Happy 2008!
Happy New Year Everyone! May yours be a richly blessed 2008!
Add comment January 1st, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!
Heard this over the Thanksgiving weekend. Wow.
Christianity began as a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
When Christianity went to Athens, it became a philosophy. When it went to Rome, it became an organization. When it went to Europe, it became a culture. When it came to America, it became a business.
It’s time for us to return to what Christianity is at it’s core. A real relationship with Jesus Christ can’t be substituted with simply going through the motions of church, prayer, and reading the Bible. This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for this gift of salvation, this friendship I have with my savior, and the unconditional love of a God who reveals Himself in my life again and again. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Add comment November 23rd, 2007
Secret to a Perfect Relationship – Be Like Legos
I wrote this a long time ago, and given the circumstances, I suppose it’s a good time to repost it.
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Some people out there are still waiting for the perfect man or woman. Now I’m no relationship expert, but I think I know well enough that “perfect” does not exist. Human nature is too flawed to achieve perfect, “perfect” too mystical a concept to define, and man too wretched to know what to do with it anyway. No, I don’t believe that there is a perfect guy or girl, and for anyone to commit themselves towards looking for these fairy-tale figures is not only silly, but also incredibly arrogant. I’d be the first one to admit that I’m not perfect. Dare I believe that I deserve perfection when I don’t make the grade? Obviously, I can’t, and you shouldn’t either.
But I do believe in the perfect couple.
I compare it to two Lego blocks. On a Lego block, there’s a smooth side, a pegged top, and the bottom has holes. The smooth sides are what they are – they’re straight, got nice 90 degree corners corners, no bumps nor holes, and it’s usually the side that people look at. In other words, it’s outwards – it’s “perfect.” In the same token, the top and bottom are “imperfect.” They’ve got funny looking knobs and pegs and holes and slots. It’s a surface with personality.
Try to stick two smooth sides together and you’ll find you can’t. They won’t hold because they’ve got nothing to hold onto. You also can’t put a smooth side against a top or a bottom because the pegs won’t catch. But you put the top and the bottom together – the parts of a Lego block you don’t get to see, the parts that you’re supposed to hide – you get a fit. Holds pretty well too.
There is no such thing as the perfect mate, but I believe there is “perfect for each other.” You can’t make a relationship work when one person is so incredibly exceptional that their other half has no “pegs” nor “holes” to hold on two. It’s the flaws between two people that make that bond tight. We all have our own little imperfections that we try to hide from the rest of the world until that one person comes along in our lives and is able to knock down all the walls of insecurities we put up. And they let us know it’s okay to be flawed, to make mistakes, to be imperfect. And as far as I’m concerned, she doesn’t look the best when she wears an expensive dress, decked out in heels, pearls and make-up. She looks the best in the morning, with the crust in her eye and hair all frazzled, yawning at me with some kickin’ breath. Not because that’s attractive. Because she’s there.
When you can love someone in spite of all their flaws, and they can return the favor – that, my friends, is perfection.
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By the way, I found my Lego piece.
And we’re getting married.
Add comment November 6th, 2007
Los Angeles Is Broken
Having been a resident of both Los Angeles and Orange Counties, I stand on reasonable authority to say that Los Angeles is utterly broken. Mayor Villaraigosa (Villar? Villa? What is he now?) apparently has a vision to spend a gajillion dollars to build a “Subway Towards the Sea.” The plan is to extend the red line to run underneath Wilshire Boulevard in order to alleviate the congestion we currently have on our freeways. As this east-west line effectively takes you through most of the cities major thoroughfares, commercial and economic centers, and one major international airport, a subway running underneath Wilshire connecting downtown to Santa Monica sounds like a commuter’s wet dream.
So at this point, I know what you’re thinking.
LA has a subway?
Har! Yeah, I knew LA had a subway, but I feel no guilt in admitting (and probably joining millions of residents) that I’ve never ridden the subway in LA. This sad fact, as well as other circumstances, is why I think Los Angeles is utterly utterly broken.
My drive to and from work every day is approximately an hour. I’m not complaining – it’s just a way of life here in the city. The distance doesn’t matter much anymore. So long as my drive is uneventful, my daily commute is a fairly pleasant experience. Ever since becoming an iPod owner, I’ve discovered podcasting, and an hour is actually good time spent listening to interesting subject matters that the radio stations don’t really offer.
It’s when I have to deal with things like road construction or lane closures that really set me off. As if the commuter doesn’t have a hard enough time already, sometimes the freeway is extra special and reaaaaaalllyyyy likes to move along at those snail paces. Imagine what a ten year transit project would do.
And in the end, how much more convenient would it make for your typical commuter? I calculate at least a dozen major stops over the 15 or so miles between downtown and Santa Monica. Judging from my experiences in New York and Hong Kong, traveling that distance would take approximately 20 minutes. But LA is not like New York or Hong Kong. Most residents live in the valley or inland or in Orange County, so people who wanted to use this subway would have to drive to a station that connected them to the line to begin with. I can’t imagine that driving to a station, parking my car, waiting for a train to take me to a connecting line, taking the red line to my exit, then somehow arranging additional transportation to finally arrive at my office is going to significantly reduce my commute.
I now understand the necessity for master planned cities like Irvine. I used to have second thoughts about master planned cities because I thought they were nothing more than nice bougie place to live with not much substance. Real cities like LA and New York had soul, I thought. But now that I think about it, Irvine planners created a very smartly designed city which used its space very effectively. Despite being the 28th largest city in California with a population of 200K, the traffic in Irvine moves really well.
I think part of the reason why a subway system in LA has been difficult is because of sprawl. By and large, Los Angeles has resisted any effort to go vertical, and now we have 1,400 square foot homes sitting on 10,000 square foot lots. To make mass transit accessible and realistic for everyone, you’d have to build a system that effectively reaches 500 square miles of land. That, or reverse 150 years of growth.
I think we should just suck it up as Angelenos and stop trying to waste tax dollars on a problem that can’t be solved. You can’t have it all, and when you think about it Los Angeles has it pretty good. 85 and sunny is the year round forecast. You’re never more than an hour from the beach, but you’re never more than an hour from hiking and snowboarding either. The entire world’s cuisine can be found here, and any minute you can become famous for anything. If you want my advice, just deal with the traffic like I do: with mad, unreasonable, debilitating road-rage.
Add comment August 19th, 2007
Writer’s BLOCK
I need something new to blog about. It’s been forever and a day since I last wrote anything, and even that was a short entry. That top 5 favorite songs was a fun one, and I’ve always been a fan of lists – does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of list I can make next?
1 comment July 23rd, 2007