an alternative theory

[17:13] somebody: i read that article about christian men not dating
[17:13] somebody: i have another theory
[17:13] somebody: christian women are ugly
[17:13] somebody: for the most part

from the "I'm in charge of the contact list, can I have your email and phone number?" dept.

http://www.crosswalk.com/community/singles/1351339.html

Why aren't single Christian men dating? I dunno. Maybe it's cuz there are no Mandarin speaking girls at their church. Just a thought.

grassroots movement

Why is it that when everyone I meet finds out I was born and raised in Ohio, the reaction is always the same? "Whoa! Really?!" No, not really, I'm just joking because I like to lie to people when I first meet them. People must think all Asians come from Asia or are born in California. It's not true! I'm living proof. Now that you know, spread the word. Then, the next time I tell someone I'm from Ohio, they can be like, "Oh yeah. I've heard of people like you."

the secret to success

I went to the USC Career Fair today and felt sorry for everyone I met. I was sent by the company that pays my bills, along with JL and BH, to recruit for developers. It's hard to go up to random strangers, hand them a sheet that describes your life and explain why you are the most awesome person in the world. And CS people definitely do not excell at people skills. Dang, how am I employed? Oh yeah, cuz my cousin got married and God likes me (still trying to figure THAT one out).

Tips to all of you unemployed peeps out there.

1. Do not go at the end of the career fair. The recruiters tend to leave early, and they're really tired cuz they've been sitting out in the sun for 4.5 hrs. That means they won't listen to what you have to say.

2. Recruiters won't listen to what you have to say. So you have to sell yourself to them to make them listen. There are so many people that recruiters meet that there is no way to remember them all. So do something that stands out so when they go through the resumes again, they'll remember you.

3. Bring a resume. There were a handful of people that didn't know there was a career fair and were just walking around asking questions. That's great, but there's no way for us to get in contact with them. And we already have so many other candidates.

Wow, I sound like I know what I'm talking about. Why am I giving job advice? Forget everything I said. Just go make friends with lots of smart people and they will hook you up when they become successful. Smart people, watch out. Lots of people are about to add you on Friendster, Myspace and AIM. Yeah, right. There's only like 10 people that read this blog. Nevermind, false alarm. Smart people, go back to becoming successful.

Another successful Exodus retreat

retreat. a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, and instruction under a director Exodus retreat. specific form of retreat that involves travelling to the middle of nowhere, renting an extremely large house, discovering and killing (by means of flame thrower) six black widow spiders, finding a large rat living in the BBQ grill, swimming and lounging in a heated pool and jacuzzi, improvising to make sure we are not spied upon while nursing babies and showering, staying up until morning playing poker praying...................for good cards, inundating ourselves with extreme amounts of very delicious foods that can only be described as gluttonous, worshipping God with household items, and playing charades that make a dim sum lady turn into a drunk driver throwing up. May also include new singles for the next Exodus album. (you might need quicktime 7 to play the video)

in that case, it's ok.

RY: "plus, i knew about the dinner before i knew about dinner."

welcome to my world

what life is like in LA.

"you know lots of people and lots of people know you, but you're not close to anyone nor is anyone close to you." --a true LA'er

Home Depot needs to improve their hiring standards

HD guy: "Ok, 6 5/8 inch."
Enters it on his computer. An error message pops up.
HD guy: "See, it's giving me an error message. (reading from the screen) You have entered an invalid number. Valid range is between 6 inches and 10 inches." (looks at me to see my response)

(to myself) "Wait for it, wait for it, he'll get it....."

(HD guy continues to stare at me, forcing me to speak up)

Me: "Uh, isn't 6 5/8 inches in that range?"

HD guy: "Oh, uh, yeah, but it's not letting me put it in."

(I had to suggest putting a " after the number so the computer would accept it. And it did.)

It's times like this that I want to move to a remote uninhabited island. Persons involved in creating the sovereign nation of Jamir can also come.

Backstory: My (sucky) apartment has (sucky) louvre doors that we want to replace. My (sucky) apartment has (sucky) doors that are not standard sizes. Therefore, my (sucky) options are either to cut a door (which is impossible without compromising the integrity of the door because our doors are too small) or custom order one. I was going through the process of doing the latter when the above dialog took place.

The mundane adventures of . . . a guy named Bob

Disarray. Chaos. Panic. Fear. Citizens of the dark, rainy city were living under the heavy hand of a shadowy organization called "The System." It seemed to have control of everything. Everywhere they went, if they wanted to shop, read the news, share pictures, or even talk to their friends, citizens were being asked to "Register." Unregistered people were turned away by the millions. They could not shop. They could not communicate, could not travel. They were unknown to "The System." Without registration, they could not live.

With registration came access. Access to everything they wanted, when they wanted, where they wanted it. But with one big caveat. In order to "Register," they had to "Submit."

One fateful day, the clouds over the city broke and the unseen but ever prevalent sunshine broke through to reveal a savior. Standing on the dirty, oil-slicked street was someone they had never seen before. (Ok, some of them had, but those that did pretended they didn't.) His clothes were shining as if they had been washed by "New and Improved! Arm & Hammer Fabricare Laundry Detergent!" He stood there with his hands on his hips, chest puffed out, cape waving in the wind. His name was Bob. But tattooed on Bob's forehead (that he had eBay'd to the highest bidder) was a website address. That address was: www.bugmenot.com.

