mile high baby

off to denver tomorrow morning...so much to say about mexico pero no tengo tiempo...lo siento...
i miss erin AGAIN already...can't wait to be home for gooooooooood..
(probably no posting for the week)

amazing

what an amazing day of services yesterday...i have much to say but no time...
when i get back to the states ill try to write more...till then bye

an amazing start

the conference began yesterday and it was great
the teens here really go after God and are intense worshippers...
theres over a thousand teens here...i gave a seminar on worship and it went well
i have lots to say but no time to say it...these days are long with almost no free time...im leaving now to begin another day but ill have plenty to say when i get back to the states
adios

much better

well the evening practice went much better and after putting another significant amount of tacos en mi estomago i am nearly ready for bed...tomorrow the conference begins and i will be in services basically from nine in the morning till late late at night playing guitar and singing and teaching a seminar on worship so i covet your prayers...
buenas noches...

necesitamos practicar!!!!

this morning we had our first practice and all i have to say is:
WE NEED MORE PRACTICE...
the musicians are talented but young so they all over play at this point...but it`ll get better i believe

fruit and cheese and chili...oh MY!!!!

hola hola hola...
things are good in mexico...ive been eating some amazing mexican food and just had pizza from dominoes...tasted the same just less sauce...i had this mexican snakc today called gaspachos...its chopped up fruit served in a cup...sounds good, right? well, it also has grated cheese on it and green chili...so now who wants some? but im all about trying all kinds of food so i ate it...wow, was it weird...it was an explosion of all kinds of flavor in my mouth but my body wasnt comprehending what was going on...it was weird to have a hot taste in your mouth after eating fruit...

anyways, the church service this morning was great...an american spoke with a translator so i understood but im actually understanding a lot of spanish too, which is nice...their worship team is good especially the bass player...wow, hes no joke...tomorrow we have a day long practice for the conference...i look forward to finally moving into the ministry aspect of the trip but i have enjoyed my time so far...jon evans` family had been great to hang with...i just played RISK (which i think is sorta a dumb game) and i was the first one out...just jon and his sister katie left playing as i type...

well, hope youre all doing well and i miss my nephew and neice and of course, my girl....

hasta luego

shopping like a gringo

well, today i did ALL my shopping...getting gifts for about 40 people is no small effort...i also found out that i look like a mexican when i have my sunglasses on but when i speak my english i hear little kids around me whispering `gringo`...they learn their lessons when i beat them like a piñata...buenas noches amigos

tacos in my belly

well, im here in mexico...
had a pretty uneventful travelling day, came to the house where im staying, had some GREAT tacos and went to bed and slept like a champ, yes, i put on boxing gloves and a heavy metal belt and went right to sleep...get it? no?
anyways, today is an easy day...gonna get all my shopping for people done...
the weather is way nice here...a lot cooler than it is in syracuse, that`s for sure...
well, thats all for now....
i miss you erin!!!!!!

adios amigos

i'm off to mexico bright and early tomorrow
i hope to be able to blog from there so check in with me, eh?
i've been practicing only two spanish phrases:
donde esta la comida? and donde esta el bano?
i think i'm ready to go... ;)

this, that and the other...

today i actually drove by a car that smelled like crap...anyways, had to get that out there
a bunch has happened since my last post - the yanks were actually in first place for one day (they'll be there again when it matters), i saw the strangest shaped man of my life and i went to the funeral of a friend...

to the oddly shaped man first...i went to binghamton sunday night for a 'gig' - i use that term loosely of course - valletta, cheeves and i joined forces with kristi c and rachel g and we were to provide dinner music for a large gathering and then a worship set at the end...come to find out they really did want dinner music in the volume sense so jon was stuck playing with brushes the whole time and we were trying to play these fast rocking tunes at low levels - that's one of the hardest things to do musically - most amateur bands will lose tempo when they lose volume and vice versa - i think we did ok thanks to jon...but anyways, there's something about that town - to be honest, i've always thought of it as the armpit of ny...but there was a guy there whose body shape was so unique - from like just below his neck to just above his legs his body was a steady slope (like a hill) - i mean, not like a big gut - like a perfect line that was at a 45 degree angle - i asked valletta what the heck was going on with that and his answer was perfect - 'i dunno, but that's something you would only see in binghamton'....how true - as far as the 'gig' - it went ok...i don't miss travelling with a band that much primarily cause i'm lazy and the thought of lugging heavy stuff everywhere is so defeating...

