More moving & cleaning. (a Thursday retrospect)

I helped Shiv move a fatty couch out of her old Greenlake apartment today. The thing was a monstrous beast and it refused to fit through everywhere doorway we tried to pass through... it took a huge amount of pulling, pushing, and kicking to move it. Lucky for me, she called somebody else to help, because there's no way I could have moved that thing by myself.

I also dropped by Abe's/Ryan's to help with some cleaning. Pretty much all of my time was spent scrubbing and cleaning 1 of the 2 bathrooms... the shower/bathtub, floor, and toliet. I swear the fumes from all the cleaning solvents were getting me high.

As a reward, we took down a lychee jelly container full of loose change that had been sitting in my old apartment to a machine down at QFC. It counted out about 2800 pennies, plus a lot of nickels, dimes, and quarters. Altogether (and minus the service fee) it was about $34 worth of change... money that went treated us all to dinner at Hawaiian Barbeque next to Kiku's. I ate mochiko chicken... yum.

Zzz... too sleepy to write anything more...
posted by G at 1:50 AM   | (0) comments

Out on the town...

I've noticed that even though I'm "back at home", I've been out a lot. I rack it up all on the account of helping other people in Maplewood clean-up and move up, as well Joe and Grace visiting. Hrmmm, I haven't even got a chance to eat my favorite katsu at Miako's in Fairwood yet.

Random note:

And people wonder why I'm hesitant about riding the bus around here... sheesh.
posted by G at 2:07 AM   | (0) comments

It's official official...

I checked out of my apartment today (Tuesday). No more apartment life... it's back to the home of my sullen youth and life with dear Mom. Should be another adventure.

Oh yeah, Grace is back in Seattle from LA, complete with Joe! I'm sure her parents are ecstatic about her dating somebody Korean. I'm sure they were getting nervous with her hanging around all us strange Chinese and Japanese people... hahaha.
posted by G at 2:23 AM   | (0) comments

Big Freak'n Chinese Barbeque...

Today was the church picnic, which completely slipped my mind until late last night. The last couple of years, CBC hasn't had a picnic, so it was nice to have one this year. I think at times I forget how large and diverse my church, especially now that we have 3 services - English, Cantonese, and Contemporary - even this morning, they had a single combined service and it was a surprise to see how many people were inside the sanctuary and fellowship hall.

The picnic was pretty significant to me in affirming the unity of our church. Nothing quite like sharing a meal to build fellowship, especially amongst us Chinese folks. Pastor Leung, the Chinese ministry interim pastor, gave the sermon during the service and it had some interesting things to say about the importance of the unity aspect in our church - how all of our differences are bonded together simply by our faith. A funny allegory I remember from the message was about the "difference" between Chinese people and Japanese people... supposedly, there's a saying in HK that "1 Chinese person is a dragon... but 3 Chinese people are a worm. 1 Japanese person is a worm... but 3 Japanese people are a dragon." It was a pretty goofy allegory, but I think Pastor Leung pretty accurately characterized some of the stupid infighting that happens in my church... especially over $$$. Man, with Chinese Chinese people... it always comes down to pinching pennies... aiyah!

Anyways, yeah... I'm rambling because dial-up sucks. The picnic was great... nothing like a bunch of old Chinese guys/ ex-chefs manning the barbeque. There was some BOMB beef brisket, ribs, and roasted pork... mmmmm
posted by G at 11:21 PM   | (0) comments

Sad day...

No more Maplewood apartment family, no more living in the U-District, no more cable modem... change can sometimes be pretty darn uncomfortable. The only thing left in my apartment now is my mattress, my desk, TV stand, and my goldfish, 2Pac... along with a load of assorted garbage. That stuff goes tomorrow.

What sucks more than moving and packing?

C L E A N I N G.
posted by G at 12:20 AM   | (0) comments

Note: To create the proper atmosphere in viewing these pictures, please listen to "Bombtrack" by Rage Against the Machine.


Dave starts it off.


I'm on the right fanning the flame.


Our best Tusken Raider/Sand people impression... "ERRRR ERRR ERRRRRRRR"


Burn burn burn.


N*STINK sucks.

Yeah, Dave and I really should get back to cleaning our apartment... but we deserved a break. Death to no-talent, pop idols and boybands. Boo yeah.
posted by G at 6:32 PM   | (0) comments

Packing moving packing...

