merry Christmas

from all of us to all of you, may your seasons be bright and may you have a wonderful Christmas.


peace,
ko

the greatest profession

i don't hide might immense pride in my major and what i do now. i love engineering, i think that it is the greatest profession. i may be wrong in this, but it is what i believe and i have a strong belief. i recently read to engineer is human and i would like to quote something for you:

The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope that the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny that he did it. if his works do not work, he is damned. That is the phantasmagoria that haunts his nights and dogs his days. He comes from the job at the end of the day resolved to calculate it again. He wakes in the night in a cold sweat and puts something on paper that looks silly in the morning. All day he shivers at the thought of the bugs which will inevitably appear to jolt its smooth consummation.

peace,
ko

work = the crazy

work has been busy lately, hence the lack of posts (for the past couple of weeks and untill the end of the year). fortunately, i have been at work 13 hours a day (at least), take that work/life balance!

peace,
ko

a good thanksgiving

chinh and i went to virgina to celebrate thanksgiving with my little sister's family and our parents. it was a week full of having good drinks, visiting historic sites, eating good food and enjoying the company of family. my sister (zoe) and her husband (tim) have a wonderful house, decorated with a mix of american history flair (they are both history majors), family pictures and comfortable furniture done in such a way that i immediately felt at home as soon as i entered (so much so that i draped myself across their couch and started watching tv). that and they have the best dog in the world (duke) who i hope i get to play with again soon. in short, a wonderful place for a thanksgiving week.

and, coming back to the snow, ice and cold of michigan, i naturally got a bit nostalgic about the previous week. even on the plane ride home, chinh and i teared up a little knowing how special the week was. how fleeting these moments are and how blessed we are that we have a family that not only gets along with each other, but truly loves one another. the de-emphasis of the family unit by our parent's generations (depending on the age of one's parents) has made this kind of get together odd and awkward for many of my friends, even more so by taking a long vacation to visit family (both natural and extended). how many jokes are made about in-laws? how many people dread time with the family? many times the week before our vacation, most people seemed surprised at my excitement at spending this time with our family, their thinking that the time would be much better spent with friends or with the immediate family.

when those friends are gone, who will be there for you?

in other news, its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. everywhere you go, even. this truly is my favorite time of year. not only because i love the snow, but i really enjoy the upbeat feeling that i get. the Christmas carols, the hot chocolate, the time with family, it truly is the greatest season of all.

may you have a wonderful Christmas.


peace,
ko

happy thanksgiving!

from the land of lovers (aka. virgina)



peace,
ko

friendship

i think i have written about friends before, but i thought i would bring it up again. driving back from springfield on tuesday, thinking about the future, a couple of tenants came up again and were refined. it can be boiled down too two rules:

1. friends take effort
2. friends are rarely eternal
(edit: see the awesome redhead's comment) 2a. friends are rarely eternal (bold words seem to imply something

a result of 1. is that friendship is largely based on proximity. this is because proximity and effort is inversely related, as you decrease proximity the amount of effort increases. you can see this as you move from elementary to middle school, middle to high school, etc. and even job to job one often loses touch with many of the friends you counted as being close. 2. is a result rarely of 1. with 'rarely' being a critical word. let me point out an obvious exception: family. i have not had a friend longer than that of my family, with a handful hopefully coming up close behind. and as i've always said, my best friend is and will always be chinh. (edit) there are those friends that seem to stay with you forever. i can call up mr. poon and talk football any day of the week, regardless of how long it has been since we have last talked. i can call up mr. chang any day of the week and talk about anything and nothing for hours , no matter hod long it has been since last we've talked. i met these individuals in college, my little redhead hero (see comment) met her's earlier and later. this is a function of one's maturity (mine has taken longer to develop than my redhead hero's) and is for a separate discussion.

what really brought this up was a statement that came up, 'you can not go home.' this is a very general/vague statement so let me explain through example. i graduated college (again) in 2005 and went back to visit this past weekend. i saw the same buildings (and some new ones) the same students (and some new ones) and the same wonderful university, however i felt out of place. why? because i had already been there, i had already had that unique experience and this was something i cannot go back to. just like i cannot be five years old again.

what does all this mean? you have to continually make new friends (result of 2.) and this will take time and be hard (see 1.). you have to continually work to keep your old friends (again, 1. and 2.). you have to choose a specific group to invest in.

see you in the next city.



peace,
ko

if i were a cupcake...

i'd be from outer-space. i'm not sure if i would be green, or have a laser gun that went 'pew! pew! pewpew!', but its the kind of oddity that makes me smile. i guess that being a cupcake would also mean that i was a pushover, an easy win, a trap game, etc. but, would these things really be true if i also had that laser gun? maybe i'd shoot your big 1-A team all to h3ll.

pew! pewpew! pew!1!!

