they won



"I can't tell you how much I appreciate the privilege of being able to show you just how much the United States thinks of what you have done. You fought not only the enemy but you fought prejudice - and you won. Keep up that fight and we will continue to win - to make this great Republic stand for what the Constitution says it stands for..."

-President Harry S. Truman, July 1946, addressing the Nisei 100th/442nd RCT while awarding them their 7th Presidential Unit Citation.

.:.

Though I've read many books and met some survivors of the Japanese American internment camp experience, the story is always fresh when I hear it told again in their own voices. The various presenters at the "Faith & Race Conference" at Quest were no exception. The above picture is of a discussion panel of all Seattle area Nisei locals, one of them author Mary Matsuda Gruenewald. A large group of members from the Seattle Nisei Veteran's Committee came out too.

In a smaller 'workshop' setting, I listened with rapt attention as veterans recounted memories, repainting vividly the battles to save the Lost Battalion or the assault on the fortified Nazi Gothic line in Italy.

While the stories they told were without a doubt "war stories", the men never glorified the fighting or their own heroism in fighting. Instead, of moved by their humility, their repeating of that they were motivated to fight not for glory, but for their families, still unjustly imprisoned by the country they were protecting. In fact, more than a couple of the veterans recalled their memories as soldiers with humor - one vet laughed as he remembered his squad, while on a mission to attack German positions on the Gothic line, had to climb 3,000 feet, 60 degree incline that was covered with mines, while dressed full battle gear in the dead of night. Having to maintain complete silence, the point man of the squad would have to silently mark the mines with nothing but...

...toliet paper. Pretty clever, eh?

I suppose part of my fascination with many of the Nisei WWII veterans is the fact that my maternal grandfather was also a WWII vet. But because he died before I was even born, I sometimes feel like I was robbed of the benefit of his experiences - I'll never be able to hear his story and his perspective from those times. In some sort of strange way, though I'll never be able to listen to him speak of his experiences, I still feel I can honor his service by listening to experiences of other men in his generation who share a similar background.


.:.


When I think of everything that the Nisei women and men of that generation went through, I'm completely in awe of their personal strength, courage, and yes, even hopeful. Many of the speakers were not shy in sharing that they believe the current anti-Arab/anti-Muslim hysteria here in America eerily parallels the treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII, and they feel determined to speak out against it, even though very few people spoke out for them. Most of the survivors are now in their late 70s and 80s, but they still have this unspoken passion, this fire that radiates from them.

For myself, I can't even begin to fathom what would happen if I were in their circumstances today. Though I'd like to believe I could be just as strong, I suspect that if their ever happened to be a war with China, and the US government threw my family and every Chinese American into prison camps, that I would feel more likely to scream to "FU" than "OK" if they asked me enlist in the army. I'm not sure my belief in the "goodness" of the American ideals of freedom, equality, and democracy are strong enough.

On the otherhand, many of the survivors of that time are quick to attribute their fortitude to faith rather than personal strength. One veteran jokingly remarked that when he was a soldier, he used to always think to himself, "God likes to use sinners and fools... so I gotta be near the top of his list." That made me think... because I'm both those categories as well.

My heartful thanks to all the Nisei I met for the privilege of hearing them share their stories.

.:.


While hearing the stories of the Nisei at the 'Faith and Race Conference" were definitely a highlight for me, there were some other interesting discussions as well. I'll probably about them later, but one last link - some nice photography of the former camp sites.
posted by G at 11:25 PM   | (3) comments

i <3 Seattle Times

Even though they never gave me a chance at a job, I still love reading The Seattle Times. People in this area I think are spoiled by having a Pulitzer Prize-level newspaper.

.:.

My favorite columnist Jerry Large has written some good columns recently on rap music, cultural traditions, the 'coolness' of hybrid SUVs, and even video games. I suspect most people who read his work are baby boomers / parents, but I still enjoy his writing anyways.

.:.

Why I avoid trucks carrying heavy cargo on the freeway... a mother and daughter revise the law, and rebuild their lives.

.:.

An interesting article on marriage & divorce... marriage as a learned behavior; can divorce be foretold? According to the study, the risk factors for divorce:

-Having divorced parents
-Marrying young
-Living together before engagement
-Being previously divorced or marrying a divorced partner
-Having a child before marriage (and, to a lesser extent, getting pregnant before the wedding)
-Being much older or younger than your spouse
-Marrying someone of a different race
-Following different religions or no religion
-Having low education levels

Divorce rate in America is still around 40%.
posted by G at 5:50 PM   | (0) comments

hip-hop, conflict diamonds, rings

It's been out for awhile, but I feel the new Kanye West song "Diamonds Are Forever" deserves a mention. It's good to see that he's continuing his trend of making social conscious music, this time focusing on the subject of conflict diamonds and one of the poorest countries in the world, Sierra Leone.

