i'm not posting anything new yet (apart from this informational one) because i'm waiting for a particular photo to be taken, and to be published for the specific date: 24th of september.

and boy! do i have a ton of photos i want to share with you. :-)

***

I've been feeling really prickly, really easily irritated, restless, snappy, short tempered. Whiny, annoyed, unfriendly, anti-social, mean. In essence, a very very mean pufferfish, but nowhere near as cute as the real fish.

Time to sit still for a while, to calm myself down, and focus my eyes and heart upon God. It's definitely not a good time for me to talk extensively to anyone unless i deliberately want to lose friends.

Two of my fingers looks like they've been zombified, i.e, turned purple and looks dead. Hur, hur. I love playing the guitar but i need to learn more chords and keep working on my chord changing fingers. Too slow leh, like an ah um and i fumble ever so often. And then hor, my strumming arm sometimes spasms or rigour motis-fies so i end up playing some rather uneven sounding rhythm. HeeheeHo.

I must really thank God for the encouragement he gave me through the first essay for this sem. Remember that horrible first-few-weeks experience (when i knew nothing about academic expectations) that somehow made me crumble into a teary mess? I topped the class for that assignment. Wheeeee! Thanks Daddy in Heaven and all who were there to give encouragement. :-D

The next social psych essay that i just handed up wasn't a piece of cheese cake either because it was dealing with macro sociological perspectives (i major in psychology, the last time i checked) which the textbook doesn't exactly explicitly cover and this time i had to complete it in ONE WEEK (i usually take 2 whole weeks to finish an essay) and i had to read the whole textbook and more, to do that one essay.

During tutorial today, we were told that 2 people hit the 80 or 80+ mark, and 4 people hit the 70 or 70+ mark for the latest assignment. I'm hoping that i'll be able to sustain the grade or do better especially after seeking and taking my tutor's advice, desperately wringing my brain of all its remaining juices over concepts i've never heard of before, relying on the Lord and somehow knowing and believing that i'll be able to make it. I'll be hopeful, but i'm trying not to expect it as if it is a given by default.

I am two people

A sentimental, who shuns being sentimental.
An emo freak, who thrives on being aloof.
A romantic, who shys away from mush.
A seeker of happiness, who often falls into melancholy.
Contented, yet jealous.
Can afford to put in the effort, but leans back expecting the world to be given.
A heart that longs to help others, but is yet hardened with anger and pain.
A bearer of the soul, who hides for fear of rejection.
Probably thinks too much, but thinks too little.

I could go on and on... But i'm busy, not free.

(A 1000 word essay to be done by today and plonked into a mailbox across the island in Simei, by TODAY. Haven't typed a word yet... Cheer me on, will you.)

During dinner, my cell mates and i were just talking about experiencing (scary) supernatural events.

And so it is that I returned home to a pitch dark and quiet house, all alone except for the dog who's sleeping in another room now (i'd feel better if he'd come over to my room instead) and i could not help but felt an eerie sense that i might encounter something unhealthy for my sanity.

(i'm not going to type out the stuff that's going through my over active mind right now, i don't fancy scaring you)

But i know that as a Christian, i have nothing to fear because the Lord is with me and He is a lot greater than all the evil spirits put together! Somebody say AMEN! In the last few months, i've been grappling with the concept that as a child of God, i've got authority in Christ Jesus, and i'm beginning to see that when we acknowledge that, we are able to witness the significance of the Christian walk and influence that we can have.

Before taking a shower, i turned up the radio up real loud with Don Moen singing "Hiding Place", and i began to sing the words, thanking the Lord for indeed being my hiding place, that i can run to Him whenever i am afraid and weak. And that just chased a great deal of my fear away... But i think that the human mind is a very powerful thing and we need to really keep the word and promises of God close to our hearts and to guard our minds from the evil one's lies.

uh oh.

There's something about breaking one of mommy's porcelain bowls that makes you feel like you've been a very, very bad little girl. *gulp*

It hit me yesterday, about how nice it actually is that physical beauty is fleeting.

Think i'll go chew on this till i got more to say.

Sometimes, there are just too many voices going off in this little skull of mine, and sometimes there're none. Silence.
Overall, i'm the only one among my closer circle of friends who blogs almost every other day... I quite enjoy it, airing all my blabberings, as meaningless as they can be. I suppose i just have too much to spout and i cannot keep doing that to my sister because she'll most likely throw her fan at me the second i step into her room for the 1000th time.

