be like mike
a quick story for all my peoples dying of boredom.

so last night i was in my room smiling from ear to ear because i had found in my house what any true basketball fan would worship: a VHS cassette filled with michael jordan highlights. i couldn't believe my eyes when i realized what i had discovered. michael jordan himself, in all his wondrous glory.

alright i'll stop, before you hecklers start yelling out 'blasphemy' from the nosebleed seats. so i have this tv/vcr thing, which is basically a tv which has a vcr inside it, aka mankind's greatest creation since reversible shorts. i pop the vhs into the vcr, and i watched clip after clip, sometimes multiple times, of michael just owning everybody. double-clutch reverse layups between three people, dunking over four, spin moves that make defenders just look silly, etc etc. if someone was there to tell me i had died and gone to heaven, i woulda believed it.

all of a sudden, disaster struck. the word "eject" exploded onto the screen, and then a loud buzzing sound filled the air. i panicked and thought about praying, but it was too late. the tv shut off by itself.

"what's going on?!?" i thought to myself. "God, i was just kidding about the whole 'worshipping michael jordan' thing."

i dont think i've ever been so scared in my life. i turned on the tv, hoping for a miracle. the buzzing started again, and then it turned off.

GAH!!! i spent the next 30 minutes with my hand stuffed into the vcr slot trying to push some magic button to fix it all, but alas, nothing could be done. so i went to sleep angry.

i forgot about the whole thing until this afternoon, when i came back into the house and saw my dad with his hand jammed into the vcr. i watched in horror as he then took pliers and just started ripping whatever he could get a hold of. he looked like a mad dentist pulling teeth. i figured it was over for the michael jordan tape and decided to give my dad a hand.

so we elected to open up the tv and try to see what the problem was. my dad saw a bit of the black film from inside the cassette and just started pulling. it was a sad sight, but it was necessary. 10 minutes later, we had about 4 miles worth of black film in our kitchen floor, along with bits and pieces of the vhs cassette that we had managed to rip out.

we FINALLY manage to pull out the entire cassette, put the tv back together, turn it on, and..the buzz is still there, and the tv still turned off by itself.

what a letdown. my dad tells me to take the vcr out and just try to salvage the television, so i then take the next 30 minutes opening the idiot box up, unscrewing 3028394 screws, taking the entire vcr out, and putting what's left of the tv back together.

turn it on, and..NO MORE BUZZ!! YES!!! i think at that moment i was joy personified. hallelujah!

5 seconds later, the tv turned off by itself.

...

so after all that hard work, we had to throw the entire thing away anyways, with our only consolation being, "hey, at least we tried."

the moral of this story? don't worship michael jordan..


well, at least not blatantly.

smooth-sailin' summer
whoo! talk about alliteration.

so some of you may be wondering, "what's mok doing this summer?" okay, well maybe none of you are even remotely close to thinking about anything close to this subject, but screw you, i'm gonna answer it anyways.

after a nice, relaxing 12-day family vacation in scandinavia, i have returned home to a strenuous, overbearing work life filled with hours of sucking up to a terrible, arrogant boss in a tiny, miniscule cubicle that i'm almost positive is comparable to hell. everyday i jump out of bed at 7 AM and head to work with my head held high; 8 hours later, i leave with a nasty scowl on my face. ah, tis the life..

..just kidding -- work is for losers. not really, but thinking with this mindset makes me feel better. this summer i am relaxing. i've come to realize that life is short, college life especially, so one should take advantage of these wonderful 3+ months known as "summer vacation" while we still have access to them. i mean, think about it: after you graduate, you'll look back on these joyous summers and cry til your eyes pop out. no, not tears of joy because you will be loving the "real world" aka "working life," but because with every fiber of your being you want to just lie there in bed until noon, but you CAN'T.

but rest assured, i am not just "wasting" my summer. actually i've already accomplished so much with just a month gone by! i got accepted to houston community college! i even got a popup with my name on the certificate and everything..i was so gosh darn proud. hm, i guess that completes my long list of summer accolades.

so i'm now enrolled in 2 online HCC classes, and i'm also going ot take defensive driving soon. ya, i know it's an ginormous workload, but that's life, huh? just so you know, i'm not allowing my body to rot in front of the idiot box watching amazing shows like family feud or the LPGA (go michelle wie!) or even fixated facing my laptop checking people's away messages all day. believe it or not, i have found that there is more to life.

i've started up, *gasp* READING. BOOKS. hard to believe, i'm sure, but it's as true as robert horry is clutch. this time, though, the habit just might stick. i've finally picked up the book "fresh wind fresh fire" that i received as a gift 3 years ago. apparently it's not about science or anything boring like that at all. it's about how powerful prayer really is and how it can truly bring about serious changes in ministry. interesting how applicable that is after recweek.

so anyways, here is a noncomprehensive list of my summer goals, just to show you doubters that i really am goal-oriented:

1. make daily devotion a daily habit

at the end of this past year, i had a one-on-one with mark austin, and i asked this wise man what i should expect out of myself, as a leader, for this upcoming year. all he said was "do your quiet times everyday." that's it. can you imagine how much different AACM would be if everyone spent time with Him on a daily basis? it's mind-boggling.

2. learn to be a better amigo

yeah.

3. make streetball my job

i'm not trying out for AND1 -- i just thought that sounded cool. i've decided to use some of my free time to improve my basketball game. mainly my midrange jumpshot, free throws, and left-handed dribbling. i'm getting old, and i want to be able to reach my full potential before my knees give out. unfortunately, i'm being serious.

so, that's all for now. now watch in wonder and amazement as i vanish in a cloud of smoke!


speechless? i tend to have that effect on people.