Thoughts

THE REDSKINS, THE ELECTION, AND HALLOWEEN
If you haven't, the NFL's Washington Redskins have correctly predicted the winner of the election since 1936. Basically, if the Redskins win, the incumbent wins the election. Well, the Redskins lost 28-14 today, so if you agree with that theory, I guess Kerry will win on Tuesday.
This election is shaping up to be the biggest one of my lifetime. It's bringing everybody out of their homes to the poles, getting people talking, and even brining Bin Laden out of hiding. Whatever happens on Tuesday (and hopefully a correct decision one way or another is made by Tuesday), the nation is almost evenly divided over the war, the economy, healthcare, Social Security, etc. I just hope this serves to keep the American people interested in politicsso their voice can be heard.
Today is Halloween. We weren't around last year so we really have no idea whether kids will come trick-o-treating here or not. But we bought some candy just in case. I guess I'll put my afro on when I answer the door. But if no kids show up (which might be a strong possibility), then I guess I'll have to put my afro away for yet another year. (And too bad too because I didn't get to wear my afro under my Red Sox cap this year to celebrate their championship!)
My last Halloween comment is this: I still love Michael Jackson's "Thriller", even after all these years (and all the trials and accusations).

ANKLES, CADAVERS, SUTURES, AND RED SOX NATION
Okay, last blog about baseball and the Boston Red Sox. Promise!
Today the most anticipated parade in 86 years will be held to honor baseball's champions.
And as improbable as that still sounds, I'm still so impressed (and a little haunted) by the crazy procedure Curt Schilling's ankle endured by team physican Dr. Bill Morgan. In short, Schilling's peroneus brevis tendon, which runs around the back of the ankle to the bottom of the foot, was displaced because the sheath that holds it was torn. Even simple walking made the tendon snap back and forth over his ankle bone, causing considerable pain and would probably lead to a complete tear of the tendon (aka, not good). But the doc used sutures to hold the tendon to the skin in the displaced position to keep it from snapping back and forth like a guitar string. Dr. Morgan wasn't even sure he could do it so he tried it on a cadaver first. That way, Schilling could go out and pitch and be magnificant. And he was. Still, as a PT, I thought he was doing irreparable damange to his ankle. Good luck with surgery, Curt.

On another note, this is an actual conversation I had with a guy at work on Thursday:
Me: I hate the Yankees because they just buy players. Their $180 million payroll will only go up this off-season.
Sam: Yeah, but doesn't Boston do that too? Their payroll is at $120 million, right?
Me: Yeah, but the difference is
this: We WIN championships.

It's such a great feeling to be able to trash talk for a change. I love being a part of Red Sox Nation!

RANDOM QUESTION
So what do YOU do with all those CDs that AOL keeps sending you all the time? I've seen them used very creatively ( mostly by people from Montebello) as coasters, Christmas ornaments, artwork, and frisbees.

AT LAST
Turn your clocks back to 1918! The Boston Red Sox are the champions of baseball!
After an improbable comeback against the Yankees, my beloved BoSox kept their intensity up and completely shut down the power-hitting Cardinals. I have to admit that I'm even okay with losing to the Yankees in heart-breaking fashion last year because it was that absolute "low" that allows me truly celebrate and enjoy this "high" tonight. 86 long years of tears and futility is finally over. The curse is no more.
Props to Curt Schilling for his profession of faith and his grit on the mound. And to Manny, Ortiz, Cabrera, Pedro, Varitek, Millar, Mueller, Damon (how can you lose when you have a guy who looks like Jesus on your team?), Bellhorn, Foulke, Lowe, all the guys. This was truly a team effort and that's what makes me so proud of these guys, these self-professed idiots. Well, if this is what ignorance is, then tonight, ignorance is truly bliss.
Bill Buckner, sleep well tonight.

