Weblog
Sunday, 30 December 2007
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she said "yes!"
Dearest Friends,
Great news cometh! Angela and I are engaged!
This is how it went down…on Dec 21st I flew back to the U.S. to surprise Angela (she wasn’t expecting me until February). Our friends Tim and Sarah invited her up to Boston to celebrate Christmas with their family, so I picked her up at the bus station on Dec 22nd with a bouquet of flowers. The look on her face was priceless! =)
On Dec 23, we went on an all day date and walking tour of the “Freedom Trail.” It was a crisp and chilly day with a foot of snow on the ground, typical Boston weather this time of year. Around 4pm we were heading back to take the subway home, but I asked her to make one more stop to see the Public Gardens right next to the Boston Commons and Park St. Church before we went home.
“I heard that the Public Gardens was really beautiful and since we’re here, we might as well check it out before we leave.” I said.
“But, I’m tired…” complained Angela.
"Come on, let just go really quick to check it out.” I said enthusiastically.
“Ooookkkk….” She agreed hesitantly.
We arrived at the park and walked around a few minutes when I noticed that the lake in the middle of the park was frozen. I thought to myself, “Yes! It would be so awesome to propose standing (or I should say, kneeling) in the middle of the lake!” So we walked to the edge of the lake and I noticed that the lake had some pretty slushy parts. I thought to myself, “ok, it would be fun to do in ON the lake, but I could immediately regret this decision if one of us end up IN the lake! That would not be romantic AT ALL!” So I immediately nixed that plan.
So we stood by the edge of the water, hugged each other a bit and just enjoyed the view. I held her by the waist and said to her, “so Angie, I have a Christmas present for you.”
“What is it?” she said nervously, thinking the whole time that I was going to throw her into the lake!
“I have it with me.” (STILL thinking I’m going to throw her into the lake!)
“So…I came to Boston to surprise you, but I actually have another surprise for you….”
I then told her that I loved her (the first time I’ve ever told her this). She paused in a bit of shock before replying. I then said to her “I love you and I’ve pretty much come to a place in my life where I can’t imagine living life without you in it.” I then took out the ring, got down on one knee, and asked her to marry me. She immediately said “Yes!” We hugged it out a little bit, throwing in a few kisses. Bada Bing, Bada Boom, we’re engaged!
Thank you all for all your love, support, and prayers for all us all this time! We greatly appreciate it, and we greatly appreciate you guys!
With Much Love,
Herman & Angela
Friday, 15 December 2006
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making an elf of myself
So for those who didn't know, I got a new part-time gig just for the holiday season. I'll attach a link that will explain everything. Check me out in tights and check out my new dance moves too!
Just click HERE to see what I'm talking about.
Don't hate! You wish you could dance like me!
Tuesday, 05 December 2006
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Currently Listening
Kirk Franklin & the Family Christmas
By Kirk Franklin & the Family
see relatedmarathon two
I guess this entry is a little late. But for those who were wondering, I DID run the second half marathon that I had been training for (on Nov 26).
For some reason it was not as exciting to me as my first one, but it was a good race nonetheless. I spent most of the race fighting to breathe because I had a head cold, and fighting to breathe because of the the crazy fumes from running most of the race along and under the highway (with the cars piled up on the opposite side of the road with ALL their engines on)! I also spent a lot of time dodging runners who would get tired and just stop in the middle of the road (usually you want to move to the side before stopping). I actually had to push at least two guys and a girl in the back just to avoid trampling over them!
I think the highlights of the race for me was being able to finish the race nearly 10 minutes faster then the one I ran back in July. I did this one at just about 2 hours. I loved running it with graceyc, peachipig, and my good buddy from college who I ran into just before the beginning of the race! It was a very nice surprise! Some other highlights include running the first half of the race with some expat ladies who had these red shirts made that said "快太太“ on it (fast wives), and they actually were pretty fast!
But my favorite was the last mile of the race...I could see the finish line in the distance so I decided to try to sprint the last mile. With about half a mile to go I let out this one big "whoop" to motivate myself. Just as I did it, I was running past about 7 or 8 guys running in a pack. They heard me whoop and so they let out one big whoop in unison and started running with me! So I did it again...and they did it again! I found myself leading a little "whooping cadence" all the way to the finish line! Haha! It was great! 
my old college buddy who i didn't know would be at the race!
graceyc, peachipig and me at the finishline
So that's it! The second half marathon in a year is under my belt! I've also lost a grand total of about 28 pounds since May of this year. Crazy eh?! Since then, I have learned to eat a lot more healthy and I am pretty sure I am addicted to running now. The next goal...go for the full-marathon baby! Who wants to join?
