the best candy now comes in the best color

what a time to be alive

timbuk trio

the triumvirate!  (sean, me, brandon)

he's a time traveler!

context: irvin's power supply in his computer died last week, and a new one is in transit
(4:11:08 PM) Irvin Pham: so yeah... the case and psu will come tomorrow
(4:11:13 PM) Irvin Pham: hopefully that'll fix everything
(4:11:19 PM) Irvin Pham: and i can return to the 21st century

beauty

"She sees how her stomach looks when she’s standing in her bra. She sees how her face looks without any make up on. She sees how her chin looks when she looks down at her reflection. She sees how her arms sag when she has them up. She sees how her thighs jiggle when she walks or runs. She sees how her boobs look when she’s wearing a top. She sees how her acne looks when she washes her face. She sees how her legs look when she looks at all of her scars. She sees how her hair looks when she wakes up in the morning. She sees how her wrinkles show when she smiles. She sees how her stretch marks are visable when she sits down. See, the thing about girls, they can see every little detail about themselves, details that other people can’t see and they see every little flaw that other people don’t even notice. So when a girl doesn’t accept your compliments about her being beautiful, it’s honestly because she feels like she isn’t and she’d be lying if she said she was."

- Nash Grier

---

wow.

i find that quote infuriating.

who are you to be critical of your body?  who are you to say "i am not beautiful" when you did not create yourself?  what kind of twisted society and culture do we live in where people support a quote like this, which essentially says "my body as i really am is not beautiful, and you don't see me at those times, so i can't accept your compliments because you don't really know."?

stop looking at your body and treating it as though it has to be a certain way for it to be beautiful.

will your body always look the same?  for the rest of your life?  no, it won't.  does that, later on, you won't be beautiful anymore?  no, it doesn't.  seriously, if you've thought this through, how does this make sense in your head?

it's not about your weight.  it's not about your shape.  it's not about your attire.  it's not about stupid crap that people place so much emphasis on like jiggling thighs or stretch marks or messy hair or wrinkles or who gives a crap.  seriously, screw that whole idea of "this makes a girl beautiful and this doesn't".  it's dehumanizing and robs women of their God-given worth, and we are actively supporting that idea if we view women like that and let this idea run rampant without speaking up about it.

by even thinking about "what physical attributes of mine are attractive and what aren't?", you've already lost to the enemy.

who are you to hold yourself to a standard that God doesn't hold you to?

you can't make your own standard.

listen to this.  you're either going to end up prideful by accomplishing it, or you'll end up feeling ashamed/inadequate by not achieving it.  both take you away from the right standard of scripture as God's standard for you.  reading scripture is what gives you the proper perception of yourself, and reading scripture is what guides how you live and how you view yourself.  the biblical standard is not just one standard you can choose in lieu of other ones, it's the only right one.

but what about feeling like you can't shake the thoughts of wanting to look good and be attractive and "measure up"?  scripture, again, transforms and renews our minds (romans 12:2), taking you away from the false standards of the world and bringing you to a place where you can filter out and discard the lies that people (and you) want you to believe, and instead look at yourself only by God's true standard.

it's difficult because influences are all around, it's difficult because living according to God's standard is not cool/flashy/attractive in the world's eyes, and it's difficult because the instant you stop grounding yourself in the Word is the instant you'll start backsliding into thoughts of comparing and achieving and striving.  it's difficult.  God knows, but He provides a constant reorienting for those who ask.

beauty is important.  everything that is beautiful reflects God's image, and your body indeed reflects God's image, as well.

don't take it lightly, and don't think you can abstain from worldly influences by saying "i don't care about it", because the only way to overcome wrongful thinking in a world that only promotes wrong values is to be grounded in truth.  and you have to fight for that truth to be constantly learned and applied.

fight or give up, there's no in between.

---

this whole concept of beauty in today's world is an injustice that imprisons women and deprives their beautiful souls of feeling and understanding the worth they have.  my heart hurts for them.

what are you doing in the fight for truth?

(a good read: http://keeleychorn.com/bible-study/identity/identity-body-image/)

postcard from taiwan 1

my cousin (in 11th grade) is so great.  :D  i miss my relatives in taiwan.

foot pictionary

what a hilarious game.

http://iacopoapps.appspot.com/hopalongwebgl/

i love to sit and watch this while listening to my headphones.  :)

Stan

"Believe in what you believe in, and don't let nobody talk you out of it."

