October 1 - 21: Box City LA, Uncle Al, Steve Jobs, Popcorn, Art show, Cafe Evergreen, Uncle Al's birthday, Amy's memorial, Baby Charlotte

I spent most of the past ten days playing a video game called "Xenoblade Chronicles." It's been great so far, but I'm not done yet. And I don't have any pictures. So what else has been going on for the past three weeks?

From Box City LA

October 1: I visited my friend Nat at Box City LA. Nat is in my church group. Box City LA is a fundraiser for Family Promise of San Gabriel Valley (FPSGV). The event was also supposed to create awareness of homelessness by having people pay for the privilege of sleeping in a cardboard box overnight. (Or a tent.) FPSGV is supposed to become a big part of our church, Evergreen Baptist Church of LA.

October 3: I visited my uncle Al again. We took a walk in the park, and I caught this picture of him looking tough. Don't mess with Uncle Al. :-)

I've been getting to know Uncle Al a lot better over the past few months. I used to wonder if he could cook at all, since he seemed to eat out a lot. But here he is, cooking some noodles for me! I think he knows a lot, actually, but it's just a lot of effort to shop and cook for only oneself.

From Uncle Al

So, there was more unavoidable gluten. And that was totally fine. (I've discovered that I do get immediate bloating from pasta or something. Maybe it's a chemical reaction?)

From Macintosh

October 5: Steve Jobs died. I feel like I owe a lot to Steve, or at least to Apple. Apple products have definitely had a big impact on my life, and I don't think it's fair to assume my life would be the same if Apple hadn't been around.

On the Apple website, they said you could send in memories, thoughts, or feelings about Steve. Below is what I sent.

Subject: Thank you, Steve, and everyone who has worked at Apple.

My father died at 53. He got pneumonia, and he had a latent autoimmune disease. This was in 1994. I didn't realize it until this year, but Apple--and the Macintosh--showed me a side to my father that I might never have known.

My dad, Paul Hom, was the youngest of 12 brothers and sister: 9 boys and 3 girls. My dad was only about 2 years old when his dad died, and everyone in the family had to work hard to survive. (They ran a produce company, David Hom Produce, in San Diego.) My dad grew up learning how to be frugal and to do things on one's own. Eventually, my dad worked his way through college at UC Berkeley, then law school at Hastings. My dad was so frugal that, in law school, he lived out of his car and ate canned food, until he got pneumonia one winter.

Some time after becoming a lawyer, my dad felt called to help people in a different way, so he went through medical school and became a doctor. My dad worked as a doctor for the County of Sacramento for several years, up to his death. He also started a free clinic for poor people in Sacramento, and it still runs today as the "Paul Hom Asian Clinic." I think my dad felt very strongly about helping people.

Even though my dad was a doctor (and a lawyer), he remained frugal his entire life. He would buy produce from the farmer's market under the freeway, not the grocery store. We always ate at home, never at a restaurant. Instead of buying new cars, or a normal used car, my dad would buy a car at police auctions and try to fix it himself. He never bought new clothes or shoes: if my dad's sneakers got a hole, he would use "Shoe Goo" to repair them. At Christmas, my dad would wrap our presents in newspaper. At least he used the Sunday comics section whenever possible.

So my dad was always frugal. Always. Except for the Macintosh. Our first one was a Mac 128K, so I must have been 7 or 8. I didn't know enough about computers to know how different this was: graphics and a mouse. I remember the tutorial for learning to use the mouse, which involved a man throwing a paper plane out a window. I also didn't know how much computers cost, or how much a Mac cost vs. a PC.

As I grew up, we later got a Mac SE, then I think a Mac Classic. However, I found myself wanting a PC instead of a Mac. PCs had all the good games. In high school, I even convinced my dad to buy us a PC. But I used it only for games. All my homework was done on the Mac, and everyone else in the family used the Mac.

My dad died right before I went to college, but we've remained a Mac family. We've had an LC III, a Performa, and several iMacs, iBooks, MacBooks, and a Mac Mini. Today, I am an independent Apple Developer working on my first iPad app.

When the Mac 128K was released, apparently it was $1,995, which would be about $4,000 today, adjusting for inflation. I think my dad once paid $800 for the family station wagon at a police auction.

Until that first Mac, my family had never had a computer. My dad was smart enough and thrifty enough to buy a cheaper computer, maybe a build-it-yourself one or a used one. But he must have seen something special in the Macintosh. Something that would make him volunteer to spend more than the family car.

