Actively waiting is highly rewarding

Here are some snaps from a photo session that I did for my DW 6-ply Quilted Maple 14×5.5 Snare Drum with chrome hardware. I spent four years figuring out what I wanted in this snare! Here are five factors that I considered as a drummer:

Dimensions: Defines pitch and sustain
Shell: Provides tonal character
Plies: Determines sound projection
Finish: Makes the drum look good
Hardware: Enables different playing styles

The pictures below provide different perspectives that showcase the drum’s beauty.

Capture snare and stand

Use fill flash for the background

Highlight the snare using bounce flash

Shoot snare from an angle

Last year, I decided to order the drum through Guitar Center. The clerks said that the drum company would ship my snare in ten weeks, but it did not come in time. Months passed and I did not hear any news about the drum. Those months certainly tested my patience. I would drive to Guitar Center and hear nothing from the store clerks. I wanted to cancel the order and force the store to give me a refund. That way, I would not have to deal with my frustration about the drum order.

However, my parents encouraged me to stay vigilant and continue asking Guitar Center. I listened to them and drove to Guitar Center to ask the clerks once again. They said no, but this time they remembered me. I got an email address from one of the clerks, and he said that I could use it to follow up with him about the order. As a result, asking about the drum became more bearable. After a month of waiting and asking the clerk, I got an email from him with a picture of the drum in the makings.

My snare is in the works!

This picture gave me peace and security, knowing that the drum was being made and not forgotten. This week, I was told that the drum was available for me to pick up. I jumped for joy! I headed to Guitar Center the next day and took the drum out of its cardboard box.

Fresh out of the box!

I then asked someone to take a picture of me and the clerk who helped me through this journey.

The clerk and I

In my heart, I know that the wait for this drum is worthwhile. Actively waiting for the things that we desire builds up our faith. And I learned from my pastor last week that faith is an intentional act of waiting upon God to do what only he can do. How do we wait intentionally? 2 Peter 1:5-7 claims that we do that by building up our character:

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

This passage reminds us to focus on what we can control. For instance, our attitude towards life is something that we can control as we wait for that dreaded interview. For those of you who are out there like me, waiting for something to happen or someone to come into your life, know that you are being presented with an opportunity to build up your character and hope. Don’t let those moments pass by! Be strong and courageous, for that is what waiting is all about.

Learning, Life, Relationships

Taiwan Mission Trip

I expected to live out a communal life during Camp Blue. This expectation was met through the discussions I had with the Taiwan students after each morning’s set of presentations. Frisbee, bowling, king-kong shower, photo taking as well as dorm activities (i.e. presentation prep + teaching drums) also allowed me to share life with the students.

Another expectation I had was to expose college students to the importance of God. This was fulfilled through my participation in and follow-up for Gospel-Fest and Friday Night Plus. These events encouraged the students to seek happiness from relational bonding and answers in Christianity.

For the mission trip, I prayed for praise to open people’s hearts and that at least one person in my team would find interest in Christianity. After Gospel-Fest and Best-of-the-Best of Wednesday night, I decided to provide follow-up regarding Gospel-Fest with my roommates (Eugene + Sean) despite my fatigue. For an hour, I discussed the sacrifices that Camp Blue members made. Their interest in Christians peaked since they expressed gratitude for us during the third presentation. Taking advantage of this moment, I shared a part of my testimony where I changed from being selfish with my time to willingly spending time with others. I also mentioned how Christian lifestyles emerged because of Jesus’ grace and mercy. After the discussion, Eugene asked me to define sin and allowed me to further elaborate on Jesus’ sacrifice as a motivation to make loving sacrifices. At least one of these roommates considered coming to Friday Night Plus and learning more about Christianity.

There’s more I could discuss, but I’d rather finish it off with some pictures. God bless! 🙂

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Learning, Relationships

Friends and family

As I go on Facebook less, and meet with people more often, I do not feel as alone as I used to.

I am starting to see myself as part of something bigger – a big family of Christian believers. Whether it’s at SF or at Davis, I have loved others and been loved by others. It’s been two quarters, and I am glad for the struggles that my peers and I have went through.

I do not have much to say. Only a gallery of photos can do service. I will try to summarize this in quarters:

Fall quarter was an opportunity to live with over 30 guys! What a feat…in my Senior year of high school, I wouldn’t imagine myself doing that all. I would ostracize myself instead! When I look at these photos, they tell me a completely different picture:

Guess who looks like a bird (hint: he’s at the top of the photo). I’ve been with him since Freshman year, and I am just amazed by the transformation that he underwent. Soon we’ll be having a Taiwan Mission Trip together! I can only imagine what I have in store for myself

Speaking of mission trips, I had a wonderful time at a Mexico Mission Trip in Ensenada during my winter break! It was hot, and I spent a week and a good amount of money (heck, I missed a video gaming session too). However, I think this one moment among many others was worth it:That kid reminds me so much of myself! My wish is that he may find true love even when I am gone – perhaps more piggybacks! 🙂

Winter quarter was difficult at times since I had all core classes. Still, I had time to spend for my birthday, with others and learning how to love. I fall short in the ability to love, but thankfully there are so many opportunities to improve:

See? My past self agrees!