- Stan McNeil

Praise God for the time Stan was able to minister at Rutgers. :')

http://youtu.be/HtqE9k1zEg8

my new friend came in the mail today!

what should i name him?

if you ever needed a crash course on preston 101

(8:57:30 PM) Preston Chang: i'm an introvert, but i love being with people and learning about people
(8:57:36 PM) Preston Chang: and learning about their personality, like i said
(8:57:48 PM) Preston Chang: so i love playing board games with people, because it exercises my competitive side
(8:58:12 PM) Preston Chang: and a board game is a situation that has a common goal and set parameters, and it throws all the players into that microcosm
(8:58:25 PM) Preston Chang: and i love observing others and interacting with others through the game
(8:58:37 PM) Preston Chang: since, in a way, it breaks down our ways of thinking into those set parameters
(8:58:40 PM) Preston Chang: i LOVE board games.
(8:58:57 PM) Preston Chang: i like being skilled at things
(8:59:07 PM) Preston Chang: so my hobbies typically involve refining and honing my skill in a particular area
(8:59:36 PM) Preston Chang: i made a list of "stuff i've spent my time on"
(8:59:45 PM) Preston Chang: in high school, i yo-yoed
(8:59:53 PM) Preston Chang: including offstring (NOT chinese yo-yo, gosh)
(8:59:55 PM) Preston Chang: and that was neat
(9:00:06 PM) Preston Chang: but 1) i didn't have friends who shared my same desire to get better
(9:00:21 PM) Preston Chang: and 2) it took too much effort to get better
(9:00:27 PM) Preston Chang: (reason 1 also caused reason 2)
(9:00:33 PM) Preston Chang: i also solved the rubik's cuber
(9:00:34 PM) Preston Chang: cube
(9:00:47 PM) Preston Chang: that was a really fun and fascinating spatial exercise activity
(9:00:58 PM) Preston Chang: i loved learning how to solve it (through looking up online methods)
(9:01:04 PM) Preston Chang: and i highly recommend it to anyone
(9:01:10 PM) Preston Chang: it's not difficult, and it's NOT just memorizing stuff
(9:01:17 PM) Preston Chang: (but if you're going to, i would recommend you a certain method)
(9:01:29 PM) Preston Chang: going into it, i didn't want to just memorize stuff, 'cause i felt like that was lame
(9:01:42 PM) Preston Chang: so the method i found and learned and still use to this day is the lars petrus method
(9:01:48 PM) Preston Chang: and it solves 2/3 of the cube by pure logic alone
(9:01:58 PM) Preston Chang: it doesn't require memorizing algorithms until the final layer
(9:02:09 PM) Preston Chang: my favorite is the 2x2x2 cube, it's just so cute :)
(9:02:17 PM) Preston Chang: my fastest consistent time was 30 seconds on the regular 3x3x3
(9:02:27 PM) Preston Chang: i played tennis in high school
(9:02:30 PM) Preston Chang: badminton in college
(9:02:37 PM) Preston Chang: and now i'm back to tennis (because it's hard to find a place to play badminton)
(9:02:52 PM) Preston Chang: i played tetris in college (tetris arena on tetrisfriends.com)
(9:03:10 PM) Preston Chang: and typically, for all my hobbies, i would say i'm good at them, definitely "above average"
(9:03:24 PM) Preston Chang: since "above average"/"proficient" is the standard i usually set for myself
(9:03:35 PM) Preston Chang: good enough to dominate people with average skill level :p
(9:03:54 PM) Preston Chang: so in tetris i learned how to t-spin, and THAT was also a very fun intellectual exercise
(9:04:07 PM) Preston Chang: and i'm not a godly player, but i can hold my own against most people
(9:04:15 PM) Preston Chang: 65 TPM and 30 LPM when i'm on my game
(9:04:39 PM) Preston Chang: i played pool for a bit of time due to irvin's influence (since he's really into pool), 'cause he let me borrow one of his pool cues and i brought it to school
