My Brother Passed Away

For those of you that do not know much about me, I am the oldest of nine children. I have five brothers and three sisters. Four of my five brothers are in wheelchairs.

On Tuesday evening, my brother Michael (the oldest boy) passed away in CHOC Hospital due to complications to the flu.

My brother Daniel was also in ICU at the time, and is still currently there. Christopher was taken in to the hospital around midnight that night because he started to look sick and the doctors at the hospital wanted to make sure we brought him in before it was too late. He is currently still in the hospital. They will keep in the hospital until he is able to handle all of his regular feedings.

So, if you could say a prayer for my parents and brothers that would be amazing.

Michael is in the red chair, Daniel in the purple chair, Christopher in the blue chair, and Simon is in the green chair.

God Bless

Under One Sun

One of the most important lessons we can learn is to learn more about people who have different views of life. The last few weeks, we have had a unique opportunity to exchange emails with a college student in China. This has been a great opportunity because of the vast distance between the United States and China. It has been two weeks, and I have been able to learn a lot about this young girl. Through this short exchange of emails, I have found that we actually have a lot in common.

Her parents run a business that her younger brother is going to be taking over to keep it in the family. This is very similar to a lot of people in the States. Many parents own their own business and their children take it over when they are old enough to take care of the company.

In China, they also play American movies and television shows. I found it interesting that she referred to all of the television shows as “plays.” She would always refer to the American television plays instead of American television shows, like we would say here in America. She watches many of the same shows that college girls in America also watch. One of the shows that she watches that is an American television show is “Gossip Girl.”

Just like China shows American television, American films are also easily found in China. A lot of the hit movies in America are also hit movies in China. Cartoons are also popular in China. She has seen all of the “Ice Age” movies, as well as movies such as “50 First Dates” and “Pirates of the Caribbean”. I think it is very interesting that young adults on two different parts of the world would be interested in the same movies. I think that this is possible because movies are universal. This is important because it shows how we are really similar. Just because people live on opposite sides of the world does not mean that they're completely different. Instead, it shows that we are able to connect to people all over the globe.

China is very similar to America because just like there is a difference between the East Coast and the West Coast in America, there is a difference between the North and the South in China. However, they are all similar because they are all traditional. They are kind and hospitable.

The girl we emailed with also had a blog. Because I have a blog myself, this was very exciting. Once again, it shows that people always want to be heard. It is important for people to be able to connect with each other. Sometimes, it is hard, but being able to communicate with people and sharing experiences is important, and just like in America, blogs are one way that we are able to do this.

Overall, I have found that I have a lot more in common with a girl from China than I had originally thought. I have enjoyed getting to know her and hope that the conversation continues.

God Knows Best

"He who asks of God in faith things needed for this life is sometimes mercifully heard and sometimes mercifully not heard. For the physician knows better than the patient what will avail for the sick man."

Starting ten days ago, I started a novena to the Holy Spirit. I was praying that Joey would get a job in San Diego before the end of the novena. Eight days in, not only did Joey get the job, but also an apartment. AND not only did he get the apartment, on that eighth day, the apartment complex was able to give him an even better deal than all the previous deals that we had gotten in the past!

God definitely knows what the best timing for His will is. Like I started with, this quote is something that is really hard for me to follow, however, it is times like these where He pulls through, and goes way beyond my original hope!

PRAISE GOD!!!

Praying before Work

I have often wondered how you can be an example of Catholicism when you are working in a secular workplace. Obviously, actions speak louder than words (something I am sure we have all heard a thousand times!).

However, I have also recently stumbled upon a prayer book that has a prayer called "Prayer before Working". It was then that I realized how important it is to start of your work day praying. It makes doing any kind of job worthwhile.

Here is the prayer:

Prayer Before Working

We beseech Thee, O Lord, to direct our actions by Thy holy inspirations, and carry them on by Thy gracious assistance, that every prayer and work of ours may begin always from Thee, and through Thee be happily ended. Amen.

St. Joseph.

Pray for us.

For those of us who are also still students, this prayer book also has a prayer called "Prayer before Study". I find this prayer to also help me stay focused on the fact that the reason I am able to learn and go to school is through the Grace of God.

Here is the prayer:

Prayer Before Study (adaptation from St. Thomas Aquinas)

Ineffable Creator, Thou art called the true font of light and wisdom, and the origin of all things. Pour forth a ray of Thy brightness into the darkened places of my mind; disperse from my soul the twofold darkness into which I was born: sin and ignorance.

