Giving Back This Fall

An Executive Director of a non-profit that I admire greatly recently asked me to meet for coffee/drinks. We met and shared good food, tasty drinks and enjoyable conversation. Towards the end I was asked if I’d consider joining their Board of Directors.

I haven’t accepted but do plan to visit their next board meeting to see the group in action and to see if I’d be able to contribute. I also wanted some time to think about how joining a second non-profit board (while working F/T at another non-profit and coaching/volunteering at Franklin HS and volunteering at Treehouse once a month) would affect my ability to really help out in an effective way.

It feels good to be asked but I want to make sure it’s a commitment I can keep.

Well if you’re looking for ways to give back or get involved this Fall – here are a few suggestions:

DiscNW’s Youth Development FunDinner Auction
10/8/11 – 5pm – Montlake Community Center

The Youth Development Fund supports and promotes youth participation in Ultimate Frisbee activities throughout the greater Seattle area. It encourages populations traditionally deterred from participation in not just Ultimate, but from sports in general, by barriers such as finanical need and gender inequality. Many local young athletes who participate in YDF suppported activities benefit from the unique attributes of Ultimate as a sport. In addition to physical fitness, participants gain important life skills, such as improved dispute resolution, since Ultimate is a self-officiated sport.  

 

* My housemate and I are cooking dinner for 4 people in our beautiful West Seattle home. Most likely a combination of Korean and Japanese cuisine. Drinks/cocktails/wine provided. My housemate Doug used to work at Canlis and now is at Seastar and has a great wine collection!

 

Seattle Works Hot Project with Lettuce Link at Marra Farms
10/8/11 – 10am to 2pm – Marra Farms

Lettuce Link (an innovative food and gardening program growing and giving since 1988) creates access to fresh, nutritious and organic produce, seeds, and gardening information for families with lower incomes in Seattle. They work on creating food justice and teach about sustainable food production. Lettuce Link is a program of Solid Ground. Solid Ground is committed to building a community free from poverty, prejudice, and neglect where all members stand confident with the skills needed to achieve their dreams. Volunteers will tend and maintain Lettuce Link’s Giving Garden. Work outdoors in the fresh air weeding, mixing compost, creating paths, fixing fences, hauling wood chips, doing minor repairs, or harvesting vegetables.

 

826 Seattle’s After School Tutoring
Mon-Thu from 3pm to 6pm – Greenwood

 

Thank you for your interest in helping 826 Seattle! Since most of our programs occur during weekday mornings and afternoons, we are looking for volunteers available during those times. We do have occasional openings for weekends and evenings, and we contact potential volunteers as those opportunities arise.

 

Treehouse Donation Drives
All Year Long

Foster parents receive up to $300 from the state each year to clothe a growing child. It’s just not enough. Thanks to the generosity of individuals and businesses in our community, Treehouse distributes clothing, school supplies, and much more to local foster kids through our Wearhouse, a unique store where kids and caregivers shop for free – allowing foster parents to stretch the family budget just a little bit further. 

Hip Hop You the Love of My Life

I remember listening to Run DMC as a middle school kid in suburban New Jersey. My brother and his friends would blast King of Rock and You Talk Too Much while quoting lyrics all the time. That’s when I started my love/obsession with hip hop.

I remember growing up listening to Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, NWA, Beastie Boys, BDP, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Wu Tang Clan, Gang Starr, Nas, Biggie Smalls, Digital Underground, Jay-Z and hosts of others.

My favorite female MC of all time is and will always Lauryn Hill. Her Miseducation album is one of my favorites. Tribe Called Quest also holds a very special place in my heart. Scenario is one of my favorite songs of all time.

When I hear old songs from my youth I reminded of random things like the arcades that used to be under Penn Station in NYC, the 7 train to Flushing and back, the N/R to the village, ultimate tournaments and getting pumped up, car rides throughout the tri-state area, the 77 bus from Livingston to NYC, and all my friends back home.