This Spring quarter has just started, and we just had a photo of the staff and (mostly) everyone in our class.

This is one of the many photos where I had a chance to reflect on the staff’s generosity and the care that I received from them during one-on-one talks about tough questions I held in my heart about Christianity and life.

There’s a lot to say about this year, but this collection of photos should do the job:

I’ll try my best to post. God bless everyone who is watching this!

Learning

Walking the Talk

Ever since I stopped blogging, I saw a beloved pastor go away from my Davis church; I saw a new pastor come in to take his place; I had a wonderful experience at my NASA internship, and realized my personal strengths and pitfalls while working; I met lots of wonderful friends from my speech class at De Anza College that have some place in my heart; and so much more! Why did I keep many of these ideas away from this blog?

: We are looking for gold!

: Two new faces

: Am I really smiling?

: After a long time of waiting, I saw them behind me…

: Quan and his gang of friends

The one thing that stopped me from blogging so much about those ideas is purpose. Do I want to sound grandiose, or just settle for something more personal? Am I supposed to talk about the big technological issues at hand, or make this a blog that is more mainstream? My previous three posts have pointed to the former purpose. However, I think something has changed with how I think about the blog.

Perhaps I do not want this blog to be strictly about technology. I like the freedom that comes from having random musings; they feel so free and personal. After looking at many successful blogs today, I realized that blogging is much like like walking the talk. Just like how walking in the park is a freedom that should be utilized, so should my blogging style. And I’m cool with that.

There’s something amazing in moving ideas to my blog. It requires a different kind of pondering – 8 bits at a time. Time to change the heading, and I hope you guys don’t mind.

Goals

Should I hang out with my friends, or rather, their virtual entities?

Ten days into the New Year is refreshing. Maybe it’s the fresh air; or that I am riding my bike once again so that I can exercise; or that I have a 17 unit quarter this year; or that I have an opportunity to change my personality, my handshake and how I entertain myself.

College life in the apartments is much different than that of dormitory life. The distance between my apartment and the college campus makes meeting up inconvenient, which makes meeting people difficult. I can’t count the number of times I have rejected a few get-together events because of issues regarding time and distance. As a result, I turn to these virtual entities, you know, Facebook friends and AIM “Best Buddies” and “Miscellaneous Buddies.” The point is its convenience. But it misses that one key thing, the human touch.

Just yesterday, I asked my best friend what I lacked the most. He said that I lacked relational sensitivity and flexibility, and he’s right — even my Mom says this to me too. Perhaps my lack of humanity is connected to this virtual entity business, that is, I am being sucked into the convenience of being with people on a virtual level.

Hopefully, replacing this obsession with the virtual may make me a more relational person. Instead of that IM blooping on my taskbar, I’ll give a phone call. Instead of planning a tentative date for meeting with others, I’ll arrange an appointment to meet up. Ten days into this year has made me reflect on my behaviors. Three hundred and fifty-five left to go to change myself!

Learning

Gaian vs. Reductionist

After finishing four beastly finals and spending my first few days of Winter Break, I reflect on one of my favorite classes this Fall Quarter and how its topics relate to our life of today.

The class was asked the following question:

In light of global warming, which is better – Reductionist or Gaian approaches to technology? Why?

The Gaian view states that the destined trajectory of Earth’s life depends on how people conduct themselves in behavior and lifestyle with respect to their environment. This view promotes smaller scale, more simplicity and interconnectedness. The Reductionist view states that a complex system is nothing but the sum of its parts; the evolution of life and the planetary environment may affect each other, but not in a coordinated manner. This view promotes bigger scale, more complexity and centralization.

What is most interesting about these new things are that they suggest that our perception of the world dictates how we treat our environment. In some ways, our perception plays a dominant role in our society. For example, imagine that you were given a choice between spending time developing skyscrapers and constructing environmental buildings. The former promotes businesses in large urban areas, which is much needed in today’s economy. However, it may result in environmental disaster. On the other hand, the latter encourages the sustainability of human welfare and is a way for us to cut down our operational costs. This may seem like a trivial choice, but the response from it will tell us much about how we care about our future. According to scientists and phenomena such as the Keeling Curve, our environmental safety will be severely compromised by the year 2050 due to global warming. With this fact, I realize one thing – we must take drastic measures and make sure our insights count.

Life Bytes

Sharing chunks of my life with you

Category Archives: Learning