I waited all night for my brother to go home, but he didn't get back till 10. However, I had to drive his car while he drove his co-worker home in her car, since she was drunk up the wazoo. What happened was, his office went out to eat, and during that time she drunk "a couple" of shots. Well, to my brother's dismay, they carpool together, and she's the one that drove today. Yeah. Stinks. So, we were supposed to go home tonight, but we didn't.

Oh well. What'd I do all night?

Television hypnosis. Dangit.

Ok. Ok.

I admit, in some cases, it is a sane thing to represent such violence on film. Think Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, etc... films that have violence to make a good point.

I think I refer more to the senseless, pointless violence in display. No, it's not just a modern thing, I realize... people have loved senseless violence for ages (gladiatorial combat, etc.) but that still doesn't justify subjecting our minds to it now. As Christians, shouldn't we be learning how to derive our joy from exploring the Lord? But then again, it's difficult to do, and we're all lazy.

How do we consistently push ourselves to get past that point of laziness?

By Grace, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, right? Does anybody know any passages that pertain well to this subject?

Last night I got hit by an overpowering wave of negative emotion. This happens to me from time to time, and I have no idea why. Previously during the day, I was praying and studying 1 John, as well as "Knowing God." It's instances like that that really put to test what I learn in the Word...

So, in response to the emotions, I prayed my heart out. I tried to recall to mind the full message of the Gospel, that I am free in Christ and He is greater than my feelings. I picked up the guitar and made it a point to try to rejoice, as I wrote in the last post.

Thanks God.

Well, I wrote the last post during the commercial break from a 3-4 hour run of watching TV. I was really tired and I wanted to relax, so I started to watch whatever was on cable... and of course you know, something is always on. After an hour or two of surfing, I finally got to a showing of Mercury Rising.

I don't know why I watched the movie. I don't know why I had to keep watching something. As well, I was thinking about what I was studying, earlier that day, and so that's what made me really think about what I was doing. Yet, after I typed the last entry, I kept watching. Why did I find it entertaining? Well, some of it took place at the Wrigley building and the bridge right next to it, in Chicago. So, since I had just visted there a month ago, I find myself taking pleasure in recognizing where everything was taking place.

However, it was a really violent movie. People got shot in the head, back, etc. I used to be desensitized to it, but recently, I've been determined to not be such anymore. It just doesn't seem right that I'm entertained by watching the staging of murder.

Call me crazy, I know. But, I'm starting to wonder... where is the sanity in taking pleasure of watching people kill each other?

Well, next thing I know, I'll be watching yet another violent movie after this. :-T

All I want to do is to start taking life more seriously, yet I don't want to lose the joy and fun of being and living as a child of God. How can I explore the riches that He has in store for me in knowing Christ, and therefore knowing God? This is what I've been reading and studying and meditating upon in 1 John.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:33-34

Rejoice in the Lord always, I say again, rejoice.

What steals our joy in life?

Cheap entertainment. Entertainment that promises instant gratification, but it leaves us feeling hollow and grasping for more. All people seem to live for (me included) is to be entertained.

Real joy, where does it come from?

How is it Thursday already?

So, my advisor is here at Rutgers, but he's at a meeting, so I STILL haven't been able to talk to him.

This stinks like rotten fruit.

Well, anyhow. James Lieu, sorry I haven't replied to your email. I'm trying to get my life together in this neck of the woods.

Ok, I guess as I'm sitting here in my potential research lab (SO NICE... brand new computers, and there's a set-up with high speed cameras, lights, and screens to do motion capture stuff!), I might as well do somethingn productive, like read "Knowing God." :-)

Oh, and the bible as well.

I got my ID, my advisor hadn't come in yet, I started to study "Knowing God", and I did get to lift at the gym.

But, I spent more than an hour online. Arg.

