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| want to hear an interesting story that happened 45 minutes ago between me and a coworker? (she's actually a director - middle aged chinese woman from the mainland). note: names have not been changed to protect anybody. i'm writing it in screenplay format
(i'm setting up my computer and hooking it up to the projector in preparation for a meeting)
Lily: so how are you and your girlfriend?
Me: oh.. um we're not together anymore
Lily: didn't work out huh?
Me: no
(silence)
Me: so, how are you?
Lily: fine. just hanging in there
Me: isnt that all that we can do? hang in there? (sometimes i try to think up the most boring office-talk possible. i think i succeeded here)
Lily: yes. it's ok - you're too young to date
Me: what do you mean?
Lily: chinese people think it's better to date when you're older
(i'm starting to catch on to what she's talking about)
Me: do you know how old i am?
Lily: ah.. i think you are... twenty... (thinks)... 23?
Me: you're already wrong when you said "twenties"
Lily: you're older than twenties?
Me: yeah. i'm 30.
then she goes on to say how she has some cousin or nephew who is my age and doesnt want to date because relationships and families are too difficult to deal with. i should probably add that the reason she had that reaction (instead of "ohh sorry!") is that about a year ago, she asked the same question like... "have you visited your gf in LA"? and i said, no i'm not dating that girl anymore - i'm dating someone else. and her reaction was "oh good for you!" and i was like, what? why good for me? not that it's bad but... nevermind. it's just funny when i talk to her.
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| have you ever been in a relationship / friendship where everything has always been singularly directional? what i mean is that there is always advice needed, thoughts, etc. and occasionally the question of "how are you?" and "what's up?" is posed. but in the end, the person doesnt know enough about you or hasnt spent enough time to really offer anything meaningful. and at some point, it's just easier not to respond because you know there isnt any substance behind the contact. if it's advice, it's the same advice and the same problems, most all conversations being inwardly focused. it's like skipping a stone across a quiet lake, and once it loses momentum, it'll just sink. it's very shallow between the two surfaces and once the interaction ends, it'll always remain with one person.
i've been thinking about that too, simply because i think it gets draining. funny thing is that last week i wrote about convenience among people and likes attracting. but at some point, we should try to realize not to keep asking for things and start developing a mutual relationship / friendship, right?
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| happy... saturday?
i just got back from pinnacles... walked in the door about 5 minutes ago.
friday i took the day off to get some dentistry done. yes, again. bad news. but it's all over. enough said! i also sent my car in for major maintenance. valve clearance adjustment (mechanic did that for me for FREE), alignment (ran over the curb one too many times ahem), oil change, and tire rotation. justin, david, and i went to rei, fry's, and cheese-taster deli (in fremont) that morning as if we didnt have jobs! i took an awesome nap in the afternoon and got my scarpa feroce's in the mail. well, i had them shipped to work and i snuck in to get them that afternoon. later that evening a number of us met up at ben and marina's to drive down to pinnacles national park, but not before we got falafel / gyros dinner with free sandwiches (because they were closing).
this morning it was cold in the tent. good thing i had my 0 degr F bag! and tent, which was wet from dew. ben and marina were so gracious in bringing so much awesome food. i'm pretty minimalistic so anything above that i totally appreciate! plus they cooked all of it. we drove to the trail, hiked for 15 mins, and climbed on discovery wall out of the east entrance. i bouldered a bit, though it isnt a bouldering place. they did some lead climbing, top roping, etc. was interesting. and when we were packing up to leave around 5:30p (after sundown), the park was dark very quickly (and starting to get chilly). we switched our headlamps on, went up into the caves (sooo awesome) and then back to the cars. when we were nearby, i suggested we shut them off and walk to the cars. the stars were SO bright. i had forgotten how washed out they were in the bay area, no matter where we were. not even on hwy 9 / 35 were they this bright. and the major constellations - after adjusting to the darkness - were so difficult to identify because all the little stars cluttered the sky. plus the milky way was very apparent. i had a good chat with vincent the night and just enjoyed his company (we stayed in the same tent), just chatting about family, God's wonderful creation, silliness, you name it. tonight we left pinnacles at 9pm and because of the clear skies, it was FREEZING. my face still smells like campfire, having been doused with the smoke of smores and the glorious heat from a wood fire.
time for a shower! hope you're having a great wknd. i'll link some of vincent's pictures when he posts them. i took 4 pictures - all crappy - and my battery was dying. so i wont be posting those. btw, the scarpas were totally killing my feet. i'm going to break them in more over the next few weeks. i cant wait til they're stretched a bit.
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i wish i could say more but right now it's close to 1am and i just got home. a bunch of us went to the " i <3 revolution" showing at amc cupertino (vallco). from the "we're all in this together" trailer (you can youtube that and find out what i mean), it gave us a glimpse of the poverty and injustice in this world. it wasnt simply focused on human trafficking, though that was a component. but it did say some things about "church" as a bldg vs people, christians and the stigma of hypocrisy, the moral insufficiency that will always be, yet a hope as believers to spread the love that spawned from the greatest injustice (the death of jesus) and at the same time the greatest love ever shown (the sacrifice jesus made).
there a few difficult to read captions, prolonged emphases on music / concerts and a few lacking personal stories. but all in all, it was a good eye-opening film. i do think freedom summit was more heart-cutting though. but this film was the gospel message in all of its relevancy. i dont think a single person who watched it could walk away with a good argument against the gospel message, as i believe all of it was summed up and addressed throughout. i just hope people were paying attention amidst the quotes, music, artistic effects, australian accents, and camera-work
to think i almost missed this to go climbing!
(i went last night instead ;)
i-heart.org
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