of good feelings come to mind seeing her married. If you missed my first Ode to Mink blog, you can view that here.

Stephanie has been wanted to get married for a long time. If you've ever read Wild At Heart or Captivating, a lot of that stuff resonates true with her. She's very romantic and does want to be swept off her feet. She's also very adventurous.

Stephanie has wanted to get married for a long time- probably since childhood. The first time she met Peter was even during childhood. I got to talk with her on the phone a little bit after she got back from her honeymoon. She told me a couple things. One, that little things excited her in the house, such as folding his laundry. I told her that it wasn't surprising, given what I knew about her about wanting to get married for a long time. Yet her response was different than I thought. She said that being married is quite different than what she had been thinking about all this years. I would agree. Obviously someone can't picture exactly what their marriage is going to be like. However, I think that wanting to be married for so long would lead to being excited about simple chores. Things such as folding laundry for her husband, atleast in Stephanie's case.

And Peter is so good for Stephanie, as well as Stephanie for Peter. He's a strong Christian with great integrity. He's a hard worker, but also just a very likeable guy with a good sense of humor.

You have to roll with the times. My friendship with Steph has changed a lot since high school. Back in the day we would hang out whenever. I would work in the daytime at Albert H. Wohler's Insurance, then a few hours at night at Jewel-Osco. Then we would actually hang out for an hour or two when I got off of work at Jewel around 11 or 12. We both would be exhausted the next day, but sometimes do that again anyway. Obviously, friendships change when one of the friends gets married, especially good friendships. But ours has been changing since college.

It's mostly been less hanging out time. But no matter how brief or infrequent, I have also appreciated time spent together. Whether it was just a conversation over the phone in college, a brief stop at her parents' house, or catching a meal now with her, Peter, and other friends. Stephanie is one of those friends that I know I can pick up where we left off no matter how much time has elapsed in between talking. However, while we are all still in Chicago, I am excited to spend any time I can with Mr. and Mrs. Gorham.

Personal Mission Statement

2007-12-04T14:11:00.001-08:00

A little while ago I wrote a blog based on a talk I heard at a leadership conference. Well, it turns out that the speaker, Chuck Goetschel, just posted notes from that talk on his blog. You can find it here. Additionally, you can find a link to the article by Laura Stack that he got that exercise from in writing a personal mission statement. Or he can view that here. Please take a look! Whether it is for the first time, or to look again to make sure I got things right, if you wrote your mission statement after my first blog. Let's try and spend more time doing the things that are important and not urgent, rather than the other way around.

The Karate Kid

2007-11-27T12:06:00.000-08:00

The best films are the ones that continue to entertain you and make you feel over multiple years. All the while adding more layers of depth and meaning to when you originally saw it. The Karate Kid is one of those films for me. There are so many good things about this film itself that I could go on for quite awhile. I'll try to be succinct though.

My brother, Lance, and I grew up watching this film. In fact, it probably defined our childhood in terms of films. Sure, we watched the Star Wars movies and The Princess Bride a lot, too, but The Karate Kid topped them all. We would act out a few scenes from the movie, especially the one where Mr. Miyagi shows Daniel that he is actually learning karate from all the work he is making him do. Each of us always wanted to be Mr. Miyagi so we could slap the other guy for lowering his eyes when he bowed.

There are so many factors in this movie. It's a coming of age/unlikely friendship/martial arts film. There are issues regarding moving and starting in a new school, dating across social classes, the right and wrong way of teaching martial arts, being a single parent with a teenager, and overcoming odds to earn respect and find balance (in multiple areas of life).

The acting and filmmaking is also quality. Not that I know everything now, but there are a few things I've noticed since I first saw the film. There is one scene they did in one shot! No cuts at all. This is when Daniel wakes up under the care of Mr. Miyagi after the Cobra Kais give him quite a beating. The dialogue is quite lengthy yet still, there are no cuts or other angles. Also, the shot when Daniel first enters the tournament floor with Mr. Miyagi and Ali is quite remarkable. It starts with them entering, follows them as the Cobra Kai pass them, and then sweeps up along the bleachers to give you a panoramic view of the tournament. Quite a shot since it follows the leads, shows you a few karate matches, and has hundreds of extras either as audience members or tournament workers in the shot.

That first scene I mentioned with the dialogue was successful only because of the chemistry onscreen with Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. Pat Morita was a stand-up comic. His voice is not really like that. He completely created that persona with the voice. Ralph Macchio related to his Daniel character, not being very muscular. Although in his words, he "wasn't as defiant" and his onscreen character. Martin Kove, who plays Kreese, also did a great job of being the menacing teacher who instilled the wrong values of martial arts into his students.

Which brings us into that dichotomy of teaching martial arts. The philosophy of martial arts in the film is authentic. The writer, Robert Mark Kamen, studied and practiced the martial arts for a long time. Kreese and Mr. Miyagi were the exact opposites. Kreese was all about the physical sport. You know- "strike first! strike hard! no mercy sir!" Mr. Miyagi was all about the mental toughness. Karate was used only to defend yourself as a last resort. Because the best martial artist is actually the best peacemaker. Even if someone is looking to start a fight with you, the better martial artist will resolve the encounter peacefully without throwing his/her fists.

