Cho's Thoughts

KR!

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 07:18:37 GMT

Played some Karaoke Revolution Vol 2 & 3 at a small party at my house tonight. . . ooooooooold skooooooooool!

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:07:33 GMT

This was something I saw, on all things, the TV show "Latination"

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/16741/what-would-jesus-say-radio-host-takes-on-godly-persona-gives-life-advice

We're going to talk about it in class tomorrow (I like to give my high school students some interesting questions to discuss), but I think this is fascinating. It would be interesting to actually hear the radio show.

Chris

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:07:02 GMT

Doin' well. :)

Ugh

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:35:22 GMT

Man, I've had a wild go of it the last couple of days. Fortunately, these situations only involve me indirectly, so I just need to pray for them, but damn these things are pretty heavy and depressing me.

The first issue I can't talk about for a few weeks.

The second issue, my co-worker, the other 7th grade teacher, lost her husband this weekend in a car accident. She has two college-age kids, and I know the son very well - he was a senior at CCS the year I started working and he really attached himself to me, so after he graduated we've gone to lunch and saw I Am Legend and The Hulk together. So now, to hear this, I'm just devastated.

I'm watching two things on facebook - the growing number of comments from friends and family, which is nice and supportive, and the few updates watching the children struggle with the loss of their father. Oh, it's terrible. I can't even imagine, and my heart just breaks for them.

I also have ex-girlfriend issues, which aren't as bad as they sound, but it just adds another thing on top of all of this emotional stuff.

Ugh.

Oh yeah, Happy New Year. :)

To All My Friends. . .

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:58:11 GMT

Thank you for such a wonderful time in Colorado!

I enjoyed the 'Ristmas Rendezvous with my FoCo peeps, and Starbucks with Jeff (if he still even reads this!). It is a comfort to me to know I have wonderful friends still in Colorado.

Austin, if you still read this. . . next time! :)

Chris

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:20:40 GMT

Looks like I will be up in CO the 20-29th of December. w00t w00t!

Facebook

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:26:44 GMT

It is good to see all of you on Facebook! :)

I think I find the appeal - it is just good to know where your friends are. Even if it is just leaving little messages or pokes, it is just good to know you have friends somewhere.

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:30:35 GMT

I got a Facebook! Yah. . . I guess (honestly, it kind of sucks).

I like LiveJournal because I can, you know, write. I'm still trying to figure FaceBook out, but I imagine there's not much writing to be done.

Parent/teacher conferences are next week, and because 1) my MS class is large (28) and 2) I've been generally more apathetic this year, I have no idea what to say about these students. Holy crap!

As per my avatar/icon, I played and beat Mega Man 9 this week. A truly enjoyable game. I am in the process of hitting some of the "Achievements." I think Capcom was smart to include the achievements in the Wii version - they really do up the replay value of an already fun/interesting game, and make it even more challenging.

It was funny, last night I spent about 3 hours on the last four Wily levels, and I couldn't get past the last boss. So I did an old school NES trick - I put the game on pause, got dinner, watched a bit of a movie, then came back to it later. Anyone else remembering doing that?

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 04:28:04 GMT

Hi all, I know it has been close to two months since I posted, and my last one was on a sour note. Btw Josh I wasn't ignoring you, I just didn't want to talk about that particular issue at that particular time.

It seems everyone has been slow posting, though, so I am in good company. In the meantime, I like to check LJ to see this guys work: http://nedroidcomics.livejournal.com/ He posts funny and cute little comic strips about this weird bird named Reginald and a bear-tato named Beartato. Forgot how I found it, but it usually brightens my day, I suggest you check him out.

Life has been going well. Teaching started mid August and classes this year are fantastic. I have a 7th grade class of 28, which is the most students I've ever taught at once, but they are great, great kids. They are surprisingly easy to get along with, and we have a lot of fun. In my high school American Literature class, we seem to have too much fun, but the students are really great. I want to push them a little more, since we've been slacking lately. We will see how things go this year.

I've also gotten big into comic books/graphic novels. I highly recommend "Watchmen", in lieu of the upcoming movie, and "The Dark Knight Returns", which is by far the best comic book I've ever read. You can find graphic novels decently cheap on Amazon, about $10-$5 bucks cheaper than at the stores, and I highly recommend those two titles.