QUICK THOUGHTS
1. God definitely has a sense of humor, especially when it comes to Koinonia. (More on this in the coming days)
2. Karena and I have been privileged to have lunch with both Luong and Enoch on separate occasions, but both at Mimi's Cafe. That's one of our favorite places (our favorite things to order are the French Onion soup, the Meatloaf, the Bacon Cheeseburger, and the Corned Beef Hash). And we managed to some really good conversations about different aspects of our lives.
3. It was good to also welcome back Michael & Cindy from Japan. I can't wait to hear some of their stories and to see their pictures.
4. Last night, I got the most sleep I've had in a few year: 8 hours, 25 minutes. And I would have slept longer except that the phone rang. But the worst part about the whole thing? I still feel a little tired.

INTIMACY
When Reuel first approached me to be part of a panel for Alpha, our church's high school group, my first thought was about guy-girl relationships. But after he reassured me that it was more about being open, honest, vulnerable, and transparent with others, I felt much better and agreed.
It turned out to be a really good time for all three panelists (Danette and Hannah were the others). We all had different experiences, but we all had something really positive to contribute that not only helped the high schoolers, but also ourselves. Plus, it was amazing that on multiple occasions, I remember just sitting there looking at Hannah and then looking at Danette, and thinking, "Wow, that was an amazing answer -- so true, and said so eloquently."
The kids had a lot of good questions (everything from how to do establish that kind of community to can guys and girls have that kind of platonic relationship.)
For me, the few messages I wanted to get across to the kids (the guys especially) is how important and necessary it is to have those close bonds with people, to have them be Christ-centered, not people-centered, and how guys should set up that kind of community with other guys, not girls. I told them the church (and Alpha in particular) was a spiritual hospital where people could bring their "baggage" and get well with the help and support of others. It was especially important since their fellow Alpha-ians were going through the same teenage angst. Guys have a much harder time letting their guard down and discussing difficult topics, like lust (probably one of the biggest one for high school guys). To get it, one person just has to start and make himself vulnerable. It's the only way to take otherwise "on-the-surface" friendships to a deeper level. Plus, it's so great to have that guy accountability because it's so unique. You don't have to talk everyday or even every week. And you could be messing around all day and then suddenly sit down and have a deep, serious conversation. Guys have the ability to do that. I definitely wanted to emphasize those key points.
I hope God was able to use the three of us to get those messages across.

WHY NOT US?
Pure exhiliariation would be the best way to describe how I felt after watching my beloved Boston Red Sox finally beat the New York Yankees and advance to the World Series. It was not only amazing to see the way they fought back from being down 3 games to none, but it was also inspirational to see just how much they enjoy playing together as a team and love playing the game itself.
And I have to admit that it felt good to see the Yankees looking so dejected after the game too. Their huge collapse. Let's face it, the Yankees are hate-able. They pay to win championships. A-Rod is a dirty player. Kevin Brown is mean (and way too emotional). It was nice to finally see "little brother" beat up "big brother." Now, the roles are reversed.
People have been asking me if "The Curse" is finally broken. Although this is a HUGE step in the right direction, it will not be broken until the Sox win the World Series. Hopefully, that'll happen in the coming days against the Cardinals.

DANCE 360
Jesse has turned us onto this awesome new dance show where they break dance to some cool music called Dance 360. The DJ is good, and the dancing is pretty fun to watch too. You should definitely check it out. Locally, it's on Channel 9 at 5:30pm.

SPIDER-MAN
For this whole week, I've noticed a small insect bite on my hand that hasn't gone away. In fact, it's only minimally better, although it doesn't hurt. I think it's probably from a spider since I had one crawling on me the other day.
Now, I'm just waiting until I suddenly get buff and can shoot spider webs out of my wrists.

