- Most of my thinking gets done in three locations: 1) my bed before I sleep and after I get up, 2) the restroom when I get ready for work or church, 3) the car when I travel anywhere.
- If I try to take time to brainstorm on my own, it's never as effective as the three places above, which is one reason why I always keep a pen in my pocket at all times and why I used to write all over my hands and arms to remember thoughts/ideas.
- It's currently Day 113 of 366 for a promise to God. Trying to keep that rolling. Encourage me about it even if you have no clue what it's about because I've been blessed like no other during this time.
- 6th year of teaching has been the easiest so far but teaching is never easy. I am still enjoying my job.
- I like the cold at any time of the day except the morning. My ears and nose are my least favorite parts of the body to get cold.
- Doing laundry and washing dishes are my least favorite chores.
- Water is my favorite beverage.
- Apples are my favorite fruit.
- I like to eat a lot but I hate buffets.
- My nicknames in high school on the cross country team were Payday and the Caboose.
- A nap for me is a few hours not 15-20 minutes. Those are useless for me.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Things I Love To Do: #2 - Singing
I love to sing.
Plain and simple, I just like to belt out a tune. I think I'm alright but I know I'm a little tone deaf, my voice goes quick and I can't figure out what octave I need to be in for certain songs but I love to sing.
I love worship songs (hands raised and just going to town on the song), R&B (Boyz II Men, Craig David, K-Ci and JoJo), and great melodies (old school singers like Elvis or Neil Diamond are better for my range). I can't stand Glee but I do like Broadway musicals. Stop me if you think I should give up my man card.
I use to have this fear of singing and I was in a choir in middle school. My typical Korean parents would always want to show me off to sing to their friends and I'd refuse while my brother would sing "You Are My Sunshine" to them (5-7 year olds love to showoff).
Now, I could care less where I sing. The shower, church, in my car, alone in my house...I'll just go off. One time, an Ethiopian student that I was chaperoning wouldn't eat another slice of pizza so I just started singing "We Are the World" in the middle of the restaurant (he still wouldn't grab another slice....).
And if we go NRBing (karoake), I will go off and hog that mike. I've tried to be considerate but it's hard. I just want to sing. I'm not great with the R&B or boy band stuff except for Lionel Richie's Hello, but I can sing the pop rock and rocker type stuff well (Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon, Live, Stone Temple Pilots) so if you're in the mood to go, then call me up and I'll sign with you. Until then, I'm gonna jam in my car while all the other drivers get to stare and I won't care one bit.
Plain and simple, I just like to belt out a tune. I think I'm alright but I know I'm a little tone deaf, my voice goes quick and I can't figure out what octave I need to be in for certain songs but I love to sing.
I love worship songs (hands raised and just going to town on the song), R&B (Boyz II Men, Craig David, K-Ci and JoJo), and great melodies (old school singers like Elvis or Neil Diamond are better for my range). I can't stand Glee but I do like Broadway musicals. Stop me if you think I should give up my man card.
I use to have this fear of singing and I was in a choir in middle school. My typical Korean parents would always want to show me off to sing to their friends and I'd refuse while my brother would sing "You Are My Sunshine" to them (5-7 year olds love to showoff).
Now, I could care less where I sing. The shower, church, in my car, alone in my house...I'll just go off. One time, an Ethiopian student that I was chaperoning wouldn't eat another slice of pizza so I just started singing "We Are the World" in the middle of the restaurant (he still wouldn't grab another slice....).
And if we go NRBing (karoake), I will go off and hog that mike. I've tried to be considerate but it's hard. I just want to sing. I'm not great with the R&B or boy band stuff except for Lionel Richie's Hello, but I can sing the pop rock and rocker type stuff well (Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon, Live, Stone Temple Pilots) so if you're in the mood to go, then call me up and I'll sign with you. Until then, I'm gonna jam in my car while all the other drivers get to stare and I won't care one bit.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Things I Love To Do: #1 - Dressing Up and Wearing Costumes
I didn't think I would like because I didn't care for it growing up but I like to dress up and look nice for special occasions (weddings and costume parties) or even for everyday work or church on Sunday.
I like to look really really nice because I like how I feel when I'm dressed nicely. It's an internal good feeling and part of the reason I like to dress up nicely at work and church too. Makes me feel professional and makes me feel that where I'm going is extremely important to me especially on Sundays at church with God. (I'm definitely not saying anything about other people dressing up or not dressing up...you do what you need to do to make your days important to you especially at church because that's your relationship. This is purely for me and I like it.)
