Tag Archive

Last night, to follow up from the Astros Run, I went to Borders to meet up with Christina Tam, who drove me to Khon-Whey’s apartment, where Ted was waiting.  Actually, since we were a bit early, she wanted to stop by Walgreens to buy some food (Gatorade, Starbucks, and Airheads), so with her suggestion I also got a big bottle of Gatorade.  JT and Heidi arrived, so Khon-Whey drove them and his fiancee in one car, while Ted drove the two of us in another car, following his white car.  As we headed closer to Minute Maid Park, the parking went up to $20.  We headed backwards and saw Jacky walking, LOL.  We ended up parking in the lot for $5 (part of Ernst and Young?) where Hannah took us that time when we checked out Discovery Green for the first time.  We waited as Ted went to pick up his ticket (originally Denver and Sandra were going to drive us from Chili’s off of Buffalo Speedway, but then they weren’t going to go, so Jacky asked Ted to drive us, so Ted didn’t go home and just picked up Denver’s ticket). 

We were a bit late (7:05 game), and apparently the Texas Rangers had already scored on us Houston Astros in the first inning!  As we were quickly walking, we bumped into Jacky LOL!  We found our seats, and after another inning they all went to get food (I just went to use the restroom from all that Gatorade).  Christina “snuck” her food in (the guy who checked her bag let her go since she was like, “So what am I supposed to do?”).  Jacky stayed to watch all our belongings.  It was a pretty relaxing game since we were always ahead.  Ted had to leave early, then the couples left around the seventh inning.  Jacky suggested we go to the bottom to watch the remainder of the game, and then we hear a large commotion.  We watch the television screen and apparently the Rangers had scored two more on us!  Oh no!  Or as Christina said, “Me and my big mouth.”  We were antsy and sat at the very bottom.  Good thing they didn’t score any more on us.  So we finished 4-3 (without playing the bottom of the ninth inning).

During an hour-plus of the time, Jacky asked me borrow my phone in order to call T-Mobile since he figured out that his SIM card didn’t work.  Jacky took Christina and me back to her car, parked in Khon-Whey’s apartment complex.  Jacky also handed me a Yellow Magazine (I didn’t even know this existed), which featured a picture of us from the dragon boat racing, and two more Astros tickets.  He said he originally was going to go with a friend, but that he and his friend couldn’t make it.  He said I’d have company:  Jonathan and Perry.  Little did I know that by the time of the game tonight, I’d feel like I was set up on a date!  I found it hilarious and amusing because it sure wasn’t on purpose for either of us:

I called Diana since she had expressed interest before (”If you can’t find anyone to go with you, I’d love to go”).  She said she’d call me back.  Eventually I called her again because if she wasn’t going to go I sure needed time to find another.  She confirmed my suspicions, that she wasn’t going to go.  I asked the girls at FBCC, and a few other females.  My dad said he liked watching baseball since it was slow.  I wasn’t sure how to respond, because I don’t really care to watch another game, but I did tell him that he would be sitting next to Jonathan and Perry.  My dad is funny; he said it wouldn’t be awkward since it’s not like he knows them.  True, but with him sitting next to the guys, the guys will definitely go and find out who this married couple is!  And I guess I would feel awkward.  I admit I didn’t try too hard to find somebody to go to the game since last time I did I felt I gave a lot more trouble to myself than needed.  This time I figured, if no one comes with me, that’s okay. 

I went to get some errands done, such as dropping off Food Bank food for a relative (seriously, that house is jacked up).  The husband was sleeping with the television on, so he didn’t hear us knock.  Also, there was a watermelon in the jungle of a backyard.  We stopped by an “optical” but it is closed on Wednesdays, go figure.  Then I dropped off some articles of clothing to mend (exactly $20).  Finally, we headed into Foodarama to buy two dozen eggs for $2 after $10 purchase, so we bought some Cascade dishwashing powder, glazed walnuts and almonds, etc. (not Pearl soymilk because the price went from $0.50 to $1.99).

Jonathan calls and informs me that Perry had called him to cancel.  Jonathan asks me to call James, who tells me to call Chris.  James said he has dinner with someone and then is accompanying Michael to Fry’s, while Chris says he’s tired.  Since Jonathan works less than ten minutes from where I live, he picked me up to go to the game.  HAHA, can you imagine if I had invited my mom and dad?  Date with Jonathan, and meet the parents, too!  No taking it slow for me, LOL!  Anyway, this time we were on time, so we got the free fan item (but it was simply a piece of cardstock with info about the Hall of Fame) and were able to participate in the national anthem and some preliminary family fun.  We watched the first pitch, and just like last night, the Rangers got a run in the first inning, and we got two in the second. 

Jonathan was really nice and stayed with me to watch the beginning (since I missed it yesterday) before we headed off to get food (I had already eaten dinner at home).  He offered to buy me some food, but I declined.  Still, he bought me $4 Dasani water, which was much appreciated (thirsty thirsty!).  He ordered a foot-long hot dog and also got himself some water.  This game was more nerve-wracking because the Rangers got two more runs later on.  Jonathan, as always, has endless facts up his sleeve and informed me of different details while the game played out.  One time three Rangers tried to catch a foul ball that an Astros batter hit, but like in volleyball no one called it and it fell to the ground.  They learned from their mistake, and the Astros took that cue and made sure they called their future balls.  I forgot what it’s called when there’s 3 balls and 2 strikes, meaning that something is going to happen next, either with the batter walking to first base or off the field.  There were many double plays, but there was also a double out by tagging on both sides near the end.  Unfortunately, there were many times when we were close, especially when Ty Wigginton made a double in the ninth inning, but we couldn’t get that last run to tie the game.  Baseball is definitely a team sport.

After two hours, James called and said he’d like to come.  I think there was miscommunication because he sounded pretty hazzled or anxious or something.  Somehow, I felt guilty (I’m beginning to realize that many times after interacting with him I come away feeling I did something wrong, but I don’t know what) and I wanted to tell him to calm down.  But I simply handed the phone back to Jonathan (I missed his call on mine, oops).  Eventually, James joined us.  I have to say, if I felt like I was on a date before, now I felt like I was on some sort of “crash the date” deal with James on my left and Jonathan on my right.  After the third hour (Jonathan says this game was faster than last night’s, since Jacky had called him around 10:30 last night), we left.  James said he had already eaten and was quite tired, so Jonathan took me home.  As he was about to round the U-turn after exiting Southwest Freeway/US-59, Jonathan’s phone rang.  Again.  “I bet you $5 that’s James.”  Ha.  Anyway, by the time he drove up the driveway and dropped me off, coincidentally my parents had just arrived home as well, with the garage door going down.

So I’ve had my non-date with James and my pseudo-date (as Phoebe calls it) with Jonathan. 

Good night.

This evening, Chris called to play basketball at the same place.  Diana called me to carpool, so I drove over to pick up Elliot and told her to meet me at Borders.  During that time, I picked up a book I had requested online: Bodies and Souls.  Glee!  I drove the three of us to meet Chris and Jacky, who had already played for half an hour (yes, I was late).  We played “until someone gets hit in the face” since the sun was setting and we could barely see the ball against the dark pavilion.  My contact was irritating me (again! ugh) but the guys were pretty lenient on us girls (Elliot, Diana, and I were against Jacky and Chris).  Actually, Diana wasn’t kidding when she said she “sucked:”  she didn’t even know about double-dribbling, taking the ball back after making a basket, or getting the “secret” ball passes (well, I’m not so hot with those, either), but she did know how to use the backboard!  I’m definitely not anything near Laurie Chen, but it was eye-openning that I wasn’t as “beginner” as I thought I was.  Then we played Knockout before heading off for food. 