Friday, 24 November 2006
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Currently Watching
Drumline (Full Screen Edition)
By Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Jones, Leonard Roberts, GQ, Jason Weaver, Earl Poitier, Candace Carey, Shay Roundtree, Miguel A. Gaetan, J. Anthony Brown, Afemo Omilami, Angela E. Gibbs, Tyreese Burnett, Brandon Hirsch, Omar J. Dorsey, Al Wiggins, Nicholas B. Thomas, Petey Pablo, Stuart Scott
see relatedhandel's messiah
I have been anxiously anticipating the coming performance of Handel's Messiah on December 9th. It is one of my favorite musical compositions, and listening to it as Christmas approaches has been a little tradition I've started for myself ever since college. I know I am a little early, but with the performance coming and my good friend lisa_dreams performing in the choir, I just couldn't resist firing it up early this year! I don't listen to classical music all the time, but there's just something about the baroque era that deeply draws my soul. I first fell in love with the works of this era listening to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos in my music appreciation class that I took during college.
I consider Handel's Messiah one of the most masterful pieces ever written during this era. Not only because of the beauty of the music but if you read the history behind the work you will see that its mastery went even beyond the walls of performance halls. I'll give you the sweet and condensed version of what I mean (compiled from multiple internet sources):
Growing up as a Lutheran, the German composer moved to England in 1712 and found it very difficult to compete with the more established English composers and it's hard-to-please audiences. He faced bankruptcy on multiple occassions. He tried desperately to recover from one failure after the other and his health also began to deterriorate. Finally in 1741, Handel had hit rock bottom and found himself in severe debt. It seemed certain that he would land in debtor's prison.
However on April 8 of that year two significant events changed the course of his life (which I believe was God's intervention). A good friend of his gave Handel a libretto based on the life of Christ, taken entirely from the bible. He also received a commission from Dublin charity to compose work for a benefit concert. So he locked himself in a little house in London and went to work completing the entire 260 page manuscript in a remarkable 24 days (this is extremely fast for a work of this calibur! it's pretty unheard of!). A friend of his who visited him while he was composing the Messiah found him sobbing with intense emotion. Later, as he groped for words to describe what he had experienced, he quoted St. Paul saying, "whether I was in body or out of my body when I wrote it I know not."
Messiah premiered on April 13, 1742 at the charity benefit and it raised 400 pounds! Freeing 142 men from debtor's prison! Thereafter, Handel conducted more then 30 performances of Messiah. Many of these concerts were benefits for the foundling hospital, of which Handel was a major benefactor. The thousands of pounds that Handel's performances of Messiah raised for charity led one biographer to note, "Messiah has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan...more than any other single music production. In this or in any country." Another wrote, "Perhaps the works of no other composer have so largely contributed to the relief of human suffering."
However, the composer's own assessment may have best captured his personal aspirations for his well-loved work. Following the first London performance, one listener congratulated Handel on the excellent "entertainment." Handel replied, "My Lord, I should be sorry that I only entertained them. I wish to make them better."
Isn't that a remarkable story?! Handel's art (and i might add, despite even attacks from the Church at the time) influenced society and changed culture! It rings home deeply with my heart and what God has been teaching me these past two years. It reminds me that no matter our art, craft or vocation we are called to be influencers of society and culture. That is a part of our cultural mandate. This is what it means to live out the "four-chapter gospel." Handel's Messiah did the very work that THE Messiah wanted for us all to do! And how appropriate that it was a musical composition about Him!
Listening to Handel's work makes my very soul and heart move. It is beauty that I have yet to touch, but something that I hope and long for. As Bono says, "it's like a melody that i can never truly put into words." (loosely quoted) It challenges me to think about what life, work, art and our world would look like before the "fall." It challenges me to be creative in my influence and bring redemption within my sphere of influence. It causes me to hope for the beauty that is still to come...
Monday, 10 July 2006
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Currently Watching
End of the Spear
see relatedI Finished!!!