In terms of gaming, I'm almost finished with Twilight Princess for the Wii. For some reason, I didn't get it with my Wii, and I bought it during the summer and just never played it until a couple of weeks ago. It is pretty good. It is interesting to play a big game like that after all the hype has died down, because I can make a fairer assessment of it. When Gamespot originally didn't give the game a 9-10 (I think it got like an 8.9 or something), I went into fanboy rage (not really), but now I see where they are coming from. Good game, more of the same Zelda which isn't a bad thing, but nothing to really differentiate from the other Zeldas. I think I enjoyed Metroid Prime 3 a lot more.

Monday, I am totally buying Mega Man 9. Are you kidding me? Is this game real? Is it actually coming out in 2008?

Clara and I are still broken up, but it has gotten much easier. Even work is all right. We've talked about getting back together, but she and I are still unsure about our future. We're going to try and see other people, but I guess for me that is hard because, well, I WANT to see other people because 1) I want to know what it is like to be with someone else and 2) I'm, well, a pimpaholic ("I'm addicted to pimpahol!"). But I really don't want to date someone just to test the waters to see if I really want to get back with Clara, I want to date someone because I want to have a relationship with them. So I'm in a weird position right now.

But otherwise, things a great. Jeff, thanks again for the birthday wishes, and happy birthday yourself, my friend!

Till next time,
Chris

Been Awhile. . .

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:53:06 GMT

Been awhile since I posted. Things are better but still sad. :( I don't even know if it's about Clara anymore, to be honest.

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:39:13 GMT

Thanks for all the sympathy, guys.

Really, it came down to religious differences (believe it or not). She's pretty conservative in her beliefs, while me, not so much.

She went to Bob Jones University down in FL, so her background is pretty tame, while I. . . am not. :) The last couple of weeks, she's been crying every night, wondering if we should be together. So Friday, I decided that, maybe we shouldn't.

Although now, I feel weird. This last weekend, I was so miserable, but then she texted me to see how I was doing, and if I ever wanted to talk I could.

After that, I've just drowned myself in comic books and games and such, literally sitting around in my underwear all day LOL. I enjoy this, but I think I'm just running from my feelings. During the day, I feel like it was a good idea to break up, but at night I begin to miss her.

This sucks. :( I don't know if I should talk to her, and if I do, what I should say. I don't know if I want to try and reconcile, I don't know if she wants to, aw geez.

Some good news, though - I will be in Colorado next week! Yes in-deedy-doo! I will be up from the 5th to th 14th of July. I would love to come to FtC and hang out, maybe go to Old C's and play some games like last time (that was truly a blast!)

Matt, too bad you won't be in town when I get there :(

Also, good news: I'm pretty much finished with my Knytt Stories level! The Ghost Tower has been unleashed!

Download Knytt Stories Here: http://nifflas.ni2.se/index.php?main=02Knytt_Stories&sub=03Download

And download my level here: http://knyttlevels.com/levels/Chris%20Carpenter%20-%20The%20Ghost%20Tower%20%28Hard%20v1.1%29.knytt.bin

After you download and install Knytt Stories, you'll need to load my level. Open up Knytt Stories and go to "Load Level" Browse to find my level, it will extract, and then you should be able to play it.

(Also, the game that comes with the program is pretty great as well).

Again, thanks for your concern guys. Keep me/her in your thoughts, and hopefully I will see you soon!

Chris

So. . .

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:46:21 GMT

. . . Clara and I broke up tonight. :( It was mutual. But I'm still very sad, and so is she. It was really hard to let go.

I thank God though that the relationship was such a positive experience for both of us. I think we both learned a lot and grew from it.

Still sad. :( We held each other and walked around her neighrborhood, and it was so cold but we knew if we walked back to her house, we would have to leave. We walked and talked for about an hour before we went back, but even then we couldn't let go. We talked for another 45 minutes or so, but it was time to go. :(

Anyway, just wanted to blog a bit. Please pray for us. :(

School's Out!

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:22:20 GMT

School is finally out. What's weird is how quickly this year passed.

I guess it always feels like this. I remember saying/thinking specific things about these students at the start of the year, and how things have changed. I was scared to death of them at first! I heard they were a nightmare class. But technically, all 6th graders are nightmares, then they grow into 7th graders.

I brought in Brawl for the students to play yesterday, and I actually did really well against them. Which is sad, cuz, you know, I'm older than them. I should be worse. But I'm sure they'd beat me in Runescape or Halo.

