Monday, December 29, 2003
burning...with...fever. head throbbing, body aching...liveless. cold yet hot, out of sorts. chills...like the pinprick of needles. maybe this is a psychological illness, i think i am hurting from inside out.
Sunday, December 28, 2003
how long has it been since i came into your presence, and was silent and still...and just was? how long has it been since i allowed you beneath the surface of the polished exterior, to let you see the cracks and the wounds that refuse to fade into scars? how long since i let you see the quiver behind the smile, the uncertainty behind every word, the questions hidden by pride? how long since i came, knowing i was broken and ugly, but knowing that my imperfect self was perfectly ok in your sight, was in fact what you loved about me? how long since i sat at your feet, and allowed myself to get lost in your love, and knew that it was alright to stop running...that there was nowhere i could really run to? too long...far too long. i thank you that you never give up calling out to me...till i give in and return to where you are.
Saturday, December 27, 2003
it should not be possible to feel lonely in a roomful of people.
but it is.
smiles and greetings should always be intended to welcome.
but they aren't.
it should not be permissible to feel like an alien in your own home.
but it is.
even the most self assured of people sometimes return to the mirror for a second glance.
but it is.
smiles and greetings should always be intended to welcome.
but they aren't.
it should not be permissible to feel like an alien in your own home.
but it is.
even the most self assured of people sometimes return to the mirror for a second glance.
Friday, December 26, 2003
"welcome to agrabah
city of enchantment and mystery
please, please come closer
too close, a little bit too close..."
do i really want to bare my soul?
city of enchantment and mystery
please, please come closer
too close, a little bit too close..."
do i really want to bare my soul?
i have returned to civilization! i am a city girl at heart after all...australia was fun in its own way, but if i had to sum up the vacation in one word, it would be this: crocheting. i've spent so much time crocheting over the past few days my ring finger is numb (is that a bad omen?). yes, i who exasperated miss chen during home economics by sewing my reversible vest so irreversibly shut together that not even the arm holes could be found...how crazy. while everyone else relaxed, i was bored out of my mind...although i did get to rewatch the extended version of the two towers.
checked my grades on bear facts and i got an F for my shakespeare class, nearly had a heart attack on the spot...subsequently checked bearmail where i got 2 emails from professor knapp. the first telling me that my 2nd paper could not be found so he would have to give me an F, the second telling me not to worry, that it had been found and that everything was alright...seriously... i hope that wasn't his idea of a practical joke. i very politely emailed him back and wished him merry christmas, though...he replied with his own christmas greetings but i still don't know what my grade is save that it's not an F, didn't need him to tell me that. ah well, it makes for a good story.
we sat on the airport floor playing bridge yesterday while waiting to board the plane. it was hilarious...i was doubled over with laughter. papa still can't get the hang of the game and he makes the most entertaining mistakes. guess it's fun enough when i'm not his partner, which fortunately, i wasn't. love that game...if it isn't obvious already.
i'm off to watch return of the king now!
~~~
it's all over...after all the anticipation there's nothing else to look forward to. i'm talking about lord of the rings of course. return of the king was awesome, as expected...except the ending was really slow, though i think i'm really ok with that. i wonder just how long the extended version is going to be. i've drawn a few conclusions after watching return of the king...
i could listen to the soundtrack over and over...so good.
viggo mortenson does better as the brooding ranger than as a morale-boosting king, he did well at it, but he had to try much much harder...
i love it how a female kills the nazgul..."i am not a man" and he shrivels up. how cool is that?
the real hero of the movie isn't frodo. so why is so much attention paid to him? because he's got the blue blue eyes and the permanently distressed look...always works.
samwise gamgee is awesome. i'd love to have a friend like him. no...i'd love to be a friend like him.
i was sneezing and sneezing all throughout the movie, had to make use of the noisy fight scenes to blow my nose coz i didn't want to annoy the people around me. by the end of the movie i had wads of kleenex on me, think i must have looked (and sounded) like i was weeping buckets throughout the movie. well, the movie has ended but i'm still sniffling away...argh, annoying.
~~~
a little bit of admin stuff...i am officially referring you to my xanga site so i don't have to keep copying and pasting anymore. i'll keep this blog more as a personal journal type thing, which probably means i'll be blabbering away on stuff that no one else is interested in...for (a little more) coherent updates on my life, click the link above and bookmark that site instead. thank you for visiting http://psychonut1.blogspot.com, you've all been excellent customers, heh...
checked my grades on bear facts and i got an F for my shakespeare class, nearly had a heart attack on the spot...subsequently checked bearmail where i got 2 emails from professor knapp. the first telling me that my 2nd paper could not be found so he would have to give me an F, the second telling me not to worry, that it had been found and that everything was alright...seriously... i hope that wasn't his idea of a practical joke. i very politely emailed him back and wished him merry christmas, though...he replied with his own christmas greetings but i still don't know what my grade is save that it's not an F, didn't need him to tell me that. ah well, it makes for a good story.
we sat on the airport floor playing bridge yesterday while waiting to board the plane. it was hilarious...i was doubled over with laughter. papa still can't get the hang of the game and he makes the most entertaining mistakes. guess it's fun enough when i'm not his partner, which fortunately, i wasn't. love that game...if it isn't obvious already.
i'm off to watch return of the king now!
~~~
it's all over...after all the anticipation there's nothing else to look forward to. i'm talking about lord of the rings of course. return of the king was awesome, as expected...except the ending was really slow, though i think i'm really ok with that. i wonder just how long the extended version is going to be. i've drawn a few conclusions after watching return of the king...
i could listen to the soundtrack over and over...so good.
viggo mortenson does better as the brooding ranger than as a morale-boosting king, he did well at it, but he had to try much much harder...
i love it how a female kills the nazgul..."i am not a man" and he shrivels up. how cool is that?
the real hero of the movie isn't frodo. so why is so much attention paid to him? because he's got the blue blue eyes and the permanently distressed look...always works.
samwise gamgee is awesome. i'd love to have a friend like him. no...i'd love to be a friend like him.
i was sneezing and sneezing all throughout the movie, had to make use of the noisy fight scenes to blow my nose coz i didn't want to annoy the people around me. by the end of the movie i had wads of kleenex on me, think i must have looked (and sounded) like i was weeping buckets throughout the movie. well, the movie has ended but i'm still sniffling away...argh, annoying.
~~~
a little bit of admin stuff...i am officially referring you to my xanga site so i don't have to keep copying and pasting anymore. i'll keep this blog more as a personal journal type thing, which probably means i'll be blabbering away on stuff that no one else is interested in...for (a little more) coherent updates on my life, click the link above and bookmark that site instead. thank you for visiting http://psychonut1.blogspot.com, you've all been excellent customers, heh...
Sunday, December 21, 2003
howdy from australia...just a quick entry coz i'm at the public library at armadale, not exactly the best place to hog the computer. it's unbelievably slow out here...i think relaxing is the word most people prefer...takes a little imagination for me to see it that way.
i made 3 new bridge converts last night! papa, aunty fong and aunty oi lin...who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks? ha...papa was extremely confused (and still is i think), but hey...it's a start. tonight they want to play again. after 4 months of bridge fast (actually, not entirely, coz i played some with the other singaporeans at cal)...i'm back in business!
i made 3 new bridge converts last night! papa, aunty fong and aunty oi lin...who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks? ha...papa was extremely confused (and still is i think), but hey...it's a start. tonight they want to play again. after 4 months of bridge fast (actually, not entirely, coz i played some with the other singaporeans at cal)...i'm back in business!
