CalBearMnM's Journal » teamliquid http://calbearmnm.com/mnm/journal Level Up! Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:01:20 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 2009 Half Year Recap http://calbearmnm.com/mnm/journal/2009/08/26/2009-half-year-recap/ http://calbearmnm.com/mnm/journal/2009/08/26/2009-half-year-recap/#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:46:18 +0000 mnm http://calbearmnm.com/mnm/journal/?p=1909 Teamliquid Blog Post:

Here’s a recap of how the year 2009 has been for me so far…

I ended 2008 with a trip to London for work (EMA 2008) and a trip to Germany for World Cyber Games 2008.   After four years of serving the StarCraft community, I decided to take a break from it all and just be a regular gamer.

I thought I was done by 2007 but during my family vacation in Denmark, MYM ended up snatching me up and sending me to BlizzCon.  How could I say no?  And after I realized I was going to be in Europe already when WCG was going to be there, I decided to hop on over and go for the sake of going, this time representing nobody else but myself.  I realized it might be my last hurrah so instead of just documenting the event from an outside perspective, I wanted to be part of the event, taking pictures among people and talking to people more so I could at least say that I was there and I met some good people.

Taking a break from the community meant being able to take a step back and looking at the bigger picture, having more time to focus on other goals and progressing in other aspects of life.  According to Stephen R. Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” it’s called “taking time to sharpen the saw”.  That is exactly what I did:

  • Physical – Exercise, Nutrition, Stress Management
    • I went snowboarding in Colorado.
    • I was part of a group dance/skit performance that took four months to prepare for.
    • I took  Breakdancing Classes from Ms. Vee and Lyrical Classes from Derek Mitchell at Broadway Dance Center.   This is where I get most of my flexibility training.
    • I’ve been going to the gym before work three times a week.  This is where I get my strength training.
    • I’ve been playing Ultimate as part of an organized group once or twice  every week.  This is where I get my cardio.
    • I’ve managed to stay pretty consistent with my physical training.  Because of my regular routine, I would say I am in the best shape I’ve ever been in my life.
  • Spiritual – Value Clarification & Commitment, Study & Meditation
    • I’ve been learning from Tim Keller’s sermons at Redeemer every Sunday morning.
    • I discuss the messages with Henry and note applications of what we learn.
  • Mental – Reading, Visualizing, Planning, Writing
    • I’ve opened up recently to opportunities to learn how to be more successful in life through reading books/magazines and going to work sponsored workshops.
    • I took a month long Advanced Flash Programming class at work.
    • I’ve been learning web development techniques and enterprise solutions through self-teaching and exposure to the tech team and I’ve been getting a lot of practice programming.
    • I’ve also been writing a lot more blog entries.  I’m trying to expand outside of just writing about the daily grind to writing more thought provoked entries.
    • Planning is just something I do on an almost daily basis.  It’s a part of me.  I can’t help but plan and organize or else I will feel overwhelmed by chaos.
    • Taking Chinese classes not only helps me communicate and understand Henry and his family more but it also trains my memory.
  • Social/Emotional – Service, Empathy, Synergy, Intrinsic Security.
    • Back in 2005, I struggled to break out of the shy/quiet shell I had built around myself. I have since learned so much about interacting with others.  I open myself up to opportunities to meet people once in a while through work, through sports, through friends.  I see people as interesting beings that have a lot to share about their lives, their interests and their knowledge now.  Although I am still introverted by nature, I am no longer bound by that nature.
    • Even though I am half a world away from my family, they are still a big part of my life.  I went back to Asia at the beginning of the year and intend to go back early next year.
    • I have expanded way beyond my team at work.  I work very closely with other teams, so much so that they can consider me to be part of their groups as well.  I put a lot more effort in talking to people and to be quite honest, it has become something I enjoy now rather than dread.
    • Watching TV and Movies isn’t exactly a social activity but just this very act gives me a lot to choose from in terms of topics to talk about with others.  I’ve gotten sucked into Battle Star Galactica, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Dancing With The Stars, America’s Best Dance Crew, So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Got Talent, Deadliest Warrior, Two and a Half Men and WSOP.  I also got hooked on a few games on the Xbox 360 – Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty 4/5, Guitar Hero World Tour – but this is less of a topic to discuss among people I encounter.

StarCraft doesn’t exactly fit into the above categories but I do still play.  I did take a break for a few months (unfortunately, this also deleted my account and my record and my friends list on USWest) but I’m back to my old 3v3 BGHing ways.  I do miss playing 1v1 though.  I don’t have enough time to dedicate myself to training my 1v1 game.  I wonder if I would be able to find anyone my level anymore out there.  That may just be a goal for another time.

For now, my sights are set upon pushing myself further in life, going to the next level at work while keeping everything else in life balanced.    I want to improve.  I want to achieve.  I want to succeed.  As I mentioned in my blog before, I just want to level up.

]]> http://calbearmnm.com/mnm/journal/2009/08/26/2009-half-year-recap/feed/ 0 World Cyber Games 2008 Grand Finals – Cologne, Germany http://calbearmnm.com/mnm/journal/2008/11/10/world-cyber-games-2008-grand-finals-cologne-germany/ http://calbearmnm.com/mnm/journal/2008/11/10/world-cyber-games-2008-grand-finals-cologne-germany/#comments Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000 mnm http://calbearmnm.com/mnm/journal/2008/11/10/world-cyber-games-2008-grand-finals-cologne-germany/ Teamliquid Blog Post: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=82039

*11/7, Friday – I landed in Cologne, Germany at 5:30pm. After walking around a bit and making a few phone calls through the pay phone, I found that Naruto and company were not able to pick me up as planned so I needed to get myself to WCG on my own. I found that the Köln Bonn Airport wasn’t very foreigner friendly as I got lost trying to find currency exchange and the way to the S-train. There was no customer service to ask for help and the ticket machine was confusing as ever. However, a friendly German helped me get a train ticket and even bought it for me since I had no coins. He escorted me to my stop and told me which way to go. I had a map but I still got lost since I couldn’t find any street signs. I walked around and asked for help from some Germans but I found that a lot of them couldn’t speak English very well so I ended up getting a taxi to drive me a mile or so towards the event for 5 euro.