Well, so much for being succinct! There's even more I could write about but I will stop here. Perhaps I will expand on some issues and add more another time.

blessings

before "How a Month..."

2007-11-18T14:19:00.001-08:00

So the process that my friend, Kelsey, took with the high school kids is what interested me even more than the play. In fact, that was what the point of even writing the play was for Kelsey. Her mom and I were joking about getting Kelsey to write sequels and what not, but it wouldn't matter to Kelsey right now because the process would not be there.

The four lead girls in the play had to follow a lot of rules to survive with limited options in order for their parents to pay for their trip. Kelsey challenged the cast and crew with some of those same rules. Three outfits to wear at school for the entire month. No makeup or shaving. No facebook. The point wasn't to follow every rule, but to consider why we do some of the things we do. Some guys didn't even notice that the girls were not wearing makeup and thought they looked just as beautiful. "You mean we are just putting on makeup for ourselves?" Exactly (maybe not all the time, but you get the idea).

Kelsey also did activities related to community. One particularly interesting activity was dividing up everyone into certain groups, each being a neighborhood of a particular social class. They each had to make their communities work no matter how much money they had. The upper class groups didn't end up helping the lower class groups. Why? Was it in the rules? No. That's just what society tells you as its unwritten rule. Kelsey never made that rule in the activity.

She also challenged their comfort zones. Each person had to meet someone new and find out more about them. In fact, the cast and crew bios were not about themselves, but some of the people they met during the month. They also volunteered at various places. Some worked on a farm, some at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen-type place.

Strangely enough, even more experiences of the cast and crew in real life mirrored the play. One girl broke up with her boyfriend because he didn't like how she had changed. But as humans, we should all strive to get out of our comfort zones and become better. That's why I applaud Kelsey and that's why the process interested me so much.

Also, take a look at the article written by the Grand Rapids Press for this play.

How A Month Changes Everything

2007-11-14T15:36:00.000-08:00

So as I said, I saw a play in Grand Rapids last week written and co-directed by my friend, Kelsey. It is about 4 high school girls, Ellie, Stacy, Leah, and Beth, who want to take a trip to another country during their summer after graduation. Of course, being high school students, they can't foot the bill for something like that. They make a deal with their parents that if they follow certain conditions that show they can take care of themselves in a foreign place (i.e. no cell phone, carry everything they will use for the month in a backpack), then their parents will pay for this trip. They soon discover that their last month of high school will change in more dramatic ways than they could possibly imagine.

Carrying everything they will use that month in a bag means 3 outfits for the whole month, just soap to bathe and clean those 3 outfits, and no makeup. Cars are a convenience, too, so they must ride bikes. They can only eat meals at home with their families, so they have to figure out lunch each day, too. Throughout the process, they learn a lot about themselves, community in general, and the people around them whom they would never pay attention to previously.

For example, Leah talks to her Ellie's next-door neighbor. The two girls find out the neighbor is a writer. In exchange for writing journals about their experiences that month, the neighbor will pay for materials to make prom dresses. Would Ellie have ever spoken to her neighbor if she didn't use a bike for that month and came in her front door? The four girls also end up meeting everyday in the park where they meet and befriend a few interesting characters.

The month certainly brings more challenges. They start getting unwanted attention for being different. Usually negative attention. Stacy's boyfriend doesn't want to take part in this new lifestyle and meet the new friends she is making. They find it harder and harder to stick together and complete this month, but eventually end up following through the whole time.

One of the best scenes is towards the end when they juxtapose (not sure if I'm using the right word) the finale dinner with the four girls, their parents, and all the friends they have met to the pre-prom dinner their friends go on. On one side is a beautiful, vibrant, new community of people enjoying themselves. On the other side- a proper, elegant meal but shallow, unexciting conversation.

The end of the play sums up the life lessons what the girls learned during the month, but ends in classic Kelsey fashion. Kind of a "this play could keep going on and on but we'll end it right...here!" I'm very proud of Kelsey. She wrote and co-directed a wonderful play with great words, moments, and character development. It's a play based on many of her life experiences throughout the years. What's more impressive though is the journey leading up to "How a Month..."

day in Grand Rapids

2007-11-09T11:55:00.001-08:00

I just saw the WORLD DEBUT of How a Month Changes Everything, a play written by my friend, Kelsey. It was a great play, but even more incredible was the process leading up to it. Can't wait to blog more about it but must prepare stuff for youth group this weekend right now.

what's your mission statement?

2007-11-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, I was at a leadership conference recently in KY. So much speaking- but really good. One of the speakers, Chuck Goetschel, who I admire a lot, gave one of the most meaningful talks that weekend. He first listed a bunch of words and told us to circle the six that meant the most to us:

integrity
influence
love
justice
success
spirituality
friendship
truth
authenticity
wisdom
legacy
peace
power
wealth
joy
happiness
recognition
family
career
fame
status
(there may have been a couple more words but I missed them)

Next, he told us to cross out three of the six we circled that don't mean as much. Ones that we could do without more than the other three. Then we ordered the three that were left- 1 being the most important one to us. We then set goals by defining what each of those three remaining words meant to us personally.

This is one way of writing down your life's mission statement. What is most important to you? Most people won't write this down, which is why most people don't fulfill their life's purpose. I hope all of you do this at some point.