Monday, December 15, 2003
alright...here's how i passed some of the time on the plane:
Saturday, December 13, 2003
10.25 am
now that I’m alone and have all these inner thoughts to express, it’s tempting to just reach out and blog…no internet access unfortunately, but I figured, since I always copy and paste into xanga anyway, might as well type this up on word and then copy it later on. Annoying that word automatically corrects my grammar.
Anyway…I haven’t slept for more than 24 hours, simple madness. I wasn’t that tired before but now that I’m sitting in the plane I’m grateful for the chance to sleep.
Getting around sfo was a slightly stressful experience, since it’s the first time I’ve been around on my own. I know lax inside and out by now, but the last time I was in sfo was 3 years ago and it was with my parents.
When I checked in the baggage guy thought I was Japanese, must be the slit-eyed thing…it’s funny. He talked to me in japanese for a while before the check-in guy finally told him, “she’s not Japanese”. Ah, thank you sir…saves me the trouble of explaining that I am, indeed, not Japanese.
This plane is cool…have my own personal screen and all. Considering that it’s supposed to be one of those budget airlines (well, not really, but cheaper than most) I think I’ve got a good deal, let’s just hope the plane flies well and all that.
One of the flight stewardesses just talked to me in Japanese again.
Don’t have enough battery power to last me the whole trip, and I checked in my adaptor, so I guess I shall be brief (well, comparatively)
10.35 pm (Berkeley time)
wow…it’s been exactly 12 hours. I’m in the narita airport now, it’s been exactly 4 months since I was last here with papa. One of the gift shops is playing a Christmas carol, “Jesus is Lord…he was born in a manger”…there’s an old Japanese man bobbing along to the music. I can’t decide if it’s a good thing or not that Christmas is such a commercialized thing. I mean, bobbing along to Jesus Christ being heralded as Lord, just like to any other pop music? On the other hand it’s a good thing that Christ at least gets some exposure…just not so sure that exposure of such a nature is worth it at all.
I’ve never had such ease sleeping on the plane before…that all-nighter certainly helped me knock out on the plane. I even slept well enough to dream, which rarely happens for me on planes. There’s just too much going on in body and spirit for my mind to completely shut down…but today I just let myself be vulnerable and sleep. If nothing else, helped the time go by quicker than usual.
Food on the flight was unexpectedly good…ok, maybe good is the wrong word. They served shrimp and scallop pasta, which is higher than regular fare for an airplane, but since I’m not a shrimp fan, that didn’t get me particularly excited. Point is…ana is a pretty cool airline, if only they would stop speaking Japanese to me.
Sunday, December 14 2003 (is it really? don't know anymore...)
4.42 am
try…to…stay…awake. Futile attempt. It is now 8.45pm Singapore time, far too early for bedtime, even for an early sleeper like me. Super drowsy…2 more hours left on the plane ride. Every time I make this trip it seems to get shorter…don’t get me wrong, the process is still excruciatingly long, but at least it doesn’t drag till eternity like it used to. It’s just like how a year seemed to take forever to pass when I was 7 or 8, and now simply flies by…even while it seems to take forever to move on while I’m actually living it. People are full of contradictions, so is time, but that is…after all…a human construct. I don’t think I’m making very much sense…in my semi-comatose state. Just rambling on to keep from dozing off again. 418 km left…to what? That number just flashed on the screen, presumably to Singapore, I think we’re over the south china sea right now, passing between Thailand and the Philippines…we’re 247 miles from nha trang…wherever that is, and it’s -58F outside. An air stewardess just announced that we will be passing through some air turbulence. If only life was always so clearly marked out…all the dimensions clearly laid at your feet, periods of disturbance announced in advance… “ladies and gentlemen, please keep your seatbelts fastened at all times and your hands in the vehicle…flash photography is not allowed”. I’m getting mixed up…I think being sleepy makes me unnecessarily reflective. I remember a pilot on a past journey sharing this interesting tidbit of information…there’s always turbulence over Singapore because it’s so hot…the heat waves apparently mess things up for the pilots. Don’t know how true that is, ha…but there always does seem to be turbulence when we get close to Singapore. In the mood that I’m in, I could easily continue talking nonsense for the next 2 hours, just to pass the time, but I shall practice some self-refrain and turn to some other mode of entertainment. maybe I’ll get my Christmas cards written.
~~~
i think i fell asleep after that, so much for trying to keep awake. or i might have watched phone booth, which is a terrible movie.
much has changed since i was last back.
ah ma is, of course, gone...it's weird that she's not around any longer, keep expecting to see her when i walk into my room, that is now...for the first time...really my room.
shang and vic seem to have accepted that they're each not the only male "child" in the household...shang has been shadowing vic and watching him play his computer games, i'm not so sure vic likes having a new best friend. zoeying has gotten skinnier but is still cute and cuddly. (so nice to hear their cries of "jie jie!" again). zee is walking and doesn't recognize me...after i tempted him with food, though, he seemed pretty willing to be my friend. there are now 7 computers in the house...those things just keep multiplying.
much has stayed the same.
vic's room is still super dusty, sneezed myself to sleep last night. i had forgotten what it's like to climb 6 stories to the top of the hill to reach my block, and another 6 stories to reach my apartment. food here is still the best. it is hot and humid as ever. it's nice to text message people and not have to count messages again. there's construction all over the place. i woke up at 7.30.
got to pack for perth now...got a feeling i'm going to get yelled at soon if i don't get off the comp and start helping my parents. ah, the joy of being home...
Saturday, December 13, 2003
10.25 am
now that I’m alone and have all these inner thoughts to express, it’s tempting to just reach out and blog…no internet access unfortunately, but I figured, since I always copy and paste into xanga anyway, might as well type this up on word and then copy it later on. Annoying that word automatically corrects my grammar.
Anyway…I haven’t slept for more than 24 hours, simple madness. I wasn’t that tired before but now that I’m sitting in the plane I’m grateful for the chance to sleep.
Getting around sfo was a slightly stressful experience, since it’s the first time I’ve been around on my own. I know lax inside and out by now, but the last time I was in sfo was 3 years ago and it was with my parents.
When I checked in the baggage guy thought I was Japanese, must be the slit-eyed thing…it’s funny. He talked to me in japanese for a while before the check-in guy finally told him, “she’s not Japanese”. Ah, thank you sir…saves me the trouble of explaining that I am, indeed, not Japanese.
This plane is cool…have my own personal screen and all. Considering that it’s supposed to be one of those budget airlines (well, not really, but cheaper than most) I think I’ve got a good deal, let’s just hope the plane flies well and all that.
One of the flight stewardesses just talked to me in Japanese again.
Don’t have enough battery power to last me the whole trip, and I checked in my adaptor, so I guess I shall be brief (well, comparatively)
10.35 pm (Berkeley time)
wow…it’s been exactly 12 hours. I’m in the narita airport now, it’s been exactly 4 months since I was last here with papa. One of the gift shops is playing a Christmas carol, “Jesus is Lord…he was born in a manger”…there’s an old Japanese man bobbing along to the music. I can’t decide if it’s a good thing or not that Christmas is such a commercialized thing. I mean, bobbing along to Jesus Christ being heralded as Lord, just like to any other pop music? On the other hand it’s a good thing that Christ at least gets some exposure…just not so sure that exposure of such a nature is worth it at all.
