I'm an Idiot

As of late, this summer is shaping up to be both similar, yet distinctively different from the previous two.

In sum: My Summer of 2007 was unlike any other as I naively viewed it as my 'last' one in San Diego. As a result I concocted a quasi-tour of San Diego, visiting numerous locations like Mt. Soledad and the Del in Coronado, etc. Recollecting my blogs from that summer, I appeared unaware God was working through me--I was especially both spiritually ignorant and generally uncomfortable because of it. I blew an excellent opportunity to get into the Word, more deeply and fully... but failed to do so thanks to other pursuits. For the life of me I don't know why I didn't work that summer because it effectively commenced in the beginning of May that year. Regardless, events from that summer have helped shape me to the person I am this very moment.

I consider my summer of 2008 to be a low-point in my spiritual journey. I was angry, discontent and consumed by my ineptness and continual failure in my attempt to find a job. It took a solid month and a half and a considerable dose of humility for me to finally land a job. After that desperate search, I worked a second job... combining for over 12 hours a day of just working. As a result, I was practically coerced to cut God out of my life and look elsewhere for satisfaction and contentment. I was angry at God before job hunting and my home situation, and this feeling of malcontent continued to the extent I would scarcely acknowledge his presence. Fortunately, however, He is the source of Grace... thus forcing His way back into my life. This breakthrough occurred thanks to me living with 5 other Christian men, and I am now able to look at that situation with different eyes and realize God never let go and continued to mold me.

So, now... This discussion leads me to the Summer of 2009. The past 5-6 weeks of summer have truly been a blur. After finals, I was home a matter of days before embarking for Disney World. The time in between home and DW, I bought my first Study Bible (NIV), which will definitely prove to be a handy tool in my pursuits as a missional team leader at UCSB. However, while on the trip, there was scarcely time to breathe, let alone read this cumbersome bible. Unfortunately, this general tone has persisted throughout the Summer...

I work 40 hours a week; but in truth, I'm either getting ready/driving to work/driving home probably 50 hours a week. Of course, this isn't extreme busyness to the extent where I can make the pitiful excuse not to read the Word. I've been feeling convicted lately... as I seem to be following along a similar path by choosing other things before God. The world makes it so incredibly effortless to put other things before the Father. In fact, the world encourages such behavior by saying its okay if we indulge in our own pursuits as we only live once, and if you're not living to satisfy these unquenchable desires, then you're not really living.
Its so easy to flex one finger and turn on the TV and watch it for hours--even if the content isn't edifying.
Its so easy to turn on a computer and be tempted to waste away on sites that aren't exactly edifying either.

Using an example that has been eating at me lately is this: it is so, so incredibly easy to conform to the standards of this world (like drinking or sex to name just a couple) just to be accepted by others. In fact the world encourages it, as it is only normal for a young, unmarried man to be promiscuous and self-indulgent. I'd be lying if I said it isn't the least bit tempting. Fact is, people choose to pursue worldly lifestyles (I do it too, I'm definitely not trying to come across as a Holier than Thou blubbering idiot) because it appears normal and it is so readily available. However, as Christ-followers, we are not called to be 'normal' and live safe lives... we're called to love one another as ourselves (which is exceedingly difficult and very abnormal in eyes the world) and love our Father with all our heart, soul, and mind (something that the world distracts us by targeting fragments of our heart, soul and mind for money, popularity, jealously and other worldly things to divide our devotion to the Father).

Faith without sight requires a lot of work. I wish (more and more often) that I could just kick it with Jesus for a little bit: that magically he'd *poof* and show up in my house and give me divine advice or whatever. I'm not saying that he's not capable of this, but the reality is, we've got to pray and talk to him as if he physically is sitting next to us. Of course, the reality of this entire scenario is blocked by the blindness that cripples us. The handle of tequila or sexy lady is much more tangible and readily accessible for those that crave these elements. My knee-jerk mindset while praying or thinking about Jesus is that he's a million miles away, hanging out in heaven with the angels and their glittery wings. However, I try to remind myself that He definitely isn't... he's right with me all the time... both in moments when I'm glorifying him or not.

