look around

Post-Grad... T-minus 8 months.

2009-09-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

Okay. A quick post, with probably a lot more to come on this subject later, but...

Post-grad plans? There are three main options:

1. Stay in NYC and work or something like that.

2. Go back "home" to Boston and work or something like that.

3. Go abroad for some time.

Currently, going abroad seems very appealing, as of late I've been questionning how much of how I see reality, life, Christianity, and even Jesus, is effected by the culture around me. I want to take this year (and hopefully the rest of my life) to really dive into the Bible and prayer with God to find out what being a Christian, following Jesus, and living the life I am called to lead really looks like. There are a lot of assumptions and questions that are be implied in those few sentences, but that's for later discussion. Basically, it'd be crazy to go abroad for a bit. Currently considering and looking into Peacecorps and Food for the Hungry... maybe even JET, but that seems less likely.

Any thoughts or suggestions? (On the general future/post-grad plans or on organizations abroad?)

yeap.

2009-09-15T21:16:00.001-07:00

Said it before, and will say it again: life is crazy. Honestly I never know what will even happen the next day.

Oddly, though I've been in school for my entire life and am still a student, I've never felt like less of a student than I do now. I think it's about time to find myself apart from academia. People say that in college you figure out who you are, but I think I am just starting to do that now.

(Ok, not like I don't know who I am and the past years of college haven't advanced my exploration into the question of "who am I?" but I am seeing it in an entirely new light now.)

Uninstall

2009-09-15T06:44:00.000-07:00

Today I uninstalled warcraft III.

It's about time. Hopefully I will be more productive and constructive with my time now.

Oh, life.

2009-09-08T13:57:00.001-07:00

ah sigh.

Life, you confuse me. I have recently realized that navigating you is both incredibly easy and difficult all at once; impressive, impressive. Not really sure how to cope with my majors/minors, future life, "passion" for music, passion for God, for people. Not sure how to deal with money that I will soon "need" to put a roof over my head and food on the table. But I'm not sure what I really "need" anyways. And I'm not sure where I'll be "going" or doing in the not-so-far-away future. I need to make myself write. I realized writing helps me make sense of things but I do it so little; I think partially because I've stopped slowing down from my oh-so-fast pace of life. So it's time to slow down. Hopefully. Here and there.

One thing I think I've neglected is that I really enjoy playing musical instruments, particularly with people. I also thoroughly enjoy singing, pretending to beatbox, dancing (when nobody's watching, or I can pretend that nobody is), occasionally pretending to rap... you know the deal. But I really like playing musical instruments.

I hope that this year I will put all the countless hours that I have spent learning various musical instruments (and in particular the guitar) into something cohesive and... musical. Or at the least, I'll get considerably better at guitar and singing.

Knowing me, I'll probably stop writing here right after this post, as well as fail at practicing guitar and recording different doodles. But we'll see.

MLIA, part #2

2009-05-20T16:43:00.001-07:00

Talking to an old friend, he mentioned that it's because the stories are more relatable, which they very well might be. Here's one that I found particularly funny, because I notice the exact same thing all the time:

"Today I realized that the blinker of the car in front of me was synchronized with mine. Then I realized mine was actually a little faster. MLIA. "

MLIA.

2009-05-20T16:31:00.001-07:00

Hum.

So, a few months ago, FML got really big (www.fmylife.com) around here, and people started using the term a lot (FML).

When I first started reading some of the posts, I laughed pretty hard. As I randomly checked back or was bored, and started to read more, I started wondering if each story was really genuine, because some of them were just ridiculous. Also, since the humor wasn't often all that clean, I found it less and less entertaining. Honestly, the stories were just too ridiculous and too often had to do with sex to be very appealing.

When checking people's gchat status, I came across gabbie's, which provided a very enlightening link: http://new.mylifeisaverage.com/. And honestly, I think this site is FAR more entertaining and hilarious. Which is kind of odd, because none of the stories are really that funny in themselves; but somehow, seeing the "average-ness" of everything and seeing it in this form just makes me laugh.

I'm not quite sure why, but I laugh at least a little at almost every single story.

After about five minutes of thought, I still can't quite pin down WHY I think they're entertaining. But they are. To me, at least.

Praise Night.

2009-02-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

I don't have much time to write anything substantial, but I would simply like to say this:

Praise Night, despite all the work/time it took up, was an incredible blessing. In little ways, in bits and pieces, I feel like our church is slowly starting to come together.