I’ve been thinking of mentoring lately; I’m not sure why.  I’ve never been a counselor, don’t have the desire yet to have children of my own, and definitely don’t feel “ready,” whatever that means.  I also don’t even have a mentor of my own, although a couple of older women keep, on average, annual tabs on me.  Plus, I have the worse relationship with my mother compared to that with my father and brother.  They say that as you get older, you get back to your roots more.  I think this “independence” thing that the United States has is quite alarming, and I want to get back into utilizing the advantages of my Chinese community.  I believe it’s also quite Biblical, for we are the Body of Christ.  Interdependence is the new trend.  One of the reasons I wanted to stay with FBCC (although I “go” to “all” the “churches” around town) was because so many of them had seen me grow up, physically and spiritually, and my parents are still there.  I find it incredible to see the adults teaching us, as we teach those younger than us.  Instead of starting at ground zero, we are building upon spiritual legacy….. 

Anyway, continuing, my contact actually hurt too much that I took it out and crumpled it into a receipt.  Elliot took over my car.  Our first stop was Chipotle (which was closed), so we made a stop into its neighbor Berripop.  Chris “hongkongsupastar” Huang was there talking with…forgot her name.  Diana got blueberry, and Chris got strawberry and blueberry.  The rest of us refrained from ordering (although Diana did ask for some samples for us).   Diana said she used to go there daily, and multiple times a day (e.g. three times), and each time she’d order a medium, and then get a small after that.  There’s also free wi-fi.  Daniel Yuan walked in with a bigger guy…I think his name is Jason? gosh I really am not as good with names as I thought.  Chris apparently was on an IM football team with Daniel back at UT Austin.  Elliot and I know him since we were on the same flag football Titan team with Wilson back in last last season.  It was hilarious because we looked at each other and said, “Hey” and then….”Okay, well, I’m going to get some yogurt.”  LOL, I think you just had to be there.  Later in the night (at the restaurant) Elliot said, “I’m still getting over when we just stared at each other awkwardly not saying anything.”

We went to Freebirds, but it just closed.  We finally sat down at a booth in 59 Diner.  Our waiter seemed good-natured.  We first asked for five cups of water.  Then, when it came time to order, unfortunately, only Chris and Jacky ordered.  And actually, Jacky had to change his order because what he wanted was only on Mondays I think.  He browsed and browsed, asking for suggestions (”Well, the Chicken Fried Steak is popular”), so the waiter said he’d come back.  Finally, Jacky made his decision:  Chicken Fried Chicken lol.  He also ordered Cheese Fries for the three of us to munch on (awww).  It took a while, so Jacky asked for the appetizer first, but Chris said, “As long as he doesn’t spit in my food.”  Our waiter brought out all three orders at the same time.  Man, it’s sure hard not to eat food offered right in front of you; Elliot didn’t eat, but Diana and I devoured the fries (although they said it wasn’t very good, probably been out a while, “soggy” and “sticky”).  During the night, she kept trying to ask how to say things in Mandarin Chinese (she’s Korean but tutors Chinese, isn’t that amazing?).  She said a neighboring girl looked like a man, but I didn’t think so.  Chris said that he plans to take ballroom dancing lessons in the future since Diana had said, “You’re boring” while they danced Saturday night haha. 

Afterwards, while they were paying, Diana came upon the machine where you try to pick up a stuffed animal.  She really wanted to “fobby”-looking pink “uglydoll.”  But there was a rat/fox/animal dressed in martial-art attire atop of it.  They suggested that maybe even the Batman would be easier to grab, but she pouted like she did at SSQQ.  Our waiter came up to us in amusement, and after finding out that Diana really wanted the animal, he took out two quarters from his tip pocket and handed it to her.  Elliot controlled the handles, while Jacky and Chris gave instructions.  When all three were satisfied, the claw went down and grabbed…nothing.  So we finally left (I’m pretty sure Jacky was glad about that!).  Elliot dropped Diana off at her car at Borders, then drove me back.  Then my mom drove Elliot back.

“Your friend is really bubbly.”  That’s what Elliot said at the end of the night.  No doubt about that.  Bubbly girls even females like (especially one who is so pretty, talented, God-loving, and responsible), but for me after awhile it takes its toll (i.e. my energy is sapped).  I can totally see why guys (especially quiet ones) find themselves attracted to her.  While at Berripop, Diana would swipe some from Chris to compare the flavors (since Chris said he couldn’t quite tell the difference).  She continued scooping that Chris commented, “Oh yeah, let me take another taste, I still can’t quite tell,” you know, the way he always makes wisecracks.  At the toy machine in 59 Diner, Diana was tugging Chris’s shirt (you know how he usually just wears an undershirt), begging anyone to get the stuffed animal for her.  I was thoroughly enjoying the entertainment.  If I were in Chris’s shoes, I’m sure I would have thoughts of whether this girl liked me or not!

That’s the name of a guy I met tonight. My aunt took me along to a potluck at Sugar Land Chinese Baptist Church off of Cash Road. We were a bit late so half of the food was gone, but there was enough (there is always enough in God’s house, haha). She ushered me in to sit with the kids. They were either in middle or high school or just finished with high school. It’s considered a small church, and I was told that most people my age see the paucity of a social life and thus attend FBCC instead.  Freedom was a very friendly guy, trying to make us newcomers feel welcome. Most of the regulars all spoke fluent Chinese.  The other “newcomers” were a girl in her senior year of high school and her two younger brothers, Abraham and..forgot. They recently (like a week ago?) moved here from Brazil (”from the Amazon”) so they speak Portuguese fluently, then English, and barely any Mandarin (their heritage is Chinese). She says she used to be in school in California, then went to Florida, then returned to her family in Brazil and settled into a Christian school but now she’s a bit irked since her family moved up here to Texas. She’s thinking her prospects of getting into a good college are now very slim, but she says she’s trusting God that this is in His plan, though she admits it’s hard for her to trust God in that.  

To celebrate Father’s Day, after dinner, they had the fathers and their children play games in the open area.  They played a game where something is stuck to their foreheads and everyone tries to get the others to do/say what is on their forehead (and thus lose).  For example, a boy had “you’re welcome” on his forehead so people would say thank you to him to hopefully prompt him to say that.  Freedom actually had “clap hands” on his forehead and so, without anyone trying to get him to do it, he inadvertently clapped his hands when someone performed well, and thus he got a new card on his forehead, haha.  My aunt cooked up some black soy bean drink to share with a friend of hers who has a little daughter and an older son (who attends the Chinese school at FBCC). The younger children played rock band in the back room; so funny with the little drum set and guitars.

Afterwards, Linton informed me that Melvin was at his house and asked if I’d like to join them.  Phoebe and Chris were already there as well when I arrived around 9:30 pm.  Melvin just caught us up with his life, about trading his dream car that his dad got him for a Fit for its fuel efficiency and hatchback usability, how he came down to ask Pei-Jean’s parents for her hand in marriage (when did Vickie and I talk about this with Jacky and Nathan Kim and Linton around?), how he’s getting ready to get his Master’s degree in teaching (for the sole purpose of a pay raise because otherwise he’s heard it’s useless), Pei-Jean’s job at CDC re: MRSA, the possibilty of finding a new school in Atlanta, GA, etc.  James showed up with his stinky tofu, then Peter, then Hannah came quite later.  Melvin then went around the room asking how we’ve been.  Chris says he hates his job, Linton says his job is okay and he’s thinking of getting a Master’s in the near future (e.g. business, engineering, or something else), I told him I just finished school and will be taking the licensing exam soon, and Phoebe talked about her social work academia.  Melvin showed us his LED flashlight, we reminisced on Melvin’s Facebook profile picture, and Melvin taught Phoebe how to work the Rubix cube.  Bubba that Phoebe bought from Hong Kong was splatted onto the ceiling that it looked like it was coming down through it!  It was also hilarious because they moved it and then later on Linton pointed it out to Phoebe, saying that it had moved by itself.  James took a group picture of us (haha, with Peter in it), then left (after we admired Melvin’s new car).  The rest of us played Loaded Questions:

