Pau Gasol

This is a poem that Leonardo Di Iwao wanted to write for Pau Gasol. He is the new Laker that has done a great job of playing a complimentary role to Kobe Bryant.

Pau Gasol

Pau Gasol, you are so kind
You're so kind, even Kobe can't whine

Pau Gasol, you are so tall
You're so tall, I swear you can dunk the ball

Pau Gasol, you can catch the ball
Thank God your not like Kwame, who thought he was playing racquetball

Pau Gasol, you're just too good
You're too good to be a memphis grizzlie after all.

poem by Leonardo Di Iwao

"You Suck"

Sometimes before I write, I think about my thoughts and see a shining light at the end. My story starts with despair, add some tragedy or a really sad story but at the end there is always some hope. Some type of light that I can cling on.

But this story has none of that. Its painful because I see no immediate help to how I can change and become what I profess to others that I am already so good at, which is.... a good son and brother.

Now this is not something out of ordinary for most human beings.

The only reason I bring this up is because I came home tonight as I usually do around 10:30 pm and went to my mom's house. She lives only 3 apartment doors away and said hello. I then proceeded to my sisters room and with my folder I started tickling her feet. She laughed and I felt good inside cause I felt I had done my brotherly duties when she said the words, "You suck." I was astonished and again she said, "You suck, you don't ever want to talk to me, you just come here and get stuff and leave."

I felt as if Mike Tyson knocked me to the floor and then bit my ear off. I quickly rushed to my defense and said, "Well just email me and then I can get a time for us to talk." She replied, "So now I have to be scheduled to talk to you. You suck."

And thats when it hit me. I do suck. I suck as a brother. I suck as a son. The two people that I should show my care for most, I don't.

How do I balance this out? I'm a 23 year old male who speaks a word of Korean with a 51 year old mom that speaks a few words of English and a 19 year old sister who speaks no language I understand.

I see no hope for me. How do I start communicating my feelings and thoughts of how wonderful and amazing my family is when I don't know how to communicate with them.

So lost I am...

My Valentine...and Jack Bauer

For me, Valentines Day this year was very special. I got to celebrate the first of many with the love of my life, my beatiful girlfriend Pearl. It was a very special time for Pearl especially because I was her first valentine ever! I felt deeply honored so I made sure that I stepped up the game and delivered an All-Star performance.



Sure enough at the end of dinner Pearl was beaming and very excited about the whole Valentine experience. I mean I would be too, if I were dating me... Hmmm.



Anyways while I was taking Pearl home, she decided that we should go to Vons to get some cold medicine for myself. While we were waiting in the checkout line two men came and started putting down their groceries. The cashier politely told the men that they had to go to another checkout line because they had more then 15 items. I looked at the guy and realized who it finally was.



I said to Pearl, "That is Jack Bauer...!" I flipped. I couldn't believe that the dang cashier lady told Jack Bauer to go to another line!!!! Just to put this into context, I have never flipped for any type of celebrity while living in Los Angeles. I have seen SpiderMan in the same theater as Shaq, ate lunch a table away from James Worthy, saw my friends sell something to Ashton Kutcher, and ate dinner a table away from Alliso Milyano...



But this was JACK BAUER! He could slice me into two pieces with one finger if he wanted too.



I quickly deserted my checkout line and followed Jack Bauer to his checkoutline. I found some courage in my heart to ask Jack for a picture. He said sure and shook my hand. I was awe-struck...



So while Valentines Day might be seen as a holiday for women, I just wanted the whole world to know that I had my valentine come to me as well... it was Jack Bauer.



Just kidding, it was Pearl. But enjoy the picture of me and Jack!

Noodles Anyone?

Cheers to all the (Korean) single people out there who will enjoy jajamuan. That is a korean dish of noodles mixed with black sauce that single people eat because they are single....

I don't know any other reason they eat that except that it helps the economy?

Confucianism in our Church's Today?

Check out this video made by my friend about Confucianism in our church's today....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uty7d0Dbphc

Politics and Jesus

I was reading some of the press today about the Super Tuesday primaries. It seems as if everyone has an opinion on who should win and why.

In one of my class's the conversation of who we should vote for came up. It started because the professor was talking about who he voted for and the reason why. I'll call the professor, "mumbling professor" because he always mumbles whenever he talks. So mumbling professor says, "I voted for John McCain because he seems to be a solid person." I wondered in my mind what he meant by that. A student seemed to have read my mind and asked him, "What do you like about John McCain?" Mumbling Professor responded by saying, "Well you know he was a P.O.W (prisoner of war) so he has a lot of character. That kind of experience, you know, makes him rich."

This made me go hmm in my mind. Is that how we choose our leaders these days? As I broke down what mumbling professor said into logical terms, his argument for why he chose John McCain in my words are:
1. John McCain was dumb enough to get caught by the VietCong.
2. As he was caught, he survived.
3. This series of getting caught and surviving makes him rich in person and solid.

I was dumbfounded by mumbling professor. This guy not only has a masters degree, he has a phd and is in the process of publishing his work.

If anyone would mesh the ideologies of Christ and the power of politics together, it should be this guy! But no, he is happy that John McCain, the man he voted for was a p.o.w.

I wonder if Christ was still here today who he would vote for. I think thats an interesting question isn't it? If Christ was still on our earth today I wonder what he would be looking for in a presidential candidate.

I think that Christ would be looking for more then what either political party candidates have been saying as part of their campaigns. Jesus would be looking for faith. He would be looking for a person that would have faith to trust in him and to lean on him for advice. Jesus would be looking for a person who had more then just ears and eyes. He would be looking for that person to use those eyes to see the brokenness of the people and for those ears to listen to the stories of the poor. Jesus would be looking for a heart. A heart that seeks to love the other. To love the unloved. Jesus would not care if the candidate was black, white, asian, male or female. I would think that Christ would look beyond those trivial aspects of a candidate.

Jesus and politics is an ideal that we should think about deeply. We cannot vote because of political party or because of a dislike of a person. What shapes our view of policies and the men and women that we vote for should come from an understanding of Jesus and his views on justice, economics, and power.

Now if only we can find a person who represents those values.

Frreeee Faaallllinnnn

Tom Petty said it best in his song, "Freee Falllinnngg".

For the New England Patriots, it just proves that they can't win unless they are videotaping their opponents plays. Which means they can't win unless they cheat...

For all the Eli Manning haters out there, don't jump on the bandwagon now. Just eat your words and and say sorry.

For all the true G-Men fans, we can celebrate together now and sing Tom Petty's song!

On another note about football...

Is it just me or does Tom Brady get a free pass for going to his girlfriends house with a walking cast before the Superbowl while Tony Romo got stoned for going to Cabo, Mexico with his girlfriend... Well they both lost to Eli Manning who doesn't need a Hollywood chick to reinforce some idea that he's a man, Eli is married to his college sweetheart.

Where are you now Tiki Barber!!!! This guy has the nerve to break the locker room code and talk bad about the head coach and the starting quaterback. Too bad you never got your ring and you never deserved one.

I am reading what I'm writing and man this is some good stuff...

Last shout-out to Jay and Christine Lee, not only did they make it happen with the SuperBowl food, they invited us to their gym to play hoops afterwards. You guys rock!

Well I guess I'm out like the Giants, a true champion!!!!