It doesn't stop there. We then have to set priorities on the things we do and choices we make daily. Every choice should be bridging the gap from the present to our future destination determined by the goals we wrote down. The way Chuck set priorities was with ABCs. A's are things we absolutely have to do today because it is in line with my mission. B's are things that are somewhat important. There are some consequences if I do not accomplish them today. And C's have no consequences if not accomplished today.

Finally, we have to stay the course. Don't stick with doing the things not in line with your mission. Stephen Covey compares the combination of things that are/are not important and urgent:

1) important/not urgent
2) important/urgent
3) not important/not urgent
4) not important/urgent

Most people stay focused on #4, doing not important, urgent things. We should really should be spending more time focused on #1, doing important, non-urgent things. Of course there will be times when urgent things come up, whether they are important or not, and we can do those. But our main focus should be on what's important.

I encourage you to at least start off and find the words that mean the most to you and define what they personally mean to you. Mine were love, justice, and integrity. If any of you do write those down, please let me know. I'd love to have a conversation with you.

post- Rob Bell

2007-11-07T15:27:00.001-08:00

You want to know something funny? My friend, Erin, is going to see Rob Bell tonight in Colorado. She got tickets awhile ago from a friend. The funny thing is that she thought that she was going to see Don Miller the whole time. She was excited about going this whole time and raving about it to her roommate, who's going to see Rob Bell with her. Turns out she doesn't know too much about Rob Bell. Oh well. She will after tonight and I'm sure she'll check out his books and what not, too. I wondered what would have happened if I didn't talk to her before she went. Probably some confusion...

The Gods Aren't Angry Tour

2007-11-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

Last night I saw Rob Bell on the opening night of his new tour, The Gods Aren't Angry. It was a sold-out crowd at the Vic. Lots of young adults, but others as well. I met my friend, Jill (who came into town), Kim, and her roommate (also named Kim) before the show. There were a few others who I knew were going that I didn't get to see there at all.

Those of you who have read Rob Bell's books and/or seen him speak know that he does both in a similar fashion. He has a way of putting things into context that you don't hear too often, which is why I've read his books and heard him speak. He mixes a good bunch of history from other religions, personal stories, and Christian faith into great messages.

This tour was like that, first introducing us to numerous gods from other cultures. Wherever you go, you end up sacrificing more for them. Here's why. You are dependent on these outside forces or gods to provide the right amount of sunlight and rain to grow crops that you eat. If conditions didn't provide enough crops, you felt that you had not pleased these gods enough, so you sacrifice more. If the conditions provided an abundance of crops, you gave more to show your appreciation to the gods. And there were plenty more gods you would depend on for other needs and wants. But they were up there doing their own thing.

Along comes Abraham. He is in this system of sacrificing gods and depends on them. He relied on his father to know this system in the region he lived in. Then all of a sudden, God speaks to him and tells him to leave his family. What? God is someone who is not only in touch with what is happening on the earth but actually speaks to a human? And leave the system of gods Abraham is familiar with to an unknown place? The idea seemed crazy.

Travel ahead several years when God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, up in the mountains. At first glance, this is a story of God testing Abraham's faith. Why was their no resentment or questioning on how to do it? Maybe because it was a common practice. But who in their right mind would sacrifice their firstborn? I've heard it said multiple times that this story is not necessarily about Abraham's faith. One pastor said it was about showing faith to his doubting family that thought he was crazy. Rob Bell suggested it was to show a glimpse of who this God is, since he stops Abraham from killing Isaac. Why is this significant? In a history of gods that demand (or atleast seem to demand) sacrifices, this God stops this sacrifice and provided a way out.

Bell went on to around the year 30 A.D. The main temple (in Jerusalem?) had a huge altar. During Passover, there would be thousands of animals slaughtered for sacrifice on this altar. In entered Jesus, and he claimed that if you tear "this temple" down, He would rebuild it in 3 days. Sure...it took us some 46 odd years to build this temple (and still not finished yet) but you will rebuild it in 3 days?

But the main idea here, just as with the story of Abraham and Isaac, is that we are following a God who provides. A God who has ideas of being close to His people that are way ahead of its time. A God who does not follow the ways of lower case gods.

In Hebrews, the writer calls every sacrifice before that of Christ was not desired by God, nor was He pleased with them. But it was required by the law. A few verses later, that Christ's sacrifice made us holy once and for all (Heb 10:5-10).

Are these gods gone today, or do we merely call them different things? As usual, Bell had plenty of personal stories to share about those with depression, attempted suicide, went through face surgery, faced burn out, felt shame, guilt, and so on. These gods aren't gone. They can control our lives, if we let them, or seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

That's basically what I remember about what he said, with a couple of other thoughts in there. If he is coming to a town near you, go see him! If not, pick up one of his books, Velvet Elvis or Sex.God., or one of his Nooma DVDs.

long overdue

2007-10-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

So I suppose I should try to blog more frequently. I don't know why I haven't been in the mood to blog the past 3 months, but certainly enough things have happened to write about. Each of these things could have their own blog(s) written about them, but in the interest of summing up my life since I last blogged...

