"Daaaaaa Daaaaaaa"
Joyce may have taken the early lead...but the final victor is still me!! HAHAHAHAHAHA
Mood: Victorious
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Covenant of Holy Matrimony
Was chatting up with a co-worker today and somehow we got onto the subject of her arranged marriage. This subject always intrigues me. How can two people who "aren't in love" get married -- and all that other stuff that comes with marriage? Conventional wisdom will tell you that arranged marriage will never work. Yet, American divorce rates are rising faster than the Googol's stock price.
Have you ever watched reality shows like "The Bachelor?" or things of that nature? Yes, we all know they're actors. We all know in front of a camera, anything goes. But does it send shivers down your back when the contestants say, "I'm in love..." If my memory serves me correctly, only 1 of these couples have stayed married, the first "Bachelorette."
So how does this play into the covenant that is established by God for a man and a woman? (no intentions of plugging Prop 8 btw... just happened to come out this way) What makes a marriage successful? To be continued...
I've always wanted to write a book on Marriage and Parenthood. Maybe this will slowly evolve into one.
Mood: intrigued
Have you ever watched reality shows like "The Bachelor?" or things of that nature? Yes, we all know they're actors. We all know in front of a camera, anything goes. But does it send shivers down your back when the contestants say, "I'm in love..." If my memory serves me correctly, only 1 of these couples have stayed married, the first "Bachelorette."
So how does this play into the covenant that is established by God for a man and a woman? (no intentions of plugging Prop 8 btw... just happened to come out this way) What makes a marriage successful? To be continued...
I've always wanted to write a book on Marriage and Parenthood. Maybe this will slowly evolve into one.
Mood: intrigued
Saturday, January 23, 2010
What's in a name?
There's a Chinese saying, "Fear not, born to a bad life; fear, of bestowing the wrong name." Partially, it's an old wives tale but in a way, it's also true. A name, whether you like it or not, defines you. It's a label that's stuck with you from the day you are born to the day you can legally change it to something else.
We visited a friend today in San Francisco who just had their first daughter. Her name:
Without knowing it, Little Olivia is already blessed to be the light and salt of the earth, to be a peacemaker and a bearer of God's joy and glory. How meaningful... how precious. I wonder how long it took them to come up with this name?
And how long will it take for us to come up with a name for our fellowship?
Mood: reflective
We visited a friend today in San Francisco who just had their first daughter. Her name:
Olivia - peace (as in olive branch, a sign of peace)
Neriya - "God is my light." (Hebrew origin)
榮欣 - 光榮, 歡欣 (glory, joy)
Without knowing it, Little Olivia is already blessed to be the light and salt of the earth, to be a peacemaker and a bearer of God's joy and glory. How meaningful... how precious. I wonder how long it took them to come up with this name?
And how long will it take for us to come up with a name for our fellowship?
Mood: reflective
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Prop 8 Trial Begins
I like how the San Jose Mercury puts it... "In the first round of what may be the signature civil rights fight of the 21st century..."
Interesting observation... "Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker has kept his views to himself, but his rulings so far have dismayed some of Prop. 8's supporters, who appear to be bracing their followers for a short-term defeat."
Also interesting in light of Sotomayor being appointed to the Supreme Court... "Andrew Pugno, general counsel for Protect Marriage said, the last word will come from 'the nine justices on the highest court in the nation.'"
This one from the Chronicle is most fitting... "...and force many religious Americans to 'choose between being a believer and being a good citizen.' "
It's going to be a tumultuous year!!
Mood: cansado
Interesting observation... "Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker has kept his views to himself, but his rulings so far have dismayed some of Prop. 8's supporters, who appear to be bracing their followers for a short-term defeat."
Also interesting in light of Sotomayor being appointed to the Supreme Court... "Andrew Pugno, general counsel for Protect Marriage said, the last word will come from 'the nine justices on the highest court in the nation.'"
This one from the Chronicle is most fitting... "...and force many religious Americans to 'choose between being a believer and being a good citizen.' "
It's going to be a tumultuous year!!
Mood: cansado
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Beautifully written...
Very beautifully written...
Mood: thankful
"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. " ~Gen 22:6a
Replace "Abraham" with "God".
Replace "burnt offering" with "the cross"
Replace "Isaac" with "Jesus"
I believe God wanted the scriptures to specifically write it
the way it ended up being. The Father laid the wood on the Son. The
Son must submit to the Father's will.Replace "burnt offering" with "the cross"
Replace "Isaac" with "Jesus"
Mood: thankful
The worst thing about comedies...
...is not being funny. It's not just sad... it's annoying.
Saturday Night Live is a prime example. It's so sorry that I didn't even crack a smile when I labored through it. If not for Bon Jovi being the musical guest... I wouldn't give it the time of day. Whatever happen to comedy and talented comedians? Really makes you wonder why it's still on air?
Mood: annoyed
Saturday Night Live is a prime example. It's so sorry that I didn't even crack a smile when I labored through it. If not for Bon Jovi being the musical guest... I wouldn't give it the time of day. Whatever happen to comedy and talented comedians? Really makes you wonder why it's still on air?