WORKING TOGETHER
I'm not sure when it happened, but while I was working at UCLA, I suddenly realized that I had gotten close to many of my co-workers. It's odd for something like that to happen because I was always very private and very introverted while at work (except with my friend Mark, because we had already been friends for years). Anyway, after I moved on to Kaiser, I would go back and visit my UCLA co-workers and they'd treat me like a celebrity. It was amazing.
And now that I'm at Kaiser, I am again very private and introverted. But tonight, I realized that I somehow am again getting closer to my co-workers. Tonight, my co-worker turned on the Red Sox-Yankees game for me and kept it on and watched every single pitch with me (whenever we both had a chance between patients). And he even stayed an hour and a half after work just to watch with me. Finally, I told him he'd better go home. But it just shows that I've made some true friends and developed some strong bonds with some good people, even without trying. I'm amazed again ... and very happy about it.
I'm also happy because the Red Sox just won again, 5-4. =)

QUICK THOUGHTS
1. Did you know M. Night Shyamalan is credited with co-screeplay credit for the movie "Stuart Little"? Now, that's possibly the strangest thing I've ever heard from him.
2. Saturday was NOT a good sports day for me, at all. In fact, Jason called me to "send my condolences." And as much heat as Pedro Martinez has taken for his "who's your daddy?" quote, I unfortunately am going to have to hang my head, and also call the Yankees "my daddy." What else can I do after a 19-8 shalacking?
3. Having to work through both Saturday and Sunday is the pits. I realize, I miss being in Sunday service -- both the worship and the fellowship.
4. It hasn't rained in LA in over 7 months (roughly). But on the same day we have guys over to lay cement and finally fix our broken poles (from when the car hit them last December), it pours rain. I hope the cement dried in time.
5. On the way to work this morning, I saw 6 accidents (half of them major ones). It just goes to show that Southern Californians still don't know how to drive in the rain.

OBITUARIES
This week marked the passing of both Christopher Reeve and baseball's Ken Caminiti.
It's pretty amazing to me that Reeve lived 9 years after his tragic accident that left him confined to a wheelchair. The spinal cord injury was so high that I highly doubted he would live much longer, let alone be able to eventually move his index finger, direct films, and star in a TV movie. I remember seeing him once at UCLA to use the body-support treadmill system. He looked so much older and run-down than the guy I remember best as Superman. But his face was still very determined. That determination is what I'll remember about him.
Ken Caminiti's admission of using steroids during his baseball career surprisingly didn't ruin his reputation. Not even his addiction to alcohol and drugs could stop people from loving him. But what they did do was unfortunately end his life at the tender age of 41. He will be remembered for his intensity on the field and as a fun-loving guy off it. He is the guy who could crush a baseball. But unfortunately, he is also the guy who could never get his personal life together.

RED SOX VS. YANKEES
This is what we've all been waiting for.
This is the year the Curse will be broken.
This is the year the Yankees will go down at the hands of the BoSox.
This is it.

Go Boston!

THE PROGRESSIVE PARTY
I remember back in my days at UCLA when I was apart of this program called the Student Health Advocates, we used to occassionally have parties. One such party was called a "progressive party" where you would go from one person's room or apartment and drink, then another, then another. And so on and so forth. Along the way, you might pick up a few people or lose a few people, but for the most party, the group stays together. Now, for me, this constant drinking (not just at this party, but at all others) was a real moral dilemma for me, so I always abstained and didn't even have one sip. But that's another story.
Anyway, this "progressive party" idea came back to mind Sunday. After Sunday service, a bunch of us hung out outside to talk, like we always do. Then, the "party" continued in Sunday school, which is actually a lot of fun for me since we've been attending a marriage one. Then, the group moved to some Hawaiian food place called Ono Grill. There, the group picked up Tyrone, Jesse, Tammy, and Hubert. And finally, our last stop dwindled down to just the two of us with Jesse and Tammy at Fosselman's for ice cream.
It was a fun party, but it left me tired and ready for a Sunday afternoon nap.

