movember envy

Every year around this time, I'm a little self-conscious about myself. My confidence is just a little bit lower as I realize that there is something many guys can do that I cannot. You see, this next month, men all around the world will be growing mustaches for Movember an annual, month-long event involving the growing of mustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other male cancer initiatives. Our company has a wide range of facial-hair competitions and fundraisers throughout the month to raise awareness for male-specific cancers and diseases. Many of my mustachioed colleagues will be wandering the halls as if it's just another day...sporting their mustaches and going about their business. Unfortunately, some of us are not empowered with the ability to grow such marvelous facial hair. Sadly, it has become obvious to me, that not all men were created equal.

the storm’s-a-brewin’

**This post is for my east coast cousins. I’ll definitely be praying for you today.**

I can’t really imagine what you guys are going through. I mean we have tough weather every once in a while here, but a rainy day isn’t really anything compared to a snowstorm, or in your current case, a hurricane. All I know about hurricanes are what I see on TV and wikipedia. Fun fact: hurricanes are only in the northern hemisphere – in the other hemisphere it’s a cyclone (I would imagine that fact is less fun if you’re in the middle of one). Anyways, hope you guys are safe and indoors. Watch out for things that are blowing in the wind such as mailboxes, patio furniture, etc, and hopefully you guys are staying dry too.

I leave you with this parting off-the-wall thought, since it is Monday (today’s is my weekly glass-half-full day). I suppose you guys could view this as being kinda lucky? No work today and you have perfect kite weather. Just remember to hang on tight to that string.

cute fuzzy animals, pt. 2 - the perfect storm

***If you read the last post, you should have learned your lesson by now. If you're still reading this, I'm assuming you know what you're getting yourself into...***

So Romney and Obama are currently hotly contesting the last remaining 10 battleground states of Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. With 538 total electoral votes at stake, one must reach the magical number of 270 electoral votes to take the election. Of course, political analyst all over are pouring over the various permutations of states that could decide the election.

Assuming each win the ones they're already projected to win, there is one interesting permutation out there that makes things very interesting. If Obama wins Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and Romney wins the rest of the battleground states, electoral math would give us a tie vote at 269 each.

Assuming no elector goes rogue and throws the election, this gives a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Presidential election go to the House of Representatives (the current session) for a vote; however, it's not just a regular vote. This is a special vote in which each delegation (state) gets one vote. Currently there are 33 republican controlled states in the House, which means Romney will emerge the likely victor.

The Vice Presidential seat isn't determined by this vote, as the VP is also the President of the Senate, so in the event of a electoral gridlock, the Senate (current) gets to elect the next VP. The Senate is currently controlled by the Democrats, so Biden will likely emerge as the VP, giving us the first P/VP combo from opposing parties since the 1796 election (Adams/Jefferson). Now wouldn't that be a hoot?

cute fuzzy animals

courtesy of derek tam

Let’s talk about cute fuzzy animals. I know on this blog I’ve covered the cuteness factor before. Evidently, in the scientific community, there is a correlation between appeal/overall attractiveness of the species and the degree of focus it receives from scientific studies. Essentially, there is a large number of endangered species condemned to extinction partly due to the fact that they’re ugly. I’m fairly certain this correlation extends to other avenues of life as well. In the workplace for example, your cuteness/attractiveness could potentially advance your career as people could subconsciously (or consciously) enjoy working with you more.

There is also evidence that attractiveness helps a person’s political career as well. The classic example is Nixon vs. JFK in the 1960 election. Nixon refused to wear makeup for the first televised debate ever, JFK looked way better than him, and Nixon lost the election. At this point I’d like to make a confession (spoiler alert). I’m actually using cute fuzzy animals as a sneaky way (=/ I’m sorry) to introduce the topic of what Romney needs to do to win this election. I apologize for the deception, but do you realize how hard it is to get someone to read a post about republican campaign strategy?? On the other hand, everybody loves cute fuzzy animals. They’re cute, fuzzy, what’s not to like?

So last night, Romney and President Obama debated for the last time, supposedly on foreign policy. These two do not really differ much on foreign policy, so the debate quickly turned to domestic fiscal policy. Long story short, Romney didn’t look so hot yesterday. To many voters, he looks like a decent option, but he doesn’t give off that presidential vibe that Obama does. In essence, he doesn’t look as attractive as a potential president, as the current president. And his chances (according to statistical data Sean forwarded) dropped overnight. He is currently projected to rack up 247 electoral votes, 23 short of the requisite 270. So, how does Romney make up that deficit and become more attractive to voters? In other words, how does he make himself into cute fuzzy animal?

