sick days

I've missed work the past 3 days due to a cold.  In those 3 days, I have...

-woken up past 10am and gone to sleep before 11pm every day.  that's about 11 hrs of sleep a night.  word.
-beaten at least 3 video games i'd started a while ago but never played to completion
-spent an inordinate amount of time reading blogs/random websites/youtube (my newest thing = food blogs)
-started reading 3 books
-attempted to play the guitar.  having to stop every 15 seconds to wipe my nose put an end to that endeavor quickly.  side note, being sick makes my voice all gravely and low so its kinda fun to sing.  except being sick also makes me cough.  pros and cons i guess.
-finished off every half-eaten bag of chips in our pantry (and one slightly suspect half eaten hershey's bar.  totally worth it.)
-watched wayyyy too much sportscenter even though nothing ever changes.  (it's like a drug.  once that intro music starts, it's like a tractor beam for my eyes.)
-not changed out of my pajamas.
-had to schedule a doctor's appt b/c the federal gov't wants a note if you skip work for 3 days or more.  wtf man.  i thought i was done with school.  now i'm gonna be that idiot who wastes the doctor's time (and $20 worth of my insurance copay) all for a stupid cold.  i wish i could just go in and say "i need a note. i don't even wanna see the doctor."
-blown (literally) through 2 double sized rolls of charmin ultra.  my trashcan is overflowing.
-been bored enough (and had enough time on my hands) to update this thing.

but i'm getting over it.  i should be back to normal by tomorrow if not the next day.  hooray work. :(

all i want for christmas is....

1.  slippers for wearing around the house so i don't have to put on socks (already checked off, i think)
2.  wool socks for when i do have to wear socks (possibly checked off)
3.  warm leather gloves
4.  a pair of hop-along boots and a pistol that shoots
5.  dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
6.  starbucks' salted caramel hot chocolate (it's like caramel popcorn....but you drink it. yeahhhhhhhh)
7.  this lil' guy (watch from 40secs on)
8.  a commute that doesn't require me waking up 3 hours before i sit down at my desk.  or...
9.  tons and tons of snow (enough to cancel work from now until march)

my mom loves me

when i told her i thought my big head might be a hindrance to getting a girlfriend, she says...

 "...don't worry, pretty girls like ugly boys!"

thanks, mom.  i love you too.

about time i showed this blog some love

after a long hiatus, i've decided to update this thing once more (for real this time).  i don't know why i've been so streaky with my updates.  let's just overlook my negligence and move on together, shall we?

some things that have been happening:

i started teaching a 6th grade sunday school class (mentioned in this post).  although i was a little hesitant at first, the kids are awesome (most of the time) and easy to teach.  i think i dodged a bullet because none of them are outwardly rebellious in class and they all seem interested in contributing/making their observations and opinions heard.  i think one of the difficult parts of youth ministry is getting kids to open up, especially once they hit high school.  from my observations, it seems that sixth graders aren't as self-aware yet, so they don't mind talking at length about whatever comes to mind.  to them, everthing is important and must be discussed at length NOW, even if it's woefully off topic. this has a negative side too, of course.  i have to keep reminding them to respect each others' opinions and be quiet when others are talking.  but i'll take too much talking over none at all. 

while teaching has its perks (being a teacher means i get to make the rules), it's weird being in a position of (limited) power.  i'm much more comfortable in situations where an organized structure is already set in place and all i have to do is fit in and play nice (being a student or an employee).  the burden of leadership is one that i'm not completely familiar or comfortable with yet.  sometimes, in class, i kind of zone out and wait for someone to say what we're doing next or give instructions.  then i realize that everyone is staring at me.  but, i'm getting better at it.
 --

 recently, i was challenged by a friend to try to go one week without being sarcastic/self-deprecating.  it's kind of a weird challenge, but one i brought upon myself after one too many of my comments online may have verged on "mean" territory.  so, of course i had to agree.  it seemed easy at the time, but let's just say i failed spectacularly.  the very next (again, online) conversation i had with someone had me stumbling over my words like a fool.  i must have pressed the backspace button more than any other key.  in fact, to be honest, by the end of the week i had pretty much forgotten about the challenge and was back to my old ways.

i never realized how much i rely on sarcasm and self-deprecating humor in my day to day conversations.  in my mind, it keeps things light and easy going.  i hate confrontation/awkwardness so i use occasionally self-deprecating humor (inwardly focused sarcasm?)  to defuse potentially awkward situations.  also, when i'm comfortable around people, i tend to tease them; most of the time using sarcasm.  it may be a guy thing.  we  rag on each other a lot. sarcasm just helps accomplish that goal, i guess.  it's almost never biting or mean spirited (indeed, most of it is very well-intentioned), but man, do i use it a lot.  and i can see how it might not be as tolerated among members of the opposite sex.

to be fair, sarcastic comments have a way of losing some of their meaning in translation (esp. online), but i guess that's all the more reason to scale back my usage.  i'm sure there is some scientific explanation for why some people are more sarcastic than others.  it probably has something to do with it being a coping tool used by some to deal with some psychological deficiency/insecurity blah blah blah.  for whatever reason, its a part of my personality.  i don't think i'll ever be completely rid of it (nor would i necessarily want to), but i am focusing on being a little more cognizant of what i say and who i say it to.  being a little nicer never hurt anyone, right?
--

here, have a picture.

my class

Fall Festival 2010

some pics.

fruit ninja.  or healthy terrorist?