I’ve never had such ease sleeping on the plane before…that all-nighter certainly helped me knock out on the plane. I even slept well enough to dream, which rarely happens for me on planes. There’s just too much going on in body and spirit for my mind to completely shut down…but today I just let myself be vulnerable and sleep. If nothing else, helped the time go by quicker than usual.
Food on the flight was unexpectedly good…ok, maybe good is the wrong word. They served shrimp and scallop pasta, which is higher than regular fare for an airplane, but since I’m not a shrimp fan, that didn’t get me particularly excited. Point is…ana is a pretty cool airline, if only they would stop speaking Japanese to me.
Sunday, December 14 2003 (is it really? don't know anymore...)
4.42 am
try…to…stay…awake. Futile attempt. It is now 8.45pm Singapore time, far too early for bedtime, even for an early sleeper like me. Super drowsy…2 more hours left on the plane ride. Every time I make this trip it seems to get shorter…don’t get me wrong, the process is still excruciatingly long, but at least it doesn’t drag till eternity like it used to. It’s just like how a year seemed to take forever to pass when I was 7 or 8, and now simply flies by…even while it seems to take forever to move on while I’m actually living it. People are full of contradictions, so is time, but that is…after all…a human construct. I don’t think I’m making very much sense…in my semi-comatose state. Just rambling on to keep from dozing off again. 418 km left…to what? That number just flashed on the screen, presumably to Singapore, I think we’re over the south china sea right now, passing between Thailand and the Philippines…we’re 247 miles from nha trang…wherever that is, and it’s -58F outside. An air stewardess just announced that we will be passing through some air turbulence. If only life was always so clearly marked out…all the dimensions clearly laid at your feet, periods of disturbance announced in advance… “ladies and gentlemen, please keep your seatbelts fastened at all times and your hands in the vehicle…flash photography is not allowed”. I’m getting mixed up…I think being sleepy makes me unnecessarily reflective. I remember a pilot on a past journey sharing this interesting tidbit of information…there’s always turbulence over Singapore because it’s so hot…the heat waves apparently mess things up for the pilots. Don’t know how true that is, ha…but there always does seem to be turbulence when we get close to Singapore. In the mood that I’m in, I could easily continue talking nonsense for the next 2 hours, just to pass the time, but I shall practice some self-refrain and turn to some other mode of entertainment. maybe I’ll get my Christmas cards written.
~~~
i think i fell asleep after that, so much for trying to keep awake. or i might have watched phone booth, which is a terrible movie.
much has changed since i was last back.
ah ma is, of course, gone...it's weird that she's not around any longer, keep expecting to see her when i walk into my room, that is now...for the first time...really my room.
shang and vic seem to have accepted that they're each not the only male "child" in the household...shang has been shadowing vic and watching him play his computer games, i'm not so sure vic likes having a new best friend. zoeying has gotten skinnier but is still cute and cuddly. (so nice to hear their cries of "jie jie!" again). zee is walking and doesn't recognize me...after i tempted him with food, though, he seemed pretty willing to be my friend. there are now 7 computers in the house...those things just keep multiplying.
much has stayed the same.
vic's room is still super dusty, sneezed myself to sleep last night. i had forgotten what it's like to climb 6 stories to the top of the hill to reach my block, and another 6 stories to reach my apartment. food here is still the best. it is hot and humid as ever. it's nice to text message people and not have to count messages again. there's construction all over the place. i woke up at 7.30.
got to pack for perth now...got a feeling i'm going to get yelled at soon if i don't get off the comp and start helping my parents. ah, the joy of being home...
Sunday, December 14, 2003
i'm in singapore...wow. it's almost 1 am, and i'm not in the least bit sleepy, thanks to all the sleeping-at-the-wrong-times i did in the plane.
i actually blogged (no, i journaled in microsoft word) during the journey, but haven't got round to copying and pasting that here yet, so the details of my journey shall have to wait.
i went to the snack corner and saw (gasp!) dao sa piah (some chinese red bean pastry-like thing, hard to describe, maybe i'll take a picture of it)...bought in anticipation of my return. it's nice when people do things for you without your having to ask, even nicer when they do the right things...like remembering what you like to eat without reminder. (tracy: love is all around me...not that other thing, ha).
off to try to get some sleep, maybe i shouldn't bother...leaving for australia in a few hours, which is just going to mess things up again.
i actually blogged (no, i journaled in microsoft word) during the journey, but haven't got round to copying and pasting that here yet, so the details of my journey shall have to wait.
i went to the snack corner and saw (gasp!) dao sa piah (some chinese red bean pastry-like thing, hard to describe, maybe i'll take a picture of it)...bought in anticipation of my return. it's nice when people do things for you without your having to ask, even nicer when they do the right things...like remembering what you like to eat without reminder. (tracy: love is all around me...not that other thing, ha).
off to try to get some sleep, maybe i shouldn't bother...leaving for australia in a few hours, which is just going to mess things up again.
Saturday, December 13, 2003
guess i'm staying awake till i get on the plane...went to danny's to play the new expansion pack settlers. makes the game a lot more interesting and complicated...took us about 3 hours to complete the game. danny and i came up from below to beat ezra and jeff (no hard feelings guys, it's just a game, ha). after that i came back to pack and do my laundry (actually it occurred sort of in the reverse order...no, that's not strictly true, since i had to put my laundry in to dry a second round at 5 in the morning). never travelled back before with such empty luggages before! guess this time i didn't have time to go shopping and load up on stuff for everyone. then i went to vince's to watch anastasia for the millionth time...i must say it's not one of those movies that improve with watching, although the music was still good...nearly fell asleep during the movie but was saved from doing so by jerjou's coming over to return my dead laptop (the very first one i had at the beginning of this semester). after that didn't feel half as sleepy. eddy, jason and mike decided they were going to pull an all-nighter with me in my room, so they're here now. jason's cooking ramen and it smells good...i'm getting hungry. well, soon it'll be breakfast time and i'll be eating stale buns on the plane. how exciting! (no, seriously...i'm excited).
Friday, December 12, 2003
eng 45 c is a pain in the...
jeff was hiding in my closet when i got back from my already traumatizing final...needless to say i was re-traumatized . i was already suspicious because both my closet doors were fully closed, which is never the case, but i just assumed maybe for once i had shut them fully...should have trusted my instincts because (i hate to admit this but it happened) i screamed when he jumped out at me. thanks a bunch jeff...(hear the blogged version of my sarcastic voice?)
professor knapp is so cool...he actually turned up at the final and cracked his usual corny jokes, which were oddly comforting. how many professors bother to do that? (turn up at a final and crack jokes). shakespeare is so crystal clear after eng 45 c...love that class, the final was cool too...at least i knew stuff.
i miss tracy already!
but soon i'll be home. haven't started packing yet, i might end up wearing weird stuff in singapore, just because they were packed at the last minute.
right, off to danny's now. i'm starving.
jeff was hiding in my closet when i got back from my already traumatizing final...needless to say i was re-traumatized . i was already suspicious because both my closet doors were fully closed, which is never the case, but i just assumed maybe for once i had shut them fully...should have trusted my instincts because (i hate to admit this but it happened) i screamed when he jumped out at me. thanks a bunch jeff...(hear the blogged version of my sarcastic voice?)
professor knapp is so cool...he actually turned up at the final and cracked his usual corny jokes, which were oddly comforting. how many professors bother to do that? (turn up at a final and crack jokes). shakespeare is so crystal clear after eng 45 c...love that class, the final was cool too...at least i knew stuff.
i miss tracy already!
but soon i'll be home. haven't started packing yet, i might end up wearing weird stuff in singapore, just because they were packed at the last minute.
right, off to danny's now. i'm starving.
