First Trip Diary

So, we went on our first overnight trip with Josh this past weekend. OK, it was only for 2 nights to San Diego, but it was still quite the endeavor for us rookie parents.

We could barely fit everything we needed into our Highlander. I don't know how some of you managed to fly with infants.

We had a great suite at a hotel right on Mission Bay. Having a full kitchen and a separate bedroom was definitely a huge plus. And the fact that Josh is happy in his new booster seat and loves to watch Baby Einstein videos was also key. The hotel provided us with a crib, which Josh didn't seem to mind. He pretty much napped, ate, slept, etc. on his usual schedule. We even managed to time the travel with his naps, and he slept pretty much the whole time in the car.

By the way, I was actually supposed to be attending a medical conference, but I probably ended up attending 25% of it. Sounds like college, huh? :) All in all, it was a great trip, a much-needed break for me and Joyce. I was worried that it would be more draining than refreshing, but it turned out to be just what we needed. I'm still a bit hesitant to fly with Josh at this age, but we're definitely planning more road trips. Anyone want to go to Yosemite this summer?

Thoughts on March Madness

So, yesterday was a pretty good day for Duke Nation. Our men continued their recent run of success, our women finished off a perfect season, and both Carolina teams lost, the Lady Heels to our Lady Devils.
Since the end of this men's season may not be so memorable, we should revel in the good days, right?

Despite our obvious weaknesses, ie. inconsistent offense, inability to close out games, turnovers, etc., March Madness can bring about unexpected results. If George Mason can make it to the Final Four, who's to say that we can't make a run? Of course, a favorable draw in the brackets and some timely upsets would definitely help the cause.

Looking ahead, it looks like we'll end up anywhere from a 3-6 seed. Of course, a 3 seed would be incredible considering we looked like we might miss the tourney altogether at one point in the season. But if we can't rise to a 3, I think I'd rather be a 6 than a 4 or 5, and here's why. Even though our 2nd round game might be a bit easier, the 4/5 seed potentially faces a 1 seed in the sweet 16. A 3/6 seed would face a 2 seed, who might even get a tough game in the 2nd round.

Anyways, this is all pointless conjecture until the brackets come out and we start playing the games. But I, for one, will hold out the hope that somehow, someway, our young team can make a deep run through the madness. And I actually think it's more fun being an underdog than a favorite. Less pressure, less expectation, and more elation if we actually pull off the upset.

What do y'all think? And what about the Carolina fans? The Heels aren't looking as dominant as I thought they would be. I would love to steal one at Carolina and send UNC down to a 2 seed, maybe to face Florida in a regional final. Who knows what might happen? :)

Introducing...

You may be wondering why there is a photo of a middle aged man on our NC connection blog. Allow me to introduce to you NT Wright (a.k.a. Tom) Wright. NT Wright is Bishop of Durham, in the Church of England who is also one of the most respected biblical scholars and theologians across denominational lines. He has an impressive resume (I’ll spare you the details) and he meditates daily on the Old Testament/New Testament in the original language of Hebrew & Greek. And though his writings and speech reflect his deep understanding and knowledge of history and theology, it also resonates with a humility and respect for those who may think differently from him. I give you all this background information to recommend some of his books.

The man has a long list of publications, so the following may not be the “best of the best”, but the first one is entitled Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense and may be good for those of you who want an introduction or reintroduction to the significance of the Christian message. The 2nd entitled The Challenge of Jesus has been personally profound for me. It’s lucid and brings together the Old & New Testament in a way that may alter your vision of the “good” in the good news. The last recommendation is a series known as the “For Everyone” bible commentary. (There is a Luke for Everyone, Mark for Everyone, Romans, etc. under his less formal name, Tom Wright). It is one of the more accessible bible commentaries out there for well, everyone. I know that some of you are leaders, teachers in your church and this series may be a good resource for you. His tone and language is very down to earth and he tries to avoid heavy theological jargon, but adds a glossary in the back just in case. Even if you aren’t leading a bible study, it may help you to go deeper in your personal reading time. He’s a N. Testament scholar so the series is limited to the NT, but on that note, I have to mention a reference for Genesis by Walter Brueggemann in the Interpretation Commentary series. It is a RICH and fascinating commentary that is very readable.

I was just reminded by a friend that yesterday was Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of Lent. I sheepishly confess that I totally forgot b/c I was so focused on watching American Idol last night. (Lakisha’s rendition of “And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going” gave me goose bumps--that girl is so fly). In any case, all the books mentioned above are available though Amazon for a great price and if you are interested in finding out more about NT Wright, there are quite a few websites dedicated to him through Google’s search engine. If you have any questions or want more recommendations for resource, feel free to send me an email(enkeris@gmail.com). It's been good to hear how you are all doing and to reconnect this way. Wishes for peace, joy and good reflection in the Lenten season; looking forward to Easter. Happy reading!

IMPORTANT READ - Irene Cho update

Hey guys, I have some important news regarding our dear friend, Irene Cho. I've recently gotten back in touch with her and found out that she had a stroke last July. She had clot in her MCA(one of the primary arteries feeding the brain), presumably from some sort of autoimmune vasculitis.