My crackpot theory, is basically to cater to both young voters, and also Asian voters. I know, a lot of focus is on African American, Jewish, and Latino voters (in terms of minority groups), but not much effort seems to be aimed at courting the young (18+) and the Asians. Rock the Vote has been around for a while, but that doesn’t seem to do much in mobilizing the young voters. As far as Asian voters, there aren’t that many Asian folks in higher government offices (our people seem to focus on the sciences), so there isn’t as much of a voice for the typical Asian American voter. If Romney came out and courted both of these interest groups, it could fire up the electorate and get a lot of these young or Asian voters on his side (and ciphon Asian votes from the democrats).

Great, so how does he do that?? How does he make himself more attractive practically? There are so many options, speak at colleges, meet with youth groups, meet with Asian American associations in major cities, kiss Asian babies, even dance gangnam style onstage after the debate. He could be doing so much more to get their vote. I’m thinking courting the 18+ and Asian votes could potentially open up California for contest (right now it’s squarely blue) and possibly even New York. That puts 84 electoral votes (CA – 55, NY – 29) in play. All Romney needs to do is raise his profile with these two groups, look more like the cute fuzzy animal instead of the unattractive and soon to be politically endangered candidate.

five clicks to Jesus

thanks to a link provided by billy, and a deep determination not to sleep before 10pm last night (whenever I sleep earlier, I end up waking up ridiculously early or worse, wake up at midnight and not being able to sleep again till 3am), I tried my hand at several wikirace variants. If you don’t know what a wikirace is, it’s basically a Wikipedia navigation game. You start on a predetermined start-page (i.e. bananas) and you try to get to a target-page (i.e. Battle of the Bulge). The wikiproject page provided several difficult target pages that are apparently nearly impossible to get to (i.e. Mystery Seeker) and also a few suggestions for variations of the game (in case the original gets boring – impossible!)

Well, as it turns out, I gave one of the seemingly more challenging variants a shot – five clicks to Jesus. Basically, starting from the main page, you try to navigate to the Jesus page (apparently separate from the Christ page - I think PGee might have mentioned the difference in the sermon yesterday) in under 5 clicks. Apparently, it is much easier than I thought it would be. Using last night’s main page, I was able to get to Jesus in 4 clicks (Main --> US Presidents --> Obama --> Christianity --> Jesus). And as the main page changes daily, this game can always have varying results, which means a greater degree of re-playability.

I could see this game be a good icebreaker for a small group meeting or something…we’ll see =)

Dixon corn maze – 5th time’s the charm?

For four years I have been trying to get people to go to the corn maze. For four years I have been rebuffed. I tried with fellowship folks, friends from home (worst idea ever…hey wanna drive 2hrs up to walk through a cornfield? What was I thinking?!) work colleagues, even my parents (ok that one was predictable). Nada.

Now, personally, I’ve never been to a corn maze (hence the eagerness to explore) but I can imagine the fun of such a diversion from everyday life. Imagine you’re in between tall columns of corn, silently stalking your buddy from the next row over, waiting for the perfect moment to reach through and scare the yahoo out of him. Then you’ll share a well-timed chuckle and proceed to do the same too a stranger. Wouldn’t that be fun?!

it'll be like this...only taller.

So here I am on the blogosphere, proposing it once again. Who wants to go to corn maze on Halloween?! I would be quite tickled if plans work out this time. Hmm…maybe I’ll pitch it to fellowship again. 5th time’s the charm!

operatic life isn’t easy (apparently)

On Sunday afternoon, I picked up Puccini’s Turandot from the iTunes music store. I enjoyed several pieces from that composition and I figured I might as well listen to the whole thing to try to understand the storyline and also to see what all the hoopla was all about. 20 seconds in to the first song and I came to the realization that trying to understand the storyline from the track was futile – it is, of course, entirely in Italian (whups). So I hopped on Wikipedia to find a synopsis and try to follow along with the mp3s.

OH MY GOODNESS…

Apparently opera storylines are ridiculous! The drama in these things make our TV soaps look pedestrian. For example, the storyline of Turandot is as follows:

There’s a hot princess (Turandot) in China who makes all potential suitors answer three riddles. If you get them right, you get to marry the princess. Otherwise, you get beheaded. Then there’s a prince (unnamed) from some far-away land who is in the crowd as a failed prince of persia is getting beheaded. He bumps into a blind man as he is in the crowd, who he recognizes as his long lost father/King (also in the crowd along with his maid). Our prince says hi to his dad, looks up and sees the princess, and immediately falls madly in love. In his love, he runs up and takes up the challenge. He answers riddles correctly, but hot princess is repulsed by this prince (apparently our guy isn’t good-looking). Our prince (still madly in love) presents her a challenge: Since nobody knows his name, figure out his name by morning and he gets beheaded; otherwise, she must marry him. Clearly repulsed, she decrees that nobody shall sleep until she figures out his name (background to Nessun Dorma). If she can’t , all of her ppl will be beheaded. Then she finds our prince’s father and maid, tortures the maid in front of prince; maid reveals she’s secretly in love with prince, and kills self. Prince gets mad, reveals his name, but apparently still wants to marry her (again…madly in love). This time, he says…she can still behead him if she wants. She recognizes this as love, and agrees to marry him. The End.

