Struck by the Memories

It was around the year of 1999, a jolly fat asian boy lived out his life. He was originally raised in a place we consider today as “old korea town”, Annandale. He lived with his hard working parents and older siblings in a small but comfortable condo. There was this unexplainable  serenity that lingered in the air of this neighborhood. This boy would constantly get himself in trouble in some sort of dangerous way but would always come out ok. He loved to play outside like most normal 7 year olds did and had a love for adventure. His perspective of everything was so pure and childlike that anything as simple as finding a salamander under a rock would be excitable. There came a change one day. This boy was playing outside like usual when an old lady told him to come to her. Honestly she wasn’t the most pleasant sight. She was quite overweight and was barely wearing anything which revealed her unattractive saggy skin. Oh did I mention she was also smoking. The boy hesitantly walked over to her and  said with a raspy voice that was distinct, ” Do you like to blow bubbles”? The boy smiled and nodded. At that moment an unforgettable friendship was formed. From that they on that kid would constantly visit the old lady and keep her company and she would always give him some sort of treat such as candy or more bubbles. She always loved to sit out on a lawn chair, wearing her usual revealing bathrobe, smoking a cigg  while enjoying the peace an serenity that everyone in that neighborhood shared. Although her lifestyle didn’t seem so healthy there was no doubt that this old lady was filled with gentle kindness and wisdom. She would love to talk and rant about things that this boy never really understood and to this day probably still don’t. As there is a beginning to everything there always must be an end. The boy and the family eventually moved out and all connections and memories were lost from that sacred place.

Today, 10 years later, I went back to that little place. I don’t know what possessed me to do such a thing but I knew I had too. As I walked around I was struck by nostalgia. Everything I saw just drove my emotions and pieces of memory into place like an old puzzle. In excitement I kept reminiscing of all the good times I had. I even went into the apartment complex that I used to live in and went to the door of my former house ,105 was the number. I went around to all the places I used to play around and for some reason everything just started to fit into place. But there was still something missing and I wasn’t sure of what it was at first. Then it came to me..I thought to myself what if…what if she still lived there! But I thought realistically to myself its been 10 years who knows where she could be. But I still went over to the place with degraded hope. As I came to her condo I felt as though someone else was for sure living there. But I peered in through the window and I saw nothing but pitch black. When all of a sudden I saw a muffled reflection of someone through the window. I quickly turned around and to my astonishment she was right there… She was on her lawn chair, wearing  her usual revealing bathrobe, smoking a cigg…. At first I was in complete shock and was speechless but then after a second or two I blurted out ” Do You Remember Me”? she responded confused “you do look familiar”. Over excitedly I pointed at my condo ” I lived there! do you remember me”. With a smile on her face she responded”Ahh I doo remember why have you grown!? From there on the conversation carried and we caught up on things. As it was time for me to go I said my last goodbyes to her, when she asked me ” do you want to blow some bubbles? I still got them” I smiled and thought to myself a little and then kindly turned down her offer. As I was driving out it was there that it hit me..Wow I have grown up and in less than 2 weeks I’m heading of on my own….. Wow….I held back the tears and drove off.

“Reach out for the joy and the sorrow. Put them away in your mind. The memories are times that you borrow, to spend when you get to tomorrow”.

Not.. Taken

So for the past Summer there have been many new adjustments I’ve had to get used too. For example my best friend having a girl friend. Its awesome I am HONESTLY very happy for the both of them and its great seeing him experience relationships and such but of course I can’t lie, a little part of me is jealous in the fact that now he spends a good majority of time with her and I understand thats completely normal. But today I basically found out ALL my close friends are either in a relationship or pursuing someone….And honestly its so frustrating because I feel like a complete loner/loser.So not only am I jealous of my friends spending more time with their “significant” others but also the fact that they have one. I mean I know eventually everyone starts dating and stuff but seriously! this soon. It really makes me want to just go out and instantly find  my “significant” other and hit it off. I mean honestly for the past year I really haven’t been trying to pursue anyone or trying to search. Its almost as I have kinda cut off all my relations with the opposite gender and focused on my own close guy friends. I don’t know what it is but I sort of fear girls no matter if your a good friend or so. Mabe because I’m just not good with girls or mabe I fear intimacy WHO KNOWS?. But NOW I feel like so tempted to just satisfy my loneliness with somebody which I know is completely wrong and disrespectful. And I know what ya’ll are thinking… go to God and he will satisfy… but its easier said then done..were all humans and sometimes it can get lonely.

