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Monday, July 29, 2002

I am officially addicted to the game of softball. 

The KRUMC team had our first scrimmage against Van Nuys UMC yesterday.  I was the starting 2nd baseman and had the #2 spot in the batting lineup.  I thought we were gonna get creamed.  I mean, the Van Nuys players were all in their uniforms and stuff while we just wore whatevers.  Surely if they are all wearing cool uniforms they must be extremely good.  But we actually won 20-16.  We gave up like 12 unearned runs, however.  Everytime the ball went to the outfield, something went wrong.  It was a windy day so it was hard for the outfielders to position themselves.  And none of us are really good enough to accurately calculate those kinds of plays.  I had a tough flyball and I fell on my back after catching it.  It was a lucky catch.  But I was very surprised with my individual performance. 3-for-6 with 4 runs scored, 2 RBI, and no errors.  I loved having a error-free game more than the batting stats.  The middle infield of Jin and me had no errors.  We could have easily turned about 3 double plays but it was either Jin couldn't release fast enough to me, or I couldn't release fast enough to Jin and we ended up being a split second short every time. But we'll get it down in no time.

Ryan, Paul, and I decided to join a softball league next year in Torrance or anywhere in the nearby area.  It's a year away but we are already in the process of recruiting people for our team hahaha. It works out pretty nicely, at least so far.  Ryan plays first base, I play second, and Paul plays third.  And we recruited Beth to be our catcher.  So now we need a shortstop, pitcher, and three outfielders and we are set.   We also need to come up with a cool team name.  This is so exciting!!  Anyone who could play those positions let me know ASAP.  Positions are filling up fast!! 

Actually, it's not.  Hahahaha, but I'm sure we'll find people.

Quotes:

At church, butting in on a conversation about bugs
Min Hee:  They're called gnats.
Mike:  No they're gnat!!  (not)

Wednesday, July 24, 2002

My relatives from Korea are coming over tomorrow.  They are both in junior high, so they will be going through the routine tour thing in this region with Disneyland, Sea World, Grand Canyon, etc.  A lot of little things here and there too.  We're gonna have seven people in this house with one bathroom.  The people who are supposed to add the extra bathroom and bedroom are having a hard time getting the model approved by the city or whatever.  So it's been a big hassle since I moved in.  It's going to get worse.  Not that we dont' want the kids to be here, but I wish our house situation was better by now but it's not, so whatever, nothing we could do about it now. 

I haven't gone to Dinseyland since the 10th grade.  That was six years ago. Sheesh, I was in 10th grade six years ago!!!  Just like that all these years simply pass by like the wind and the real world sneaks up on you.  How frightening.

One thing that sucks about being in a huge debt like me is that no matter how much money you make, at the end of the day you're left with pretty much nothing.  It's the never-ending floodgate of bills.  Damn instant gratification.  It's the drug of this generation, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't addicted.

Quotes:

-Chatroom with Jeannie and Dan-
beanbag80:  so how do you like your new phone, dan?
Cho640: i haven't really messed around with it yet, it's charging right now
Super0406: so how much is it charging you? hahaha

-On musical vocabulary-
Yun Soo: Does the word "prelude" only apply to music?
Mike: Hmm, I think it applies to performances in general, but i'm not 100% sure.
Mike: And it also applies to cars.  Hahahaha

-Playing Scrabble online-
*Mike puts "BRO" and no one challenges.  A few turns later, Beth puts "YIN" and no one challenges*
note:  BRO would not have counted(abbreviation), and YIN would have been valid (Yin-Yang).
Shyam: Man, the board is all messed up now. 
Ryan: Yeah, if Mike hadn't put BRO we could have expanded with the R. 
Shyam: And Beth's YIN
Beth: Hey, at least YIN is in the dictionary
Shyam: What dictionary?
Mike: The Chinese dictionary.  Hahaha jk

From dictionary.com:
Yin
- n. The passive, female cosmic principle in Chinese dualistic philosophy.
- n. A Chinese weight of 22/3 pounds.

Monday, July 22, 2002

Yay, I added another addition to the English Major Humor section, called "How to Write Good."  My TA from one of my lower division classes gave us one of these and I was able to find it on somebody's website. 

