Giving Up / Trekking On

to nobody in particular:

...last year, i gave up music for Lent -- and it was rough...

...this year, i'm giving up sweet/salty snacks/desserts -- 'twill also be rough...

...but, like giving up music, will be ultimately beneficial...

...no chocolate, pretzels, cakes, chips, blah blah -- should be pretty interesting...

...last year, with no music, i was able to keep myself quieter with less distractions -- more thinking, pondering, praying and more physical and spiritual awareness...

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currently watching: "Lost" -- Season Five

...yes, we are finally almost completely caught up -- and watching this season (5) has been quite entertaining -- no letdown whatsoever...

Short Thought / Rogue Agent

to nobody in particular:

...after more than a dozen times throwing up within a span of 8 hours throughout the night, Hannah is finally feeling better -- and sadly, it was already laundry day today, so the washing machine is working over time...

...on top of that lack of sleep, the Superbowl game (starting at 12:30am local time) is welcomed at our party at Don's house, along with more than 10 other guys who are crazy enough to hang out with us superlate on a Sunday night (most of whom aren't even American!)...

...did i mention: go not-Colts!...

...i've almost forgotten what normal snowless sidewalks look like, as well as the fact that grass is the color green -- snow, just give it up already...

...how is Avatar the highest grossing movie of all time? -- disgusting...

...i'm wondering if Jesus Christ is one of the most mistakenly misunderstood individuals in the history of individuals -- or maybe just simply one of the most awesome, probably...

...you know why i'm blogging right now? because Sarah is watching Pride & Prejudice (the A&E Colin Firth version) in the other room -- and life goes on...

...dot dot dot...

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currently reading: Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Sanction by Eric Van Lustbader

Including Cold, Weight-Loss, Godfathers & Perspective / Including Smoke, Hatches, Numbers & Secrecy

to nobody in particular:

...here are some recent thoughts, followed by explanations...

..."more snow, God? are You kidding me?" -- i walked out of the house the other day and, much to my dismay, the 15-degrees-below-freezing-Celsius weather was accompanied with even more snow, just when the recent barrage was starting to give way to the sidewalks underneath -- i know it is strange for me to think the following, but i was looking forward to having decent non-slip sidewalks to run on in the early mornings/late evenings...

..."wow -- this is tougher than i thought" -- last year, i was part of a group of four who had a small contest to lose weight, and, even though it went well for that period of time, and i was able to lose 15 lbs myself, i gained a couple more over the last month or so (Christmas time is a killer) -- well, to continue my weight-loss, i started a new personal campaign, and i have a goal to slim down to a certain weigh-in (which i will not post here) before the opening kickoff of the World Cup of 2010 -- it is a lofty goal, but i am determined...

..."yes, these have been pretty good, but i don't think they are any of my favorites" -- i've recently watched the Godfather movies (i re-watched The Godfather and have watched Part II and Part III for the first time) and, although i find the arguments behind them being great movies valid and seeing their place in movie history, they are not personal favorites...i did really like the first one, the second one was pretty good too, and the third one is kind of meh -- overall well done and interesting, but nonetheless slightly disappointing, with a letdown in the third act (Part III)...

..."does it all boil down to the matter of perspective, or is that just my perspective?" -- we are encouraged to be joyful always, to pray continually and to always be thankful in all circumstances (I Thessalonians 5) -- but why?...think about it -- and after i did for a while, i've concluded that it comes down to the view that we have on our life, on our perspective, on how we interact with the happenings of our days -- to sharpen a correct perspective on life centers on these three intentional choices, i believe -- living with joy (not happiness), praying as central, and having a constant gratitude -- enormously tough, of course, but invaluably imperative...

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currently watching: "LOST" (yes, still)

At Last / At First

to nobody in particular:

...i question whether anybody will actually read this, and, again, that won't be a problem with me if it goes unread -- not a big deal. if it is read by one person, that is great. two, greater. three, unexpected. that's the wonder of treating a blog as a personal journal -- it's personal to a point, and yet public to a point...

...after a full year of blogging and recording learning points on a daily basis, i took a small break. that small break ends tonight. my last blog was august 11th. when deciding when to write again, i thought: perhaps a september 11th post, equaling a one month break, would be appropriate? perhaps writing after my parents visit would be a meaningful time to restart? perhaps, now that's it's november, i could write a Thanksgiving post? maybe it would be good, rather than working around an "appropriate" time to restart the blog, i could just avoid that and do it at a random time with no significance? hey, Christmas is right around the corner -- perhaps a Christmas post would work? and now, here i am, on the last night of the year, writing -- finally...

...and it turns out, the timing is significant, yet the writing will be rather insignificant -- except in the fact that i am restarting my blog, 86 the learning points...

...it's nice to be writing out my thoughts in an informal and fun manner again -- hopefully it lasts and continues strongly in 2010...

...with that said, i am done here...


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currently watching: "LOST"



my wife gifted me with "LOST" on dvd for Christmas, so we are starting to watch the series again from the beginning -- and it is still spectacular...