Reina the penguin

trash boy.  seriously.

hannah montana.

my cousin's kid, chloe.  she was unhappy with having to wear the hood.

caleb the viking.

bumblebee twins.   

those stripes are were individually taped on by hannah kang's mom.  

i don't know if i'll ever love my kids that much.

this was the most normal pose he'd let me take a picture of him with.

more cousins' kids.

constipated dorothy and hitler sheriff.

maybe more pics tomorrow if i decide to go to md campus' fall festival.

ultra food coma and update

i need to stop hanging out with friends on the weekend.  this is because my time with friends inevitably turns into my time with large quantities of unhealthy (and delicious) food.  if i just stayed home all the time, i would probably be skinny.  and not in the middle of the worlds most intense food coma right now.

that being said, i'd rather be fat and happy than skinny and lonely.  my life is filled with such complex dilemmas. 

other happenings:

1. as i'm writing this, the first wave of college students have started school again.  now i can laugh while they study and write papers and rack up debt up to their ears.  its only fair after being miserable this summer; having to wake up at 5:30 while everyone else stayed up late and woke up around 3 everyday.  oh, how the tables have turned.  enjoy your exams, suckas!
2.  the timothy retreat was an absolute blast.  it's amazing to see just how much everyone has grown and matured within the last year.  even though sometimes i wish they'd mature faster, it helps to realize they're just going through the same process that i so awkwardly struggled through just a short time ago.  and i'm not exactly "mature" either, so what are you even complaining about, dude? (i constantly have to remind myself to not take myself too seriously, or else i end up making myself look foolish)
3. on a related note, this coming fall, i will be charged with the task of teaching the rising 6th grade class.  not an easy challenge, but one i will relish (i think).  i asked my mom how to approach it and she said something very wise, "discipline without relationship incites rebellion."  the kids have to know i care about them and love them, or else they won't respond to anything i tell them.  what gives me the right to barge into their class and set up a list of rules for them to follow if they don't even know who i am?  we'll see what happens.   
4. my dumb computer broke, so i'm going to the store to get one today.  somewhere in tysons corner, there is a brand new macbook pro with my name on it.  yes, i am going over to the dark side.  i can't resist the multitouch track pad and the overall shininess.  i'm afraid i am too easily enamored with style over substance (in many areas of my life) and i will pay way too much for it.  but this has both, so it's a little better right?  still extremely expensive. 

overall, a packed week.  and i didn't even mention the AMP concert (which was awesome).

inside my stomach....

...there is a war being fought between a medium #6 from wendy's, a cup of frozen yogurt (with toppings), and a platoon of mcdonald's chicken nuggets.

this won't end well.

(a visual interpretation)

IRON CHEF

I wish we did cool things like this when I was in timothy... (watch in HD)



The vid is pretty long, but amusing.  Honestly, I was expecting inedible food from the kids, but they continue to surprise me.  Each dish was pretty tasty, which is more than I can say about some of my cooking endeavors.  Our team made the "Southwest chipotle bbq chicken burrito with coleslaw filling."  What a mouthful, literally.  Although it looked pretty plain, we ended up tying for first place (in the initial tabulation) only to lose by the judges final decision.

I was extremely proud of my group though. They were all good sports and all got their hands dirty while working as a team.  I technically couldn't help, so I was just running around, getting things from the kitchen and telling them what to do.  I felt like a stressed out mom.

A typical exchange in our corner of kitchen stadium went something like this...

me : "You! Grill the chicken!"
me: "You guys, cut the veggies!"
me: "Who took all the knives?!"
me: "HEY! Watch the chicken, its burning!!"
everyone else: (whimpering) "yes master"

As much as I was proud of the kids, I was also a little impressed with myself.  I mean this in the humblest way, becase I've never cooked anything in my life other than popcorn and microwave pizza - most of the time, burnt popcorn and still cold microwave pizza.  Maybe I should branch out now that I know I can at least make "Southwest chipotle bbq chicken burritos with coleslaw filling."

Anyone wanna take cooking lessons w/ me?

eventful weekend

i turned 22 over the weekend.  it feels the same as 21, which felt the same as 20, which felt the same as 19, etc. so, although my legal age is 22, my mental age is still hovering somewhere around 6.  i still laugh when i hear the word, "fart."

the problem with growing older is that, at some point, people start expecting you to act your age.  all of a sudden, it becomes unacceptable for a guy to still enjoy video games or watching cartoons.  well, i'm not getting any younger, and spongebob still makes me laugh (and i will probably never tire of killing zombies).  seems like my parents forgot to pass on the "growing up" gene.  but i'm sure as the rigors of life continue to pile on, my sense of wonderment and carefree attitude will slowly give way to structure and boredom.  :(

kinda random, but related, i have 2 cousins who were born on my exact birthday (july 31).  its just that one was born 12 years later, and the other was born 20 years later.  also, i share a birthday with harry potter.  and it's not in november (ahem, jonathan).

today, i took one of the youth kids out to a h.s. parking lot to practice driving for the first time.  i was a little nervous, but he handled it like a pro (just like me).  only, i found out later that he doesn't actually have his permit yet... so, what we did was very illegal.    sigh, you try to do something nice....

arubaruba

just got back from aruba.  some photo highlights of our trip below (taken from my sister's fb).

 iguanas and lizards everywhere...

my sandals chillin' on the beach

free rum punch (already in my belly)

awkwardfamilyphotos.com nominee

random goats in the street.  we killed one and ate it for dinner that night.

no joke, there were more chinese grocery stores/restaurants on this one 80 sq mi island than all of the md/dc/va area, including this particular gem.

coolest little hybrid shopping basketcarts.

baby beach.  look how shallow it is.  also, my dad likes to wear shirts in the water.

my hero.  this pic originally also included a lady wearing the most scandalous thong, but stacey wisely cropped it out.  oh, those crazy brazilians!

dinner on the beach.

stray dog we met at airport (and fed garlic bread to).

other things worth mentioning:

• flying 4000 miles to a foreign country only to eat home-brought korean food  for every meal.  or hard rock cafe...i know, lame. 
• we got into a minor fender bender.  apparently our tiny rental car was too small to be seen in this guy's rearview mirror, so he backed into us in a parking lot.  not our fault, but my parents still had to drive all over the island to try to get it all worked out with the insurance company and police department. 
• getting bumped up to first class seating b/c the airline overbooked economy.  they give you hot towels and hot nuts.  hehehehe.... hot nuts
• getting into the airport lounge at chicago o'hare b/c of my dad's ballin' g frequent flyer status.
• successfully tanning without burning.

but its nice to be home.  

wedding fun and vacation time

After today, I've decided I only need 3 things at my wedding to be satisfied:

1. a live band
2. friends
3. a wife

Heck, the last one isn't even all that important.  In my mind, a perfect wedding would consist of good food, friends, lots of gifts and staying in control of your finances as soon as you walk out the door.  Like a really fancy birthday party almost.

All rambling aside, congrats to my friends Taylor and Tiago even though they prob don't read this blog.

my cool name-card with drumsticks

wedding cupcakes

Didn't take too many pics, but it was a nice wedding.