1. singapore is not a communist country
2. they do not chop off your hand for littering
3. the existence of glaciers in the middle of the city, however, is questionable. ask jeff, he'll tell you. (jeff: sorry...i'm still laughing.)
last day of finals, at last. can't wait to dump faulkner out of the window. well, really...he's great, i just don't understand why we can't leave his greatness alone and not make him roll in his grave by making up stuff about him to pass eng 45c!
the special k bar i'm eating for breakfast is awfully sweet..."crunchy cereal bar with fruit pieces"...can't wait to get real food into my system, peanut cake and chee cheong fan, here i come!
2. they do not chop off your hand for littering
3. the existence of glaciers in the middle of the city, however, is questionable. ask jeff, he'll tell you. (jeff: sorry...i'm still laughing.)
last day of finals, at last. can't wait to dump faulkner out of the window. well, really...he's great, i just don't understand why we can't leave his greatness alone and not make him roll in his grave by making up stuff about him to pass eng 45c!
the special k bar i'm eating for breakfast is awfully sweet..."crunchy cereal bar with fruit pieces"...can't wait to get real food into my system, peanut cake and chee cheong fan, here i come!
Thursday, December 11, 2003
2 down, 2 more to go...only the more horrible 2 out of the 4.
today's final was ok. my favorite part was at the end when one of professor keltner's grad students had us fill out a questionnaire to help him with his research, and then paid us $5 for doing so. ironic considering that one of the big things we had studied was how rewards undermine intrinsic motivation. well, if someone wants to pay me to circle numbers i'm not complaining. maybe it was a test...will these social psych students react like the common population to the lure of a reward even though they know its potentially harmful effects? if they take the $5 they fail, doesn't matter what they wrote in that essay, heh heh heh...
right, forgive me for entertaining myself publicly.
today's final was ok. my favorite part was at the end when one of professor keltner's grad students had us fill out a questionnaire to help him with his research, and then paid us $5 for doing so. ironic considering that one of the big things we had studied was how rewards undermine intrinsic motivation. well, if someone wants to pay me to circle numbers i'm not complaining. maybe it was a test...will these social psych students react like the common population to the lure of a reward even though they know its potentially harmful effects? if they take the $5 they fail, doesn't matter what they wrote in that essay, heh heh heh...
right, forgive me for entertaining myself publicly.
45% rubber dog poo...chris, you make me laugh.
"pray for a miracle"...those were my words to jenny. here's how God worked the miracle out.
gaurang emails out of the blue to say he's found the originial acer cd-rom drive (that connects through the parallel rather than usb port), jeff had the windows xp pro boot-up cd-rom, jerjou was incredibly bored. miracle complete, computer's running again. (jerjou: have to say this again, you had better ace that final if you don't want me to suffer from a guilt complex...thanks for the time though).
"happy tree friends" is extremely disturbing.
went studying last night with the guys at westminster south. amazingly managed to get some studying done despite our behaving like we were characters in a sitcom. read about it here, coz jeff actually bothered to take everything down.
for all you unbelievers out there:
"CHICKEN LICKEN
AS Chicken-licken was going one day to the wood, whack! an acorn fell from a tree
on to his head.
"Gracious goodness me!" said Chicken-licken, "the sky must have fallen; I must go
and tell the King.""
That is an excerpt of the chicken licken story, he lives. if you want the rest of the story, it's here.
social psych final in 2 hours...can't wait for it to be over.
meeting up with the slc coordinator at 4 today to discuss the details of my tutoring job next spring...i'm back in business!
bought a really nice...oops, nearly gave it away. but i went shopping yesterday and got something real swell for one of you...you'll find out in due time. think of it this way...the 14th of december is a wonderful day.
blue skies today; i feel good.
gaurang emails out of the blue to say he's found the originial acer cd-rom drive (that connects through the parallel rather than usb port), jeff had the windows xp pro boot-up cd-rom, jerjou was incredibly bored. miracle complete, computer's running again. (jerjou: have to say this again, you had better ace that final if you don't want me to suffer from a guilt complex...thanks for the time though).
"happy tree friends" is extremely disturbing.
went studying last night with the guys at westminster south. amazingly managed to get some studying done despite our behaving like we were characters in a sitcom. read about it here, coz jeff actually bothered to take everything down.
for all you unbelievers out there:
"CHICKEN LICKEN
AS Chicken-licken was going one day to the wood, whack! an acorn fell from a tree
on to his head.
"Gracious goodness me!" said Chicken-licken, "the sky must have fallen; I must go
and tell the King.""
That is an excerpt of the chicken licken story, he lives. if you want the rest of the story, it's here.
social psych final in 2 hours...can't wait for it to be over.
meeting up with the slc coordinator at 4 today to discuss the details of my tutoring job next spring...i'm back in business!
bought a really nice...oops, nearly gave it away. but i went shopping yesterday and got something real swell for one of you...you'll find out in due time. think of it this way...the 14th of december is a wonderful day.
blue skies today; i feel good.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
it has begun...God bless us all.
~~~
vince smelled the death of wood...i smelled the death of time.
the fire alarm blared in the night...i stood in the cold in silence.
actually, no, i said, "i should be studying".
it's all about perspective.
(faulkner: perspective is an absolute trap and prevents characters from absorbing information that could change them
woolf: perspective is about negotiating impressions and attaching oneself to the world
joyce: perspective is tied up in interpellation...you never know what you are until you are already that which you did not know
all: render...see through my eyes)
we went to eddy's place at westminster south to study...what would you know, the fire alarm went off and we had to leave the building. so we went to putnam's lounge, and just as i was getting into momentum, the fire alarm in putnam went off. lightning might not strike the same place twice, but sometimes it can come darn close.
~~~
vince smelled the death of wood...i smelled the death of time.
the fire alarm blared in the night...i stood in the cold in silence.
actually, no, i said, "i should be studying".
it's all about perspective.
(faulkner: perspective is an absolute trap and prevents characters from absorbing information that could change them
woolf: perspective is about negotiating impressions and attaching oneself to the world
joyce: perspective is tied up in interpellation...you never know what you are until you are already that which you did not know
all: render...see through my eyes)
we went to eddy's place at westminster south to study...what would you know, the fire alarm went off and we had to leave the building. so we went to putnam's lounge, and just as i was getting into momentum, the fire alarm in putnam went off. lightning might not strike the same place twice, but sometimes it can come darn close.
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
"i have often walked down this street before
but the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before"
that's the background music playing right now...reminds me of papa.
tracy and i have been wasting the last hour and a half taking silly pictures and talking nonsense. anything to not study.
enough! focus, focus...
i'm hungry.
today when i was walking back to my dorm, i thought i smelled glutinous rice, and suddenly i had a craving for it. time to taste my mom's cooking again.