She has been undergoing chemotherapy at the University of Utah Stroke Center and has been doing very well. She has been going to physical therapy and has recovered almost all of her function. Initially, she took a 6 month leave of absence from work because part of the out patient treatment was 6 sessions of chemothreapy once a month. The chemo was for her auto-immune system which was attacking the vessels in her brain and to make sure the vasculitis doesn't act up again and cause another stroke. Unfortunately, the most recent angiogram 2 weeks ago revealed that the clot has returned, and she needs to seek further opinions regarding the next course of action.

Of course, I've discussed posting this with Irene, and she was all for it. The reasons for spreading the word are 2-fold. First, we need everyone to encourage and pray for Irene. It's for situations like these that we have community. Let's rally around her!

Secondly, if any of you in the health profession personally know of any good neurologists, stroke specialists or stroke centers, please pass along that information to Irene. She's already planning on going to the Cleveland Clinic and NIH in Baltimore and is looking for contacts at UCLA, Cedars Sinai and the Mayo Clinic. If you want to contact Irene directly, her email is cho_on_this@hotmail.com, her telephone number is 310-710-4421.

Thanks.

You can't make this sh*t up

Thought I'd post this for y'all, since I didn't see this on CNN or ESPN or MSNBC or Headline News or the Big Three Networks . . .

White Duke college student accuses black male at party hosted by black fraternity with rape.

http://media.www.dukechronicle.com/media/storage/paper884/news/2007/02/13/News/OffEast.Rape.Investigation.Continues-2716034.shtml?sourcedomain=www.dukechronicle.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com

Somehow, I doubt we're going to see the Group of 88 banging pots in front of this house and taking out full page ads in the Chronicle. Is Paula Zahn going to come back to Durham and make an ass out of herself again about racism? When is Jesse Jackson coming back to offer to pay for this girl's tuition? If she changes her story 10 times or has DNA from 5 other males on her person, will the NC NAACP still support her right to accuse her assailant in court?

If Duke rolls over to the left again, I'm officially done with my alma mater.

giving "K" his props

hey you got to give "props" when "props" are due... i personally commend K for sticking with his team during this hard "time"... at least his back didn't start to "hurt" this year...

now... if his "rear end" started to hurt... i could understand... going through the ACC tourney has been sorta like that spanking machine that we made kids go through in kindergarten...

"thank you sir, may i have another!!!"

ed

Desperation...

uh.......... congrats on maryland...... oh shoot... never mind... :)

ed

Greetings from VA

Thanks to Brian for setting this up. Glad to see everyone's doing well!

I guess it's my turn to post an update. Quick recap from Duke: I went to Michigan for grad school and spent 8 long winters in Ann Arbor (great town) and finally got my doctorate in Biomedical Engineering in 2003. My original plan was to become a professor but after 8 years in grad school, I was ready for a change. So I went from developing intravascular ultrasound to find vulnerable plaques to finding torpedoes for the U.S. Navy as a defense contractor. Logical transition, right? :-)

I moved back to VA after grad school, and I'm attending Open Door Presbyterean Church (formerly KOPC). Found a good community here and co-leading a small group this year which has been great.

As for my personal life, I'm still single and hoping that changes in 2007. :-) Meanwhile, here's 2 photos to share. The first is a photo of me in front of the Sydney Opera House from a business trip last August and the 2nd is with my brother, John (Duke '97) from our recent family vacation in December. We won the stuffed animals at one of the basketball shooting games at Sea World.

Other than that I'm still a huge Duke fan but it's been a tough few weeks and I dare say we may be on the "bubble" for the NCAAs at 5-5 in the ACC. Gotta beat the Terps tomorrow night. At least the women's team looks great. GO DUKE!

PS - My email is cdchoi2003@yahoo.com and I'd love to hear from you.

Duke-UNC II

OK, who cares about the men's game, anyways? The real battle is tomorrow when #1 Duke takes on #2 UNC, women's that is. :)

I know I sound desperate, but if we lose both the guys and girls games, I'll really have to go into hibernation.

GO DUKE!!

John "the weasel" Edwards is my neighbor

Greetings from Chapel Hell, home of my favorite tort lawyer's ginormous new 28,000 square foot house. He's a true man of the people.

Anyhoo. Haven't spoken to most of you all for a while now. To confirm, Julie is with fetus. It is a boy. We're due last week of June. Clearly, by the lack of chin, he's my boy.

While we are ecstatic, this will most likely make the other baby already in the house extreeemely upset - coco bean yoo.

Radiation oncology is great, although the hours aren't as cushy as some of you may think. Julie works part time now for her various government disaster consulting firms, making ridiculous amounts of money writing up reports for local officials who don't know how to use computers. Now I know why our federal deficit is so high. At least we're seeing some kickback.

On the side, she does her wedding/event photography. She's quite good. I've been tagging along and working as the 2nd shooter/grip boy. Her business website is

http://www.parkerimaging.com.

Here's us with Coach K after we shot the Duke Children's Classic. Look at how cozy Julie is with him. It's like I'm not even there.

It's getting late, so I'll stop here. Much to discuss regarding dear old Duke, the lacrosse case, and how we seem to be infested with knee-jerk liberal weasels. My frickin' UWC teacher was one of the Group of 88 signees. Below is how I felt reading about that damn Nifong everyday. I still get my daily fix of righteous indignation at http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com.

Take care,