This whole moving back to home thing is definitely turning out to be quite a chore. I suppose things could be faster, but I prefer to work at the pace I'm working at right now... frequent breaks for food, drink, and War-crack... heh heh. Mel and Ray recently bought copies too, so once again... the disease is spreading.

Anyways... the whole moving home thing. I don't like it for a lot of reasons, but this whole week of packing and bringing stuff back home... all the time driving in the car by myself has given me the opportunity to at least deal with it on a mental level. I love my mother as much as anybody, probably more, but if you were to talk to me a year ago, moving home was probably the last option on my list of future plans. In American culture, there seems to be a certain stigma attached with living with your parents... maybe the popularity of Hitchcock's Psycho has something to do with that. For myself though, reputation isn't what really concerns me about moving home with my Mom. My concerns are more along the lines of things like my freedom as an adult and an individual... and while I can understand why in my mother's eyes "I'll always be her young son", it doesn't make the treatment that comes along with that perspective any less annoying. Not to mention the fact that Renton is a bit further away from most of the friends that I've made while going to college and living in Seattle. Though solitude doesn't bother me much, long drives do.

In this case though, I'm trying not be my usual cynical self. I'm trying to keep the positives in mind... free rent, free food, homecooking, my dog... stuff like that. Ironically, the thing I worry about the most, my relationship with my Mom, will be a positive too. Being home will allow me to spend time with her... I think I too easily forget that she's alone a lot, just her and the dog. I think about my father and how he's gone, and how it must be hard for her when nearly all her friends are married and with their spouses. Not too many single parents in the Asian American community, especially the Christian Chinese part. My Mom's a tough cookie, though... I'm not sure how I'd be able to deal with that. If I became a widower at a young age, I think it would definitely hurt a lot...

Back to packing.
posted by G at 10:44 PM   | (0) comments

Somebody found my site searching for "hot chinese guys"...

http://aolsearch.aol.com/dirse...ery=%22hot%20chinese%20guys%22

...I'm sure when the saw my shaved head, they were sadly disappointed.
posted by G at 10:45 PM   | (0) comments

Lazy day...

I should be packing... but I'm not...

Yesterday was the last Maplewood apartment dinner... sad. I didn't get to be there for the beginning, but I did get to munch on the aftermath. Instead, I rolled with Kenny to a planning meeting for BASIC, my church's high school student ministry. It's crazy, but some of the counselors there... they're the same ones I had when I was in high school. Now I'm going to be taking their place, investing my own life into lives of these high school students... crazy.

I could write something deep here, but I'm still feeling waaaaaay to lazy. Too bad.

Must be the sunshine...
posted by G at 4:25 PM   | (0) comments

Man, packing stuff and carrying it sucks. I need some Star Trek-esque transporter technology to get all this back to freak'n Renton.

Cormega's "The Realness" helps pass the time.
posted by G at 6:32 PM   | (0) comments

2 Worlds, 1 Garrett...

Updates have been a bit slow lately, but it's to be expected as this week, I'm splitting my time between my apartment and my Mom's house. My Mom flew to DC to visit some friends, so I'm pretty much in charge of taking care of the house and the dog. Most of the Maplewood family is moving out these next couple of weeks, including myself, so I'm also slowly but surely taking my junk back from the apartment to my Mom's house. So time consuming...

Bah, and I wanted to play some more WC3 too... =P
posted by G at 2:48 PM   | (0) comments

Damn tired...

Today (well, Sunday) was a busy day. Warm Beach was a blast... it's always a blessing to work with kids, even if they're deeply confused junior highers. heh. The speaker, Kyle Shimazaki, is part of pretty cool ministry called Seeds of Life. Coo.

The "Ultimate Farewell / Send-off/ Seminarian" party for Dave, Naomi, Jen, and Jermaine was today too. Good stuff... lots of food, plenty of time to sit around and just chill, plus some funny games with hilarious punishments. Ryan has already kindly posted some of his pictures right here...

Time to zzz.
posted by G at 2:50 AM   | (0) comments

Up late...

It's about 4:30 and I'm still preparing/working on stuff for this weekend's camp. I'm counseling for the JEMS Warm Beach junior high camp, so I can look forward to 4 days of craziness with hormonal adolescents... hahaha. I know, I sound so mean... but it should be fun. Working with kids of any age group definitely has its rewards, despite the difficulties that come with the territory. This year has the added bonus of me leading a workshop... I'm supposed to give a crash course in creative writing. Apparently, they think I'm good at it, despite the fact that my clips are few and I aint even rock'n a job that involves writing... or any job for that matter, haha. In any case, I'm picking away at some handouts to give the kids... I plan on the workshop to be more hands on and less of me just lecturing at them. I suck at lecturing anyways. =/

Doh... I really should be sleeping. Stupid WC3 break... didn't even win.

