YEAR 2!

Holiday plans, here goes!
(Takes a deeeeep breath)

1. Practise drums twice a week and get New Breed exercises 5 - 10 perfected by the end of the internship.
   
2. Convince my mom to allow me to buy the Rhythm Traveller.
3. Convince my mom to allow the Rhythm Traveller into the house.
   
4. Gershwin's Prelude I again, and Rhapsody in Blue.
5. Master Rachmaninoff's No. 4 of Moment Musicaux Op. 16
   
6. Read more books and improve my English language and knowledge
   
7. Do my QT daily on the bus to work without fainting or puking
   
8. Nail my life in Advertising/Copywriting (the next 6 months will be make or break)
9. Clean up some rubbish and my room.
   
   
10. Be a good role model in what ever I do.
    

Have a good break, all of you!

Benita is a Giant Dragon that spits Ice, Expands when Attacked, has a Toughened Steel Skeleton, and enjoys Climbing Buildings. Strength: 9 Agility: 7 Intelligence: 9 To see if your Giant Battle Monster can defeat Benita, enter your name and choose an attack: fights Benita using Strength Agility Intelligence

Have you been reading the papers?
(Or noticing headlines, rather.)

I think that the feature sections and the Sunday articles
are getting a tad... Blase.
Check out their increasingly-unforgivingly-cheesy headlines,
eg. "To Serve with Love".
Think BADMINTON (gasp).

I realise that my liking for puns are starting to be dismembered by the
overkill of hackneyed phrases to hit press.

It just makes me feel silly to ever have.

He is just too perfect to be true.

Makes me feel silly to ever have, too.

Prawn... again.


Two prawns, Tom and Christian, were swimming around
in shark-infested waters discussing how difficult their lives were.

"We never know when we’re going to get eaten," said Tom.
"I wish i was a shark - then i wouldn’t have to worry."

At that moment, a shoal of cod appeared. ‘Your wish is granted,’ they chanted and, POW!
Tom turned into a great white shark. Christian, terrified of his former best friend, swam away and hid.

Months passed and life grew very lonely for Tom. Whenever he saw his old prawn friends, they swam away in fear. Christian was so upset by his oldest pal joining the enemy that he refused to leave his house.

Desperate to put things right, Tom searched everywhere for the mysterious cod. Eventually, he found them. "Please make me a prawn again," he begged. POOF! He had an exoskeleton once more.

With tears of joy in his little eyes, Tom swam home to Christian.

He banged on his door and said, "It’s me. Tom. Come out and see how I’ve changed."

"No," Christian replied. "I won’t be tricked into being your dinner."

"But that was the old me," implored Tom. "I’ve found cod. I’m a prawn again, Christian."

- Readers Digest October 2005

Somehow, the song 'You can make me ..Prawn again' stuck in my head.
Okok LAME SIA.

ornate rhetorics

Too emo.

Tempest, thou doth art waning; akin a moon in the ides.

From my senses, take all feeling...
I need You, God.
I don't belong here.

I need some fine wine and you,
you gotta be nicer.

So

I always take things in per se
and give the benefit of the doubt
(innocent till proven guilty),
only to find more
(I didn't need to go around to ask).
And more.
Till I just hate to know anything.
(But I still care.)
Can I turn a blind eye?
Can I shut my ears tight?
It's burdening me.
I want to help. But I can't do no nothing.
(If you continue to close doors.)
Friendship should be built upon love, honesty and trust,
yet it's already started off on the wrong foot.
(Even before it began.)

Self-awareness.
Come on, build upon it.
This is what I'm here for.
YOU.

OK that was a scam. Just help me do this.. Won't take up more than 3 minutes.

acc

This are some of the YF music ministry members.
Taken right before Dom left... I had to pretend to be crazy and keep psycho-ing myself
(couldn't allow sadness to take over me)
that it is, after all, only going to be TWO years. THQIWTHAGFLSfa.

Yesterday's marathon at Eddy's for magazine was quite crazy.
We should all have swapped roles, heh. 2 hours of nap, after which I thought
that every time I shut my eyes I could fall asleep there and then, wherever I were.
Didn't help that I bought an impossibly potent Ice Baileys Chocolate at Sunshine Plaza, and had it on an empty stomach (which was writhing in gastronomical pain at 1 am after chicken wings).

Our project was time-stamped 12:40pm. Yep, we were late. Could've been early,
but we overlooked some silly printing technicalities. I started to feel like ants on a pan, but after a while I thought, heck it. Quality of the final product is more important. So we strolled in, searched for the time-stamp, time-stamped, then slowly marvelled at our magazine one more time.

Sub-editing errors weren't too many, I hope. A perverse liking for English, that's what I call it. I can't wait to start copywriting.

On another note, I think that the peer evaluation forms should be rephrased.
"Contribution at expected level" - What if the expectations are very low? That means that the person's contribution level is OK since I had low expectations anyway. Non?