Also, praying with other people is becoming increasingly more and more attractive. I think this is a sign that we are, in fact, starting to bring our hearts together more.

Awesome.

Missions.

2009-02-15T20:55:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted in awhile... BUT:

I am REALLY excited for our short term missions teams going out this summer.

That is all.

Trust/faith.

2008-12-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

Life is (like) a roller coaster.

Maybe God is waiting for us (me) to take my hands off the safety bar, lift up our (my) hands, and enjoy the ride. Maybe He's waiting for us to really believe that that no matter what ups and downs, twists and turns we go through, the safety bars will keep us tight in our seat.

And even though it's scary sometimes, we'll be alright.

God, help me trust in You.

He Is Lord.

2008-12-04T12:26:00.001-08:00

Over the summer I got the new Hillsongs album "This is Our God".

I didn't really listen to much of the stuff on it, but recently I have been listening a little more. One song that really, really hit home for me was "He Is Lord".

Here's the video:

I can't quite explain why, but it most certainly gave me shivers and almost brought tears to my eyes. But I think there is extreme power in the last lines that are declared: "Arise, For the King of Glory waits, He is coming back again! HE IS COMING BACK AGAIN!!"

That is just... awesome. I feel so empowered just from listening to this song. So listen. That's all. Just listen. Wanted to share this, because I think God really ministered to me through it and reminded me of the ridiculous power that is wrapped up in the Gospel and in the name of Jesus Christ.

Wasn't going to, but here are the lyrics:

Verse1:
Oh blessed Lamb once slain
Will reign forevermore
His hands once bound now save
Our God will never fail

Chorus:
He is Lord
He is Lord
Sings my soul
He is the Lord
And He lives
Yes He lives
I'm alive, 'cause Jesus lives

Verse2:
'Tis as the cross of Christ
Where earth and heaven meet
Where sin is overcome
To God the victory

Chorus:
He is Lord
He is Lord
Sings my soul
He is the Lord
And He lives
Yes He lives
I'm alive, 'cause Jesus lives

Bridge:
And now
Let the earth resound with praise
For our savior God, He reigns
He is high and lifted up

Arise
For the King of Glory waits
He is coming back again
He is coming back again

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worship.

2008-11-23T21:17:00.000-08:00

Not only do I really enjoy playing music with people, but I absolutely love worshiping with close brothers and sisters.

I think one of the things that most consistently encourages me is seeing other people worship. As creepy as it may sound, every time I hear the song "Love Enough" by Hillsong United, I constantly, constantly go back to the image of a fellow missions-team member (to Japan) worshiping with their arms straight out as if they were flying. For some reason, seeing their joy in worship really, really touched my heart.

Words are often not enough to express ourselves. When we use our bodies, our songs, our entire hearts to worship... that is something special.

I wish I had a picture of that. If I did, I would post it here. Just imagine you're standing by the shore opening your arms to the fresh breeze at it cools you from the sun beating down on your face... overwhelming joy takes over your heart and you just SING to the Lord.

"This love will see me soar..."

Anger. (but not really)

2008-11-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

Without going into too many details, for some reason I was upset whilst on my way to the thanksgiving potluck that my small group was having with another group.

There was something very pressing on my mind that I was intending to write about; after sitting here for five minutes and trying to think of what it was, I find myself having completely forgotten what it is.

We all get upset for childish reasons. I'm not sure if my reasoning was a little silly or not (probably was), but in my mind I thought I could get a pretty good topic to write about that often goes passed by or isn't brought up much.

But now, I feel great. Well, not great, but I feel worlds better. Amidst my terrible cold (that I've had for about four days now and has only gotten worse) and buckets of work to do, I feel a lot better.

I think there's just something really special about spending time with people close to your heart that brings such tremendous healing and joy. Beyond words, beyond encouragements, past anything that we can see... something about that time spent together is so priceless.

Thank you, God, for the people in my life.

Perspective.

2008-11-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

We all have our own.

But I wonder... how open are we to others'? After going around yesterday and trying to talk to people about Epiphany, I asked myself, "if I don't stop to listen to anyone who stops me on the street, then why would anyone stop for me?"

I guess, even though I don't like to think it, part of me is closed off to different things. Unless I open myself up to them, I'll never really know their view, their perspective, their take on the world (or that part of the world).

