Hosive

i got to go to the rangers game with my funny cousin, daniel. we have many mutual friends mostly from u of i and nyc chinese church circles and people are stunned to find out that we are related. the conversations go “you may know my cousin….” “no way!”

and we hear from each other that people think we’re funny. “did you know that you’re cousin is funny?”  it’s that tsang blood. we’re weird.

but i rarely got to see that side of my cousin. the age gap and the fact that i was away for 15 years from the city contributed to that. daniel probably was too respectful to be funny in front of me. i was part of the older guard of family cousins….the ones who are married and child bearing. but over the past few years, he’s loosened up in front of me…and he is hilarious! in kind, dan thinks its funny that every time he hears me speak, i mention iraq. now when i see him in an audience, i just say iraq for no reason.

after taking so many students to nba, mlb…even indoor soccer games, it was a joy to take my cousin. it was like i was making up for something….some strange unnamed family obligation that i should have done long time ago. but obligation is not the right word. it was like setting something right. and it did feel right.

we lost the game but tonite was not about the game.

we laughed at the fact that i got pick pocketed and this is the booby prize the booby who ripped me off got. thinking it was my wallet in my back pocket, it was actually the freebie gift they were handing out that night…a cheap looking and feeling passport holder that i was never going to use. nice to get have junk lifted off you…..enjoy it, sucker!

dan was nice enough to offer me his…but i declined.

after the game, we lingered a bit and when we turned around, we saw this all around us. and we laughed some more. it was such a pig sty! there were bottles everywhere and these pictures don’t fully capture how wasteful yankee fans were that night and i suspect every night.

we laughed a lot. we should get together more often and combine our humor powers for good.

in the book series, not so big house, the key to getting the most out of a small space are niches. even in big homes, what makes a home “homey” are the small little places that feel cozy and safe. where memories are made. so good architects, builders and home makers build little spots into a house or apt to make the space memorable and alive. i’ve been blessed to live in a few places with little nooks and spots that radiate with life.

we bought one of the not so big house books because we were moving from a 2400 sq/ft md house into a 1100 sq/ft nyc apartment. but it turns out the not so big homes in the not so big house books were not so not-so-big. they were huge places! we have different definitions of not so big house!

in these features, i’ll detail mundane little spots around our apartment…..the spots where we live…and life is made.

because theresa is healing, we won’t be heading up the stairs to our roof deck for a holiday bbq. but we can relive past bbq’s and show off some of our outdoor space…which is sacred space in the city.  apartments are usually cramped…sometimes with very little light coming in….sometimes with no windows or worse! windows that open up to a brick wall. in the summers, people are out and about rather than trapped at home.

so to have some access to the outside right in your own home……magical.

each apartment in our building has their own deck except our place but there is this common deck that is almost used by nobody except us! our building mates even graciously allowed us to keep a grill up there.

a few times a year, we do summer right with burgers, chicken, corn….enjoying eats outdoors. we invite friends and family to hang until the sun is too much. we need to get an umbrella and some proper chairs up there so that we can lounge longer. the fall might be a more pleasant time to hang.

the ironic thing is that theresa and i aren’t very outdoorsy…we have all these plans for deck life but they never come to fruition. ministry life, family life, concert life, city life, travel seems to fill the schedule.  not a bad tradeoff.  but with zoe keeping us at home, the deck may have more appeal.

finally, we do not have the traditional breathtaking ny skyline views but we do have some great expansive sight lines giving us a surge of freedom. there are not many tall buildings so it feels like nyc…but a wes anderson version(i suspect he filmed quite a bit up here for the royal tenenbaums). we’ll gladly revel in it!

hoping to use the deck some more in the summer and the fall!

we selected two of our friends to be baby zoe’s godmothers…the job description is to pray for z as if she were their own, play an active role in her spiritual growth and model the love and sacrifice of jesus in their lives. so a big criteria was for them to be in town though the spiritual journeys of these women may lead them elsewhere in the near future.

debby fung has been my friend for over 20 years…being part of three churches together in ny, chicago and md. she was my assistant youth director at the latter church, spiritual confidant, fellow u2 tour mate and constant member of all incarnations of the party machine. her ministry interests and skills can take her anywhere.

stephanie shieh attached herself to us upon our arrival to nyc somewhat due to our proximity to columbia. she is theresa’s cooking, knitting, painting, concert line upping buddy. her travels to kenya and work with aids orphans there give her a global perspective on our faith.

here they are advising us on the usual pitfalls of parenthood:

don’t shake the baby. we already knew that but they double checked.

the predecessor to the jon stewarts and the stephen colberts of the world…the one who is the missing link between the fake news of snl and the fake news phenomenon of today(see dl hughley with his show on cnn…cnn!)is craig kilborn. the former sportscenter anchor turned faux headlines anchor turned(now)actor and behind the scenes producer used to have a daily moment of zen on his show. the kids would call it a wtf??? its a crazy, unbelievable, can’t make this up scene that leaves you speechless…and in wonder. i won’t(can’t)do this daily but will post whenever i see something….wow?

here’s your moment of zen:

so i asked our friend leo chen one day, if his name is short for anything or is it just leo? he said….just leo. it got me thinking where that name came from. then we just started making up origins of the name. and started calling him permutations of leo.

