Food, Fun, and Farewells in NorCal

As comfortable as home can be, it's always good to see college buddies again, especially when a few are moving on (and far away) for a while. I had that opportunity this past weekend when I flew up to Berkeley. As with every visit up north, I had a great time, although there was a lot of traveling around the Bay Area to see friends off and it wasn't as chill as my visit in January. But again, like every trip, there were a few surprises along the way that was icing on the cake.

• While taking a Friday morning stroll around the Campanile on campus, I happened to pass by a graduation reception, and ran into like 20 people I knew! Not just several IV '07 graduates and friends, but also my sophomore year roommate too! It was an awesome chance to catchup, congratulate, and take a picture or two with them at their milestones.
  
  
• Going to Sharon's 23rd birthday dinner that evening @ the Sushi House in the Asian Ghetto. We were a bit apprehensive at first because we had 12 people and the restaurant was quite small with only 2-person tables. But the maitre'd obliged our request, kicked out all customers as soon as they were done, pushed tables together, and sat our party - all in 15 minutes. Needless to say, we were impressed by the show. Happy Birthday!
  
  
• Seeing and saying farewell to Elaine, the former small group leader of "The Commissioned" (loving small group up there). She is off to the Peace Corps in Malawi, Africa for the next two years and her family threw a party to send her off. I will always remember the fun times we had hanging/growing/laughing/praying together as well as the Spirit-led leadership she brought to our small group two years ago. God really made a difference through her that overflowed in each of us six guys and gals, and it continues to do so with many blessings. =)
  

A Taste of Summer To Come

Graduations are in the air, meaning that summer is slowly making it's way for each of us.

Much is going down this summertime and I am REALLY looking forward to what God has laid out for me to do. A little preview for things to come:

• CEFC Youth Camp (June 29-July 2) - my third outing as a counselor and I'm no less than excited in the opportunity to care, support, pray, and have a great time with my church's youth group.
  
  
• Professional Engineering (PE) Exam Preparation (July-October) - time to study, study, study for my 2-day, 14-hour civil engineering license exam in late October. Review classes and homework will resume in my life. It ain't over yet!
  
  
• China Short Term Missions Trip (July 22-August 4) - God responded to my prayers, presenting me an opportunity to serve this summer and asking if I would say yes. And how else can I respond to the Big Man upstairs? =)
  
  

But first, a little trip up north for the weekend to kickoff the months ahead...

My Guide to the Summer's Big "3's"

With "Spider-Man 3" coming out yesterday, the summer of the "threequels" has officially begun and there sure are a lot of 'em. Being the movie guru I am, here are some of my predictions based on what have seen in the previous films as well as on trailers and general opinions of fellow moviegoers.


Spider-Man 3
With the same stellar cast and crew as the previous two tremendously successful installments, I'm confident that you can expect nothing less but awesome, web-slinging fun for this sequel. My only picky concern is the film featuring perhaps one too many villains, and not enough screen time and character depth for all of them. But I highly doubt that will be a good enough reason for people to turn away from seeing the final part of the trilogy. Or is it?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Despite a great franchise start with "Curse of the Black Pearl", I personally didn't enjoy "Dead Man's Chest" as much as the first, mostly because the producers tried too hard to top the original with bigger stories and special effects (though impressive!) over good acting. But we love these characters, and the addition of Chow Yun-Fat, Keith Richards, and the return of Geoffrey Rush for the final battles is a big hint that the trilogy will not go out without an effects-laden bang.

The Bourne Ultimatium
Let's see - same director (Paul Greengrass), same screenwriter (Tony Gilroy), and same leads (Matt Damon and Joan Allen) - dude, hook me up! After the amazing work on "Supremacy", you can bet your money that I'm more than ready to see more of the fast-paced, good ol' fashioned action, and well-crafted espionage adventures of Jason Bourne. Don't believe me? Check out the trailer on the official website. You'll be counting the days.

Shrek the Third
Although "2" didn't have the freshness of the original, it had enough funny jokes and lively supporting characters (Puss In Boots, baby!) to make up for it. How the producers can keep this up for the third movie (and the rumored finale, "Shrek 4") will make all the difference. Look for Justin Timberlake to play the spoiled young soon-to-be-King Arthur (get the irony?) as well as even more voice casting that makes you feel like anyone can do it.

Ocean's Thirteen
The appearance of Al Pacino in this ensemble cast-driven caper comedy may be one of the main reasons fans will come back for more. After the successful "Eleven" and mixed letdown of "Twelve", I suppose you can't blame director Steven Soderbergh and co. to return for the last third of the story. Expect a decent cash-in for the studios, and a lot of the same ol' fun camaraderie among the coolest con artists as they make their final score.

Resident Evil: Extinction
How this game-to-movie franchise survive two movies, only to come up with a third is beyond me by biblical proportions. Strong fan base? Attractive female lead? Whatever. Nonetheless, a very mediocre director is helming this bit, making you wonder how "Extinction" will really turn out for viewers waiting. Either that or AVP 2.

