Have I mentioned that the Supertones resonate with my soul?

Do you need someone?
Are you like me?
Do you fall apart?
Yeah, just like me.

Have there been times?
You felt so low?
Don't you forget
You're not alone

Angels are standing by your bed
Jesus is watching over you
He'll never leave that's what he said
Is that what you want cuz I know I do

I want love love love
I want perfect love. (X3)

Well I pretend
I just need me
I seem so strong
But it's make believe

Cuz I've seen love fail
I've been betrayed
I've seen love pass
I've seen love fade

But I know that God is not that way
He doesn't change from day to day
He doesn't fail he doesn't leave
And I want that so desperately

He loves broken hearts
Faith like a child
And now here I come
With just a broken heart
And faith like a child

I want love love love
I want perfect love.
I want love love love
I want perfect love.
Will someone tell me where to find
Some place to ease my troubled mind.

24 on the 24th

Well, I'm 24 now. And no, I didn't have 24 shots.
My sister says I'm old. She's coming up on 21 though, and starting to figure out grad-school stuff... THAT makes me feel old. :-)

I got to talk to my parents and my sister on the phone; I also received some fun cards including one with a certain Burninator on it, and one email with the Dr. Seuss birthday poem on it (Guess who that was from!) Hehe. I had a fun evening with some friends out in Claremont - and yup, I got showered. I feel loved. And, we played Seafarers, and I won. :-)

Picture proof that a) Ethan was in town, and that b) I have some freakin' awesome friends.
Shawna is describing some sort of leeching effect, I think:











And now, an excerpt from the poem Mina sent (who else would it have been?):

"Then the moment the Horn's happy honk-honk is heard
Comes a fluttering flap-flap! And then comes the bird!
The Great Birthday Bird!
And, so far as I know,
Katroo is the only place Birthday Birds grow.
The bird has a brain. He's most beautifully brained
With the brainiest bird-brain that's ever been trained.
He was trained by the most splendid Club in this nation
The Katroo Happy Birthday Asso-see-eye-ation."


Lastly but not leastly, my dad submitted some photos of the train layout he made for my sister to a magazine... we'll see if it wins any contests. :-)

Ethan!

Well, I took Eefie B. to LAX tonight; he'd been staying with me the last couple of days. It was great to see him! normally he's off in North Carolina doing grad-school, but he was out here for a few days and he is an awesome guy. Very at-ease-putting, and source of much deep and thoughtful conversation. He, me, Shawna, BT, and Greggy went out to dinner tonight and it was so refreshing.

Cool conversations recently:
"Holland... that's also called the Netherlands, right?"
"Yeah, the Netherlands, that's where Peter Pan lives."
"That's Neverland."
"That's where Michael Jackson lives."
"That's just the Ranch."
"Like the dressing?"

Shawna: "I like rumps."

Cool lyrics discovered recently:

"Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be" - Savin' Me (Nickelback)

"5 AM on a Tuesday - Why am I up so early?
Drive out to Santa Ana ’cause I’ve got jury duty
No breakfast - short tempered
And I cut my head shaving
Ten miles out I hit traffic
Some days just aren’t worth saving

You know I haven’t had the best of days
But I want to stop and thank you anyway

At the courthouse
I waited
And waited then I waited
At lunchtime my car stalled out
I couldn’t get it started
Had a book by C.S. Lewis
I finished the last page and
Slept on my desk for three hours
Just like my high school days

You know I haven’t had the best of days
But I want to stop and thank you anyway
Cuz every single moment whether sleeping or awake
Is your creation
And what you’ve made is good
I don’t always thank you for the rough days and
The hard times in my life
Even though I should." - Jury Duty (The O.C. Supertones)


And... that's what's been up. :-)

random quick Friday-morning thoughts

"Cars" was extremely excellent. As in, smile-o-rama!

I figured out what was irking me about the whole wiretapping thing. The argument has been that it's only been done against potential terrorists, and not "innocent civilians." The thing is, everybody in the US is an innocent civilian, until proven otherwise.

Jay is gone for the weekend but he'll be back on Sunday, and hopefully moving into his own new place on Monday!

Argentina by 6-0? what the heck?

Off to work! See you on the weekend!

Jay is here!

