It's time that I should make some dramatic changes. Diet, you are on the top of the list.

Rain is great! =D

Basketball season is here!

The newly revamped Lakers will take some getting used to...

LA Lakers 80, Seattle 87

Kobe's numbers with no mo' Shaq:
35 pts, 13-21 fg's, 7 3's, 1 reb, 3 asst, 4 TO, 41 min

Dang it. The control panel that activates the sunroof to my car broke off. While I was in the process of fixing it, the sunroof opened and now absolutely refuses to close. I don't know how I'm supposed to drive around from now on with the sunroof down all the time.

I looked at the back of the broken panel and it says, "Made in Mexico." Figures.

Those who gots them midterms/papers, good luck!

G
O

B
E
A
R
S
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"I was dreaming about it, and it happened,'' Finley said. "I wanted it. I knew I was going to get it done. When I walked to the plate, I knew the game was over. I even had a smile on my face, if I remember."

Wow, what a pimp..

Did THAT just happen?! Steve Finley: not a man, but a freakin machine! Jim Tracy, your very questionable trade has now made a believer out of every critic out there!

What a historic day for socal! The Dodgers AND the Angels in the playoffs together for the first time ever! Never will I doubt you again baseball!

And of course, GO BEARS!!!

I'm going over my favorite book with one of my tutor kids. My 6th grade summer school teacher would read aloud a chunk of this book everyday, and I promise that every person in that classroom cried at least once by the time we finished the whole story.

"I'm sure the red fern has grown and has completely covered the two little mounds. I know it is still there, hiding its secret beneath those long, red leaves, but it wouldn't be hidden from me for part of my life is buried there, too."

You're heartless if you don't cry after reading it. It has more meaning and substance than a sad, sappy korean drama ever will. This is one of two books that ever made me teary. The other book is called There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom by Louis Sachar. Don't dog on the title.

Some pictures from the joint EM retreat (Downey First, Westminster Pres. and Gospel Pres.) this past weekend at Big Bear. The speaker's (forgot name) messages were surprisingly refreshing as he talked about experiencing victory over sin in Judges. Upward spiral.

Dang, I haven't played so many games at a retreat since youth group. I've forgotten that other games do exist besides hold'em.

retreat highlights:
*playing mafia allll weekend. The dynamic of the game completely changes when you start off with only three people, one person being the mafia. No nightfall, but just accusations right off the bat. It's all persuasion baby. Try it! It's fun.
*playing Balderdash for the very first time. One person's answer to what I.T.T.A. stood for: I Talk To Aliens.
*playing Set, the puzzle game. This game is so fun. I want to get my own set of Set.
*skipping stones and throwing acorns in the lake
*Jullian's "Essence of the Church" video
*Cafe Night that gradually turned into a Freak Show. Dog-barking impersonations, Ahh-nold Governator impersonations, impromptu singing about Big Macs and Mr. Potato Head, eight grown men trying to sound like chorus of bagpipes. Literally all the guys from GPC knew how to break-dance.
*P. Jerry makin music.
*meeting some really good people.
*staying up till sunrise.

Big Bear Lake, 2004
Close your mouth Dickee. Katelyn enjoying ramyun. John with glee. Random ant. View of Big Bear Lake. I'm proud of this picture. On our way to the lake. Iris, Gene and Kylie. Jenny in shades. Allison, me, Phil, and Dickee. Sung destroying wife in Trivial Pursuit. Genius at work.

After watching a new episode of "The Apprentice" tonight, I can finally understand why it got so many raves and media attention last year. Dang, I wish I watched all of season 1. Stupid Stacie, she needs to be fired.

Reality shows are surprisingly getting better. I'm really looking forward to "The Real Gilligan's Island," in which the contestants are real-life versions of the castaways from the tv show who have to devise a way to get off the island. It shouldn't be too hard to cast a Gilligan or a MaryAnn, but I think a good Professor will be hard to find. I hope the producers cast a Professor who could really make clever inventions, like that pedal-powered washing machine.

Will be on a EM retreat for the weekend. Adios!

I've rediscovered chess ever since I got my new phone. It's finally nice to have a phone that displays more than two colors. The three other games on there are pretty lame. Especially the Ultimate Golf Challenge, which takes forever to load and the ball literally moves frame by frame.

But chess is really fun. I felt guilty playing it today during my tutoring time with one of my kids. I intentionally made him work on a lot of math problems while I was there so I could be left alone for a bit and finish my game. Then after he finished, I made him double-check his answers. Hahah.

There was this one time I played Paul in a freak game of chess about a year ago. I don't know how, but that shek got me in a checkmate in ten moves. I hated him for a while after that. I'd like to think that I beat myself that day.

Anyways, I remember that there's certain situation when the rook and the king are able to switch positions.. someone refresh my memory?

Cady is so freakin adorable:

"When I grow up, I want to be a crayon!"

