to those of you who hire people.

when someone isn't getting the job, don't tell them how great of an interviewer they were, how impressed you are and how you wish you could hire them. just tell them they didn't get the job. end of story. doing it the long way is like getting your eyebrows waxed nice and slow. nobody wants their eyebrows waxed slow. how painful would that be? seriously! i know you were trying be nice, but i wasn't the best and that's all i hear from you. everything else enters my ears from charlie brown's mama's mouth.

here's to a mid-day martini in celebration of me not getting my first choice traineeship. settling for second isn't always that bad, right?

niel is a quarter century!

i know lesley might not believe me, but i strongly dislike receiving attention on my own birthday. and it's not that i'm secretly excited inside and can't wait for everyone to remember that it's the day i entered the world and exited my mother's uterus.

what really happens for me: my palms are sweaty all day. i turn my phone off, or at least push ignore/silence on every call and i'll want to be alone for a good portion of the day. i'll probably exclaim "happy birthday self!" at 12:01 and when i leave my house i'll hope that nobody knows it's "my day" because then it means i'll get some "happy birthday" comment from someone who barely knows me and certainly doesn't understand me, because if they did, they'd know not to say it in front of others. i mean, seriously, what does that even mean, "happy birthday"?

other peoples' birthdays? well, that's a different story. i guess it's all about how we receive and give love/joy/fill in the blank. i love to celebrate the people i care about. call it my spiritual gift or love language or some cheesy christian phrase. whatever the case, i give love by celebrating others with attention on their birthday and do not receive love in the same way (take note, lovers).

...that was quite the introduction for someone that i will be celebrating all weekend long. his name is daniel michael quon, aka niel. the party actually started last night as julie y., dillon and i planned to surprise niel with about 15 others at the elbo room. surprise = success. here's the story:

the birthday boy arrives, a quarter century old.


and he just realized trent came up from santa barbara:


dillon is excited because it was a success:


julie l. and lis are ready to celebrate:


dang, girl! where'd you get those baby blues?


nathan and dan have a moment.


ingrid, carrie, nathan, wimberly, adam:


i heart you, pryor!


julie, dillon and dan..


julie, me, pryor, carrie!


dan got this girl's number... awkward?


trent, pryor, julie, dillon, dan:


if you would like to partake in the weekend celebration, after church on sunday we will be playing kickball in the park and feasting on papalote. call me.

do you know how to hoola-hoop?

wimberly does. she's actually a professional. instead of community group we picnicked in the park. pizza. rice crackers. hummus. orangina. hoola-hoop lessons. and a pretty incredible game of football. thanks for not dropping me, adam.

here is the master hoola-hooper, wimberly:


she taught dillon how...


and nate already knew how.


and adam was hungry.


dan rocks. aka niel.


niel and rachael get their hoop on.


julie and nate. cute.


excited about bi-rite ice cream.


julie and me!

easterinyosemite2008@gmail.com

like i said, i am willing to say that this past weekend was the best easter in all of my twentythree years. here are the words to explain...