As I'm fond of interpreting hip-hop lyrics, let me break down his verse from the remix in a scholarly fashion...

[Kanye West]
Good Morning, this ain't Vietnam still
People lose hands, legs, arms for real
Little was known of Sierra Leone
And how it connect to the diamonds we own

Greetings. Though the US-Vietnam conflict has been over, the reality is that war still claims a visible physical cost on human life. In fact, people are ignorant of the country of Sierra Leone and its link to the diamonds we possess.

When I speak of diamonds in this song
I ain't talkin bout the ones that be glown
I'm talkin bout Rocafella, my home, my chain
These ain't conflict diamonds,is they Jacob? don't lie to me man

The diamonds I discuss in this song are not commercially successful songs I've made. I refer instead to my record label and material possessions such as my house and my jewelry. Jacob, please verify without falsehood that these diamonds in the jewelry I possess are not conflict diamonds!

See, a part of me sayin' keep shinin',
How? when I know of the blood diamonds
Though it's thousands of miles away
Sierra Leone connect to what we go through today
Over here, its a drug trade, we die from drugs
Over there, they die from what we buy from drugs
The diamonds, the chains, the bracelets, the charmses
I thought my Jesus Piece was so harmless
'til I seen a picture of a shorty armless

A part of me would like to continue to indulge in a flagrant display of wealth, but my conscience is struck by the awareness of conflict diamonds. Sierra Leone lies a considerable distance from my present location, but is still linked to the life we experience here in North America. At our location, the trafficking in illegal narcotics is a cause of death. In Sierra Leone, the cause of death can be attributed to the diamonds purchased from wealth generated by illegal narcotics. I believed that diamonds, necklaces, bracelets, charms, and even the Christian crucifix I own were inconsequential until I viewed a photograph of a young child without arms.

And here's the conflict
It's in a black person's soul to rock that gold
Spend ya whole life trying to get that ice
On a Polo rugby it look so nice
How could somethin' so wrong make me feel so right, right?
'fore I beat myself up like Ike
You could still throw ya Rocafella diamond tonight, 'cause...

This is my dilemma - there seems to be a intrinsic desire inside of many black people to attain a material symbol of weath. People devote their entire existence struggling to obtain diamonds that fashionably compliment a designer Polo t-shirt. How is it possible that such a morally flawed object gives me a positive emotional response? Before I wrack myself with guilt in a manner similar to the physical abuse of Ike Turner, it's possible for you to appreciate this song.

(Kanye West - "Diamonds Are Forever Remix")

You can download a sample of the song right here. (right click + "save as")


.:.



Though a number of my friends and family have gotten engaged / married the past few years, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone discussing the issue of diamonds in our culture and the relationship to conflicts in Africa, such as Sierra Leone. If I'm ever able to afford a engagement ring, I don't think my conscience would let me buy a diamond unless I knew with a strong degree of confidence that it wasn't a conflict diamond.

Unfortunately, this can be very difficult to determine.

One of the reasons for the growing success of the artificial diamond industry (besides making more natural stones) is that an artificially made diamond is 100% guaranteed to not be a conflict diamond from Africa and not connected to atrocities like child soldiers.

Or the latest inovation in rings: biojewellery! Rings are 'grown' from a sample of bone taken from their partner and combined with precious metals. Fascinating idea.
posted by G at 5:20 PM   | (2) comments

faith & race conference...

...is this weekend. It's open to everyone and the line-up looks to be quite cool - Dr. Bob Eklad, a panel discussion of Japanese American internment survivors & war veterans, a workshop on Christianity & hip-hop.

You can register for the conference here.

It'll be good...
posted by G at 11:09 PM   | (0) comments

the ugliness inside


(Gar + zefrank)

I consider myself a relatively safe driver who doesn't tailgate or speed excessively... but last night was exception.

As I was out driving for a late night food run, I had an episode of road rage. This punk(driving an SUV of course) cut me off really close, slowed down, and almost caused me to rear-end her. What pissed me off even more was that there was no need to cut me off... we're driving at night, on an uncrowded, two lane road. It was completely unnecessary.