• What is most important to you in a relationship: looks, humor, personality, or mutual interests? (By the way, it’s mutual interests with an “s”, so it doesn’t mean liking each other back or financial holdings hahaha.) Hannah, James, and Chris said personality, Linton said mutual interests, and Peter said humor.
• What would a tough guy never do? James said strip, Peter said cry, Chris said back off, Hannah said say “aw”, and Linton said pass up an opportunity to protect another.
• What is your most feminine quality? Peter likes Princess Bride, James is emotional, Chris has many shoes, Linton is needy, and Hannah has a motherly instinct

Afterwards they planned on going to IHOP (they ended up buying pancake mix instead), but I left for home.  Remember when I said that it was getting a little easier to say “yes” to the better over the good? Well, I am highly gullible prideful. I used to think I was a good listener, and then I gradually admitted I wasn’t all that with that skill, such as actively responding and gently prodding. Then I thought, well, at least I know I’m patient, and that was obviously not true as I found myself with a short fuse, holding things in, and taking things into my own hands when things weren’t going to turn out exactly as I wanted it to look. I never outright thought I was humble, but I thought of myself many times self-righteously superior in others, and hahahahahaha heh, that is the original sin. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself (Galatians 6:3). Actually, during Loaded Questions, one of the other people asked what is it that you don’t like to share with others (a question to that effect).  After awhile, I scribbled something about not talking about my weaknesses.  I definitely tricked myself so much, I can’t even tell anything anymore. It’s so ironic that back in the day when my classmates were incredulous about the heinous acts during the Holocaust, I spoke up and said that I knew that if I were in their place, I woudln’t be surprised if I acted in that way, either.  It would be horrendous, but not surprising.  Indeed, I am really nothing, or rather, being “found in him,” I do not have “a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (Philippians 3:9).  So the irony is that this previous prideful attitude actually prevents one from truly reaching the level of holiness where one thinks s/he is at.

So, I knew that it was late but wanted to finish the game (around 2 am).  I figured my mom would probably have called, but I rationalized that if I didn’t look at my cell phone, then maybe she had fallen asleep and didn’t even know I was still out.  Turns out, as I was driving out back towards the house, she had just turned into Linton’s neighborhood to get me.  In fact, she saw me turn left onto Avenue E and was in such a frantic rush to follow me that she almost got into a car accident (didn’t bother to check to see the car coming from her right) and revved up to 70 mph to follow behind me (this is a woman who normally drives 50 mph on the freeway when you can go 70).  I was wondering who was following me, hah (I actually made an extra loop to “lose” my pursuant in case, even though I didn’t know what “they” would want of me).  Then I went straight to my room.  My mom politely came in and asked me to tell her next time.  I said, “Yeah.”  Then I went to bed.  Thoughts whirled through my head, a debate really.  So I finally got out of bed, went to my mom, and apologized.  She asked if I heard her calls.  I said my cell was on silent, and was going to leave it at that, but realized that it was another excuse on my part, and added, “but I should have called you.”  My mom, as always, as a mom is, nicely accepted and forgave, and we went to sleep.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives (1 John 1:5-10).

“My wife’s pain is my pain.”  I realize that I am the one who causes the most grief in this family.  My brother is respectful of my parents and calls them whenever he is (or we are) out when he visits from out of town.  Before he moved out, he helped wash the dishes without asking.  Now that he has, he thinks fondly of my parents and buys them gifts that are useful for certain special days.  He tells me about his relationships (or lack thereof), and I’m like, whatever.  Plus, I…do nothing for my parents.  Or rather, I do..worse for them.  If I cannot honor my parents now, I will not be able to submit to my husband in the future, and especially not to the Most High God. I know it sounds cliche, but it’s so true that the more one turns towards God, the more one knows God is, well, GOD, and that you are the dust of the earth, and the only thing fitting after finding this out is to give Him praise.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14).

Freedom.  What a name.  What a promise.

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32).

Amen.

This past Sunday, Jacky called me to see if anyone was playing football because Sam Tarng (”newcomer to WHCC”) wanted to check it out. So I called Wilson, and then called Timmy Yip. Timmy twisted his ankle in April so he said he’d probably won’t be available until late July. He told me next time try to catch Wilson around noon since that’s probably when they decide about the afternoon. who told me when/where and to contact Tiffany or David Zhao. Jacky called again to say that Sam was there but didn’t see anyone. Ah well, I guess I’m going then (maybe it’s because he doesn’t recognize anyone–haha, yeah right, I forgot how talkative Sam is). They all teased me when I arrived: “Where were you?” “We were waiting!” “Hurry up!” It was three on three: George Yang, Sam, and me, against Nathan Kim, Tiffany, and David.

When it comes to football, there are times when I really don’t know what to make of comments. Our team won, and Tiffany said that I must’ve secretly trained while I was out (e.g. not playing in the league). Did I really play that well? Then I sure surprised myself, because I definitely sat on my butt and not exercised, haha.

George is so flirty. During the game, he kept encouraging me (well, we were on the same team, but words they weren’t just “good going” or “you can do it” type ones, if you get my drift). Sometimes he’d burst into this all hyped-up mode and start yelling from his gut lol. When I first arrived on the scene, he asked if we had met before, and I said, “I’m 13.” When there was still no light bulb, I said that I was #13 on his brother James’ team on the Titans the season before the one that just ended. Then he realized I cut my hair and remembered. It was because back then, when James was trying to get his brother to play with us, he’d show up a bit during practices and on game day he’d call me “13″ and sometimes initiate a fist bump. So he did that again this afternoon. Afterwards, he realized he had a mosquito bite and showed it to me and talked about how it wasn’t cool because a bite on the knuckle is especially aggravating. Anyway, he’s flirty but it’s not just to me; I think it’s just how he is. I have to admit that it’s fun, even if a little awkward, for me anyway. Most people know all these sorts of teasing, etc, usually offend me or go over my head. Hannah, Phoebe, and Vickie innately respond to me and thus haven’t really done that with me. But yeah, it’s a fun thing, from a young ‘un, too.

When they left, I called Vickie back. We talked for a bit, and then I drove to the closest grocery store and bought bread and Spam, haha! I was hungry but didn’t want to leave the park, so that’s what I ate for “dinner” while I read in the car and on the bench until 8:30 pm.  While I was eating the spam, I thought of how easy it is to get fat when you’re poor.  I bought it because it was cheap, and although in the long run the cost would be more expensive (a decaying body compounded with large medical bills), when you’re desperately low in dollars at the moment and hungry, you’re going to spend it on this cheap junk.  And thus that is probably why in the United States a lot of those living in poverty also have obesity issues (whereas in third-world countries they can’t even get their hands on even edible food, let alone junk food).

Tonight, Diana invited Hannah and me to a 6-pm dinner at Ruggles. It was quite a time, for we talked until past 9 o’clock (Diana even missed her friend’s birthday party). Obviously I can’t reveal the details of our conversations, but topics covered included parents being “madly in love”, arranged marriage, Korean royalty, boys, how our parents met and fell in love and married, ambitious for ourselves but maybe not pushing others, being mothers, being wives, responding to a significant other (being passive with an aggressive one, or controlling with a passive one), the time when we felt we were really growing up and losing a part of our childhood innocence, past boy stories (eg. cheating), Asian fetishes, how we grew up in church, our current church situations, the importance of a community to let us know when we’re in a bad relationship….

Friday.  Christina Tam and I met at Borders so we could carpool to watch Slant.  Craig Wen and Brian Thao-Huane were there, too.  I skipped out on FBCC’s monthly social: Iron Chef!  The secret ingredient was mango, and I heard the results were better than expected.  Jacky called at around 9pm to ask if I could watch their belongings while they did a run the next morning.  Uh..sure….

