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| w00t Batman=love. Okay, so I came to the midnight showing of Batman (in my Batman t-shirt, of course) TWO HOURS early and it was so ridiculous. You might think two hours is kind of overexaggerating or that it was completely unnecessary, but seriously, there were so many people there, that they had to put some people outside (theaters 7 and 12, if you're wondering). I talked to Jeremiah and he said they sold 1100 tickets for that showing. It was insane, but SO worth it. I would most definitely encourage you to see it. It was cool too because it was like all the paths of my life were converging at that one place. I saw a bunch of people from my old care group and a bunch of people from Seneca and a bunch of people from Maryland. ^_^ Plus, I went there with Wil, Austin, and Shannon, so it was pretty much amazing. I'm not going to stick in random bits of info from the movie because that would be mean and I want you to watch it. Oh, except, I don't know how many of you saw the first one, but Christian Bale still does that weird growly thing with his voice and at some parts I couldn't understand him, so that was a little bit annoying, but other than that, NO complaints about the movie whatsoever. Oh, and if you're a dork like me, don't stay after the credits because we waited and there's nothing there, which Wil thought was classy, but which I had no feelings about ^_^.
Ahm...other than the awesomeness that is the Dark Knight, OH sorry, random tangent...I have more respect for Batman now than I used to. See, if you know me even just a little bit, you know that Superman is most definitely my favorite hero and, if you're a bit of a nerd, you know that most people have chosen either Superman or Batman and that intense arguments about the two are frequent. However, I kind of respect the fact that Batman made his choice. I was watching this documentary on the Psychology of Batman (shut up...) and they were talking about how choice is an important part of the Batman story and they made this amazing parallel between him and his villains. They're basically antitheses of each other. Batman and each of his villains experienced some kind of traumatic, life damaging event, and each handled it separately. Batman's response was to try and protect people from the pain that he had to go through while his villains (with the exception of the Joker who causes evil for the sake of chaos) seek revenge on the world for the pain they think it caused them. It's quite beautiful, really. Okay...now to why I like Superman a bit more than Batman. Batman seeks vengeance against wrongdoers and he hides himself not only with his mask, but with the darkness of night under which he usually operates. Superman seeks justice. There is a really really fine line between the two, but one has, at its root, a violent and unrighteous anger, while the other one is a correct response to a behavior and only seeks to do what is right. For example, if there were a criminal who was robbing a bank, Batman's response would be to beat the guy up and then call the cops, while Superman would simply deliver the guy to the cops. The same result is attained, but with different motives and methods. Plus, Superman has intensely religious symbolism, with Superman being a Christlike figure...he's a hero we don't deserve or understand and he chooses to protect us and he's from another place. I dunno. The other thing too, which isn't too important, is that Superman is a more lighthearted comic than Batman and I don't like dark and heavy stuff that much.
Woot. ^_^
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| Finally, this summer is beginning to come together. No, I still don't have a job and no, my schedule isn't perfectly planned out or anything, but I finally have a routine and I'm starting to relax. This week was probably the best of all the summer weeks I've had so far. I've been able, by God's grace, to start my mornings off by thanking Him for the Cross, heading into His Word, and praying for you guys. I've been praying that God would give me a genuine love for people that goes beyond just liking them. I want to love people the way Paul does, the way Christ does, with a love that says "I would gladly die for you and have you have all that is good in me if it means that you would be able to know God as I've come to know Him." I love that Christianity isn't a religion and that, at it's core, is love. At least, true Christianity is like that, the Christianity that Christ preached. Last night, I was reading "The best American nonrequired reading" and one of the stories in there was by this woman who was basically saying that the Bible turned her into an atheist because there was a lot of stuff she didn't understand or agree with and she couldn't believe that the God of the Bible was so different from the God she'd pictured in her head. I could relate a bit because this is what I struggled with first semester with my bio and ideas of God classes. It was by God's grace that I've been reading Philippians and I got to the part where it says to work out your faith in fear and trembling because it's God who works through us. I love that, even though it might seem discouraging at first because you might think that faith means there is no more fear, but faith, because we're human, isn't constant, even though we might want it to be. It keeps changing because of our fallen state, but I believe a true relationship with Christ lets it become stronger and more consistent. That's been my experience, at least. I've struggle with my faith quite a few times, wondering if there's a point to all this, but my knowledge of who God is, even though it's so small, keeps me running back to Him. If there is no God, then there is no point to me being alive because I was created for His purposes.