I then sort of lost it... I high-beamed her and followed her closely around for a little, even past where I was going to go home. While the rational part was saying, "What the hell are you doing?", the darkside of me almost wished we crashed into each other, so I could have the pleasure of beating the living sh*t outta whoever was the driver. I swear, it wouldn't have mattered whoever was in that car. I was ready to tear their head off and spit on their lifeless corpse... but after my rage abated and my senses returned, I eventually just turned off and left.

Chasing someone around at 3AM in the morning isn't the smartest thing to do, and given the fact that I'm non-white male acting strangely, I'm sure there would have been a cop more than happy to bust 5 slugs into my head like poor Mr. Jean Charles de Menezes if I got caught.

I'm very well aware isn't so nice to erupt into an psychotic episode of chasing someone down in my car. But I guess I'm not feeling very peaceful of late.

The deadlines march onward.
posted by G at 4:59 PM   | (2) comments

"i know kung fu!"

G-sak showed me this video of this white guy fighting... and I laughed. Hard.

Check out the video here.

The guy looks a bit sloppy on the foot work and too rigid on the posture, but hey, at least he throws a good right hook when it counts.
posted by G at 6:27 PM   | (0) comments

melting


(Gar + zefrank)


It's like being bumped into and losing the ice cream you bought with your last dollar. Honestly, that's what it feels like a lot in my life. The past 3-4 years or so.

No matter how hard I work at something, no matter how much I believe in something, no matter how sincerely I devote myself to something, there's always a loss to be taken. The feeling of being disappointed sucks the most when you know you've tried as hard as you possibly can and still come up short.

School. Career. Church. Personal goals. Relationships. God.

I think it happens so much that I'm no longer bothered by it as much as used to be. Maybe I've finally come to the full acceptance of the fact that the face of heaven smiles upon some, while others are left languish in the shadows. As a member of the latter group, there comes a certain resignation. It hollows you out and dampens your passion. It's the mechinization of the human being from spiritual creature who enjoys life to just creature who eats, drinks, sleeps... and drinks some more.

The effect of all this is probably starting to show too much in me. Some people are noticing. I've being receiving some letters lately, the most recent one being a nice one from my uncle. It was a thoughtful letter, but at the same time, I couldn't help but think it reminded me of many of the same letters and cards I received the year that my father died, the gist of many of which were, "Sorry that things suck now, but don't worry, they'll be much better in the future."

Somewhere, the cosmos is laughing hysterically that over 16 years later, I'm still receiving the same mail.

When I got baptized my senior high school, I was sure life would be different. I spent my entire college career trusting that God would make so. My faith at the time made being optimistic seem viable and reasonable. Then came my last year in college. Three deaths in the family in less than 3 months. Then over 2 years praying and looking for work while taking odd jobs and trying to be patient. Then came a year and half in Japan, and I thought I rounded another corner... only to return home to being jobless again, and my savings from my year in Japan devoured by a car and more bills. I got into grad school and hoped that finally things would turn around. Instead, nothing has changed. Just weeks away and I have a crapload of work to do, tuition to raise, finding a place to live, and my sanity in the meantime.

I'm tired of trying to look forward to the future. I'd like for once in my life to be able to soberly enjoy now. But instead, I'm just waiting for the next disappointment. The next letdown. The next disaster. Because that's all I'm familiar with, because my choices always lead to that. It could be fate, destiny.

And yet, I'm still the one that always feels like a dumbass, the fool staring at his dreams, as they melt on the sidewalk under a blistering sun. Maybe it's finally time to just move on and leave it all behind.
posted by G at 3:37 AM   | (6) comments

...

Another serious bombing... this time in Egypt at a resort, killing 88 people. Egyptian Bloggers like this writer have harsh words to describe the attack:

Of course, I have to stress again that this is proof that Bush has failed. I said it before, and I'm saying it again. Ok don't question Bush for that war on terror, but have him think of some other way to do it maybe? I hate to admit it, but Hosni Mubarak, our wise president, was right when he said that the war in Iraq will create a thousand Bin Ladens. He said that and then somehow he managed to do every single thing the US asked of him afterwards!

I can't say I disagree, though I would point out that to place all the blame for US foreign policy on Bush is to give the man too much credit... the blame rests just as much on members of his administration, and politicians who have monopolized our government for a long time, in both the Republican and Democratic parties. Just check out this picture of our secretary of defense, Donald "I don't fully equip our soldiers" Rumsfeld.



I betcha he isn't shaking hands or visiting with Uncle Saddam now.


