nothing to fear
it’s ok, don’t be afraid. this isn’t a scary blog topic.
something hit me the other day: fear hits everyone at different times. i wondered if at any time, the same fear hits everyone. for instance, i led worship for the first time at a new church in the past couple of months and i was pretty scared. or call it nervousness if you will, but i find that nervousness is somewhat related to fear (fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of doing/saying something stupid). i admitted to the band that i was a little nervous about it being my first time leading worship at the church and they weren’t shocked per se, but i think they might have found it odd.
is there ever a time where someone isn’t going to be nervous when they speak/sing in front of a big group of people? and if so, are they liars? i mean, i feel like whoever you are, if you’re about to speak or sing in front of a bunch of people for the first time, you’re probably going to feel some fear to some degree. it made me think of those tough guys in middle/high school that say they’re not afraid and everyone wonders how they can be so brave. are they really not afraid or are they lying? are some people just inherently not afraid of things that the general population is afraid of?
public speaking, for instance. i love public speaking. but i still get nervous when i have to speak in front of a group. i wouldn’t say i’m afraid of speaking, although technically the nervousness means that i am. hmmm…
names to faces
you ever see that clip from the office where michael scott uses some kind of pneumonic device to learn peoples’ names? well, here it is. it’s bad quality, but you’ll understand the gist.
man, michael scott cracks me up so much.
so in the last couple of months, i’ve met what seems like 1,000 people. that might be an exaggeration, maybe realistically more like 200-300. that’s not so much an exaggeration. i have 2 new jobs each with dozens of co-workers i’ve never met, i sang in the passion choir (a 200 member choir and i met maybe 50 of them), i’ve been teaching SAT prep courses at high schools with classes of 15-25 students each, i’m about to start with georgia tech’s asian christian fellowship where i will meet more students, i lead worship with very talented musicians that i’ve been meeting for the first time, and what’s more, my friends have been introducing me to their friends (either new or visiting from out-of-state).
i don’t say this to complain. i say this so that you’ll give me a break if i forget your name if i’ve met you before. although i feel like the demographics for my blog are more people that i know pretty well and haven’t forgotten the names of. sometimes i just make a up a name based on what i think your name should be. if you look like a chris, i’m going to probably call you chris even though your real name is matt (that’s if i forgot your name, i’m not going to intentionally call you chris when i know your name is matt). and can i just say one thing i’ve observed? white people, i’m talking to you. you all have so many “common” names, it’s really hard to get them all straight. i mean: matt, steve, chris, nathan, sean, shawn, brad, etc. at least with koreans, half of our population is david/john and the other half is daniel/james and they’re usually brothers. with women, same thing: grace or hannah/esther. you have a pretty good chance of saying the correct name if you just guess.
i say this to be facetious of course. i’d say i’m pretty good at learning names. it’s just lately it’s been name overload so it’s been taking me a while. so if you see me for the first (or second time) and i can’t get your name down, i will need some mercy. i get this conversation all the time:
me: hey, my name is enoch. i don’t think we’ve met
anonymous: oh, yeah. actually we’ve met before.
me: crap. what was your name again?
anonymous: it’s anonymous. we met at that obscure thing 4 years ago where there was a huge crowd of people and you looked at me for 1 second and i haven’t seen you since and i heard your name from someone. that’s where we met.
me: …i see
2 months
it’s been 2 months since i got my first smart phone. i just wanted to write about my observations and experiences with it:
- it’s like having an ipod touch that’s always connected to the internet
- autocorrect got annoying so i turned it off
- as long as i have my phone, i always have something to do
- when i first got my phone, i swore i would never leave it anywhere and would always have it by my side. i have just last night forgot it at home when i stepped out and this morning forgot it when i went grocery shopping.
- i used to check my email about 20 times a day. i now check it double that. i can’t tell if i’m exaggerating or not.
- if you words with friends me, you will get immediate retaliation for your word against me.
- pandora in the car is awesome.
- less missed calls in the car. i used to not hear my phone over the music playing, but now my phone politely turns down the music in order to let me know someone is calling. how considerate.