Cal scored 97 points in its last two games combined. What would I give to have season tickets right now. Can we repeat again on Oct. 9th?

I can't believe it was only two years ago when we won only ONE stinkin game under Holmoe. Someone needs to buy Tedford a mansion in the Berkeley hills so that he never leaves.

Do I see Cal at the Rose Bowl in the future??

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edit: Geez, 300th post since conception. I'm glad I started a blog instead of a xanga.

Hard to believe three years had already passed.

Played some PartyPoker tonight since last playing it months ago. To show how much your bankroll can fluctuate, I started off with a measly $54,000, went up as high as $1.6 mill, then lost it all. Why have I yet to uninstall this??

Earlier, I watched three complete baseball games and two movies on tv today. I think I grew half an inch from hardly moving all day. Is it true that you're a bit taller in the morning as a result from laying down all night?

Gee, my fridays are so pathetic.

Berkeley was fun. I think I walked more in the past two days than I have the entire summer.

main events:
*breathing in the fresh bay area air
*savoring the first bite of my la burrita carne asada
*losing in every game of hold'em
*losing in every game of Super Smash Bros.
*meeting up with friendly faces
*walking on Sproul's newly paved plaza
*experiencing the incredible tri-tip steak sandwich at a small brazilian cafe
*minicar racing, cheap arcades, batting cages and miniature golfing at Scandia
*hearing news of Sang & Kimi's new baby
*worshipping at KCPC
*playing with Baby, Heidi, Nicole, Madison and David in nursery
*little Madison giving me a sweet goodbye hug
*walking down memory lane as slowly as possible

Thanks to Andy for driving, and to Rob, John, Kwan and Billy for letting us crash at your place!

Yup, this Kobe case wasn't gonna take off from the beginning. Case closed!

Berkeley this weekend!

Went to the Dave Matthews concert this past weekend at the Home Depot center. Words cannot adequately describe of how truly phenomenal it was.

Here's the setlist:

Saturday______________________________________...Sunday

The Stone___________________________...Don’t Drink the Water
When The World Ends__________________...................Hello Again
Satellite_____________________________............................Crash
#41________________________________.........One Sweet World
Joy Ride_____________________________...................Grey Street
Loving Wings___________________________.......Typical Situation
Where Are You Going__________________________.........Joy Ride
Warehouse_________________________________........Jimi Thing
Everyday__________________________........Song That Jane Likes
Ants Marching_____________________________............Sugar Will
Bartender__________________________________.........Too Much
Help Myself____________________________......Lie In Our Graves
Rhyme & Reason_______________________.......Drive In Drive Out
Hello Again________________________________........Crazy Easy
So Much To Say________________________________............Stay
Rapunzel

encores:
Granny____________________________.......What Would You Say
Two Step________________________.....All Along The Watchtower


Jem and Ben Harper were the openers. Didn't like Jem too much but Ben was cool. The second night was by far a heck of a lot rowdier than the first night. I'll never understand why cameras are strictly prohibited, but weed isn't. Amazing five minute jams that were so good I got chills. Best songs were #41, Everyday, Ants, Typical Situation, Jimi Thing, Too Much, WWYS, and Watchtower.

One of the highlights was during Dave's guitar solo of the second night. As I was watching the big screen, he looked really pissed all of a sudden. I clearly read his lips and realized that he was cursing at his guitar midway through his solo. I think it's probably because he messed up. And then his string broke near the end of that song. It must be so cool to be a kid whose sole job is to run out and hand Dave (or any guitarist) another guitar whenever a string breaks.

This was sadly the best quality picture I was able to take.
(from left to right: Boyd on violin, Dave, Carter on drums, Stefan on bass, LeRoi on sax)


if you'll be my Dixie chicken, I'll be your Tennessee lamb
we can walk together, down in Dixie land

Recently watched this certain movie replayed on tv, and it has one of the funniest lines I ever heard. Which movie is it from?

"Your levity is good. It relieves tension in the fear of death."

Winner gets two pretend eprops.

Tonight's dinner consisted of:

*Costco's Pierre chicken breast sandwich
*Costco's french bread pizza x2 (the rectangular one)
*Costco's Posada shredded beef burrito
*a couple glasses of 99-cent Manzana Aga apple soda (thanks Brian)

My YAG life has to be pretty dang pathetic if I'm writing about what I ate for dinner, even though it tasted sooo good. But it's sad that I can't ever write any more posts relating to what cruel poker punishments were dealt this time, or about who kicked our butts in IM softball this week, or how perfect the weather is. The list goes on...

At least let me see the newly-remodeled Sproul Plaza!

I miss you Berk. I admire everyone who is away at college, where you still have the freedom to skip class for no reason at all and feel great about it.

Astro Pic-of-the-Day worth taking a look:



Earth at night. All those city lights make it possible to see the outlines of entire countries. It's somber to see the stark difference between North and South Korea. That lone small dot in N.Korea is Pyongyang.