Mood: annoyed
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Yin-Yang Eyes
Nui-nui has double eye lids on one eye only... I wonder if her other eye will become double? Or will the current double go back to single?
Saturday, December 26, 2009
A look back at the 2000's...
As the decade comes to a close... I look back at the past 10 years of my own life and came up with two lists.
Bottom Moments of the 2000's
10. Prop 8 - For the record, Prop 8 did pass. For the record, I voted "Yes" on Prop 8. And for the record, it was NOT an easy decision.
9. Bush defeats Gore - Indecision 2000. I still hold firm to my belief had they done the recount correctly a decade ago, America will not be in the demise it is in now.
8. Breakup of Friendship - Thanksgiving Day 2000. The part that hurt most was... I never got a chance to defend myself.
7. Unemployment - I already touched on this an earlier post. Still remember the words uttered by Joyce when she waited all day for a phone call telling her she got the job. "I was so happy when the phone rang...but it wasn't them." She never got that phone call.
6. Facing the fact parents are getting old - We made so many phone calls to insurance agencies, hospitals, clinics, specialists... signed soooo many forms... went to so many doctor's appointments... learned so many medical terms (in English/Chinese). Now, we just see their bodies slowly wither away.
5. Father in Law's battle with cancer - Old age is for certain. But cancer and chemo is simply scary.
4. Natural Disasters - Katrina '04, South East Asia Tsunami '05, Sichuan Earthquake '08.
3. 2002 World Series - Game 6 - Up 5 runs with 6 outs left. Where did it go wrong? I can cope with the unemployement. This... I simply still can not deal with.
2. Nui-nui's close calls - Never, by own my power, could I have gone through all those ups and downs.
1. 9/11 - (Picture is worth a thousand words)
10. Bejing Olympics Opening Ceremony - 同一个世界 同一个梦想 - I think the comments in an earlier post already captured the essence of this event.
7. Skydiving - Turning 25 and right smack in the middle of my quarter life crisis. Life was nothing but a bunch of humdrum. And it hit me... (no, not the ground)... I needed to seek out some excitement! The sky is the wrong place to look. There is no adrenaline rush in skydiving. But jumping from a plane was a lifelong dream nonetheless.
6. Graduation - This happened so long ago that it's easy to forget the significance of becoming the 2nd Leung to be a college graduate and to achieve the dream my dad had in us when we emigrated to America.
5. Top of Great Wall - 不到長城非好漢 - Another life long dream of mine, to step foot on the Great Wall and climb to the highest peak. Once again, the essence of this was captured in an earlier post.
4. Game 5 of NLCS - I still remember the winning call like it was yesterday...
3. Baptism - (I actually don't have a picture for this.) The events leading up to this turning point in my life was probably more storybook than the event itself. And this turning point opened up a brand new chapter, nay... a brand new VOLUME in my life. Opening doors I've never imagined possible. And experiencing God, like I've never imagined before.
2. Birth of Nui nui - Rachel Yat Hei Leung / 梁溢曦 (click here for the Running Diary).
1. 9/16/2005 - Yes yes yes... for the one or two of you who might remember, my wedding day was on 9/17. But my top moment certainly is NOT my wedding day. Goodness... my wedding day was one of the most exhausting days of my life. Everything was sorta planned. Everything was kinda in place. Everything was almost running in order. Yet, nothing was as special, as meaningful, as magical as the day before the wedding - at Grace Cathedral - for my wedding rehersal. It wasn't just a rehersal, though. Each and everyone of my bestest and closest friends were there. My immediate family was there. My pastor and my spiritual parents were there. That was exactly what I would've wanted for a wedding, a little private wedding. And it was on that day, that I first had the opportunity to say my vows outloud for Joyce and for me to hear, inside a church, with God and men as my witness at that moment in time...
Bottom Moments of the 2000's
10. Prop 8 - For the record, Prop 8 did pass. For the record, I voted "Yes" on Prop 8. And for the record, it was NOT an easy decision.
9. Bush defeats Gore - Indecision 2000. I still hold firm to my belief had they done the recount correctly a decade ago, America will not be in the demise it is in now.
8. Breakup of Friendship - Thanksgiving Day 2000. The part that hurt most was... I never got a chance to defend myself.
7. Unemployment - I already touched on this an earlier post. Still remember the words uttered by Joyce when she waited all day for a phone call telling her she got the job. "I was so happy when the phone rang...but it wasn't them." She never got that phone call.
6. Facing the fact parents are getting old - We made so many phone calls to insurance agencies, hospitals, clinics, specialists... signed soooo many forms... went to so many doctor's appointments... learned so many medical terms (in English/Chinese). Now, we just see their bodies slowly wither away.
5. Father in Law's battle with cancer - Old age is for certain. But cancer and chemo is simply scary.
4. Natural Disasters - Katrina '04, South East Asia Tsunami '05, Sichuan Earthquake '08.
3. 2002 World Series - Game 6 - Up 5 runs with 6 outs left. Where did it go wrong? I can cope with the unemployement. This... I simply still can not deal with.