Saturday.  Christina and I again met at Borders to carpool to Jacky’s apartment, where Ted drove us four to be at Minute Maid Park at 7am.  They prepared, clipping on their running numbers, drinking water in the small cups being passed out, and stretching amongst the air “people” that would occasionally hit us (the way the air was blown and all).  We saw a man on stilts pretend he was a super-tall person, making balloon animals.  The girl and guy bunny suits wearing Astros attire came around to take pictures with the kids and whoever else wanted.  I’ve never participated in this sort of thing, so Jacky explained how it worked.  He paid $25 to participate, but they would get two free Astros tickets with an option of choosing from four games in the future (June 10, 11, 24, and/or 25).  They give you a timer that will start as soon as you step onto their carpet they have at the starting line and would stop when you step on the carpet at the finish line.  Some runs ask you to return the trakcer/timer, but this time they said the runners/walkers could keep it.  This is Ted’s first time, and afterwards he looked pretty winded (was it his knee, since he had a brace on? didn’t ask).  Jacky ran ahead.  Denver stayed with Ted. 

Christina needed coffee, so we walked around downtown.  We saw the “oasis” in front of Christ Church Cathedral–Christina couldn’t believe such a nice place in the middle of downtown.  She said she’d still feel unsafe walking around by herself, if I wasn’t with her.  I also saw some people waiting outside the Urban League.  We finally found this free-standing building all by itself on one side of the street to be Starbucks (good thing we used the map that the city provides atop the sidewalk, thank you Houston!).  At 8am, I bought her a drink (a grande mmchip frapp for $4.50), then we rested for a few minutes (she was carrying her papers to be graded in a backpack, then she volunteered to also carry Jacky’s, Ted’s, and my belongings–heavy!).  We headed back, realizing the run had pretty much ended (that was fast).  We had to walk all the way around since the doors were locked.  When we entered, a wave of stench (sweat and gym) hit my nose (never liked that smell).  Denver saw us, and Jacky encouraged us to get some food (he had his shirt off–not that it was attractive because I barely glanced, but that always makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason).  I stood in line for some lettuce wrap with meat on top (reminds me of that Chinese dish).  Jacky said there were also kolaches, so I stood in line for that.  They lady said, “Ham and cheese?”  Sure.  “Two?”  Sure….  JT said hi, and I think his girlfriend is Heidi.  She looks really familiar but I don’t know why.  Khon-Whey Tay was there with his two friends (they’re a couple of..Asian Indian descent?).  I wanted some fruit and found a pear within the tubs of water/ice/water bottles.  Was it supposed to be there?  I put it back, unsure of it’s cleanliness.  Later, after seeing many runners carrying fruit,  I realized I could use the water from the bottled water to clean it, but the pear was not there anymore.  Ah well.

I was so incredibly tired, even though I didn’t even participate, but since I wanted to have a somewhat normal sleeping pattern, I was determined to stay awake and not take a nap.  Christina and I went to Lowe’s to check out movies and their times.  Nothing particularly interested both of us, so we went to Fuddruckers at 11am.  By the time we arrived at her apartment, we would’ve completely missed the beginning of the movies we were debating on (sure bad at estimating time huh?).  We watched Stardust on her computer while eating lunch (I ate the big dog with chili and cheese while got the burger/fries/shake combo).  Phoebe called to watch the new Narnia movie.  So Christina quickly reviewed through the first Narnia movie on her computer, supplementing with verbal summarizations.  Then I browsed her books (she’s an English teacher at Kempner).  I asked about Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.  She has no idea why the play references that; she was famous in the literary world and the title is a play on “who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?”  She took a nap while I looked Woolf up: “Dreadnought Hoax was a practical joke pulled in 1910 by Horace de Vere Cole and five friends, including Virginia Stephen (later Virginia Woolf)…Modern diagnostic techniques have led to a posthumous diagnosis of bipolar disorder…The ethos of Bloomsbury discouraged sexual exclusivity, and in 1922, Woolf met Vita Sackville-West.”  She committed suicide.

Christina suddenly got up and realized that it was time to go.  Good going, Christina.  She, Phoebe, Linton, Hannah, Tina, James, Jonathan, and I watched Prince Caspian at 4:30pm at Lowe’s (barely missed the matinee price for movies before 4pm on Saturdays).  Christina left because she was pretty wiped out.  Chris was at work.  I joined them (and Ariel came, too) at Avalon Diner for dinner at 9pm.  I got the turkey/avocado omelette for $10.  They ran out of the recommended-by-the-waitress dish of steak and eggs.  Hannah’s order was right, but James and Jonathan’s dishes were a bit mismatched–Jonathan wasn’t bothered much, just got the pork version.  The main question discussed for the evening was, “If you didn’t believe in Jesus, what religious would you follow?”  Here’s the breakdown: Phoebe said Unitarian Universalism (or Ba’hai or whichever incorporates getting along with all religions, obviously none of us know much), Linton said Mormonism (he arrived back today from Utah for business), and I think the rest of them said atheism (or James said burning incense to ancestors).  I said atheism/agnosticism.

We walked to Borders and sat for a bit (Hannah checked to see if there were any sales).  Then Tina jumped on another’s suggestion to walk to the water, “Yes, Tina needs to walk.”  The girls chatted about clothing (I think Ariel’s going to a wedding), then Tina suggested we get ice cream since Hannah regretted not ordering a shake.  Cold Stone Creamery was near Lowe’s, so we spanned the entire complex I guess.  James is always asking if something is junk food or not, or making explanations that it isn’t junk food.  Yeah….  “Not today” says Jonathan, since he got some.  Hannah got coffee with heath (yum).  Hannah mentioned a quarterlife crisis, which James somewhat related.  Linton says he hasn’t reached there yet, that he is still on the way up/forward to something.  LOL, it was funny how James said that he loved it when he resigned.  I got home at midnight and crashed.

Sunday.  Charles and I drove to Elliot’s house, where the three of us met up to carpool.  (Elliot couldn’t convince Ed to come, and so Pepsi didn’t come either.)  Charles drove us to pick up Henry from his apartment then headed to Jack In the Box at 1212 for lunch.  I ordered four grilled chicken strips for $4.64 (felt like a ripoff).  Then we got to MFAH at 1pm.  We browsed around until 1:30, when they started seating us to watch Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.  The guys talked about having dirt on each other (and Ed Ly) and using it against each other, revealing it, etc.  We looked at the pamphlet they gave out for this Target Free Sunday (comparing the pictures of plants to their names).  Christina suddenly appeared and sat to my right right when the lights dimmed at 2pm.  I liked the movie because she was really going for understanding.  And she was amazing in all her abilities, as Lord Yupa already professed at the beginning of the movie.  Indeed, “What are you so afraid of?”  A lot of violence is borne out of fear of “the other.”  Henry says she should’ve died (there were Christian undertones), but Elliot said, “No, she has to live, so I can marry her” LOL!  Hey, she’s like Rocky and Gandhi put together, as Dave would say it, haha!  Who wouldn’t find her attractive?

Afterwards we went around to the exhibits (Pompeii wasn’t free).  Elliot teased Henry when he tried to explain one of the drawings on the wall, that the explanation didn’t exactly match what was written on the author plaque.  One artist painted Egypt abstractly (I don’t ever get it, so they make me annoyed).  We spent quite some time in the Korean exhibits.  Henry said he really liked the small wall-mounted plaque statue of the elephant in the other Asian exhibit.  Lastly, we observed the poles that important people carry/use.  Each had something on the top, so there were explanations.  Elliot really liked the one that went like, “Holding a kingdom is like holding an egg; hold it too hard and it’s crushed, hold it too loose and it will fall and break.”  Henry said he liked the quote that went something like, “A crab doesn’t give birth to a bird.”  The one that got me thinking was, “The hen knows it is dawn but lets the rooster crow.”  Christina found it to be anti-feminist.  Jacky called, so I called Wilson about football.  We sat around discussing the next step (board game?  buy Ziggity?  eat?).  Christina suggested we eat, Elliot of course suggested Fuddruckers (to which Christina got all excited about), Henry suggested Niko-Niko’s, and Charles jumped on that and made the decisive push to leave (5:30 pm).  I got the Hercules Plate.  Then we all left for home.  Charles stayed with Elliot to help him with his Microsoft Word.  I end up napping from 7:30 until 9 pm (sigh, so much for trying to stay up until nighttime).  Lil goo-goo took the trash out and left for her workplace.  I watched Dead Like Me because it was the only thing on and then went back to bed.