I finally got there and zatic spotted me! I’m so glad since I had no clue what to do if I didn’t find anybody I knew there. The TL group was about to head out for dinner and Ilvy was among them. Nyovne was kind enough to drive us to the Hostel to drop off my bag. Tasteless led the way, gathering people and finding a place to eat, drink and be merry. The first place we went to couldn’t fit all of us but Ilvy led the way across the street to eat so we finally could have dinner.

Friday Night Dinner

Dinner with the group was great. It was my way of getting to know people from TL for the first time in a smaller group setting.


Meat, PuertoRican, Nyovne, Ilvy, Nazgul, Zephyr, ret, Draco, Naruto


Ghardo, Harry, Ilvy, Nazgul, Zephyr, ret, Draco, Naruto, Nyovne, Meat, Tasteless, PuertoRican, snowbird

Draco made fun of the food server’s accent when she was serving them coke so it became a running joke that Draco and ret ordered cock and weiner (Wiener Schnitzel).


Wiener Schnitzel

ret was also crazy drunk to the point that he couldn’t stay sitting up straight.


ret

Friday Night Hotel

We continued the night back at the Hostel.


Draco, baal, Energies, Ilvy


Ghardo, Meat, ErkenBrand, ret

We headed to bed around 2-3am since he referees had to get up early the next day. Ilvy was kind enough to let me sleep on her bed. Thanks so much Ilvy!

*11/08, Saturday -

StarCraft: Broodwar Area

I headed over to the event area at around 10am with Ilvy, baal, and the other referees. Nothing was going on yet so baal and I had cookies for breakfast at the press area. Later, more people showed up and I spotted JohnRambo and Lamer and talked to them for a bit. Strelok stopped by momentarily and I told them all about the TL Meetup Dinner later that night.


JohnRambo, Lamer, Strelok

Energies guided him to the bathroom.


mnm and Ghardo

This guy, Tot)Left, started talking to me as I was walking somewhere. He ended up having several parallels to my life which was so coincidental it was hard to believe. He lived in the Philippines for a bit so he talked a lot about the places he went and the culture he experienced. He also was in New York for work and talked about where he worked and such.


Tot)Left, mnm, ?

G.s)NarutO was a great help with finding this location for the meetup and making the reservation. All I did was create the massive post with as much detail as I could about it. He’s a very friendly guy who was willing to help out when he could. He housed Nyovne, snowbird and Harry as well. Props to him for a great turn out for the event!


Naruto and mnm (Nyovne put that candle there o.O -_-)

Much thanks to Nyovne for taking me to the airport. It sucked so much just trying to get to the event from the airport that I greatly appreciate the ride! It was great hanging out with you guys as well.


Nyovne and mnm


Naruto and Nyovne

Nony, I watched you make your way to the top through the WCGs. I wish you the best of luck in Korea!


Nony and mnm

Harry hooked me up with a photo with the progamers all together later on. As I said earlier, he is a fun and entertaining guy. I hope he had a great time hanging out with TL and I hope to see more of him in future events. Hopefully he’ll be around if I go to Korea some day. I seriously need to learn more Korean.


Harry and mnm

  • SCLegacy Administrator June 2005 – July 2006
  • Presentation on Starcraft on September 25, 2005 for Ubisoft Community Team
  • Participated in SF eVo and SoCal LANS in August 2005
  • Spectated WCG 2004 US Finals, Grand Finals
  • SCTactics Administrator – http://www.sctactics.com – Fall 2004
  • Participated in WCG Qualifiers in 2004 – Las Vegas and Los Angeles
  • First 1v1 tournament on June 3, 2003 – got 2nd
  • Started hosting LANs in 2003
  • Joined Jchi’s team Xero in WGTour on December 3, 2002
  • Started playing BW in July 2001

    PICTURE GALLERY

    StarCraft Gallery:
    http://calbearmnm.smugmug.com/StarCraft
    WCG ’07 US Open
    WCG ’06 Discussion 12/19/06
    WCG ’06 US Open 06/03-04/06
    SCLegacy Tournament 11/27/05
    BlizzCon 2005 10/28-29/05
    WCG ’05 USA Finals Manhattan Center, NY 09/08-10/05
    sMaq/mnm’s LAN 08/22-28/05
    WCG ’05 San Mateo, CA Regional 07/23/05
    WCG ’05 Irvine, CA Prelim 06/25/05
    WCG ’05 Tempe, AZ Prelim 06/18/05
    WCG ’05 San Jose, CA Prelim 06/18/05
    WCG ’05 San Mateo, CA Prelim 05/28/05
    Syntax’s SoCal SC Tournament 04/09/05
    eVo.yin’s SF SC Tournament 04/02/05
    WCG ’04 Grand Finals
    WCG ’04 USA Finals
    WCG ’04 LA Qualifiers
    WCG ’04 Las Vegas Qualifiers 2

    Electronics Entertainment Exposition (E3) Gallery:
    http://calbearmnm.smugmug.com/Work/291222
    2004, 2005, 2006

    Game Developers Conference (GDC) Gallery:
    http://calbearmnm.smugmug.com/Work/294857
    2007

    NEWS POSTS