There's so much more I could write about this, but I must make another excuse and say its time for bed. I feel as though I complicate things too much and maybe this whole thing doesn't make sense that I'm trying to talk about. That's fine if it doesn't, as I'm journaling my thoughts and am consequently making them available for public viewing.

I've got a long way to go but here's a tidbit I picked up on a Facebook status by a Pastor in Carpinteria: "The chief aim of man is to glorify the Father." How truly simple, yet so terribly complicated is it for us to attain our sole purpose. It wasn't always meant to be so difficult... but talking about that would require numerous blog postings. Maybe I'll take up this issue later, but maybe not.

More blogs to come in the near future I hope. I'm feeling convicted to get into the Word, rather than waste time making excuses for it. Oh the joy of being me. :)

Cheers.

Days 6, 7, 8, 9

Well as it happens, it is very difficult to stay updated on this thing while dealing with the many variables that come along with a vacation. We’ve been so busy during the day and so exhausted in the afternoon, which contributed mightily to my delay in posts. Oh well, I’ll do a quick run through of the preceding days.

Day 6 (Monday): Animal Kingdom








In comparison to the San Diego Zoo or the Wild Animal Park, the Animal Kingdom is nothing special. But the one thing it does have over our local zoos is (of course) the rides they have to offer. Expedition Everest and the Kali River Rapids were two rides that were a lot of fun. Expedition Everest probably takes the cake for my favorite ride; in some sections the runaway train goes backwards into complete darkness. It’s weird to think they’ve got roller coasters with animals nearby…hopefully we’re not too noisy for them.

The park had some fun trails, which one of them led us to the tiger exhibit. Typically, every time I’ve gone to the zoo to watch the tigers, they usually just are laying down, taking it easy. But on this occasion, the tigers were out and playing, even growling. So that definitely made the day a bit more special.








Day 7 (Tuesday): Magic Kingdom and Epcot

On Tuesday, the day started off with a bang… literally. We had a storm come through that night, and a huge clap of thunder woke me up at 5:00 AM. I’m not the lightest sleeper in the world, so it was a pretty loud one to rouse me out of bed. I watched it for a good hour, trying to take pictures of the lightning spikes, but I was unsuccessful. During one long exposure, however, there was so many lightning strikes that it illuminated the palm trees to the extent that you could see their green color.



Besides that, today we spent the morning at the Magic Kingdom. We were only at the park til about noon, which we rode Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and the Magic Kingdom Railroad.

We then made the switch over to Epcot, which marked the first time we went to more than one park in a day. However, there was a mishap, as our tickets would not allow us to gain entry into the park. My mom called our travel agent, and we got that sorted out rather quickly. We had an early dinner at the Tutto Italia, which had great service and great food. Since Disney screwed up on our passes, we were given a Fast Pass to any attraction, and we used one for Test Track. After that we went to the Land exhibit and rode “Living with the Land” which took us on a slow boat ride to the greenhouses and other experimental growing habits that Disney was engaging in to improve conservation. This was probably the most intriguing attraction that we visited. I'm bummed to say I have no pictures of it though. Below you can see what "Italia" looks like at Epcot, along with the unique contours of the monorail over the water.





After our shortened day, I went out and took pictures of a spectacular sunset and later, of the fireworks display visible from the Magic Kingdom.




Day 8 (Wednesday): Animal Kingdom in the morning, Magic Kingdom in the afternoon

On our last full day in Orlando, we made the most of our passes. We visited Animal Kingdom again in the morning, and stayed until around noon once it got super crowded. We then ate at the Kona Café at our Polynesian Resort, which proved to be one of my favorite meals that we had there. I had a delicious chicken sandwhich with some secret dressing, and had a devilish dessert that included ice cream and cotton candy.




After lunch, my mom and sister went back to Hollywood Studios, while my dad and I stayed behind to watch the United States play Spain in the semifinals of the Confederation Cup. They ended up beating the number one ranked team in the world, 2-0, which was their first loss in a record-tying 35 games. That was definitely exciting to see, even though they ended up losing in the final 3-2 to mighty Brazil.