This Sunday (tomorrow), I'm leaving for Aruba to meet my family (who is already there) for a week.  7 days of nothing but sleeping and beaching sounds alright to me.   Bring on the babes.

this looks sweet

i'll give a dollar to any girl that watches this with me.

edit: the video was removed from youtube for a copyright infringement. :(

98th percentile in protective instincts? Not quite...

Semi-serious/introspective post.  I'll probably stumble upon this post in the future and think I was incredibly lame for writing about this, but these thoughts have been resurfacing in my mind for the last 3-4 days so I decided it would be best to get them out. Bonus points for anyone who gets the above reference.  It shouldn't be hard if you've been semi up-to-date in watching recent movies (er, not so recent anymore).

I was recently talking to some friends and the topic of relationships came up; specifically speaking, those of our siblings (Stacey, if you're reading this, sorry).  As we were talking, the question was posed to me, "Are you a protective brother?"  When asked to clarify, they said something along the lines of, "You know, not laughing at your sister's bf's jokes, making him feel like he's on thin ice when he's around you, just being intimidating etc."  At the time, I kinda laughed it off with an "of course blah blah blah I'm so tough" type of answer and didn't think much of it.  But for whatever reason, later on, my mind kept coming back to this issue of protectiveness. Upon much further introspection, I finally succumbed to the realization that I am NOT the most intimidating person to be around.  And furthermore, were I ever called upon to "protect" anyone in a physical sense, I'd probably get the crap kicked out of me.  Some people just happen to be blessed with 6'3" 220 lb bodies and aggressive personalities.  I am not one of them.

However, I don't necessarily see that as an excuse not to be protective of my sister; at least in some way.  Who says protectiveness and physicality have to go hand in hand anyway?  I know plenty of people who are fiercely protective without being the most physically imposing (most mothers, heck, even my dog).  I think protectiveness has more to do with always having someone's best interests in mind and showing them that this is the case. 

Regarding my sister's situation, I think it means giving honest feedback and advice when needed, trusting her to make good decisions, and always being available to listen to her, should problems arise in the future.  I think my sister and I are very fortunate in the fact that we trust each other, and we're able to talk about pretty much anything.  I'm pretty sure that if I acted like an insensitive d-bag every time her bf came around, our trust would start to deteriorate and she would probably stop taking my advice altogether, even if it were well-intentioned.  Furthermore, if things were to not work out between them, she might even harbor some resentment toward me for never fully accepting him in the first place, or at least acting like it.  And from the guy's point of view, it's much easier to live up to the standard of being a good boyfriend if you're treated like one by your girlfriend's family instead of being looked upon with suspicion all the time.  I know this from experience...

I still won't laugh at his jokes though.  :)  Gotta make him sweat a little bit, right?

fourth of july weekend

friday: I left work early and went to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls.  I hope I still have a job tomorrow. Afterward, went to chik-fil-a to try their new spicy chicken sandwich.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Usually, american fast food restaurants' version of "spicy" anything just requires adding some black pepper, but this sandwich actually made me take a few extra gulps of coke.  Bravo chik-fil-a.  You are quickly becoming my favorite fast food restaurant.

Also, on this particular friday, the chik-fil-a I went to was PACKED.  I actually had to wait for a table (which I've never had to do).  As I sat down to eat however, I noticed a commotion in the adjacent parking lot.  Turns out, the chik-fil-a I ate at holds some sort of muscle/sports car show on the first weekend of every month.  The entire lot was filled with tricked out camaros, corvettes, mustangs, and practically every other type of car from the 1960s-1970s.  Needless to say, I was thrilled.  I don't pretend to know all that much about cars (technical specs etc) but I do know they're awesome.  I think every guy is born with an innate attraction towards the shiny, loud, fast machines.  Why do you think "Transformers" did so well at the box office?

Anyway, here are some of my favorites:

Ironman's car

Mustang Shelby GT500 (modern version)

Same car, just 40 years older.  

Chevy Monte Carlo SS (my dad's old car!)

Pontiac GTO

Saturday:  I had worship practice in the morning and a VA Impact/Focus meeting at night.  Its still kind of weird thinking I'm no longer in Impact.  Focus still seems too foreign to me.  

Anyway, the bigger story is that I had to lead worship for the first time during that evening's meeting.  I think it went pretty well, except for two things.  1.  I would forget to sing at times.  I would start singing a song, then get too caught up in my guitar playing or some other distraction and my voice would trail off into mumbling.  Lucky for me, I think the group was pretty understanding.  And 2. how do people play the guitar for prolonged periods of time?  I must have only played for like 10 mins tops, but my fingers/hands were killing me by the end.  

Sunday:  Fourth of July.  I went over to CP to have a cook out (or a cook in? we ate in an apartment) and watch fireworks.  It was kind of hectic and cramped, but after two trips to the grocery store, spilling burger grease all over a kitchen counter, and almost burning the crap out of my hand (at least twice), it turned out to be a fun evening.  Who knew grilling burgers could be so easy?  Thanks George Foreman grill.

Today:  Slept late, ate junk food and watched movies all day.  The only productive thing I did was my laundry. And I finally got to watch the new "Karate Kid."  It was well worth the wait because it was awesome.  Jackie Chan still remains one of my favorite actors (even after some of his terrible movies.  "The Tuxedo" anyone?)  Also, after seeing that movie, China has definitely moved up on my "places I'd like to visit before I die" list.  The scenery looks absolutely stunning.  Now, it's right up there with Italy, Greece and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, FL.

Back to work tomorrow. 

i'm all alone

i think i'm the only person in my branch in the office today.  i've only seen 3 people on my entire floor.  seriously, this place becomes a ghost town on fridays.  something tells me i'll be leaving early...
 

va campus timothy lock-in

NCFC VA campus lock-in 6/25/10 from Daniel Pyon on Vimeo.

shot and cut on my new phone.  pretty cool, no?  i think i wanna upload more videos.

i'm so excited

my iphone is coming today!  its been over 2 years since i got my (now dented and scratched) current phone.  just last week, i shut my car door on it, further damaging it. 

except, i don't wanna be "that guy" who sneakily tries to show off his new gadget by taking it out whenever anyone is within visual range, so i think i'll hide it until they get more common.

the only problem is, since i left my family plan to get it, att is giving me a new number.  this leaves me with a dilemma of sorts.  how should i let people know of the change? 

i could either:
1. make a facebook group and selectively invite people who i call/get called by alot.
2. send out mass texts
3. do nothing and enjoy never being called again (there are pros and cons to this).

what do you guys think i should do?  do you get as annoyed as i do when you get invited to phone # groups on facebook?

completely unrelated, but that us/algeria match will be talked about for decades.  i thought yesterday's game (sk/nigeria) was exciting, but this one definitely takes the cake.  talk about determination and sheer willpower.  lousy officiating aside, i could not be happier with this world cup.

children's retreat

kids are the best.

i plan on having 10 and forming a family band.

world cup and stuff

1.  call me a soccer noob, but i think it'd make the games more interesting if people knew exactly how much time was left during stoppage time.  the way it is now, only the ref knows how much time is left.  can't they hook something up to the ref's stop watch so it shows the time remaining on a main scoreboard somewhere?  some of the most exciting moments in sports have involved amazing plays that occurred as time ran out.  i'd argue that a large part of that excitement is because fans know exactly how much time is left for the player to make a spectacular play.  maybe i'm just whining. 

