Servant and King
Rescued this World
This is our God

Danielisms

So my internet has been shaky and I assumed something was wrong with my router as it would not recognize my LAN cable on my laptop. When I looked at my network connections information, it kept saying "network cable disconnected" making me confused as the cable was plugged in to my laptop. So I try to use my wireless, but that gives me loads of problems assigning me an IP address (many many laptops connecting wirelessly to the same router causes many problems). That fails, so I try to steal my neighbors wireless via his/her unsecured network. I try playing poker (not a good idea with unstable connections) and I disconnect repeatedly. After 30 mins of disconnectfest, I check my cable connections.

There's a blue cable that is connected to my laptop and there is a blue cable connected to the router, so it should work right?

However, to my stupidity. there are two blue cables that are connected like this

Cable 1: Computer<-------> nothing

Cable 2: Nothing<-------->router

So in otherwords, the cable was never connected properly

Oh Daniel, why do you do these things

Why Party

I guess recently I’ve been more on the “scene” with parties and what not to chill with some of my closest buddies. Some people reading this blog will react,

“Gasp, no way. Daniel is way ‘too Christian and religious” to go party and drink. He doesn’t know how to have fun”

Anyway, my reaction to parties is simply, “that’s it?” not necessarily because I’m against taking drugs and consuming large (note: I said large, not any) doses of alcohol, but because they (parties) are way blown out of proportion and nothing is different than hanging out, other than the fact there are drugs and alcohol. When did the definition of fun change to how many parties one attends? Who thought of that? Nonetheless, I took a couple shots, and had a good time, but for different reasons.

I think the appeal to parties is that it gathers people and puts people in an atmosphere where they can unwind and distress and be with their friends. How else can people chill with their friends past 11pm in the city of Cupertino? There are not many options especially if you are under 21. You can go to get some PMT, but that closes at 11pm. You can go Top Café/Denny’s or w/e but not everyone wants to eat every night like that.

I guess what irks me most is the mentality that people have if I don’t go to parties or necessarily chug 10 shots every time I go. People shrug me off as, “Oh meet the ultra-religious guy” in a very condescending tone and then these same people try to boast about how crazy they can go with taking shots. Granted, I shouldn’t take other people’s opinions or view of me highly because my identity isn’t in what people think of me.

Honestly, though how are people so superficial, that the only thing that they can say or brag about themselves is how many parties they go to or how many times they’ve taken hard drugs? There’s not much more beyond the surface when I try to dig deeper.

To sum it up, I don’t think parties are necessarily a bad thing and neither is alcohol (in moderation). I don’t automatically assume that everyone is “bad” or superficial if they go to a party. I choose not to drink alcohol because I think it tastes bad and I don’t like not having control of my body. I choose not to party all the time because I believe that fun can be made without having alcohol and drugs everywhere.

A “oops” moment

A day after the dreadful Texas-UCLA Basketball game, I was a bit sad about how the UCLA team is doing, but they’re going to mature as the year goes on I think. Anyway, I’m at work making some sinful cinnamon pretzels for a customer. As I’m adding the piles of sugar onto the pretzel, I was talking about the Lakers with my coworker and how they’ve been winning so much. I jokingly blurt out, “Do you know who’s not winning right now?” I was hoping that my coworker would blurt out “UCLA” and laugh with me, but as I asked the question, thoughts suddenly came up

The guy behind me who I’m making the pretzel for is really tall and has UCLA sports gear on. Crap, he’s over 6’6”, he’s a basketball player. Oh crap, I hope my coworker doesn’t answer the question.

Fortunately, my coworker was smart enough to realize this and said “The Clippers!” (who are like 3-15?). So I serve Drew Gordon his pretzel and he leaves.

I proceed to thank my friend for being smart. We laugh about the situation and continue on with our lives.

Question of the Week

Living on the college campus, I notice how people like to advocate for equal rights and fairness for everyone. In doing so, we often are very concerned about other people's feelings and try to remain politically correct as much as possible. For some, it's become and ideology that's so strong that if anyone else undermines this philosophy, he or she is seen as narrowminded and inferior to others. This ideal is so strong in the college culture that people do not seem to be able to formulate their own opinion in fear of offending other people. The question of the week is this: have cultural relativism, the need to appease everybody, and political correctness lead to a bunch of mindless individuals who cannot formulate their own opinions?

Being “Completely” satisfied by God?

