Well I wrote a simple FAQ in html and you can view it on the 「福音」 section of my blog or just by clicking here. It's typically a simple explanation of many things regarding God and Jesus Christ. I plan to update that when necessary, because it's no chore for me at all to research about God. If you ever had questions, check the FAQ out and it might have the answers, or you can ask me and we'll seek the answers together.

My cough has gotten a lot better. I'm still coughing but I barely notice it anymore sometimes. And it's not a dry cough like before anymore. So it'll probably be only a few days before this completely clears up.

Phoenix eluded a 4-0 sweep by San Antonio today, with a 111-106 win in San Antonio. The win was a bit surprising really, because the first three quarters went the Spurs' way. But it was the fourth quarter where the Suns seemed to really shine. They were making defensive stops (surprise surprise!), including a game-sealing block by Amare Stoudemire on Tim Duncan. The series heads back to Phoenix now, where Phoenix will try to win another game and try to stay alive, but the Spurs will try to close it out before the series gets ugly for them.

Honestly, I don't hate the Suns anymore. When you learn more about their players and their coach, they're really not so bad. So they chose a fast offensive style. So what? It worked for them. And they aren't bad people anyway. But that doesn't mean I prefer them over the Spurs, because the Spurs are a great defensive team (best defensive team in the west, arguably) with respectable offense, which decimated the Suns' weak team defense in the first three games.

Miami took a 2-1 lead yesterday, and will have another game tomorrow, in Detroit again. I'm a bit disappointed that my Pistons allowed Miami to score in triple digits but oh well. Let's hope for the better for Detroit.

Ahaha. Well I've been sick for the past 3 days, sadly. I missed church last Sunday, and I'm going to miss Dawn Watch today too. I feel bad, and I have this horrible taste of my mouth, which is a constant reminder that I'm sick. I have a cold, cough, and flu. The flu gets better now and then, gets worse when I just wake up from sleep, and stuff. The cough can get irritating, but it's not so bad now as it was on Sunday night, because that was just nasty. It made my throat hurt, and I kept coughing even if there wasn't anything coming out, you know? But all in all I'm okay, so that's good. Abby's sick too btw, but she doesn't have flu. Just a cough and colds. It's actually strep throat, the cough. We got it from the same place, which was probably last Saturday at the mall. I don't know where exactly.

Now that Indiana is out of the playoffs, I'm rooting for Detroit, which was my favorite team last year. They go up against Shaq and the Miami Heat, which is Abby's current favorite team. It's not that I dislike Miami. I even fear them. But I've always liked Detroit's defensive style. Game 1 begins later today in Miami (Monday night in America).

Now for my obligatory review on the teams. Miami is a scary team. They had the best record in the NBA for a long time until San Antonio took that from them, then Phoenix shortly after. Miami has Shaq and Dwayne Wade, who are both MVP-quality players. Miami also has Alonzo Mourning, who was a former all-star and the top player for the Heat until his kidney disease put his career temporarily down. I'm happy for him though, because after all that he's able to come back and fight, and actually do good enough to be scary off the bench.

Now for Detroit. Detroit? Where do I begin? Detroit has the always frightening Ben Wallace. Defensive Player of the Year and rebound monster, despite being relatively short for a center. Detroit also has the wonderful team defense, which is really what defines a defensive team, rather than individual box score stats like steals and stuff. A team that prevents the other from scoring as much as possible, controlling the pace of the game with their own slow-down offense as well. Having control is really how to win basketball games, and any coach will tell you that.

Wish both teams luck as they face off later!

Okay enough about that. I randomly got the modem to work on my PC. Really, just randomly. I couldn't get the drivers to work before, I tried installing drivers from various sources too. This time, all I did was plug the modem in, and let Windows detect the driver, and voila! It just worked, just like that. Hmm...

That been said, Abby and I can play PSO:BB at the same time now. We spent last night levelling our characters together. I used my level 20's character to take her to a higher level dungeon that she can't normally go to yet. She's gotten like 7 levels in only a couple of hours heheh. Meanwhile I've only gotten 1. o_o At least my MAG has already evolved, and is level 42; I need to get the Mind stat up above Dex before the MAG reaches level 50, to get the evolution I want. It kinda feels like Pokemon. o_o You can even trade them and stuff.