Weekend recap.

Reunion with Mrs. Lucke. Me, Cindy, Annette and Jackie had lunch at Cafe Tu Tu Tango (@ The Block) with Mrs. Lucke, our high school english teacher. She's so cool. I haven't seen her since graduating high school, but she was still her bubbly ol' self with the same corky sense of humor. She was giving us the low-down on some of the teachers we had in high school, a lot of the low-down which shocked me. I guess when you get older, you really begin to see your teachers more as three-dimensional social beings who do have other things going on in their lives besides teaching. And it's even weirder to know that I have same-age friends who are about to become middle-school teachers starting this September (congratulations Cindy and Annette!). Anyways, Cafe Tu Tu Tango serves ridiculously small portions of food and I would never go there again.

Mom's 51st birthday. Happy 51st. Our family plus uncle celebrated at the same dduk-bo-ssam place in Cerritos we've been going for the past month. I can't believe my entire family's birthdays are in August except mine.

After-church softball. Had a friendly game with OMC. Afterwards, Dickee threw a big bbq at his house. What a nice guy.

Dinner with Carolina. 'Twas a miracle to actually have gotten a couple hours out of this busy-body's schedule. Talked mostly about how great of a senior she's going to be and how cute Kwan is. ;P Thanks for dinner!

Hold'em with Dickee, Mike and Phil. Got cleaned out. Afterwards, showed them the Petals Around the Rose riddle with the dice. It was fun watching them struggle for over an hour.


I cant wait for the Dave Matthews concert this Saturday!! I get so giddy thinking about it.

Hm, Chomp sushi house in Fullerton wasn't worth the two-hour wait. =(

Today was an excellent day. Sophomore studs Brian Hwang and Richard Huh were gracious enough to drive all the way to Downey. I felt bad everytime they asked, "Dude, show us around Downey.. isn't there so much to do here??" but my only response thought to that was, You guys got played!

I showed them the O.E.M. (Oldest Existing McDonald's), but that was pretty lame. I don't know why I keep bringing people there. It's exactly the same as other McDonald's except that this one has a little crappy museum next door.

Downey's 99-cent store was next. Brian got a bottle of Manzana Aga for 99 cents, which was this shady-looking apple-flavored soda imported from Mexico. We all tasted it later that night, and it turned out not to be too shabby. He also got this 99-cent bottle of root beer, which for some reason, was located right in between the 99-cent booze and cheap wine.

We went to the ChoDang soondubu place in Cerritos for dinner. I swear the people there hated us because we caused so much trouble that night. It all started when Brian brought in his bottle of root beer since he wanted to make root beer floats using the free frozen yogurt machine in the back. But when the waitress came to take our order, she snatched it away from Brian because she mistakenly thought it was a bottle of hard liquor, which it really resembled. Brian gives a good narrative of what happened the rest of the night. Hahahah. Stinkin Richard and Brian, you guys are party animals.




I want some freakin soondubu right now. But I can't show my face there for at least a month.

More visual:

Gower & Mejeld's Wedding
Here are the guys at the hotel room a couple hours before the ceremony. Kevin being beautiful. Best man helping groom. Groomsmen changing. Sexy Tommy. Finished products! Guys in prayer. At last. P.Eug "in the zone." Slum, Andy, Basile, me. Basile between Kang sisters. Zoom in to see food in her mouth. Group picture with married folk.





random notes: Great to see familiar faces again. Andy on the brink of killing someone. Seeing Jahndee's "digestion dance" for the first and last time. Getting jacked by Dennis and John who switched the sugar with salt. Catching up with Billy Kim and Chongo.


Dodgers vs Marlins (lost 2-4) & hold'em @ Heuge's
Billy, Heuge, Elise, JiHoon, Karen. Look what you did Dreitfort. Shawn Green. Maybelline Ku. Never let this guy be chip leader. Heuge's pimp poker table that he handmade in one day.



random notes: Witnessing a fist fight between a guy and a girl on the deck above us. Wendy's jacking up our orders. Poker punishments: eating ketchup and a banana with the peel on. Talking about ddong-ggoh-mong hair. Billy showing the rest of us how to check for it.

Can't fall asleep. Too hot. Too many thoughts. Booga wooga neek nock nack.

Visual recap of the last couple days:

Camping at Malibu State Park
Katelyn and her sad puppy pose. Kylie pretending to be a ghost. Daniel Pok. Sleeping under the night sky. The dark picture shows the butt-end of a skunk which was rummaging through our trash late at night. Dickee Cho. Who sleeps with their glasses on??





Dad's birthday
Happy 54th!


Star Party at Seal Beach
Sung jdsn & college group. Only got to watch for half an hour before heavy clouds set in and ruined the party. Saw a couple great "photon cannons" though. Why do girls hold hands? Get a room Sun and Jenny.