In high school, I was a big band geek.  No, I was a HUGE band geek.  It was my life.  Marching Band, Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, Symphonic Orchestra - I did it all.  Last April, my high school band director, Mr. Musser,  announced his retirement.  His retirement reception and party was last weekend.  Although I did not attend, I wanted to honor him by writing him a letter to thank him for his impact in my life.  I can think of only two former teachers I would have done this for, and he is one of them.  Here is the what I wrote:

Last Saturday Jocelin and I had date night.  First, we went to one of her favorite restaurants, Pluckers, and after that we went to one of my favorite places, Barnes & Noble.  Our final destination for the evening was Playland Skate Center.  The purpose was to do something different, something fun, and burn some calories.  We also had a coupon from our Entertainment Book - but you knew that already.

Playland Skate Center is in a ghetto looking warehouse off of Burnet and 183.  When we pulled into the parking lot, Jocelin was concerned because there were only 6 cars in the parking lot.  It was 8:30pm on a Saturday night, so we thought it should have been more crowded.  We figured, what the heck, more floor space for us!  But when we got inside, there were already 50-60 kids inside. 

If you didn't know that the 2006 FIFA World Cup Tournament started this week, you must be reading this blog from another planet.  Either that or you live in the USA, because the rest of the world is putting everything on hold for the next month so they can be a part of this event.  If you don't know what the World Cup is, it's the biggest sporting event in the world (yes, that means it's a soccer tournament), and it happens only once every four years.  

I'm not a soccer fan, but since it's the World Cup, I thought I'd try to become one.  I mean, it's a HUGE deal to the rest of the world.  I want to know what all the ruckus is about.  The commercials tell us that a country in civil war stopped fighting because their country (Ivory Coast) qualified for it's first ever World Cup.  In 1994, a Columbian player got killed after his team lost a World Cup game because he accidentally scored on his own team.  The World Cup is a big deal.

I've struggled with this decision over the last few years.  I've heard the amazing stories.  I've talked to my friends about it.  I've seen it.  I've touched it.  I've even researched the claims to see if they were true.  I've seen many of my friends converted.  Many of those friends are in the ministry today (Gaylord, Gideon, Weylin, Truman, Dennis).  I have actively pursued the truth.  Before today, it was all head knowledge.  But today, I am proud to say, it is heart knowledge.  

So now it's my turn.  I've made up my mind.  I'm switching to a Mac.  Consider this blog my "baptism" into the Mac World.  It is my way of publicly proclaiming to the world that, from this day forward, I am putting my faith and trust in Macs.  There is no turning back.  I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the Mac.

I was talking to my dad about my Judas Blog the day after it posted, and he had some interesting thoughts I wanted to share.  First of all, some background: 3 years ago my parents moved from Texas to Hong Kong so my dad could join the pastoral staff at Yan Fook Church (Evangelical Free Church of China).  I believe he has the spiritual gifts of knowledge and wisdom, so I always like listening to his ideas.  We started talking about my Judas Blog and I asked him for his thoughts.  Here's his theory:

Here's something I've known about myself for a while now but have never admitted in public:  I'm afraid of heights.  It seems extremely unmanly to admit, but unfortunately, it's the truth.  I'm certain I was less fearful of heights as a child, but as I've grown older this fear has only become more and more apparent.

This past Sunday we went to Main Event Austin, a family entertainment center with bowling, billiards, rock climbing, laser tag, arcades, and glow-in-the-dark mini golf.  We were there to celebrate Judy Yee's birthday.  (BTW, Judy is by far the most faithful visitor to our website, so I feel the need to give her props right now:  YAY, JUDY! YOU ROCK!) 

Every once in a while I go through a materialistic phase where I want a bunch of stuff.  It's a cycle that I go through quarterly, I think.  I don't know what triggers it or how it happens, but I don't like being in it.  Lately I've been in that phase and I've found myself desiring a bunch of doodads that I really don't need: a MacBook, a Timex Watch, a Snowboard Helmet (which I bought - on sale, of course), a Lexus, a D-Link Pocket Router, and a Kensington AC/DC Power Adapter for my laptop. 

A couple of weeks ago at The Austin Stone, Matt Carter preached on John 13:22. (For those of you who aren't familiar with the Stone, they have been going through the book of John for the past three years. They are in John 13, a little more than halfway through with the book. Only 3 more years to go...) To give you a little context, John 13:21-22 is about The Last Supper and says this: "After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, 'I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.' His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant."

Last week a friend of mine, David, sent me a link to a website for DCCYC 2006 (Dallas Christian Youth Camp).  He sent it to me because he was watching the video from 1987 in the "Our History" section, and he saw me in it!  19 years ago I would have been about 12, but in the video I look like I'm 8.  It was fun watching it and seeing how ugly we all were back then.

Last Friday Jocelin and I went to see Mission Impossible III.  We don't normally watch movies in the theater, for a variety of reasons:

1. We have a 57 inch rear-projection screen TV.
2. I'm cheap. 
3. I have a small bladder and almost always have to pee in the middle of the movie.
4. We have a 57 inch rear-projection screen TV.

But Jocelin recently won an "I Care" award at work for being a caring employee, and along with the recognition and respect of her peers, she received 2 free unrestricted movie tickets (which is what we really cared about).  Since Joce is a big Mission Impossible fan, so we decided to make a date out of it.