A NIGHT APART
It seemed weird. It had been so long since Karena and I spent a night apart. Actually, it was only for about 5 hours.
But because I had a meeting in Monterey Park, and she went to get treatment for her neck, I ended up having dinner with my extended family without her. But hey, it was no big deal right? After the meeting, I hung out with my cousins Jonathan and Kimmy. We went to see my grandfather. And afterward, we all went with my two aunts and my parents to have dinner. I also had some time to work on my dad's back and stretch him out a little bit (if you thought Jason had tight muscles, you ain't seen nothing yet until you've seen my dad's!). But after that, I felt the need to rush home.
The bottom line was this: I missed her.

GOLD DIGGERS
The Glendale Water and Power (GWP) held an Energy Expo this morning to showcase some of their products, their equipment, some helpful energy-saving tips, and to meet some of their workers. But in order to generate buzz (and attendance), they had a promotion where if you bring in a halogen lamp, they would exchange it for a new energy-saving lamp.
The expo started at 9am. And by the time I picked up my mother-in-law's two lamps and got in line at 9:15, the line was at least 100-125 yards long. Everybody in line had two lamps in hand, ready to get their new lamps (supposedly, valued at $40, according to the GWP people).
While in line, a few of us overhead this other guy looking at the line snaking all the way around the parking lot and sarcastically said aloud, "Look at all these gold diggers, waiting in line on a Saturday morning just to get new lamps."
The guy in line directly behind me spoke up and retorted, "Hey, man. Don't look at us as 'gold diggers.' We're out here because we care about the environment and saving electricity. We're energy savers!" And with a chuckle, the sarcastic man walked away.
But in my Montebello head, I thought to myself, "Although I do enjoy saving energy, I'm here purely as a gold digger."

AS SEEN ON TV
I don't know why this is the case, but I got so excited to see the back of Michael and Cindy's head on ESPN during Wednesday night's Angels-Red Sox game. It was just as exciting to see the side profiles of Nathan and Jason during the wrestling scene in "Spider-Man."
That's pretty sad.
What's even sadder was I watched so many episodes of SportsCenter Tuesday night to see if you could see Jason and me after Kevin Millar's homerun.
You couldn't.

MY FIRST PLAYOFF GAME
Thanks to Michael, Jason and I both got to experience our first baseball playoff game firsthand. It was amazing to feel the increased energy and excitement in the stands and on the field. It was even greater to look out at the sea of red in the stands and know that the fans support was there.
Since we sat about 10 rows from both bullpens, we kept joking about trying to rile up the relievers to get a chair thrown at us. Or since we were so close to left field, we joked about throwing a beer bottle at Manny Ramirez.
We were about literally five rows away from a homerun ball hit by Kevin Millar. And we were about 20-25 feet from a homerun hit by Troy Glaus.
Since I am both a Red Sox and an Angels fan, I brought both team's caps with me. I intended to alternate wearing the hats on my head every few innings. When I finally donned my Red Sox cap for the first time to start the 4th inning, the power proved too much, as the Red Sox scored 7 runs in the inning. I had no clue the cap was so powerful! I hope it stays that powerful if and when the Red Sox face the Yankees later in the playoffs.
As far as this series is concerned, I'm just happy one of these teams will advance to the ALCS and defeat the Evil Empire ... unless of course, the Twins beat them first!

JOINT ACCOUNTS
Because one of my co-workers is getting married next year, a bunch of us at work had a long discussion about what they do regarding their finances once they got married. I was shocked to learn that nearly all my co-workers kept separate bank accounts. Although most did end up having one shared bank account for joint costs like groceries, the mortgage, utility bills, etc, there were also quite a few who did everything separately!
The reason most people gave for keeping things separate were (1) if one has school or car loans to pay off and the other does not; (2) if one is prone to spending lavishly without consulting the other (aka, "Hey honey, check out this new $1,000 surfboard I just bought!" Unfortunately for my co-worker, this is a true story); (3) if one's salary is significantly higher than the other.
As far as I'm concerned, once you're married, you're one family. And that to me means sharing. That means, if Karena had a million dollars in loans to pay off, that would now also be MY million dollars in loans. And we fortunately don't have a problem with (2) because neither one of us spends that lavishly without consulting the other first. Besides, I'm too cheap to every buy a $1,000 surfboard (not to mention the fact that I can't surf). And although (3) is not the case for us, I'd still insist on sharing the funds mutually. I would never think that because I'm making more money, I'm entitled to more to spend. To me, I view the money as contributing to OUR funds.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not against separate bank accounts. But I am against the attitude that what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours. After your married, what's mine and what's yours becomes what's ours.
No offense to my co-workers, but it just shows how some people don't view marriage as a life-long commitment. This world has gotten things twisted.