Rush Hour 3
The cop-buddy comedy continues - six years (!) after its predecessor. Plenty more of Jackie Chan's kicking and Chris Tucker's screaming would probably be adequate to draw old fans out. But with so much time that has passed as well as having the whole movie serve as "one big outtake" (according to 2-movie, 25-million dollar Tucker), I'm not sure what to make of it. Oh yeah - Roman Polanski will be making an appearance in this third movie. I'm not kidding.


There you go. Take your pick(s) and enjoy your summer!


P.S. A warm thanks to those who left comments on my previous post!! I feel encouraged by your thoughtful words. Wanna catch a movie? =)

From Then to Now

Back in my very first blogging days (over four years ago!), I intentionally treated my Xanga blog like a diary, detailing events that occurred each day and what my thoughts were on those different things that happened. It became a way of "getting my thoughts straight" everyday and recalling memories with more ease whenever I look back.

A lot to things have changed. Life has been busy. It's been hard finding time to pause, reflect and put the metaphorical pen to paper.

I try to be as candid as possible but I have to be honest: it's hard here. I might attribute it to the blinding lights of Blogger and my close-knit community that is both a blessing and a curse. Here I find something of an audience, but at times I know I must hold back. Maybe that's okay.

Checkpoint

It feels good to pass through one. You get a chance to stop for a bit, take stock, and get a feel for how far you've gone on your journey. I guess after walking out of your very last class in grad school (hence, my MIA status for the past couple weeks), it seems to be that time.

In a nutshell: I'm just glad it's all over and done.

Don't get me wrong, it was a big plus to be working with other graduate civil engineers possessing different skills and abilities. Most of them are also working too, so we shared the fatigue that comes from walking into an evening class after a full day's work. Also, I understood more that when you learn together, you also tend to learn about one another and how to play off each other's strengths and weaknesses to accomplish goals. They help the work feel anything but that.

But after 18 years straight of academic classes, it's clearly time to move on. I can't wait to see the next best thing. =)

"The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson." ~ Tom Bodett

Let the tests begin.

Fantasy B-Ball Feedback

After a break of four years, I joined Fantasy Basketball once more with 9 other CEFC buddies and it was definitely worth the wait while it lasted. With less schoolwork pressure and more time to check the news, I dug my way back into the rigors of pro-basketball and went through the weekly roller coaster-like progress of the NBA. I made some decent moves early in the season and slowly took top spot...only to drop halfway down the ranks when nearly half of my team was injured. :-[ But a monster trade and a couple pickups helped me go back up the rankings. Unfortunately, a bad first round playoff match-up as well as injuries to my key players left a dud ending for my season. But that's life.

Below is a brief summary of some picks from my team:


Best Move: Adding Monta Ellis to the roster when he was starting in place of Baron Davis. BOO-YA!

Worst Move: Dropping Baron Davis. The injury-prone swingman only had a handful of absences this season, and I fell for it. I'll never hear the end of it from my boys.

Biggest Surprise: Al Jefferson. Became my personal double-double factory and kept my blocks in the game.

Biggest Bust: Mark Blount. Did well in the beginning, but became less aggressive to point where I can score more points than him in pickup basketball games (and that is not much either...)

Blockbuster Trade: Giving away Yao Ming and Chris Bosh for Andris Biedrins, Ricky Davis, and Michael Redd. Some thought it was fair, others thought it was stupid. Nevertheless, it did mixed things up and made life interesting for everyone!

Players to keep in mind next season: Kevin Garnett, Yao Ming/Chris Bosh, Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, Kobe Bryant (duh)


Despite an early exit, it was good to have a bunch of guys do something together, whip out the discussions each time we met, and joke around. Lots of fun for all. =) Now onto baseball!

True Love

While sitting in Good Friday service tonight and listening to The Last Seven Words of Jesus Christ, I felt something different than previous services of this occasion. Instead of joining the rest of the three congregations in the sorrowful remembrance for the death of our Savior for our sins, I was really somewhere else this time. I was in a state of awe.

Flash back to the last Sunday of March. AOW was invited to perform a sketch on the notion of false love to introduce the sermon in front of the entire English congregation for the first time. After the sketch (which, by the way, went really well after much hard work in writing, acting, and praying), Pastor Rich delivered on his message of the difference between true love and false love. In a nutshell, false love is self-seeking whereas true love is self-giving and furthermore, self-sacrificing. He drew an illustration of an aged man whose wife has just past away. After burying her, the man turned to his two sons and took them in his arms. He said:

"Boys, it was a good 54 years and it ended just the way I wanted it to end: your mother went first. You see when two people love other as much as your mother and I loved each other, each wants the other to go first. I did not want her to have to go through the pain of having to put me in the grave. If anybody was going to suffer, I wanted it to be me. It ended just the way I wanted it to end: your mother went first."

It was one of the best examples of true love I have ever heard. And Jesus Christ did even more than that - he wanted to suffer the pain and go to the grave first so we wouldn't go through it. So we may live and be free.

When I looked upon the cross that night, I couldn't bring myself to mourn my Lord. I could only look on, with wonder for this amazing grace - the ultimate act of true love by the Son of Man.


"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." ~ John 15:13