Anyway, I've finally started really practicing guitar and that's been pretty spankin' cool. ^_^ My hands are all weird now from the strings and frets and whatnot, but I like it. I've never enjoyed practicing my instrument until now...but then again, flute is pretty gosh darn high pitched and annoying. EMT training is going well too...the other volunteers my age or around my age are like the nicest people ever (i know i say this about everyone)...care group is going well too...i dunno. Everything is just going pretty amazingly, and I suspect it's because I'm trying to shift the focus off my self and onto God and others. It's amazing how much of a difference that makes. I've also been running longer...haha I got so inspired by those olympic runners who ran 5000m in 12:46. I know I'll never ever be that fast, mostly because I'm slow to begin with, but also because that was the mens' time. ^_^ I'm definitely going to try to make that my 3200m goal, though. I know that's relatively realistic because I know girls who do that. w00t. Also, I finally found a modest one piece swimsuit. I don't understand swimsuits these days. The point of them seems to cover as little as possible. Ah well.That's pretty much it for now, I suppose. =) LOVE. Oh, and if anyone wants to hang out or has free time, come over or call or something and we can feed you FOOD ^_^
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| Yaaay constant updates The fact that this has been updated every day for the past three days is a testimony to the complete lack of things I have to do this summer. Hopefully it will change once I turn in my paperwork to the fire department on Thursday. I'm really excited for this opportunity to serve people and to learn about the intricacies of the human anatomy. ^_^ Wheee I just hope I don't react badly to the sight of blood or anything, which I probably will, but oh well. It should go okay, though. The people are really neat and at least Random and Plum will be there, so I won't be completely alone.
I realized that a lot of the stuff I've been doing lately is male-dominated, which is weird, seeing as in high school, I mostly hung out with girls. It's not bad though, I guess. Still, I always find myself comparing guys to the Godly men of my church. I'm so grateful for their Biblical demonstrations of manhood and their often successful attempts at chivalry. I love that they take the lead and really seek to follow God's Word concerning men. Also, I've found that because of the way that guys at my church behave, and because I am so thankful for it, I get a bit turned off when guys don't behave that way. Thankfully, I have super cool guy friends outside of the church who are totally not jerks. Yay for not being a jerk. ^_^
I skateboarded today! Haha that sounds really dorky, but it was crazy fun. The reason for this craziness and seeming disregard for inhibitions is that I will probably be parking in lot 4 this semester. If you've ever been to University of Maryland, think of where the Comcast center is in relation to the rest of the campus. Got it? Good. Now hold that thought and add about a quarter of a mile. That's where lot 4 is, which means that from my car, the shortest walk to class would be about fifteen to twenty minutes and the longest would be about a half hour. I really don't mind walking, but...if I can get somewhere faster with a bit less effort but ALSO without getting a ticket or wasting gas, then I would definitely love to do that. Why not a bike, you ask? (you didn't, but I'm pretending you did). My personal theory is that most bikers at college park are trained assassins who have decided that it's easier to kill people by running them over than it is to actually stab, shoot, or decapitate them. As I am a small Asian with a cool factor of zero, I would be a terrible assassin and, regrettably, cannot join their ranks of awesome evil. You might also be wondering (then again, you might also not) as to the use of rollerblades or scooters. Quite honestly, while I have a cool factor of zero, all the people at college park, with the exception of one RIDICULOUSLY cool guy, who use these means of transportation have a cool factor slightly less than zero. Perhaps even dipping a bit into the negative pi area... This leaves me with one option and one option alone if I am to not walk or run or skip or fly to my classes...( I am mentally drum rolling as you yawn) a SKATEBOARD!!!!!
....or, in my case, a longboard. Longboards are kind of like skateboards, but they're well...they're long. Also, they are heavy, so they are solely for moving, not for tricks, which is perfect because I have tried, and I cannot do tricks. I can manual for about two seconds, but that is the extent and it is not so impressive. Anyway, I was trying to convince my parents that this is an infinitely wiser investment than a bike would be and finally, I got my mom to say that if I practiced on my brother's skateboard for a while and got comfortable with it, they would be get me a longboard.
YES! I'm really excited about this because I have not done anything even close to cool in quite a while. Terri and I have collectively tried to think of something cool and legal for us to do, but have not come up with anything, so I am quite happy to have finally landed on this. Hopefully I will have one by next semester and I will be able to use it without completely bailing. =)
I realized yesterday that I want to do everything, so here is a list and if you can help me, please do ^_^ This is just the stuff I want to do in the summer. Also, some of these are a little silly, so feel free to laugh, but it is something I really want to do (these aren't in order):
1) learn hip-hop
2) get better at yoga
3) learn how to cook well
4) lie out on a big field under the stars
5) learn guitar
6) learn sax
7) go camping
8) go hiking
9) see Jon Foreman, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, or David Crowder band perform at a bookstore (how do those youtube people KNOW?!?!?)
10) ollie on a skateboard
11) find a modest swimsuit
12) drive to a sonic and get a milkshake
12) run a 6 minute mile
13) go for a run in D.C.