Confusing right?! And I thought American soaps and chick-flicks had crazy drama…this thing has way more twists and turns! Geez I can’t imagine life having this much craziness! Zoinks…asking a girl out makes me nervous enough as it is...can you imagine throwing in riddles and the underlying threat of beheading too?? And she rejected him!! *sigh* we guys have it tough. 

small talk

I came across this article a weeks ago called how to make small talk, and it's quickly become one of the few articles I keep bookmarked. It was part of a month-long series called Heading Out on Your Own: 31 Basic Life Skills in 31 Days (I love series like these btw) and has practical advice on how to talk to people. Many of you who know me know that I do not like awkward situations. These days, especially at work and even at church we're sometimes thrust into situations where we have to make small talk.

At work, the most common small talk moments are in the elevator. You get in, and there's the guy that you've seen at the printer a few times. Since you have a nodding acquaintance, you feel obligated to say how was your weekend? And since you asked the question, they gotta reply oh it was good (of course decorum dictates that they shouldn't say it sucked). Now you can either drill down (which i'm sure the other guy doesn't really want), or you can leave some silence.

At church, you have the same situation sometimes. You turn to the person next to you, who in some cases only sat next to you cuz they came late and sitting next to you was better than climbing over a bunch of people to get to their friends. So the pastor just asked people to greet each other, and you're looking around hoping to make eye contact with the guy next to you and silently pleading that there are no awkward handshaking missteps and odd pauses. I know...meeting and greeting new people at church is a good thing, but I'd rather talk to someone I don't know organically, not out of obligation to turn and say hi (i know...i could be out on the far fringes of this one). Greeting outside before the service can be the same situation. Although, here's a little secret - I have a few predetermined small-talk lines based on the weather, calendar, and the niner's home-game schedule.

Here, in these situations, is where this article can help. The steps of initiating small talk are: Anchor, Reveal, and Encourage. Sounds so simple huh?! Yes! I feel so empowered when I read those words! Almost makes me ready to go meet people right now! Well, not so fast there buster...you've only gotten it started. At that point you also have to keep it going. So that's when you ask open-ended questions (no one word answers either). To assist, the article gives the next trio of steps: Observe, Listen, Complement. And of course, then the article ends with: Practice!

Yes! doesn't that make you wanna go out somewhere and talk up a storm?! Seeing as I'm headed to fellowship tonight, I'll let you know how this works out.

hypothetical future occupation?

A comment left on a post from a few days ago, combined with the fact that I just watched "what to expect when you're expecting", has sparked an interest in the rare but growing american phenomenon that is the househusband. According to wikipedia, a stay-at-home-dad is a father who is the main caregiver of the children and is the homemaker of the household. As families evolve and women have taken on greater roles in the workplace, income parity has caused a shift in male/female roles in the home.

Apparently, the industrial revolution is responsible for the downfall of the househusband. Pre-industrial-revolution era saw the father more involved in the family life, taking care of the kids along with the wife and running the family as an individual, self-sustaining unit. The advent of technology caused the father to start going to work for other people and becoming more dependent on a centralized unit (i.e. company) to be able to provide for his family (as opposed to hunting and farming). Of course we can’t really blame the industrial revolution as being all bad…we did get much goodness out of it (i.e. showers).

I suppose with evolving family roles and a sour economy it is becoming more and more socially acceptable for a guy to take on the home-making role. This social openness has led many more secretive househusbands to "come out of the pantry".