.:.


In happier news, congrats to Abe and Heidi on the engagement.
posted by G at 4:28 PM   | (0) comments

gaaaw

I hate crowds, but I hate traffic even more.

Just 8 days left and counting until Armageddon. Time to ramp up the pro-hermitage.

.:.

This is pretty interesting... the flags campaign "Meet the World".
posted by G at 3:29 PM   | (0) comments

news news

Blue news for a blue day... another set of bombings in London, about two weeks after the original attack on July 7th. While details are sketchy about whether it's a copycat or the same group, I'm at least thankful that this attack was incompetently carried out... so far, no fatalities have been reported and the authorities are in pursuit.

I wonder if reaction to this latest set of attacks will be just as toxic as the first. This blog quoted some seriously disturbing comments from a conservative website in the aftermath of the first attack.

Check out what our "civilized West" had to say then and is probably saying now:

• "Muslims - f*ck them, f*ck them all"
  
  
• "...NUKE THE FREAKIN AREA... MAKE IT A PARKING LOT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS! WIPE THE EARTH CLEAN OF THESE COWARDS!"
  
  
• "Time to shutdown every mosque in London and ship all of them back to their place of origin."
  
  
• "There is and has been an enornmous groundswell of mistrust/hate/whatever you want to call it, towards the muslim faith and their 'rights'. I don't know anyone here who is sympathetic to this pissant religion, and after this, who knows what may happen. We ain't Spanish cowards, we ain't French rollovers, and we ain't German girls."
  
  
• "Time for the Roman decimation theory. Romans chose to kill one in 10 enemies as reprisals for any attacks on their territory. Just imagine if we applied this to Islam - 130 million fewer Muslims. Time to get the Tridents ready."
  
  
• "DEATH TO THE LLL'S (Loony Liberal Left) AND MSM (Main Stream Media)TRAITORS"
  
  
• "My blood is boiling, I think the time is coming when people of free nations, might have to establish organizations like the minutemen, and go mosque to mosque and start rounding up the bad guys. The government seems to be to pc for any real action. The people know who the enemy is, it is Islam and it should be destoyed. Right now as I see it, they want to destoy freedom, so it's destoy or be destroyed, I'm for the former.
  
  Give them a chance to get out, after that shut down the mosque, by any means necessary. Send in the demolition squads, and no I don't care if any korans are burnt, we need to take the battle to the enemey, and again the enemy is Islam, the cult of death, the religion of satan, they follow the words of a pedophile,rapist,pillager,thug."
  
  
• "Just kill them all and let G_d sort them out. It's time to put an end to this evil ideology. It's not a religion. It's a death cult. Plain and simple."
  
  
• "Goddamn left wing bastards are as much our enemy as the Islamonazis."
  
  
• "But the LLL's say "Oh but the guy at 7-11" or "Oh but the Cab Driver" "Oh but the (insert random muslim taking money here) is so nice." "The muslims here are so nice and religious, they would never do someting like that, blahblahblah yadda yadday friggin' yadda."
  
  Shove that crap back up your prissy-pink PeeCee grandmothers ass once and for all.
  
  I'm sure that there were "nice" NAZIS, KLANSMEN and KHMER ROUGE as well you f-ing BOZO. Being "nice" and innocuous is not enough to get you off the hook. If you support "ISLAM" then you support this kind of shit, ergo you don't deserve the protections of Western Society in order to spread your sickness.
  
  If these were "spreaders of virulent tuberculosis" instead of "Muslims" they would be hunted down mercilessly until every last one was quarantined or eliminated. There would be no outcry over the "civil rights" of the infected. I am telling you, that ISLAM is a disease even worse. ISLAM WILL DESTROY YOU UNLESS YOU DESTROY IT.
  There is a window of opportunity now.
  STOP ALL IMMIGRATION OF MUSLIMS
  INTERN ALL MUSLIMS
  DEPORT ALL MUSLIMS BACK TO ISLAMIC TURDISTAN
  RENOUNCE MOHAMMED OR GO BACK TO YOUR ISLAMIC SHITHOLE
  Mohammed is the Devil.
  Islam is an abomination before God
  Death to Islam
  It's the only way to save ourselves."

Aiyah. A quote from Nietzche comes to mind.

"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. When you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."


.:.


In other less important news...