2.  children's retreat this weekend.  somehow, in the midst of all the (sometimes) annoying kids, incomprehensible skits, bug bites and sleepless nights, i always manage to have a good time. 

3.  i really wanna watch toy story 3.

frustration is eating my soul

F APPLE.COM AND THE NEW IPHONE.  I JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY, STEVE JOBS.  WHY DO YOU TEASE ME WITH THESE STUPID ERROR MESSAGES.  GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER APPLE. 

weekend update

i went to a baby shower for my cousin and his wife yesterday.  things have definitely been changing in my family.  i have 5 aunts and uncles on my dad's side and they all have 2 children apiece (if you wanna see a pic, click here).  so, i've grown up being surrounded by cousins; some older and some younger.  now, all my older cousins are getting married and having kids, so there is a new generation on the rise within the pyon family.  imagine how crazy it would be if each cousin in my generation (12 total) all had 2 kids like their parents.  family gatherings would be CRAZY (24 kids running around).  at that rate, we could start our own country within a couple generations.

btw, i learned that your cousins' kids are called 'first cousin once removed' (not second cousin, like i always thought).  the 'once removed' refers to the fact that they are a generation younger than you.  people who share great grandparents (but not grandparents) are considered second cousins.  there's your interesting fact of the day.

stephen strasburg was born 11 days before me

...that makes me just a little depressed.  i'm pretty sure i couldn't even strike out a little league team 14 times in one game. hooray dc baseball.  the goal is to see him pitch live at least once this summer.  anybody up for another nats game?

completely unrelated (and tmi), but i hate pooping at work.  it seems like everyone on my floor suddenly has the urge to go too right when i sit down.  might as well open the door and have a party in there.  also, the toilets are automatic so you can't courtesy flush unless you want to stand, wait for the little sensor thingy and sit back down.  sometimes that doesn't even work.  oh, and another thing, there are way too many people who either a) have conversations in the bathroom while doing their business or b) talk on the #*%&@ phone.  newsflash, the person on the other line can tell .  hang up for 5 mins and call them back later.  your kids' daycare schedule/this evening's dinner plans/your fantasy baseball squad/whatever meaningless thing you're talking about can wait.  am i wrong to be annoyed by this?  as far as i'm concerned, men's rooms are for taking care of discrete personal business, not talking.  i swear, today i saw two guys just chatting it up while parked in front of side-by-side urinals like it was no big deal.  i'm pretty sure they made eye contact multiple times too.  gross. 

in the past two weeks, i've bought two wedding presents for two different weddings.  i don't think this is something i'll grow accustomed to anytime soon.  going to friends' weddings (where i am the sole invitee in my family) is still kind of a weird idea to me.  don't worry, i plan on waiting a long time before i subject any of my friends to this situation (but when i do, we gonna have a party....).

random post, but i promised i'd write more so here it is.

i don't update enough...

...but i like to think i have (or had) a good reason.

i used to update this blog quite frequently about any random event that happened in my life (hair cuts, chinese food delivery etc), but somewhere along the line i think i decided that people didn't want to hear about that mundane stuff and that i should only update when an big event or semi-important activity happens (thanksgiving, graduation, moving).  my whole reasoning for this paring down was because i didn't want to come off as too self-obsessed or over-invested in the social media scene/online social interactions in general (aka a fb/twitter/constantly update about everything-phile) as some people are prone to do.  the only problem is, ever since i started working, those important events/activities seem to happen less and less.  i've also noticed i usually write a significant amount when i post.  maybe i just avoided it for awhile because i knew i couldn't invest the time that i felt was needed to make a decent post that people would want to read.  but maybe its not so much about the readers as it is about just writing.  whatever the reason, this blog has suffered enough, so i guess i'll change my blog philosophy up a little bit just to get back into it.  i'm pretty sure only a handful of people read this anyway.  and you guys probably aren't impressed by me trying to take this thing too seriously.

i won't give myself a schedule for updating (no weekly updates), but hopefully i can find inspiration through smaller, more insignificant events in my life and that will lead to more frequent (maybe shorter) updates.  actually now that i think back, over the past couple months, things have happened, i've just been in such a writing funk that i think i downplayed them in my mind as un-blogworthy.

some occurrences that may be worth mentioning:

• first time missing out on an obx trip.  extreme jealousy does not even begin to describe my feelings during that week.  now everyone else is happy and tan.  if only the florescent lights in my office could emit powerful uv rays...
• ate some pad thai at a place that beat bobby flay in a "showdown with bobby flay" episode.  it was pretty good, but i really can't taste the difference among the various pad thai's i've had over the years.  maybe a little hyped, but its fun to say i ate there.  the whole place is decorated with pictures from the event.  i guess if your chef beats bobby flay, you advertise the crap out of it. 
• my sister and i decided we were gonna eat healthy and exercise about a week ago.  since then, we've jogged once, did one p90x workout and eaten a truckload of fast food, sometimes at ungodly hours (thanks, ihop).  willpower ftw.
• sometime during the past month or so, i decided that since i was now a semi-independent "working stiff,"  the next logical step in my transformation was to update my wardrobe with some essentials (dress shirts, khakis in different shades, dark jeans etc). but, i kind of went overboard with my spending.  in the past month, ive bought at least 6 shirts, 5 pairs of pants, and 4 pairs of shoes(!).  that may not seem like a lot to some of you hardcore shoppers out there, but this is coming from a guy who used to wear one pair of sneakers till they fell apart and never owned more than 2 pairs of jeans at one time.   i shopped more than my mom and sister combined.... i think i have a problem.  its not like i look for deals either.  i just see something i think i need and buy it, regardless of whether it is on sale or not (my mom would kill me).  the thing about one of the stores that i shop at is that they make well-made, simple, classic clothing that screams "i'm a wardrobe essential! buy me now. everyone has at least one of me in their closet!"  and these essentials all happen to be in one place so there's no need for me to go anywhere else.  and they all just happen to be ridiculously overpriced.  i guess that's how they get you.  i know they could be found somewhere else for cheaper, but i find myself making up excuses to continue shopping there.  ("but this shirt fits better and has a cool little stitching detail on the inside that only i can see when i hang it up at night.")  one day it'll probably catch up to me.  i'll be broke and starving in a cardboard box surrounded by my endless supply of shoes and dress shirts.  anybody feel like going shopping?
• i really need to move closer to work.  3 hours of my day is spent commuting.  think of all the blog posts i could have written.... although,  i think i should resist renting an apartment and just save up for a place of my own in the future.  a few inconvenient years is worth it in the end right? 