Well friends, I did it! I ran the long awaited half-marathon yesterday and I am pleased to report that yes, I finished the whole race without stopping!
It was amazing! I loved it! The adrenaline, the people, the fanfare, the commonality, the excitement! The final time for my 13.1 mile run was 2:10:08 (2 hrs and 10 min). That's a pace of 9:58 per mile! Yes! I am stunned too! Ok, maybe you're not stunned, in fact you're probably saying "big friggin deal!" But I'm stunned! I know that that time is NOTHING compared to seasoned runners (like the guy who finished the same race in 1:07:45 and averaging about 5 min/mile), but as a first-timer I was actually only shooting for a time of 11 min/mile! So I am definitely pleased with this result! For you stat nuts out there, here is the link for all the official/final results (you have to scroll down a little for the half-marathon results). 
The empty bottles of Gatorade I drank in the week and a half leading up to race day. Man! I've drank a lot of Gatorade these past three months! It's DEFINITELY "in me!"
Sorry, bad joke alert... (For those of you in E. Asia who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, the official Gatorade slogan is "Is it in you?")Check this out, I finished 478th place out of 627 in the men's bracket. Haha! That's right baby! I beat 149 guys including two old people (prolly in their late 50's) to the finish line right at the end! Haha!
I know, I know...I'm lame. But really, I saw this old guy and woman running right near me at the end and I thought to myself, "NO WAY am I going to let these two beat me across the line!" So with NOT so blazing speed I pushed ahead and just edged them out at the very end! Haha! (Don't worry, I didn't push them or anything...I figured it wouldn't be very sportsmanlike of me.) 
So here are a few of my highlights and lowlights:
Highlight: I finished without passing out.
Lowlight: The inclines and hills on this course was more then I expected! (people told me this was a hard course but I didn't believe them...whew!)
Highlight: The winner of the full marathon (26.2 miles) came in right behind me. I saw him so I was motivated to beat him across the line too. Just for "psychological feel-good purposes."
(I took him by 13 seconds. hehe.)
Lowlight: The winner of the full marathon came in right behind me. Meaning it took me twice as long to run half the distance he had to run! He was doing 5:30 min/miles! Crazy! Btw, I got a good look at him later and realized that he was a short Kenyan guy with thighs literally as thick as my forearms! His shoes were definitely not running shoes either! In fact they looked like Spiderman sneakers for kids! Like something that you would buy at Walmart of something! Man! I spent some bucks on my Asics! -sigh-
pictured on left: The full marathon winner, with a good view of my ass as i'm smokin' him to the finish line! ok, it was kind of like when you "spot" a little kid 8 points in a one-on-one basketball game to 11pts. Excepts for this it was like, "let's race for 26 miles and i'll spot you 13." Haha! But hey! It's prolly the only chance i'll ever get to say i beat a guy like that to the finish line of any kind of marathon. So i'll take it baby!
pictured on right: The old man who i beat at the end. Oh, don't give me all that "you're picking on old people" crap! You know you would have done the same thing! 
Something Funny: With only about a half mile to the finish line I ran by a couple who was fighting with each other! Apparently, they had run the whole course together, but with just a half a mile to go the girl decided she was too tired and wanted to walk the rest of the way! The guy was trying to motivate her to finish, but she pretty much gave up! Egad! The guy didn't want to leave her behind, even though you could tell he wanted to get to the end. So they were bickering about whether he should just go on or not. She kept saying "just go then!" (Interpretation: "Go ahead and finish your stupid race, but if you go, you're in the dog house you stupid jerk!") Poor guy....
Mental Note: Never run a marathon with your girlfriend or wife. If you do, agree ahead of time that you may not run with her for the WHOLE race!
Well, that's it folks! Three months of training all paid off! (Thanks to those who prayed for me, especially that I didn't pass out or die or anything) Looking forward to running another one soon. Perhaps this coming November. I'm still debating whether to go for the full marathon or not for the next one. So TBD. In the meantime...MY LEGS! THEY PAIN! THEY PAIN!*******************
By the way, the movie I just watched "End of the Spear" is tremendous! It's the story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot and the group that went to share the gospel with the Waodani tribe of Ecuador in 1956. This movie is tremendous and is a MUST see! I was on the edge of me seat the whole time. I just about lost it in the final scenes. Very powerful!
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