monday i played some tennis with my newly strung racket and am so excited about how well i am able to strike the ball now - then we played a softball game that night against what has to be the worst team i've played against - after 3 innings we were up 25-2...yuck, you start to feel bad...i also went to richard stoddard's funeral on monday afternoon - he was an old man that i use to visit on a weekly basis at the retirement home - probably the sweetest man i'll ever meet and such a great story teller - toward the end he was always so tired and couldnt get up to greet me...i remember one day when he was really struggling he looked me in the eye with tears in his and said 'i'm so tired of this, i just wanna go home'...that sticks with me, and he is home, and i do miss him but i'm ecstatic for him...i dont think i'm worried of getting old, i'm not even afraid of dying -it's the getting to the point where you dont even wanna live anymore that scares me...

yesterday i went with erin to the becher's for dinner - mike got a youth pastor jon in ontario, NY and i'm so happy for him and carrie - they've been very obedient to God and sacrificed much - it's awesome to see God reward their obedience - it was refreshing to talk to someone who's just beginning in ministry - it reminds me of what it's all about - i'll be praying for you mike and i hope you know i believe in you...

after that i had a planning meeting for my 10 year high school reunion next summer - TEN FREAKING YEARS!!!!!!!!!!! how old am i? HOW OLD AM I?!?!?!?!?! yuck

like i said, the yanks were in first for one game but now they're back to second - this is gonna be one heck of a finish - go YANKS!!!!!!!!!!!

so this friday i leave for mexico - i'm getting everything ready so i can relax a bit tomorrow and spend some time with erin - i'll be gone for a week to mexico and then back for 2 days before i leave for denver again for a week and i am going to miss that girl something terrible :(...i appreciate all your prayers as i travel and i'll have internet access in mexico so i hope to blog en espanol a little bit while i'm there...so check in for updates on my trip

carlos dimas sent me this great quote that i leave you with: to be a missionary means to learn more than we teach; observe more than we assert; listen more than we speak; let go more than we control; empathize more than we judge; fail more than we succeed; risk more than we hold back; encourage more than we demand and hope more than we doubt...

win one for the gipper-san

yesterday was a perfect example of how competitive i am...this has always been one area in which i've struggled...now, there's NOTHING wrong with the desire to win and playing hard in order to do so but what i'm talking about is the attitude that is more like a nasty combination of pride and aggression...i have gotten a lot better partly because of the aging process and mostly because of God's grace but it still gets the better of me from time to time...

we had a softball game yesterday morning and it was HOT out and more significantly - HUMID...now i haaate the heat but i haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate the humidity (i just found out there's no AC in mexico where i'll be - i may die or tie myself to a ceiling and beg to be beaten like a pinata) - so being in that weather compounds any frustrations i may already be having...we ended up winning the game - by a LOT - BUT it was very close for the first 5 innings and this team had already beat us once this year...there were a lot of little things that were frustrating about the game but i could sense myself getting worked up - even with my own team!!! (yuck) josh and i began to spat a little bit - the funny thing with josh is that we can exchange some verbal spars on the field but as soon as we walk off we slap hands and all is cool - i think that's for 3 reasons - one, we're guys; two we're brothers; and three we both understand that ultimately our frustations are not with each other but with losing - he is even more competitive than me...and it's a church league so we really try to act like it - the game before us almost ended in a fight! - see what pride does??? i hate it - it's such a tough adversary that requires constant attention...