(9:04:46 PM) Preston Chang: and there are pool tables all over campus, so i got to play whenever i wanted :)
(9:05:00 PM) Preston Chang: i'm not great at pool, def better than average, but not good enough that i would say "i play pool" hahah
(9:05:15 PM) Preston Chang: for all of these things, i have/had like no friends to play with
(9:05:22 PM) Preston Chang: i'm always the passionate one and trying to get other people interested
(9:05:33 PM) Preston Chang: i love teaching, so i'd teach plenty of newbies (anyone who wanted to learn)
(9:05:43 PM) Preston Chang: but i was still missing opponents who were on my level
(9:05:51 PM) Preston Chang: i play tf2 (love team fortress) still to this day
(9:06:06 PM) Preston Chang: brawl - i'm not fantastic at it, but pretty good (all relative, of course)
(9:06:11 PM) Preston Chang: but i would say i can hold my own against most people
(9:06:19 PM) Preston Chang: i love cycling
(9:06:24 PM) Preston Chang: don't have a community to cycle with though :(
(9:06:28 PM) Preston Chang: (i know cccnc has one :D)
(9:06:31 PM) Preston Chang: i love snowboarding
(9:06:43 PM) Preston Chang: don't have regular snowboarding buddies, though, but i like to go each season
(9:06:52 PM) Preston Chang: i'm going to stratton for a 3-day trip this winter yayyyy
(9:07:06 PM) Preston Chang: i go off jumps and stuff, no spins or rails, though
(9:07:14 PM) Preston Chang: still getting comfortable being in the air and stuff
(9:07:22 PM) Preston Chang: i've gotten hurt three times over six seasons hahaha
(9:07:26 PM) Preston Chang: but i still love it
(9:07:36 PM) Preston Chang: i'm an audiophile, so i love me a good set of headphones
(9:07:58 PM) Preston Chang: i have the hifiman he-400 open headphones (planar magnetic technology!) with the jds labs o2 headphone amp
(9:08:06 PM) Preston Chang: it's a $500 audio setup
(9:08:10 PM) Preston Chang: and i love it :)
(9:08:26 PM) Preston Chang: my audio journey started in my sophomore year of college (09-10)
(9:08:36 PM) Preston Chang: with a $99 pair of headphones
(9:08:46 PM) Preston Chang: and my current one is my third pair of headphones that i've owned
(9:08:52 PM) Preston Chang: (i sold or gave away the previous ones)
(9:09:07 PM) Preston Chang: and i don't see myself upgrading for a while
(9:10:07 PM) Christine Liang: and it seems like when you get interested in something you strive for greatness in it, is that like a self-acheivement thing or like a competitive thing?
(9:10:53 PM) Preston Chang: i take pride in what i do, and my philosophy is that if i'm going to spend time on a particular hobby, i want to be good at it!  so it goes hand-in-hand with my competitive nature
(9:11:03 PM) Preston Chang: being skilled at things is fun
(9:11:07 PM) Preston Chang: being mediocre at things is not
(9:11:18 PM) Preston Chang: more time invested (/practiced) = more fun!
(9:11:39 PM) Preston Chang: basically, i like things that involve people
(9:11:50 PM) Preston Chang: and things that involve mental analyzation
(9:11:58 PM) Preston Chang: because i find both to be incredibly fun
(9:12:03 PM) Preston Chang: physics is my favorite science
(9:12:21 PM) Preston Chang: i love puzzles (rubik's cube, indie puzzler games, LOGIC PUZZLES)
(9:12:28 PM) Preston Chang: not things like crosswords or sudoku haha
(9:12:49 PM) Preston Chang: it's just not really my thing
(9:12:54 PM) Preston Chang: but i've probably heard every logic puzzle out there so..
(9:13:01 PM) Preston Chang: oh yeah LOL
(9:13:09 PM) Preston Chang: i love webcomics, too
(9:13:10 PM) Preston Chang: like xkcd