14) see the okapi at the Baltimore zoo
15) like, legit chill with Elaine...ahahahaha
16) have a picnic in D.C.
17) cut up a t-shirt an make it cool
18) learn contemporary dance
19) get blue highlights
20) get my cartilage pierced
21) learn basketball
22) read Dave Eggers' stuff, Jack Kerouac's stuff, Donald Miller's stuff, Scar Tissue, Spurgeon, and whatever else is good
23) go on a road trip somewhere and stay someplace overnight
24) buy all the scrubs dvds while they're on sale at Best Buy
25) learn some latte art (youtube it...it's AMAZING)
There's more but I'm falling asleep. LOVE
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| I shouldn't be awake... It's really weird how getting a little bit of sleep makes you feel a lot more awake than getting a load of sleep does. Yesterday, because I am wise with my time and use copious amounts of discretion regarding my activities, I woke up at 1 pm. Apparently, this is not a good idea because it tends to throw off sleeping patterns. Who knew?
Anyway, I have a rather odd habit of being ridiculously productive at random times of day and equally as unproductive at times of day when people are mass producing. As a result, it is now 9:38 and I have folded the laundry, had my quiet time, made and eaten my breakfast, and had a nice workout. W00t. I also happened to read John Mayer's blog, which is why I'm now actually using punctuation, capitalization, and a strangely quirky tone of voice. The reason I visited his blog after not having done so for a few months was that his video for "Say" came onto VH1 and the thought popped into my head that we, along with the media, have killed John Mayer's spirit. He usually makes these crazy faces which are a bit odd looking, but in that video, his face is straight. It's so ridiculously sad. Even though it was funny looking, you could see in his expression how much he loved what he was doing and as I watched him, he looked so subdued, restrained, and a bit unhappy. I hope the next time his video comes out, he makes those crazy faces again.
I think I would hate to do something in performance, so props to you guys who enjoy that sort of thing. I don't think I could handle the constant scrutiny or the use of authority to alter your personality. Of course, I don't think all artists are like this. There are the super cool few who make music or movies or write books just for the sheer pleasure of it and you can see the way they light up and completely change when they're doing what they love. That's why I love Mute Math and Jamie Lidell and David Crowder and Elaine (heh I had to throw in a writer) and Sarah (I also had to throw in a pianist) and Liz (why not throw in a pre-doctor?) and Jimmy (a super cool movie/music critique-er) and Mark (yay bassists!) and all the rest of you who I've seen doing stuff that makes you happy. ^_^ I still want to find my thing, but I really believe that once you've found that thing you love, you should hold onto it. It's kind of cool how God gives people different desires for things... like even stuff you wouldn't think people could be passionate about...like the people in ROTC who are in love with the military and the guys at the firehouse passionate about firefighting and that guy on the Discovery channel who's passionate about weird jobs. The only things I can really think of that make me feel the way those people look when they're doing what they love are worshiping and running, but I'm too slow to run for a living and I can't really worship for a living either. Don't get me wrong. I love medicine and I love the human anatomy. I think it's amazing how we run on electricity and the constant, steady, rhythmic pulse of a muscle in our center of gravity. I was amazed when we were learning about neurons and how they communicate with little sparks that travel up and down their axons. It's just ridiculously cool, but I don't know how good I'd be at it. Ah well.
Ooh I have a new favorite actor...not that I really had one before. It's Robert Downey Jr. I love that he was addicted to drugs and now he's recovered and he's Iron Man and his life kind of mirrors that role. Plus, he sings with a voice like Sting (ahhhh Sting!) and he has this very subtle, quirky, sarcastic, unassuming aura about him. I heart dorky, nerdy, guys who are cool without knowing it. ^_^
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| I went to the ONE meeting today and I saw Rhea (my old care group leader) and a few of the girls from my old care group too. I found out yesterday that I got moved to the Maresco/College Park care group. It's not too bad, I suppose. At least I was prepared for it. Also, I know a lot of the people in there and they're ridiculously Godly, so I know I'd grow a lot from being with them. My parents still want me to talk to Jon (our pastor) about it though because if I go to the College Park care group, I'd be commuting for about a half hour at ten o'clock at night, which would not be so good. I don't know. We'll see what happens and I'll be praying about it ^_^
Jamie Lidell was freeking amazing last night ^_^ I heart him. He's British and his music is funky and all day, I've been dancing to him as I drive. wheeeee and I'm thankful for my dad taking me to all these random concerts and such. He does it for Josh too. He's awesome even if he told me that last Sunday was Father's day (which is why he's not getting a gift this Sunday) and I gave him his stuff. He keeps teasing that I have to get him something else, but I'll probably just write him a card or something. =) I don't really know what else to write about...haha gosh I can't believe I ran out of words. ah well.
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