I had to stay in LA all day today because my boss called an emergency meeting at 6:30pm.  So for dinner I went to Hurry Curry for memories' sake.  My roommates and I must have gone to Hurry Curry at least once or twice a week.  So that's tentatively 30-40 times in the course of the school year.  I noticed they had a new waitress there.  I can't believe we went to Hurry Curry enough times for me to know that they have a new waitress.  Pretty gross, man. 

A reality that crashed down on me during this summer is that post-college life for me has been at times, very lonely.  For one thing, I get frustrated with a lot of things and I always vented to John, Dan and Gerry about one ridiculous thing or another and released all my smack talk to them.  I don't have that luxury anymore.  Dan is busy with LSAT class and Cynthia, John is going to Philly after coming back from missions, and Gerry will be in NorCal.  I still talk to Dan regularly, but it's not the same since I can't just waltz into the other room whenever I felt like it and start ranting and raving about everything and nothing.  Plus, we both get home late and by the time we finish our daily business we're too exhausted to do anything.  So the only option left for me is to bask in the solitude of my room until I get an opportunity to talk to someone who I could trust with exposing my absolute worst qualities.

It isn't strange that I've been more irritable than normal, for a number of reasons.  Work, school, church responsibilities, sure, but these things always existed since junior high.  I was a whole lot more relaxed in college mainly because of my roommates were able to satisfy my dependence on verbal release of emotional tensions.  Now it's become limited to just a couple times a week.  And it wasn't all about me complaining about this or that, a lot of it was just nonsense talk.  I make a living off babbling about meaningless stuff no one cares about, with soooo many random thoughts running through my head every minute, and there's like this feeling of being trapped, from not being able to let these thoughts out to any recipient.

Sunday, July 21, 2002

Wow, I can't believe this blogger has been accessed over a thousand times now.  But I'm pretty sure about half of that was me going in to double-check my spelling and grammar, fixing it, then going back to double-check again.  I'm an english major, I can't help it. 

Speaking of me being an english major, I added another section to this ever-expanding (haha yeah right) blogger site called "English Major Humor."  The two items on there were from my sophomore year, where my professor had posted them his office and I thought they were the funniest things in the world. They're old, but they're classic.  Hopefully I'll be able to find more stuff for that section.

I was going over all the music I have inside my head, and wondered what song I have the most access to.  And the winners:  U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "With or Without You."  Both songs are accesible in:  The Joshua Tree cd and my U2 mix cd from my cd archives, U2 mix minidisc in my MD archive, mp3 file in my computer, and ZooTV concert video, Rattle and Hum dvd, Elevation tour dvd in my music video archive. 

Here is what Bono had to say about "Where the Streets Have No Name":

"Where the Streets Have No Name is more like the U2 of old than any of the other songs on the LP, because it’s a sketch - I was just trying to sketch a location, maybe a spiritual location, maybe a romantic location. I was trying to sketch a feeling. I often feel very claustrophic in a city, a feeling of wanting to break out of that city and a feeling of wanting to go somewhere where the values of the city and the values of our society don’t hold you down. 

An interesting story that someone told me once is that in Belfast, by what street someone lives on you can tell not only their religion but tell how much money they’re making - literally by which side of the road they live on, because the further up the hill the more expensive the houses become. You can almost tell what the people are earning by the name of the street they live on and what side ot that street they live on. That said something to me, and so I started writing about a place where the streets have no name...."

This song is absolutely an out-of-this-world song when you hear it live, and in the three concert videos I have, each one is a totally different experience.  And although I see it as a flawless song both lyrically and musically, it's amazing the kind of insight Bono has with his work and art in general.  I believe this is what separates U2 from mortals:

"At times, it has been humbling for me as a lyricist. In the 80's, often there were no re-writes. The very first lines that were written to accompany the melody were the ones that went on record. And looking back, I see a lot of unfinished songs. It annoys me sometimes that I look back and see a sort of inane couplet. I have to live with it. But they can also be very deep and powerful. Like the opening of "Where the Streets Have No Name." It is an extraordinary throwdown to an audience. If you see us in front of 100,000 people, and you ask, do you want to go on a journey to somewhere that none of us have ever been before, to that place where you forget yourself, and who you are, and where you can imagine something better? It's a spine-chilling moment for you as a singer, and for anyone in the audience. It is a real challenge. But it comes out on The Joshua Tree, as "I want to run, I want to hide, I want to tear down these walls that hold me inside." That is so sophomoric (laughs). But that is the way it came out.