that's all for now, hopefully the next one doesn't take so long.

final exercises

i don't know why U. Va. has to be all different and call it 'final exercises' instead of graduation like most schools, but i guess tradition isn't a thing to be messed with.

for those of you who missed me at church on sunday, no, i wasn't sleeping in or playing hooky; i went down to charlottesville for my college graduation ceremony.  i actually drove down the day before with my dad to disassemble my bed and load it into the car.  i felt kind of bad because he drove two hours, did some manual labor, then drove back 2 hours.  oh well, he got a free meal out of it. 

the rest of the evening was spent eating, drinking, and reminiscing with old friends whom i hadn't seen in awhile.  it's nice to know that i have some friendships that remain (mostly) the same without regard to time and distance. after visiting some of our old haunts (for perhaps the last time? at least for awhile), i went back to my apartment (now bedless) to get some sleep.  what i didn't realize was that our normally 4 person apartment was to house 6 people that night.  i guess i got lucky because i got to sleep on the loveseat, but it still was far from ideal.  also, some nice people decided to party it up right outside our window the night before graduation, so between the lumpy couch and their drunken shenanigans i found it hard to fall (and stay) asleep.
regardless, the morning came and i had a graduation to attend.  the night before, i had set my alarm really early to beat the expected shower rush and it paid off.  only my roommate was up before me, so we decided to hit up a local diner for breakfast.  when we got back, the apt was a flurry of activity with both showers running, hair dryers plugged into hall outlets, people frantically searching for digital camera batteries and of course, caps and gowns being fussed over. 

throughout this whole ordeal, i think i did a good job staying levelheaded.  maybe it was because i really "graduated" back in december, but i remember being pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.  i just wanted it to be over so i could go home and eat a nice meal out with the family.  it wasn't until i was standing in a bustling crowd of 6000 of my peers in the shadow of the rotunda's impressive facade that i started to feel a tinge of accomplishment and pride.  the previous four years of frozen dinners, studying, procrastinating, late night chinese food, relationship-making, and learning had all led up to this day. 

the ceremony itself was a blur.  i'm sure the speaker had lots of good things to say, but those words are probably already forgotten by 90% of us.  it was supposed to rain (i even brought an umbrella with me), but the clouds parted right as the ceremony started and the sun came out.  (enough to give me a mild sunburn)  we really couldn't have asked for better weather. (last year's class didn't have it as good, it rained all morning) 

here are some pics.

from my econ dept diploma ceremony

brother bear + sister bear

la familia

got my papers, so long suckas!

congrats class of 2010! wahoowa!

trip from hell

i hate fog.

i had to go on a trip to jeffersonville, indiana for work this past tuesday and wednesday.  the trip itself was fine.  it was the return flight (and subsequent chaos) that destroyed my will to live for a few hours wednesday night and into thursday morning.

let me explain...

my return flight wednesday night was scheduled to leave from louisville, ky at 8 pm and layover in charlotte, nc from 9-10 before arriving at dulles around midnight.  the first leg of the trip went without a hitch.  on the way from charlotte to dc however, the pilot reported "low visiblity" (fog) on the ground at dulles and said we'd circle for 15 mins or so.  we waited, but to no avail as his voice came over the intercom after the 15 minutes were up saying that conditions were worsening so we were headed to harrisburg, pa to wait it out.

at this point it was rounding midnight on wednesday (thursday morning) and people were getting antsy.  the plane was a small, cramped express-type jet with seat cushions that desperately needed replacing (think cardboard, but with less padding).  nothing could be done however, so we flew the extra distance to harrisburg and landed there.  the pilot came on the intercom again saying we had to wait on the plane for an hour before trying again at dulles.  at that point, he gave us the option of getting off the plane and either staying at a hotel in harrisburg or getting a cab to dulles (a 3 hr/$260 trip).  i guess this was a good thing because all the impatient people got off the plane, leaving all of us good-natured, generally pleasant people (the majority) with the plane to ourselves.  usually i'm pretty unflappable when it comes to things like this, but at this point, my phone was dying, my butt was aching, and my nerves were wearing extremely thin.  the flight attendants did whatever they could to appease our disgruntled, tired selves but there's only so many dry crackers and cups of lukewarm water one can take at 2 am.  if i were them i'd say "f it" and start handing out the miniature bottles of tequila and bud light, but sadly they had more self-control than me.

an hour later, the pilot's voice came over the intercom yet again saying dulles had shut down for the night(!) due to thick fog and the plane would be heading back to charlotte.  at that point, he gave the rest of us the opportunity to get off the plane and said that the airline would pay for a taxi ride to dulles, or we could fly back to charlotte, wait a couple hours in the empty airport and hope to find another flight home in the morning.  most of the remaining people (including me) elected to take the free ride home and get off the plane.  what they didn't tell us was that the number of taxis in harrisburg that operate at 3 am are few and far between (we probably should have known).  so, once we got off the plane and were herded into the terminal, we had to wait another 45 mins for the taxi company to get people out of bed and to the airport.  and we thought we had it bad...