I should practice more, heh...
posted by G at 4:33 AM   | (0) comments

Who says I don't have a sense of humor about church?

Funny typos/errors in church bulletins:

• Thursday night: Potluck supper. Prayer and medication to follow.
  
• The rosebud on the altar this morning is to announce the birth of David Alan Belzer, the sin of Rev. and Mrs. Julius Belzer.
  
• Don't let worry kill you. Let the church help.
  
• For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
  
• This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.
  
• There will be a baked bean supper next Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Music to follow.
  
• At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
  

posted by G at 4:13 PM   | (0) comments

Busy day...

Well, I think the Deloitte interview went well. The same 2 people who interviewed me before talked to me again, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they like me... it'd be nice to be finished with this whole job search thing.

I also just got back from a coffee shop meeting with my church's youth pastor, Taido. It was a good time talking about the direction of youth ministry, and CBC as whole. So it's pretty much a sure thing now... I'll be working with the high schoolers for now on. It'll be sad not to work with my AWANA kids, but I'm sure I'll still see them arouund. I'll be officially introduced in a couple weeks at the freshmen kick-off...

Random note:

Cormega's "The Realness"... good stuff. Props for the hookup, UD.
posted by G at 2:55 PM   | (0) comments

I should be asleep, but I'm not quite yet.

As person interested in history, I found this to be quite fascinating. Interesting to know one of the oldest homes of Christianity is Egypt - it runs quite counter to the stereotypes we are often presented in the media.
posted by G at 3:30 AM   | (0) comments

If I find myself constantly dealing with the same issues with the same people, do I need to change or do I just need to not hang around the same people?

Bah.
posted by G at 1:38 AM   | (0) comments

Up early...

I got a phonecall this morning around 10:30AM and I've been up since. Though i think I'd be inclined to be ticked off about being awake so early, it turned out to work in my favor - I was wide-awake to recieve a call about a job interview for another position at Deloitte & Touche. Whoohoo!

I was going to post something deeper than this update about my continual job hunt, but I'll save that for another post.

Random thoughts about my LA excursion:

-IHOP anywhere is the same
-I met another Chinese Garrett... who's less than half my age.
-Little kids are the same everywhere...
-...especially little Chinese kids
-("Charise! Tamra! Nicole! Esther! Garrett... don't touch that! Get back here!")
-California Science Center reminds me of the Pacific Science Center
-For a city with so many highways, it still has really wack traffic.
-Grace and Joe are a cute couple.
-"The Lord of the Rings" DVD has lots of cool stuff
-Chicago people are cool
-Dorothy is a crazy Asian driver, but not as nutty as Nancy
-The beach is more fun when there are people around to make fun of
-Drew is a tower of Chinese power
-Frisco burgers are juicy artery-killers
-Namdang kalbi is tasty...
-...but chamisul is tastier
-Lightweights + booze = entertainment for Gar, Dave, and Chicago Andy
-Lightweights + booze + girls = lots of laughing @lightweights by Gar, Dave, and Chicago Andy
-Many guys + few girls = lots of potential for slapping
-Dorothy and Mikey are a cute couple.
-simplysue is simply charming
-Trying to break up fights sucks
-Sometimes all it takes to be a playa is luck...
-...and letting the silly drunks drive the girl to you
-There are strange people to be met outside of pho joints
-Hotel rooms breed bad jokes about black people/Mexicans/the Holocaust
-Eugenia is hungry... really
-Any "IIStix Meet" runs the fine line between "fun" and "sausage party"

posted by G at 12:59 PM   | (0) comments

Back from Seattle...

Wh00t, my trip to LA was a blast. Thanks Grace and (Grace's Joe) for the last minute pick-up, a place to crash, and letting me kick it with you guys.

IIStix people... you rock hard too.

More to write later.
posted by G at 5:08 AM   | (0) comments

Welcome to LA-LA Land...

Well, I'm here... after a series of minor mishaps including confirmation numbers, late flights, and airline personnel, I'm here in LA for my short 3-day excursion. I normally thrive on routines, but this weekend should be a nice change of pace.

Not much else to say beyond that except Grace's BF, Joe, is quite hospitable to let me borrow a comp to check my stuff. Coo.
posted by G at 1:30 AM   | (0) comments

Random-talented-happa-musicians-spotting:

Norah Jones - Indian / Caucasian
Michelle Branch - Indonesian / Dutch / French / Irish
posted by G at 2:50 AM   | (0) comments

Power of phone-age...

