The following passage was a just a great reminder to me.

Taken from Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening

"Thy expectation is from him." Psalm 62:5

It is the believer's privilige to use this language. If he is looking for aught from the world, it is a poor "expectation" indeed. But if he looks to God for the supply of his wants, whether in temporal or spiritual blessing, his "expectation" will not be a vain one. Constantly he may draw from the bank of faith, and get his need supplied out of the riches of God's lovingkindness. This I know, I had rather have God for my banker than all the Rothchilds. My Lord never fails to honor his promises; and when we bring them to his throne, He never sends them back unanswered. Therefore I will wait only at His door, for He ever opens it with the hand of munificent grace. At this hour I will try Him anew. But we have "expectations" beyond this life. We shall die soon; and then our "expectation is from Him." Do we not expect that when we lie upon the bed of sickness He will send angels to carry us to His bosom? We believe that when the pulse is faint, and the heart heaves heavily, some angelic messenger shall stand and look with loving eyes upon us, and whisper "Sister spirit, come away!" As we approach the heavenly gate, we expect to hear the welcome invitation, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." We are expecting harps of gold and crowns of glory; we are hoping soon to be amongst the multitude of shining ones before the throne; we are looking forward and longing for the time when we shall be like our glorious Lord-for "We shall see him as he is." Then if these be thine "expectations" I my soul, live for God; live with the desire and resolve to glorify Him from whom cometh all thy supplies, and of whose grace in thy election, redemption, and calling, it is that thou hast any "expectation" of coming glory.

Interesting Fact of the Day: The famous lover Giovanni Casanova ended his life working as a librarian.

In a couple of hours, I am ready for a whole relationship with my best friend. You could say that my best friend and I are taking our relationship to the next level. For better or for worse, our relationship will be changed... I just hope it's for the better. If things don't work out... I don't know what I'll do... and I'll have just wasted a lot of money. After our last break up, both my best friend and I were hurt. It really needs to work out this time. Yup... it's true... my best friend ESPN and I are ready to embark on the next stage of our relationship as my new television is delivered. A couple of weeks ago I purchased a 24" TV, however it was too small... it wasn't a man's television. Wasn't suitable to watch sports on a tv that small. Hence, I was forced to return that tv, for a 27" set. I hope I am satisfied... and I hope my friend ESPN will be satisfied too. If ESPN doesn't like it, I don't know what I'll do. I have so few other friends here, that I'm afraid I'll do something really drastic like spend a whole month's pay on a tv too big for my apartment. I hope ESPN will be happy. I hope I will be happy. If things go well... I foresee a nice future with lots of happiness shared. If things don't work out... well.. dang it.. relationships cost way too much money... we'll just have to break up for good... well... with a prospect for reconciliation in the future :)

Interesting Fact of the Day: Josef Stalin was studying to become a Russian Orthodox priest when he found Communism

I am ashamed to say this, but I have changed. I am now officially no longer the same guy I was when I was in California. How do I know this? This morning, while looking for clothes to wear to work, I came across a dresser full of clothes that I haven't even touched since I moved to Houston. Low and behold, in that dresser lay my many blue hooded sweatshirts. The sad thing is... I didn't even think of them once over the past month and a half. I've changed... and I don't like it one bit. Time to rediscover my old self and wear nothing but those sweatshirts.

Interesting Fact of the Day (inspired by Kobe's recent scoring binge): The only active basketball player to ever score over 70 points in an NBA basketball game is David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs. He once scored 71 points in a single game.

This was one fun weekend.

Friday night: I went to a Rockets game with a bunch of coworkers. Our seats were in row A. These sound like good seats, but in reality they were the worst seats in the house. They were located directly behind the floor level seats, but weren't elevated, so you had to stand up to have a good view of any player besides Yao Ming and Shawn Bradley. However, in every negative there is a positive. In our case the positive was that for the first 3 quarters we had the Houston Rockets cheerleaders directly in front of us. In fact. they also "blocked" our view of the game. Being in a group of guys, we didn't complain too much. Also, you know how they have those little contests going on during basketball games for prizes? Well, one of my coworkers actually got to participate and ended up winning 2 round trip airplane tickets to the destination of his choice. After winning, he tried to dance with the cheerleaders, who didn't join in.

Saturday night: Had a few interesting conversations with coworkers. Topics of discussion went from the many homosexuals in the firm (basically our most powerful people), to the most intelligent people in the firm. Shallow topics of coversation, but interesting nonetheless. Also, one of my coworkers shared that he was a suspected Al Qaeda member for a while after police saw him jogging away from his car that he parked in front of a federal building. In the span of one hour, the police interviewed his parents, his neighbors, and a ran a background check, before searching his car. Interesting huh?

Interesting Fact of the Day: Karl Marx was once a correspondence for the New York Daily Tribune.

This has been a rather slow week. Not too much going on at work... not too much going on at home. I just seem to live life day by day.... not expecting too much... not getting too much. Maybe this is how working life is... who knows? It's so wierd. You look at the world, and there is just so much sin. You wish that you were shielded from the sin, but you aren't and the sin grows within you as well. Sometimes I look at things people do and I wonder if I could do the same thing. Unfortunately, because I'm such a sinner the answer is yes. I guess that is grace. I clearly am no better than any other person, but God still chose to pour his mercy on me. I write this not because I did anything horridly wrong, but there are just times when I realize the vast sinfulness of my heart, and it brings me to shame. Thank God... God is Good!

On another note, tomorrow I'm going to my first Rockets game. Rockets vs Mavericks. Go Yao!

Interesting Fact of the Day: Drafts of the Declaration of Indepedence was written on hemp paper.