Grant me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, insight to interpret, and eloquence in speech.

May Thou guide the beginning of my study, direct its progress, and bring it to completion.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Holy Mary, Seat of Wisdom.

Pray for us.

Iran Daily vs Tehran Avenue

Global Cultures II

One of the classes that I am currently taking is a Global Cultures class. In this class we study other cultures in order to become more aware of others beliefs. This past week, we looked at Iran. We were told to look into two websites.

This post is my response to what I discovered in these two website new sources.

The news sources are:

http://www.iran-daily.com/

http://www.tehranavenue.com/

Iran Daily vs. Tehran Avenue

One of the main stories was about Israel and Gaza and how Israel blocked school supplies from a school in Gaza. They are also worried North Korea's short range missiles. One important thing that this Iran news source found about the missiles was that “North Korean leader Kim Jong Il indicated the country's willingness to return to the six-party talks, provided there was progress in bilateral talks with Washington. In an initial reaction, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday's missile launches did not affect Washington's policy towards Pyongyang.” Not only did this article show how they felt about North Korea and their missiles, but through the last sentence we see that it is important to Iran what the United States representatives say and how they feel about issues even if the United States are not directly involved.

Interestingly, two other stories that made the front page this week were more about the people in the area. One of them was about a flu vaccine that was coming to Iran in April. It is the first time Iran is getting the flu vaccine. In the article, the author wrote, “Iran requested to buy flu vaccine from American, British and French Companies later than other countries, therefore the vaccines will enter Iran in the next Iranian year (starting March 21, 2010).” Again in this story we see the importance of American in Iran. The other story was about an electric cars contest in Tehran. This seems to be a fun article to have in the Iran Daily. Unlike a lot of the other articles in this newspaper, it is interesting that there is such a lighthearted news article in the middle of so many heavier articles.

Another interesting story that was in the newspaper, “Iran Daily”, was about marriage. In the city of Minoudasht between 2002 and 2007, five years. “Bahram Bakhtiari Saeed, a faculty member of Azad University in Gorgan, says strong religious beliefs and training children to observe moral principles are the most important factors preventing family separation in Minoudasht, Mehr News Agency wrote.” I find this very interesting that they see that it is their religious background the reason for their high moral standards.

Unlike the Iran Daily newspaper, the Tehran Avenue news source seems to be a lot more similar to a blog than an actual newspaper. Although it has a lot of different pages and is not just a continuous blog, all of the articles in the Tehran Avenue seem to be more of opinion pieces. This news source has an entire section called “Around Town.” In this part of the website, there are five subsections. They are cafe, citylog, fiction, society, and outdoors. Each of these subsections have opinion pieces about the topic that it is under. They also have a section called “The Art.” The five subsections in this section are drama, exhibition, film, literature, and music. These also have opinion pieces that have to do with the section that they are under.

In the “About Us” section, they describe themselves by saying “The small group of young writers who originally contributed to the magazine has now grown into a sizable community. They are trying to focus on issues that official or established media seldom do. In the various sections of TehranAvenue, or in its back alleys if you prefer, the visitor will come upon a new language that is trying to push the limits of understanding and not simply stay within the confines of communication.” I find this very interesting because it seems that it is a site that is not so much just for the news, but for the people themselves. Having articles written by people just like them allows them to connect with those who live a similar lifestyle. This shows that they want to have a strong sense of community. This site was created to help to encourage this type of community where people can write about what they have experienced in that community.

They Really Need to Make A New Word For Busy

The quarter I have been waiting for is finally here!!

Since Joey and I got engaged, I have been waiting for this quarter for our wedding!

And now it is finally underway!

As the second week starts to come to an end, many things are happening.

As we are finishing our last quarter of our junior year we have plenty of projects to keep us busy. Between being the Producer for our Production Simulation class to planning a wedding to helping as a 2nd AD for a production called "Bump" this quarter will definitely be flying by!

As we approach the last six weeks before the wedding, we are anxiously awaiting the day to come. It is crazy that we are so close! I still remember thinking how exciting it was that we had less than 300 days until the wedding! Having less than 45 days now is almost unreal.

Even though this quarter is going to be nothing but busy, it will be a very fun, upbeat, and life changing quarter!