After the game, we made the trek back to the Magic Kingdom, and rode some of the rides that we hadn’t yet ridden—such as the Tea Cups and we paid homage to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, which was actually pretty funny. Our last night ended on a boat trip back to Polynesian.








Day 9 (Thursday): Magic Kingdom and the Orlando International Airport

Our last day was spent at our overall favorite park, the Magic Kingdom. We went on a few rides, such as the Astro Orbiter, which we had never done before in Florida. It was sad to leave Florida, but it is great being back in San Diego, especially since we don’t have to endure under treacherous conditions of 95 degree heat with 70% humidity.

Day at Epcot

In honor of Father’s Day, our family had the unique opportunity of taking my dad to the Motherland—Germany. Today’s events carried us all around the world—including stops in Mexico, Canada, Norway, England, Italy, and even Mars! Before I get too carried away I should clarify that we spent the day in Epcot… which boasts all of these locations and more in World Showcase at this park.

To celebrate today, my mom had the great idea of getting my dad a Germany “fussball” jersey that he wore proudly throughout the day. He got a lot of comments from people, especially when we went to Germany! Of course, Germany is one of the exhibits at the World Showcase, and we ate at the Biergarten, which produced an Oktoberfest-esque atmosphere complete with German music and dark beer. Too bad I’m not 21 yet, oh well I’ll just have to go visit the real thing myself someday.


Anyway, our day at Epcot contained a lot of excitement, but it was partially soiled by the extreme heat. Today’s heat was (by far) the worst we had dealt with up to this point. It was bewildering that Epcot had very few shaded areas to offer, which meant there were few opportunities to escape the punishment of the sun. However, there was an element of relief because the park had a station called “Club Cool,” and in continuing the international theme, this station offered soft drinks from countries such as Germany, Mozambique, China, and Israel. My two favorites were the “Mezzo Mix” from Germany (mixture of Coke with orange flavor) and the Krest Ginger Ale from Mozambique. My family had a fun time in there and with all that carbonation, led to a wonderful display of internationally-inspired burps.

Today also featured some awesome rides, such as TestTrack and Spaceship Earth. Test Track puts you in a GM testing facility (does GM stand for Government or General Motors now?) which means you go through a variety of tests. The highlight is going out on the “loop” reaching speeds of 65 mph! Apparently this ride has both the longest track and the fastest speed of any Disney ride in history (one of the many facts that my Disney-obsessed sister told us). Spaceship Earth was pretty cool, it is the perennial symbol of Epcot, and goes through the history of man chronogically by highlighting our important achievements—such as the invention of papyrus by the ancient Egyptians or the formation of a common alphabet by the Venetians. Interesting stuff.

Proof I've been to England!

Day at Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney

So today, for the first time, I don’t have any pictures to show for the events of today. Because we were at Typhoon Lagoon, which was a fun water park with an island theme, I wasn’t able to bring my camera because I didn’t want to get it wet nor did I want it to get jacked when we were away. At Downtown Disney, I didn’t feel like bringin my camera, so oh well.

The water park was pretty fun, although it was just my dad and I that took advantage of it. My sister wasn’t feeling too well, so my mom stayed nearby—but she did ride a few slides so that was fun when she did.

Downtown Disney was a lot of fun today, very crowded though. We at dinner at the Rain Forest Café, and that was quite the experience. We shared our dinner with some elephants and gorillas, which would freak out from time to time when it “rained.” After dinner, we went out shopping in the various Disney stores. As I was buying a hat, one of the employees was like “Dude, you gotta tell me where you are from” And I answered “San Diego.” To which he responded, “I knew you were from back west, you’re workin that look man.” Kinda funny how my attire acted as an identifier for where I’m from. I guess I should wear ‘preppy’ stuff if I want to converge to the East… which I wouldn’t want to ☺

Day 3: Best Day So Far

So it's Magic Kingdom x 2 today, as we couldn't get enough of it yesterday with our Grumpy attire. Easily, today’s events coalesce to make this day the best of our trip so far.