But yeah, school is out. Still a lot to do, but more time to relax.

I've spent a lot of time with this game, called Knytt Stories. Found it on Kotaku one day:
http://nifflas.ni2.se/

Knytt Stories allows you to make your own levels, which is awesome fun. I've actually got about five of my students involved, and we make our own levels and trade them. It's funny though, because they either make them really hard (but they are actually easy for me since I play so much) or they make them impossible (where you have to exploit glitches to win). I'll post my own level, "The Ghost Tower" a homage to the Castlevania games, when I am finished with it. But yeah, Knytt Stories is fantastic.

The game "Within a Deep Forest" also on the page is crazy hard. I know there are games like "I Wanna Be The Guy", but WadF drives me nuts because it's a play mechanic I'm not really used to - you play as a bouncing ball, and you can never stop bouncing! But this Nifflas guy, the creator, is a great, great game designer. He's working on a new game which I think is coming to WiiWare, and I think it's appropriate he gets the wider audience he deserves.

Anyway, I'm planning on coming out to CO perhaps in the beginning of July, prob just for a week or so. I get stressed out trying to see everyone though, plus making time for my mom, so we will see how things go. Clara wants to travel, but I'm not for sure if it's with me and where, so I may not even come out at all.

Btw Randy, I haven't added you on my Wii yet, so I apologize. I unhooked it and it's been that way for a week or so, and after bringing it to school it will probably be unhooked for awhile yet. But I will add you! I want your Miis. :)

Chris

Finally

Mon, 12 May 2008 01:10:39 GMT

Hey guys, it's been awhile, but I am finally posting! Hopefully someone will read this!

A lot, and not a lot, has happened since my last post. I got Brawl obviously, and it's great. Of course I've played it to death - all challenges unlocked except 2000 KO's, all stickers and all songs. About 20 more trophies to go. But overall great game! I wish online were better.

Things with Clara are going really well. Things were kind of iffy for a bit, but we had planned a trip to Colorado before things got iffy, and we still decided to go. I think the trip really helped us both realize we're right for each other. Things are going fantastically. I love her a lot. :)

I did come up to Colorado during Spring Break, sorry I didn't see anyone. :( But it was only for three days, and we had a good time just hanging out together and with my mom. It was already pretty packed, so trying to make it to Ft. Collins would have been too much.

But I want to come out in the summer. I am not teaching summer school, so that gives me a little more leeway in terms of when I can come up.

I hope everyone is doing well! I still keep up on everyone's LiveJournal, but of course I wish we could keep better in touch.

I actually watched that movie "King of Kong" and I thought it was very good - it actually reminded me of all the DDR tournaments and the drama. But I have very fond memories of those times. :)

Peace,
Chris

Brawl!

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:29:17 GMT

I am so excited for Brawl, even after the leaks. I hope I won't be disappointed (although I probably will, just like with Melee).

Also, things with Clara are going really well. w00t!

Merry Christmas!

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 18:43:53 GMT

Merry Christmas everyone!

I know it is always a long time between my posts, but I check my Friends page pretty often, so I am updated on your lives. But what about me? I guess it is hard to find the time to write, but at the same time everything is going well.

On the positive side is Clara. We're still going out, and having a good time. If you had asked me last month what I liked about her, I wouldn't have known what to say - I think I just liked going out with her for the sake of going out with someone. But I am starting to really like her - she is very kind and patient, and she is pretty honest about her feelings which is fantastic (as I tend to be honest as well). She told me at the end of our last date that she feels happy when she is around me, and that makes me just so happy to hear! I like being around someone like that, who feels that way and would be honest (and brave!) to say something like that.

We are going to her church tonight for a small Christmas Eve service (where she is going to play the organ), and tomorrow we are going to Sacramento to spend Christmas with my brother's in-laws. I am pretty excited!

On the negative side, it is getting hard to get up in the mornings. Now, all you Colorado folk are going to laugh, but it is just too cold here! It is really only like 40 in the morning, no snow of course, but my place doesn't really have a heater, or it just reaches into my living room and not the bedroom. Plus, now that I am paying for heat, I tend to use less of it to save money. What this means is that I usually stay in bed a good 10-15 minutes because I don't want to get up! It is just too cold! This really is a lame way to start the day, and it kind of affects everything else I do.