Sunday.  My parents came back from church to provide me lunch (FBCC doesn’t provide lunch during the summers since estimation of who’s in town is futile).  Afterwards, I went to meet up with Linton, Chris, and Vickie.  They didn’t want to shoot around, so instead they decided to join those BASIC members who were free that afternoon.  I read in the car (so hot!) while I waited for them to get ready (e.g. for Chris to grab his bowling shoes).  The four of us decided to get started and played two games.  I’m not partial to bowling, but I have to admit that with the three of them I had a great time.  I just told Vickie I look at the tick marks on the bowling alley and she went from 53 in the first game to 111 in the second game, breaking 100 for the first time in her life.  It was so monumental that I found myself jumping up and down in sharing her happiness LOL.  I bowled my average (88 in the first game and 97 in the second).  Linton ended up being the top scorer in the first game (95) by ending with a spare and strike using the rotating method, but somehow he dropped to last place in the second game (87).  His usual method is like having a mini track run up to the edge of the alley and then throwing the ball until it crashes and rolls towards the pins (you have to see it in person haha).  Chris improved his technique and, with some competition from Vickie, bowled a 116 by the second game.  It was so much fun seeing how that ended (”yeah!”). 

The guys left but Vickie stayed since enough BASIC people arrived for them to start playing.  I was formally introduced to Shawn Yu who apparently used to be the roommate of Vincent Tao, George Wu, and Kenny Lew.  I read.  Then they browsed the Barnes and Noble down the street.  Jeff made a pledge at DWC to go on STIM after college, so that’s how he knows Josh Peng.  He says, “And now I’m herein the secular world.  It’s very different.”  He was browsing the management section, saying eventually he would want to start his own.  He’s moving out of Texas the first week of June.

For dinner I joined Linton, Chris, Michael and Eveline, Jonathan, and James (7:30).  It was funny, I ended up right behind James who was driving Jonathan, and they waved hello through the rearview mirror.  At first we were going to eat at FuFu’s, but since it was full we decided to go elsewhere.  Taking forever (but I can’t complain since I wasn’t making any decision either) walking down the block back an forth, Vickie decided to join us after all (she wasn’t hungry but she was hungrier that the BASIC people since they had eaten a big, late lunch).  She suggested East Wall, so we walked over.  We ordered seven dishes (8:30), and the waitress was somewhat pressing for us to order another entree.  I’m not sure if she was concerned about the superstitioun that eight is complete for luck, or if she was using that as an excuse for us to order one more dish, or if she thought we wouldn’t have enough to eat.  Peter joined us later. 

We headed to James’ condo and eventually decided to play Monopoly, with a drinking element.  I had assumed I wasn’t playing since I wouldn’t be drinking alcohol, but they slapped a handful of money in front of me.  So many people talking at once that people kept asking how many of each bill was needed, that eventually Linton a bit frustratingly repeated himself.  Eveline was studying for her pharm tech exam on Wednesday, but she ended up being the banker by the end.  Peter (hat) convinced Chris (’Das boot!’) to give him the yellow properties for a complete set, so Peter eventually won.  For a few moments I think he was thinking he may need to form an alliance, since we were ganging up on him, and tried to do so with Vickie, Jonathan, and then me.  I didn’t land on any property I could buy until near the end, with New York Avenue.  Linton didn’t have much more luck, only ending up with the Electric Company and a purple, which he ended up having a complete set after trading some railroads.  He was advocating for me so much, saying that someone rich needed to donate something for me, so I could at least build something and feel part of the game.  Awwwwww.  In response, James just suddenly said, “Here, donation” and dropped the Water Works property in front of me LOL.  Man, you just had to be there. 

Chris had no idea the consequences of his trade (he had initially wanted to make the deal sweeter to give Vickie a blue property (not cyan, as Linton pointed out haha!) with some railroads so that she would give him orange-red property, but she declined).  Eventually Chris traded with Jonathan so he finally had his complete orange-red set and Jonathan had his green set.  James had the cyan set after trading (he at first was saying how little possibility it was to end up having a complete set - been a long while since he’s played, eh?) with Michael (to have a complete purple-red set), who was quite quiet.  He didn’t drink either.  They had decided about drinking during landing on houses, hotels, jail, luxury tax, and income tax.  In the beginning, Vickie left briefly and when she returned and rolled her dice, she accidentally knocked down a couple of people’s playing pieces, so that they decided she had to drink for that (and eventually many more for others in the course of the game).  They also randomly decided for peopel to drink when people made “stupid” comments or asked “stupid” questions, when they spilt alcohol, or etc etc.  It went so out of hand that James at one point said, “Because I feel like it” and drank along with Linton and Chris, I think, hahaha.  At times they’d get so riled up, everyone would be standing, and I would try to push Jonathan and James to sit down.  Peter said, “I’ve never played Monopoly with a group that was so anal about rules and all.”  Wow, what a game. 

We decided to stop at 2 a.m.  Peter and then Chris left at 3 a.m.  James fell asleep on his bed in his room.  Vickie (loveseat) and Linton (couch) ended up sleeping over.  I read Acts 15-16 and Psalm 37 with Jonathan on the laptop.  Afterwards he checked Facebook and his email.  Then he said that sometimes when he has time or is bored, he’d check on houses so he’d get a better sense of prices, etc. when he eventually does decide to own a home.  He says that he’d like to work for this smaller company that’s located in northwest? Houston.  Finally we went to sleep on the floor (found a sleeping bag in the closet for me to use–not sure what he did) around 4 a.m. 

Monday/Memorial Day.  Vickie and Linton left for home before 8 a.m.  Linton’s so sweet, asking me if I needed a ride back.  I decided against it and tried to fall back asleep, but i couldn’t so I got up and read.  Then James treated me to a Chinese breakfast at Classic Kitchen (soup wontons, egg-and-tortilla, and warm soy milk–yeah, don’t hate because I don’t know what they’re called).  Jonathan had left in the morning as well, watching a movie with his sister Susan and then working out at the gym.  James and I ended taking a nap again at 11 a.m.  Peter came at noon with crawfish (he woke up early to buy it and not without a search, finally at Viet Hoa) as well as onions and oranges.  James provided the sausage.  James put on I Am Legend, which was when Chris arrived in his motorcycle garb.  Then they watched Street Kings with Keanu Reeves, which I didn’t watch because I was eating crawfish.  Linton did, after he came with the spicy powder and sliced mushrooms.  Then they put on Curse of the Golden Flower (from Sony, which bought Paramount Pictures) after much objection from Eve.  After seeing it, I concur.  Bea left soon after, and then Vickie left at 8:30 to head back to San Antonio (first day of summer school tomorrow).  I decided to leave at 9 p.m.  There was still a whole pile left (Braden, Brian, and Steve had to work today, but Candace and JoJo showed up for this second consumption).  Eveline was still studying (using Peter’s book he had bought in the past but never took the test).  Eveline ended up speaking with Elaine on the phone because Jacky had dirty hands from peeling the crawfish, and it was so cute and sweet that they converse in Chinese, hehe.  Eve said that her current relationship is the longest she’s had (6 months), but her parents still think that the white guy is “just a friend.”  James had to take out the trash so he asked Peter to walk me to the car.  It seemed like a lot of work (especially after last night), so I asked if he enjoyed it.  He said, “Strangely, yes.”  I reported that I enjoyed hanging out with them, especially after hearing from people that UH is a commuter school.  He said, “Yes, we miss out on the dorm like and all that, but I like to think that we’re more grounded in reality.” 