Question of the day
There is a saying that goes that if a person is completely satisfied by God then regardless of circumstance and what’s going around the person, the person will feel satisfied? However, can this state truly be reached? Let’s say hypothetically one is completely satisfied by God. In fact, he/she is so satisfied that he/she wants everyone else to receive the satisfaction from God that he/she has received. However, with this desire, is it,
a.) A God-given desire?
My next question I present is if let’s say he/she sees that other’s aren’t receiving the fullness of God and the satisfaction.
b.) What would be the bibilical way to react?
Where does the balance come in for us as Christians who have met, encountered, and live a life with Christ to say “God I love You so much, but I want you to be known to my friends too because you’re just that awesome” Does this mean one doesn’t think God just for him/herself is good enough. Is God not sufficient?

Honestly, and that’s where I wonder. It’s like I know God’s sovereign and everything, but it’s like going to sleep on a full satisfied stomach while your fellow man is starving and famished going to sleep. How is that really fair? And to top it off, to have God say, “Don’t look at that circumstance, but be satisfied solely by me”
God, why won’t You come and manifest your power to Your creation?

Dyed my hair

There ya go

belac

I don’t know the exact moment in particular when I first met Caleb Lin or when we became good friends for that matter. The first memory of Caleb came from Sam when we were having a lunch together when I was just getting into PC and Sam was talking about how good looking and amazing Caleb was (no homo). Nonetheless, we became good friends despite the fact that I knew very little about him and he knew very little about me besides what goes around on the gossip vine.
Early Impressions (I think he was leading worship for PC1 when everyone still went to PC1)
1. Wow he’s good looking
2. He’s good looking
3. He has the voice of angels
4. He lives with purpose

As one of my coworkers said, “Caleb has really soulful eyes. There was something always different about him”
And I agree with the latter part, wholeheartedly (sorry, you don’t have soulful eyes). There is something different about Caleb Lin. One big memory that rocked me so hard was when we were all playing basketball at Wooden. Mike Han had just injured his ankle. While everyone passively didn’t know what to do, Caleb just commanded that we pray for Mike and his ankle, even amidst playing with non-Christians. It hit me so hard because he was one of the first people I’ve ever met that lived out his faith in God outside the church and in the world.
Another thing that always stood out about Caleb is that he always redirected people to purpose. I’m pretty sure everyone’s heard a pep talk from Caleb talking about what a prayer meeting or worship night should be about and we even make fun of him with impressions. But seriously, he’s a guy that will live purposefully in the things he does.
Girls (and guys) draw near to him not just because of his looks or voice, but because of his raw passion for the Lord in everything he does. Not only does he love God, but he’s a lover of people. I’ve seen countless times where people would be so sad or emo and have a 1-2 hour talk with Caleb and be happy in the end. I know it’s happened for me many times.


You don’t know how much I look up to you. You’re like an older brother to me.

Have a great one, Belac

King Samuel

The Protector


The Multitasker

The Cook

The ???

So this is a post about Sam and how awesome he is. Tell him that the next time you meet him.

Blessed =)

91908

Wow, I haven’t posted in over a month on my blog, so I guess I have to post something now. Nevertheless, it’s been a hectic past week moving back into the apartment living with 6 other guys. (Andrew, Daniel , Jason, David, Brian, Chris) and living inside for the first time. What can I say? It’s going to be an awesome year with David, Alan, Jason, and, later, Mats. We had crazy furniture from other people in our apartment, so it was surprisingly really messy, but not dirty. Let me elaborate.

You know you can have a lot of stuff lying around, but like overall still be considered clean? That’s how our apartment was for the past week. We had like 4 fridges, 10 chairs, extra tables, mattress pads in addition to what was already in the apartment. Even with all that stuff, I would consider the apartment clean. The floor was vacuumed, furniture dusted, and not much crap lying hidden beneath furniture.

Where was I? Oh yea, so what’s been going on this week in LA.

-A lot of spontaneous outings with the roomies.
-I dyed my hair red (or at least tried to)
-Got a new 37 inch Samsung HDTV with a new stand
-Started work again

It was also my birthday last Friday, which was freaken amazing. It wasn’t really just a birthday, it was moreso a birthweek. I’ve had many birthday dinners with siblings, friends, and just chill nights. In addition, Thomas wong (birthday buddy) planned a fantastic ATV outing (no pictures sorry…) in Pismo Beach. It was the first time I ever went ATVing, but it was sooo fun. I definitely recommend it. Oh, and if you haven’t heard, Andrew Hiah totally ate it, ATVing. Ask him for the story, and DLin for the pictures =).
My birthweek was awesome.