so by the end of the game i'm ok (it MIGHT have helped that we won) and i get into the nice AC car and unwind...but then i get home and the yanks and sox are on and it starts all over again :)...poor erin - having to listen to me rant and rave during the game about stuff she could care less about and barely understand - she's a trooper...and i'll keep her :)

i'm trying to get better at this, i really am but i always want to win - i mean if it's tennis, softball, puttputt, apples to apples or chutes and ladders - i don't wanna lose...i mean, in the end how can someone NOT want to win? i know people say 'it's not whether you win or lose it's how you play the game' - BUT that's rubbish...everyone wants to win...just not as much as me :)

reeeeeeeeeeeead this

just for future reference and past clarification:
you may have noticed in my last post that i used the word HAAAAAAATE...
i was lamenting to someone recently about the word love and how lame it is - i mean, i say i love the orangemen, i love my nephew jared (pictured above), i love watching the national spelling bee and i also say i love God...hardly the same feelings toward those four things...
but instead of creating new words i decided that i would express the intensity of the feeling (hate included) by the amount of vowels i use...observe:

i love chinese food but i looove sushi
i loove playing tennis but i loooooooove being king
i looove being alive but i loooooooooove the Yankees
i loooove being cool but i looooooooooooooove being cooler than you

ok, you get it...so now you know...and the limit on the # of vowels??? well, my friend wanted 2 zillion but i think that's overkill - let's say 20 '0's...

turned outward

last night i got really annoyed - several things happened to contribute to my moodiness and even a spectacular Yankee victory over the hated red sox could help out...i went to bed in a bit of a crappy mood...aaaand then i woke up in the same one....

now let me set the record straight: i HAAAAATE it when people always are talking about their bad days and that is not the purpose of this post - will you read very little venting by me here for two reasons...1) everyone else has enough issues to deal with AND 2) in a much more real sense: you are an adult - no one or nothing can MAKE you have a bad day - YOU HAVE A CHOICE ABOUT YOUR ATTITUDE!!!! (ok i got that off my chest)

anyways, i did wake up in a annoyed mood (by now when i say 'wake up in' you can assume i mean 'i was choosing to not let these things go') so i went off to the office...wait, back up - here's what nearly every weekday morning of my life looks like:

• wake up between 7:00-7:15
• check my phone (i know that seems odd but 50% of the time i DO already have a message)
• go downstairs and grab the sports section of the paper (and the CNY if i'm feeling ambitious)
• go to the bathroom and take care of my morning business while i read (i'm very regular)
• take a shower and get dressed
• drive to the office
• pray and do devos
• start work

ok, so back to my story...i get into work and go to pray...but i'm still CHOOSING to be upset and it's hard for me to focus...finally, i decide to just give all the situations to God - i remind Him (actually myself) that i trust in Him and that He can handle everything i can't (which happens to be everything)...soon enough i'm feeling at peace and sorta embarassed about the things that bother me or concern me from day to day...as i prayed i was reminded of the things i've seen on missions trips (i leave for mexico in a week)...i thought of the kids in belize who were ecstatic to get one new tshirt (even if didnt fit them) and how they wore it everyday we were there...i remembered the faces of the kids in ecuador who responded to the altar call because they truly understood what it meant to NEED something...i thought of the little girl in the DR with the most beautiful eyes any of us had ever seen; she also was born with AIDS and is probably not alive as i type this...i thought of the pastors in Cuba who give up EVERYTHING and live on NOTHING so that they can accomplish SOMETHING for God - i remember the one room shacks they live in and how gladly they gave us their only good food and drink...then i thought of the teenagers we met in Belfast last summer who live in daily fear of when and where the next bombing will take place...all of a sudden i couldn't think of much to complain about...

this isn't about you -i'm not trying to guilt you into feeling bad for people with less or make your life seem like it's a breeze just because you have 'things' - we all know that doesn't satisfy - i just can't believe how selfish I can be when there's so much need - i guess God reminded me that when we start looking at ourselves and our own situations too much we really need to be turned outward - feeling left out? go reach out to the unlikable...feeling undervalued? go serve someone...feeling unloved? go love someone!