At weddings, I like to dress up and go to the dance floor because I like to cut a rug with my awesomely horrible dance skills. If you've ever seen a good sprinkler move on the dance floor, then you definitely don't want to see mine. I don't bump and grind but I just like to have a good time while wearing nice clothing. You will almost never see me dance outside of a wedding.
As for the costume parties, I'm getting into those too. Last year, I was Oddjob/Asian Charlie Chaplin and that was fun except I got really tired and fell asleep at my friends' place. Yesterday, I got to dress up as Captain America (or as I called myself, Captain Asian America)...it was fun except the costume was about two sizes too big so I put in an emergency hem on the legs using a stapler and tucked the arm sleeves into my regular sleeves to make it fit. The mask was way too big and I looked Steve Rogers before his super soldier experiment but no matter because the night was fun. I ran a bowling game and gave out candy to kids. Crazy amounts of little ones with cute costumes but it was a good time for all.
(Now, I just have to figure what I'll be for next year. Baseball player, perhaps? Another superhero? If you have an idea let me know.)
There is one thing I hate about dressing up - it's called tying a tie. I leave all my ties tied up and hanging on the hangers in my closet (part lazy, part that it takes forever to get a perfect length). I can only do a half and full Windsor knot...I need someone to teach me the other ways. Tie masters, please help me out.
Until next time, I can't wait for the next reason to dress up nicely.
I like to look really really nice because I like how I feel when I'm dressed nicely. It's an internal good feeling and part of the reason I like to dress up nicely at work and church too. Makes me feel professional and makes me feel that where I'm going is extremely important to me especially on Sundays at church with God. (I'm definitely not saying anything about other people dressing up or not dressing up...you do what you need to do to make your days important to you especially at church because that's your relationship. This is purely for me and I like it.)
At weddings, I like to dress up and go to the dance floor because I like to cut a rug with my awesomely horrible dance skills. If you've ever seen a good sprinkler move on the dance floor, then you definitely don't want to see mine. I don't bump and grind but I just like to have a good time while wearing nice clothing. You will almost never see me dance outside of a wedding.
As for the costume parties, I'm getting into those too. Last year, I was Oddjob/Asian Charlie Chaplin and that was fun except I got really tired and fell asleep at my friends' place. Yesterday, I got to dress up as Captain America (or as I called myself, Captain Asian America)...it was fun except the costume was about two sizes too big so I put in an emergency hem on the legs using a stapler and tucked the arm sleeves into my regular sleeves to make it fit. The mask was way too big and I looked Steve Rogers before his super soldier experiment but no matter because the night was fun. I ran a bowling game and gave out candy to kids. Crazy amounts of little ones with cute costumes but it was a good time for all.
(Now, I just have to figure what I'll be for next year. Baseball player, perhaps? Another superhero? If you have an idea let me know.)
There is one thing I hate about dressing up - it's called tying a tie. I leave all my ties tied up and hanging on the hangers in my closet (part lazy, part that it takes forever to get a perfect length). I can only do a half and full Windsor knot...I need someone to teach me the other ways. Tie masters, please help me out.
Until next time, I can't wait for the next reason to dress up nicely.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Stump the Schwab: The Untold Story
(this is a repost from November 23, 2008 from an old blog on Facebook)
Well, I found a picture that my Camp Taconic friend Steve de Eyre sent me a few years ago. The people that are tagged are the ones who remember me going on this show. I thought I might tell a story to you about that day in 2005.
The picture was from my infamous time on the gameshow "Stump the Schwab". You know how you are supposed to get your 15 minutes of fame. Well, I got 7.5 minutes of it from that gameshow. I got to meet Stuart Scott and give him an exploding fist pound then watch as he made fun of me in front of everyone. I didn't do well and was knocked out after the 1st round. Yeah, I sucked when I finally got on the show (after flying up to NYC to go through the audition process and challenging the Schwab [Howie Schwab, ESPN's statistician and Sportscenter's "Did You Know" guy] then coming back to NYC two weeks later to get pounded by my opponents).
Anyways, the real story is not me being on there but what I was wearing. I asked my mom for a tie. Well, I trust my mom because she is a seamstress and I think she has pretty good fashion sense. She gave me a brand new tie that I liked (colors were pleasant to the eye) but I didn't look close enough. I put the tie in the garment bag to go along with my suit.
I go to NJ and get into my friend Sungmin's place and stay there for the second time that month. After a good night's rest, I take the bus from NJ to Port Authority in NYC while lugging around this garment bag. I get on the subway for a bit then walk down to the studio in the Chelsea area of NYC near FIT. I walk in and wait a while then we go into detail (yada, yada, legal mumbo jumbo, how much money you could win - $10K, and finally get to the wardrobe check...).