Thanks

- Everybody who facebooked/texted/called me
- People who came to Pismo Beach to go ATVing/bonfiring
- Thomas for organizing ATVing and being an awesome birthday buddy
- Mike Han and Mike Leong for the lovely French dinner outing
- My sis and bro for their gifts and BJ’s outing
- Parents for card
- Anita and Caleb for their Bday Cards
- God for being continually faithful and blessing me continuously

The Clingable Lover

Sometimes in my self-imposed rubrics of life, I judge and perceive people as “good”, “worthy”, and other sorts of labels onto people. It’s a natural instinct, inevitably. I perceive myself as “Christian”, “valued” and other adjectives based on my works and accomplishments, which includes how well I’m doing in classes, reading my Bible, and making money. At moments, I peak as everything seems to go well and I feel like I’m right with God and everyone else, but when everything else fades, all self-worth disappears.

I use my self-imposed value system on myself and consider myself worthless. Friends shouldn’t want me because I do not “truly” love them. Family shouldn’t want me because they’re spending money on tuition only to see me not doing so well in classes. Waking up in the morning to hours of work and school, I sometimes just wish I would just fade away so I wouldn’t have to live such a meaningless life. Yet, despite it all, despite failing everything and looking like a loser, there’s a lover that keeps pursuing me. He’s God.

And it’s just killing me. God, why love me? I fail. I disobey. I don’t want You in my life anymore. I don’t even know if I can even be a Christian anymore. I don’t want any more altar calls, rededications, or people praying over me. God, You know I’m going to fall. You know I’m going to turn away. You know I’m going to sin.
God, I’m a stock that’s falling. I’m an investment that has shady history and no implications of change. I’m that friend that backstabs you repeatedly. I’m that guy that is ashamed to tell others of how great You are even when You repeatedly show acts of love and mercy. I’m a Pharisee.

God, You want me to come back, but do I want to come back?

The Obligatory Summer Blog Post

Man I haven’t written in this thing in forever
Anyway, so summer is here finally, although it doesn’t feel like summer at all besides maybe the hot weather and the sun beaming its yellow-y goodness on me every morning. Nonetheless, I do work a 35 hour week at Wetzel’s and am taking a class. All in all, I’m still incredibly busy.

As for life updates, there hasn’t been anything too exciting. I went to Erika and Tyler’s wedding like two weeks ago which was incredibly great. Some friend and I had dinner to celebrate Mike Han’s birthday. I went to see Wanted.

I think I’m overworking myself currently and I hope that doesn’t take its toll during the fall. I burnt out once again during the spring in the academic realm. It’s kind of funny how I get the best grades during the fall and falter during the spring, whereas for other people it’s the opposite. Maybe tougher curves? Not too sure…

35-40hr/week at work + class + 20-25hr/week pokering = dead tired Daniel

I’m also still debating over whether I should stay for Session C, not to take classes, but simply to work. I feel bad that the lease for my apartment starts in August, and that by not being there, I’m wasting my parent’s money. On the otherhand, I do miss home very very much. Thoughts?

Blessed in chaos

Sometimes, amidst everything, school, work, studying, and ministry, we get lost with our relationship with God. Questions come up, what am I doing? What’s my purpose? Even, the condemning questions and thoughts, “God, I’m trying and I’m striving, but I’m still a failure. I’m not seeing anything happen” My heart aches wrestling with issues of insecurities and doubts, trying to win over God’s affection back to me.

Then He simply whispers in the stillness, “I love you for who you are and nothing else”.

Everything else suddenly fades.

Thank you God

Jeremy Camp - I Still Believe

“Scattered words and empty thoughts
seem to pour from my heart.
I've never felt so torn before.
Seems I don't know where to start.
But it's now that I feel Your grace fall like rain
From ev'ry fingertip, washing away my pain

'Cause I still believe in Your faithfullness.
'Cause I still believe in Your truth.
'Cause I still believe in Your holy Word.
Even when I don't see, I still believe.

Though the questions still fog up my mind
with promises I still seem to bear,
Or even when answers slowly unwind,
It's my heart I see you prepare.
But it's now that I feel your grace fall like rain
From ev'ry fingertip, washing away my pain.