QUICK THOUGHTS
1. After hanging out with some of Karena's PT school classmates last night for karaoke, I've realized just how bad a singer I actually am.
2. Congrats to the Dodgers and Angels, who both won in dramatic fashion yesterday to clinch their respective divisions. The problem now is that the Angels will play the Red Sox starting Tuesday. This has left me very conflicted as to who to root for. And thanks to Mike, Jason and I will be there for Game 1. Hmm... maybe I'll wear my Red Sox cap and bring my Angels Thunder Stix.
3. I like the movie "Good Will Hunting." Good acting, good dialogue, and I love that "How you like 'dem apples" scene for some strange reason.

SPORTS TALK
There's been so much going on recently in the world of sports, I HAVE to comment:
(1) True, Milton Bradley shouldn't have over-reacted, but I put the blame on Dodger Stadium security and the fan who threw the bottle at him first. If you're in ANY other situation (at work, at a club, at a concert, etc.) and a guy throws something at you, he's immediately escorted out and everybody's happy about it. So, why is it any different within the confines of a baseball stadium?
(2) True, Kobe's war of words with former teammate Shaq and his comment about Shaq paying more than a million bucks as "hush money" to keep women he sleeps with quiet will not affect his basketball play. But he's sure making himself out to be quite the loser. Ever since he first came to the Lakers, I've admired his professionalism and determination. But after last year's arrest and everything that has come since, I find myself losing more respect for Kobe every day.
(3) And on a related story, why are all the documents and comments regarding the rape case coming out now? I don't want, and I especially don't NEED, to know how Kobe prefers to have sex, or what he told police that night, or about his "other girl" Michelle in Virginia. And whether Shaq did pay "hush money" or not is not for the public to know. But everyday I open the LA Time Sports page, there's yet another article about one of those things (including this morning's edition). Hey, I guess they'll do whatever it takes to sell more newspapers!
(4) Angels vs. Athletics. After last night's 10-0 win, I have to feel good about the Angels chances, especially with Kelvim Escobar going today. What kind of name is Kelvim anyway? Shouldn't it be Kelvin or Kevin? Go Halos.
(5) Jose Guillen is an idiot who can't control his temper. Good riddance. And props to the Angels for their willingly to part way with him and his attitude, even though he's an offensive wiz.
(6) The Dodgers looked terrible last night. But hey, all they have to do is basically win one out of three games (just in case they have to play that one-game playoff) to make the post-season.
They're good enough to win that one game, but their post-season chances are not good, considering their pitching staff is in shambles. This is NOT 1988.
(7) The Cubs are out of it, I'm sorry to say. Congrats to the surging Astros.
(8) Congrast to Ichiro on being MLB's all-time single season hits leader. That guys is a hits machine! Still, if I'm George Sisler's family, I'd feel a little cheated since he had more game to do it in and he occasionally sacrificed team play for the individual record. But hey, then again, the Mariners are 28 games out of first, so I guess I'd have done the same thing.
(9) Indians pitcher Kyle Denney gets shot in the leg, but is not severely injured because of the go-go boots he was wearing as part of a white USC cheerleader outfit he was forced to wear for hazing purposes. So, I guess all these years, I was mistaken. I guess USC IS good for something.