September was the month of seeing out of town friends. Kim came into town for a week before heading out to England for grad school. It was cool seeing her after so long. I hung out with her, Lois, Grant, and Joseph twice. First going to burger night with other Cornell friends. Then a few days later, the Art Institute. Here's a picture of Kim and Joseph outside of there. I also took a trip to Iowa for a couple of days to see friends. It had been a lot longer than usual since visiting last April, and was prompted mainly by my friend, Sara, moving to Denver in October. You can see photos from that visit here. A new friend made a visit to Chicago during the weekend of her birthday to see her sister and some college friends. Visit her blog, Life in the Tension (permanent link on the side with my other friends' blogs). Lastly, Kyle, Tiff, and Gabe came to visit for Karin and Wes' wedding. I got to see them a couple of times for meals, a trip to the Botanic Gardens, and an excursion up to Wisconsin to visit a nice, small town called Cedarburg. I didn't get a lot but those pictures are here.

I've been joining a lot of new communities, which anyone who knows me, knows that's what I like to do. The church I work at rents space from an English-speaking church, Meadows Baptist Church. I've gone to their high school group a couple of times. I have tremendous respect for their youth pastor, DB, who's been there for over 10 years. I have also been attending services and hanging out with people at the Spanish-speaking church that also rents space at Meadows. I've volunteered a few times at Nuestro Center, where my good friend, Matt, works. I join in on their after-school program, helping kids with their homework and playing games with them. Finally, I just went to Connect, the young adult group at Harvest Bible Chapel. It's under a new format with Pastor James MacDonald giving the messages and an emphasis on building community. I've only gone once and I'm attending again tomorrow night. It's hard to tell how well this will go at this point, but so far so good.

Work at church has its ups and downs and challenges. More on that later...

cedar point vacation

2007-08-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

This month I took a vacation with my family to Cedar Point. It was a fun vacation with my family. So I'm blogging about this amusement park that everyone raves about and says is better than Six Flags. In some ways they are right. There are more roller coasters and they are mostly better. In my 2-day experience though, they broke down and had to delay using several of them an awful lot. It barely rained at all too. But the rides that are good....are REALLY good. And two of them flat out beat anything I've ever ridden on at Great America or anywhere else.

The two that clearly stand out are Millenium Force and Dragster Racer. Millenium Force reminds me a lot of Raging Bull at Six Flags. Although Raging Bull is smoother, the first drop on Millenium is insane. Dragster may be the shortest ride, but it is the most thrilling. It's name obviously sets up what it's like. You go from 0 to 120 mph in 4 seconds. It takes you up a huge drop, then spirals back down it. It's the biggest drop in the world and the speed you get to the top of it is insane. Unlike all other roller coasters where you trek slowly up to the top.

The family time together was great. Just a quick 3-day trip but well worth it. Check my flickr photos for pictures from the trip.

Chinese martial artists in Hollywood

2007-08-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, I understand that very few people would be interested in this, but why not blog about something you know about and love. I love martial arts movies. This isn't nearly complete but I think I know more than the average person.

Of course it started with Bruce Lee. That's when Hollywood really started to take notice. His last complete movie, Enter the Dragon, went on to break records in the Hong Kong film industry and make Bruce an international movie star/actor. All the fights were clearly his own design and displayed his strength and agility. In fact, a young Jackie Chan was there taking Bruce's blows in a couple of scenes.

Hollywood now knows Jackie Chan through the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon/Knights films. But before movies like Rumble in the Bronx, Supercop, and Operation Condor were re-released in U.S. theaters, before he was misunderstood and changed into something he was not by Hollywood filmmakers in movies like The Protector, Battle Creek Brawl, and Cannonball Run, he did stunts. In Enter the Dragon, Bruce is fighting off a number of Han's men after discovering the opium factory. Jackie takes the hits a couple times, first when he grabs Bruce from behind then Bruce takes him down. And second, the last guy Bruce fights with the bo is Jackie; first hitting him in the stomach and then slashing down on his face. (Which actually made contact by the way! When you see Jackie's head turn in pain, he wasn't acting!)

So everyone knows Jackie does his own stunts. Many of his movies show outtakes at the end, which include stunts that go wrong. In Rumble in the Bronx, Jackie broke his foot. A sock was painted to look like the shoe he was wearing in the end of the film. In Supercop, Jackie jumped onto a pole from the moving train that was supposed to swing. However, the pole didn't swing, and Jackie was helpless in getting hit by the helicopter temporarily connected to the train.

Sammo Hung was also in Enter the Dragon, sparring with Bruce in the opening scene. Although he is not as well known in the U.S. as Jackie, he did a short-lived TV series called Marshall Law. He also directed Jackie in Mr. Nice Guy, which released in U.S. theaters, and has a long friendship and working relationship with Jackie beginning as kids in Peking Opera School.

Donnie Yen may not be as well-known neither, but has tremendous influence on films around the world. We finally see him in a fight scene with Jackie in Shanghai Knights. He was fight choreographer and also had a small role in Blade 2 with Wesley Snipes. He is also known in the U.S. through his role as Wong Kei Ying in Iron Monkey (thanks to Quentin Tarantino).

That's all for now. I could almost write a book on this stuff with all the movies I've watched (including documentaries), and book and articles I've read. Maybe another part will come later.

human trafficking

2007-07-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

after watching video, check out:
iamconstance.org
www.crtec.org

more on this later...