Anyone out there? My name is David Jo and I am not taken

“Lonely men seek companionship. Lonely women sit at home and wait. They never meet.”

Abraham Lincoln

Personal Statement

So this is the essay that I sent to a lot of the colleges I applied. I think its pretty good simple.short. and sweet ..exactly what a personal statement should be. Just a heads up theres a little bit of verisimilitude ..meaning that all of this is true but theres a little bit of fiction in it.. But yess.. I hope you like ..its not like emotional or a tearjerker but an epiphany I had.

Ten thousand miles, four layovers, and twenty two hours concluded with a toilet. In the summer of 2008, a team of twenty teenagers went to Malawi to participate in an orphan outreach program called K.I.N.D.L.E .   On the first day I was ready to trek through the wilderness of Africa fighting poverty, helping the sick, and rescuing the orphans.  Imagine my despair when I ended up in a five by five room chiseling away at cement for the placement of a single toilet.  Everyone else worked on building bridges, wells, and houses.  As I worked alone in the cramped room with a cloud of mosquitoes buzzing above my head I wondered to myself, “what am I doing here?”  I felt useless.  Despite my reluctance, after six days I was standing in front of a gleaming white bowl.  To my amazement, as our team ate lunch, I saw a line form in front of the bathroom.  It was at that moment I began to realize my selfishness and arrogance.  I had forgotten the importance of something as basic as a toilet.  My desire for grand schemes blinded me from appreciating the importance of the simple things.  Though I did nothing as heroic as saving a village I was able to make a difference by providing a common necessity.   Giving to the community does not entail glamour but small and humble actions that have the potential of making a substantial difference.  As the trip drew to an end, I visited that five by five room one last time.  I shut the door behind me, opened the lid, and pushed down the lever.  The water swirled around in circles and I smiled as it finished with that unmistakable flush.  After ten thousand miles, four layovers, and twenty two hours, I returned home to my mother who asked “where did you spend the most time?”

I answered “the toilet Mom, the toilet

Better Than Nothing

Ha

So I wake up Friday morning with the satisfaction of knowing that I don’t have to go to school because some blizzard is suppose to rampage nova. I go upstairs and I see that my mother is unpacking groceries and such when I spot this bizarre sign that says “Better Than Nothing” , In confusion I ask my mom what it was..

Mom:” Ohh I went to Home Depot to buy a shovel but they all ran out and this was all that was left”

Me: “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAAH ” You’ve got to be kidding me mom why would you buy this”??

Mom: ” Well everyone else was buying these too and I got the last one heehee”

Oh man I thought to myself “How am I not going to humiliate myself if I shovel with this…piece of crap” Seriously!! Better than nothing my a$$. So I decide to shovel 12 in the morning where everyone is peacefully snuggled up in there houses. I grabbed the wooden sign and I started to shovel….To my surprise this piece of junk was amazing!!! I finished in no time and it was kinda..easy and smooth. I started to contemplate the situation and in a way I was humbled. This so called piece of ghetto junk really was just as efficient a a normal shovel. I took that phrase Better Than Nothing for granted because honestly it was Better Than Nothing, heck! even better in my opinion. I guess this really got me thinking of how fast, we as humans judge and take things for granted. So I’m going to really try and apply this lesson to my everyday life. So mabe if you didn’t get the phone you wanted HEY! its better than nothing! If you got onion rings when you clearly asked for fries.. Hey! Its better than nothing! If you got rejected from all the colleges you applied too!…. well then that  just sucks. :[(hopefully not me)

What am I doing?

Ok.. So its like 12:43 a:m and I am at the peaking point of procrastination. Your probably wondering  whats going on in my mind?  well other then the fact that I’m craving turkey and stuffing I can’t help but think about how stupid I was when I was younger.

1. I thought The U.S.A was all 7 continents put together

2. Like most asians, I thought I had a huge belly becuase a watermelon was growing in it by eating seeds..

3. I thought babys were pooped out

4. I swore to my parents that I jumpd off the balcony and survived…I acutally did..in my dreams

5. I honestly believed in Santa until 6th grade where some retard kids crushed my dreams by telling me to look in my closet (screw them!)

6.Wrote my first crush a love letter and got excited when she read it and started to walk towards me!…she ended up passing me to the trash cans and threw it away..