So, Jay is in town, looking for a place to live in Pasadena, and meanwhile staying with me! woohoo! Tonight, he was kinda tired from driving in from Montana, so we didn't get to make it to Bible study. But, we stayed in, got some good catch-up time, and he beat me at Broadside. :-)

My presentation to the CEO of Avery went well! It was a good concise description of my project, and I actually didn't end up saying anything stupid. Yay God!

Today, I had the interesting experience of re-interviewing for my job. My job was not on the line; rather, they were training interviewERs, and needed guinea-pig job-candidates. It was good for me to get more practice, reflect upon where I'm at now relative to when I was last interviewing, and that kind of thing. And, it still feels really good to walk out of an interview knowing you made a good impression, even if it was a fake interview. :-)

Summer Reading

I came across an interesting passage a little unexpectedly the other night, in the introduction to Jane Eyre. The author had just finished the usual thanks at the beginning of books, but then proceeded to turn to another group of people...

"... I mean the timorous or carping few who doubt the tendency of books such as Jane Eyre: in whose eyes whatever is unusual is wrong; whose ears detect in each protest against bigotry - that parent of crime - an insult to piety, that regent of God on earth. I would suggest to such doubters certain obvious distinctions; I would remind them of certain simple truths.
Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.
These things and deeds are diametrically opposed; they are as distinct as vice is from virtue. Men too often confound them; they should not be confounded: appearance should not be mistaken for truth; narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ. There is - I repeat it - a difference; and it is a good, and not a bad action to mark broadly and clearly the line of separation between them.
The world may not like to see these ideas dissevered, for it has been accustomed to blend them; finding it convenient to make external show pass for sterling worth - to let white-washed walls vouch for clean shrines."

- Currer Bell (aka Charlotte Bronte), 1847


First off, she has my writing-style; that of using way too many semicolons. Secondly, though - she rocks! It's 150 years later, and what she says is just as true now as it was then. The world has changed much, but has still not discovered the distinction of which she speaks. In the meanwhile, sadly, even those who protest and would de-mask the Pharisee have also assumed they must offend the Crown of Thorns to do so.

Driving...

So last night was Bible study down at Krislin's place in Long Beach. Good stuff. You probably wouldn't believe how thankful I am that even as a group of mostly graduated folks, we can still spend time together and be friends.

On the drive down, I turned on some Flight 180, and then Five Iron Frenzy... it was a swing/ska extravaganza! So much fun to drive to. And it turns out that once I get warmed up, I can hit some of those high notes that FIF's lead singer does so easily. :-)

And, it's time for work. Enjoy your day, all!

I like games...

Well, tonight I'm out to the board game club over at Caltech (which any of you would be welcome to come to, by the way). Should be a lot of fun!

A computer update: My computer is rockin'. It now has a remote... for radio/tv. Not that I'll use it as much now that Lost, Scrubs, and The Office are all season-finale'd out. But Colbert and the Daily Show are still going strong. (Particularly, catch the "Gravitas-off" that Colbert had with Stone Phillips last night - so excellent.)
A weather update: it's... cloudy? but hot?
A reading update: The Princess Bride is rockin' as well. I've finished it now, and highly recommend it.

A news update: apparently, a seagull was struck by a pitch at a baseball game earlier today- it swooped between the mound and home plate at just the wrong moment, and was knocked right out of the air - thankfully, it was "stunned, but O.K." according to the reporter. They caught it on tape! :-)

My parents!

These are my lovely parents. My dad is caught mid-witty-statement. I love them both very much. My mom recently had eye surgery, which, praise God, went very well, and now the cataract in her left eye is pretty much gone. It's like getting a better computer monitor... for all of life.

My dad just found out yesterday that he's going to have to find another job, after working on little British cars at the same shop for 25ish years or so. He's got so many talents, though, that I'm sure he'll find something - one thing I can say about my parents, God has always provided for them.

A radiation leak?

I took this photo over at Mudd a few weeks back - the flower didn't seem to have an aura in real life, but I think it came out pretty cool. 

Take me out to the ball game

So me and Ricky went to the Dodgers vs. Phillies game last Thursday... 7-2! It was almost 7-0... Dodgers, of course. :-) It was my first baseball game in what must be at least 10 years, I think.

Early one Monday...

So, here's my new blog. May it be the source of edification, enlightenment, education, entertainment, etc.

On the name: Zao Elpis is Greek for "Lively Hope," which is something that God's given me in the midst of times that should have killed hope.

May I be ever grateful, and ever rejoicing.
And may we all be granted mercy, grace, and peace in abundance!