Well, that's it for my hero Miller. A legend bids farewell, as the Pacers lose 88-79 in Conseco Field House. It was a good run, and Reggie can look back and feel good about himself, because he truly was a legend. In that last game, he scored 27 points, went 11 of 15 field goals, and hit 4 of 8 three pointers. Tinsley was cold with 0 points, and one of the series' X-factors, Jeff Foster, only had 6 rebounds.

Bye Reggie! We'll miss you!

(Now time to get myself a commemorative jersey!)

Next, I got to play Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst these past few days, and it's a blast. My machine can just barely handle it, but it's not horribly unplayable. But it seems in our current state, Abby and I can't play PSO at the same time, because her PC, which serves the internet in our network, can't send upstream to our connection while she's playing. In other words, the connection stops when she runs the client. We tried to move the modem to my PC last night, because she had this problem before with Khan, another MMORPG, and moving the modem to my PC solved the problem. But a new problem arose, which was that I couldn't seem to install the proper drivers for some reason. I would install drivers, and it would cause the modem to work, but it works erratically, incapable of sending or receiving any data from the internet. I'm not sure what went wrong, because I used the same drivers and settings that Abby's PC uses with the same modem...

Lastly, when we were at the mall today, I "accidentally" bought PhP135 worth of candy. Don't get me wrong, the candy was good, but I didn't expect to spend PhP135! Oh, and eating them so much made my throat hurt a bit, so now I'm coughing.

Oh and one last thing. Here's a fun link. It's kinda old, but I forgot to post it until now.

CUBISM

Ah yes. Last Saturday was the JCone event. We were there before 11 AM, to help set up. Abby's in the Designing Arts Ministry, so they're responsible for making the little designs and motifs and stuff, you know, for the stage. So I was there too, to help. And they really needed help. They just barely finished the work before 3 PM, which was when everyone was to stop working because the people were going to arrive soon after. The event itself was a success as I saw, though none of the friends I invited except Cat (who was invited by Abby anyway) actually went there... Joiz was supposed to come but she became shy (*sad*). Ah well, I'm still encouraged by the fact that when we invited them, Dairyu and Frank were actually excited to go.

Next, we watched Kingdom of Heaven today, at the Podium. It's actually my first time to watch a movie there, because I don't really go to the Podium to hang out often. The theater was a lot smaller and cozier than I expected, but was very comfortable, and felt like a private theater really (you know, the kind that rich people that live in huge estates might have if they're into that sort of thing). The movie was good. Not favorite-movie material for me, but I can't complain. I thought at first that the movie was about the Crusade of King Richard the Lionheart, but it wasn't. It was about the events that lead to King Richard's Crusade. Still good though.

I witnessed Miami sweep the 2nd round series against the Wizards today too. What a game. At first, up to the fourth quarter, it was all Miami. They were up by at least 10 points for a long time, then they went cold, and the Wizards caught fire, and actually took the lead close to the end of the game. But Miami rallied back, and the Wizards couldn't make a comeback, and thus ends their season. Miami is Abby's favorite NBA team.

While playing Ez2Dancer today, some guy with a camera took our picture. It was a candid shot, and the only reason I noticed was because of the flash. Interesting. You know, I got that a lot with the old machine like 3 years ago, but that's the first time anyone's taken my (or our) picture on this new machine. Oh, it's a little broken though. The left player's left step is a little weak, causing many a miss on songs that require a lot of left steps of course. I hope they fix it.

Sunday worship's message really hit the spot for me. Last Friday, I asked my DGroup leader for some advice and/or encouragement (regarding sin). He gave me good advice, and told me to read Psalms 103, which I did. That alone was already very touching to me. Then Sunday worship's message made a mention of a couple of verses from the same chapter. It really boosted me up, and I feel much better, and much more able to serve the LORD. I've henceforth decided to try to memorize Psalms 103.

Psalm 103

Of David.

¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

² Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

⁶ The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:

⁸ The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.

⁹ He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;

¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;

¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
the LORD's love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children's children-

¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the LORD, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.

²¹ Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.

²² Praise the LORD, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Beautiful, no? And it really helps you understand how God is, how He works, etc.

Lastly, CCF's sports ministry is going to hold a badminton tournament in June, and I'm going to sign up (if you didn't know, I used to be a pretty good badminton player, now I dunno lolx). So all of you who want to and can watch, please do!

Now listening to: Pierrot - Purple Sky

Yay. It's official. The Pacers beat Boston in blow-out game 7 (97-70). The Pacers move on to the 2nd round and face the defending champions, the Detroit Pistons. Wow this'll be a great defensive matchup. They lost in Detroit already in game 1 though, 81-96. They just need to get their bearings and they'll be fine. But to be honest, I like both teams, so even if the Pacers lose, I'll end up rooting for Detroit. But I want the Pacers to win now, for Reggie. Go Reggie!

Next, Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst started its open beta testing phase today! Actually, as I'm writing this the downloads section is still not up, but it will be later. They said May 10 (and to us, in Asia, it already is). So yeah.

As for Guild Wars, I feel like I'm close to getting it finally lol. I just need to convince mom that buying it once is better than having to pay for a game regularly, such as we did with RO back in the day.

Lastly, Takeo, the mechanical drummer of Pierrot, is completely insane. I've been practicing Purple Sky for the last few days now (probably over a week), and I really can't get some part, which is part of the tame part. I'm trying to get it exactly how he did it, but it's so hard because he's a lefty and I'm not, or at least I think that's the reason it's hard. Or maybe it's just because he's a machine and I'm not. *shrug*

Well, God has proven Himself faithful yet again. If you remember last week's post, I mentioned my friend Shah. I met with him again at Soul Stop, and he tells me that his sister contacted him Thursday. She was telling him how angry his parents were for his accepting Jesus Christ, among other things. But Shah is just happy that he's getting any contact at all with his family. Thanks to everybody who prayed, and to God be the glory for this!

Because I'm in a little physical pain right now (my left leg has a kink in it; I think I fell asleep in an awkward position, because the lower right side of my back hurts too), I spent a little time yesterday playing Soul Calibur 2 (instead of playing Ez2Dancer all the way), which I haven't done in almost two months I think. I got challenged, and that's where you really know you haven't played in two months, because I lost for the most part. I won two out of four matches, but I can say that the time that I won when I was using Taki (my former best character) was a stroke of luck instead of skill, because he gave me a mercy round after beating me horribly the first two rounds, and then he ringed out on the last two rounds on flukes IMO (it's a best of 5 round game). The other time that I won, I was using Talim, who is always confusing overall. I can attribute this a little to skill, but frankly, I just did what every good Talim player does; be unpredictable. He probably hasn't played against any Talim players in a while either, because it felt like he was in shock when I was doing some of the moves, which were pretty much basic. Anyway, it was a good set of matches there overall, and I'm glad I had fun even if it's my first time playing in a while. I still played Ez2Dancer though, just not as many games as I normally would. My leg went numb after a few games. I think the air conditioning should be boosted there too, because it's getting nasty with the humidity if you ask me.

About two days ago, an old friend of mine back from my chatting days, Joiz, contacted me, asking if we could meet sometime. Of course, I'd be happy to meet with her. I haven't seen her in a long time, and she doesn't even know that I've accepted Christ yet. But aside from that, I realized something from her contacting me, which is that I have a lot of other old friends that I need to get in touch with again. I'll try.

Speaking of friends, next week is a very exciting week for me and everybody at JZone, because we'll be having a JCone event, which is an Evangelistic ice cream event, where you get to eat free (?) ice cream, while sharing the Gospel to your friends. So I'm encouraged to bring friends along.

Finally... yesterday Indiana played game 6 against Boston, and lost in OT. This annoys me, because now they have to go play game 7 in Boston, which is a basketball city. This could get ugly for Indiana...

Whew. What a tiring week! Not that I'm complaining, but I've done a lot these past few days in particular.