-Microsoft Sues Google Over Departure of Taiwanese American Exec

-Grand Theft Auto: San Adreas Gets Slapped With 'Adults Only' Rating

And the world keeps turning.
posted by G at 5:24 PM   | (2) comments

countdown

About 10 more days until the first deadline. The short list of things on my plate:

1. Finish grad school pre-course work
2. Wing Luke Asian Museum video exhibits / text
3. CoHi Film Project scripting / meetings / filming
4. Help Shiv move
5. Find a job to help pay for expenses
6. Figure out finances/sell my soul for grad school
7. Find a place to live for school
8. Finish grad school book reading list
9. Warm Beach?

Bah, so many things to do... and just about all of them need to be done in the next month.
posted by G at 11:48 AM   | (2) comments

LA re-cap in pictures

Finally got them off my camera... beat ya, Steph! Still haven't started my laundry yet, though... heh.


From a goofy gift stop in Westwood. I'm always happy to find my name... it's usually never around.



Roscoe's chicken and waffles... mmm. I got dark meat.



In the frozen yogurt store in Old Pasadena with Steph, Simo, and Jerm.



Hahaha. Yeah, I still have a juvenile sense of humor.



The church where the wedding was at... cozy place in Westwood.



Mandatory wedding PDA.



Steph, Amy Nish, Jerm.



My only good photo of the Korean wedding ritual during the banquet.



Mrs. and Mr. Kwon come to visit our table.



My favorite pic... the old crew. UWAACF 2000-01, represent!



My cousin, who graciously let me crash at his place. He loves his steaks.
posted by G at 11:33 PM   | (4) comments

hui jia le

I'm home. Feels odd though.
posted by G at 11:44 PM   | (0) comments

and another...



Well, Joe and Grace's wedding went off without any hitches this past Saturday, and even though I was briefly delayed, I arrived with Steph and Simon on time to catch the entire beautiful ceremony at a cozy church in Westwood.

They held the reception at a Korean-Chinese (or Chinese-Korean?) restaurant in K-town called "Dragon". The banquet had the typical events such as speeches by the best man and the maid in honor, tossing the bouqet and garter, along with a performance of a cool Korean wedding tradition to show respect to the parents of the groom & bride, paebaek, which reminded me of family tea ceremonies at Chinese weddings.

The night eventually ended with a small gathering of close friends at hotel lounge for drinks, which I was nicely invited to. The original planned venue got overbooked though, so it got moved to a fancy hotel at Santa Monica which was charging $9 for a single shot of JW on the rocks! Needless to say, my poor self opted for just a $5 Guinness instead which was plenty for the short evening... no late nights out, fully toasted and passed out on an LA curb.

Congrats again to Grace and Joe!

.:.

Today was pretty chill. I went with my cousin to his church, Grace Community Church, a huge church out in Sun Valley. The college service alone featured a huge congregation, which was diverse but mostly white and Asian (a Christian phenomenon in "multi-ethnic" churches that I have several thoughts on, none of which are probably too popular or uncontroversial). The sermon was different from what I'm normally used to in that it was a hard-core Scriptural exposition of eschatology, focusing on the argument of pre-tribulation Rapture. Not the most seeker friendly topic, but it was interesting.

Post-church, my cousin took me to a nice sushi joint in Japantown, where I had another flashback to Japan when the staff yelled "Irrashai!" as we walked in. After lunch, we also got to check out the Giant Robot store, where I was solely tempted to buy a cool t-shirt or even a Domokun keychain, but the lightness of my wallet reminded me again of my poverty and I had to go without. Oh well.

Tomorrow is my last day in LA and it's back to Seattle.
posted by G at 11:27 PM   | (2) comments

driving, eating, driving, more eating...

...that pretty much sums up this past Friday.

In the morning, Steph picked me up early to get Simon arriving at LAX and pick-up the new rental car. We got a bit of late start, but things went off nicely without a hitch. After getting both Simon and the car (in about that order), we headed off to meet Jermaine (former UW AACF staffer now at UCLA and May (Steph's friend) for lunch at a restaurant called 'Sam Woo' next to a Ranch 99. Chinese food tastes really good when you're craving it, especially salt & pepper pork.

After lunch, Jermaine lead us to old Pasadena, where we wandered around the various shops. There wasn't too much to see, but it did enjoy two places - a used CD/record/DVD shop where I bought a bootleg mixtape CD, and a frozen yogurt shop similar to Coldstone where I got this vanilla yogurt with crushed Oreos in it. Other than that, there wasn't too much to see, though the walking was good exercise.

