Refrigerator Takeover

Every person has their own unique set of "staples". These are must haves, things that are always in stock. Often, they are overstocked. This is fairly common knowledge. Each of my roommates had their own. Jason was rice, juice, cereal, Chinese sausages, and IBC rootbeer. Living with Jason, it was a guarantee that these 5 items were around. Dan was rice, ramen, and Chinese sauces.

As a househusband, I am quickly transforming the kitchen into my domain. My staples are beating out Alinna's. Chunks of meat, onions, potatoes, celery, carrots, and drinks... lots of em from juice to beer to the harder stuff (preparation and training for bartending school). I'm winnning! I'm winning!

New Pet Peeves

I'm becoming increasingly annoyed by preachers who denounce "post-modernism." Two reasons... 1. It's not something you can denounce because it's already here... in fact, the very preachers who are against post-modernism are more than likely post-modern themselves. 2. The whole thing is being denounced without taking a holistic view of it... that is, it is publicly being deemed as bad because of its relative hold on the idea of truth (what you believe is true for you, what I believe is true for me). Nevermind the contributions it is making in the societal value of community, dialogue, and creativity among others.

Go do your research especially before going up to the pulpit. Don't merely accept what others say. Study for yourself as well.

On a lighter note, my second new pet peeve: Interstate highways that don't run inter-state. I-280 just runs down the peninsula. It doesn't go into Nevada. It doesn't go into Oregon. It doesn't go to Arizona. It's the same thing with I-880.

But the one that really annoys me... I-238. New pet peeves aside, I just hate this stretch of road. Traffic-wise, it can only be rivaled by that horrid highway known as "the 405." But it goes for about 3 miles. And it's an interstate? I don't know if it even goes inter-city. Oyy.

Being home

It's nice to be at "home" again. Granted, I live in Sunnyvale and I've never lived in Sunnyvale before, but it's certainly more "home"-like than a few months ago.

Just this Saturday, Alinna and I had some of my friends from the East Bay over at our place. Much love to Steve, Jeff, Naomi, and Phoebe (oh and Giorgiana) for making the trek down here to the land of suburbia. That was then followed up on Sunday with a trip to East Bay Free Meth for church and lunch with my family. It really is nice to be back here in the Bay Area, living here, seeing friends and family.

I've moved more times since graduating from college than I ever did before. Since May 2001, well, I don't know how many times I've moved. Let's count.

1. Berkeley --> My parents' home in El Sobrante (4 months)
2. El Sobrante --> Kaminoyama, Japan (6 months)
3. Kaminoyama --> Date, Japan (2 years)
4. Date --> El Sobrante, again (5 months)
5. El Sobrante --> Alhambra (1 year, 3 months)
6. Alhambra --> Sunnyvale

It's now January 2006, about 4 1/2 years since that time................. thanks to everybody who's made me feel welcome back home.

The End of an Era

I caved. I got a Mac. I want to be cool.

Consequently, I got a new printer which now leaves me with three, yes, three printers total. Why did I bother getting a new printer with the new computer you ask? Let's look at the two older printers first, shall we?

Epson 870C. If you're really into Epson printers, you may not recognize this one. Why? Because it's Japanese. I got it in Japan which was great... when I was in Japan. But alas, I am no longer in the land of the rising sun and as a result, I am no longer in the land of Epson 870C ink cartridges.

HP P1100. Won at this past year's Baylight white elephant gift exchange. As I was taking it to the car, I was told, "The ink cartridges on that machine are pretty expensive... and it runs out of ink really fast, especially if you're printing pictures."

So, if you or anybody you know is interested in taking home a Japanese Epson or an American HP printer, you can come on down to Sunnyvale. Our prices can't be beat! They're FREE! And by they way, they're both photo capable!

Throw Away Quarters

Since my last school term, I've coined the word "throw away quarter." I should explain.

Last quarter was a hard quarter. I took 16 units of class, I was prepping to move back to Northern California, and I was doing wedding planning among other things. So, to temper my academic expectations for the quarter, I treated my schoolwork as if the entire term were a throw away quarter... that is, I shouldn't expect great results because I have way too many things going on... things that are unique only to this quarter.

Situation: It's the end of the fall quarter and Alinna is asking me about the progress of my term papers.

Alinna: So, did you proofread your paper?
Hideyo: No way! This is a throw away quarter. It's done. I finished writing it. I'm turning it away.
Alinna: Okaaayyyyy.

Flash forward to this current winter term. I'm finding that I'm quickly calling this winter quarter a "throw away quarter." Why? No, I'm not using it flippantly as an excuse, but rather, I'm finding that this quarter is really hard, not academically. Really.

I'm newly married. I've moved to a place I've never lived before. Oh, and I missed the first week of classes due to my escape to North Carolina. This is the real reason. I'm finding myself perpetually behind. Ahh well. I'll catch eventually. Assuming that my books that were accidentally shipped to Alhambra will be forwarded to my new Sunnyvale address of course.

By the way, I did quite nicely in my first throw away quarter. Three A's and a B+, thereby raising my GPA to a 3.78. Anybody interested in hiring an A- seminary student? I'll try not to have throw away quarters/semesters/years when I work.

Back to School Night

It's my first week of school at Fuller's Northern California Extension Campus. So weird. Technically, last week was my first week, but well, I was a bad seminarian and didn't go... I was too busy eating, eating, and yes, eating.

The school culture here at the Menlo Park Extension is so totally different from the main campus in Pasadena. In an attempt to present my observations in a more palatable way... here's a top five list! The top five ways Menlo Park is so weird and different:

5. Only night classes are offered during the weekdays. Feels like I'm going to one of those adult education programs... like I'm there to get my GED or become a US citizen.
4. Where are all the Koreans?
3. The building itself is really quiet. I mean really quiet. Fuller uses a Catholic seminary that basically goes to sleep once the sun goes down. There are no students just hanging out in the halls. There are no guys trying to jock on girls. Yes, this does happen at Pasadena... in an edifying, Christian way of course.
2. Freaky looking, back-lit (think campfire spooky story lighting) statues of Catholic fathers dispersed throughout the campus.
1. Where is my SEMI (the school newspaper)?

Back into the swing of things

Yes, I'm back in the San Francisco Bay Area. After getting married, we jumped onto a plane the next morning to go to Cozumel (look to Alinna's blog for pictures) and after coming back home to do my laundry, I hopped on another plane to go to a Jesus conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

For all of you out there who are planning on getting married... I do not recommend going away for a week right after your honeymoon. That there is a pearl of wisdom.

No more wedding checklists, to-do lists, calendar countdowns... it's done! Pictures are here especially for those of you who weren't able to make it. Thanks again to everybody who helped. Really, really couldn't have pulled off the event without you all.

Now that there's some sense of normalcy... I promise to return back to my regular blogging patterns. Really. I really mean it this time.