Gideon woke me up from my much-needed rest. You owe me big!

Is it

Jealousy? Or pure concern.

Lord, I really pray You help me discern.

Dear Dom Kor kor


It'll only be for TWO years but that is like 770 days. Well, it's nothing compared to the 1825 days of knowing you and what you have done for all of us all these while. I'll miss you terribly!!

But I'm so glad for you. Go kick some Aussiebutt, okay?!

Cheers! (:

breat her

Woah, the most dreaded week which I was complaining to
anyone who'd listen (which isn't too many) is over!
Things turned out better than I expected, and I really want to
send a shout out to Sarah, Zhixin and Samantha for their immense
effort put in to juggle MRM and Advertising together with me.

MRM definitely was a pleasant surprise. Sharpe told us that our score was one of the better ones across the level. Thank God for that! It was a major scare. Everyone was cracking their heads as to finding out the assignment sheet's exact requirements. And our presentation got us finishing up at one-and-a-half minutes short of the 10 minute time limit (try saying that as fast as you can).

I guess it is an art to be able to come up with good presentations. Not that we were terrific, but tell me it isn't scary to select/eliminate information and words from the Powerpoint slides without having it seem too short or too long, too scanty or wordy or the worst - irrelevant.

Other presentations weren't terrific, nor terrible (funny how 4 alphabets can shift a word's meaning completely) - in my opinion. God has been merciful to me, that's what it is.

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13
All the strength and all the mindpower wouldn't have been possible without Him and this verse encouraging me on!

So this is what MCM does to you. Gigantic eye bags, sore necks and shoulders, fatigue and holes in your gastric. Let me include 'thicker skin, larger pores'. The ability to take criticism and absorb knowledge positively.

JLow may have given critique outright (which though harsh in tone, her eyes spoke different) about our Advertising presentation, but this was where I realised that humility and a thirst to learn and improve makes their way into the picture.

It was a slight mix-up about the slides and information put in, and the flaw in our ad's execution itself. Then again, mistakes are mistakes. Admit and learn. Self-efficacy and pompousness should never be allowed to blind our eyes. There's still a thousand and one and more things to learn, and this is but an ant bite.

My motto in life? 'There is no end to learning'. This is the part of life I seem to actually relish the most. Nothing is more satisfying than receiving lessons - that's what we are put here for, isn't it? Wait, that's what I paid for, too. I really appreciate having such a teacher. I'd rather a teacher who cares and admonishes than one who doesn't. They could have chosen to turn a blind eye and let us suffer later, but they didn't. The same goes for parents.

Anyway, the new piano has arrived. Black Yamaha, but I don't exactly fancy the tone yet. It is not as bright as my old German piano, but the touch is quite shiok. My brother selected the piano and got a good price for it because his friend's mom owns Cristofori. Ha ha. I miss my old piano. A good twenty-plus years. Dang, I haven't taken a picture of it!!!

Oh well. Things come and go, just like people do. I just gotta learn to be less sentimental.

Pool, tennis, jamming. Here I cometh.

Countdown

In 12 hours,
I'm a happy happy happy girl.

In 60 hours,
I'm a sad sad sad sad girl.

In 96 hours,
I'm a happy happy happy happy happy girl.

In 192 hours,
I'm a happy happy happy happy happy happy girl.

Life is getting more volatile by the day, ain't it.


Now don't go thinking about the wine,
Nor feel bad about being left behind - for
'Twas a Thirteenth inch up of the snow
In April when flowers finally failed to grow.

Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.

so

count

to

30 -

and

I

wonder

who

you

see.

Oh Beni, don't waste what you have already managed to.

CRUNCH

Yes! This is the time.

Oops, pardon the unwitting reference to one of the most
crunch-worthy advertisements to hit alcohol-tv of all time.

Anyway, this is the time where only the weird people find the 'time'
to blog.

Friday:
MRM presentation + Report
MM Report (95% completed)

Monday:
French written test + presentation

Wednesday:
MM presentation

Thursday:
Advertising presentation
TV studio production recording test

Monday:
Magazine due

End of Feb: Exams, 2 papers - MRM, Advertising


Someone please tell me now that masscomm is the most exciting course to be in.

-morbid smile-

soli

Thanks Hannah for sending me this link.
I'll do this song the next time I songlead -
it's really powerful. I love it!!

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone, my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
'Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost it's grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

appre

When I saw how frail she was, bed-ridden and hard of hearing.

Then I looked up at my mom and saw how beautiful she is.

The old lady was 86, with a successful ex-president's-scholar-big-shot son
and principal of a school for a daughter -
at the end of the day, all she brought along on that hydraulic bed
was age and her waning life.

I felt tears welling into my eyes when her wizened face took recognition to my mom after a hard stare and started smiling and patting her hand. The frequency of which we would visit her dwindled as the years passed. Jojo the little black bull terrier grew up with us, and passed on last year. A sprightly old lady now bordering-on-senility, all in a year.

