Oh, and also, to Liz: "I Love You!"

I generally don't like roller coasters. Beej can attest to this....

But the 'Incredible Hulk' Roller coaster at the Islands of Adventure was AWESOME! Boy its was soo cool. Normally I don't like the roller coasters because I don't like how the drag you up to the top and then there is that little period where you hang and then you drop. I hate that part.

On the 'Hulk', it was funny. Because, as they pulled you half way up the ramp, the train stopped, and started moving back a little bit. I remember I was thinking... uh oh. what happened? Then next thing I know, I'm being shoved hard back into my seat as the roller coaster takes off shooting off the up-going ramp. IT WAS AWESOME! I love speed. Don't like drops, but love the speed. Anyways, then it flips you upside down and darts you down towards the ground. It was soo cool, cuz I didn't have any time to be scared at all....by the time I felt how scary it was the ride was already done!

So, if you get a chance, definitely goto Islands of Adventure and take the Incredible Hulk roller-coaster.

nut

Just got back from Disney World... Had a great time!

There are so many stories to tell, so stay put! I'll just put down 1 things right now about Disneyworld that really impressed me:

1) Even though its 90 degress with (what feels like) 100% humidity, I didn't get a single bug bite, and also there are no bugs swarming around when you eat outside.
2) Disneyworld is incredible organized. We never had any trouble getting into or out of parking lots, traffic flows well. After we parked, we never had to wait for a tram (it seems like that there is always one available when we need one).

Incredible. Had an AWESOME time! Hopefully, we'll get to go back soon!

john

Going to Disney World 5/23 - 5/28. its going to be so much fun! After all, it IS the happiest place on earth!

Many Blessings....

I had to goto a PTA meeting yesterday. It was a church meeting, where we (the counselors) got a chance to chat and talk with the parents, and for us to get some feedback on how we are doing. I went reluctantly, knowing that its just going to drag on...

When we started talking and discussing all the issues and stuff, I was overwhelmed by how thankful the parents were that I was there helping the youth group with singspiration. I couldn't believe how they all thanked me and how they are so greatful that I play with their kids and teaching them how to lead. I personally feel that I have failed miserably, since the worship team is still a bit disorganized and stuff. But, its been such a blessing. God has blessed us so much, as some of the kids are almost ready to lead worship on their own. Guess what? They're only in 9th grade.....

For a while, I had thought about leaving DCBC. Its just tires me out too much that I am at church on Sundays from 8:30AM to 4PM, going through 2 worship services and 2 Sunday schools. However, the afternoons at Danville church (which is the one that I thought about quitting) has been lifting my spirits so much (both the parents and the kids) that I think God is trying to tell me to continue my service there. I praise God for the message and I will continue to obey His commands, and receive His blessings as I go through it...

I remember seeing a sign that says "C H _ _ C H - What's missing?" answer is 'U R', as in YOU ARE! So pick up your lazy bums, pray about it, and sign up to help out somewhere in your church, and get ready to receive the many MANY blessing that you will receive from God!

Praise God!

nut

You know, I realized 3 things yesterday in which God showed his grace and power

About a few years ago, I was talking to my good friend Noel about how I feel that I wasn't being challenged in the bible. We did a bible study with our pastor and that was really cool. Since then, haven't done much. We keep doing topical studies at Sunday school, and I just don't feel interested. About a month ago, I started doing Sunday school with the 2nd church that I go help out at. The lady that leads the study with me (just the two of us right now) is leading an in-depth study on the book of Colossians. Its been really great and I've been learning so much about Paul, his character, his life, and the people of Colossae.

We even started to go into some of the text in Greek to see what the sentences mean... Its AWESOME!

We've been doing this for a while now and I just realized that this was the answer to a prayer that I had 2 years ago, when I asked God to really challenge me in the studies of His word. I just realized how God answered my prayers and learned a few lessons as well along the way. That was so awesome! I really thank God for what He has given me...

john

Stole this from Beej - Many Uses of Bounce

wowsers. i never knew. I wonder if it really works. Time to go home and try it.

I picked up my cousin's champaign glasses today. Yeah. Can't wait to see her get married. hehehe :-)

nut

My cousin's wedding is 2 days away! I'm so excited.

Its weird. When I get home these days I don't feel like doing much. "bleh" accoring to Beej is correct. Don't quite know why I feel that way. I've been watching TV ilke there is no tomorrow, namely how for the past two weeks Enterprise has been running for 2 hours instead of the normal 1 hour. Next weekend is the season finale... Can't wait....