"people stop and stare, they don't bother me
for there's nowhere else on earth that i'd rather be"
misattribution of arousal, two factor theory of emotion, schacter and singer, epinephrine vs. placebo...mourning of fragmentation of history, art providing answers other institutions could not, the isolated artist, rendering, attachment to perspectives...floating.
my friend will says...
"we need no grave to bury honesty
there's not a grain of it the face to sweeten
of the whole dungy earth"
he's sadly right.
"now that i'm on the street where you live..."
but the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before"
that's the background music playing right now...reminds me of papa.
tracy and i have been wasting the last hour and a half taking silly pictures and talking nonsense. anything to not study.
enough! focus, focus...
i'm hungry.
today when i was walking back to my dorm, i thought i smelled glutinous rice, and suddenly i had a craving for it. time to taste my mom's cooking again.
"people stop and stare, they don't bother me
for there's nowhere else on earth that i'd rather be"
misattribution of arousal, two factor theory of emotion, schacter and singer, epinephrine vs. placebo...mourning of fragmentation of history, art providing answers other institutions could not, the isolated artist, rendering, attachment to perspectives...floating.
my friend will says...
"we need no grave to bury honesty
there's not a grain of it the face to sweeten
of the whole dungy earth"
he's sadly right.
"now that i'm on the street where you live..."
chris and i are doing it again...in this day and age of IM and what nots, we communicate instantaneously by reading and replying to each other's emails on the spot, sending 25 mails a minute (ok, that might be stretching it, but the idea's there). this despite my having successfully persuaded her to install msn, and her finally learning how to use it. what's up with that? i guess when you share telepathic powers with someone, IM is an inconsequential thing...the instant email replies are just to lend form to the substance that we already have. (chris: wahey, choplang fast over, had to give in. feel like poka-luka-ing, sopa-lupis-ing all over, that came out fawey yongy, issug, pugo. pn1 soon kiar!)
went to jenny's for sick of studying (sos) last night. had that in place of small group. basically pigged out on pizza, cookies, cake and soda and played some games to relieve stress. (what stress? if you assume studying to be the precursor of stress...). after that was going to the library to study with ezra, daniel and jason, but then i realized i left my cell at jenny's (smart, val, smart) so we all walked back and ended up studying there. yesterday was actually a pretty productive day study-wise. by this time yesterday i had had much more done already than i do today (right, super convoluted sentence, the kind i need to ace those english exams)...so i guess i shall stop entertaining myself and start stimulating my mind. bleh...
went to jenny's for sick of studying (sos) last night. had that in place of small group. basically pigged out on pizza, cookies, cake and soda and played some games to relieve stress. (what stress? if you assume studying to be the precursor of stress...). after that was going to the library to study with ezra, daniel and jason, but then i realized i left my cell at jenny's (smart, val, smart) so we all walked back and ended up studying there. yesterday was actually a pretty productive day study-wise. by this time yesterday i had had much more done already than i do today (right, super convoluted sentence, the kind i need to ace those english exams)...so i guess i shall stop entertaining myself and start stimulating my mind. bleh...
Monday, December 08, 2003
empty streets
cold air hitting nobody
fever descends
~~~
"oh, so it's like that ah"
"that's the story lah"
(overheard on my way back from my social psych review session...definitely singaporeans)
~~~
just read my brother's blog in which he accused me of being a terrible driver. i am mortally offended (vic: again). but i am a forgiving person, so he shall live.
cold air hitting nobody
fever descends
~~~
"oh, so it's like that ah"
"that's the story lah"
(overheard on my way back from my social psych review session...definitely singaporeans)
~~~
just read my brother's blog in which he accused me of being a terrible driver. i am mortally offended (vic: again). but i am a forgiving person, so he shall live.
"It is close at hand -
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was of old
nor ever will be in ages to come." (Joel 2:2)
man...i know this is going to sound sacrilegious, but that reminds me so much of the two towers...tolkien must have lifted entire passages from the bible. but this had a deeper point. imagine the uruk-hai army in the two towers, hear their grunts and foot-stomping, feel their dirty breath in the air...enter the elf army marching towards helm's deep (this part is totally not in the book, by the way) as they join up with the forces of rohan, let the exhilaration surge through your body, there is perhaps hope after all. now translate those sensations and emotions into the spiritual realm...it is happening exactly that way. are we still slumbering when we should be in battle gear? do we stand on our guard everyday? is our mithril on? the easiest battles to lose are those you don't know you're fighting.
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was of old
nor ever will be in ages to come." (Joel 2:2)
man...i know this is going to sound sacrilegious, but that reminds me so much of the two towers...tolkien must have lifted entire passages from the bible. but this had a deeper point. imagine the uruk-hai army in the two towers, hear their grunts and foot-stomping, feel their dirty breath in the air...enter the elf army marching towards helm's deep (this part is totally not in the book, by the way) as they join up with the forces of rohan, let the exhilaration surge through your body, there is perhaps hope after all. now translate those sensations and emotions into the spiritual realm...it is happening exactly that way. are we still slumbering when we should be in battle gear? do we stand on our guard everyday? is our mithril on? the easiest battles to lose are those you don't know you're fighting.
jenny's bday yesterday. awesome fun. met up at angie's at 1 o'clock to prepare for the party. to be honest, i thought meeting at 1 was unnecessarily early, but we ended up needing every minute of the time we had there! made the "sushi cake", cheesecake, banner, comforter etc...we had lots of fun doing it too. never realized rolling sushi was such a...um...sticky experience.
"kidnapped" jenny at 4 to take her to the rose garden, pity it was raining so hard then. we gave her the gift just from us girls (heh...) and shared about why we appreciated her...the rain was pouring all the while, talk about wrong atmosphere! but it was still good. then we drove her back to her apartment, giving her a total story about how we were taking her to a restaurant that was pretty far away and had a good view coz it was on the top storey of a building. we were worried about making our "reservations" on time and all, ha...sneaky susan, who "didn't want to but was forced to ask jenny if the 580 and 880 merged"! (this impression - the sneaky susan bit - later confirmed by an intense game of mafia).
when we got to jenny's apartment, the guys were waiting in the dark ready to surprise her. they did a charming rendition of "my girl" (with the lights on), singing "jenny" instead of "my girl" at the right places of course...was totally entertaining, and they sounded real swell too! i know they had put a lot of effort into preparing the song, so i'm really proud they pulled it off so well. after that we had good food. the chinese chicken salad and curry casserole (what's with all the 'c's?) the guys made added nicely to our sushi and potstickers. pretty strange that it was the guys who provided all the fiber!
after dinner played settlers, loaded questions and mafia for the longest time...was crazy, but a whole lot of fun at the same time. got back at 3, crashed into bed even though i wasn't feeling that sleepy, so that i could at least get 4 hours of sleep, coz...whatd'ya know...i got up at 7.15 this morning as usual.
"He was like a worn small rock whelmed by the successive waves of his voice. With his body he seemed to feed the voice that, succubus like, had fleshed its teeth in him". i'm supposed to know who wrote that, who's speaking and what the significance of that passage is. don't recall ever seeing it before in my life. something tells me i need to up the studying velocity.