The lesson for me from the 80's was that sometimes the first words communicate the best. You realize, especially after the events of September 11, how unimportant it is to be smart. Or worse, smart-ass. To be true is all in pop music. Some of my favorite writers are clever with words. But the ones I go back to are the ones that are clever with ideas."

Thursday, July 18, 2002

My second Dodgers game of this year was Shawn Green bobble head doll night.  I was really excited to go, and that excitement was quickly extinguished by the horrendous timing of Paul Yoshimoto, who had everyone's tickets.  I had to stand in front of the entrance for an hour an a half!!  We were supposed to meet at 6.  I got there at 6:15.  Ryan and Beth got there at about 6:30.  Paul got there at 7:45.  If I remember correctly.  But it was a hella long time.  The Dogers put on a horrendous performance too.  They lost 4-1.  But the number from that game that sticks to my mind is the number eight.  As in eight dollars I paid for parking. Eight dollars to park at Dodger Stadium!!!  My goodness!!  I didn't notice it the last time because Ryan and I split that cost, but today I had to pay for the whole thing.  Eight dollars for 2.5 hours of parking!!  Sheesh!! 

I must admit that I was pretty pissed waiting all that time for the tickets.  Especially since time absolutely goes by the slowest when you are waiting for someone/something.  I think if I were in high school I would have gone berserk when Paul arrived.  But if high school life has taught me anything, it was to think before I do anything.  It's saved me a million years' worth of drama in college.  95% of the things I say, I run it through my head to evaluate possible results beforehand.  If I say something mean to someone, then that means I said it because I want him/her to hurt from it.  I get irritated with myself the most when I slip and say something I shouldn't have said in a particular situation.  If I offended someone when I didn't mean to, I'll apologize immediately.  When I get mad I try not to express it in really negative ways.  Especially around other people.  I'll probably groan or say "dang!" or "stinkin!" a whole lot, but I would never ever start yelling at people and go crazy or whatever.  But even so, I think the things I'm feeling or thinking inside are usually exposed by the kind of face I make.  Whether I'm happy or confused or mad or if I think something is cool or lame or whatevers.

Quotes of the past week:

At church, getting ready for worship:
Mike: So you want to eventually play the bass guitar for us?
Matt:  Yeah, once I learn how.
Mike:  Well, that's not my primary instrument, but I could at least teach you the "bass-ics" if you want.  (basics)

At the Dodger game:
Beth: I want a malt. 
Ryan:  No you don't.  You just think you do, but you really don't.
Beth: What?  How do YOU know?
Mike: Because it "malts" in your hand... not in your mouth...

Thursday, July 11, 2002

I wonder how the term "Siamese twins" originated.  Siam is a country in Asia, and I'm going to ignorantly assume that Siam was where the first set of twins that were physically connected to each other were born.  So if the first connected pair of twins were born in Korea, would we be calling all of those twins "Korean twins" this day?  How about if they originated from a country whose name is long and hard to pronounce?   Like Kazakhstanian twins.  Sheesh, how irritating would THAT be.  I'd hate to be the father of a set of Kazakhstanian twins.  Everytime the topic of my kids comes up I'd have to say "Kazakhstanian twins" at least 2-3 times in that conversation.  I dunno if I'd be annoyed or if I'd be able to finish any of my sentences from laughing.

Wednesday, July 10, 2002

Summer school is killing me.  But this is the price I knew I would pay for being lazy and dropping classes in spring and winter quarter.  Work is pretty overwhelming.  But I'm having a blast.  In a working kind of way.  I like the fast-paced environment of PR.  It's very challenging, and it keeps me on the edge.  Time goes by very fast, except for the meetings, ugh.  The fun part is when I'm in the office writing letters for the company and making newsletters and brochures.  But by the end of the day my brain is completely fried to a crisp.  But so far, PR seems like something I could do for a living.  I think I have definitely taken good first steps into the path of my career. 