0. packing up james' car.
1. putting things on the roof.
2. lis driving the whole way. damn, girl!
3. rules 1, 2, and 3: no whining, no complaining, and everyone helps clean.
4. driving up between dillon and nate. so squished.
5. dillon telling me i'm giving more room to nate.
6. me explaining why. no, dillon, it's not because i like you more.
7. the "that's what she said" jokes.
8. those got old real fast.
9. but i couldn't help myself.
10. nate saying "hottie alert" all the time.
11. stopping for coldstone. mmmmmm.
12. setting up camp for everyone.
13. chili and breadbowls. thanks to tammy from urban bread.
14. keith and leslie bribing the caltrans man to let them through.
15. keith and leslie finally getting there.
16. sharing the tent with the boys. who snore and fart.
17. not that girls don't do those things.
18. it's just that lis, leslie and i didn't do those things that night.
19. giggling in the tent like small children.
20. waking up and wondering why the bears didn't visit us.
21. leslie telling the story about the bear who ate the kid's head who used fruity shampoo.
22. riiiiiiiiight.
23. eating breakfast and packing up lunch. mmmm, what a good sandwich! and those cuties!
24. departing for mirror lake and hidden falls.
25. finding the hidden falls and feeling (not thinking) how bad i wanted to be at the top.
26. trusting nate to get to the top.
27. getting to the top and starting to think "how will i be getting down?"
28. watching dillon, keith and nate throw the huge log into the waterfall.
29. james helping me get down.
30. this really is meikle country!
31. james and dan are eagle scouts.
32. incredible.
33. lis and i urinating too close to the water.
34. we didn't know.
35. meikle country says: don't pee within 100 yards of the water.
36. lis and i collecting s'more sticks on the way back.
37. lis and i booking it in front of everyone.
38. pumping our arms, in case we didn't get enough exercise for the day.
39. getting back and seeing trent's car.
40. but no trent.
41. or dawn, dan or connor.
42. connor flew in from colorado. well, puerto rico, really.
43. rachel arrives!
44. micah moore and paul heckman and more of the moore family arrive.
45. have you ever met tinny moore? (corinne)
46. she's the most kick ass eleven year old i've ever met.
47. i cooked the hot dogs and hamburgers.
48. while enjoying hornsby's apple cider.
49. my favorite.
50. a big game of mafia began.
51. paul heckman and i were the murderers.
52. he was much better at the game than i was.
53. we managed to kill a lot of people!
54. then... somehow i began talking about my appreciation for the apostle's creed.
55. and dillon started making fun of me for enjoying the apostle's creed.
56. and then keith's flask kept appearing.
57. hopefully no one has herpes because everyone was drinking out of that flask.
58. especially keith.
59. i do not prefer whiskey.
60. yuck.
61. and finally the last car came: micah, cg, jihae, julie and erin!
62. all 17 of us safe and sound.
63. and cold. well, it wasn't too bad. maybe high twenties?
64. the next morning i made chocolate chip and banana pancakes.
65. and bacon. mmmmmmm. pancakes made with bacon grease.
66. it's a heart attack waiting to happen.
67. then we set off for a very intense hike. vernal falls.
68. we made it half way there to be told that the trail closed five minutes earlier.
69. that made for seventeen unhappy people.
70. so back down we went. alas! micah m. has a plan!
71. a real intense hike up boulders. and no trail.
72. but the secret trail was breathtaking.
73. once we got there.
74. i've never experienced anything like that.
75. i felt blessed.
76. for my legs.
77. and my hands.
78. and my eyes.
79. and that God created Yosemite.
80. then we played wiffle ball.
81. but not just any wiffle ball.
82. a very intense and competitive game of wiffle ball.
83. at one point, toyota tundra man came out and talked to us.
84. "how about this: it's three strikes if you hit the truck!"
85. "or you can end your game now!"
86. we hit the bumper, once.
87. isn't that what bumpers are for?
88. to be bumped.
89. then nate and i lost to james/leslie and lis at spades.
90. it was partially my fault.
91. i played the queen of spades before the ace of spades.
92. but what can i say, i'm a beginner.
93. (if you want to play hearts, i'll show you how it's done.)
94. but nate went blind nil on the last hand.
95. and we lost. but we were going to lose anyway.
96. i like that game, though.
97. mmm... and saturday's dinner was incredible.
98. carne asada tacos with dang good guacamole.
99. and brett klop appeared!
100. fun to catch up.
101. and then we had a talent show.
102. but only two people came prepared.
103. dawn and trent played the best song.
104. it was about our favorite san francisco game, murder in the dark.
105. and connor told a joke. for fifteen minutes.
106. that, in itself, was funny.
107. and later erin found herself entertaining us with the blues.
108. and lis and i brought out the npr hand crank radio.
109. oh, what a night.
110. sunday's easter service was perfect.
111. thanks dan and crew for leading.
112. and then we started to pack up.
113. but the boys decided to shake/break the tent.
114. awesome.
115. and then we went for a little walk. before we left.
116. back to mirror lake.
117. and we got back and james said something hilarious.
118. "and then i looked up and saw them in my rear view mirror sucking face"
119. he was referring to two of our friends.
120. who will remain nameless.
121. and then we had amazing dance parties in the back seat on the way home.
120. and in-and-out was closed.
121. we forgot it was easter. blast!
122. and the night ended by unpacking and sharing pictures.

i heart yosi.

and here are the photos to explain...

hey half dome!

sad because our other friends weren't there yet.

dawn and trent. adorable.

dillon, dan and connor. great shot.

group shot: connor, cg, micah, dan, jihae, nate, erin, me, dillon, trent, dawn, leslie, keith, james, lis, julie.

not sure what's happening between trent and dan?

mirror lake. which way is right side up?

hot dawn!

julie, me, erin and dawn.

another group shot. everyone this time! notice i'm next to tinny.

peace.

trent, dawn and connor made it to the top!

that's hot. (julie, dillon, erin. and lis.)

paul and gang workin' it out up the mountain.

erin, me, lis.

nate and i made it to the top of hidden falls.

the last group shot.

home&clean.