- if you don’t know my new number, let me know and i’ll give it to you (no more 704, sadly).
- i love having more than a 1.4mp camera
new month, new music
there are very few things i love more than new music. i get really excited when i download a new album and get to listen to blast it in my car. it doesn’t even have to be a new album, it could just be 1 song and that’ll get me going. with that being said, i always look forward to the beginning of the month, when amazon puts out their new month’s $5 albums. there’s usually some really good choices in there. i’ve started to stray away from itunes because amazon is usually the cheaper choice of the 2 and they don’t do that protection stuff on their .mp3′s and NOT .mp4′s.
so i thought i’d give a little heads up on some music and some short reviews if you are in need of new music. and i say need because i consider new music a need.
most coldplay albums: i fell for the itunes trick of downloading x and y for 7.99 when they released moto xyloto this past week since they were selling all past coldplay albums for 7.99. what a steal right? wrong. amazon now has x and y, parachutes, and a rush of blood to the head for $5 each. $5!!! what a fool i was not to trust amazon. i only recently got into coldplay and still, i can’t listen to them too much or else i’d get depressed. their songs are just so somber sometimes. i mean, they’re great musicians, i just can’t handle them for too long. anyways, parachutes ($5) and viva la vida (6.99 – still cheaper than itunes) are prob my favorite albums from them so far probably because they’re the more upbeat ones. mylo xyloto is also pretty good. i’m liking it so far. i’d recommend it if you’re a fan of coldplay.
the miseducation of lauryn hill: this one is also $5 in november. man, GET THIS ALBUM if you don’t have it already. i really wish she’d come out with more music cause her music speaks to my soul. for real, her voice is amazing, she can lay down rhymes, sing a balad, anything this woman does is pure gold!! i got this when it first came out and i’m still listening to it regularly.
new switchfoot: ”vice verses” came out a month or 2 ago. i haven’t dl’ed it, but from what i’ve previewed it sounds good. just a progressing switchfoot sound. they didn’t go off the mark, they do what they do best. i’d want to get this if i hadn’t dl’ed so much other stuff already. personally, i love their harder, edgier songs but they also have the softer and “happier” switchfoot songs that people are used to. this one is 8.99 on amazon and 10.99 on itunes.
relient k ep: ”k is for karaoke” came out last month. it came in 2 parts. personally i haven’t listend to relient k since “mm-hmm” came out which i think was their last great album, but in these ep’s they’ve done a bunch of cover songs relient k style. i like part 2 better than part 1 just cause i feel part 2 fits my musical tastes better. part 1 is on sale for $5 (although it is only an ep so you’re not getting the BEST deal), but part 2 is not on sale. sucks, cause i like part 2 better. i might just dl a couple of the part 2 songs cause i like them so much.
new david choi: i’m a big fan of david choi. his new album “forever and ever” is definitely more upbeat, more jazzy/bluesy than his debut or his sophomore album. personally i thought his first album was more folk-y than it needed to be especially when you heard songs from him like “that girl”, “valentine’s day”, and “won’t even start”. ”by my side” was kind of a softer side of david choi. but “forever and ever” is more the classic david choi you like to hear. it’s got more of the raspy voice david singing runs and even rapping. ”forever and ever” is 7.99 on amazon, 9.99 on itunes.
get your new music!!
all new, all fresh
so i’m in the middle of a phase where i’m just changing a bunch of things. out with the old, in with the new. here are some of the things:
- started paleo
- new iphone (my first smartphone ever! can you believe i haven’t renewed my contract in 9 years? 9 YEARS?!?!?)
- new job opportunities (i can expand on that one at a later time)
- new jobs
- new motivation
i mean, that’s a lot of stuff. especially for a guy who likes things to stay consistent. so far, it’s been a good feeling doing these new things. i really do feel like new person. i especially can’t believe what i’ve been missing out on without a smart phone. i now know how people can spend so much time on their phone. i never understood that.
so here’s to new things. a new journey. and hopefully new results.