Well, the only place I can go is into Your arms
Where I throw to You my feeble prayers.
Well, in brokenness I can see that this was Your will for me.
Help me to know that You are near, yeah,

'Cause I still believe
'Cause I still believe
'Cause I still believe
'Cause I still believe
I still believe.

tired

Free write

Gahhhh, hate writing these freewrites because it means that I’m probably in an emo, pensive mood. Honestly, that’s probably the only time I ever write these posts. It’s been a weird stretch of days, lots of DOTA and just being busy with stuff/obligations. It feels weird that I’ve felt like I’ve been in a dark hole today.

The perpetual cycle comes again. Am I hitting depression once again? Nah, it can’t be. I thought I got over and conquered depression last time I fought it. There is no way I can be bipolar. There is no freakin way I can be bipolar. I already won this battle. Isn’t depression all spiritual? Maybe, my spiritual being is messed. After all, I feel the physical, mental, and spiritual side of a person all connect. If one is bad, the rest suffer as well.

Well then what is it? Crying in film class today for no reason seemed random. Being in a black hole at work can’t be random either. There has to be a cause to it. What is it, God? Have I been so busy that I forgotten how to even feel? How to even live? I don’t even know the last time I’ve dedicated a day to reflect upon myself and God. I need to read the bible more.

What do I live for? I mean really. I can go by the cliché Christian answer and say, “to know God and make God known.” That doesn’t seem to drive me though these days. Has it ever? I seem to drift through life, lacking purpose. I lack that spunk, the motivation that kept me flowing through classes. I haven’t studied well and my discipline is lacking.

Once again, what am I living for? I don’t know, how to answer that question. The more I reflect on that question, the more anxious and sad I get. What am I doing here? Is it simply that I am motivated by fear of disappointing others? Or the fact that I need to prove myself in whatever I do whether it be school, video games, or even living the “Christian” life.

I didn’t make 411team for PC, but whatever. I don’t think I’m qualified anyway. Maybe I need to come to terms that it’s okay to not be on the 411 team. After all, that’s not my identity, yet it’s so hard to because I know if I were a bit more “spiritual” or “evangelistic” or started 20 churches, I’d definitely be on the team, but I’m not.

“Gah, stop it Daniel! Your life is not dictated by what you do, remind yourself of that. “

Sigh, what do I do again? So much head knowledge, but so little heart knowledge.

Let’s go back to square one

Here I am, it’s me Daniel, your imperfect son. I want to know you again, Lord

Everyone Sleeps

Aftermath of a weekend of training

NBA Playoff Picks

These were made yesterday (4/18/08) btw
West
1. LA Lakers vs. 8. Nuggets (4-1)
4. Jazz vs. 5. Rockets (4-2)
3. Spurs vs. 6. Suns (2-4)
2. Hornets vs. 7. Mavericks (4-3)

East
1. Celtics vs. 8. Hawks (4-0)
2. Pistons vs. 7. 76ers (4-1)
3. Magic vs. 6. Raptors (4-2)
4. Cavaliers vs. 5. Wizards (4-2)

Looking back, Springing forward

Here comes my reflection post regarding winter quarter, which is usually divided into subsections.

School

This quarter was the first quarter I took upper division classes along with my regular classes. In the beginning, Chemistry 113A was overwhelming me with the amount of work it had. Gradually, I adjusted to the excessive workload (20+ hours per week!!). I had to give up some fun things to study for the class. Unfortunately, a lack of good sleep for round one of midterms led me to make numerous silly mistakes in Math and Chemistry. However, I was able to pull my Chemistry grade up with solid problem set and midterm grade scores. For math, I ended up in the top ten percentile on the final, but the score was not high enough to raise my overall grade to an A- I originally wanted. I’m still waiting on my Chemistry grade. As for Lingusitics, the class was fairly straightforward. A lot of memorizing in the beginning, but the class became easier as time went on. Extra credit certainly helped.

Overall, I feel mostly satisfied with my focus in school.

Effort: A-

Math 33B: B

Chemistry 113a: ???

Linguistics 20: A-

Poker

In the beginning, I was hitting a hot streak in poker as my previous graphs/pictures would show you. Later in the quarter, due to the excessive school work, I gave up poker to spend more time in my studies, only playing a few time a week (<5>

Overall:

Effort: B

Results: +$1400

Fitness

Uh, no comment… (lol)

I gained mucho weight during the last few weeks due to finals stress and procrastination. I didn’t care what I ate and I stopped running with Jason this quarter. I threw up after trying to sprint one lap during week 10 and gained 4 lbs.