Well, since I was looking it up anyways, my curiosity sparked a wider search, and I came across some househusband gadgets...pretty cool stuff! Check out the below for a sampling:

NFL Apron (for barbecuing of course…) – ever wanted to grill those perfect ribs while making a statement about your favorite team?! Well this is the product for you!
Functionality: 5/10
Price: 3/10

The Roomba – tired of sweeping the floors? This will make cleaning and vacuuming as simple as pushing a button and making sure the kids are standing/sitting on something sturdy.
Functionality: 7/10
Price: 4/10

The Magical Cube – this gem usually comes with large appliances such as refrigerators and washer/dryers. The magical cube can be transformed into a fort for the kids or a time machine (with a little imagination) or even a transmogrifier. The magical cube also goes by a more common name: the cardboard box.
Functionality: 10/10
Price: 10/10

Aside from the fun gadgets, apparently there's other pretty neat things about househusbandry. Recently I've been watching some pretty cool cooking videos on youtube and food network. I doubt this will be me in the future (lol never say never?), but I suppose I wouldn't mind cooking...full time or not. Have a look at the following video and tell me you don't wanna get your hands dirty. =)

a culinary journey through davis

Slow afternoon at work today…and I’m celebrating the fact that daviswiki just got unblocked at work…

As a working person whose hours can vary from season to season, it’s tough to consistently cook for myself. Some nights I come home and I just want to knock out. Other night I’ll either be at small group or meeting up with a friend, and those nights are inevitably charged to my credit card. On days like these, there are quite a few places in davis to pick from. A cursory glance at daviswiki would confirm that this town is a melting pot of americanized cultural foods and other culinary trappings. Let’s visit some of my davis favorites:

The first place we visit will be the corner in south davis right by the tunnel, where the shell gas station is. This is where Café Italia, In-n-out, and Redrum Burger are. This triumvirate of heart-stopping food are all quite tasty, and although In-n-out isn’t indigenous to Davis, it is still one of the favorites of most people here. Redrum is one of those places that I never actually go to (I think the last time I went was 7 years ago), but I do remember it being very good. I also remember having the most epic food coma afterwards, so for the sake of wanting to be awake in the hours/days after a meal, I stay away from that place. Café Italia is definitely a good place to go, although a meal there can get kinda pricey. They have a really good clams linguine, which my roommate showed me how to make, but I would still go for the garlic bread. There was a rumor that they were going to move closer to where I live, but good thing they didn’t. If that had happened, I’d pretty much have to get my direct deposit re-routed to Café Italia.

As we move into downtown, we enter the protected land of local businesses. The Davis Planning Commission is very cautious about moving big chains and big business anywhere near the few blocks we know as downtown Davis. There are a few pretty good places to eat, and my favorite has got to be Hometown. No, not the buffet, but the Chinese food place in the upstairs of what looks like an apartment building. The food here is pretty authentic, and the people that work here are very nice (except when you pay by credit card). Across the street you have the Dumpling House and Noodle City. Those are both owned by the same people I think, and serve pretty good and cheap food. The old lady at the Dumpling House is awesome! She reminds me of the matchmaker in Mulan, and totally cracks me up. You just gotta give her a hard time and she’ll throw it right back at you haha.

Aside from these downtown places, there are a few I would like to highlight in the surrounding areas. Jade Garden in east davis is very good. Their lunch specials are pretty good deals and you can pretty much get 2-3 meals out of one of those bad boys (great for college students). There’s also Shanghai-Town in west Davis. This place has some pretty good Shanghainese food and is also a good place to take your folks if they’re in town. The place doesn’t look like much, but the food makes up for it. And lastly, there’s Guadalajara’s. This place is a Davis institution, and boasts the super-giant burrito (a burrito that stretches around 2.5ft) although their tacos are much better. They have two locations, and both are pretty good. There are many nights when I would work late, and swing by there to pick up dinner on the way home.

Of course, then there are those nights when I get off work at 4pm, no small group, no prayer meeting, no trivia nights. The stars align perfectly and the kitchen gods smile favorably upon me as my car pulls into the parking lot at nugget for a fresh salmon filet from the fish guy, or a nice selection of seasonal vegetables from the friendly produce guy as I try to balance out my fiber intake. Those days are more common now, but I still treasure them none-the-less. I value being able to get some fresh produce and meat and trying something new from my old issues of gourmet magazine (before they stopped print) or something random I found on youtube (Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey have good clips).

I’m sure this list will be updated as I remember more and more about what’s in town, but for now, that’s pretty much it for the food in town. At least the ones worth going to. Maybe Chipotle too, but that’s not local I suppose.

pinterest lies!

for those of you who use pinterest, or heard about this "super easy" mac'n cheese recipe by microwaving the elbows in milk to cook the pasta, let me burst this bubble right now: it does not produce awesomely fantastic results. Just do it the old fashioned way.

I now have soupy cheese broth and some milky elbow noodles.

just a side note: i don't use pinterest. i just got this recipe from a friend. very disappointing.

50 beans | check yourself.