2. Nui-nui's close calls - Never, by own my power, could I have gone through all those ups and downs.
1. 9/11 - (Picture is worth a thousand words)
Some of you may say, "How can you put the World Series in front of your parents health?!?" To you I say, the World Series was a moment in time that pierced extremely deep to which I have yet to recover. Parents being in the hospital time and time again became more of reality than anything... And now for the happier list... the Top 10 Moments of 2000 (subject to change).
Top 10 Moments of the 2000's
10. Bejing Olympics Opening Ceremony - 同一个世界 同一个梦想 - I think the comments in an earlier post already captured the essence of this event.
9. President Elect Obama - Can the Democrats retake the White House? Can America have a minority can become the most powerful man in the world? Can America help make Dr. Martin Luther King's dream come true? Can we rally behind Hilary Clinton and the entire Democratic party for a better America? Can we? "YES WE CAN!"
8. Prop 8 - I think the greatest thrill of Prop 8 wasn't so much the outcome, but the fact that we citizens actually exercised Democracy and went out to campaign, to rally, to petition and to vote -- exactly what our forefathers fought for. Coupled with the significance of the Presidential Election... the voter turnout annihilated the polls. That was the big moment...
7. Skydiving - Turning 25 and right smack in the middle of my quarter life crisis. Life was nothing but a bunch of humdrum. And it hit me... (no, not the ground)... I needed to seek out some excitement! The sky is the wrong place to look. There is no adrenaline rush in skydiving. But jumping from a plane was a lifelong dream nonetheless.
6. Graduation - This happened so long ago that it's easy to forget the significance of becoming the 2nd Leung to be a college graduate and to achieve the dream my dad had in us when we emigrated to America.
5. Top of Great Wall - 不到長城非好漢 - Another life long dream of mine, to step foot on the Great Wall and climb to the highest peak. Once again, the essence of this was captured in an earlier post.
4. Game 5 of NLCS - I still remember the winning call like it was yesterday...
"Bell, possible winning run at second. Here comes the pitch. Kenny Lofton.. LINE DRIVE BASE HIT UP THE MIDDLE. BELL, ROUNDING THIRD, HEADING HOME, HE'S SAFE!! THE GIANTS HAVE WON THE PENNANT!! THE GIANTS ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE!! KENNY LOFTON, THE MAN THEY LOVE TO HATE IN ST. LOUIS, KNOCKS IN THE WINNING RUN. AND THEY COME POURING OUT OF THE DUGOUT!!" ~Jon Miller.More importantly, we were there live.
3. Baptism - (I actually don't have a picture for this.) The events leading up to this turning point in my life was probably more storybook than the event itself. And this turning point opened up a brand new chapter, nay... a brand new VOLUME in my life. Opening doors I've never imagined possible. And experiencing God, like I've never imagined before.
2. Birth of Nui nui - Rachel Yat Hei Leung / 梁溢曦 (click here for the Running Diary).
Rachel - pure; a ewe lamb
溢 - 福杯滿溢 (詩篇23:5) / "...my cup overflows." (Psalm
23:5)
曦 - 晨曦 (約8:12) / "I am the Light of the World..." (John 8:12)
1. 9/16/2005 - Yes yes yes... for the one or two of you who might remember, my wedding day was on 9/17. But my top moment certainly is NOT my wedding day. Goodness... my wedding day was one of the most exhausting days of my life. Everything was sorta planned. Everything was kinda in place. Everything was almost running in order. Yet, nothing was as special, as meaningful, as magical as the day before the wedding - at Grace Cathedral - for my wedding rehersal. It wasn't just a rehersal, though. Each and everyone of my bestest and closest friends were there. My immediate family was there. My pastor and my spiritual parents were there. That was exactly what I would've wanted for a wedding, a little private wedding. And it was on that day, that I first had the opportunity to say my vows outloud for Joyce and for me to hear, inside a church, with God and men as my witness at that moment in time...
Runner up Top Moments of 2000's:
- Francisco's baptism
- Hong Kong PCS 2005
- NLDS Game 4 - 2002: "Ohhhh ooh-OOHH-ohhh"
- Grandma's 100th birthday
- Spring Training 2003
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
WHY!?!
Why do people still insist on writing freakin' personal checks at the checkout line!! And they're always one particular gender!! ARGH!!! Not really in the Christmas mood, no thanks to those people!
Mood: BAH-HUMBUG!!
Mood: BAH-HUMBUG!!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
My how I've changed...
Flying back from LA today and behind me sat a 16 month old screaming his head off. Across the aisle was a 6 year old travelling on his own, making friends (or enemies) with everyone around him. People were getting up and moving towards the back of the plane to avoid the commotion. Others were exchanging looks nonverbally saying, "Good grief, thank goodness this is a short flight."
And me? Didn't annoy me one bit. I loved every minute of it. My, how I've changed...
Mood: giddy
And me? Didn't annoy me one bit. I loved every minute of it. My, how I've changed...
Mood: giddy
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