We also stopped by a Barnes & Noble to kill some time, escape the heat, and enjoy the air conditioning. I ended up reading gun magazines and browsing another Shusaku Endo book. Since this week is the release of the new Harry Potter book, they were taking reservations for copies and handing out free Harry Potter fashion schwag.

Check out these nerds:



Crazy tourists.

At night, still feeling the effects of all the Chinese food and frozen yogurt that was devoured, we opted for something a bit lighter (but still tasty), so we headed to K-town for some soon doo boo. I dialed for assistance and davephonic kindly directed us to a BCD Tofu House, where Susan was added to the entourage. The eating was good, but I must admit... the Korean food felt lonely in my stomach without any soju.

The wedding is roughly in 12 hours. Whoohooo.
posted by G at 1:22 AM   | (3) comments

LA times

LA is freakin' hot.

It's been an interesting time here in LA already... my cousin has been a good host, trying to keep me amused - last night, he picked me up at LAX and we went to see a concert at this mega-church out in northern LA by these guys, Shane & Shane. I had heard of Shane Barnard before from G-Sak, but I wouldn't consider myself much an expert on their music (or most contemporary Christian pop music, for that matter).

The church they performed at was huge, but what impressed me was the talent and honesty of their performance - just simple acoustic guitar and the two of them singing, prefaced with an introduction of them saying, "We're not passionate about worship music. We're not passionate about performing. We're passionate about God." Props.

Today I spent time relaxing at my cousin's apartment while he was at work until I met up with Steph who arrived this morning and rented a car. We ended up wandering Westwood together, bought some tasty iced matcha ice cream drinks from a hole-in-the-wall joint, and concluded that compared to Telegraph by UC Berkeley or 'The Ave' by U-Dub, Westwood is pretty lame.

We met my cousin for dinner in the evening, an experiene that was a first for me - eating at Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles. Damn good.
posted by G at 9:42 PM   | (5) comments

...and he's off

Up early to finish packing... and then it's off to LA. No happy pictures of my face to post this time, unlike last time.

by the rivers of babylon
where we sat down
and there we wept
when we remembered zion

'cause the wicked carried us away into captivity
and required from us a song
how can we sing the Lord's song
in a strange land?

Traveling music right here (right click + save as) inspired by Psalm 137 and the Rastafari movment.
posted by G at 9:32 AM   | (2) comments

dumplings and death



Jiaozi. Gyoza. Potstickers. Dumplings. They're tasty no matter what name you call them. It's also the perfect late night snack... brings back fond memories of eating at various izakaiya with friends or with co-workers after work while I was in Japan. Good food to have alcohol with too.

My mom bought a huge bag of frozen dumplings from Costco recently, so I've been practicing my dumpling cooking skillz to get the right combination of crunchy on one side and soft on the other. The initial frying is easy; the determining factor seems to be the timing of adding water, how much water you add, and how long you leave them covered while the water is steaming. Too much water and they'll be soggy... too little water, and they'll be rock hard from over-frying. Keeping them under the cover for too long or too short a time can also have similar effects.

I got my technique down, though. Boo yeah.

I've always enjoy cooking for myself, but lately, even moreso. Being hungry is part of it; the other part being that cooking itself is a distraction that allows me to focus on the moment... and not on the future.

.:.

I would like to look forward to a lot of things, but at the moment, I just don't see them happening. Lately, my mind has become unable to visualize them.

The topic of death came up in this past evening's Bible study as we were talking about the prophecies and the doctrine of resurrection in the last book of Daniel. Everyone had their own reaction, but honestly, for a group of 20-something guys, all of whom are unmarried and still looking for permanent careers, it seemed like nobody really varied that much in their responses. Maybe because the stage of life we're at, we still retain a vestige of youthful ignorance of our own mortality.

Or maybe it's an attitude of indifference.

My own contact with death has made me more or less fatalistic about my own existence, rather than becoming a person who obsesses about whether or not I can prevent my own proverbial kicking-the-bucket. At this point in my life, if I were to die, I'm sure I'd regret a couple things - not getting married, not having kids, not traveling more around the world, not writing a book, not learning more languages... but I doubt I'd be kicking or screaming over my expiration.

Or in more ridiculous terms: At anytime the dumpling of my mortal existence is liable to be plucked off the plate of this planet and shoved into the gaping jaws of death, to grinded and chewed, swallowed into the digestion of the afterlife.