Overall

Effort: F

Results: +4lbs

Gaming

This quarter was an interesting time for gaming. I played in the All-Hill smash tournament with Aesis and won the grand prize ($50 gift card). I also played in the UCLA Monthly V tournament only to lose early in the doubles and singles tournament. It was quite disappointing as I lacked discipline and patience in playing my opponents which costed me the set. The quarter ended with the Brawl Gamespot tournament, which I got 1^st in and won a trophy/invitation. My smash game is kind of getting worse as I feel that I am less confident in my reads and becoming more indecisive in what to do against better opponents.

Overall

Effort: B+

Results: $50 giftcard/trophy

Relationship with God

I had my fair share of ups and downs in my walk with God, starting with the highest of highs. I was really disciplined in reading the bible and spending time in prayer. Then, certain things came along early that had me struggle with loving God with all my heart no matter what circumstances hit me. I skipped church a few times to avoid interactions with people. I like PC very much because of the fact that you have nowhere to hide and you have to share what’s going on life. Towards the end of the quarter, I had a hard time distinguishing between conviction and condemnation which led me to a very awkward troubling few weeks. Thankfully, through people and prayer, I was able to discern what the difference was and be free! My relationship with God is not ever perfect or really disciplined, but it’s a work in progress. Hopefully, I’m able to ground myself more in God instead of merely what others say about Him.

Overall

Effort: B

Results: ??? (I don’t really think there’s a result I could really write?)

Thank you guys (you know who you are) for making the quarter awesome

Killer Drive

3/13/08

Killer drive, a term I say casually to people, who, ironically, don't know what it means, so here's my Daniel's dictionary entry.

Killer Drive - noun - an academic drive in which a person strives to not only do better, but destroy, the class competition.

Anyway, so on paper, the killer drive sounds like it could be an awesome thing to have, especially if one is struggling with academics. I had the killer drive last year during the fall quarter (2006). I came into UCLA, extra cocky, thinking that I was the best student at Chemistry.

So I took Chemistry 20A in the Fall with Scerri. During lecture, I laughed and mocked whoever would ask the teacher questions in lecture because everything seemed so trivial and basic, material-wise. One girl in particular would ask at least 2 questions in lecture and at least 10 per discussion section, no joke. A part of me would die on the inside whenever she asked a question.

The first midterm came along, and I got a 41.5/50. Not bad by any means. The class average was roughly a 34/50. However, that same girl, who asked many questions, got a 45/50. This is when the killer drive officially kicked in to my system.

Yes, the killer drive.

After that moment of glancing at her midterm score, I thought to myself, "She's so much dumber than I am. I have to destroy her on the next midterm along with everyone else. I'm the smartest guy in this class. There is no way this inferior competition can come close to my Chemistry knowledge."

From then on, I read the section readings at least 3 times and practiced a ridiculous number of problems. I punished myself vigorously if I made a mistake whether it might be a Significant Figure error, SI unit error, or a calculation error. If I made even one mistake, I would make myself do 5 more problems until I made sure I got it right. Every night, that girl's paper would vividly appear on the white ceiling of my dorm room and I would think, "I can't let her beat me again."

The next midterm came along and I scored a 58/61 on it with the average being a 40-45ish. I think it was one of the top scores of that midterm, but I still wasn't satisfied. -2 for forgetting a fact and -1 for a calculation error??? "That's ridiculous", I thought to myself. The 95 merely just appeased my killer drive, but I needed to get a perfect on the final to satisfy my drive.

For the final, I wrote the first 80 pages of my course reader, word for word, until I realized there were more efficient ways of studying. Nonetheless, the image of losing to an "inferior" student still echoed in my mind.

Here's where the negative side effects of the killer drive come in, if you haven't already noticed any in this post. I wasn't eating normally anymore. Studying was more important. If I got a problem wrong, then I didn't deserve to eat. Eating was an afterthought, perhaps a reward, for completing the problems. My spirituality was absolutely torn into shreds. My identity wasn't in God, it was in beating the class and what number was on my paper.

My emotions were all over the place. The killer drive has taken over me and placed worries everywhere.

"What if she really is that much smarter than me? I must be worthless if she is doing that much better. I have to do well on this exam and beat everyone or else I'm absolutely worthless. I can't fail, I can't pass.... I have to win! I don't care about anything else anymore, but this one thing, my rank in the class"

I took the final and aced it, but didn't perfect it (139/155, Average = 90/155). I didn't know whether I got the highest grade in the class. Although I did get my first A+, I wasn’t satisfied because of the constant paranoia of not having the highest grade in everything.

For now, the killer drive has left me, which is good.