What's in your basement?

2007-07-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

***Here's a blog I wrote awhile ago that bears repeating about age and pursuing goals.

What's in your basement?
Current mood: bored
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

I recently saw Rocky Balboa with my buddy Luke. He's quite the Rocky fan and I'm certainly a fan also. Besides this new Rocky movie, I hear he's doing a new Rambo movie too. We'll see how that goes. This new Rocky movie is pretty decent though. Sylvester Stallone had a big hand in the creative process- writing, directing, and starring in the underdog role again.

Stallone has become quite public with his beliefs too. He did a lot of promos and interviews for Christian media. He keeps saying that Rocky Balboa is not a boxing movie. The strong themes, including perseverance and fighting the good fight, are what the movie is really about. There is quite a lot of Christian marketing material for the film too. In fact, the same company that did Chronicles of Narnia. It's funny because they keep making the point that it's not a Christian movie- which I could write a blog about in itself, but I won't.

There's a point in the movie where everybody is questioning why Rocky wants to come back and do a boxing match. Among the reasons, Rocky says there is something more in him, "in his basement," that he needs to get out. "What? You haven't peaked yet?" asks Paulie. At first, it sounds a bit weird and maybe childish. But let's compare him to a biblical character named Caleb:

10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said." (Joshua 14:10-12)
Mark Gorman, a speaker I like very much, talked about this passage once. Basically, he opened up saying, "Here's a guy, 85, willing to pick a fight." Despite the differences, I see two men here with very similar hearts- Rocky and Caleb. Rocky, in his late 50s (pushing 60 shortly) wanting to get back into the ring. Caleb, not weary from battles and just plain wandering around in the desert for 40 years, at age 80, ready for battle.

I always tell people that age is a mental state of being. And that I would not tell people I feel old until I'm atleast 80. Well now with Caleb in the picture it looks like I have to wait until I'm atleast 85. When my friends tell me they are getting old I just laugh at them because it's ridiculous! 45 years since he surveyed the land, Caleb claims he is still as strong and ready to fight for it.

So what's in your basement? The day you quit battling for something, you're dead. So what should you fight for? Find what you are passionate about. Find wherever God wants you to serve and whatever God wants you to fight for. Because when you stop fighting, you might as well "lie down and pick out what flowers you want," as Mark Gorman says. Don't settle for mediocrity or status quo. Learn who you are, what you are called to do, and fight for it.

blessings

***Reading through this again, I clearly needed to hear that last paragraph again. Please pray for my heart and actions to change at work and the rest of my life.

speaking

2007-07-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

Yep, I spoke last Sunday at church. I was quite nervous. I didn't get much sleep the night before. I pretty much had butterflies that night and the morning of. Yet when I was actually up there speaking, I wasn't quite as nervous. God certainly moved and the Holy Spirit led me. It was about relying on God and if you are interested, you can check out my notes here. Feel free to comment.

new apartment!

2007-06-21T17:32:00.001-07:00

I found a new place! It was really coming down to the wire. With the lease ending this month and my roomates moving downstairs. I got a nice place in Jefferson Park. It's great because it's by a large public transportation station and the highway. It's a bit further out so I'm closer to my friends in Morton Grove and what not. The landlord is really cool. The inside of the apartment is really nice (and it's on the garden level this time- not the third floor!) and there is even a pool in the backyard. I'm very much looking forward to getting all my crap there and starting over. The situation at my current apartment was awesome when it started, but it's pretty crappy now. I'll have pictures up soon.

weird

2007-06-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

So I went to a wedding last Saturday with a friend of mine. It was pretty low key. At the house in the very casual clothing. Still, it was really nice. My friend, Stacey, was one of the bridesmaids so she was tending to the bride. Meanwhile, I was chatting with some folks there. Crazy enough, this one guy there was ripping on Chinese people and Asians in general. I think he was making fun of how a Chinese couple at a store or restaurant they went to talked. Obvoiusly, he didn't know that I am Chinese, but that's not even the point.

Yes, in many ways race and ethnic relations in the U.S. are improving, but racism still very much exists. It kind of caught me off guard because it really didn't happen to me much growing up. It's just ignorance. Maybe he thought that all Chinese people in the U.S. speak like that? He even asked me if I was Chinese! I didn't really say anything, mainly because the only person I knew there was tending to the bride. And I'm not saying that was right or wrong- just how I felt at the time. Anyways, cannot change what happened now. It's best now just to let it go.

Minnesota visit

2007-06-17T15:44:00.001-07:00

The Twin Cities were pretty awesome. I arrived Sunday night and just chilled with Kasey, Ben, and Kasey's parents. Monday I had a lot of downtime but then I met up with Kasey, Ashley, and Stephanie for dinner right across the street from the Target Center. Ashley's friend, Andrea, also came later on to join us. After dinner, I said bye to Stephanie, then went to the Fray show with Ashley and Kasey. We were actually the first ones in our box seats. Eventually, Shera, Heather, George, Brett, and more people arrived for the show. Sovady was also at the show with some of her friends but she was able to stop by the box seats for a visit.