Awhile back I was talking to a friend, and he mentioned that reading helps give us a broader perspective on life, because it helps take us out of our own shoes and into other people's.

I don't read very much, and the little that I do read is from a very selective demographic and perspective. Also, there are few people that I really talk to outside a slightly larger demographic. And realistically, there are a lot of people and a lot of views on the world and on life that I will never really encounter person to person.

Though I wouldn't say that my perspective on the world is incomplete or ignorant, as I would like to say that I'm pretty aware of what's going on, the diversity of people that exist and various lifestyles... but what I most certainly do not have, and do not know, is their perspective.

So there seems to be a gap between awareness and... more awareness. Knowing what's out there and hearing it, being in it. There is something uncanny about the human experience that I'm struggling to put words to... and now I have to go to class.

more on bathroom stalls.

2008-11-10T17:36:00.000-08:00

For some reason I just can't seem to escape "bathroom humor". I guess I just find it a very simple source of humor that doesn't really get explored enough.

So, I recently realized that I have a pretty regular routine that I do when I go to the bathoom (particularly stalls, not urinals). For those who are curious, here it is: (Warning: Don't read on if you don't want to know about this. Please.)

1. Check the cleanliness of the toilet seat. if there are only a FEW drops of some miscellaneous clear/yellowish liquid, I will go with it. Very few though. Sometimes I check every single stall for the cleanest, but that depends on if I'm in a hurry and if there are other people around.

2. Go into selected stall. I will then hang my backpack up, and then put my jacket over my backpack. If I'm in the H-stall (they often don't have hangers) then they just go on the floor.

3. Clean the toilet seat. With lots of TP.

4. Clean the toilet seat again. You can't be too safe with these things.

5. Business.

6. Because my hands are probably dirty, put on my backpack and jacket with as little contact as possible, in particular with my right hand. I often clench it into a fist just to be safe.

7. Wash hands. Dry hands with paper towels.

8. End.

Do you have a routine?

Obama.

2008-11-04T20:45:00.001-08:00

Obama is president.

This seems to have some pretty absurd implications, many of which I'm not really aware of. He seems to represent a lot of ideas and ideals that we would hope to chase after.

Strange to be part of something so historic.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. And pray.

Major.

2008-10-21T15:15:00.001-07:00

Econ major, politics minor?

what?

let's think about this...

(untitled)

2008-10-02T23:17:00.001-07:00

Dreams freak me out sometimes.

That is all.

The handicap bathroom stall.

2008-07-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

If you need to use the handicap bathroom stall, I apologize if this post offends you.

But in all honesty, I find it a superior bathroom experience when I have to use a public bathroom. It's almost always cleaner (because less people use it than the regular stalls) and is more spacious. However, I was talking to a friend recently and he mentioned that he thought the handicap stall was TOO spacious and made him feel uncomfortable; I myself appreciate the space. Space aside, having a clean-looking toilet seat going into your bathroom experience is always comforting, and then giving it the extra wipe-down or layer of toilet paper for safety is even better. All too often I have had walked into the only free stall and was forced to clean it myself, knowing that there would still be residue of whatever was left before me.

However, everytime I go to the bathroom I run into this dilema. Do I use the hadicap stall? (we'll call it the h-stall from here on out) My biggest fear is if someone comes into the bathroom and needs to use the h-stall, and I'm in it, taking up their precious space. Of course, I leave it just as clean as it was when I went in (or cleaner), but the principle of it just makes me feel horrible. I have yet to experience this, but the mere thought is pretty frightening.

On antoher random note, my mouse pointer thing on the computer screen really looks like the capital letter "I". You'd think I would've realized earlier.

What?

2008-07-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

I intend this blog to be my thoughts/opinions on the little (or medium-sized) things in life. Most will probably be biased and maybe a little judgemental, so do take everything with a grain of salt. (Hah. Maybe that'll be the name of my blog instead...).

But there are too many things in life that go unsaid that deserve to be noticed that might brighten or lighten your day. Or just make you think. I figure each post will be one of those things that you could have a long, half-serious discussion about and in the end, your only conclusion would be to make sure you fold toilet paper exactly three times in private bathrooms, and four times in public bathrooms.

Test

2008-06-17T14:32:00.001-07:00

Testing, testing, 1 2 3...