i'm 2-0 so far this week, predicting the louisville and colorado upsets. ya, i know, i didn't write it anywhere, but you can ask my wife. she wouldn't lie to you, she doesn't want my head to get any bigger than it already is. so, with that being said, here are the predictions for the remaining games that i plan to watch:
uconn over those terrible baylor bears
tOSU over a dangerous troy squad
penn st over some school involving organized religion, or at least their name indicates something of the sort (see earlier cupcake reference)
minn gets revenge over another school that's popped up in florida (seriously, give me $50 and i'll start a football school in florida)
iowa beats a team that still curses the fact that mark may is a alum
purdue rebounds against cmu
florida squeeks out a close one against rocky top (lets be serious, tenn can't win anything)
mich state runs all over some other school involving organized religion
wake forest beats florida st. (i seriously dislike florida...)
auburn gets revenge over lsu
georgia beats asu (7 - 3, second most boring game of the year)

i'm in cbus this weekend, give a shout.

extra point: now i get to see my wife even less.


peace,
ko

mexico city

mexico city is awesome. so many times you hear on the news about kidnappings, the violence and the bad water that it often clouds out anything else that may be redeeming about the city or its surroundings. this is one of the biggest cities in the world, and yes there are a lot of those problems, but there are many beautiful things as well. i think that one thing i always remark to people is how good the food is. i think we broke most of the rools when it comes to ordering food in mexico, we ate from street venders, went to little hole-in-the-wall food stores and had drinks that probably contained some of that dreaded tap water. did we get sick? not till we got back and i'm not convinced that it is because of the food. either way, it was worth it (i'm better now, by the way, thanks for asking). the food is so good. sooooo good. seriously, we had 25+ tacos a night.

next are the amazing sites to see. wonders of the world, from the ancient teotihuacan to miracles of God including the virgin of guadalupe can only be seen in mexico, specifically in and around mexico city. the history here is rich and diverse in ways that many countries can only aspire to and the mesums do a wonderful job preserving this history for all future generations.

Four days were not enough to do everything we wanted to do, but just enough to taste everything mexico city had to offer. i hope we go back some day.

peace,
ko

hello from mexico city

hello. food here is the win. that is all.

more content to follow.

peace,
ko

amazing olympics

the most amazing opening ceremony ever. i believe that is the sentiment that i have heard over and over, from friends and commentators. i agree, but 'amazing' might not even be able to capture it. i think that other nations will have a hard time matching this; the majesty, the history, the power of so many people. how many times did you say, 'that must be computerized' or 'wow, look at all the hydraulics' only to have another human being pop out of a box and prove you wrong? how many times did you get chills at seeing so many individuals working as one?

i think what i loved the most was the confirmation that, when we (read: humans) do work together, we can achieve amazing things (read: go to the moon, develop hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, create weapons of mass destruction, produce beautiful pieces of art). i hope that people around the world got that message, hidden within the multitude of other messages sent that night (because obviously china was sending messages as well, and they have too. with a growing middle class, a strong sense of national identity is essential to maintain the countries unity), and continues to hold onto it for years to come.

other things to note: phelps is as good as everyone said, ditto for hoff, our basketball team(s) will soldier through, our soccer team(s) will make it out of their group(s), our men's volleyball have rebounded (both beach and normal), etc. etc. please watch, all these links are making me tired. i promise that you will not regret it. go usa, switzerland, japan (gave me my first 'real' job), germany (ancestrial commitments), great britian (again, ancestrial commitments), china (for hosting such great games), etc.

indeed, as morgan freeman says, 'go world.'


in other news, albuquerque is the place to make movies. i saw sin city and loved the artistic elements of that movie and i'm sure i'll love this one as well. besides, both chinh and i think that eva mendes is flipping hot.

peace,
ko

i submit

i've done it, i confess. i am weak and have consumed a product both reviled and loved by the masses. i have given into the glam and glitz and made the big purchase. my soul is forfeit, i need saving grace.

i have bought an iphone.

in other news, it seems like the blizzard fan boys are bitter once again. i stopped visiting the starcarft 2 forums (and rarely visit the site at all anymore) due to trash such as this. as mr. brahe says, 'the sort of person who takes world-class design, changes the contrast, and then calls themselves the artist' is the sort of person who has no business making his opinions known. indeed, the vary character of such an individual is easily constructed. the thing i find amazing (or maybe not that amazing) is that 95% of the people on these forums fit directly into a similar grouping. it is unfathomable that these people think that comments such as 'wow gayness' actually helps drive their point (if they had one at all...).