so for one year, i’ll present one a week until we’ve exhausted the possibilities. we are in the second half! we are close to having enough for the year but you can still help if you’d like. get your suggestions in before the doors are closed!

this week…..i will call my friend leo, galileo.

look at what i’ve called my friend leo so far

leonardo

leopold

for christmas, noel

leotard

leopatra

leoben(for bsg)

leometro

bibliotecha

fileo fish

leodis

leodore

leonazi

leopard

diosleos!

le occitane

speleology

leo and behold

leona helmsley

leogeo

leolithic

hustle and fleo

leonidas

los angeleos

liopleurodon

l-eon flux

the kings of leon

chameleon

jaleo

i blog primarily to document my life. our lives in and around the agapeshack.

we’ve been painting the wrong picture for you…..we don’t eat out all the time…we actually cook a lot. especially after theresa finished classes at the french culinary institute. so as we transition into our baby days and eating out less….here are some of the everyday things we eat…because we cook them on a regular basis.

raising up zoe pax has been a family affair. theresa and i are busy enough feeding, changing, burping, holding z that we have little time to think of food let alone planning to have good grub for ourselves. luckily we roll with a large entourage. here theresa’s mom and grandma are bbq’ing some pork belly aka meaty bacon. they have also cooked some clear noodles with beef with the usual roster of small korean appetizers.

my mom is also here putting the touches on 2 chinese chickens along with soup.

we are not just eating…we are feasting on a regular basis because our family is around and involved. plenty of leftovers deep into the week.

enough even for visitors! ricky and annie brought drinks to add to our banquet. they were thinking of bring over shake shack but i discouraged them because of the bounty we have….and encouraged them to come over as quickly as they could because the food was getting cold!

then again….it might be only a village of women at work. the men got to play with and stare at zoe while the ladies worked. they did help eat.

no restaurants for awhile during theresa’s healing….but we’re not missing much.

my friend jon moy tagged me on this…but i was unsure of the rules except what was in the title. he wanted to do a version of the random 25 that was not as pretentious. in my continuing efforts to descend the ivory tower that seems to be my lot in life, i did this too. i promised to periodically post videos of the songs i picked as a public service to people who want to hear the soundtrack in my head. today’s track as done by u2 on the eve of the european leg of their tour.

these are songs that i chose for a mix of reasons….some define me…some played crucial roles at turning points in my life…some continue to shape me….some i can listen to over and over…some i would jump to hear live…and many if not most, encompass all these reasons.

here’s the complete list:

U2 bad
U2 all I want is you
U2 stay
Radiohead let down
Rolling stones under my thumb
Beatles in my life
Arcade fire wake up
Killers all these things that I’ve done
Stone temple pilots plush
Frank Sinatra new york, new york

speaking of the impending tour…..there are only 2 or 3 days left(depending on how you count)until the tour begins. u2.com has been posting countdown videos…here’s one of them:

a strangely timely comedy for me and theresa:  a couple goes on a road trip to see where they may live and what experiences they want for their child to come. in our postmodern atmosphere where we’ve rejected the standard and traditional answers, we have to find our own answers. in their early 30’s, the couple is nervous that they have none or even worse….they have chosen the wrong answers.

the movie has been criticized for having a self righteous tone. the roadtripping parents are clever, well adjusted and loving while almost everyone else they meet are wackos. they are right and everyone else is wrong. but i think that’s how most people come to evaluate life….the movie is simply honest about the fact that we do go around thinking that we are the norm+ and other people are(slightly)inferior. we are a prideful species. and a judgemental one. but i also happen to think that the leads are the sanest of the roster of parents we meet! its not unusual that the main characters are also the heroes.

you may also be surprised to hear that this is a sam mendes effort but it is nowhere as dark and depressing as american beauty or revolutionary road. it really is a comedy!

i love road trip movies with different locales and interplay with cultures and perspectives even though many of the places they said to have visited could have easily been filmed in the same town….were they?

i would watch this again to revisit the different episodes in each city they visit. some of them were laugh out loud in the theatre funny with many charming turns. i may buy this if the price is right. theresa will like this when she gets around to it.

arms up……..

….arms up!

arm across the body, both arms in the same direction…..

….arm across the body, both arms in the same direction!

a little mirror image but common formations on the same nights/early morns.

yup….she’s her baby.

i’ve been pausing and blogging about child slavery as i have been meditating on the birth of my daughter, zoe and the world that i am bringing her into.

in my faith, we give thanksgiving offerings as a sign of gratitude for such gifts of life and joy. such grace. i’ve decided to give to speak up, an international human rights organization committed to the eradication of modern slavery and human trafficking. this is a gift for a better world for my girl…and a lot of other baby girls.

Speak Up asked my friend jonathan wu to film and create videos to help promote their ongoing efforts in Bangkok. these are a few of them….

if you are interested in joining me in giving…..

1) Send checks payable to SPEAK UP

Speak Up
PO Box 5595
Pasadena, CA 91117

2) If you’re on Facebook, go to http://apps.facebook.com/causes/252674 and donate through
Speak Up’s Causes page. Again, by April 14th if possible.

Speak Up is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, making your donation tax-deductible.

i am interested in matching your donation to double your giving power. please touch bases with me on that.