Good thing is, I got some good amount of practicing in for guitar. Tried to work on major and natural minor scales, as well as 32nd note strumming... varied from 60 to 100 bpm. 32nd note is too hard. How do I improve my coordination between both hands as I try to do 32nd note scales? It's still too sloppy. Any tips, anyone?

After dinner and chatting with some people online, I went out to get some wings with my roommate Pete and his church friends. Afterwards, we picked up a video at someone's place and now we're back here, since they want to watch it. As for me, it's time to get ready to sleep... phew.

Ok. Night everyone. God bless.

Well, it's 11 AM and I'm pretty much done my morning routine.

Today, I hope to get my school ID, meet with my faculty advisor, go to the gym (if I get my ID), and start studying Knowing God.

What I hope not to do is spend more than an hour of watching cable, surfing the net, or chatting online. I've done way too much of those three lately.

Life is too short to be wasted. Yet, wasting life seems to be my best skill.

Today I sure wasted a lot of time, I feel.

But I got to spend a lot of it chatting with Jyco and some other people; I actually caught up with a friend from high school.

Er, my high school from Philly, not Jersey.

I spent a whole chunk of my day reading up on and selecting my potential courses, as well as trying to find a job and getting an ID card.

I still have to figure out some scheduling thing, I didn't find a job, and I still haven't gotten my ID card yet.

On the plus side, I made pierogies today. After boiling them to defrost, minced some garlic and a little bit of fresh rosemary, grated a heaping amount of parmesan and some romano cheeses, and cooked it all up in some olive oil.

So good.

I also cooked mixed veggies and broccoli, for some health.

Later that night, I went out to Applebee's to hang out with some of my roommates' church friends.

Big difference my brother pointed out beforehand to me, and I found out to be true today: people at Hopkins always joke about how much work and studying we have to do, and have done, but people at Rutgers always joke about how little work and study they really do and still get by. Talking to my roommate, I found the Rutgers experience vastly different than mine... I never had time to do anything but study, but he had all the time to do anything but study!

Well, I'm glad that I went throught it all. I sure learned a lot and it really was worth the stress and heartache.

All you ladies and gentlemen out there,

meet Edmund Moon, one of the coolest guys I know.

I first met him while visiting JHU during my senior year of high school. It was during Asian Perspectives weekend and I wanted to see what the ministries were like in college, so I checked out this ministry called "Agape". After it was over, I he walked over and greeted me with his trademark, sortof aloof grin. "Hey." The conversation consisted of greetings, introductions, and then he asked me if I had met his brother Jeff, who was also visiting. (No, I hadn't then.)

There was a connection made, at least on my part, that I knew would begin a good lasting friendship. 4.5 years later, we're still friends, and I'm the lucky one.

Why?

The guy has passion for the Lord, passion to live a life of integrity, and a passion for worship. It rubbed off on me some over the years, especially from serving on worship team under his tutelage. Sure, he's a bit goofy, and sure, he makes the corniest jokes, but he makes up for it with his genuine, fun-loving personality. He's also one of the most considerate people I know. He's always concerned about the good of those around him, and not just by doing the big things, but by consistently remembering the little things. I remember, I think it was my freshman year, where he was one of the few people that remembered my birthday. Heck, I never even told him my birthday, so it was a surprise to me that he sent a card. Thanks Edmund, that made my day.

What also made my day was something he mentioned to me the first Sunday I attended Hope Chapel after I decided to attend, last year. It was after service, and he pulled me aside with that sheepish grin again, and said something along the lines of, "Hey, man, you'll make a difference here. God will do a lot through you." Up till that moment, I just wasn't too sure, but yeah, that really perked me up.

There's a lot else that I could say, but I just want to leave it at that. Ladies, consider: he's caring, he's thoughtful, he loves the Lord... and he's going to be a doctor. $$! j/k.

Thanks for the friendship, Edmund.

Man, I miss Baltimore already.