(9:13:13 PM) Christine Liang: ??
(9:13:14 PM) Preston Chang: BUTTERSAFE is probably my favorite
(9:13:15 PM) Christine Liang: eh?
(9:13:18 PM) Preston Chang: dude what
(9:13:22 PM) Christine Liang: it's like you're speaking a different language
(9:13:26 PM) Preston Chang: WEB-COMICS
(9:13:29 PM) Preston Chang: comics on the web
(9:13:35 PM) Christine Liang: buttersafe?
(9:13:37 PM) Christine Liang: xkcd?
(9:13:43 PM) Preston Chang: http://buttersafe.com/2007/05/01/jk-bird/
(9:13:47 PM) Preston Chang: buttersafe is a webcomic
(9:13:48 PM) Preston Chang: and it is adorable
(9:13:56 PM) Preston Chang: http://buttersafe.com/2008/09/11/shark-rider/
(9:14:05 PM) Preston Chang: http://buttersafe.com/2009/02/05/fire-and-water/
(9:14:13 PM) Preston Chang: http://buttersafe.com/2011/03/01/robot-cat/
(9:14:15 PM) Preston Chang: http://buttersafe.com/2011/04/26/more-robot-cat/
(9:14:19 PM) Preston Chang: http://buttersafe.com/2011/05/19/even-more-robot-cat/
(9:14:20 PM) Preston Chang: I LOVE CATS
(9:14:25 PM) Preston Chang: SO I LOVE ROBOT CAT from buttersafe
(9:14:57 PM) Preston Chang: http://www.xkcd.com/
(9:15:05 PM) Preston Chang: xkcd is a math/physics/geeky webcomic
(9:15:10 PM) Preston Chang: it's been going on for a looooooong time
(9:15:22 PM) Preston Chang: and i feel like i have a connection with randall (the writer/drawer)
(9:15:30 PM) Preston Chang: through his comics, through the forums, through his BLOG
(9:15:32 PM) Christine Liang: lolllll
(9:15:42 PM) Preston Chang: i love stuffed animals
(9:15:49 PM) Preston Chang: i'm a huge sucker for stuffed animals :|
(9:15:58 PM) Preston Chang: i love some tv shows and some anime!
(9:16:08 PM) Preston Chang: LIE TO ME and MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
(9:16:10 PM) Preston Chang: all-time favorites
(9:16:17 PM) Preston Chang: i'm still watching the walking dead right now, it's phenomenal
(9:16:25 PM) Preston Chang: and i just started attack on titan today and it is IMMENSELY AWESOME
(9:16:33 PM) Preston Chang: i haven't really watched anime since high school
(9:16:35 PM) Preston Chang: so, this is great
(9:16:48 PM) Preston Chang: i also have a ps3 and i love video games (the right kinds, of course)
(9:16:57 PM) Preston Chang: oh and i play piano <3 p="">(9:17:05 PM) Preston Chang: and i listen to music
(9:17:13 PM) Preston Chang: but if you want to ask me about what kind of music i like and listen to
(9:17:18 PM) Preston Chang: i am too tired to explain all that LOL
(9:17:36 PM) Preston Chang: i enjoy life's experiences
(9:17:37 PM) Preston Chang: i love eating
(9:17:46 PM) Preston Chang: i'm not a foodie
(9:17:55 PM) Preston Chang: but when i like a particular food, i LOVE it
(9:17:58 PM) Preston Chang: french fries and popcorn come to mind
(9:18:10 PM) Preston Chang: i love smells (i smell everything)
(9:18:16 PM) Preston Chang: i love the way things feel, too
(9:18:24 PM) Preston Chang: things with nice texture, soft - fuzzy - smooth - interesting
(9:18:33 PM) Preston Chang: and i love gadgets (like computer peripherals)
(9:18:41 PM) Preston Chang: so i have a mechanical keyboard which has a very nice sound and an even better feel
(9:18:51 PM) Preston Chang: and a nice mouse (excellent feel)
(9:18:57 PM) Preston Chang: mousepad, etc.
(9:19:26 PM) Preston Chang: sometimes i just pick up my ps3 controller and play with the joysticks for a few minutes because i love how they feel
(9:19:35 PM) Preston Chang: did i mention i love cats?
(9:19:36 PM) Preston Chang: and hamsters
(9:19:48 PM) Preston Chang: i could get a hamster now, actually, so i was considering it
(9:19:48 PM) Christine Liang: preston i am learning a lot about you