I just got off the phone with Shiv, who called me all the way from Spain. Most of the time, I think I take technology for granted, but tonight, I think I was especially grateful for it. The fact that she's only on a two week trip makes snail mail correspondence impractical, so being able to talk to her on the phone is nice, even if my conversational skills are quite lame compared to my passable written word. She got to tell some more stories about all the people she's met of there... one of the most interesting is a group of friends from Israel and Palestine, who even though happen to be ethnically Israeli and Palestinian, are all Christians. She's even made good friends with someone from Bethlehem, so if we ever decide to visit the Holy Land... we have friends to help show us around. Whooohooo. =)

In any case, it's hard to believe this week has gone by so quick... very fast.
posted by G at 11:44 PM   | (0) comments

Who needs a job?

I can make thousands of dollars of year being like this guy...
posted by G at 11:07 AM   | (0) comments

I'm up early...

I happened to go to bed at a somewhat decent hour last night, so here I am... up before 12:00pm on my own accord. A strange feeling.

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty busy day, at least as far as busy days go for me. I had a planning meeting for the Warm Beach junior high camp... I'm counseling again, wh00t. This time should be a little be different from last year, because I'm actually in charge of leading a workshop for the kids too - I get to teach creative writing. Now I can be just like all those looney, smoked-out hippie English teachers I had in junior high and high school...

Anyways, as a bookend to my previous post... I enjoyed "Signs" a lot. Though it wasn't as ground-breaking as "Sixth Sense", I thought it was definitely better than "Unbreakable". Though "Signs" definitely has a supernatural aspect with the whole crop circles/aliens thing, the movie itself is more of a family drama, or the drama of ordinary people dealing with difficult circumstances.

The acting was good, especially with Mel Gibson playing the role of a doubting father and ex-minister. While the movie had its share of scary moments and family drama, the scene that moved me the most happened almost at the end of the movie. Gibson, his brother (played by Joaquin Phoenix), and Gibson's two kids are hiding out in the basement of their house. Gibson's eldest son (about 7 years old) starts having a severe asthma attack, but unfortunately, no asthma medicine is around. Without the medicine, Gibson has to talk his son through the attack. Just previous to this scene, Gibson has flashbacks to the night his wife was killed in a random car accident, and his cradles his son, whose body is wheezing and wracked with pain, you see his face wracked the hurt and bitterness of a man who has seemingly has been victimized by cruel circumstances. At the height of his son's asthma attack, Gibson hoarsely shouts up to sky, "I HATE YOU!", in an obvious cry to God.

It was a powerful moment.

Maybe the scene just moved me because I sympathize a lot with Gibson's character, and when he shouted that line, he was able to somehow summon the depth of emotional content behind it. On more than one occasion, it is something I have myself have shouted and thought myself justified for saying it, as much as a part of me wanted to desperately not believe that there was a reason to say it at all. What is it about hardship, pain, and loss that can so powerfully scar our trust?

Faith is a hard mystery sometimes.
posted by G at 11:49 AM   | (0) comments

Saw "Signs" today...
posted by G at 9:38 PM   | (0) comments

Man, waking to move a car out of no-parking zone and cruising the U-District for like 40 mins sucks. Yeah, I know complain complain... but at 8 in the morning, I ain't in the most peppy mood.

Now I can't fall back asleep... oof... time to watch music videos.
posted by G at 10:23 AM   | (0) comments

We are family...

Well, my Uncle Ron and Auntie Laura are in town still with my cousin Kristina, college shopping and taking in the sights. I got to take Kristina away from the mom-madness that is the combined might of my mother and Auntie Laura to a barbeque at Kristie-K's house. The long ride up proved to be cool, as I got to talk with Kristina just about life and her plans for the future. My cousin wants to go into industrial design, which I think is cool. My mom would always remark to me how her side of the family, the Lee side, has always had an artistic bent... apparently my grandfather excelled in calligraphy and sculpting.

One story I remember her telling is that supposedly during the war, my grandpa got drafted and was stationed up in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It was nice assignment in that he didn't have to face much in the way of danger, so he had a lot of spare time. Apparently, he got his hands on some sort of walrus tusk/bone and he carved the thing into a statue of a beautiful woman, bringing it home to my po-po (grandma) as a gift. I wonder if it's true... I guess the next time I visit Unk, maybe I'll go hunting for it in Po-Po's old stuff.

