from the "what were they thinking?" dept.

You'd never know how interesting this world of ours is, until you step outside the hyper-commercialized, standard-of-living-so-high-you-could-fall-off-and-die, fat and lazy, awesome country that is the US of A. I was sorting through all my digital pics, and I came across some that I took in Taiwan which I forgot to post. I feel fairly certain that I will never see this in America. I present to you..........well, see for yourself.

I found this in The Body Shop (a Bath and Body Works kind of store). The chinese sticker on it means "for sample use". You'd think it was a spray....

....but no, it's a roll-on.

If you want it done right....

Since I have not found any satisfactory online picture hosting solutions (read: free with lots of features and easy to use), I just decided to host them myself.

If you want to see ALL the pictures that were taken during the 2004 Taiwan Mission Trip, please find the Link on this page.

You don't have to bookmark this link, because there will be a "real" URL soon. It's going to be calculon.no-ip.org. However, that isn't working yet, because the DNS servers (servers that tell you where to go when you type in stuff like yahoo.com) aren't updated yet.

This is hosted on my personal computer in my room. Please tell me if it is too slow, or if the comments don't work, or what have you. This is very much an experiment, so don't expect too much. But please let me know what's wrong and how it can be improved.

I got tired of putting captions on all of the pictures. If you want to help out, let me know, and I'll give you an account so you can edit stuff.

Comments can be placed by anyone with or without an account.

They don't make em like they used to

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

The scene: A 20-something year old's town house. A spacious place, but cluttered. There are signs that only a bachelor lives here. The living room is intruded by two monumental pieces. One is a large 50-inch projection TV, the other a 130 gallon aquarium. They are like yin and yang; one representing the sophistication and complexity of technology while the other a representation of the beauty and simplicity of nature. There are scraps of paper strewn about, and numerous gadgets wantonly placed in places that could only be random. The kitchen has dishes in the sink, some probably more than a week old. In order to navigate to the bathroom, you must pick where to step around various articles of clothing, trashcans, and boxes. It is raining outside. Hard. The time is late evening.

There sits 6 people around the kitchen table. Each is of Asian descent, but all fall under the all-encompassing catch-phrase "Asian-American". They range in age from 23-27. They speak candidly about life topics. Jokes are as numerous as the drops of rain pouring outside the window. They are playing poker.

All seems well, but none of them could be prepared for what happens next.

"You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of text. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the........" Your ship has just broken down. No, worries. On with the story.

As the game progresses, each player eases into his routine. Some fold, some raise, and some call, eager to see the next sequence of cards. The game is Texas Hold'em, but this is a place far from Texas.

One player in particular has his head shaved. Even so, there is a strange handsomeness about him. We'll call him Jeff (all names and descriptions have been changed to protect the identities of the innocent). The player to the right of Jeff is the chip leader. He has won a few big pots and is sitting comfortable behind a large stack of chips. We'll call him Benny.

Benny is a rock star who spends his time traveling the world spreading elation to those who hear his music. He is a busy man, stamping out evil-doers with his generous actions and spreading joy and happiness to those who lack it. He also spreads his CD wherever he can. It's only $12. Get it here. In his spare time, the little that he has, he plays poker.

Benny is not confident in the hand he has been dealt. As the bid comes to him, he glances at Jeff. Knowing he cannot win against such a professional player, Benny reluctantly folds. As he does, he leans back on his chair, confident in knowing he will lose no more money this turn. Play continues to Jeff. Jeff raises as only one-who-is-supremely-confident-and-good-looking would. But as he does so, a strange sound distracts him. The sound of wood cracking. It seems as if it is coming from right next to him.

In the next instant, everyone's attention is turned to where Benny is. Or where he should have been. All 5 other players watch in amazement as the chair underneath Benny crumbles under the weight that mistakenly is now only supported by 2 legs. The legs and seat break like twigs as a horrible snapping sound thunders through the air. Benny plants his feet down and jumps off the chair just as it gives way. All that is left is a pile of broken wood, a seat covering, and the back of the chair. Benny stands there in awe of what has just happened. Everyone else breaks out in hysterical laughter.

For the rest of the night, Benny is forced to sit on a metal swivel chair for fear of what further diasterous rampage he will cause.

People should watch the road when they drive

There is this category called things-you-do-that-make-people-stare-when-they-drive-by. Today, I did one such thing. How do I know? Because people stared at me when they drove by.

So lately, some people at church have been discussing shaving their heads. The reason for this is three-fold. 1) Shaving your head is cool. 2) Em usually cuts a lot of people's hair. She is just that good. And since she has been benched for the rest of this haircut season due to injury, we are without a good head-covering manager. 3) Shaving your head is cool.

So for who-knows-what-reason, I went ahead and did it. Sure, it took some coaxing, but let's face it, I'm weird, and sometimes I do things that are not normal.

Refer to the images below for further research into this event.