7. Used to fart at my dad…I think I got the living shit knocked out of me.

8. Wore 4 XL shirts cus I was “thug” and it hid my fat

9. Hid behind trash cans during the mile in P.E

10. Ding Dong ditched empty houses

11. Got so effing scared because this older idiot told me that if your goch gets hard that means you have penis cancer.

and I could go on but I need to do my work

pc.

Fame

I was thinking to myself I wonder how people become famous? So like the loser I am looked up How to become famous on google. Found this mini guide ….very intersting mabe I’ll be big one day..sike

http://www.wikihow.com/Become-Famous

1. Understand that there is not just one path to fame. There are practically as many paths to fame as there are famous people. That said, here are four generic techniques that would apply in many situations:
   • Be the best at something and the first to do something. Research and find something that no one has ever done, and do it. Look around and see what someone famous is famous for, and learn to do it better. Be a better runner, or seamstress, singer or dancer or an outstanding mother or father. Select a particular interest and become the best at it.
   • Try to be the worst at something. Tiny Tim became famous for singing in a falsetto voice. He was really bad. That made him different, and famous. William Hung did the same thing more recently on American Idol. He sings so badly that people flock to see him perform.
   • Being radically different, or being overly generous will make people notice, and you in turn will become famous. Notice how some overweight women have recently become models, and are pictured on calendars and starred in hit movies, and became famous almost overnight.
   • Know that just by being in the right place, at the right time, can make you famous, maybe only for an hour, but at that time, everyone will know who you are. Liken yourself to the fireman who pulled the child out of the well. We do not remember his name now, but at the time of the happening, everyone knew him, he was televised, and became instantly, and briefly famous.
2. Build upon one of the above 4 techniques to apply it in your desired field of fame. Here is list of just some of the ways you can become famous:
   • Become famous by excelling in your business interest, and be known as being outstanding in that particular field. Being a standard real estate agent, makes you one of many. However, being the real estate agent who sells the most homes in your local market year after year you will develop some celebrity in that particular field.
   • Attend an audition, get discovered to become a model or an actor. Low odds, but it might just happen!
   • Remember, don’t follow your dreams – chase them.
3. Use a famous platform like http://myspace.com, http://youtube.com to showcase your skills. Whether you’re a singer, actor, or have other talents, it helps to get noticed for what you do and using video on the above websites will help. There have been many people that have used websites such as Myspace and famous to present their skills and earn themselves famous recognition. Just make sure you really want to be famous first.
   • get a life if you don’t have one you can’t be famous
   • audition for films you never know you could become a star and the movie could be everywhere

[edit] Tips

• Try to contact famous people in an attempt to get them interested in your area of expertise. Do not badger them however, or continue to communicate with them if they do not respond.
• Contact your local newspapers, and interest them in doing an interview about you.
• Ask a satisfied customer or client to refer you to their friends and family. Give them your business cards and ask them to pass it around.
• Have a genuine conviction that you deserve to be famous. Envisage benefits to the society from your fame and try to highlight and project them in turn. Do not be deterred by resistance to your efforts. Be brave and assertive.
• Try to identify urgent or dire needs of people or demands of people and try to work on any one or more of them; depending upon your genuine interest. You may start a relevant business, write an article or a letter to editor on this issue in news papers, email to E-news papers, TV channels, write to websites with similar interests.
• When the going gets tough, don’t give up!
• Do what Paris Hilton & Heather Mills did, get famous for connecting yourself to heaps of celebrities, without actually doing anything to get famous in the first place.
• Highlight your best talent or quality. Find ways to show the world what you’ve got!
• Being famous isn’t only nation wide. It is much easier to become “well known” in your community. Your fame might even spread…

Bombing the Moon

NASA’s mission to bomb the Moon NASA will tomorrow launch a spectacular mission to bomb the Moon. Their LCROSS mission will blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying a missile that will blast a hole in the lunar surface at twice the speed of a bullet. The missile, a Centaur rocket, will be steered by a shepherding spacecraft that will guide it towards its target – a crater close to the Moon’s south pole. Scientists expect the blast to be so powerful that a huge plume of debris will be ejected. (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nasas-mission-to-bomb-the-moon-2009-06)

Even though its impossible, what if the moon just simply split in half? Yeah I feel this might be stupid but It would be an amazing discovery if there was water!