So yesterday I went to a park to play football with my coworkers. It was an exciting, fun game, and my team won. It was great! I felt like Randy Moss, consistently beating my man down deep, and scoring the touchdowns. I don't want to completely brag, but I like to think that I dominated. I felt physically superior to almost everyone else on the field. That's when the realization hit me... dude... I was the youngest guy on the field. We had two other guys in the their late 20s, and then everybody else was in their 30s, 40s, and maybe 50s. The only reason I could run and beat people deep, is that I was the only person in decent physical shape. Everybody else was fat and spoiled by their wife and kids. I might as well have been playing with girls. Oh well... regardless, they didn't make excuses about their age. They played hard and well, and so I won't make any excuses about my age as well. I was dominant, simply dominant... I was the man for a day... I love it.

Oh yeah, and in case I forget to tell you, my SPURS are the hottest team in the NBA right now. They won an NBA record 8 straight road games in one trip, and this without Former MVP, ROY, Scoring Champ, Rebounding Champ, Blocked Shots Champ, Defensive Player of the Year David Robinson. Last December, while at Las Vegas, I put $15 on the Spurs betting that they will go all the way. The payout... $195. Yummmmm... I smell the money already.

Interesting fact of the day: No only child has ever been elected President of the United States (sorry Kee)

I'm a dang lazy guy. I work for most of the day, and then when I come home I do nothing. When I say nothing, I mean nothing. I may workout but then I come home, make dinner, and watch TV. Yup... that's about it. I don't talk to anybody, maybe chat through AIM, but no more. I have all these books around me just crying to be read, but nope... ESPN calls out for me even louder. DAng... I'm a bum. The thing is, I find it so easy to be a bum after work. Man... I'm gonna have to try to schedule my days out, so I don't spend countless hours doing nothing. Hmmmmm... maybe that's an excuse to purchase a PDA... i like i like...

The past couple of days I've been out of it. Now, it's not because Valentine's Day is coming up, because on that front I'm quite happy. Single life is good, and I don't have a girl draining all my funds. You see, the other day somebody I know told me that they can't stand me because everything I do is done to satisfy some twisted selfish delight. Man... I know I'm a sinner, but geez... I didn't know that I was that bad. To make things worse, the past couple of days I didn't do my devotionals and spend time in the Word. It's completely obvious that all I have is God, but sometimes I push God away when things aren't going well. As Chin San mentioned over the weekend, albeit in a completely different context, I need to quit segmenting the Lord, and really let him occupy every part of my life. After all, God is God... and I am... well... I am me.

Yet, this morning I woke up really happy. The reason for that is my grandmother appeared in my dream. I was really close to her my whole life, but this October she left us to join the Lord. I know she's in a much better place, having reached the place we all long to be, but that doesn't stop me from missing her. This is why seeing her in my dream just made me so happy. It's great how she appeared in my dream at a time I was feeling so down. As I woke up, I felt inspired and moved. My grandmother's two favorite activities were praying and reading the Word. It left me determined to spend time doing more of the same. I just hope this isn't a short term thing, but has long lasting effects. Man... God is good!

I heard the funniest, but true line the other day. My friend said that guys like girls who wear baggy or athletic clothes because Asian girls have little boy bodies. Hmmm... what do you think?

Anyways, I'm back in Houston now. For the past 4 weeks, I've spent a grand total of one night in my new apt in Houston. I feel like I don't really have a home. Houston is my new home... but it doesn't feel like home just yet. Berkeley, felt like home last week, but it's no longer my home. Hopefully I'll be in Houston for at least the next few weeks, so that I actually make some friends here. I realized that I was in such a hurry to travel, that I completely forgot about settling down. I need to settle down, find a church, and then will I be able to travel and return to Houston thinking that I'm returning home.

Man... there is so much waste and excess in the world. Last night, I went to eat sushi with 2 coworkers. The bill... $138. Tonight, I went to eat seafood with 2 coworkers. The bill... $118. I know that these meals are not super duper expensive but still... what a waste. I know that currently I am partaking in this life of excess, but please help me and make sure that I don't fall into the trap of desiring this life of excess.

I heard an interesting comment yesterday. Somebody's brother has a theory that when a girl goes out with a guy, the girl has one eye open and one eye closed. The one eye closed shows the commitment she has to the guy. The one eye open shows that while one eye is committed, she's still looking around at other guys. Very interesting theory... if this is true... man... that is so whack. Dude, I am jaded now. Hope not all girls are like that.

So, I’m writing this entry on an airplane, on my way back to Houston from London. The current plans is that I’ll land in Houston this evening, and then fly out to San Francisco tomorrow morning. It sounds like a hectic life, but I guess it’s the life that God chose for me, at least for the present time.

If you were to tell me a year ago that I would be doing what I am doing right now, I probably never would have believed you. I mean… move to Houston… who would ever want to live there? Me doing consulting???? Man… most of my interviews were for finance and banking not consulting… yet things worked out the way they did, and I’m very thankful.

As I return to the bay area tomorrow, I feel like I’m returning home. Maybe, I’m getting all nostalgic right now, but all I could think about is the first time I ever visited Berkeley, and I get all excited once again. I think it’ll be a great time, just to see the boys, and all the place I spent my past 4 years at. I wonder if my relationships with these friends will slowly change as I’m in a geographically different place. With some of my high school friends, who stayed back home for college, they’re friendships continued to grow and grow, until I felt out of the loop. I know this will inevitably happen with my college friends, and I guess it’s just a matter of when. But hey… I need to quit complaining like a girl, and enjoy the time I have there. Carpe Diem! Seize the Day!

Plan for tonight: Do laundry, pay bills, pack.