Does anyone want to help me not procrastinate now? (=p)

Chipotle Opening

Pictures Taken 02/29/08
Blog Posted: 03/12/08

Hey, so Daniel Lin and I decided to go to Chipotle for the grand opening last week. "Chipot-what?" is probably what your asking. It's a Mexican Create-your-own plate type restaurant in which you can make your burrito/taco/bowl however you want. It's simply amazing, although it doesn't measure up to the authentic Mexican establishments, it's better than everything else.

Authentic Mexican > Chipotle > Everything else (Rubio's, Taco Bell, Baja Fresh etc...)

Quite the long line, but I was craving Chipotle so we went out. I took some pictures, here ya go.

Yes the line hooked around Gamestop.






We got in line at around 12:15pm, and Daniel Lin made an over/under bet with me that we'd get our burritos at 1:15pm. Initially, I said we're going to have to wait until 1:45 PM. Man was I wrong.
We ended up getting our burritos around 12:55, so Daniel Lin essentially owneed me hardcore, like triple kill ownaged me.


We also managed to run into cool people like Enoch in line.



Mission Accomplished


Lunch: $0.

SMashing

Learning from Hardcore Video Game Playing

So after 5 years of tournament Smash, here’s what I’ve learned

1.) Beating your two friends =/= being the best in the world

Sometimes I get people who walk to me around campus who can beat their small group of friends and then tell me that they could probably beat Ken , Isai (pro smashers) easily. Ironically, this is the mentality I had with smash until I went to a tournament, played real people, and got freakishly owned. Lesson of the day, beating your sister in video game does not qualify you as being a pro at the game.

2.) Everyone has a different play style

My good friend, Brandon, plays Marth, while I play mainly as Sheik. For the longest time, he was my only form of competition for Smash, so I was used to his patterns and tendencies. However, when I tried playing other people’s Marths, I would lose really bad because I was so used to playing my friend that I would expect other people’s Marths to do certain things at certain times, only to see something different, which would lead me to my next point

3.) Learn to adapt

Winning sets against really solid players requires constant adaptation to what your opponent is doing. Is he throwing a lot, when I do an aerial? Maybe, I should try to do an empty and space far away enough so he can’t throw me, and then I should punish the lag from his throw.

(1 minute later)

Hmmm, he’s caught on to what I’m doing, he’s starting to do a smash attack instead of throw in this situations. I should switch to a quick jab to counter his smash.

This is a rather basic example of what goes on in people’s heads while they play a video game competitively. They have to constantly think about their actions and anticipate their opponent based on patterns, tendencies, and previous match history. It’s a lot more than meets the eye.

4.) Be more concerned about your opponent’s actions than your own

This is more of a poker analogy than anything. Often times when I see amateurs play poker, they often complain to me, “Man, I didn’t get any good cards all day, but my friend did. He gets lucky all the time”.

This is a huge logical flaw in approaching poker, games, or anything that involved competitiveness and teams. In poker, the question shouldn’t be I should only bet when I have good cards, rather it should be what my opponent is doing? Do you think he has good cards? “I think he looks weak based on his body movement and physique, maybe a bet will get him off his hand” “I have pocket jacks, although it’s a very strong hand, I think my opponent has an even stronger hand, so I’m going to fold instead of bet here”

In smash, my roommate used to have a huge problem with focusing only on his own character to the point that he wouldn’t pay attention to anything else. This became really noticeable when we played in a teams tournament at UCLA and a Jigglypuff player would do the same “rollout” move, in which Jigglypuff rolls quickly rolls across the stage and hits a person. This move killed him 5 times in one match. I realized that he wasn’t paying attention to his opponents or me on the screen at all, and it ended up costing us the match. After telling him to pay attention to his opponent and surrounding environment more, his game playing got noticeably better.

5.) PRACTICE!!

This is the best advice I can give if you want to be good at a videogame. Your technical skill not up to par? Then, play in training mode and practice the same technical movements over and over until you can do it 99.9% of the time on command. You can’t win a certain matchup as your character? Get friends to help you out with that matchup.

Practicing with friends is also the time when you can practice little nuances and techniques you cannot risk doing in a tournament.

“Can my down-A attack beat out his fireball?”

“Can my recovery counter his smash attack?”

These are the types of things that you can practice at home, but this knowledge is vital if one wishes to excel in a tournament.

Also, talk to friends; discuss weaknesses and strengths you notice about each other. Even record yourself and take note of mistakes and patterns of yourself.

6.) Tournaments last long, wear deodorant and shower!