finally, i (along with three other random strangers) piled into a taxi driven by a cranky 60 yr old grandma that reeked of cigarette smoke.  she looked like a female version of clint eastwood.  all the similarities ended with her appearance however, because she stayed true to form when it came to her driving skills.  she drove SO SLOW.  i'm talking 45 mph max on 4 lane highways.  and of course she didn't know the way so she had to follow another driver who drove at normal speeds, who we subsequently lost about 30 seconds after getting onto the highway.  this led to her squawking into her cellphone the entire way asking for directions (girlfriend seriously needs to invest in a gps) which made it almost impossible to sleep.  at one point (about 30 miles from frederick, md) the fog was bad enough to make her uncomfortable driving (i don't blame her, the stuff was like soup) so she pulled over and decided to wait until daylight to continue.  i think it was around 5 am at that point.  so there we were, a bunch of random strangers whose feeble attempts at civility had long given way to tired grunts and incoherent mumbling, sitting on the side of rt.15 in a bright orange harrisburg city taxi trying desperately to get some sleep.  needless to say, it wasn't pretty.

i woke up around 6:30 to find we were in the middle of rt. 7 traffic.  the taxi driver decided to save her best for last and crept along at a mind boggingly slow 35 mph on rt 7 (55 mph limit).  cars were literally racing past us.  i thought we were gonna get pulled over; it was that bad.  it took us another half hour to drive a total of 5-6 miles on what was more or less an open highway despite the normal morning traffic.

finally, a full 7 hours and 30 mins after our original posted arrival time, we made it to dulles.  i almost cried when my feet hit the pavement.  i'm pretty sure my leg muscles had begun to atrophy from being wedged in various cramped positions over the course of the previous 8 hours because my knees literally buckled when i tried to put weight on them.  i had to re-teach myself to walk for about 5 mins after getting out of the cab.  it was sad.  i didn't even say bye to anyone after i got out.  you'd think i would have formed some sort of bond with the people i had just suffered through this ordeal with, but nope, i just walked away without so much as a glimpse back.  my mind was mush and i'm sure if i had tried to say anything it would have come out as either angry raving or jumbled gobbedly-gook, so i decided to spare my fellow road warriors and just find myself another taxi home asap.  i will say that some people definitely had it worse.  one lady had to take another 2 hour cab ride back to her house after arriving at dulles.  she's probably dead. 

but i guess all's well that ends well.  i took yesterday off, got 14 hours of travel comp time (make up vacation time, some of which was used immediately b/c of my day off), and took a much needed 6 hour nap with my dog on the couch.

i'm never flying again.

doubledown

you guys know you secretly wanna try this beast.



the funniest part is that kfc's marketing strategy for it makes use of the word "unthink" over and over again. as in "don't think," which is exactly what one needs to be doing to order one of these bad boys. either incredibly stupid or incredibly smart (and somewhat subversive) of the ad guys who thought this one up.

well played, sirs.

lipstick

how do you girls eat/drink things while wearing lipstick? 

i'm wearing some burt's bees lip balm right now due to an unfortunate onset of allergies over the weekend which led to dry/cracked lips from too much contact with tissues (tmi?) and i hate it b/c every time i try to drink something, the cup or straw gets all sticky.  then i have to reapply.  last night, i felt like a noob b/c i put on the burt's bees right before i washed up for bed.  needless to say, it all washed off.  what a waste. 

maybe its just a personal problem....

work

we had an ice cream party at work today.  (cookies 'n cream w/ reese's pieces = money)

in may, we're having a golf fundraiser for our division.  (paid to golf?  hollaaaa)

later this month i'm going to jeffersonville, ky to visit the national processing center for the decennial census.  (if you ever wondered where your census forms go, that's the place.)  travel/accommodations paid by the gov't.

 i write all this fun stuff first because the actual day to day routine of my job is pretty boring.  i basically sit at a comp and enter numbers/analyze data/fix issues all day.  so, i have to have things to look forward to.  i think the census bureau is pretty good about planning activities for new employees though. 

the other day, my mom asked if i'd rather be back at school instead of working.  its a tough question to answer so i'll make a pro/con list.

PROS: $$$, free (homecooked) food, $$$, being close to d.c. and surrounding areas (cville starts to feel pretty enclosed after awhile), $$$, being (relatively) close to church/ friends, did i say $$$?

CONS: much less free time, having to wake up at 5:30 am, 1 hr + commute, taxes/paying back loans, slowly coming to the realization that maintaining a social life requires much more effort now. 

so, i can't really answer that question definitively.  i didn't really go crazy on the weekends in college so it's not that much of a shock to live at home.  plus, my parents give me space, which i appreciate.  its funny because i always said i'd live at home to save money, but i find myself just spending that money on other things... maybe if i moved out, i'd be forced to live frugally.  meh.

speaking of shopping, now that i'm working i've decided to upgrade my wardrobe.  first thing on the list: business attire.  no suits (yet), just shirts, nice slacks and maybe shoes.  i've been wearing the same 5 shirts/2-3 pairs of pants to work for the past month and a half.  i think my coworkers laugh behind my back, "he's wearing those khakis again??"  probably not, but you never know.  someone at church made the point that living and working in dc makes you feel all kinds of lame because you start noticing all the good looking people with their nice clothing and comparing them to yours.  i can attest to that.  i know i shouldn't give into the pressure, but i'm weak.

i've never just walked into a store and shopped with the intention of putting together complete outfits.  usually i just get random pieces here and there, so it'll be interesting.  i need a fashion guru (i've vowed never to read a fashion magazine, even if its geared toward men, for personal reasons).  i've tried shopping on my own and it usually ends in a return trip to exchange what i bought for something my mom and sister approve of ("that shirt and tie could not clash any worse than they do already.  take it back!").

maybe i should just be a farmer and wear blue jeans and flannel all day.  am i being materialistic? shallow?

sorry for the disjointedness of this entry.  its been awhile since i wrote the last one and i'm not in the mood to write something coherent and unified.  so today you get word barf.

moving

this past saturday, my dad and i moved all (most) of my stuff down to the spare room in the basement.  i had been planning on doing this as soon as i moved back from college, but it seemed like there was always something stopping us (business trips for dad, work/church stuff for me, a little bit of laziness for both of us).