So, today I woke up and washed up, and went on campus to start the ball rolling for my new life here at Rutgers. I began the paperwork process for getting my stipend (filling out W-4 forms... it's like a job!), received course advisement, and talked with a guy that was in my faculty advisors lab. Afterwards, I walked to the student union, which was next door, and wolfed down some pizza.

(The student union on this campus (there are 3 others) has always been a big marvel to me, since Hopkins "student union" was virtually unused. It was/is really crappy. The Hopkins library is essentially the student union.)

So yeah. I went back, and tried to... ahem.. work the angles (jimmy and jimmy, I hope you appreciate me saying that) for finding a job. I talked to my advisor and the grad secretary if they knew anyone that had any positions open.

To no avail, did I work those angles. No openings.

Dangit.

So, I went home to start choosing my coursework and whatnot for registration. It was really warm on the couch though, and the sun was beating down from the skylights, so I took an unplanned nap. It got really hot at times but I stayed asleep until 5:30... man, where'd the day go?

I started the rice going for dinner, and prepared some songs for my brother's cell group tonight. This morning, he sent some really confusing emails and it didn't hit me until I was making the rice that he was giving me the worship topic. *rolling eyes*

My bro came back, so we started cooking dinner. Only one person came this week, and he brought some food as well (linguini and some sour cream sauce). Worship and bible study was ok. We covered the conversion of Saul/Paul in Acts.

Since then, I've been typing away for this entry. For the past month it's been more difficult to keep it up, since I've been travelling a lot. It's not that I haven't access to the computer, it's that so much has happened, I've been too lazy to type it all out.

Here's a memory.

The first night at Jimmy Su's place in Texas, Jimmy and I hung out at his church's youth group function. It was in this really nice house in a neighborhood on a big hill; man, the house was packed. They all love Jimmy... as soon as we walked in the door, they all yelled his name (kinda like Cheers) and crowded around him. Local celebrity, I tell you. Afterwards, we went to a cafe with his friends Alex Chen and Pey Lin.. uh.. dunno her last name, and Jimmy's sister, aka Junior. That's what I called her because she's Jimmy with long hair. A little shorter and more athletic, but yeah, Janice's face = Jimmy's face.

It was there I shared cheesecake with everyone and tasted Jimmy's drink.. maybe that's how I got the summer flu.

Next post: a tribute to my brother and friend, Edmund Moon. oh, and for you ladies out there, count it as an advertisement.

Today was my church youth group pastor's last Sunday, so afterwards we stopped by Applebee's for dessert. A lot of us ordered milkshake. Strange, for some reason, I downed mine in a second, but everyone else wasn't as enthusiastic, so I ended up drinking lot more milkshake.

Afterwards we went to the park to play ball. All my Hopkins peeps reading this must be surprised, since I never play. But, it was for my youth group kids, and I decided what the hey. I played a lot better than I have done in the past, but man... I wasn't feeling so well. I started to get light-headed and dizzy, so I drank a lot of water and laid down on one of the benches.

It must have been the milk shakes.


Afterwards, I drove my mom home, and she gave me a haircut. For some reason, she really likes my massages (most people cringe in howl in pain because I of my grip, but my mom likes it for some reason), so I gave her a massage. Poor mom, she's sometimes having weird episodes of slightly losing motor control... some parts of her body start spazzing out. Not in any extreme way, but her muscles sorta tighten up. The thing that stinks is, we don't currently have insurance. Kinduva transition period.

Man.

So, my bro and I got some food, and headed back. We had a good talk about running the youth group, basketball, and tomorrow's cell group. Since getting back, I've been talking online and setting down what I want to do this week.

What I thought about during the car rid home:

Multi-talented people really aren't multi-talented, they're really good at one thing: drive. They have the drive to learn, the drive to meet an ideal. So, naturally, when they turn to different areas of interest, they get really good at them.. but it all goes back to just being proficient at pursuing their ideals.

I'm not sure if that communicated exactly what I was thinking, but oh well. That will do.