This morning my dad went with shiaw goo-goo to Austin (they stayed with my brother) with shiaw goo-goo’s friend.  I could’ve joined/supported the NAMI Walk, but instead I drove to Jacky’s apartment to carpool to .  Jocelyn, JT, and Ted were already waiting.  He asked if I could drive since I was the only one with a four-door car.  Jacky sat in the passenger seat, JT sat on the right, Jocelyn sat in the middle, and Ted sat on the left.  We got lost briefly trying to find the Metro station, where we have permission and a permit to park for volunteering.  We waited for Jacky’s co-worker Andy? then headed towards the area (man, I forgot to take a picture of the metal see-through sign over the desolate grass area).  We passed an African-American with dreadlocks who was walking and also another man who was napping under the bridge but when he saw us (we were trying to take a picture of a family of ducks) he sat up and put on a shirt. 

After registration and getting our Tshirts, we were put to work doing random setup.  Jocelyn and I stuck together for the most part, trying to adjust/move the stage, transporting supplies to the media/vip area, transporting water.  The water was initially kept in this rundown building which had cool detached drawings of buildings on the white walls with black paint (I took pictures).  Shane Chen (a female), Jacky’s coworker who invited him and thus us to volunteer at this event, gave us special treatment.  We also got Astros tickets (unfortunately they gave us entrance to tomorrow’s and not Tuesday’s game), baby sunscreen, water, vegetable buns for breakfast (I know, sounds nasty in English), and overall better volunteering jobs than the other volunteers I think. 

We went walking around to the tents so that Jocelyn could say hello to Winston and Myrtle.  Myrtle is on the Houston Heat, as is Ying Yeung, my old piano teacher’s older daughter.  She says later I’ll probably see her dad since he’s coming as well.  Other people who I also ended up seeing were Jasmine and Annie from BASIC, John Hsieh (who gave me a large bottle of grean tea with lemon as well as a bbq pork bun), Rean, Christine Fung, and Susan Zhang.  Lol, Jocelyn ended up having to paddle for Lee High School.  I was pulled for Silver Eagle Distributors “Team Bud Light” because I was told one paddler had austism and had changed her mind, but the boat had already gone ahead so I didn’t have to.  I eventually ended up being the runner, meaning I would have to call the teams from wherever they were (usually at their assigned area under the bridge/tent) to get in line for their turn.  

On one trip of mine, I saw Robert C staying a little off from the crowd, on the sidewalk not close to the water’s edge, watching the race.  I went over and said hi, but he had this confused look on his face.  Not until he said, “You got a haircut” did I realize he probably didn’t initially recognize me.  We chatted, each telling the other why we were here.  He said that Joanne Wei (met on the football field, remet more firmly at David Zhao’s Chinese New Year party) had asked him to help out.  The RUCAA (Rice University Chinese Alumni Association) team consists of some current students and alumni, Joanne being one of them.  Another alumni, whom Robert introduced me to, is Ben Chu.  We both comment that each looks familiar to the other, but we have no idea how.  He graduated from Rice in 1995.  When I asked them if they were ready, Robert came up to me and said that actually they need 7 more paddlers.  I wasn’t sure if they’d be able to participate or be disqualified.  By the time they got their bracelets (they also forgot to register) to enter into the filtered area where current teams can be (and appropriate volunteers), they somehow could.  Turned out that they grabbed Jasmine, Annie, and John, and also roped in three Rice freshmen they had spotted.  One freshman came simply to watch her mom participate with the El Paso (Corporate?) Group, but now she has her own team to cheer on.

The guys (JT, Ted, Jacky, and Denver) were assigned to be dock helpers.  However, they are in a restricted area (and understandably so, because the people in charge don’t want that area clogged).  The girls are all running around as volunteers and as visitors.  Since Robert generally has an area he keeps going back to, I kept going back there to chat in between my runs.  It made my day, because he also asked me if I wanted some of their food (they were grilling hotdogs, sausages and hamburger patties on a metal portable enclosure) and man did I ever.  He went and grabbed me a hot dog in a bun (Vickie pointed this out to be that this is above and beyond simply asking if I wanted to eat) and asked if I also wanted ketchup and mustard, which I didn’t want him to go through THAT much trouble so I shook my heard (I was really hungry anyway).  I also ran out of the two bottles of water I had brought so I grabbed their paper cup and drank some from theirs as well (which I’m sure they desperately needed since they were rowing!). 

He’s an easy guy to talk with, and always with that big grin and easygoing attitude (with a humorous streak - saying I should wear my cap this other way, which I thought was true until he jk’d).  Some of the things I picked up:  He is going to finally graduate from residency in…2013.  I think he said he’d be 32 or something by that time.  He definitely never looks tired, though (good time management, eh?).  His family is in Louisiana, but they will probably move since they don’t really like it there.  He wants to go to Boston, but that is unlikely since there is more supply than demand with physicians.  He says there are three-digit-number of universities churning out medical graduates and a lot of people want to stay in the area.  His dream is to start a private practice, probably in San Diego, with two of his friends (who are specializing in oncology and radiation).  If his parents want his house, he’ll let them have it.  Otherwise, he’ll rent out his house.  OH yeah, and he remembered I was studying OT.  Wow.  The jokester again, saying that I should actually sell the projects (crafts) that the patients make during our Task Group in order to make more money.

When we were off the hook (we got to eat some of their food, but they also asked the guy to stay longer to help move the drums), we checked out some of the booths.  Jocelyn took me to the Wheel of Fortune put on by Western Union.  You could tell the staff wasn’t too thrilled to be there, just giving us their advertisements (and of course the prize I got from turning the wheel).  We passed one selling beautiful purses, and parasols, and even a tarot reading tent.  She also showed me where I could get my Chiense name written in calligraphy.  I got one for myself, and then when I commented that my mom would like it, she told me I could ask the man to write my mom’s name as well, which he did.  They were written on Beijing Olympics bookmarks.  Jocleyn is quite the social butterfly, taking photographs and contact information with all the people she met (e.g. the teacher who helped with Lee High School).  I also stood by as she talked with Caroline Long (the emcee and co-founder of the races).  Caroline said that initally they hired an emcee just like they hired the DJ.  However, something happened, so she ended up doing–and better.  She would go interview everyone while the hired would sort of just watch because s/he didn’t know anyone. 

Our last stop, right after grabbing extra white 8th Annual T-shirts as given permission by Joanne and Robert (Jacky was desperate for one), we “ordered” not food but some balloon sculptures from Smilez 4 Kids (they also paint faces).  As they were making them (the guys got them for their girlfriends), I started chitchatting with the one closest to me.  Turns out this grey-haired man is a missionary all over the world.  The younger people (like our age) standing behind him are two of his eight? children.  The guy was born in Germany? and the female making my penguin (as requested by Tedman, who personally got a Tigger tiger) was born in Italy.  This is their fundraiser.  Wow.

Hm…seems like I did a lot more.  I guess all that running, noise, losing my neon-yellow Airshow cap, pictures with newsreporters (just Greensheet - look for the June edition), and sunshine really did me in.  But with how things turned out, I am overall very happy.  Check out the link in http://www.buffalobayou.org/dragonboat.html for the official website, where you can click to Channel 13’s reporting with pictures and videos as well as the results (Continental Airlines reclaimed their champion title since 2004, 2003, and 2002) and especially how to volunteer for October’s Regatta ;-).

In the afternoon, I could’ve participated in Hector’s Cinco de Mayo cookout, but I was way too tired.  I took a nap (from 3 to 5 pm) then got up to eat dinner while watching Coyote Ugly on TV.  Turns out my mom went to the same Chinese singer concert as Jocelyn did (must be since she said something to that extent and was asking for directions to the front of the Reliant Stadium).  I also called Inch, Nathan Kim, who referred me to Chris Sun, and Henry (who asked Charles and Elliot who he was watching a movie with) if they wanted to go to the Astros game tomorrow.  Inch says he and Sarah Kim won’t be going because church conflicts (as I suspected).  Nathan is at a ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) conference.  Chris says he “probably won’t be going” and I didn’t press for a reason.  Henry gave generally the same answer, as did Charles, but Elliot said maybe.  We’ll see.