~~~
Why should it be my loneliness,
Why should it be my song,
Why should it be my dream
deferred
overlong?
(Lanston Hughes: Tell Me)
(this post actually blogged on sun dec 07, 11:30 am, this site was down at that time)
"kidnapped" jenny at 4 to take her to the rose garden, pity it was raining so hard then. we gave her the gift just from us girls (heh...) and shared about why we appreciated her...the rain was pouring all the while, talk about wrong atmosphere! but it was still good. then we drove her back to her apartment, giving her a total story about how we were taking her to a restaurant that was pretty far away and had a good view coz it was on the top storey of a building. we were worried about making our "reservations" on time and all, ha...sneaky susan, who "didn't want to but was forced to ask jenny if the 580 and 880 merged"! (this impression - the sneaky susan bit - later confirmed by an intense game of mafia).
when we got to jenny's apartment, the guys were waiting in the dark ready to surprise her. they did a charming rendition of "my girl" (with the lights on), singing "jenny" instead of "my girl" at the right places of course...was totally entertaining, and they sounded real swell too! i know they had put a lot of effort into preparing the song, so i'm really proud they pulled it off so well. after that we had good food. the chinese chicken salad and curry casserole (what's with all the 'c's?) the guys made added nicely to our sushi and potstickers. pretty strange that it was the guys who provided all the fiber!
after dinner played settlers, loaded questions and mafia for the longest time...was crazy, but a whole lot of fun at the same time. got back at 3, crashed into bed even though i wasn't feeling that sleepy, so that i could at least get 4 hours of sleep, coz...whatd'ya know...i got up at 7.15 this morning as usual.
"He was like a worn small rock whelmed by the successive waves of his voice. With his body he seemed to feed the voice that, succubus like, had fleshed its teeth in him". i'm supposed to know who wrote that, who's speaking and what the significance of that passage is. don't recall ever seeing it before in my life. something tells me i need to up the studying velocity.
~~~
Why should it be my loneliness,
Why should it be my song,
Why should it be my dream
deferred
overlong?
(Lanston Hughes: Tell Me)
(this post actually blogged on sun dec 07, 11:30 am, this site was down at that time)
Saturday, December 06, 2003
went to an alumni house program yesterday to sign up with the student alumni mentorship program (samp), they're going to hook me up with an alumni mentor. how fun. then i went to danny's to watch x2. after i got back i really felt like i shouldn't have gone, and it's not only about my obssessive need to study. sometimes i wonder if there's a point to spending time like that...i mean fellowship is ok and all that, but there's a difference between that and just plain hanging out. not that hanging out is wrong, but hanging out when there are more important things to do is probably not wise. got to question how i want to spend my time, because after all it is a valuable resource, and being productive is essential for survival (vic: am i starting to sound like mom or what?). i decided to make up for it by studying doubly hard this morning, which until now i have done. i think i am driven by a guilt complex. (intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, overjustification effect...all these terms floating in my head now, sorry).
i feel isolated from the world. everyone is off at camp or some retreat, and i haven't been on msn for ages. the eye in the sky is getting myopic. it's strange how i should feel the distance so much now when i'm only one week away from home and therefore (in a way) closer to everyone than i have been for the last four months. it's the effects of the body-spirit lag...think my spirit is already across the ocean while my body is still here. leads to dissonance (another psych term!) and to me talking nonsense.
i am off to study cezanne and picasso. i feel like writing in my final that i am under no obligation to hold discourse on paintings when the exam is for a literature class. of course that would be suicide and so i won't do it. but oh...the things i could do if i only dared to...i am too much of a conformist.
oh...here are some pics of the navigators.
navs pics
email add: eirelav_conundrum@yahoo.com
password: valerie
i feel isolated from the world. everyone is off at camp or some retreat, and i haven't been on msn for ages. the eye in the sky is getting myopic. it's strange how i should feel the distance so much now when i'm only one week away from home and therefore (in a way) closer to everyone than i have been for the last four months. it's the effects of the body-spirit lag...think my spirit is already across the ocean while my body is still here. leads to dissonance (another psych term!) and to me talking nonsense.
i am off to study cezanne and picasso. i feel like writing in my final that i am under no obligation to hold discourse on paintings when the exam is for a literature class. of course that would be suicide and so i won't do it. but oh...the things i could do if i only dared to...i am too much of a conformist.
oh...here are some pics of the navigators.
navs pics
email add: eirelav_conundrum@yahoo.com
password: valerie
the world sometimes looks brighter when your eyes are closed.
Friday, December 05, 2003
i was thinking about my day yesterday, and i conclude:
even if you try to walk around the puddles, if you have holes in your shoes, your socks will get wet.
lesson learnt: don't wear shoes with holes in them.
easier said than done.
even if you try to walk around the puddles, if you have holes in your shoes, your socks will get wet.
lesson learnt: don't wear shoes with holes in them.
easier said than done.
large group last night. milton talked on witnessing, well, really he talked about worship and witnessing. about how one fuels the other, and how we were created to worship God and testify to his glory. we should be so fulfilled in God that it overwhelms us and we can't help but want to joyfully tell others about how good he is. i think i have yet to learn how to do that, to let the radiance of God overflow from my life.
after small group we were writing random chinese words on the board, and i realized how rusty my chinese is. i couldn't remember how to write "luo bo" (carrot), and i still can't...man, i need help. walked back after that with the guys and had to put up with the usual ribbing about my being "one of the guys", ha. in the note the guys wrote when they gave us the brownie and cookies, milton greeted me "hey bro"...i think i shall go out today and buy a dress.
very last day of class, can't believe it! it's great that the semester is finally ending, but kind of sad at the same time. ah well, no time to wax lyrical, got to get back to the lighthouse.
after small group we were writing random chinese words on the board, and i realized how rusty my chinese is. i couldn't remember how to write "luo bo" (carrot), and i still can't...man, i need help. walked back after that with the guys and had to put up with the usual ribbing about my being "one of the guys", ha. in the note the guys wrote when they gave us the brownie and cookies, milton greeted me "hey bro"...i think i shall go out today and buy a dress.
very last day of class, can't believe it! it's great that the semester is finally ending, but kind of sad at the same time. ah well, no time to wax lyrical, got to get back to the lighthouse.