I really like 'Enterprise'. Its not that bad for the first season. Scott Bakula is pretty cool as the Captain, and I think her chemistry with Jolene Blaylock is really good. I guess to the normal Star Trek fans it might seem a bit cheezy, but I think its cool. Hosie had a one-night-stand last night. hahahaa :-D

Anyhow. Watch Enterprise when you get a chance. We are going to Vegas for Stephen's bachelor party next next Friday, and of course, we're going to get drunk and speak Klingon to each other, just like last time!!!

Guess that does make me a 'Geek". yikes.

nut

Hmmm. The project at work that I've been working on is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We had a break through on Thursday and now I am much more relaxed.... I did cheat a little, (I overclocked the uProcessor) but thats ok. Hopefully, I am lobbying for a faster processor (less work for me) but we will see. Yeah!.

Happy Nut

I am in 7th place in my fantasy baseball team. YIKES! That a bummer. I think I am going to keep my pitchers rotated. So, what I am going to do is for the pitchers I will look them up 2 days ahead and see if they are pitching against a loser team. If they are, then I will pick them up the day before, hoping to get a win. Then, whether they win or lose I'd drop them for the next guy.... Think thats a good idea? Of course I will keep Schilling and Clemens around, and maybe Burkett and Armas Jr. But the other guys are expandable....

As for the hitters, well, same story - if a guy drops below .300 batting average, (unless he is Palmerio, Sheffield, Griffey, Aurilia) then he will get dropped and replaced by another player who is batting .300 or above.... We'll see how long we can keep doing this, as the season is still young...

Fantasy baseball definitely makes baseball more exciting. :-) You should try it sometimes. :-)

nutty

Nut's thought of the day.... ( From my cousin. She's sooo funny. She's getting married in 2 weeks.....)

"Wedding planning is to me, a major spill and 20 foot slide down the slope into a hole next to a tree with your board stuck in the branches, snow in your sportsbra, and forgetting to wear your upside down shirt that says, if you can read this, dig me out."

nut

Spending more time....

Its funny. Don't you think that the older you get the less time you have? I need to spend time starting my own company, working, morning church service, afternoon church service, dinner, going to the bathroom, fix my car, reading Emerson, answering phones, play golf, watch movies, and most importantly, spending time with Liz. I don't get it. How does one do it? How does one have time for everything in life?

I guess the answer lies in what you'd want to spend your time on. I know this is a simple concept but its so hard to do! Now I am beginning to understand why people say that one either has a career or a family, but not both. Its tough!

After talking to Shinjohn today, I think I realized what is important to me. And that is whom I need to spend my time on.

My one and only, Liz.

nut

Hi y'all!

Haven't blogged in sooo long! Sorry. Liz reminded me the other day that I haven't blogged in a while... I dunno whats up with me these days... Just feeling unmotivated in general.

So, the car issue is finally settled - I bought a 2000 Nissan Maxima - its black. Looks really nice. According to Liz'd Dad, its definitely "a step up" for me. I guess. I'm just glad I don't have to think about selling/getting another car for a while. That was quite stressful.

Started to read Emerson again. He is quite an amazing scholar. I've never read any of his bio, just mostly his work. I just recently bought this book that gave an intro to Emerson's life. Its really facinating! I will tell you more about it as I read...

Well. Another day at work. smiles :-)
john

*sigh* this blogging thing never works well for me. Being a nerd that works with the vi editor, hitting the 'escape' key will get you into 'Command' mode so you can save your document. On Blogger.com - hitting the 'Esc' key will erase all that hard work you just put into your blog.... Lesson of the day: DON'T HIT THE ESCAPE KEY!!!!!


Anyways, as I was saying, Beej reminded me how much I loved Emerson as I was reading his work in school. I think I am going to go pick up a copy of Emerson today on my way home. In a way, I feel like Emerson helped shape who I am today.


I think in today's society, we are all 'bound' by society. Society seems to dictate what we 'should' be doing and what we 'should' watch and we 'should' be saying. People get criticized in almost everything that they do. I used to have a big problem with this. Why can't I do what I want if I am not hurting anyone else? Emerson wrote in his pieces about people contradicting themselves and cricitisms. His conclusion was "So What?!?!?!" (well, not in those exact words...)


I love that - Life is all about what YOU want to do and who YOU want to spend time with. The hardest thing to do is to not care about what everyone else says and live free - live your life. I can't say I do this well at all, but one thing I know. I want to spend my time with Liz.


Someday, we will be free.......


nut

Wow. I was just looking on blog and saw that the last time I blogged was 18 days ago! wowsers.