Stupid Mouth

I have come to the conclusion that there are two types of people in this world…and no I am not qouting Britney Spears. There are those who   speak there mind freely but with boundaries and there are those who are conserved about their ideas and thoughts. Then theres people like me.. Actually lets just say all men and apparently women. For all the victims(ladies) to this inevitable”disorder” its called having a stupid mouth. Whether it be an accidental slip up or  just trying to be funny when your not, things end up awkward or completely horrible . For example this week In psych class I’m going to recap a conversation between a young lady and Ms.Pastor my pych and ap gov teacher. Oh yeah and I mean no offense to this girl I mean everyone can have their moments so yeah..

Ms.Pastor-”So class last night was open house and I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of your parents.”

Girl-”Ohh! Ms.Pastor did you meet my parents.

Ms.Pastor-”Why yes I did they seemed a bit serious and tense.”

Girl-”No not really they are pretty chill with me”

Ms.Pastor-”Oh I see”

Girl-”Oh and my mom said you dress like a man.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The line was crossed……

As John Mayer would say “Oh what a social casualty” and forsure this girl might have trouble speaking up again. Unfortunatley for her the whole class heard her and exchanged each other the exact same omg, astonished look. Luckily Ms.Pastor “wasn’t” offended and even said it was funny. But I can say being a witness to this social casualty made me really think about watching what comes out my mouth.

Alas! HC is coming soon and for some reason I’m nervous. I usually don’t care about these kind of things but I guess its my last year of highschool and I don’t want to miss out even if its something miniscule like HC. hmm oh well I’m excited about REVIVAL THIS WEEK YES!

So it Begins!!

Think about it..after this year

1. No more crazy mornings where you wake up at 6 trying to get yourself together.
2. No more running through a crowded hall way because your late to a class
3. No more of having 4 classes in a day
4. No more dealing with pregnant teachers who are evidently psychotic and moody (hopefully)
5. No more going into bathrooms with penis’s drawn everywhere (hopefully)
6. No more falling asleep because classes are ridiculously boring and long(hopefully)
7. No more staying awake in a class because the AC is ridiculously cold(hopefully)
8. No more afterschool rehearsals (hopefully)
9. No more getting called on when you don’t know the answer(hopefully)
10. No more fake food ( hopefully)
11. No more SR&R crap that we know
12. No more SOLSSSSSSSSSSS
13. No more SATS!!!
14. No more Firedrills in the middle of Winter where you freeze your butt off
15. No more going to fcps.edu to see if school is canceled
16. No more getting mad when all other counties get school off but we don’t
17. No more waiting long lines at lunch
18. No more meeting up with you friends at the library to hang out
19. No more

No more Higschool

Sweet Victory is on the way…2010

I wonder how hard it must be to find a spouse when your a rich chickmagnet rockstar. I’ll make sure to find mine before the fame and fortune :p

A Humbling Summer

I have to say that this summer has been one of the most productive summers in my life. But when I say productive sadly I don’t mean studying. From the start of this summer I have been serving for the kids ministry through retreats, VBS and now even Sunday school. I mean what can I say I love kids! The innocence and passion I see in them just makes me feel joyful and at the same time envious. Also these kids are friggin hilarious at times. But of course there is the short attention span and the wildness that really tested my patience! I mean honestly there have been moments where I wanted to just give up. I thought in my mind I would be the coolest most chill teacher ever.  I thought I could go with the flow and there didn’t have to be preparation . But then My man God.. Man he came and slapped me in the face( and I thank you God). I was so humbled. So not did I only learn more about kids but I learned a lot about myself.. So now I’ve been actually teaching Sunday school and again and again my patience is tested. ..For any of those who had to deal with me in my childhood ..Thank you! Its you guys who inspired me to take this job. Mabe I don’t remember you or remember any of  the classes we had but I do remember the way I felt..and I remember I felt loved. So I know many years later these kids probably won’t remember me or anything I teach them but I am making it my goal to love and care for them despite how irratating and a pain in the butt they can be.

Ok so the rising freshmen in college have officially left the youth group! So now its time for me to step up and be. For the past 3 weeks I have been leading worship for 1st service..Ok so I’ve been on the praise team for 2 years now and I feel like I’ve been humbled enough and that I’ve built a strong foundation of humility.. but omg for the past three weeks. Once again My man God he comes and slaps me in the face..HARD. (and I thank you God for it) Man I realized I need to practice more cus leading is not easy .

So yeahh I haven’t been productive academically but man I’ve really learned a lot about myself and how God is working in my life ..

Humility is a paradox. The moment you think you’ve finally found it, you’ve lost it. There has yet to be written a book intitled, “Humility and How I Achieved It.” And yet, God expects (and rewards) an attitude of servant-like humility in His followers.