THE END

(roll credits)

at a loss of what to think

So there's this guy, we'll call him "God", and he is in control of everything. Sometimes he does things or allows things to happen to you that are very intentional and clear. You see some situation you're in and you're like, "Hmm, God is giving me a hint or a push or a clue."

This is not one of those times. Let me proceed to tell you THE weirdest, THE most random thing that has ever happened to me.

I'm driving home at around 11:20PM, and as I get close to my apartment, I see a lady standing across the street, with her two dogs, trying to flag me down. I'm think (yes, it hurts, but sometimes I think, please get over the shock), "That's weird," and I park and get out to see what's up.

The lady comes over and tells me she was walking her dogs when one of them suddenly collapsed. Uh, say again? "Do you need to take him to a vet or something?" "No, I have some stuff at home and I just live down the street, can you give us a ride?" Okay, sure, no problem. She loads up her dogs (which takes forever because the collapsed dog was just standing there and didn't want to move). I get back into my car, and at this point, I'm crammed in there with 2 dogs and a lady I've never met, blocking the road, with a car waiting for me to get out of the way. I drive her to her house, and she proceeds to unload the dogs. "Thanks for your help." "No problem, I hope your dog feels better." "Yeah, me too." As she gets just inside her fence, the collapsed dog lays down and the lady kneels over him. After about a minute, she turns to me and says, "He just died."

WHAT?!!!!!!!

"Uh, are you serious?" I realize in hindsight that question was probably the stupidest thing to ask. Why would she be joking? After standing there awkwardly for 5 minutes, she says I don't have to stay with her, that she has someone in the house, and thanks for the ride, I don't know what I would have done without you. Feeling like an idiot and not knowing what to do or say, I mumble, "Sorry about your dog," and drive home. All the while I'm thinking, "What the heck just happened?"

This is one of those times where being extroverted and actually being able to show my sympathy towards other people would have come in handy.

surreal adj. SEE ABOVE POST.

My life is so weird.

I wish I was a white woman against racism, then I could simulate some readings. Man, I'm missing out on all the fun. Credit goes to SWA and JW.

Sometimes they need it more than you think

Context: We recently got a friend a new Bible.

[14:50] someguy: he told me he's been reading the bible
[14:50] someguy: he likes the bible he got from us
[14:50] someguy: he says it has good translation
[14:50] someguy: so it makes a lot more sense
[14:50] someguy: before he was reading like a picture bible with like 10 words per page

"The greatest country in the world" - BM

I love living in LA and working for a high-tech company. Especially when we are hit with blackouts. It makes work _that_ much more challenging, and we all know how we so desperately need that in our lives.

More firsthand accounts from New Orleans

Even though our media is probably the best in the world (in terms of being able to cover important issues and not be censored, etc.), it is completely biased and often influenced by things other than "the public must know."

http://www.uusc.org/katrina/bradshaw.html

I learned in my PoliSci class, oh so long ago, (I sound old don't I?) that in order to get (more of) the big picture, it is often necessary to read news from other countries, because all the media in our country is BIASED. (Even though I'm so lazy that I usually only read the NYTimes.)

(The above link was shamelessly copied from a friend's xanga. I hope you don't mind, RY.)

in case you had any doubts

Contained in an email about an event for graduate computer science students at USC:

Email us if you would be attending the event and your food preferences [Pizza/Indian/Chinese/other?]

This speaks volumes about the racial makeup of our department.

There should be a manual for this

When single guys give other single guys advice about women, it's like . . . . . . . the blind leading the blind.

scooters

Remember when I went to Taiwan and wanted to buy a scooter and bring it back to the US? Yes, I know you remember, Stan. You were the co-founder of the club. Well, our club is about to get our first scooter.

My friend JN bought a scooter...



Yes, that is the color of his scooter. It's raspberry.

Last night, a few of us went over and rode his scooter around the block. It was like I was magically transported back to Taiwan. I want one now.

Here's how I can justify it:
1) It'll save money on insurance. (JN's insurance for his car+scooter is less than he was paying for his car alone)
2) It'll save money on gas. (85mpg)

The scooter could pay for itself in a year. AND I wouldn't have to deal with traffic when I go to work. We're gonna start an Exodus scooter club and ride around in a pack.

Katrina

If we are the richest, most powerful country in the world, if we are the only remaining superpower, and this is the best we can do, how sad is that? Our fellow citizens are basically living in the equivalent of a war-torn country. (Read the post "The Real News" on Sept 1, 2005 and look at the photos here and here.

Dang, President Bush, your record for dealing with national disasters is not looking good....

On another note, what must be going through the minds of homeless people in say....LA? MILLIONS of dollars are being poured out to help those in New Orleans, but nothing is being spent to help the homeless here. I wonder what's going through their minds.

this is what's left of a parking sign that was in the way of my cousin finishing his deck. I keep forgetting to take the "after" shot of when they put it back up.

my cousin finished his "mini" climbing wall. now his future-stunt-double kids can climb on something other than the furniture.