originally, i planned on buying all new furniture and making it look like something out of an ikea catalog, but that idea quickly died when i realized 1. new furniture costs money, 2. the nearest ikea is at least an hour away, and 3. i don't know if i'd be comfortable sleeping on something that sounds like it was named by a 3 year old with a speech impediment (vanvik, malm, kviby etc.).  so, my room is currently furnished by a hodge podge of items we've collected over the years (parent's old 1980 style bed/dressers, random bookcases/desks etc).  i never realized it, but my family owns something like 6 mattresses (for 4 people).  i've also realized that we have some ugly sheets/bedding in our house.  i don't know what my mom was thinking when she bought some of these.  i tried looking for a matching set that would go well in a 20 something yr old guy's room, but ultimately had to settle on a funky multi-colored pattern (it was either that or bright yellow).  my bed looks like joseph's coat.  something tells me i need to go shopping soon.  i don't know anything about bedding or sheets, so it should be interesting.

the main reason i wanted to move was because there is a ballin' walk-in closet in the new room.  except, when i put all my clothes in the new closet, they only take up 1/10th of the space. so it looks pretty bare.  i also get a bathroom all to myself, which is nice.  stacey's pretty clean for a girl, but sharing a bathroom still sucks.  i tried taking a shower yesterday but quickly found that the shower head needs to be replaced. there is no steady stream of water.  it's more along the lines of 4 disjointed trickles that start and stop at whim and shoot off at the most inconvenient angles.  i feel like i'm running around just to get wet.  so, i'm also adding a new shower head and clothes to my shopping list. 

but for now, its nice to have my "own" space.  i used to dislike going into the basement because it was always cold/dark/filled with monsters, but now that its mine, it feels more like home.  once i add some personal touches (posters, knick-knacks, my extensive beanie baby collection) it'll be as if i'd lived there all along.

life

1. I've started working.  Although I probably shouldn't call it that because what I've been doing for the past week or so could hardly be considered "work." After orientation last week, my first week in the office consisted of hours of reading old Stephen King novels (courtesy of a sympathetic coworker) and doing crossword puzzles/sudoku at my desk while I anxiously awaited the arrival of my computer and phone.  Apparently the huge storm a couple weeks back made life tough for everyone in the IT department which made life tough (or easy) for me this past week.  Now, as you can see, I finally have a computer...except I don't have access to any of the drives I need to start doing work.  And so I wait.... At least now I have internet access.  I don't know if I could have taken any more sudoku (although I did get really good in a really short time).

2. I've been loving these winter Olympics.  So many great stories and drama filled moments have been interspersed throughout these past 2 weeks.  While the games got off to a rocky start, the athletes have risen to the occasion and delivered some incredibly memorable performances. A few that come to mind include Bode Miller redeeming himself with gold and silver medals after coming away empty handed  in the Torino games (deservedly so) and the Chinese couple that came out of retirement and gave up the first years of their marriage to train for pair's skating gold one more time (and it paid off!).  Oh, and I guess I can't fail to mention the domination of the Koreans in speed skating (judging incompetency aside...)

The only quibble I have with the games is that all the good competitions come on close to midnight, and I have to wake up at 5:30 every morning.  So, I either have to miss watching some events live or wake up feeling like a zombie.  Some nights, I go to bed earlier than my parents.  I feel like a grandpa.

Regardless, last night I resigned myself to this morning's impending zombie-ness so I could watch Yun-ah Kim compete in the ladies figure skating competition.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous for her after the NBC announcers hyped her up so much.  While they have their flaws, they are certainly adept at milking the drama out of every situation, especially for all the high profile skaters.  However, it was as if Yun-ah wasn't aware of the incredible pressure surrounding her, because she was crazy good.  I don't know much about the technicalities of figure skating but I do know that phrases like, "best ever" and "one of the greats" (both of which were hushedly mentioned several times after her dazzling performance) only apply when a program is, well, the best in a long time.  And to think she did that with the weight of an entire country's hopes on her 19 year old shoulders astounds me. 

So I felt incredible pride.  I was a little disappointed though, when I logged on to facebook this morning and saw that that same pride in me had evolved into downright arrogance in some fellow Koreans.  I'm fine with celebrating a great win, but verbal harassment toward her competitors (most of which was pointed toward the Japanese Mao Asada in second place) is below us I think.  I know there are cultural differences and deep-seated tensions between the two nations that run far longer than I've been on this earth and I'm not saying that a friendly rivalry between the countries is necessarily even a bad thing, but come on, are we still so obtuse as a people that we have to resort to using words like "dirty Japs" or being downright giddy when anything bad happens to a Japanese person?  Most of the people I'm referring to have little or absolutely no reason to be this crass and insensitive either.  If you're 70 year old Korean man who refuses to buy japanese cars or tv's after living through the Japanese occupation that's one thing (not saying its ok, but at least somewhat understandable), but a 17 year old high school kid who spouts hatred like that is just copying the cultural arrogance and xenophobia of their parents' generation.  Learn to think on your own.  And this is all without even mentioning the spiritual implications this has for those of us who call ourselves Christians.  There are (or have been) Japanese people who attend our church for goodness' sake.  Japan is one of the most unreached developed countries in the world.  How are we ever going to spread the love of Christ to them if we have none of our own to give? 

I know I may be blowing things out of proportion just a little and that my audience is indeed small, but I've seen careless remarks by a few people (especially of the racial kind) have huge effects in the past.  Sorry for preaching; I know I'm hardly qualified to do so, but it needed to be said.

 I guess its back to sudoku now... :)

vday

i found this on a website and thought it was funny.

if you rearrange the letters in "valentine's day" you can get some interesting combinations.  A warning, some of these are a little risque...

"Any valid teens?"
"A lady sin event"
"A venal destiny"
"An invested lay"

the english language never ceases to amaze.

blizzard of 2010 brings out the best (and worst)

my mom came into my room this morning saying, "something's wrong with our car, come outside!"

i went outside in my groggy, pre-showered state to see that my driver's side window had been completely shattered. at first i thought the weight of the snow on top of the car had crushed the window after 3 days of weighing down the car, but after shoveling a path around the car to investigate further, i noticed that the driver's side door had a huge dent in it too.  it looked like a crumpled soda can.  also, i discovered glass from the window underneath the 2 and a half feet of snow, which means this all happened before the snow came on friday.  

some idiot was probably driving too fast friday night despite the snowy conditions, lost control, and sideswiped the car.  now that i think about it, it was the perfect hit and run scenario.  with all the snow in the forecast, it took us 2 days to get out to the street to notice the damage.  also, because the car was literally buried, it looked completely fine underneath all that snow.  only after the snow melted a little bit could we see the damage.  i hope the jackass gets stuck in the snow and freezes to death.  