Yep, I'm almost certain this comes as no big shock to anybody who reads this blog (I might as well have told you the earth is round). Let me clarify a bit. I drink coffee for a combination of reasons: for the sights and smells, for the warmth as you hold a cup in your hands, the aroma that brings a smile to your face, and yes, definitely for the caffeine kick. However, most importantly, I enjoy coffee. I enjoy coffee for the taste, the smell, the sensation of the slightly thicker consistency that it has, and yes, the alertness it brings.

Sadly, my motives for drinking coffee is not always out of pure enjoyment. I use coffee. I use it for my own personal gain. As a person who sleeps on average 5-6 hours a night, I use it for the kick it provides, regardless of the flavor, guzzling it at times just for the caffeine high. Oh don’t look at me like that. We’ve all been there. I know at one point or another you’ve done what I’ve often done: make a quick run to the local coffee shop, or worse, the local gas station for a quick caffeine jolt.

Recently I’ve been challenged to reconsider my reasons for drinking coffee, a caffeinated motive check of sorts. What are my reasons for consuming cup after cup of this stuff? Am I really doing it for the enjoyment factor? Or is this just another way of making up for lack of sleep? I was certain I started off with good motives. After all I’ve loved the sights and smells of coffee since I was a kid (and I still do), but when I reach for that next cup of coffee, why am I doing it?

On another coffee blog that I follow, the writer has embarked on a coffee fast, which is something that I’ve tried before; however, this is a partial fast, which I’ve never really done, or heard of. He stresses that he enjoys coffee, but uses it like a drug, taking a hit whenever he needed it. When I read that I felt convicted - I was doing that too! Especially when I have so much going on in life right now, it’s so easy to just rely on it as my sole crutch to get me through the day.

I recall Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians 10:23 – Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible – but not everything is constructive. I believe this applies to my coffee experience. There is certainly nothing wrong with consuming coffee, but to let it become a crutch means that I am certainly not consuming it for God’s glory, which is a path I shouldn’t let my coffee journey take me down. As Paul also says to the Corinthians: So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) This, I’ve come to realize, is something I must keep in mind as I explore my coffee hobby. I should enjoy it, but not let myself become dependent on it. I can still extoll the virtues of coffee, but not let coffee become a crutch. Hopefully I can keep this challenge in my mind as I continue my coffee journey.

red flagged

jetlagged again...so i got some time. strap yourselves in...we're going on a rant!

The lady at the US Airways check-in counter didn't like me. Normally, I'm horrible at reading people. I can't tell if someone likes or loathes me, but with this lady, I knew the moment she looked at me. Maybe it was the fact that there weren't many asians in Rome? Maybe I had just had a certain look. I'm not sure, all I know is that this lady did not like me. We'll call her Miriam, since... well, that was her real name (yea let's just say if you flag me as a terrorist, the courtesy of a fake-name isn't extended to you).

The minute I walked up to the counter she started the series of questions...the usual stuff first. Are you transporting anything dangerous? Did anyone give you any strange packages? Apparently she didn't like my answers to binary yes/no questions, so she pointed me to a back room to search my checked luggage. Then she brought in two more ppl to search, since she said I appeared nervous. Yea, US Airways put their check-in counter in a makeshift open-air warehouse (imagine birds everywhere) at Fiumicino airport with no air conditioning when Rome is routinely in the 80's with 85-90% humidity and she's wondering why her customer has a little bit of sweat on his forehead?  Miriam, lets just say if it wasn't the temperature in the warehouse, then my uneasiness could also be contributed to the fact that a pigeon just flew by my head at the airport counter.

After a thorough search of my luggage, she tagged them as oversized (it was a carry-on sized bag) so they'd be re-examined before going into the plane. Then she escorted me to security and mentioned to the guy at the metal detector to thoroughly check me. After a through search that revealed nothing (big surprise!) i went on my merry way into the terminal. I got to the airport 2 hours before the flight so I could have enough time to get some coffee and walk around the terminal a bit. Yeaaaa, i now have only 15 minutes to get to the gate for boarding. I get out my boarding pass, get in line, and as i got to the counter, guess who was there?

Miriam was there waiting for me, and flagged me over to two security officer for a "random" preboarding check of bags and pockets. Again. And they found nothing suspicious. Again. You would think that she'd have given up by now, but nope. I felt tempted to make a comment to her as i boarded the plane, but it'd be a rude awakening if i got to Charlotte and she was there with some US Customs agents. No, no...just keep walking.

I honestly can't believe one disgruntled US Airways check-in lady could single-handedly have so much power to mess with someone the whole day. She basically picked me out of a lineup and decided to have some fun. Well i guess my encounter with Miriam is over hopefully...unless she put me on a no-fly list too. I hope not...