But on the positive side again, work is going somewhat well. I feel like I am not growing professionally here (I love my coworkers, but very few are trained teachers) and may need to leave soon. But the kids are fantastic. They gave me a bunch of chocolate for Christmas, which I'm not a big fan of since I am trying to lose weight. But I always smile and thank them. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with all the chocolate, but I'm so glad these kids are so giving. They really are good kids, and I am so happy they are in my life.

Some of the more unique gifts I received:
-A box of Cocoa Puffs with a "Bee Movie" spoon in it.
-A weird snowman/woman made out of socks (awesome!)
-One student made me a little sock creature, stuffed with bits of paper and probably 6-inches tall, and put a Jr. Sheriff's badge on him. I named him, "Officer Socks"

Josh, you sure you still don't want to teach? Even with such enticing gifts as Cocoa Puffs? Mmmmmmm :)

----

One last thought: sorry I could not come down for Christmas this year. But be happy for me: it took awhile but I have finally made some real friends here. I went to a work party last night and had a blast. Things are just a lot less lonely here.

But at the same time, I miss all you guys, and no one can replace you. I am thinking about either coming down Easter time (but that isn't for very long), or in the summer since I probably won't be teaching summer school. But please don't forget me. :)

Again, Merry Christmas! And Happy New Year!

Chris

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 03:17:50 GMT

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

This year I've been busy!

In February I turned takumi in for littering (3 points). In May I didn't flush (-1 points). Last Wednesday I committed genocide... Sorry about that, milesamatthias (-5000 points). In September I had a shoot-out with rival gang lords on the 5 near LA (-76 points). In April I ate my brussel sprouts (1 points).

Overall, I've been naughty (-5073 points). For Christmas I deserve a lump of coal!

Sincerely,
cho413

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:04:29 GMT

Things are going well with "The Cougar" She is 32, btw, which is all right with me. :D

Happy!

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:11:30 GMT

Still sick, but yeah, let me tell you about Clara. :)

So I've known Clara since I started working at CCS, and she actually works here, too. She teaches Elementary music. We really don't see each other unless we go out of our way to find each other, which is nice. If things go sour, I don't think it will be a big deal, and so far it has been nice seeing her around work.

We've been on two dates so far, we had lunch together at school, and we're trying for a third date this weekend (if I'm feeling better). I really like her! She is sweet, she is cute, she's really good with music. . . that is it so far. :)

The thing I like best about her is that she likes me, too, which is nice. She has called and e-mailed and tried to set up dates and such, too. And she baked me brownies. . . aaaaw :)

She is Chinese, which isn't a thing for me, but she is a little older. I don't know how much older though! She says it's a big gap, but I think she is like 30 or so, which is all right with me. She seems insecure about it, so I am trying to let her know not to be insecure.

But yeah, I'm just trying to have fun. It's nice, because I'm not like consumed by this, as I always thought I'd be. . . I'm pretty chill about the whole thing, and still doing my thing and hanging out with other people, and oh hey! I have a date on Saturday, too. It is really nice.

But please pray for me, because I am still pretty dorky when it comes to girls. :)

C.

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:13:21 GMT

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Been busy. And I've been seeing someone. . . w00t!!

A girl, in case you're still wondering. :)

A REAL girl, to boot. :)

Too bad I am sick right now. :(

C.

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 03:08:01 GMT

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.

I beat Metroid Prime 3 last weekend. . . what a waste of time! [MINOR SPOILERS] The game itself was very fun, but the ending just left me like. . . I spent 20 hours for this? [MINOR SPOILERS OVER]

I did play Wii Sports officially for the first time yesterday. . . my Wii Sports age is 45. Waaaaaaaaah.

Parent-Teacher conferences tomorrow, woo! Wish me luck.

C.

Problems

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:18:53 GMT

Everyone seems to be going through something these days. We all have problems, I guess I just find it interesting that we all have different problems, and when they are similar, we all have different ways of dealing with them.

For instance, Randy seems to be at a career crossroads, making good money but not liking what he does. I, on the other hand, love what I do and where I work, but I think money will force me to work in a school I don't like very much (perhaps). And then Josh, who is starting out his career but doesn't feel very with it.

And I'm sure your reading this have your own problems, and that's fine. I think the nice thing is, first, we all know we have problems, so we're not alone, and second, we can support one another best we can.

C.

Games - A Waste?