I’ve had other phases in terms of music. I had a huge New Wave phase in MS/HS and even had a big contemporary christian music phase. But hip hop has been part of my life and will continue to be part of my life.

Nowadays I also listen to The Roots, Kanye West, Jay-Z (Still killing it after all these years), Blue Scholars, Thee Satisfaction, Shabazz Palaces, Macklemore, and yes, I’ll admit it, Rihanna.

What music moves you? Describes you? Lives in your soul? A particular artist? A particular song? Please share…

Fall or Autumn?

Fall/Autumn just started but you wouldn’t know it by the temperature here in Seattle. It’s supposed to hit 78 today! I’m not complaining.

When speaking of seasons we usually refer to them as

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall? Autumn?

It’s odd that this is the only season that has two common names. What am I getting at? I have no idea. Sometimes you (the reader) will have to deal with whatever ridiculousness that enters my mind when I sit down to write.

I’m sorry about this.

Ok, I’m not sorry. Deal with it.

Some highlights this Fall/Autumn:

Ultimate!

High school boys ultimate has moved to the Fall this year and Franklin HS is 1-1. We lost on universe point (game point/sudden death) to Nathan Hale HS 11-12 and it was largely because we couldn’t stop one of their players who was out-jumping our player with best vertical. We also threw away a number of opportunities but I was happy to have the team tested early (unlike last year).

In the second game we had a chance to avenge our loss in last year’s Washington State Championships semi-finals loss to University Prep. We played much better than we did against NH and came away with 13-9 win!

I’m excited for the rest of the season and am also looking forward to having a non-coaching spring for the first time in 8 years in 2012!

Furthermore, south-end seattle ultimate (includes Franklin HS, Cleveland HS, Aki Kurose MS, and Mercer MS) is going to have two stories about them in the news this Fall/Autumn. First off we’ll have a story on the Seattle P-I and also one on Seattle’s NPR affiliate – KUOW! They’re highlighting the programs and the kids who’ve grown up in the south end playing frisbee. Can’t wait!

Bumbershoot – I also attended my very first large music festival this late Summer. I went to Bumbershoot for the first time in my 15 years here and had a blast. City Year had a table there and I had it staffed by some of the corps members but also came out to check-in on them. During that time I got to see two shows that I thoroughly enjoyed. The first was Shabazz Palaces. They had a great set and I really loved it when Thee Satisfaction came out for a song with them!

I also got to see my friend Hari Kondabolu’s comedy set on the national stage. He was hilarious as usual but the last comic they had was god-awful.

New Orleans – In 3 weeks I’ll be taking my very first trip to New Orleans and I’m super stoked about it! I’m attending during the Blues & BBQ Festival and I’ll be seeing two of my friends from City Year New Orleans and formerly from City Year Columbia/South-Carolina. Anyone have any tips about what I should do/eat/see while there?

All in all, it’s going to be a fun Fall/Autumn. I think I’m going to call it Autumn. Yep. That’s settled.

Happy Autumn everyone!

Empire State of Mind

This video has some of my favorite things: Beautiful women, great music (Jay Z & Alicia Keys), and shots of my favorite city in the world! Executive Producers Life + Times, Devin Chanda and Dustin Nakao-Haider for Scheme Engine and Directed by Justin Wu!

Meeting Fellow Tweeps in Seattle’s Asian-Am/Pac-Islander Community

photo by @taiwanesebob

I held my very first ever tweetup this past week! It was themed around Asian-American and Pacific-Islander tweeps and was held at Marination Station! We had 9 adults, 3 kids, and 1 dog! It was great to meet new people and hear stories.

JP (@mymachero and @jpkang) and his wife had three beautiful kids (who all had great fashion sense) and I later found out that we had 8 mutual friends from Seattle and NJ!

Molly (@mollyhawks) works for evo and is super-rad. We may have met briefly a long time ago but we started playing Words with Friends before this tweetup. We talked about non-profits and volunteering/mentoring!