Many video game tournaments in general last full days, sometimes even weekends. The general demographics for these tournaments are males, so you can imagine how bad it can be when 100 people are in a stuffed hot room. It’s gross. Whenever my friend, Alan, runs a smash tournament, I tell him to remind everyone to shower because it really does smell that bad.

Anyway here are some pictures from my smash career.

UCLA Team for Crew Battles (Fall 2006)

Winning all-hill tournament (UCLA 2008)


PC Cheering Squad (Yay!)

Have some more pictures somewhere

Notable Results
#2 MV Smash Teams tourney w/ Brotter 2005
#4 UCLA Smash All Hill w/ Brotter 2007
#1 UCLA Smash All Hill w/ Aesis 2008

Bowling Night

02/25/08

We decided to go bowling last Friday night last minute. The bowling was cancelled and then brought back to life by Doris and Daniel Lin. We went to AMF only to see that there were mannnnnnnyyyyy people waiting. It was ridiculous, so we decided to go elsewhere. Little did our car know, we were going down the wrong end of the 405. It wasn't until Daniel Lin called us that we realized we were going the wrong way. Ooops! We finally get their at 12 and play soon after


Group Picture




LOL, look at the name on the bottom right of the string



Gasp! A rare Mike Han picture, and Brian Shi

Speaking of which, Brian Shi is amazing. It was his first time bowling and despite throwing 4 straight gutters, he ended with a score of 86, which beat me. Also keep in mind, that he can't bend his elbow straight due to a physical disability, but that's perseverance. He got 2 strikes and a spare in one round

5th Roomie-isms

02/24/08
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So one night, Anita was getting fed up with Jason Lee and put on her evil face


She snuck up behind Jason...


But Jason had ninja reflexes and retaliated


It was too little, too late




This is a joke post, Jason is alive, and girls are not evil

"Perfection is not what You want, rather, it is my whole undivided heart that You desire"

Epiphony from a Bathroom Story

2/18/08
I haven't updated in a while, but that's mainly because I was gone all weekend to Norcal with Daniel Lin.

Anyway, we leave Cupertino to come back around 3:30PM. Daniel Lin comes over to pick me up aand my lovely mother insists on me bringing 4, yes FOUR, bottles of water for the driving trip. Thirsty, I decide to drink one full bottle before hitting Gilroy. Bad idea. We hit the 152, which, like always, is heavy with traffic. Bumper to bumper 5 mile an hour traffic. Daniel (Lin) is tired so we decide to switch while we're driving, so I start driving, while Daniel Lin gets a much needed break . We got onto the 152 at 4:15pm, and the water decided to kick in. I had to go pee, badly.

We travel all of 5 miles and it's already 5:15 and man do I have to go pee. Daniel and I agree that we're going to eat at In-n-out for dinner somewhere down the line. He was sleeping at the moment and I absolutely hate taking unnecessary stops. We hit Highway 5 and I kept thinking, "I have to get to In-n-Out, first before I go pee"

Unfortunately, there's no In-n-Out and its' approaching 6pm. I see a sign "Next rest area in 35 miles", while the current stop is right there. Daniel Lin looks at me and notices I'm struggling with my legs and asks if i was okay. I said with an emphatic "NO, I'M NOT OKAY" and we pull into a Chevron/McDonalds. I run out of the car, let Daniel Lin park the car, and went inside, only to see large sea of people waiting for the bathroom.

Oh no, my stomach was crying in pain, and my bladder couldn't hold it anymore. I ran to the line, only to realize that the line was for the women's bathroom. RELIEF, the guy's bathroom is empty and I can relieve myself. Going pee for the first time in 3ish hours was one of the most satisfying moments, and it comes from having to deal with the pain and labor of a full bladder.

So here is the Epiphany Light bulb moment

I also thought of the message of the gospel in it's entity. There's that got milk commercial, where a guy is desperately thirsty, only to see that there's no milk left. He's in pain and agony, and desperately needs something to drink, but the commercial ends before he gets relief.

There's something about the message of the gospel, when we say that God loves us and has freed us from our sin and that He has redeemed us, unless we know what He has redeemed us from, then we struggle to see what the point of Jesus's sacrifice on the cross was. If we fail to see the consequence and pains of sin, we won't know the full satisfaction of the love of Jesus because it's the relief and freedom from bondage that helps us realize the satisfaction and the fullness of love we receive from the cross.

If I didn't know about the struggles of holding 10 gallons of urea, then I wouldn't feel satisfied letting it unload in the Chevron gas station, likewise if I didn't know about the struggles of holding years of sin, then I wouldn't feel satisfied with Jesus Christ.