Please note that the fact that I am the only one who has shaved their head in no way has any influence on my post. Did I mention shaving your head is cool? The others apparently have some hang up on something called "weddings" that they need to attend.

One thing I noticed, you know how after you shower, you dry off your hair with your towel? Well, my towel no longer moves when I try to dry my head. It gets stuck. All of a sudden, 300 million exposed hair tips are slowing it down. AND, when I put on my shirt, it kinda just sits there on top of my head, until I have to pull it down. It used to just slide over my head, but no, there is no sliding with this haircut.

I'm anxious to see how long it takes me to grow my hair out again.

Credits:
Barber: Uncle B
Jeff as himself
and featuring garbage bag as an extra

The before picture. Why do I look so angry? It's the sun shining in my eyes. Yes, that's right. Sun. Today's date: February 16th. And I'm wearing a T-shirt! <evil laugh>hahahahahaha</evil laugh>

Before picture #2. I look back on this picture with fond memories. And a warmer head.

I either look like a really sad kid on Halloween, or ....there really is no end to this sentence.

Thoughts running through my head: What have I done? Why is he laughing? Why is he taking a picture of me? This garbage bag is pretty fashionable...

Native American? No, it's just me looking like one. Like the Christmas decorations in the background?

The inverted mohawk. Don't mind the Nissan 200SX in the background.

The after picture. Complete with garbage bag. Weather: 65 degrees.

I think I look kinda like a black person.

Get Well Soon! Happy Birthday! Happy Valentine's Day!

From an older Asian lady:

"My sister's birthday is the same day as Valentine's Day. One year, she was in the hospital and I wanted to buy her a card that said Get Well, Happy Birthday, and Happy Valentine's Day. All in one card. I couldn't find it."

Sometimes I just don't understand what people say.

Picture fixing

Ok, so I just had lunch with Dave and Steph (this probably isn't sensitive information, so their first names are probably ok). I fixed the pictures now (hopefully) so you guys can all bask in the glory of the Taiwan pictures again.

People don't know how to drive in LA when it rains. Actually, take out the "when it rains" part.

Thanks for lunch, Dave! Thanks for ordering, Steph!

The tube going in her nose is to feed her.

Little humans

I went to visit some friends in the hospital last night. They just had their first nightmare wonderful little baby. It was also a little premature; it was supposed to come out March 20th. This past Sunday, they were driving to REI (a sports store) and the wife felt two 'pops'. She didn't know what it was, but went to the bathroom once they got into the store. She went pee, and everything was fine. As soon as she stood up, water started gushing out. Luckily (or not) her pants absorbed most of it. As soon as she came out, the husband knew her water had broke. These were his exact words: "Do we have time to look at...." It's ok though. According to the wife, he's a doctor, so he probably knew it would be awhile til the baby came. Yeah, that's the reason.

Question of the day: What is the water that comes out really made up of? Is it water? Or is it more sticky like mucus?

Something I learned: The doctors are giving the baby caffeine to stimulate her brain. Her brain isn't fully developed yet, (whose really is?) so she 'forgets' to breathe while she is eating.

Another person to join the human race. Sorry we didn't clean up before you came.

car chases

I just watched my first live LA car chase. A murder suspect drove around LA for 1 hour and 35 min. At first there were unconfirmed reports of a victim being in the trunk of the car and calling 911. That turned out to be false.

Let me just say that people who flee in cars and lead police on a chase are the dumbest criminals. What do they expect to happen? Just give up already! Plus, the ending is the best part, haha.

One thing I learned is that after the police apprehend the suspect, they PULL DOWN HIS PANTS! This is so he/she cannot run away. I don't know if they would do that to a woman, or someone wearing a skirt/dress, but that's what they did to this guy.

Question of the day: Why do car chases only happen in California (that I'm aware of)?

Update on Em/Jo: Em is still in the hospital. She's been there for a week. She is still under observation. This is her 27th week I believe. Sucks. Li from Li/Le is coming in today to help take care of Ka. I will send out an email to the whole Wang family soon.

Update on Mom: Don't know. Haven't talked to her since she got home from the hospital. I'll probably call tomorrow.

For those less in the know (Just): The reason for using only 2 letters for people's names is so that they can keep their privacy. (Supposedly) Only the people who know who I'm talking about should know who they are anyway. I haven't received permission from anyone to post this stuff, so just in case they don't want the whole world knowing. (Note: the whold world in the previous sentence refers to the 8 people who read my blog).

Hospitals

My cousin is in the hospital. Em/Jo. Apparently she is having complications with her pregnancy and is having some contractions. This is only the 26th week, so it is very early. Anyway, I'm about to go visit her.

Also, found out my mom is in the hospital. I tried calling, but nobody picked up. I'll try again tonight. Crazy. Please pray for them.

I have yet to put up pics. But soon. Real soon.

Sup

How's it going? Good to hear.