I was able to get some more pics of the surrounding areas of the park today, which (as always) was a lot of fun. Here's a couple that I found to be interesting:









Today we went at a more relaxed pace (finally!) and even came back to the room for a little bit this afternoon for some leisure time. The main highlight for us today would be our dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern. It was an American-style meal featuring great food and a good atmosphere. Since we’re on a ‘meal plan’ for our trip, meaning we get a quick-service meal (typically lunch or breakfast) and a sit-down meal (so far we’ve used for dinner) each day and it has already been paid for… meaning we can get an entrée, drink and dessert at every meal to maximize value for our money! It’s been interesting eating at different restaurants around the park and experiencing the variety of food and different atmospheres each one has to offer. I love American Colonial/Revolutionary history and this restaurant created a nostalgic approach for that era and that’s prolly why I liked it so much.


The fireworks spectacular at the Magic Kingdom complemented our evening. We sat down at the foot of the castle near the water and had a pretty good view of both the castle and the fireworks. It was a pretty cool show, fireworks are pretty awesome.





After the fireworks the park was open til 3:00 AM, something they call “Magic Hours” for guests on the property. My sister and I stayed until 2:00 and rode a couple rides. Well it’s time for sleep now, we’ve got more of a lax day tomorrow since we’re going to a waterpark and then shopping in Downtown Disney!

Day 2: Grumpy and Frumpy

The title of this blog encapsulates the enduring theme during my time in the Magic Kingdom today. I take an element of pride in dressing fashionably, and today I sacrificed that misplaced pride by wearing matching “Grumpy” shirts with my family. These shirts were both ugly and extremely hot. A combination of the mugginess and the fashion faux pas of which I was apart, led me to a bad mood. I hate being in bad moods, but they happen and it is up to me to preserver—and once I snapped out of it, the day got better.

Today was much better than yesterday, though, as I was awestruck by the beauty of the Magic Kingdom in comparison to our Disneyland. Although ours is larger, this one in Orlando is both spacious and visually appealing.



I took a lot of pictures of the surrounding scenery and Cinderella’s Castle. Speaking of which, we actually got to eat inside the castle and got our picture taken with the Princess… all the while wearing our frumpy shirts! The most awkward moment happened when we got our picture taken with her because she had the audacity to ask if my sister Lojee was “my princess” … quite embarrassing. Oh well though, never going to see any of them again.

Inevitably, we have been comparing Magic Kingdom to Disneyland, and have found that there are differences in the quality of rides. For instance, the Magic Kingdom has better renditions of Splash Mountain and the Haunted Mansion. However, their Pirates of the Caribbean and Buzz Lightyear rides are appalling. In addition, the Magic Kingdom doesn’t have the Matterhorn, Submarines, or Indiana Jones. In that sense, Disneyland has a bit more diversity, but at the cost of being less spacious.

On a totally unrelated note I met a celebrity! Well to most Americans he’s nobody, but over across the pond he’s huge… I got to meet Wes Brown! He’s a rightback for Manchester United, the biggest football club on the planet. We randomly went over to the Carousel of Progress and he was with his wife and kids just hanging out. I noticed him straight off and after a brief consultation with my parents wondering if it was okay to say hey, I went up and talked to him for a couple minutes. It was pretty thrilling meeting a soccer player from your favorite team!

This day had its moments, but on the whole, it was fun. Our vacation is in full swing now, here’s some pictures of today’s festivities. We were hit with our first random rain storm today, it absolutely poured for like 15 minutes and then stopped. The last pic is my favorite cuz you can see the raindrops with the cool bridge in the background.














Tonight we were treated to watching the fireworks, which we watched from the comfort of the resort. I took a few pictures but the one below I like the best, kinda resembles a cross huh? The one underneath that one was inspired by a mosquito, as a couple pictures before that I moved my camera during an exposure because one of those pesky insects was trying to bite me. So after that, I purposely manipulated the camera movement and the result is what you can see below the cross.