I'm still in the process of organizing all my stuff from college.  And I ran into a birthday card from 2000:

MIKE UH - - - HI... happy birthday.  How old are you?  100?  HeeHee.  You miss being a freshman?  Sucks huh?  Well, do well in English w/me.  We'll compete.  It'll be fun! 
Signed, Janet Lee

Janet didn't have the cute, girly handwriting, although she had the cute, girly look.  We did take one english class together the next year.  She got an A, I got a B.  Janet tried really hard in that class, like she did with all her other classes.  I slacked off and escaped with a B, like I did with pretty much all of my classes.  She would always call me about the readings or what I have so far on an essay assignment and I'd respond with either "hmm I'll tell you in a week" or "well, I haven't really started yet..." and she would laugh and scorn me in a playful way.  We also both took Milton in spring quarter of that year, but we ended up with different professors.  The last conversation I had with Janet in this world was about how we did in our respective Milton classes and which Milton poem was our favorite.  We were going to take Shakespeare the following fall quarter, but again with different professors.

It's really strange, everytime I think about Janet.  I always conjure up these flashback scenes in my mind where one second I'm looking at Janet and her natural smiley face, with her overalls and white shirt, and the next second I'm looking at a completely different Janet I saw at her funeral.  The most grueling part of that funeral was passing by her lifeless body that didn't even look like her (with all that makeup and strange clothing) and at the same time wondering "man... what happened?" 

But of course there is an eternal perspective.  Well, even so, the truth is, people come and go in life, and it's only a matter of time.  It sucks but what can you do.  And I suppose for every one thing I complain about something I know, there are about 50 other things I don't know about that one thing I think I know, that helps me in the bigger picture of things.  I guess that's something that makes God so interesting.  Well, interesting in an incomprehensible kind of way... apparently I haven't figured it out yet and probably never will in this lifetime on earth.  But that's ok. I mourn out of respect and love for Janet, not out of dwelling in any kind of doubt or despair.

Tuesday, July 9, 2002

Title of this entry: Life-Changing Music.

I was talking to Paul about how the Dave Matthews live at Luther College cd was a life-changing album for me.  That album opened up whole new dimensions to my knowledge and perception of music.  There are several more albums that have changed my life in one way or another, whether it be music or life in general.  And here is the list, without any particular ranking or order. 

U2 - Joshua Tree
U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
U2 - ZooTV, live from Sydney, Australia (video)
U2 - Elevation Tour, live from Boston (dvd)
Sarah McLachlan - Surfacing
Sarah McLachlan - Mirrorball (both cd and dvd)
Dave Matthews Band - Crash
Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming
Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, live at Luther College
Radiohead - OK Computer
Radiohead - Amnesiac
Delirious - Cutting Edge
Delirous - King of Fools
Delirious - Mezzamorphis
Vineyard Winds of Worship #12, live from London
Lauryn Hill - Unplugged, #2
Seotaiji - Albums #1-4
Jars of Clay - Jars of Clay
Jars of Clay - Much Afraid
Eric Clapton - Unplugged
Sixpence None the Richer - 2nd Album

Sunday, July 7, 2002

My body is quite sore tonight from playing softball.  Spent half the time playing 2nd base and the other half at shortstop.  I found it quite amazing that I actually played those positions, even though I have not played anything related to softball or baseball in two years, and I have never played any infield position in my life.  What's even more amazing is that I made just one error the whole game.  The ball made an awkward bounce and I couldn't scoop it up.  And the game lasted seven innings.  It was sooo much fun!

My dog Coney lives in a dogloo.  It's ok for now since he is a puppy but when he gets older and bigger he will have to live in an actual dog house.  Dogloos are gay for grown German Shepherds. 

What if houses were replaced by igloos?  Not necessarily igloos made of ice, but in non-snowy places like southern California they could be made of bricks or something.  So everywhere you look in any residential neighborhood you would see igloo-shaped houses. 

Quotes of the weekend:

Bible study on Friday
Pastor David:  So what would you say was a special characteristic of the church in Syria?
Mike:  They were very "Syrious" about their faith...? 

On Helen's flexibility
Sarah:  Wow, you should go into ballet or something!
Mike:  Dude, she's just in middle school, and you want her to park cars for a living??? (Valet)

Thursday, July 4, 2002

A lot of times life gets a little more convenient for me when I fool myself into thinking I'm one of those people who have "been there, done that."  That is, until I run across something that makes me realize how much of an idiot I was for ever thinking that.  Which is just about every week.  But more often than not I like to think that I've experienced everything there is to experience in life.  Losing myself to an ideal and fantasized world, so to speak.  It's the drug of my self-esteem. 