I think I saw it, about a year ago. I was with my ninety-year-old grandmother. We were waiting for her dentist appointment, so I brought out my iPad. My grandma has never used a computer in her life, but I opened the Photos app and was able to teach her how to move from photo to photo. Suddenly, she could see her children and grandchildren! If we had had more time, I'll bet I could have taught her how to use email.

I know the Mac and the iPad are due to more than just Steve Jobs. I'm not even sure if my dad thought about Steve Jobs at all. Maybe Dad just thought, "Apple. Mac. Good." But I think my dad and Steve shared a common belief: That everyone should be able to enjoy the fruits of society, not just those who are rich or savvy. Today, Apple products are a lot more affordable than they were in 1985. But, both then and now, they've always pushed the envelope of accessibility, usability, and, well, society.

Thank you, Steve, and everyone who has worked at Apple.

From Popcorn

October 6: I was making some microwave popcorn that Mark had bought from the 99-cent store. (3 boxes for $1, with 4 bags of popcorn in each box!) The popcorn has some "Helpful Hints." The first one reads, "For improved results, preheat a cup of water on high for one minute in microwave oven. Remove cup of water and proceed with popping instructions."

The more I thought about this hint, the more it intrigued me. Why would this work? And what if we left the cup of water in the microwave? Would that help more or less?

I ended up doing a quick test with two bags of popcorn: one with the helpful hint, and one without. I couldn't tell a difference, but then again, I didn't do it correctly: I stopped each bag popping when I thought it was done, when I should have run each for the same amount of time. And I should have done more trials.

Maybe next time that I have enough people around to eat all the popcorn, I'll test this again. :-)

From Art show

October 8: Some of my church group went to an art show at the church. We were hosting local street artists, since the city (Rosemead) apparently doesn't have a public art gallery. As part of the art show, one of the church members conducted a sketching class. I like this photo, because it's just the teacher and six people from my church group. (Daniel's in the corner taking a photo.)

October 9: My cousin Kristen and her husband Mike were working in Cafe Evergreen. Cafe Evergreen is a small cafe at the church; it runs only between church services.

From Cafe Evergreen

Mike figured out how to work the church's shaved ice machine, so that's their speciality.

Thank you for helping out!

In mid-October, we celebrated Uncle Al's birthday. A lot of Homs gathered at Uncle Al's place. In this photo are Luke, Caroline, Brandon, and Katie. Katie's the one making a funny face.

Some Homs looking at a memory book made for Uncle Al. What I really like about this picture is that the three Homs look like they could be one family, but actually they're three different Hom families. (Sort of.)

Everyone seemed to have a great time at the party. I'll describe the scene clockwise from the piano: Cousin Karen played while cousin Gayle sang. Derek, Uncle Al, and David enjoyed listening. Uncle Tom and Uncle Jim chatted on the couch. Auntie Evelyn also listened.

Ah, family.

From Uncle Al's birthday

After most of the people left, Uncle Al had an assignment for us: he wanted a huge cabinet moved! Fortunately, we had Mike's "Forearm Forklifts." If you haven't heard of Forearm Forklifts, they're the orange straps around my forearms. They're sold on TV in an infomercial. I had my doubts, but now I'm a believer! Mike and I easily moved the heavy cabinet through the house and into the garage. It was almost like the Forearm Forklifts made me stronger. Like they gave me super powers.

October 20: I went to the memorial for a church friend named Amy.

Amy was an older lady: she lived into her 80s, and I think she was a teenager when she and her family were sent to an internment camp during World War II. I didn't know Amy that well, but several times we had eaten in the same lunch group after church.

Amy didn't have any kids and never married. I think she was a little bit private. It took almost a month after Amy died to get in touch with her closest living relative. So I was surprised when I heard about the memorial, and I was worried that no one would come. But actually there were a lot of people! I guess Amy lived a life of quiet service and friendship.

Amy was a librarian, and she got her Masters in Library Science from USC. I was really struck by this photo. Several people in my church group are at or were at USC. Here, it looks like Amy could fit right in with us.

I really like this photo, too. It's so natural. It's wonderful that someone captured the moment. (And this is way before digital cameras!)

From Amy's memorial

I mentioned that Amy never got married. But when we saw these photos of Amy, several of us commented on how pretty she was.

When I meet an older person who isn't married, I often wonder to myself, "Is this person not married by choice, or did they want to get married, but life just didn't work out that way?" I hope Amy was happy in this life.

And as the pastor said during the memorial, Amy should now be eternally happy, in the presence of the love of God.

From Baby Charlotte

Finally, just the other day, Kristen and Mike visited with Baby Charlotte. I volunteered to "hold" Charlotte for awhile, as you can see. No, I haven't changed a diaper yet! But I would. Maybe.