this brings me to a bigger issue and that is online play. obviously, the bottom feeders of these forums are the same people who go out, buy these games and play online. however, the transition from forum to field of play does not at all improve their demeanor or character. indeed, i postulate that the greater dickwad theory still applies. now, don't get me wrong, i have met and played with some incredibly fun, talented and intelligent people online (mostly through halo, but i digress). however, it is my experience that these people are the exception and not the rule. this is one of the reasons i find table top gaming so refreshing, that you in large part are able to escape the GIDT. i further postulate that given the subtraction of anonymity from the GIDT, we find that the theorem itself falls apart, the 'normal person' thus preserved. in other words, when one must stand across a table from your foe, respect is not only expected but necessary.

in other news, the mayor is in jail.


peace,
ko

good music

i am in the process of ripping my cd collection onto my macbook in an attempt to discourage loss (as they say in 'the industry'). as i flipped through the pages of old cds, i felt myself moving farther and farther back in the years, each turn of the page like another turn of my adolescent life. and i was struck by how much good music i had (i don't care if you think its good or not, because ultimately you're wrong). soundgarden, rage against the machine, alice in chains, incubus, beastie boys, linkin park, these were the songs that shaped me in so many ways. notice that most of these bands are either considered 'dark' or 'anti-establishment'. yes, i was a 'goth' type of kid, a far cry from the 'rhuel' boy i am now, yes?

of course i should temper this by noting that i also own beethoven's moonlight, mendelssohn's symphony no. 3 and a collection of bach.

i want a vulcan. yes, i know i'm a child, but i hardly think that anything that takes 6 D-cell batteries and shoots 3 darts per second is considered completely a 'child's toy'. besides, based on the nerf rules of engagement, i think that swinging something with that much weight around will make pistol whipping much more enjoyable. come on over jason and andrea, we got something fun waiting for you at the top of the stairs.

speaking of goth and guns, the dark knight was fantastic. i really think that heath did an excellent job of portraying the madness of the joker. the jerky, obsessive, vicious nature that i loved in a villain. he truely was/is the best villain of them all, both in terms of his cunning and madness, requirements for a good villain. please go see it and push titanic off its high hill.

angry little girls

we were driving to novi today, chinh at the wheel, thi in back with myself riding shotgun, coming along at a good clip eagerly awaiting the fruits that our wonderful consumer society would drop upon us. when, out of nowhere, my darling, quiet, giggling wife turns into a angry, yelling, cursing psycho shaking her fist at the passing drivers and careening around turns. i guess driving really does bring out the worst in people (that and my wife really is an angry little asian girl, we just got the first collection of comics from a small bookstore in chelsea, they describe our releationship perfectly). not that i could really blame her, i hate people as well. good thing i have a God that tells me to love.

all in all, the day went well. we bought staub pot for the kitchen ($40), i was given clothes that were appropriate from rhuel (translation, i was dressed and paraded about) and chinh found unreal tournament for $1.99. how can you beat that? that's right, you can't, so stop trying. you're only embarrassing yourself.

during my 10 mi run this morning (see earlier post on running), i was thinking of this ruling and the possible consequences. of course, my initial reaction is that this will be sweet, force the cell phone companies to drastically improve service in order to keep their customers. that along with competitive plan pricing would make the world a beautiful place, yes? and who cares if phones are more expensive? maybe the companies that make them will actually spend some time in development...

and, finally, we will see the dark knight tonight.

i'll leave you chuckling at that one.

peace,
ko

a new page

hello everyone, see anything different? no? well, then you don't come here enough. i've changed the look a bit, added a bit and taken a bit(e) out of crime. so, all you thieves out there best watch your back. i'm slicker than dr. horrible and that's the truth.

apparently its still the same weak content...

one of the main changes will be the introduction of labels for each post. i believe (hope) that this is a great way to try and organize the posts into the various themes/content that you or i are interested in. makes it easier to link to it later. this is a big step because it means that i am investing in this particular location. previously, i could post, or not. i could update the look of the site, or walk away, and not feel like i wasted any effort on the whole. committing to posting a couple of times a week (surprise) and keeping the look up to date means that i do not have the freedom i initially did. why make this commitment? i guess i would answer that with my own question, do you have anything you created online that has lasted more than a couple of years? yep, i would like that as well.

all this website theorizing would probably be much more believable if i wasn't so addicted to defending my desktop. ya, you heard right all you creeps out there. i got a level 5 basher and water cannon just waiting for you (that is, if you make it through the level 5 frost and dart). seriously though, don't click that link, it s like super intense crack laced with caffeine and a pinch of saffron for color.

speaking of good movies, chinh and i saw the hulk this past weekend at the "dollar" (i think it was $1.50) theater. it was such a relief to see a movie redeem a hero like that, i encourage you to wipe your mind of any previous hulk movies. also surprising is that i liked the hulk much more than the golden army. while the character costumes, set work and even overall story (idea) was impecable, i felt that the acting prevented me from really being able to lose myself in the movie. ahh well, third (or fourth, or whatever number it is now...) time is a charm.

peace,
ko