Anyways, it's nice to have family visiting for a reason other than a funeral. Going to 3 in the span on 3 months makes one not want to do that for awhile.
posted by G at 11:58 PM   | (0) comments

Another article about the really, really stupid economy...

---

But on a positive note... this piece on a local Native American project to help the city of NY and victims of 9/11...

"Indian Country has lived in a lot of grief," said Jewell Praying Wolf James, a member of the Lummi tribal council and a carver of the healing pole. "You can go to Indian Country and they will talk about the losses of treaty rights, of natural resources, high death rates, the inability to come out of poverty.

"And so each tribal community is dependent on traditional knowledge and ceremonies to deal with grief. For us this is a real thing, and it is something that helps us survive. So if it works for us, it ought to be able to help others."

It is not the pole that heals, but the power of the blessings, songs and prayers of healing said over it. "The pole is a symbol of the spiritual forces the tribe is putting forth," James said.
posted by G at 2:48 PM   | (0) comments

Though open about her surgery and her past, she was hurt when a recent boyfriend told her he would not have dated her before her surgical alteration. "I always wanted to believe people were ultimately judged by what was inside," she muses, her gaze hesitant and sad. "But I knew from my personal experience that this wasn't true. It's always the pretty girls who win the good things in life."

From this Asia-TIME article on the growing popularity of cosmetic surgery...

It's a sad and evil world.
posted by G at 1:18 AM   | (0) comments

GRRRRR

I hate U-District parking patrol bastards. Some of them need to bite the curb... now. Barely less than a foot of my GF's car is in the yellow zone and they write me a ticket.

Random:

Song of choice at the moment: Linkin Park's "Pts.Of.Athrty" (Reanimation Remix)
posted by G at 9:26 PM   | (0) comments

An interesting review of the new movie 'Signs' by the director of the 'Sixth Sense'. Like nearly everything in my life, the movie according to the reviewer is about faith.

I'm curious about it now...
posted by G at 3:57 AM   | (0) comments

Crazy kids...

Well, the week has gone by a lot quicker than I expected. VBS is coming to end, and like every year that it ends, I always feel bit sad knowing that I won't get to play around with all the kids until I see them during the school year at my church's Saturday kids' program, AWANA. This year seems especially melancholy in that part of me knows that this will be my last time helping out with the young ones for awhile, as I'm pretty sure I won't be helping in that area of the church next year. I feel strongly led by God to something else, but even in that leading there's some wrestling with myself I'm doing.

Tonight itself was especially crazy because my group was short one helper... Auntie Emily Woo (who's younger than I am, hahaha) is great with the kids. I also neglected to mention that on Tuesday I got switched to head a different group, a "combination" group of kids aged pre-K to first grade. Being the "head teacher" really isn't that difficult, though... I'm more worried about Friday's program, where the parents will be attending a presentation where each group of kids will be performing a song or skit. There past few days, the kids have been practicing this pretty simple song with a chorus that goes:

When we call (when we call) on Jesus
He will save us (He will save us)
When we fall (when we fall) big or small
He will save us (He will save us)

I often reflect when I work with kids how much they personify the child-like faith that all Christians aspire to have... that dogged, unshakeable trust in God and who He is. Going back to Sunday, when I mentioned Pastor Shin's message, the same issue is at the heart. Pastor Shin's message focused on how modern Christian doctrine has in many ways become "unbalanced" because of an overemphasis on certain aspects of God's character. For example, one of the popular verses that Pastor Shin examined was Psalm 37:4 which goes:

"Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.

While it is in God's character to give people what they want, far more important is God's desire to give us what is good for us and what we need (James 1:7. Pastor Shin told a simple anecdote about how one day, his young daughter was playing with a metal fork, sticking it everywhere... pillows, etc. But when she wanted to stick the fork into the electrical outlet, Pastor Shin stopped her... even as much as he loved her and wanted to let her do what she wanted, he didn't want her to get hurt. Of course, the analogy was told to parallel our relationship with God - God will not allow us to do/have things, no matter the intensity of our desire for them, if they will hurt us/keep our character from developing to be more like Him.

For myself, the message stroke home in that it illuminated a perspective that I only had glancingly considered before about my unemployment - perhaps more important than having a job and having money is the experience of having my character molded, shaped, and grown by the adversity that this period is creating.

Stuff for me to marinate on...
posted by G at 10:20 PM   | (0) comments

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33