My right hand then felt a hand of literally skin and bones ("gong xi fa cai"). I couldn't help but bring up my left and gently envelope her hand, yet slightly afraid to break her bones should I exert more force than needed.

She smiled, rattled of some (still coherent) cantonese, asked us if we've eaten, commented about the dry weather, asked us if we've eaten, then nodded her head and fell silent, peppering little random comments as my mom chatted with the other old lady in the house (the sister, if I'm not mistaken). I sat there quietly, catching snatches of their conversation with my limited cantonese and just watching them.

Beneath the sheets I could make out an outline of a body not unlike that of a mal-nourished child. My heart sank as my memory flashed an image of a chatty, smiling, plump old lady who went from clutches, to wheelchair, to... Bed. She reached out for my mom's hand again, patted it, then lifted her own arm.

I described earlier her hand of skin and bones, yes, and the arm was no different - I could trace the outline of her forearm with my eyes - only with a mass of useless muscles hanging from her arm. Pardon the tasteless description, but it was not unlike that of clothes on a bamboo pole.

So she raised her own 'flab' (and some complain about flab), shook it, and with her other free hand wriggled it, smiling. She took my mom's hand and touched the 'flab' with it. Just smiling. My mom smiled, and played along with her with all sincerity. I searched her face and eyes for any trace of sadness, but I couldn't find any. It was touching to see how happily they took to aging.

After I told my mom what I felt in the car, she said, "Well, sometimes it is easier to go earlier."

Gosh, I thought, no way... I don't want to lose my parents (they are fantastic) anytime now. Definitely not. But I know that it is not for me to decide. So I'll make it good as long as it lasts - and cherish them.

I felt so much within that half-an-hour visit that I don't think I can remember what went through my mind, but I saw the beauty of my mom. I saw the fraility of life. I felt so appreciative of the life of the wonderful people around me.

Imagine being old and useless one day.



Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse (or so Song's blog reads).

Yes? No?

As much as I'm living now, I want to make the most of my life.
I want to be a blessing to others, not while my life away.

tell the world

pray

When I say I believe in prayer,
I mean it.

You can give me vibes that I'm being too fatalistic or being passive
or not being proactive or running away from solutions,
but again, I say - I BELIEVE IN PRAYER.

Man can only do things to a certain extent with a certain effort.
What God can do is beyond what we can fathom.

Humans can nag, admonish and rebuke - but there's only ONE being who can raise the living from the dead. There's only ONE who can stop the sun in mid-day as He did for Joshua when he led the Israelites to defeat the Amorites. There's only ONE who can change a person's life at will and only ONE who loves us more than anybody else in this world.

There's only ONE God, and HE is in control.

Quote of the Day


Daniel & Andrea says:
unless u go out with a faith totally grounded,
you will be lost in its worldliness as alot of christians have


Ed: Daniel is an ESPN-er and a man after God's heart. And WORD, definitely.


Grounded, you hear me?? Grounded!

worship

Taken from Michelle's.
In bits and pieces,
but powerful reminders they are.

• Worship is NOT the music...worship is NOT the preaching...worship is ALL of the acts and elements through which WE MEET GOD.
  
  
• Worship is the CENTRAL REASON for our existence and the CENTRAL PURPOSE of the church.
  
  
• "The difficulty will not be so much in the writing of new and great music; the test will be the godliness of those who deliver it." - John Wimber
  
  
• "As people like Saul demonstrate, anointing does not guarantee godly chracter and right motives. In fact, it tests them to the extreme." - Graham Kendrick
  
  
• "To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God." - William Temple
  
  
• Worship is about GOD...worship is for God...worship is to God.
  
  
• "Worship is to give God what is rightfully His. We were created to worship God, we were made with a yearning for intimacy with our Maker...the divine priority is this: Worship first, service second." - Richard Foster
  
  
• The role and job of a worship leader/team is: To lead God's people into His presence.


From 'For the Audience of One' by Mike Pilavachi:

"...A worship leader needs to work hard at worshipping the Lord on his or her own...In our activist Christianity, we are often doing things all the time, existing in a continual state of achieving.


We need to learn that the heart of the Christian faith is realtionship with Jesus, and the way that God has chosen for us to express relationship with Him is through worship...To learn to minister to the Lord when no one else is there is preparation for ministering to the Lord when thousands of people are there...

Worship and the relationship that surrounds it is not something you can switch on and off. Instead, it is my responsibility to talk to the Lord, to worship Him and to read His Work regularly, otherwise when I come with others to worship there is nothing there but empty words...

Worship is not a spectator sport, it is not a product moulded by the taste of consumers. It is not about what we can get out of it. It is all about God...Another reason our worship goes stale is that we simply have lost the wonder of our salvation..."

The reasonable act of worship is to offer ourselves to Him. (Romans 12:1-2, 9-16)

---

As I live in the shadows of Your glory,
a pleasing sacrifice -
Lord, my life is Yours.