The show was good. Mae was really good, although not too many people were into them. It's hard being the opening band. OK Go was really good live. The Fray performed pretty well but the crowd didn't really move too much in general, for any of the bands.

On Tuesday, I got to talk with Kasey's mom for awhile. It was interesting hearing about their family and where she went to high school. Later on in the afternoon I went to see Katri at Bruegger's Bagels, and then to REI to hang out with Katie O. It was good to see these friends. I'm glad I caught Katri at work, because otherwise, I would not have seen her during my visit. Katie hung out with us that night though. We had dinner at Kasey and Ben's and then to Friday's for some drinks. Catie and another friend of Ben and Kasey's also joined us.

Wednesday morning, I met up with Ashley again at Caribou. We got around to talking about volleyball and I mentioned I had one in my car, so we went back to Ashley's house and peppered for a bit. Her friend and temporary roommate, Brett, also joined in for awhile. Fun times. I started my drive back to Chicago hot and sweaty.

blessings

p.s. To show how much of a genius I am, here is a good quote I made. When I was visiting Katie and REI, she tried on some shorts that she was going to buy. "What do ya think?" she asked. "They're pretty good," I replied. "A bit outdoorsy though." Yeah, I called something from REI "outdoorsy." I'm a genius.

in MN now

2007-06-10T21:08:00.001-07:00

Just chilled at Ben and Kasey's tonight. Tomorrow is the Fray! Pretty exciting. Tuesday, hanging out with Katie O. Hopefully I'll see other friends in town too. More blogs and pics later.

out the box

2007-06-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: I am not putting down any experiences or groups that I have experiences or been a part of. These are just ideas I would like to see materialize.

I've checked out a few young adult groups the past several months. They have generally been good. Great worship music. Passionate speaking. Definitely encouraging. But painfully familiar.

Anyone who knows me knows I hardly like to do the same thing in the same way. As great as these young adults group are, I feel like they don't really make me come alive nearly often enough or as much as they should. Part of that reason is that a lot of them are pretty much the same. Worship music time. Prayer time. Speaking time. Hang out and fellowship afterwards. Again, nothing wrong with that but I have been going to church programs with the same format since high school, probably even jr. high. What if young adults could come together in different ways, different settings, but still fully devoted to Jesus Christ?

I thought about this for a bit tonight and I always have thought about it every now and then. For example, why not have bible study in a coffee shop or a bar? Getting together at a secular music show? Why not rent out a room at Vision night club and have fun there. Pray with people from the group there. Perhaps meet new people and offer to pray for them too?

Obviously some of these ideas don't really have the room to get very intimate with the Lord or deep into prayer. First off, a lot of prayer should be done beforehand. Second, one needs to make judgement calls and be accountable for certain decisions. If someone has an alcoholic problem, certainly they need to be held accountable should they choose to be at such a venue with a young adult group.

This is really just the first time I'm writing these ideas down so there will probably be more in the future. I'm sure there are some people, some groups that are doing stuff like this. They are just harder to find. Any thoughts?

a twist of Rummi 500 and Phase 10

2007-06-06T13:17:00.001-07:00

Last night I got to hang out with Matty and Karina, who I haven't seen in awhile. It was awesome. Matty cooked a Chinese dish for dinner. We got to catch up on life. Afterwards, we played a card game. It sounds like "karaoke" but it's not that word exactly. You have to get a certain amount of "treos" (three of a kinds) and "escalas" (4-card straights) in each round. That's the part where it is like Phase 10. I almost always have a great time with Matt and Karina, but last night was more than usual. Matt shared some crazy stories from his past. Karina's English keeps getting better and better. If only we had more time to hang out with each more often...

faith like a child

2007-06-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

At the church I work at, I sometimes sit in with the kindergardeners during their Chinese school time. Although I have only gone a few times, two different boys have done actions that remind me what faith in God should look like. The first boy just came up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek at various points during the class. The second boy (a different day) came up and gave me a hug. Then he came over to sit on my lap during various times of the class.

Keep in mind, these are boys that I just met on those mornings. Yet they showed love and trust to me. Sometimes I wish my love and trust in God was more simple and pure like that. No gimmicks or inner complexities. Just a child who feels comforted in the hands of the Father. Think about that. And listen to "Like a Child" off of Jars of Clay's first album.

time to sleeeeeep...

2007-05-29T23:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a long day- but just work then tutoring. Tomorrow will also be long- work, our first volleyball game, then more tutoring. Time for some zzz's.

another update

2007-05-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

I just realized I haven't done an insight or personal development blog in awhile. I'll have to do that soon.

I've been able to see more out of town friends recently. Kelsey was in town from Grand Rapids, so I got to hang out with her and Lois for awhile. We ate at Potbelly's (so good!) and Lesley randomly came in with one of her friends, so I got to talk to her for a bit too. It's always good to see Kelsey. I consider her one of my heroes. Her life up to this point has been very atypical and she's always up for the next adventure life is going to take her. She's done a lot already.

Tiffanie and Gabe were also in town for an extended weekend. I went up to Zion to hang out with them at this big family picnic. It was fun.

Even though it was Memorial Day, I started working for threadless again for their new sale. I've really been starting new jobs recently on weird days. Threadless on Memorial Day. CNSCCC on Easter. What can you do?