we called some nearby relatives to help us shovel the rest of the snow around the car so we could put it in the garage, only to find out that the car battery had died sometime during the past three days.   luckily, our neighbor is handy with cars, so he helped us recharge our battery.  finally, after an eventful morning filled with shoveling, phone calls to geico, cleaning bits of broken glass, and even more shoveling, we got the car into the garage.  now we're just waiting for a tow truck to come get it; hopefully sometime before the snow starts up again (blizzard of 2010 redux?).

so, i guess all's well that end's well.  a bad situation brought forth good company (and a good workout).  i'm just crossing my fingers for at least a couple incident free days.  with another foot or more of snow in the forecast however, i doubt we'll be so fortunate.  oh well, spirits remain high in the pyon house.   

ps.  since my dad is away in sunny vietnam  for business (90 degree weather, seriously?), my mom and i cleared our entire driveway and street in front of our house on sunday and monday.  i'm so proud.  she didn't even complain once (unlike my dad who claims he's gonna have a heart attack every 15 minutes).

uva bball 2010

i'm no rick reilly or mike wilbon, so forgive me for trying my hand at a sports-related post.  i just have nothing else going on in my life right now and the public (jonathan) is clamoring for a post.



this vid basically sums up my experience with uva bball this year.  i dunno what tony bennett is doing, but it's got our guys fired up and motivated (and playing solid d?  now i've seen everything).   what everyone expected would take at least a couple years (hoos were picked to finish second to last in acc this year) has happened almost overnight (as i'm writing this, we're currently tied for second in the acc with a 5-2 record), and i couldn't be happier with the way the team is playing.  yes, we have encountered a few bumps in the road (painful, close losses to teams like penn state and auburn come to mind, ugh), but we've responded with strong showings every time. i never thought i'd see the day when we'd come off a heart breaking overtime loss at home to our instate rival and respond with a beat down of epic proportions in the dean dome vs last year's national champ.  i guess it also helps that the acc as a whole isn't at its strongest, but hey,  i'm not complaining.

the best part is that everyone seems to have bought in to this system and everyone is contributing in their own way (not to mention having fun).  case in point, will sherrill, a junior walk-on  who hadn't played more than a few minutes in his whole college career must have impressed his coaches during practice, because he has become a solid part of the line up.  his stats may not show it, but he makes his teammates better by doing all the little things right; hustling, boxing out, locking down on d, setting good screens, etc. Oh, he also dropped 25 in the game against cleveland state.

the fact that we only lose 2 seniors next year (our top scorer is a sophomore) and have a pretty stacked recruiting class makes me even more giddy.  so, not only does bennett coach well and motivate, apparently he attracts talent too.... could it be?  i think i'm in love.  scouts has our incoming class ranked at 14th in the country (although duke, nc state, wake, and unc are all top ten... i guess some things never change) and it looks like we'll be more than comfortable at every position with some much appreciated big guys coming in to help beef up our post presence and at least 1 all-american guard to give us more options around the perimeter.

i know the season is still a long way from being over and we have lots of tough tests down the road, but for these reasons i can't help but to be at least a little optimistic.  i only wish i had enrolled for another semester so i could go to some games without paying.  30 bucks to drive 2 hours and sit in the nosebleeds is steep when you're used to sitting basically courtside and walking to every game for free.  listening to games on the radio is the next best option most of the time, and that's like dating a really nice, funny, sincere, smokin' hot...... hologram.  exciting maybe, but so far from the real thing.  maybe i should just count my blessings and be happy with the way things are going.

restless

as much as i love not having to worry about things like class schedules and homework and online wait lists anymore, these past couple weeks have reminded me that i'm at my best when i don't have hours and hours of free time to waste.  case in point, i now know the daytime tv schedules of all the broadcast channels like the back of my hand.  i think my parents have caught on to this, because they've recently started giving me things to do while they're off at work (vacuum, pick up x-item from y-location, fix ____ , etc.).  i've also started to dig into my pile of books i got from urbana. 1 down, 6 to go.  maybe i'll finish before i start working.  

other things.  i received my diploma in the mail today.  so i guess its official, im a college grad.  it wasn't that bad of a shock though because i was already forced to come to terms with it a while back when i tried to sign into uva's online student ticketing system for basketball games and got denied :( .  that's when it really hit me.  

i also received 2 notices in the mail saying i need to start paying back student loans come july.  same message as my diploma, worse medium.

to face my new financial responsibilities head-on, i made an account on www.mint.com.  its a personal budgeting website that links to your online banking account to show you how you spend your money and give you alerts if you spend over your set budget. i felt so good about myself for taking initiative to get my finances straight, until i got a warning email telling me that as of right now, my net worth is in the red... so i need to start working pronto.  i know i'm supposed to find worth in god and identity in christ, but the realization that you are worth less than $0 to the rest of the world is still pretty humbling.  

but while this all sounds melancholy and brooding, it's amazing what an unexpected round of golf with your dad can do for one's psyche.  one nice drive and you feel like you're on top of the world.  it was a good day.

been awhile?

i thought it had been a really long time since the last time i updated this thing, but a week and a half doesn't seem that long now that i think about it.  maybe it's just because i've been sitting on my butt doing nothing all day but watch tv and the occasional house chore for the duration of that week and a half.

but not anymore!  after interviewing with the census bureau last week, i got an official job offer today!  now comes the fun part of filling out a plethora of forms and paperwork, as well as getting a background check done (includes going to the police department to get fingerprinted), and orientation.  it was such a relief to open up the email and see a big, bold CONGRATULATIONS!! from the hr lady who sent it.  she seems like a nice person.  god bless people like her.  and all the people who have helped me along the way.  i wouldn't have even gotten the opportunity to interview had it not been for the efforts of a friend of mine from church who works there.  there are countless more, from the career counselor at U. Va. who helped me update my resume and gave me some interview pointers, to my cousin who helped me practice my handshake (not even joking), to my parents who have been ever-supportive of me this entire time and were gracious enough to let me come back home to live with them after college.  they said it was to save money.  i think it's because they like having me around.

so, the earliest i can come in for orientation is mid february (i know its far away), which means i am a free man for one month longer (free and bored).  then its 9-5:30 till i retire.  ugh, maybe i should rethink this whole "graduating from college early so i can work" nonsense.  :)