When we tell people that "God loves you" and that's all we say, we rob the gospel. We take away the message in it's entirety.

anyway, this is my rant post. Sam Kim, if you're reading this, please give me writing lessons.

Happy SAD

2/15/08
Yes, that's quite the funny title, but when I say SAD, I mean Singles Awareness Day. Unfortunately or fortunately, I do not have a significant other yet in my life, BUT I also have cool friends in PC1 and PC2 that were going out, so I decided to crash their party. (I also didn't have work today, which was awesome)

As usual for PC events, it was mostly a sausage fest with the guys outnumbering the girls like 2:1. Nonetheless, it was great night. Great food with great company is always a blessing. By the way, everyone looked really nice today. Anyway, you readers out there (Yes all 2 of you) probably want to just see the pictures, so here they are.

PS: Whoever went karaoking, by going, you are obligated to be in the pictures I post.


Waiting in the coldddddd wind






I didn't take any dinner pictures, but other people did

Karoaking

Richard

David Chung

Paula

Brian

Steven

Mako

David/Jason

Girls (WHO DIDNT WANT TO SING)


-it's 3am and i'm out

Nothing to offer, yet valued

2.8.08
Lately, I’ve been flooded with the lies in my head. Stuff like, “I have nothing to offer to PC”. I’m a bigot, a hypocrite, prideful, selfish, and greedy. There I said it. As much as I try to help out, I feel like it’s all about myself and what I do. Conversions carry out about how good I am at something and, honestly, it feels good to feel worthy to be complemented at the things I do. I see the pains, hurts, and struggles in my life and have seen how God and PC people have helped me overcome them whether it be girls, depression, or even the smaller things, you guys have been there.

I’m laden with guilt as I see the mantle in PC is being passed down to the underclassmen .The 411 team, Jaeson, and many others such as Mako and Enoch are going to be gone before a matter of time. Bernice and Mats are going to be gone. I have to step it up. Here I am, I want to help, but are these mere words that bare no fruit because I lack motivation and the driving force of love.

And that’s my relationship with God as of now as well.

I am the prodigal walking away from the glories of God, living and suffering eating among the pigs, not wanting to see the father anymore. I feel shameful. I took what God has given me in my inheritance, talents, and abilities and squandered it. I have nothing left to give back, but in order to get back to the father, I must make it up to him. I have to do something, work my way back.

Bring myself back worth in his eyes…

Pay back what I stole…

Put myself into slavery...

Anything…

Everything….

And it’s breaking down these lies that becomes the hard part. As head knowledge dictates that God loves me no matter what. “He’s waiting for me”. There’s the conclusion that the prodigal son receives unconditional love from the father in the parable. My heart is a paradigm. As in society, when you want something, you have to earn it. That’s how I’ve been brought up. I want a new game, I’ll earn it. I want to go to Hawaii? I’ll earn it.

Grace is free. Forgiveness from God is not earned.

Hate feeling emo.

Dumpling Night

2/1/08

At Daniel Lin's apartment, Daniel decided to have us over for a dumpling night. Yum!

Our target

Mission: To wrap this marinated pork/onion combo into its wonton covering


Teammates

Codename: Doongggggg


Codename: Dori

Codename: DYL

Codename: Anitaburp

Codename: Berylroll

Codename:Tau

Briefing
The wrapping will be vicious and tiring. Fingers may be contaminated with flour, but if we succeed, we will enjoy the yummy goodness of wontons and be able to share with our friends these special delicacies.

Attempt #1
Jason Lee decides to butt (spelled incorrectly on purpose) in and disaster strikes

Oh no, it's not covered correctly! Jason must be punished

Jason has to eat his own mess, hehe.

Attempt #2

oh my gosh, the girls, especially Beryl, was on a roll with these dumplings. These look super special awesome.

Verdict?

Alyson: What are you looking at? They're my potstickers
Anita: MMMMmmm potsticker goodness. Good thing I brought my sauce


Skim: Just wait a moment, I'm enjoying the savory goodness of these little things.

Mats: I'm having a moment with my potstickers now

Thao: They're almost as good as bearded papas! (not really, but close!)
Caroline: Thumbs up!

Sophia: Having a great time!
Bernice: My smile says how I feel about tonight

Conclusion?
Very great night, thanks Daniel Lin for inviting us over. Thanks for buying the food and preparing it.



Rest well tonight, DYL