Last night, I got to hang out with Owen (another Cornell friend) and meet his girlfriend, Rissa. Owen's always been a cool dude and Rissa is very sweet. I actually had to ditch them for a couple hours to meet up with Matiss and see Erica perform at the Hot House- which was awesome. But afterwards, I met up with them again to go to a bar in Oak Park with Peter, and meet up with David and Ashley. It was like a mini-Cornell reunion!

Coming up...tutoring Steph again tomorrow. Her algebra final is Thursday! Please pray that she does well. Also first game in our summer volleyball league is this Wednesday. Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day!

blessings

pretty awesome weekend

2007-05-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I got to see my friend, Ben, display his photos in a gallery. His first time doing that. Afterwards, I met up with Kelsey and Lois- two friends I met at Cornell. It had been several months since I saw Lois and quite a bit longer since I saw Kelsey. Such wonderful people to hang out with. The kind of people where friendship picks up right where it left off.

For some reason, I could not sleep last night at all. I got maybe 3 hours of sleep before church this morning. It was my first Sunday as the full time youth pastor. I went to help the kindergardeners' Chinese class as usual, then got donuts and oj for my youth group bible study. It was also the first time I led worship songs for them. It was the first time and there lots of people wandering around so I didn't overdo it. But it still went well. CNSCCC is celebrating 30 years so we had everyone take photos for a new church directory.

After that was another algebra tutoring session with Steph. Then I went to my folks place for dinner. I found out that my uncle was involved in this crazy incident in a forest preserve. Now.....sleeeep!!!! I'm so tired.

blessings

ugggghhh

2007-05-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

Not really feeling too well. And I've got youth group tonight too. Praying for the Lord to make me feel better. We're continuing our study of Ephesians. But before that, we're playing sardines! Can't believe I haven't done that yet with them.

I finally saw The Protector- Tony Jaa's 2nd film release in the U.S. The story treatment is pretty good, building a story on a specific group of people in Thai history. The actual plot though is a bit weak. It had incredible action in it, but the movie was too much based on that. Still, Jaa accomplished one of his main goals in raising the bar with action/martial arts. He has a fight scene against a capoeira guy, followed by a wushu guy. In his fight scene with the x-gamers he does a back handspring onto a ledge, walks along it on his hands, then flips off it. And then there's the 4-minute shot fight scene in the casino. Amazing.

Normal visit, cont'd

2007-05-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yep, I'm a little overdue for this continuation of my last blog. A week and a half ago I made a visit to see some friends for a couple reasons. 1) It was Jill's birthday so I thought I'd surprise her. And 2) It was the last Monday night (supposedly!) that Molly would perform at NV Lounge before going to CO for LT this summer, so I thought I'd go see her do that.

So I guess I didn't surprise Jill because she knew I was coming, but I did trick her with when I was coming. She had to close at Starbucks on her birthday (Sunday) and then open the next morning. Lame. I told her I would get there on Monday then and take her out to eat for dinner. I ended up on the road later than planned (as usual), but eventually made it to Starbucks with Molly to surprise Jill.

Monday was a lot of down time. Basically, I was just waiting around to take Jill out to dinner. I ended up making it to both Jill's and Tracy's Starbucks, then went to Panera for awhile. After Jill was off work we went to her place to chill, then Molly met us before going to Ned Kelly's for dinner, which is a decent steakhouse.

After that- more down time until NV Lounge. I eventually ended up back at the guys' house with Molly and met a few more people, including Gina and Katie. We were going over different songs to do that night, and glanced over More Than Words by Extreme. Before you know it, Molly was singing it and I was accompaning her on guitar.

NV Lounge was a good time because there were a lot of cool people there. I finally met Chris Pond, who didn't show up last time I was out there. I also met Katie and Meagan out there. David, Amber, Katie, Nate, and more people made it out that night (sorry I can't remember everyone's names!) Tracy performed (after much pleading ahead of time by me). Chris did some songs. Molly did some songs (including More Than Words). Then they closed at 1. Lame. But it was still a lot of fun.

I ended up sticking around all day on Tuesday, which meant a bunch of time at Panera again! I almost got to hang out with Leslie but she was uberbusy. I picked up Gina and a couple other ISU students for a Cornerstone home group BBQ at the Pastor Mike and Michelle's house, where Molly has been staying the past few months. Good times, but I had to leave early so I could actually get back to Chicago at a decent time.

in Normal

2007-05-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

Visiting some friends in Bloomington/Normal now. Killing some time at Panera. Trying to update my blog and start another one for my youth group. Yesterday was a long day. Went to church where I sat in on Chinese class with the kindergarteners, then had bible study with the youth. Hung out a bit with Elisabeth and Stephanie. Then went home really quick to get my things together for coming here.