The WHCC guys were at Meta retreat, and Linton apparently was taking a nap, so Elliot didn’t really come.  I met Chris at T. H. Rogers.  It was just the two of us, shooting around.  We played a game of HORSE, which he won (I was leading in the beginning, but he said what probably happened was that I kept trying to make three-pointers so my arms got tired).  At the end he sat down and rested.  I practiced some lay-ups, from both sides.  But playing by myself is even worse than just the two of us.  So I sat down in front of him, drinking my water.  I asked him if he missed Plano, to which he answered, “A little.”  He says he has lost touch with most of the people he knew from back there.  While we were walking away, Chris said that Linton was taking swing-dancing lessons.  I exclaimed that he invited me as well, except that I didn’t want to pay $40 at this time (which isn’t expensive for 4 weekly lessons, but I figure when I start I’d take more than that plus I don’t want to spend that kind of money right now without a job).  Chris said the money issue ($50 for guys I guess) was his same idea.

We went to Old Place Cafe (his choice) in Chinatown for dinner.  Jacky was napping when Chris called him for basketball, so he called back and joined us.  I got eight lamb dumplings (which were okay, not that fond of the lamb taste) and Chris always orders Dan-Dan Noodles.  He says that his friends never seem to particularly desire to come here to eat when he suggests it.  Jacky said he could understand.  He said that his Beef Noodle Soup tasted so bad that he wanted to buy a drink to wash out the flavor.  Yet he still finished it all (cleaner than Chris’s bowl, who said, “And I liked my food”); he admitted that the noodles were good because they were home-made.  Then we went over to the Dun Huang Supermarket area.  Chris got a strawberry drink from Juicebox and met Jacky at Star Snow Ice & Teriyaki.  When I went in, I saw Vivian and Christine from BASIC were sitting in the front corner eating dinner, so I went over to say hi and chat briefly.  We all forgot each other’s names, but it’s okay, we repeated them.  Then I joined Jacky and Chris.  Jason So? and Jen Chi Chen? came in.  They recognized my face (and Jacky’s) so we waved at each other.  Chris, who’s back was towards them, turned around to see who we were waving to, and they recognized him and stopped to talk with him.  Apparently, Andrea (who recently got married to Justin?) had recently moved into the same apartment that Chris had moved into.  They asked him how long he’s been in Houston, and that’s all I heard (wasn’t exactly straining to eavesdrop).

Did you know that Chris is sleeping on the ground in his apartment?  His guy friends have offered to help him move in, but you know him, naw that’s alright.  So his bed and other furniture is still in Nathan Kim’s room.  Chris is leaving his couch there.  But come on, his nice (it is a nice) bed?  Doesn’t that backfire on the purpose he got a new place so quickly?  Chris says his bedroom doesn’t have a window, so it’s really hard to tell when it’s time to wake up (circadian rhythms).  At that time when told us (in the car as we went to the Beacon last week), we were joking that he should draw a sun or something.  Anyway, he moved the smaller objects, like his television, his guitar, and his laptop (he somehow has free internet from somewhere).  I guess he doesn’t have a table either, which reminds me of what Sarah Su had said when she moved to Virginia: ”sleeping on an air mattress and having nowhere to sit other than a chair and a table makes you surprisingly stressed”–so I would imagine it would be even more unsettling to just use a box as a seat….

psi, why are we like this?  Maybe we need to check out something on http://www.baylor.edu/christianethics/index.php?id=15933.  I keep wondering if we are so desperately not going in the right direction:  http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=19fd9c84c942a08316e0 (Paul David Washer).

Initially the tentative plan was to go to the iFest: Out of Africa, then see the Lucy exhibit at the HMNS, then go to Hermann Park, then eat dinner at Star Pizza (because David’s in town).  Well, since Lucy was extended, and no one really said anything about wanting to go to iFest (it was reported to not be that spectacular, so didn’t want to spend the money), we ended up checking out the new Discovery Green Park downtown right outside the George R. Brown Convention Center.  Phoebe, Hannah, David and I met at Linton’s house, where we carpooled from.  We got some ice cream from the ice cream truck.  Jacky and Chris came later.  We strolled through the park: chatting, looking around, casually throwing a football, taking pictures, checking out the colorful parking garage, and finally stopping at the Listening Vessels.  Using the structure, David and I sort of caught up, but of course his unique comments always make me laugh (I don’t remember what we talked about).  Chris was quite surprised that it worked, but Jacky didn’t seem to hear anything LOL.

Next stop: the famous Star Pizza.  On the way there, we passed the Urban League!  So that’s where it is.  In the car, they were talking about their favorite instruments.  The cello is apparently on the top three (besides the piano and drums, for David).  Laurie joined us at the restaurant.  The Boston/Atlanta game on TV was right in front of us.  They ordered a (large?) Margherita - Chicago style on wheat, Chicken Alfredo - New York style on wheat, and Starburst - New York style on white.  David took a slice back, for Elliot.  We played musical chairs (or rather, we took turns going to the restroom and people switched seats to talk with others).

Then we headed toward the “Austin part of Houston” because of its “eclectic feel”–Montrose.  We got slightly lost because there were two “Hollywood Food and Cigars” and a “Hollywood Vietnamese Restaurant” near where Inversion Coffee was.   Laurie drove Hannah and me; she has a new two-door car that looked pretty different from what I’ve seen.  The mileage meter is absolutely huge, and then it has a lot of other technological gadgets, such as saying how much gas efficiency it currently has.  Laurie says another reason she bought this was that the re-sell value was quite high as well.  Unfortunately, not knowing a lick about cars, I can’t tell you/don’t remember what car she had.  Inside, they offered a lot of brochures and such to pick up, so I found out about some free film classes - that had already passed.  Oh well, I’ll still pass them along, Elliot might want to check up on them regularly to see if there are any in the future.  The place also had art from the Children’s Prison Arts Project (CPAP). 

Most got coffee; Linton got chocolate milk, which he gave to rest to me.  There wasn’t enough room so the guys sat on the curvy couch while the rest of us and David sat on the chairs along the wall leading to the restrooms (which had some plumbing problems - the girl behind the counter who just started a couple of weeks ago helped me out with a plunger, saying “This is not in my job description” haha).  Linton asked David to play chess, then Hannah, Phoebe, Chris, and I played Chinese Checkers - the Cantonese way (you can jump equal spaces before and after another piece).  Hannah won, Chris got second place (wow!), Phoebe got third, and of course I got dead last (I still had like five moves left after Phoebe finished).  Phoebe and I played Mancala afterwards (after I used Chris’s phone to look up the rules).  I was on the fringe and couldn’t hear everything before we started the board games, but I do recall two stories.  Linton asked about embarrassing moments:

• David shared about being in a car with a girl, and during a turn or rough patch the girl placed her hand on his leg briefly then said “Sorry.”  He replied something to the extent of, “That’s okay, you can leave it there as long as you want.”  She paused and then turned and looked straight at him.  Awkward silence on the rest of the journey…..Linton asked David if he was aroused.  The rest of us were like, “Linton!” haha like his dad.  David answered no.
• Linton egged Chris on to share his story where he ended up “stroking” a girl.  “What?!” exclaimed Chris, “that’s totally not what happened.”  In elementary or middle school, he was at his desk behind a girl.  He was just shaking his leg as some of us do at times, but then he realized he was shaking his leg against the girl’s leg.  Oops.  He stopped and apologized.  The end.
• They asked me for one, but I couldn’t think of one at the top of my head.  “Preferably one involving hormones.”  Hm….