I went out Friday night and bought a basketball. It was a Spalding basketball with a blue and yellow Pacers design (and the name and jersey number of Jermaine O'Neal). Because Saturday I would be playing basketball (for the first time since the Delta J camp last month, which was the first time I played in years!). The basketball game(s) went well. But I haven't been this tired in years, not even with Ez2Dancer! Imagine running back and fourth from one side of the court to another for almost an entire hour! I know I was able to do that before, like back when I was in high school. I didn't realize until now how much more in shape I was back then, and how different I am now. But I'm hoping that if I keep working at it, I'll get everything back, even my shooting ability. I was like at least a 30% 3-pt shooter, and over 80% at free-throws. Now I can't hit a three at all, and my free throws are like 20% or something. We played at a covered court in Valle Verde 1, which I have never been to until now. They played me as a center because I was tall and had a big body (sad), though my natural position (back in high school at least) was either a guard or at least small forward, being a passer, shooter and perimeter defender. I think I'll play every week from now on, and I'll practice dribbling in my spare time. Maybe if I get better at ball handling and I get my shooting ability back, and I regain my passing skills, they'll play me as a guard again.

Next, speaking of Ez2Dancer, I didn't get to play much yesterday. Can you imagine that?! I wanted to play more but there were so many people playing, including some of my buddies who used to play on the first Ez2Dancer machine in the Megamall. They're not much of freestylers either, but at least they picked (and can pass) the technical songs, even songs that I can't pass! Songs like Changa (Theme of Ez2Dj) on Real mode, ZtarwarZ on Real/Club, etc... These songs are a bit out of my league for now, because I never played them before on those modes, hence I never studied their moves. This is a call for me to learn them now!

One more thing. One of my friends, who goes to our church too, whom I also first met at the Delta J youth camp last month, is having some problems. His name is Shah (read as Sah-hah), and he's originally a rich kid from Nepal. He left his home, his friends, his wealth, even his family there to pursue a search for God. And he found Him, and he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. That's the good part. The bad part is that his family now disowns him. If you didn't know, Nepal is mostly a Hindu country. A country where Christians are literally persecuted. Sometimes you'll get beat up by a large group randomly, if they find out you're a Christian! That's how bad it is. So his family disowns him, and he can't go home. He's low on cash now here, but that's not what his problem is. He misses his family. Even if they disown him, he grew up with them. He would at least like to talk to them, even once now. His family doesn't even answer his phonecalls, or his letters, or even e-mails! They said that they'd take him back if he renounces Jesus Christ, and never mentions that name again. Shah, of course, will never do that. But it's causing him some grief right now. So for all of us that believe, let's pray to God for Shah, and his family, that they would open their hearts and at least talk to him, and that Shah would regain comfort and stability in his life. His faith is really being tested now, and though he looks strong in it, it's a frightful thing to go through...

Oh and one more thing that I failed to mention. My ankle hasn't been 100% healed since I sprained it last month, back at the Delta J youth camp. My sprain case was so horrible. It healed in about 3 days, at least enough for me to walk around on it, and on the fifth day, it was healed enough to dance on (that's when I first played Ez2Dancer!). However, it still had some pain, sometimes throbbing pain, and that would continue for about 2 more weeks. Last week, my ankle was feeling much better. No more pain except when I try to turn it some ways, but it's a little stiff. It lost its flexibility. So I was worried about playing basketball last nigt. I was worried that I might either re-injure it, or that I wouldn't be able to run or jump because of the stiffness, as I haven't done any running or jumping at all since the camp. Thankfully, my ankle was fine. It didn't hurt or get hurt, and wasn't stiff at all! I was running and jumping just fine, and my relative slowness right now was because I'm not in as good shape as I was when I was in high school, especially during the times of C.A.T.! Man, I felt like I had the strength and endurance of an ox back then...

Anyway, lastly, NBA news! The Pacers are up 2-1 over the Celtics, the Suns have taken a surprising (to me) 3-0 lead over the Grizzlies, and the Spurs are tied at 1-1 with the Nuggets!