But it's really funny sometimes when I hear people younger than me in their naive little bubbles telling people 4-5 years older than they are, that they've "been there and done that."  Of course, being the crafty diplomat that I am, I'll never tell those kinds of people directly to shut the hell up, I'll just hide behind the mask of anonymity and make a general copmlaint about it instead of naming names.  But at least I'm not publicly talking behind specific people's backs.  Haha, lame, huh?  But hey I only talk smack about other people in private.  Unless your name is Ruth Ahn.  I'll openly talk smack about that  witch lady anywhere and anytime.

Tuesday, July 2, 2002

Ok I'm going to stop writing about work and how much it's stressing me out and how demanding it is.  Although whining is something I'm exceptionally good at.

It's really hard to keep a blogger intersting for people to read.  Well, not that the main purpose of bloggers is to keep readers interested.  In a blogger, entertainment is secondary to keeping a consistent record of your thoughts, in my opinion.  But if I'm going to display my thoughts in public, I consider it my responsibility to make it so that it's worth the time that readers have spent reading them.  Well, at least to a certain extent.  I'm not 100% out to please my readers, but I take considerable pleasure in knowing that they enjoyed the few minutes they spent in reading a portion of what goes on inside my head.  Therefore, I try my best to be as expressive as I can when I update my blogs.

The thing is, I believe everyone has interesting thoughts. But it's another thing to have the gift of projecting these thoughts and emotions into a creative form of writing that stays accurate to how you are really feeling.  I look at some people's blogs and it's flat out lame.  Especially when they implement AIM language into their writing, Asian AIM language, specifically.  What if I were to write in my blog in this style:  "i hab so many ants in mai house... iono.. its juss 2 many of them.. ne1 kno where i could go 2 for help?" Truly sickening.  And yes, some of these people are college students.  Sheesh!! 

Beth's blogger helps me out a lot when I'm looking for motivation for my blog entries and writing in general.  And so do conversations with the ol' North High crew.  It's hard to get into any kind of intellectually stimulating and sometimes(mostly) ridiculous at the same time types of conversations I normally have with Ryan, Shyam, Beth, and Paul, and my roommates Dan and John.  I think today we live in a world where creative, artistic verbal expression is horrendously underappreciated and ignored.  Language is deteriorating. 

If anyone is looking to start their own blogger and wants to get ideas, or if you enjoy reading good bloggers, go here:  http://betheee.blogspot.com

You might see quotes from this blogger in her site.  But that's not why I'm putting her link here (I could already sense what some of you are thinking.  Sheesh!).  Read the 2nd - 4th paragraphs of this entry again.

Food of the week:  chicken pasta salad from California Chicken Cafe in Westwood.  I must learn how to make this.  This will be the next addition to my cooking repertoir. 

Monday, July 1, 2002

Our dog came to our family last Wednesday.  His name is Coney.  If anyone wants to see a picture of him just instant message me and he'll pop up on the buddy icon. 

Looks like Operation Ant Invasion has begun at our home.  My God, they're everywhere.  This will surely be an epic battle for survival of man vs. ant that will last throughout the entire summer.  May the best species win.

Everyday has been super duper busy.  There's so many things about the "real world" that you expect and hear about, but it's such a huge difference between knowing about it and actually experiencing it.  And I'm not even fully in, and already all these things are coming at me left and right.  But then again, I'm in a semi-unique situation... because two weeks into the job my PR team leader quit and my boss put me in charge of all the main PR/journalism stuff.  It's a bit overwhelming.  Actually, it's VERY overwhelming.  Within the next 3 days I have to write up four different letters that are going to go out to CEO's, Universities, ad agencies, and celebrity agents.  And then I have to start working on a brochure for the marketing team, and after that I have to work on a huge production package that covers every detail about our project from concepts, detailed company information, benefits, to legal specifics.  Sheesh! 

Quote of the Day:

Joyce:  I watched Mr. Deeds today.
Mike:  Really?  So did Adam Sandler's character own a lot of houses?  (Mr. Deeds, as in house deeds, hahahahaha)