Yes, wardrobe check...they have to see how our suits look on camera to see if the clothes shine too brightly on stage. You really can't see the audience well much less Stuart Scott asking you questions. Anyways, I'm putting on my suit and I open the package the tie is in (yes, brand new) and I look on the back. The word "Pfizer" jumps out...and I'm thinking this is interesting so I take a closer look at the actual tie....
Um...so yeah, my tie has little Viagra pills on it. Great, so my mom got a free tie from one of her customers who happened to work for Pfizer. I'm groaning over the fact I'm advertising "erectile dysfunction" on my neck and the producers and other contestants wonder what's wrong. We all get a good laugh (and my nervous laugh as I don't have another tie to use). The producers say that you can't really tell so it looks okay. After getting some makeup done (and 12 layers of foundation caked on my face and black goo to go over a bald spot I have on the side of my head), I go and perform poorly (unlike the promises Pfizer gives to its customers about Viagra). After the show, I take the tie and suit off and watch the next show to get taped (and watch someone win $10K by stumping the Schwab) then lug the garment bag back to Port Authority and back to NJ.
To this day, I've told this story once outside of my mother who, of course, laughed it off (edit: twice now). And also to this day, I've never worn the tie to any other function but it still hangs limply in my closet (edit: and I still haven't worn it but still have it). And as Paul Harvey says, that is the rest of the story....
(The culprit is around my neck in this picture...and I have VHS of my horrible performance)
Well, I found a picture that my Camp Taconic friend Steve de Eyre sent me a few years ago. The people that are tagged are the ones who remember me going on this show. I thought I might tell a story to you about that day in 2005.
The picture was from my infamous time on the gameshow "Stump the Schwab". You know how you are supposed to get your 15 minutes of fame. Well, I got 7.5 minutes of it from that gameshow. I got to meet Stuart Scott and give him an exploding fist pound then watch as he made fun of me in front of everyone. I didn't do well and was knocked out after the 1st round. Yeah, I sucked when I finally got on the show (after flying up to NYC to go through the audition process and challenging the Schwab [Howie Schwab, ESPN's statistician and Sportscenter's "Did You Know" guy] then coming back to NYC two weeks later to get pounded by my opponents).
Anyways, the real story is not me being on there but what I was wearing. I asked my mom for a tie. Well, I trust my mom because she is a seamstress and I think she has pretty good fashion sense. She gave me a brand new tie that I liked (colors were pleasant to the eye) but I didn't look close enough. I put the tie in the garment bag to go along with my suit.
I go to NJ and get into my friend Sungmin's place and stay there for the second time that month. After a good night's rest, I take the bus from NJ to Port Authority in NYC while lugging around this garment bag. I get on the subway for a bit then walk down to the studio in the Chelsea area of NYC near FIT. I walk in and wait a while then we go into detail (yada, yada, legal mumbo jumbo, how much money you could win - $10K, and finally get to the wardrobe check...).
Yes, wardrobe check...they have to see how our suits look on camera to see if the clothes shine too brightly on stage. You really can't see the audience well much less Stuart Scott asking you questions. Anyways, I'm putting on my suit and I open the package the tie is in (yes, brand new) and I look on the back. The word "Pfizer" jumps out...and I'm thinking this is interesting so I take a closer look at the actual tie....
Um...so yeah, my tie has little Viagra pills on it. Great, so my mom got a free tie from one of her customers who happened to work for Pfizer. I'm groaning over the fact I'm advertising "erectile dysfunction" on my neck and the producers and other contestants wonder what's wrong. We all get a good laugh (and my nervous laugh as I don't have another tie to use). The producers say that you can't really tell so it looks okay. After getting some makeup done (and 12 layers of foundation caked on my face and black goo to go over a bald spot I have on the side of my head), I go and perform poorly (unlike the promises Pfizer gives to its customers about Viagra). After the show, I take the tie and suit off and watch the next show to get taped (and watch someone win $10K by stumping the Schwab) then lug the garment bag back to Port Authority and back to NJ.
To this day, I've told this story once outside of my mother who, of course, laughed it off (edit: twice now). And also to this day, I've never worn the tie to any other function but it still hangs limply in my closet (edit: and I still haven't worn it but still have it). And as Paul Harvey says, that is the rest of the story....
(The culprit is around my neck in this picture...and I have VHS of my horrible performance)
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