Thursday, December 04, 2003
i'm so bored! preparing an answer to a question on perspectives in faulkner and woolf...and i have to plough through tons of lecture notes to get this done, which is not very fun, and which i'm obviously not doing now. argh, since they saw what they saw, why can't we just let them be, instead of trying to connect what we see in what they saw to what we see? nevermind.
on to cheerier news...aunty valerie, how does that sound? makes me feel old. wendy was in labor a while ago, which means that by now baby gerald should have started his eat-shit-eat cycle! how exciting...no, seriously this time, it is exciting. our first ypm baby...everyone's all grown-up now.
right, after this short interlude, back to talk about modes of consciousness.
on to cheerier news...aunty valerie, how does that sound? makes me feel old. wendy was in labor a while ago, which means that by now baby gerald should have started his eat-shit-eat cycle! how exciting...no, seriously this time, it is exciting. our first ypm baby...everyone's all grown-up now.
right, after this short interlude, back to talk about modes of consciousness.
praise the Lord! just got into my very important psych classes, even though the online schedule said the classes were full they miraculously let me in...compensation for all those times telebears brutally mistreated me maybe? brainache over. i rejoice.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
just got back from watching the last samurai...really don't know what i was doing watching a movie when i should be studying, but i figured i'd give myself a break after today's final (which is over, yay! it was ok, by the way, thanks all for praying...3 more to go). turned out to be a really great movie, much better than expected. guess i was biased against the movie the moment i saw tom cruise in it. i don't hate him or anything, he just...irks me. after being asked why quite a few times tonight, i've been prompted to verbalize a reason, and i have come to the conclusion that it's his nose. don't like the way it rests on his face...makes him look like a parrot somewhat. ok, so that's a really superficial reason, but hey...what better way to judge a person than by his nose right?
eng 45c is driving me mad! this is the class with the bilbo baggins professor...example of a final question: list the yes-es and no-s of modernism and how they relate to the texts we covered. hm, let me give it a go.
yes...modernists had a big problem
yes...part of the problem is they thought too much of themselves
yes...they would have had less of a problem if they thought less of themselves
no...that is a circular argument
but no...it makes sense anyway
so no...that goes against the spirit of modernism, coz modernists enjoy not making sense to a certain degree
and yes...if i write my essay in this vein, i will fail.
we had our last quiz in my shakespeare class yesterday. it was a laugh.
name the first play we read in the class.
name the last play we read.
fill in the blank: _ shakespeare
have i mentioned i love professor knapp?
before the last samurai started, got into a conversation with mike's high school friend harry about the existence of evil and good...he was obviously deeply committed to his way of thought, but i think there are certain logical fallacies in his arguments. don't want to go into detail now coz that would take too long, but it was a really interesting conversation cut short by the beginning of the movie. me thinks the human brain is a damaging instrument at times.
nada on work progress tonight. tomorrow shall be a better day.
eng 45c is driving me mad! this is the class with the bilbo baggins professor...example of a final question: list the yes-es and no-s of modernism and how they relate to the texts we covered. hm, let me give it a go.
yes...modernists had a big problem
yes...part of the problem is they thought too much of themselves
yes...they would have had less of a problem if they thought less of themselves
no...that is a circular argument
but no...it makes sense anyway
so no...that goes against the spirit of modernism, coz modernists enjoy not making sense to a certain degree
and yes...if i write my essay in this vein, i will fail.
we had our last quiz in my shakespeare class yesterday. it was a laugh.
name the first play we read in the class.
name the last play we read.
fill in the blank: _ shakespeare
have i mentioned i love professor knapp?
before the last samurai started, got into a conversation with mike's high school friend harry about the existence of evil and good...he was obviously deeply committed to his way of thought, but i think there are certain logical fallacies in his arguments. don't want to go into detail now coz that would take too long, but it was a really interesting conversation cut short by the beginning of the movie. me thinks the human brain is a damaging instrument at times.
nada on work progress tonight. tomorrow shall be a better day.
fog rolls in, you lose yourself, and in so doing, become more authentic. because then you become what you are - lost. no need to disguise the fact that you don't know where you're going, that you don't know where you stand. in the mist, it's ok to say "who me?" and not laugh sheepishly after. no need for pretense; it's ok to be lost. you have an excuse for not being able to see clearly ahead, and if anything is hazy and uncertain it's not your fault. blame it on the fog.
"thus play i, in one person, many people
and none contented...
but whate'er i am
nor i, nor any man that but man is,
with nothing shall be pleas'd till he be eas'd
with being nothing" (king richard II V.v)
psych 150 final in 30 minutes...what am i doing here, rambling on about nothingness?
"thus play i, in one person, many people
and none contented...
but whate'er i am
nor i, nor any man that but man is,
with nothing shall be pleas'd till he be eas'd
with being nothing" (king richard II V.v)
psych 150 final in 30 minutes...what am i doing here, rambling on about nothingness?
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
since i'm in my shakespeare phase of revision...
"i am amaz'd, and know not what to say" (a midsummer night's dream III.ii)
it's happened again, my comp's crashed for the third time this semester. same problem as last time too, missing registry file...it just happened. sigh, i'm giving up on the comp, will just get a new one when i get back to s'pore. jeff has very kindly agreed to lend me his extra comp. and jerjou equally kindly spent a lot of time last night trying to salvage it. (jerjou/jeff: thanks much you guys) thank God for great friends!
(chris: thanks for your card, you don't know how much i needed it, you're the best! =))
at least my papers are all written, and the only thing i would mostly need the comp for now is to type out study notes and check email, not a life or death problem...thank God that if it had to crash, it would crash now when all my work is done and the computer would mostly distract me from studying anyway.
went evangelizing with jenny and angie today. we talked to 3 people, the first girl was a catholic who's roommate actually goes to campus crusade, was with jenny so she did most of the talking, but for the next 2 people it was just me and angie so i actually had to open my mouth and talk...and it was an awesome experience! i was amazed by how open people are to talking about religion...thank God he was moving in that area.
didn't go for small group last night coz i had my review session, heard from crystal that they had a TAWG (time alone with God)...i keep missing those! last time there was a TAWG session i had my ai exam. the guys dropped by after their small group to deliver brownies and cookies they had baked, to tracy and i, still warm from the oven too...how sweet, except i'm suspicious about the baking process coz i keep hearing things like "these are the ones the right ingredients went into". ha...all good, still edible i'm sure.
"never can anything be amiss
when simpleness and duty tender it" (a midsummer night's dream V.i)
"i am amaz'd, and know not what to say" (a midsummer night's dream III.ii)
it's happened again, my comp's crashed for the third time this semester. same problem as last time too, missing registry file...it just happened. sigh, i'm giving up on the comp, will just get a new one when i get back to s'pore. jeff has very kindly agreed to lend me his extra comp. and jerjou equally kindly spent a lot of time last night trying to salvage it. (jerjou/jeff: thanks much you guys) thank God for great friends!
(chris: thanks for your card, you don't know how much i needed it, you're the best! =))
at least my papers are all written, and the only thing i would mostly need the comp for now is to type out study notes and check email, not a life or death problem...thank God that if it had to crash, it would crash now when all my work is done and the computer would mostly distract me from studying anyway.
went evangelizing with jenny and angie today. we talked to 3 people, the first girl was a catholic who's roommate actually goes to campus crusade, was with jenny so she did most of the talking, but for the next 2 people it was just me and angie so i actually had to open my mouth and talk...and it was an awesome experience! i was amazed by how open people are to talking about religion...thank God he was moving in that area.
didn't go for small group last night coz i had my review session, heard from crystal that they had a TAWG (time alone with God)...i keep missing those! last time there was a TAWG session i had my ai exam. the guys dropped by after their small group to deliver brownies and cookies they had baked, to tracy and i, still warm from the oven too...how sweet, except i'm suspicious about the baking process coz i keep hearing things like "these are the ones the right ingredients went into". ha...all good, still edible i'm sure.
