Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Come to think of it, I may as well add purpose and fulfillment to the above. I't hard to put together the myriad of things that I'm thinking of as of late. Bear with me.

Been thinking of career paths again. I wont get into specfics here. The thing that I'm starting to realize that I also want to have a family someday. Talking to Chris about this, I'm beginning to think about choosing career paths that are more family friendly. Long story short, I believe it is true that it is your kin that define more of who you are than your job. In the very end, we don't lie on our death beds wishing that we spent more time at the office. That's a fact.

On another note, I do realize that timing is everything in a relationship. When you realize that the possibility of something can happen, it can be a wonderful thing. However, I think that one should be willing to wait for chaos to settle. The chaos for me is that I need to settle down with my current endeavors. But even so, some things are just out of my control. Paitience is key. The Lord's timing is key.

Holiday Music of Olde
What does Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Burl Ives , Vince Guaraldi, and Destiny's Child have in common? Nothing, if it weren't for the fact that: 1) I'm listening to them. 2) That they are singing Christmas songs. Ah...

Catching up from the Tryptophan Weekend
Its been a pretty good Thanksgiving this year. This year, we had the dinner at my uncle Paul's (which is also in the neighborhood). Just like Thanksgivings of old, the aunt's and uncles were playing mahjong while the cousins played games. Plus, a long prayer before kicking off the feasting. I love these homely traditions. As always, the tryptophan kicked in and I snoozed right after for about 15-20 minutes...just in time for ice cream. I do feel bad for my uncle Paul in that he's had Parkinson's disease for some time now. A once strong-wlled man of great vigor is now confined to a wheelchair. I can't help but feel sad for him.

The next day, I went to Alvin's aunt's Thanksgiving dinner. They usually have their dinner the day after (as I was told). Had a good time while I was there. Hung mostly with Alvin, Gary, Terry, Warren, and Jen a lot.

Now wouldn't you believe it, during this holiday I managed to get a fair amount of work done. It made coming back to the weekdays easy.

On a more poignant note. I'm thankful for my friends and family. Whatever your view on the war in Iraq is, I'm also thankful for people in this world who are willing to serve. I pray that they come back soon. In the end, it's family that one should come home to.

Retro Pop Culture(part 1): The 80s and their Vehicles!
Alvin and I have been doing our own findings (interestingly, independent of each other) of the shows that we watched when we were kids. So far, we've found a lot.

Looking back, I've noticed how central it was for vehicles to be in the show. For starters, we had Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) in Miami Vice who had that Ferrari. For the Dukes of Hazzard, it was the orange Dodge Charger with the Confederate flag on top. For Magnum P.I., it was that ultra-red Ferrari. For the A-Team, it was that souped up van conversion with the little spoiler on it. Very interesting indeed.

Even more interesting were the shows where the vehicles seemed to be what the show was about. A few that I can think of were Airwolf, Blue Thunder, Knight Rider, and Street Hawk. Heck, I even remember a Disney special where some kid added little jets to his BMX bike so that he could get away from bullies!

Now, as I also look back to a lot of these shows with nostalgic fondness, I'm also aware at how implausible some of these premises are:

• For instance, how does Detective Crockett afford that Ferarri on a civil service paycheck? Perhaps he's not exactly turning in all of the evidence that he confiscates from the bad guys??
• Why did the Dukes weld the doors shut on the General Lee? I guess it wouldn't be as cool to open doors as it is to leap into the windows! I've tried it myself and...well let's just say that I wont try it again. I'd like to be able to father children someday.
• For you aviation types, how is it that Airwolf can travel at supersonic speeds without Retreating-Rotor Effect? I guess it looked too cool for physics to apply. Too bad that didn't work for Super Dave Osbourne.
• How on earth can you use a gunship like Blue Thunder as a law enforcement tool? I mean what kind of criminal needs to be gunned down by a roving 20mm cannon with chopper blades?? Well, maybe if you were on your third strike...
• Lastly, why a 200 mph motorcycle, like Street Hawk. I'm going to ignore the confines of science and question why on earth this might be an effective law enforcement tool. And if 200 mph wasn't fast enough, it had a thruster that could push the motorcycle up to 300 mph! The funny thing is that the setting was in Los Angeles!! So when the shadowy Street Hawk responds, he runs headlong into traffic on the 405 at 300mph!! I hope his insurance is paid up. I liked the theme song by Tangerine Dream, at least.
• Don't get me started on the Transformers.

Good times, they certainly were. As silly as some of them were, it was a lot of fun. Nostalgia is a beautiful thing.

Weight of the World
A friend mentioned that I always seem to have the weight of the world on shoulders. I can't help it. It's just a part of who I am. Yes, much of what I'm concerned about is way larger than the scope of little old me.

Yes, I know that not every soul can be saved and national security will always be a tricky issue. Yes, I can't always broker peace treaties and I will not always receive what I feel is equitable. I'm fully aware that the world isn't always fair. But even so, I still aim for some "ideal." For this, I can't apologize for.

Calmness at Last
I feel like a great storm has abated. I just turned in a whole slew of projects. So now, I feel more normal and less stress now. On top of that, my schedule isn't as nutty as it was. I feel good.

I also have other thoughts I've been meaning to post, but I guess I'll do that again tomorrow. For now, I'm glad to feel like my normal self again.

Many Poignant Thoughts
I see it's been a while since I've written. A lot has happened since the last entry.

Last weekend, I flew down with James to SoCal to visit Pak in Alhambra. Other than Vancouver, I don't remember eating as much Chinese food as I did that weekend! Saw some of the touristy sites and hung out with her friends for the most part. On Saturday, Amy invited us to a church event with the presentation topic on missions. Pretty interesting, I thought. Afterwards, we all hung out at a cafe to shoot the breeze. Sunday was pretty much spent on wrapping things up as both James and I flew back that evening. It was a really good weekend for the most part. The only downer was that I brought work with me to do. For both of the nights that I was there, I stayed up past 4am to get stuff done. Pretty tiring, if you ask me.

Which brings me to another topic. I predicted that my schedule would be superbly busy and that spare time would be a commodity. I also realized that I needed to cease doing other things or else everything as a whole will suffer. However, I think it may be a little late for that.

Last Tuesday, I seemed to have everything due on this day. After that, I thought I was in the clear.

But on top of that, I missed a PT session a few days ago because I was cramming to get a photo project done. I slept at the lab. I never got up in time. Needless to say, it irked the training NCO. I was embarassed.

Last Thursday, I submitted no work to my graphic design class (yes, that class which makes or breaks me). When the critique was over, I promptly left the class only to run into my professor/mentor in the hallway. Rather than our usual salutations, he just looked down on the ground with a scowl on his face as I walked by. I felt cold.

Last night, I was trying to put together a design on my laptop during a critique in my photo class. See, I was super short on time and this was the only time that I could do it. However, when the photo professor saw that I was doing work in a another class, he threatened to break my laptop! Now I was pissed.

Well, I guess my predictions are right. Quality is suffering. On top of that, the time I spend with people has just disappeared into oblivion. I suppose the lesson here is to not plan my time so tightly. Also, that rest is detrimental. I've resolved to manage my time more wisely.