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 23:18:19 GMT

I love my Wii, don't get me wrong, but it really is a huge time waster. This weekend I've played Metroid for close to five hours. That time could have been used for writing, or socializing, or reading something.

I oftentimes have to correct people when they imply that reading is a higher form of entertainment than watching a TV show or playing a game. In fact, each of these forms of entertainment has their value, and I don't know if I'd necessarily put one over the other.

However, you can also read/watch something to learn from it, as you would watch a documentary or read an autobiography or something akin to that. Video games really don't offer this - they give you nothing you can use in the real world. Except for the odd game like Brain Age (stave off. . . um, brain rot) and DDR (obvious physical benefits), games are fun but that's about it.

Metroid 3 is a great game, though, probably one of the best I've ever played. Metroid is one of those series I rarely think of, and there are definitely games and series I like better, but every time I play one I become engrossed. For me, it's the little things, such as the familiar weapon upgrades and the ability to morph into a ball, that put this above the pack. It's a 1st person shooter, which there are countless of them, and it has adventure elements, which I'm sure a lot of 1st person games do, but everything just seems to come together here. I went through the first part of one section, maybe a good 5-10 minutes, not encountering a single bad guy, but the experience was still amazing, just looking around, scanning stuff in this new environment. I really can't say that about any other game I've played.

But again, the only way I can rationalize playing this is to say it helps my writing by giving me ideas, and I've come up with two good ones this weekend, but if anything it makes my writing more derivative since I feel stuck in the adolescent action genre that most video games seem to indulge in.

At heart, though, video games are my main hobby, and I should just see it as such.

A couple of things:

Sorry Josh/Randy I never responded to your post on my religion topic. But really, there's not much else I can say. Maybe I can give it some more thought and come back to you later.

And I'm sad because no one has e-mailed me on my Wii yet. :( I've given out my number to a few people, but no one has connected to me yet. . . I want some travelling Miis on my system. :( We'll try again:

5365 1406 8681 9275

C.

Religion Commentary - Read at your Own Risk!

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 04:53:36 GMT

You've been warned - this is all about religion. :)

I've tried looking in the archive, but to no avail, but I remember having a conversation on LJ about Matthew 19:16-26, which reads:

The Rich Young Ruler
16And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?"
17And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
18Then he said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS;
19HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
20The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?"
21Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
22But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
23And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24"Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
25When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?"
26And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

I asked my dad for some info on this passage, as I wanted to discuss it with my high school students, but what he gave was a take I'd never heard before (bear in mind, my father went to college for this stuff).

He said that this is Jesus' words specifically to that man at that particular time. If *I* had asked Jesus today what I needed to do to get into the kingdom of Heaven, the answer would be different.

What my dad meant by this was, Jesus has a knowledge about all of our hearts, and always breaks down the proudest of men. The rich man says, "I've kept all of those commandments, now what?" and Jesus gives him a task he would never do. If I had told Jesus I kept all of those commandments (which I try my best to do), and I asked what I needed to do further, he tell me to do something I would never do, like go back to work at Best Buy (LOL) or never marry or leave the life of a poor man, etc etc.

By this interpretation, Jesus could be doing two things. The first is to reveal to us (specifically the rich man) that we follow the commandments because we want to, because it makes our lives better, not necessarily because we love God (for instance, we may respect our mom and dad because we love them, not God). The second thing Jesus might be showing us is that, again, it is impossible for man alone to enter the kingdom of God, which is why we need the gift of salvation.

It's funny (or sad) because today we watched a video on Rome, which talked about Christian martyrs, and I thought to myself, "Would I die for Jesus?" And sadly, I thought no, because that would be a such a scary thing. I guess it would depend on what the situation is, but if someone asked me tomorrow, with a gun to my head, if I believed in Jesus, I don't know what I would say. Even Peter denied Jesus. I think the apostles are the perfect example of flawed people - they were the ones closest to Him, yet they still had their flaws.

Anyway, I could take this in a million directions, but I need to get back to work. I hope I summarized what my dad told me correctly, but I think it's an interesting interpretation of that passage. In summary, Jesus knows how to turn our pride into shame.

Even when my dad told me that interpretation, I felt so small and the Bible so big, whereas days before I thought I was the pimp at Bible knowledge. Go figure, eh?

C.

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 05:27:30 GMT

I got a Wii!

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Next stop: Metroid Prime 3!