"never can anything be amiss
when simpleness and duty tender it" (a midsummer night's dream V.i)
Monday, December 01, 2003
in my haste to finish blogging/checking mail/typing up reading notes before getting to class on time this morning, there's a lot of things i forgot to say...short blogs just don't work for me.
pastor ken made an interesting connection to a line from aladdin (that cartoon just keeps jumping out at me)...he quoted the genie describing his living conditions...this line really needs to be done with the comic genius of robin williams, or the flair of pastor ken, but since blogging is limited, use your imaginations! "phenomenal cosmic powers!" the genie booms with a loud voice before dropping into a semi-whisper, "itty-bitty living space". pastor ken connected that to how Jesus must have felt trapped when he was here on earth. all that power and divine authority caged up in the feeble body of a human being, such is his love for us.
oh...one more thing i just remembered. when i was driving down to LA, matthew and trevor wanted to listen to barney on the way down. cringe i know. cringe even more when i realized...horror of horrors...i actually knew all the songs! ("good manners are important for everyone in the world"), courtesy my many hours of babysitting shang and zoeying. thankfully they switched to a disney classics cd after that, which was the other extreme...so good!
one more thing i forgot to do was to post my exam schedule, which i know all you prayer warriors have been waiting for. so here goes:
wed, dec 03 - personality psych
thurs, dec 11 - social psych
fri, dec 12 - english 45c (world lit) and english 117s (shakespeare)
sat, dec 13 - flying home! then off to perth...hi and bye again.
please pray that i'll use my time till the finals wisely, have a lot of material to cover and not enough time.
please pray that i'll be able to write coherent essays. have to write 4 essays in a row on friday, and that's after doing 20 identification questions...not fun at all, pray for coherence, conciseness and good recall, since it's all closed-book, as well as insightful writing.
thanks all.
raining today (closest i've seen to real rain)...got half a shock when i opened my umbrella coz it was all pink underneath, forgot that i had switched my green umbrella with haoren's pink one out of the kindness of my heart. the pink one wasn't manly enough for him apparently. wonder what makes a color adopt its gender, sigh...the perils of socialization. i bet in ancient times pink stood for machoism and chivalry. then barbie came along and messed things up.
went to albertsons with vince and jerjou, jerjou bought a ton of stuff and i had to help him carry his eggs and bread. i think i should invite myself over for a meal one day soon. i bought lots of ghiradelli chocs, both the actual chocolate and the chocolate chips (vic: ain't i good?) although i had initially made the trip just to buy fruit.
received my CARS statement today and for once it looks good. well, not exactly, but at least there weren't any screw-ups, and my scholarship money for spring has been deposited...thank God for that!
pastor ken made an interesting connection to a line from aladdin (that cartoon just keeps jumping out at me)...he quoted the genie describing his living conditions...this line really needs to be done with the comic genius of robin williams, or the flair of pastor ken, but since blogging is limited, use your imaginations! "phenomenal cosmic powers!" the genie booms with a loud voice before dropping into a semi-whisper, "itty-bitty living space". pastor ken connected that to how Jesus must have felt trapped when he was here on earth. all that power and divine authority caged up in the feeble body of a human being, such is his love for us.
oh...one more thing i just remembered. when i was driving down to LA, matthew and trevor wanted to listen to barney on the way down. cringe i know. cringe even more when i realized...horror of horrors...i actually knew all the songs! ("good manners are important for everyone in the world"), courtesy my many hours of babysitting shang and zoeying. thankfully they switched to a disney classics cd after that, which was the other extreme...so good!
one more thing i forgot to do was to post my exam schedule, which i know all you prayer warriors have been waiting for. so here goes:
wed, dec 03 - personality psych
thurs, dec 11 - social psych
fri, dec 12 - english 45c (world lit) and english 117s (shakespeare)
sat, dec 13 - flying home! then off to perth...hi and bye again.
please pray that i'll use my time till the finals wisely, have a lot of material to cover and not enough time.
please pray that i'll be able to write coherent essays. have to write 4 essays in a row on friday, and that's after doing 20 identification questions...not fun at all, pray for coherence, conciseness and good recall, since it's all closed-book, as well as insightful writing.
thanks all.
raining today (closest i've seen to real rain)...got half a shock when i opened my umbrella coz it was all pink underneath, forgot that i had switched my green umbrella with haoren's pink one out of the kindness of my heart. the pink one wasn't manly enough for him apparently. wonder what makes a color adopt its gender, sigh...the perils of socialization. i bet in ancient times pink stood for machoism and chivalry. then barbie came along and messed things up.
went to albertsons with vince and jerjou, jerjou bought a ton of stuff and i had to help him carry his eggs and bread. i think i should invite myself over for a meal one day soon. i bought lots of ghiradelli chocs, both the actual chocolate and the chocolate chips (vic: ain't i good?) although i had initially made the trip just to buy fruit.
received my CARS statement today and for once it looks good. well, not exactly, but at least there weren't any screw-ups, and my scholarship money for spring has been deposited...thank God for that!
it's been a long while! got back from LA at 10.30 last night...had lots and lots of fun over the weekend. after i last blogged, i went with sarah to shop around montebello. her brother-in-law lent me his car (very kindly, considering i'm a total stranger, he has lots of trust!) so we drove around for a while. after that, eric came to pick us up and we went to his house in orange county. i watched the first 2 hours of the extended version of the two towers...43 extra minutes! unbelievably good, pity i didn't have time to finish watching it. we all cooked dinner, people made sushi and dumplings, and it was so good...played guesstures and taboo after that, then watched finding nemo.
next morning we went to knott's berry farm...was my first time there, never knew it was such a tiny theme park. but it was good for a lot of the international students who had never been to a theme park before...initiation, you could say. had great fun on all the rides...went on a water ride called bigfoot rapids towards the end and got totally totally drenched...my jeans turned a whole different color and my shoes were still wet the next day. fortunately, one of the girls, yeqi, had an extra shirt on her, so i changed into that...after that i was pretty cold and uncomfortable, so i only went on one more ride before sitting the rest out. had another big dinner...curry, ribs, soup, fried rice...then went to eric's new apartment in rosemead to spend the night.
sunday morning visited evergreen...was nice to be there again! pastor ken looked really tired...guess it was just one of those days for him, and he mentioned getting bad news over thanksgiving. then i went over to jenny and danny's church in west LA where i got to meet some of their friends and had a nice lunch...then we left at 2 for berkeley...traffic was slow as expected, and i slept a lot of the way up. good time to catch up with rest, since there was nothing else i could do.
had such a great time over thanksgiving! now have to head full force into studying!
next morning we went to knott's berry farm...was my first time there, never knew it was such a tiny theme park. but it was good for a lot of the international students who had never been to a theme park before...initiation, you could say. had great fun on all the rides...went on a water ride called bigfoot rapids towards the end and got totally totally drenched...my jeans turned a whole different color and my shoes were still wet the next day. fortunately, one of the girls, yeqi, had an extra shirt on her, so i changed into that...after that i was pretty cold and uncomfortable, so i only went on one more ride before sitting the rest out. had another big dinner...curry, ribs, soup, fried rice...then went to eric's new apartment in rosemead to spend the night.
sunday morning visited evergreen...was nice to be there again! pastor ken looked really tired...guess it was just one of those days for him, and he mentioned getting bad news over thanksgiving. then i went over to jenny and danny's church in west LA where i got to meet some of their friends and had a nice lunch...then we left at 2 for berkeley...traffic was slow as expected, and i slept a lot of the way up. good time to catch up with rest, since there was nothing else i could do.
had such a great time over thanksgiving! now have to head full force into studying!
