August 15, 2006

• August and Everything After

  After some overtime and weekend toiling, I completed a major project
  milestone (ahead of time) at work last Friday. So now it’s time to
  decompress a little bit. And this place could seriously use an update.

  Wedding Laughers: I’m sure most of you readers attended blue
  and N’s excellent adventure this past Saturday. A ginormously fun time.
  While I wouldn’t say that N and I were the closest of friends, I felt
  honored that he asked me to be his groomsman, and it was great to take
  part (even standing in those uncomfortable rented shoes. But who am I
  to complain? The bridesmaids were in heels!). And one humorous
  anecdote: At the reception (a 10 course banquet of good eats at NBC Seafood), a wedding guest mistook me for one of the Chinese waiters. I should have went along with it and replaced her teapot!

  Hanging it UP: It’s official. My long tenure as a
  “working/young adult” cell group leader will come to a close at the end
  of September. Although it has been at times trying, I have really
  enjoyed my experience and feel it is time to move in a different
  direction. As to what that direction is, I am not sure yet. Stay tuned.
  
  

  Happy Blue Crew Member:
  Things are currently right in my baseball world. Just when a lot of
  people wrote off the Dodgers after their 1-13 tumble post All-Star
  break, they pick up key ballplayers, go on an 11 game winning streak,
  and make it back to first place. Even better, the rival Giants are in last, and just got SWEPT!

  Me, My Sis, and Five: 2/3 of the family (sans Mom) will be participating again in the Nike Run Hit race. A lot of things are different this time around. The performing artists will consist of early 90′s hip-hop acts, including Young MC, Digital Underground, and headliners, De La Soul
  (I wonder if you younger readers know these guys without checking out
  the Wiki links?) . And only 1 race will be run – a 5 mile course around
  the University of Spoiled Children. You Westwood folk can join me on
  Monday nights, 6:30 pm, for the next 6 weeks for some free training
  runs, starting at the Westwood Brewing Company.

  Pop-Up Akio: So, I was watching the championship match of the World Series of Pop Culture.
  And I had my share of time screaming the trivia answers at the somewhat
  clueless contestants. With that in mind, my “entertainment industry”
  friends and I have considered trying out for the show, if it happens to
  have a second season . Now if our team can somehow qualify and win the
  $250K grand prize, I can find some justification for watching all that
  “kudaranai” (useless) TV programs as a kid. I’m sure Mom is still
  wondering how I could memorize song lyrics and TV show dialogue, yet
  consistently forget my jacket at elementary school.

  Future Excursions:
  San Francisco (Sept. 30): For
  the last Dodgers/Giants series. It will be my first time at the enemy’s
  ballpark. A repeat visit to the city may occur the following weekend
  for the 49ers/Raiders game.

  Las Vegas Baby! (Dec. 10): Running the inaugural 1/2 marathon along The Strip!

  Italia (May 2007?): I hope to come back as the next Masahiko Kobe.

  The Last 1000 Words: Since
  you made it all the way down here, I thought I would at least reward
  you with some multimedia from the country of “Ordem e Progresso”.

  

  Igreja de Sao Francisco de Assis: While in Brazil, Josh and I met up with an old church alumnus, who drove us into the colonial town of Ouro Preto. This church (above) is arguably the most famous piece of Brazilian colonial art. The entire exterior was carved by Aleijadinho (Little Cripple).

  

  Igreja NS do Carmo: This church was built between
  1766-1772. It was a group effort done by the important artists in the
  area, featuring a facade done by (you guessed it), Aleijadinho.

  • 3:33 pm
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