Saturday, March 15, 2008.  This is the first of two Saturdays I have to work (half day).  It wasn’t too bad (no evaluations, surprisingly).  I parked at the golf course and Rick picked me up (so that I wouldn’t have to pay the $10 parking garage fee).  He’s doing this Saturday and next Saturday to make up for missing days to attend Dr. Barber’s bachelor party/wedding.  I’m a big help because usually Saturdays are done by only one therapist (COTA or OTR) and the OT tech Tiffani.  This way, I write half of the stack and he writes the other half of progress notes.  He was going to drop me off at my car, but by the afternoon due to the tourists and visitors of the area, there was a traffic cement barricade to the road so he dropped me off (he had to meet his family) at the intersection and I walked to the car (earlier we had joked that if he wasn’t finished and I was, I could leave earlier but I couldn’t since he drove me but techincally I could walk but that would take forever).  Good sunny exercise. 

After work, I gave the FBCC girls’ a call.  No one answered.  I was really frustrated because FBCC Career Group went to Project C.U.R.E. this morning.  In the evite I said I couldn’t make it but that I would be available for lunch.  Then, maybe they don’t read the evite replies, I emailed the girls a few days before, specifically saying that if they were eating afterwards to give me a call.  And I call them after work.  I began to feel very left out and that they don’t really want me there, which makes me not want to be there (let’s just say that my inclinations for FBCC isn’t exactly positive so this just adds fuel to the fire).  Janet Poon finally called me back and let me know that in fact Hector was having a BBQ at his place.

I was passing by and decided to pay Henry a visit.  Rick had bought me a breakfast taco but I didn’t feel so good stomach-wise in the morning so I kept it in the fridge.  Turned out to be helpful because I ate that plus a sandwich from Henry (he just bought some turkey sandwich meat) for lunch.  He is always so…bluntly..unapologetic.  He said that he didn’t have extra food for me, but then he said that I could eat the sandwich.  I swear, I don’t know how I had initially been able to look pass his “meanness”.  But Henry’s Henry, as Elliot and David and Kuan can tell you.  He had to go to his parents’ afterwards, so I left when he did.

I arrived as the couple who lives in Pearland left.  There was a LOT of food at the BBQ (as there always is at a BBQ).  One of Hector’s coworkers (now I forgot his name) struck up a conversation with me.  I wasn’t particularly interested but as always I gave him my attention and talked with him (I guess with me, one, including me, cannot tell if I am genuinely interested or not - I speak the same way, and just because I can’t think of anything to say doesn’t mean I don’t want to speak with you).  We talked about jobs, school, El Paso, etc.  Hector grilled beef, chicken, and sausages (he uses really yummy homemade sauces).  Daniel Shen baked some goat cheese with peach, I think.  Charlene said it wasn’t too bad, but Howard Chiu’s reaction is a classic.  Yeah, I’d prefer to not eat the two ingredients together (and was never much of a goat cheese fan, like Jamie).  I left when Jason Chow and his entire van (they had carpooled this morning from FBCC) left.

I called Christina Tam to see if she knew about it, but she couldn’t make it.  I offered to bring her food, which she was very appreciative about (Hector encouraged us to take some food home).  I perused her apartment space (as I always like to do :) hehe), then watched Birth starring Nicole Kidman.  I chose that movie because she had seen all the other movies (although she wouldn’t mind watching them again) and this movie her parents bought simply because it was on sale and had Nicole Kidman, an actress they had actually heard about (funny Chinese parents).  Christina also had a whole new large set of Prismacolor colored pencils!  How in the world?  She said some street artist just gave it to her…?  Anyway, Birth is quite…slow…and disturbing in the sense that it’s a grown women having sexual/sensual encounters with an elementary-school-age boy.  Anne Heche is in it (it took me awhile to figure out where I had seen her: “Men in Trees”).  It was really slow and we had fast forwarded some parts, so I don’t know if we missed anything, we were going to quit, but I just had to know the ending–we could’ve just zipped through to the ending.  Ah well.

Afterwards she really wanted to show me the video game Kingdom Hearts (I had not realized just how much of a nerd she is).  I was never much into video games, but it was sort of fun and interesting with the conversational bubbles asking with multiple choice questions (i.e. Are you scared of growing old?).  My eye-hand coordination is to the pits, haha.  Well, it DID take me awhile to learn to type, but when I finally did, I type pretty well.  Then I went to Lost Creek to walk with Daniel, Hector, and Charlene.  Christina lent me her younger brother’s swimming trunks, tennis shoes, and black Kempner T-shirt (BEAWARE with “Do not doubt that a small group of committed individuals can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” Margaret Mead and “Be the change you want to see in the world” Mahatma Gandhi).  She was even going to lent me her ankle splint (I keep forgetting she can’t really participate in any of this kind of exercise, thus she didn’t join us).  I got home (empty) and heated up some dinner then watched random TV (The Newlyweds and The Bachelor: Special Edition).  For an hour and a half I tried to vent and feel sorry for myself but instead Vickie basically said the same thing as the Tshirt, to be the change I want to see in FBCC.  She sure wasn’t buying my pity.  She told me about going to the rodeo this year with Jessica, Robert Chang, etc.

Sunday, March 16, 2008.  I joined them for lunch (wow, big group!).  There was Eveline and Michael Ng, James, Linton, Phoebe, Hannah, Jacky, Jonathan, and Vickie.  I waved hello to John Hsieh and Bo, who were sitting on the opposite end of the restaurant near the window.  Vickie and I also said hello to…Tedman!  He’s working for…Jennifer Yu!  Just kidding, for HP.  He says he doesn’t really keep in touch with EPIC people except maybe Josh Winata.  Vickie wanted to exercise so turned out everyone went to Willow Park except Eveline and Michael.  Alan Bennett and Tiffany Lin showed up, but Wilson texted saying that the rest of them wouldn’t be there until later.  Alan left, and Tiffany said goodbye to Phoebe (since they were both Grace Tow’s bridesmaids).  We played ultimate football LOL.  I didn’t want to get hurt again but I did end up playing (4:4) and good thing there were no potholes because I couldn’t face the wrath of my parents again about my stupid ankle.  James made the decision to buy a football.

When it was time to leave, Jonathan wanted to wait to see his cousin Andrew.  He called, and Andrew told Jonathan that he was actually working this Sunday so he wasn’t able to make it.  I stayed behind and saw Tiffany again (she had gone back to finish up her paper/assignment).  Wilson, Jesslyn, James Hsia, Leon Chen, Nathan Kim, Eric, Gabriel (Henry’s Brazilian friend), and Timmy Yip all showed up.  I hate his cut shorts.  I don’t think they flatter him at all.

The Pie Council (http://www.piecouncil.org/national.htm) has ruled today National Pie Day, so in observance we went to House of Pies for my birthday dinner.  I didn’t want a massive crowd so I only invited the WHCC group (since the four of us had our birthdays four days apart).  Unfortunately, I didn’t know that the girls had small group Wednesday night (and now I remember HCC has all their small groups on Wednesdays as well anyway) so only the guys showed up: Linton, Chris Sun, Jing, James Wei, Brian Hui, Jonathan Eng, and Kenneth See.  Phoebe was at my right hand, braving the testosterone with me.  I ordered a strawberry rhubarb a la mode for dessert.  Afterwards James opened his apartment for us to talk.  They each shared a memory they had with me:  Linton with our car chats (and that one Sunday night I ended up crying for some forgotten reason and he prayed for me - that’s what I remember when he shared), Chris with my cards and thoughtfulness (e.g. Valentine’s notes), James with crashing at his place for the Wings Over Houston Air Show, Brian with his Bible study on fears, and Phoebe with our talk-walks.  Then I had to share one with them and, taking Brian’s advice, I tried to think of one event that encompassed them all.  The one I recalled was I think my first time at James’s apartment, when he led small group on the topic of Loneliness.  Chris and Phoebe weren’t there, but then we started sharing wilder stories such as getting drunk, keying cars, cramming pizza in a door handle, sticking jolly ranchers on windows, throwing eggs, etc.  Other sweet birthday wishers included Jennifer Lin (she called last week), James Wei (he texted me this morning), Jacky Lee (he left a voicemail), Vickie (emails and calls from San Antonio), Siwei (call/email), and Marie (email).

Thank you!  This really is going to be a good year.