I met with Molly at Fazoli's where she was having a pretty deep conversation with her friend, Karen. After awhile, we parted ways so Molly and I could surprise Jill with a mini-birthday cake while she was at work. We decided to meet up after she was done closing. So Molly took me to the guys' house where I'd be staying to drop my stuff off. Then we picked up Jill and decided to drive out to the lake and look up at the stars. Molly has a convertible, too, so during the drive, Jill and I were able to gaze up at the stars. I'd never done that before and it was pretty awesome. So was hanging out at the lake because it had been awhile since I went to a more natural place and looked up at the beautiful night sky. I needed to be reminded more often how big God and His creation is and how small I am...

blessings

Molly and Tracy come to visit

2007-05-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

I was tired as heck on Monday. Drove back on Monday morning after a late night hanging out with friends in Iowa. But part of the reason for driving back on Monday and NOT after Tuesday night (ahem...Ellen!) was to hang out with Molly and Tracy and see their friend, Leslie, perform in Lincoln Park. We attended a short showcase of around 25 ISU theatre majors. It was quite a show. There are certainly a lot of talented people there.

Like I said, I was tired! So when Molly and Tracy called to say they were in the city, I was asleep. But I got myself up quickly and took the Fullerton bus to the theater. I was able to catch the bus right away which almost never happens when I'm in a hurry. I met them at a thrift store about a block down on Lincoln, and then we ate dinner at a nice bar grill across the street from the theater. Then we saw the ISU students perform, which like I said, was amazing! Just before the show, we happened to find seats in front of Leslie's family so we got to chat with them a bit. Afterwards, I finally got to meet the woman herself. The reason I had visitors on a Monday night.

Leslie got a ride back to ISU with some other friends so I got to hang out with Molly and Tracy a bit longer. We went to an hispanic bar in Logan Square where they have salsa dancing on Monday nights. I had never been in there before so I didn't quite know what to expect, but it was a lot of fun. Some dude from Europe asked Molly to dance a few times. I showed Molly and Tracy all the 2 moves that I know. Matt stopped by for a minute. Not a bad night for missing $2 burgers!

I'm not used to people visiting me in Chicago at all! Lots has been happening this past year. And now, I hopefully get to hang out with Ashley this weekend.

weekend in Iowa

2007-05-02T13:20:00.000-07:00

So I finally got to visit some friends in Iowa again. It's been several months, especially if you don't include my "stopping by on the way home from the twin cities" back in December. I arrived early afternoon on Saturday and got to hang out with Lori, Amanda, and her son Jacob at Coldstone. I was hoping Ellen would be working at the time but she was out on a retreat this past weekend. Afterwards, I had a long, boring time to kill before going to the last night of the Glory Days conference the Midwest Prayer Center was holding but I just hung out and read some books. That night I went to the conference, which was held at River of Life church.

On Sunday morning, some of Amber's cats were playing around a little too hard and one of them broke the window screen and fell out the window!!! I tell ya, it was not a good day. By the time Amber realized what happened her cat, Justice, was already gone hiding somewhere. So we didn't quite make it to church that morning. If you know Amber at all, you know that her cats are very important to her, so it was a very emotional time for her. But I'm happy to say that Justice returned home late that night.

Angie and Robyn decided to come by later that morning, and he walked around the neighborhood a bit to look for Justice and talk to some neighbors. Then we ate at Cici's Pizza, a pizza buffet place and it was packed! Not too bad though for a pizza buffet. Afterwards, we went back to Amber's place and then finally got in touch with Sara. I stopped by to hang out with her and her brother, Patrick, before meeting up with Amanda and Jacob to visit Cornell again. They had a music/art benefit for Darfur refugees. It was pretty fun. And I got to meet up with Brandon and Catherine Quehl-Engel again.

I went to hang out with Sara and Patrick again that night and I got to have a long talk with Sara, which was great, because I don't get to see her or talk to her that much. I finally went back to Amber's at 1am, where her and Kara were patiently waiting to hang out! Then on Monday morning, it was back to Chicago. Pretty fun weekend.

Fearless

2007-04-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

"Mastering others is strength.
Mastering yourself makes you fearless."
-Lao Tzu

This quote was used in the trailers for Jet Li's Fearless. It describes his character, Huo Yuanjia (a real person), very well. Based on a real life person in Chinese history, Master Huo became an incredibly gifted martial artist for the wrong reasons- to beat up challengers and be the best fighter in Tianjin. Ashamed, he retreats for several years out in the country and completely changes his attitude around. After returning to Tianjin, he faces international opponents and starts up his new school, the Jingwu Sports Federation, where he emphasized the continual improvement of body, mind, and spirit. Two contrasting scenes that show this transformation: Before he went away, he demanded Master Chin to sign a death waiver before fighting him. After returning, he fought Herculoes O'Brien (the big fighter, Boagrias, at the beginning of Troy). When asked to sign a death waiver before the match, he politely refused, and ended up saving O'Brien's life, howing respect to his opponent.

I just watched a documentary called Emmanuel's Gift. In Ghana, 10% of the population is disabled. Emmnauel was born with his right leg twisted and unusable. In Ghana, most of the disabled population resorts to begging on the streets and are mostly ignored and considered worthless. Emmanuel doesn't see things as most other people do. He wrote a letter to a foundation in the U.S. asking for a bike, so he can ride it across Ghana and prove the stereotype about disabled people wrong. Since his ride across Ghana, he has gone on to touch countless people around the world and help the disabled population in Ghana. Mastering yourself makes you fearless.

So how do we learn from these incredible men? Obviously, there's way more in each film, and I hope you see the whole movies if you have not already. Find out what you are good at, and pursue it with as much passion as humanly possible.