My birthday is coming up. Turning 28 this year. Wow! You know what is funnny, was that when I was in school, I always looked up to people that are 28. I always thought they were rather mature, and very serious, smart people. Here comes yours truely, who is still goofing off at the tender age of 28. Thats weird. I don't feel 28. I still feel like I am 18. hahaha :-D

Got in touch with my roomies JON and Dennis again. That was cool. JON broke up with his ex and is now dating another girl. hehehe. Dennis finished school and is bumming around. It was fun to catch up on old times - and seeing how we're all grown up now, and yet we can still goof off for the night when we all hang out. hahaah.

So, the Altima finally decided to give out. I'm not really sure whats wrong with it - the engine studders as I press on the gas. I checked the oil, changed the spark plugs and rotor and cap. Also, charged the battery. I'm not sure what is wrong with it - well, actually, whats wrong with it is that its 9 yrs old and 185K miles. hmmm time to get another car.

Boy its been an interesting week. Praise God that He blessed me sooo much through it!

j

checking

Another link:
Ethnic churches drawing crowds

Check this out - if you get a chance.... Its an article titled

"For Asian-American Churches, Integration Proves Complicated"

It doesn't look like there are any fast 'n easy solution to this, I guess we're kind of stuck in a generation that goes through it. However, I think this is an important issue - because whatever trend that we set right now might have huge impacts for the future generations. Do you guys think so too?

Well, I welcome any feedback. Please e-mail me at walnutchen@yahoo.com and share your thoughts on this issue with me!

-confused nut...

Here's an interesting question that has been on my mind today.....

As you know, I am chinese. Now, lets just assume that I get married and have kids. Do I want to raise my kids in a 'chinese' church or a 'Asian American' church? Or more of an 'American' church? I see advantages and disadvantages for each one, but as I thought deeper, there seems to be a struggle between 'culture' and 'diversity'... I haven't formed my conclusions yet, as it will require some more thinking....

'Diversity' is something we celebrate. Especially here in California, I think diversity is very important - because it teaches tolerance. Just take a look around here in California - we have all sorts of different ethnic resturants and stores, 'asian' towns everywhere. Not only that, we're able to goto Morroccan resturants, Ethopian resturants, eating all sorts of different food. I work with Iranians, Iraqis, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Caucasian, British, Indian...etc. All sorts of people. Because of this mixed society, I am able to learn about different cultures, what their society values, what sorts of activities they'd like to do...etc.

However, I am 'chinese'. As most of the people know, the 'Chinese' are rich in culture. Fong Shui, acupuncture, pressure points, the aroma of Chinese food, Moon Cake Festivals...etc. are all parts of the chinese culture. I definitely want my kids to not only learn english but also Chinese, to understand the chinese culture, and also to possess some of the Chinese traits such as Filial Duty, respect of the elders, and hard working traits. I hope my kid can learn the art of calligraphy, dizi (chinese flute), and other forms of ancient chinese culture.

However, I can't seem to see a balance. Rather, I see a struggle of being pulled one way or the other. In a chinese church, with the advant of chinese school and everything, the kid may be more pulled towards the Chinese culture side. But I don't want him or her to forget diversity - i.e. eventhough there are alot of chinese people out there, one should also learn about the other cultures and see the different people that are out there, the way they live and carry on....

hmm. interesting question. I will have to give it some more thought. stay tuned...
john

Well, if you haven't heard, we went to Death Valley this weekend. There were a total of 12 of us there. We went to all sorts of different places - places where there is one theme in common - desolation. Thus, the name, Death Valley...

1st off, the logistics. It took 8 hours to get there - me and Liz hopped in her Trooper and headed down at around 11:45AM. Stopped by split pea Anderson's along the way, and just kept driving and driving.... It took the whole 8 hours to get there. Then we had really expensive-and-not-worth-it salad bar and then went to find the campsite and pitched the tent. The rest of the gang arrived at 3AM to find the tents pitched and air mattress inflated (Courtesy of Me and Liz)!!!!

Saturday morning, we went to Dante's view for a grandview of the salt flats, Zabriskie Point to see the golden rolling hills, then to Furnace Creek Inn for lunch (which had rattlesnake meat!!!) then drove down to see the salts at the Devil's golf course, played in the salt marshes, stopped by Badwater to check out some 'bad' water, and drove back through the Artists palette, and back. Sunday morning we went trekked along the sand dunes before we headed back....

Boy. Lessons I learned: 1) its soo nice to have a house and a toilet within walking distance. 2) Its nice to have a kitchen to put stuff. 3) I can't believe how dependent humans are on 'stuff' to survive (pots, pans, lamps, heater, air mattress...etc.) 4) Going to Death Valley definitely makes me appreciate what God has given me already! Praise God.

john