The unfairness of this world (it's familiar to me, after all) is such that I figure if God wants me to die, I'll be dead. Not much I can do about that... I just hope the manner of my passing isn't too protracted or shameful.
posted by G at 3:23 AM   | (5) comments

food for fong

It was an early start today... but when someone offers to make you breakfast, it's hard to say no. I got to visit Faith Bible, and afterwards, I went with Shiv & Tiana as they signed the lease on their new place.

I'm jealous. I think I'm going to be living in a cardboard box.

Afternoon was listening to auditions for CoHi Film Project.

.:.

In the evening, I was originally planning to go to whirleyball and Korean food, but I received a sort late invitation during the week to a party instead. Being that I've known my friend Chris (whose blog template looks like it arrange by a deranged squirrel with microscopic vision) for more than two decades now, I elected to bump his birthday up in priority.

Befitting his personal passions, his birthday celebration was a flurry of culinary consumption carnage, where a hungry pack of guys consumed mass quantities of food over the course of an hour at a probably (soon to be impoverished) Chinese buffet restaurant.

Post-dinner, it was back to his house to eat pie and collectively contemplate the sage wisdom of Dave Chappelle.

Later, Chris taught the group how to play this card game similar to "Mafia" called Bang! - a game modeled after a Cowboy Western gunfight where outlaws try to kill the sheriff, deputies try to protect the sheriff, and renegades want to wack everybody else, with the sheriff being last. It also gives a person with adolescent humor like myself the chance to say things like, "Haha, you just got banged by him... TWICE!" and laugh. Hard.

Ironically, as we were leaving the party, Chris' mom informed us that there had been a shooting on the freeway and the on-ramp near his house was closed. I drove about a half-mile north to another exit, and as I headed back south on the freeway, I saw 3 lanes closed off by flares as a skirmish line of police officers walked along, looking for evidence... probably looking for spent bullet casings of whatever gun was popped off.

I drove home fast, with 88.5 classic jazz blaring. I'm tired.
posted by G at 11:53 PM   | (2) comments

Lost...



When I first heard about the show I was skeptical - a plane crash? People stuck on an island? And some Korean American characters who can't even speak English? Another stoic Asian American male character? The heck?! I'm a self-admitted TV hater, disgusted with the numerous shallow characters and vapid plotlines... I prefer the self-contained stories within the medium of a movie.

But the hype is true - Lost is a great show.

I found the pilot on BitTorrent and got so hooked, I got my hands on the entire season to watch it. I finally finished it today... all 25 episodes.

What makes the show so compelling? The drama? The diverse cast of people? The mystery surround the crash and the island? Sure, all those things are compelling... but more than anything, it was the spiritual nature of the show that I enjoyed.

The exploration of human fraility and the struggle to conquer it... each character brings baggage to the island, and I'm not referring to their luggage. It wasn't until a few episodes into the show that I finally realized that Lost refers not only to their physical situation (being stuck on an island) or their mental capacity (not fully understanding the mystery of the island). I realized Lost refers to the condition of the souls of each of the characters - each of their respective falls from grace, and their struggles toward one of most elusive things in this broken world...

...redemption.

There's a lot more than meets the eye to the show. I think everybody should watch it... the DVD comes out September 6th. This first season of Lost really is some of the best TV I've seen in a looooong time.

I just hope the second season doesn't suck.
posted by G at 11:24 PM   | (7) comments

i'm keeper of the grove, beyotch

A few months ago, I noticed a new plant in front of my house that my mom had planted. Since my car is parked in the driveway, not the garage, I have to exit via the front door everyday and pass this particular plant. Actually, "pass" isn't a good description. "Walk completely around" would be more accurate - because of the height of the plant's stalk, the stupid thing would droop down in front of my path everyday.

I don't why, but the plant would just piss me off. I'd frequently kick it or slap it out of the way. Other days, I'd talk some smack to it as I'd hit it like, "Goddamn green piece of crap" or my multi-use word "BASTARD". Every trip to my car became an episode of some inter-species, human-on-plant violence.

Than it happened one morning, while I was at home feeling pretty crappy, that I was walking out of the house to pick up the newspaper, that I had an epiphany of sorts. I just stood in my driveway staring at the drooping plant. By random circumstance, life had just basically crapped a big stinking brown turd on this plant. After all, the plant hadn't asked my mom to be put there, a target for my daily abuse. It just ended up there.

I didn't feel like hitting it anymore, but at the same time, it still annoyed me that it was drooping in my path. So I went into the house, found an old long stick, and went to work, KotG style - I stuck the stick in the ground parallel to the base of the plant and then tied twine around the plant to the stick to pull it away from the walkway.