(9:19:53 PM) Preston Chang: when i had to go to the pet store with a friend recently
(9:19:59 PM) Christine Liang: do you usually have this much energy?
(9:20:03 PM) Preston Chang: yes, always
(9:20:04 PM) Christine Liang: haha yes
(9:20:16 PM) Christine Liang: i'm just impressed
(9:20:24 PM) Preston Chang: i'm a night owl but i like to wake up early to make the most of my day
(9:20:25 PM) Christine Liang: in how in depth you go
(9:20:28 PM) Preston Chang: i love typing
(9:20:30 PM) Christine Liang: loll idk why
(9:20:35 PM) Preston Chang: i love going in-depth with things
(9:20:36 PM) Christine Liang: waking up early*
(9:20:39 PM) Preston Chang: everything i do!
(9:20:45 PM) Preston Chang: relationships
(9:20:47 PM) Preston Chang: conversations
(9:20:49 PM) Preston Chang: hobbies
(9:20:53 PM) Preston Chang: analyzing things
(9:20:58 PM) Preston Chang: understanding things
(9:21:14 PM) Preston Chang: i believe there is always more than what meets the eye
(9:21:22 PM) Preston Chang: and i also believe that digging that out is always worth the effort
(9:21:47 PM) Preston Chang: everything i spend time on, i've thought it out and considered its implications and its benefits
(9:21:58 PM) Preston Chang: i'm a thinker
(9:22:14 PM) Preston Chang: i love to talk if you ask the right questions
(9:22:56 PM) Preston Chang: i also love nerdy / geeky things
(9:23:02 PM) Preston Chang: and sci-fi things
(9:23:03 PM) Preston Chang: techie things
(9:23:04 PM) Preston Chang: cute things
(9:23:32 PM) Preston Chang: but i love movies, too!
(9:23:41 PM) Preston Chang: esp the ones that involve dramatic thinking
(9:24:39 PM) Preston Chang: if i had to pick one favorite movie of all time
(9:24:44 PM) Preston Chang: first that comes to mind is the matrix
(9:24:51 PM) Christine Liang: why
(9:24:53 PM) Preston Chang: because it is fascinating
(9:25:01 PM) Preston Chang: and basically the POINT of the movie is to get us to ask questions
(9:25:05 PM) Preston Chang: and it poses really, really good questions
(9:25:18 PM) Preston Chang: i'm sure the effect of watching it now is very different than in 1999
(9:25:21 PM) Preston Chang: but it still holds its own
(9:25:27 PM) Preston Chang: yeah movies that make me think
(9:25:28 PM) Preston Chang: love 'em
(9:26:07 PM) Preston Chang: I LOVE TOM CRUISE
(9:26:09 PM) Preston Chang: HOW COULD I FORGET
(9:26:10 PM) Preston Chang: I LOVE HIM
(9:26:13 PM) Preston Chang: favorite actor ever
(9:27:23 PM) Preston Chang: I LOVE HIS SMILE
(9:27:23 PM) Preston Chang: AND HIS HAIR
(9:27:25 PM) Preston Chang: AND HIS SMILE
(9:26:20 PM) Preston Chang: i don't want to hear anything about him being short
(9:26:23 PM) Preston Chang: i've heard it all
(9:26:33 PM) Preston Chang: i also love the fast and the furious series
(9:26:40 PM) Preston Chang: vin diesel and paul walker <3 p="">(9:26:45 PM) Preston Chang: and cars are cool
(9:27:31 PM) Christine Liang: lol you're such a fan girl
(9:27:34 PM) Preston Chang: I AM A FAN GIRL
(9:27:36 PM) Preston Chang: FOR TOM CRUISE
(9:27:37 PM) Christine Liang: HAHAHHAA
(9:27:52 PM) Christine Liang: this is gold
(9:27:57 PM) Preston Chang: this is my life
(9:32:03 PM) Preston Chang: i'm tired
(9:32:05 PM) Preston Chang: from explaining all that

A biblical understanding of the Christian life is not "let go and let God," it’s "trust God and get going."

- Tullian Tchividjian

joy

joy - when God uses you to speak truth into the lives of others.

Believing in God is as much like falling in love as it is making a decision.  Love is both something that happens to you and something you decide upon.

- Donald Miller

insecurity doesn't hurt, it haunts.