i'm so thankful that God is active in my life and plays a constant (dare i say subtle?) role in keeping me from being a total failure

of course, then i went to my office and my computer didn't work and the WHOLE process started over again....but i'm learning...i hope

you should all know that i am quite fond of this girl:

erin elizabeth

a slanty view on things

so it didn't take that long for my blog to stir the masses...

when i chose the name slantyeyedwonderboy i guess i thought that if one part of that name would be debated it would be the wonder boy part....i was wrong...

i've had two very interesting takes on the phrase "slantyeyed"...one of my friends asked me if i thought it might be offensive to the sensitive folk...the thing is that i actually am slantyeyed (or so i thought...more on that later) so i guess i feel i can get away with it...you know how certain races use certain words with each other and it's totally cool but then a white guy walks up to a group of not so white guys and tries to use the same word and well...he ends up slantyeyed too...from the swelling...so i guess i think it's ok for me to say slantyeyed - i have friends that call me chink (by the way, i am NOT chinese), ricepaddy daddy (by the way, i just made that one up) and kimchee breath (by the way, ah nevermind...)

i remember sitting in kabuki's in skaneateles with my pals emma and derik and another korean girl (who power walks in such a way it should be illegal) and emma decides to ask if we (me and the other chink) got made fun of when we were young...now, i don't have a lot of bad memories about it but it did happen...emma then procedes to do this face where she put her thumbs in her mouth and her index fingers under her eyes, squeezed them together and stuck her tongue out and wagged it like a dog's tail while making some crazy noise (you KNOW you're gonna try that!!!)...we just about fell out of our chairs laughing cause it was nothing like the faces people make to mock asians...but she thought it was a perfect rendition...that emma is a priceless pal

anyways, i say all that to say that i guess i'm just not uptight about this sort of thing...and the more i thought about it the more i realized - i don't even HAVE any friends that are overly sensitive...and maybe that's not so coincidental....

so then i have aNOTHER friend who questions the slantyness of my eye! ok, i know i'm not 100% asian but i am 50% asian and that makes my eyes SLANTY! most ignorant americans couldn't tell a 50% korean from a 100% chinese or a 25% taiwanese from a 75% japanese...they see the slight slant and they automatically break into some asinine sing song about "chinese japanese" complete with the hand movements that have eluded emma...a lot of people actually think i'm hawaiian, someone once came up to me at a worship event and asked if i was spanish AND one guy once asked me what tribe i was from (native american)...my friend said that my eyes were 2% slanty....2%!?!?!?!....that would make jackie chan's eyes 379,628% slanty...just because you can't blindfold me with a rubberband doesn't mean that i'm not slantyeyed!!!

so i stand by my name slantyeyed despite the initial backlash...now whatever you do, do NOT question my wonderboy status!!!

mindless moments

here it is...the long awaited, greatly anticipated, hotly debated and highly demanded blog from the slantyeyedwonderboy...um, yeah...

in reality, i have no clue why i'm doing this blog - i've been running around all day from meeting to meeting and i wanted to do something mind numbing and coma inducing (for the reader, i guess) for an hour or so...and here i am

this may be the last post i ever make or i may post on this thing for the rest of my life - i always liked the idea of journaling - but thoughts in theory have always held much more water for me than practical happenings...so i think i've purchased 6-8 journals in my life just cause they look cool and i think i have thoughts in my brain worth writing down but i've have yet to fill one of them...but blogging (a word??) is easier or should i say lazier...i can type all day long but i get hand cramps when i write more than my street address...anyone else? i think i'll have arthritis someday and that scares me as a guitar player...

so i think i'll use this blog just to write whatever the heck is in my head whenever the heck i feel like it - just random thoughts that have nothing to do with nothing and i'll try not to edit it although i'm am a habitual editor -i hate spelling words wrong and am always looking for ways to say something better...so feel free to drop in from time to time or to never come back again - it won't be your comments (or lack thereof) that keep me going...it'll be the moments like this...