A few weeks later, I noticed the plant was actually growing something, even after all the ass-kicking it had previously took from me... some nice flowers. Flowers that'll probably pollenate and make my allergies go haywire until I sneeze to death.

Bastard.



Why am I writing about plants and pink flowers, anyways? I dunno. I think I must be going crazy...
posted by G at 3:48 PM   | (7) comments

bombs for bombs

The UK has been a lot in the news lately... the G-8 summit, the winning bid of the 2012 Olympics, and now tragically, a coordinated bomb attack on its transportation system that has already claim about 40 lives and injured 700 others. My prayers are with everyone there, especially former Brit co-workers from my time in Japan.

As my friend wisely observes, violence breeds more violence, and I can't help but wonder if the recent US invasion and occupation of Iraq has created more problems than it's solved. After all, it's been about 4 years since the awful events of September 11th, but do we really live in a safer and more peaceful world?

We've declared a "war on terror", a ridiculous term because you can't exactly fight against a method - and in all honesty, that's what "terror" is - the spread of fear and intimidation by random acts of violence. We point out Al Qaida, Hamas, the IRA, and other groups, waving our fingers in condemnation, and yes, the crimes they have committed are truly evil.

But if Americans are honest with themselves, our history is marred with the same practices as the very terrorists we fight - the blanket imprisonment of Japanese Americans during WWII; the lynchings and church bombings of the Civil Rights era; the various guerilla armies in South America funded, trained, and equipped with full USA support (School of the Americas, anyone?) Even events as recent as the sexual molestation of a 10 year old girl by a US soldier on Okinawa should remind Americans like myself that we are as a human and capable of depravity as the terrorists that bombed London today.

Yes, we can be "bad guys" too.

So what now? Will we lash back at them, bomb their innocents, maim their women and children? Do we obey our dark impulses to seek bloody, mindless vengeance and continue the circle of hatred until we annihilate each other?

Don't get me wrong, justice should be served and those who are directly behind the bombing should be arrested... but I just hope our search for justice and peace doesn't become an excuse to indescriminately attack another country when the true enemy still lies within.
posted by G at 10:40 PM   | (0) comments

faith & race

That's why I hear new music and i just don't be feelin it
Racism still alive they just be concealin' it/
-Kanye West "Never Let Me Down"

Every Tuesday night the past couple of weeks, I've been attending the Faith & Race class at Quest that Dave gave me the heads up on. The focus of the class is built around the cleverly named book "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" by Beverly D. Tatum, PhD.

While I'm not a n00b on the topic of race, this class marks the first time that I've talked about the issue from a spiritual standpoint with other Christians.

The faith component definitely leads to more mature discussions compared to some that I had when I took a couple of classes in AsianAm studies at the UW - feelings tend to run a little bit on the pissy side sometimes. And in a topic as complex as racism in America, I think that hearing people's personal experiences and thoughts on the issue is the most educational part of class, especially considering that a large portion of the people in the class are very different from myself in terms of race and background.

My only "disappointment" with the class so far is that the class is almost exclusively White and Asian American, which seems limiting when you consider the fact that we're reading a book that primarily addresses questions of racism in terms of the concepts of Blackness and Whiteness in America. A single chapter is devoted to Asian, Pacific Islander, Latino/Latina, and Native American issues, along with the subject of multiracial families. Of course, it's also fair to say that I don't really know of any books that discuss White / Asian American relations in depth either...

...and if you're thinking of Joy Luck Club, I'd rather be slapped around by Michelle Malkin, a conservative lapdog and proponent of racial profiling.

Speaking of Malkin, the end of the Faith & Race class will culminate in a mini-conference with a variety of speakers, including survivors of the Japanese American incarceration and veterans of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit of its size in the history of the US military. I'm really looking forward to hearing their stories.
posted by G at 11:44 PM   | (0) comments

oof

I need to stop passing out on the couch.
posted by G at 12:07 PM   | (2) comments

burrrrrrrrrn



No bears or crazed mountainfolk this weekend, but there was tons of food, time hanging out with friends, camp games, and my personal favorite: fire.

The 4th July approaches. I hope it's a safe and fun weekend for everyone.
posted by G at 10:19 PM   | (1) comments

the great outdoors

Watching episodes of Lost probably wasn't the greatest preparation for this weekend's camping trip, but as long as it doesn't end up Deliverance-esque, I'll be fine.

I wonder if I'll see a bear.
posted by G at 1:42 PM   | (2) 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