Martha (@martha_kang) and Veronica (@veronicas) worked together at KOMO News and are heavily involved in social media in Seattle!

Nancy (@taiwanesebob) and I used to volunteer at Chill. She works for the City of Redmond in youth development and is the Board Chair for the amazing non-profit Skate Like a Girl!

It was a ton of fun to meet such amazing people and to eat really really good food! Stay tuned for the next one! (Oh and for those of you who are NOT AAPI – everyone’s welcome!)

9.11.11

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of the tragedies of September 11. I still remember driving to work very early 10 years ago and getting a call from my then-girlfriend about how her boss (she worked in the Seattle office of a big financial company) was sending her home early because of some accident at the World Trade Center.

I thought that was weird and turned my radio and listened in disbelief. I immediately turned my car around and headed back home to watch CNN/MSNBC. I remember being pretty worried and confused but when the second plane hit my worry and confusion turned to shock and panic and fear.

I had a number of friends that worked in the Wall Street area and I immediately started dialing numbers… to no avail – except one person. I got in touch with Jenny and she was crying and in shock when she picked up the phone. She worked a few blocks from the towers and was in mid-town – she had run/walked away from the rubble and dust but she was safe. Years later I remember opening a 9.11 photo book to find a picture of her walking down the street – crying and in shock. Haunting.

Eventually I found out that my brother’s best friend at the time – Andy Kim – passed away. I also found out someone from my church Joon Koo Kang – also passed away. They both worked in the north tower.

(Please click the links above to see their 9.11 Memorial posting)

Andy was one of the kindest people I ever met. He was a gifted musician and graciously gave his time to the youth group at his church where my brother was a youth pastor.

Joon Koo used to take my friends and I to Central Park after church to play ultimate. He left behind a loving wife and two kids. He was brilliant at bowling!

I remember that my friend Ricardo just started working with the NYPD before 9.11. I remember chatting with him on-line after his long shifts in the rubble… how he couldn’t even describe what he saw.

Being in Seattle during this time was terrible. My first instinct was to fly home. I wanted to be close to family and friends. I wanted to fly out again this weekend.

I didn’t but I wanted to spend some time on this blog to remember Andy and Joon Koo and the almost 3,000 others who lost their lives that day in NY, DC, and PA.

I also want to express my gratitude to the brave members of our armed forces who risked their lives and continue to risk their lives for our freedom.

Please take a moment this week and the weeks after to express your feelings for a loved one, to give a friend a hug, to smile at someone as you walk by.

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count.  It’s the life in your years.”

~Abraham Lincoln

Messenger Bags and NYC

If you know me well you’ve probably seen me with an old black Manhattan Portage messenger bag strapped over my shoulder. In fact, during college, a friend of mine made a cartoon of me and in it I had on a baseball cap while holding a frisbee while having a messenger bag strapped around my shoulder. It was my calling card. It was me.

Here's a newer version of my bag. Imagine this but all black and crappy

I’ve had the same old messenger bag for over 15 years and it showed. Holes were appearing, the old MP logo had ripped off, the waterproof waxed interior wasn’t so waterproof anymore. But how do I get rid of this bag? What would I do without it?

Yes, I was freaking out.

Anyways, it was time for a new bag. I just bought a new Dell XPS 15 laptop (which I LOVE) and wanted something to carry it in. I also wanted a messenger bag and not a backpack. Remember, this is my calling card! I searched far and wide and finally made a decision!

Behold my new bag!

Same exact color I have!

It’s the Timbuk2 Command Messenger bag. The laptop sleeve compartment zips off and is TSA approved (so I don’t have to take it out of the bag during security check-ins)! It’s pretty dope and I’m happy to say that when you see me… you’ll still see the black strap around my shoulder.

It has a side zipper to get to keys/wallet w/o opening the entire bag up!

It has tons of little compartments for everything you’ll need!

Take a look here: http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/products/laptop/command-laptop-messenger

Everything is going to be ok!