i'm back and ready for action. well, not tonight. how about tomorrow?

i just showered. i hadn't done that since wednesday night. that's right. five days and going strong. i can still smell yosemite in my hair.

here's the preview: i think it was the best easter weekend i've ever experienced in my twentythree years.

by the way, i love being twentythree. love love love it.

yosemite party begins tomorrow!

it's going to be coooooooooooold:


see those numbers in the teens? i'm not sure that i've ever experienced those numbers as temperatures.

teen poetry!

last night pryor and i went to the youth speaks teen poetry slam semi-finals and it was uh-may-zing. seriously. i cried, i laughed, i cheered, i got the chills. i was completely moved and blown away that words so beautiful could come out of people so young (15-17). i certainly wasn't thinking these things at their age and i'm not sure that any of my friends were either.

below is a video that you should only watch if you are prepared for a real story that is hard to hear. it probably would be rated R due to some of the language. this guy made it to the finals, which are next weekend...



they all weren't like this... there was everything from global warming to gavin newsom (mayor of sf). i love love loved it.

jack.

jack nicholson and i were in the same [rather large] room last sunday. we didn't exchange any words, though we both left bummed (i'm sure of it). you see, that's him right there to the right of the coach of the sacramento kings; he's at two o'clock, right above the kid with the yellow hat... see him? recognize that balding head and those black glasses? yep. there he is. anyway, watching the lakers lose by one point and sitting in suspense as kobe had 4.3 seconds to shoot and miss was painful. i'm sure the faithful jack left bummed. i guess it's okay, though, cause they're still going to be in the playoffs.



side note: i'm totally owning that i'm a bandwagon fan this season.

the future commercial star, i'm sure.

i have really cute nephews. those of you who know me know that i wouldn't just say that. i don't beat around the bush- i (all to often) share my opinions. anyway, here's my proof: samuel, coming in at 8 months. i have strongly encouraged my brother and sister-in-law to put this kid in commercials/ movies. (photo taken by my sister-in-law, autumn)

watch out for scooter-ers, not just bikers!

brett posted this link on his blog. do the test and tell me how aware you are?

another fun fact.

i have a crush on my scooter-parts-guy. he just called to tell me my part will be in next week [he forgot to ask me if i wanted to grab dinner]. when i worked at that big retail store that starts with an N, i trained everyone to be absolutely professional and never use peoples' phone numbers to ask them out-- we were only aloud to call about work related things. break the rules, alex-the-parts-guy, break 'em!

off to see the lakers and be with family.

fun fact of the day.

anna jordan and i were roommates for four months before she got married. yes, that is fun. but it is not the fun fact. the fun fact is that anna and i shared a bed. that's right. i slept in her bed with her, the one she currently shares with her husband. now that's a fun fact.

one hell of a week.

up down up down up down. i am on a roller coaster. but the problem is-- it has nothing to do with me. i'm just along for the ride and have no control in the situation. ahhh, student life.

on wednesday nights i try to get to bed by 10:30 max but last night ended up being 1:30. not good when you have to wake up at 5:45. first: she tells me she's scared (which is totally legitimate regarding the circumstances) so we had a sleepover. second: the phone rang. twice. third: fire trucks at the house next door. so loud! turn down the volume on that thing, please. fourth: your voice carries when you're the only guy in the house. what's my point? i'm tired.

i am so looking forward to the lakers game this sunday. i've never been to a professional basketball game.

seven social sins.

i've been studying like crazy this week and while at a coffee shop, my table said this:

seven social sins:
politics without principles
wealth without work
pleasure without conscience
knowledge without character
commerce without morality
science without humanity
worship without sacrifice

-gandhi, "young india"-1925

love it.

things that go bump in the night.

this was certainly a bumpy week. as jane higa once said in a chapel at westmont, "with inevitable pain comes inevitable growth." that has certainly applied to me this week (and every day/month/year!). i will be continually asking myself "what's my agenda here?" and "what message am i trying to convey?" it is really hard to be misunderstood and to not feel known. really hard.

however! there were many highlights of the weekend:
dosa with some emerging friends that i'm thrilled about.
not for sale stuff with kique.
herbivore with dan q.
decaf tea in church from julie y.
beach blanket babylon and dinner with the students.
bavarian mint gelato with lis, jihae, julie and dillon.
sunday sun in north beach.
the cutest baby outfits for baby farris and baby anderson.
the new plum tree planted in front of the house.

i am grateful for the above. and for my mom, who shared so much wisdom with me recently. in her simple reactions and comfort for me, i have never felt like i've known and understood her so much.