And then now i realize... when was the last time i felt like i had a really good conversation? And this isn't defined by whether both parties get to say what they want to say even if they were able to share some of their personal issues. But it's more of a presence of an intimate bond, a level of comfort and trust in the sharing and friendship, that the people who are conversing are able to feel it and fearlessly testify to. Where they know they won't be misunderstood or judged or feel bewildered when either one needs to cry, or when touch is given to express comfort and care. I can't remember when was the last time i had any meaningful girl time with a friend or friends. Everyone is busy. That kind of bond takes time, a special kind of understanding and chemistry. So i blog.

Lately, i've been banking in so many drafts into blogger but i haven't the time to refine them a little into something readable yet. But i continue to blog.

My mom calls blogging time robbers. In a way, she is right. But if i don't publish the incessant chattering, my mind wanders about, like 50 frenzied houseflies, more than what's good for me. So i blog.

This might probably become one of those posts that i'll let sit for a few hours before i take it down again and pretend i never said anything. A bit pointless right? But i will blog this anyway.

Absolutely ATROCIOUS behaviour. Disgusting. Downright DISRESPECTFUL AND RUDE! Check out this post written by Ci'en, called "Strange, But True", written on the 8th of Sept. I don't think i'll provide the post's link in case she wouldn't approve (although she's my sister's friend) so here's her blog URL: www.wurh.com

This is a perfect situation to glean some of the embedded rules, expectations, meanings, representations present in an individual, individuals and society, if you social psych people want some practice.

There's something about one factor though... The alcohol. Hhhmmm...

Blogger Beta sounds to delectable, doesn't it. Uhm... Oh, and talking about delectable? I wanted to ask you guys about this:

Ok, do forgive that 2/3 eaten one. Have a look at the one on the right. An initiative family member did the honour of slicing it up nicely, so try to imagine it without the horizontal lines.

Mom came home one day and she proclaimed: "My patient gave me piglets! I had 4 boxes, and you all don't eat one right... So i gave away 2 boxes."

I was like: Excuse me? PIGLETS?

So i stripped off the two rubber bands that held the box shut, and flipped open the cardboard cover to find these weird hamster like looking objects (from a plan view).

"Piglets?" I asked mom, in a tone that suggested that she must be very mistaken about the piglet part.
"They don't look like piglets meh?" she replies.

The only feature that this thing has that resembles a piglet in any way is that it has two holes punched into it on one end. Perhaps they were suppose to be the eyes or the piggy snout or something.

But all that suspicion disappeared in a flash when i took a piece of "piglet". It was HEAVEN. Er, i mean, it was a mooncake but the pastry was sooooo soft, crumbly and tasty, and the filling was an excellent flavourful accompaniment. The paste isn't as smooth as some other kinds of mooncake fillings, but the overall experience more than compensates.

I know that i'm as suaku as suaku (suaku: like a mountain tortoise) gets, so i was wondering if these were actually very normal, traditional types of mooncake festival delicacies. I do remember having heard some people say that their mooncake festivals are never complete without the "piglets". Is this what they were referring to?

It was so good that i had to find out where they were brought from, but to my dismay... They were all the way from Malaysia. Sadness. :-(

But *slurp!* Enjoy it while it lasts!

Although some of you might not agree with his shows and the way he conducts himself on international television, for me it's really upsetting to know that Steve Irwin, the "Crocodile Hunter" has died in an accident while filming his latest documentary in Australia.

I don't watch his shows but somehow i feel grief over his passing. I guess it's because i'm used to seeing him on telly as the big Australian television personality with his big Australian accent, in that characteristically loud and enthusiastic manner in which he brings to you his passion for wildlife and the environment.

You'd always believe that people like him would live on for many more years, making more documentaries that will air regularly and almost ritually on the telly, on Discovery, on Animal Planet, and that he would see his kids grow up to be just like him - fearless but respectful of the wild and God's creation. You'd think that he'll one day be just like the other legends in this field like Jane Goodall and David Attenborough, people who've lived their lives studying nature and educating the world of the wonders of it.

A sad day, but we all know that Steve Irwin died doing what he loved most.

"Language is a medium for communication... but it does not come just as a product of relationships but is also formed as a result of relationships..."

"DING DONG-NG-NG..." The doorbell chimed. *Cue mad dashing around the house* Ahem, home wear isn't the most decent, you know? So, Thinks: Who's that? Peers through the peephole: Postman. That can only mean one thing. THREADLESS TEES ARE HERE! Presenting, freshly arrived and un-ironed.


Fossil Fuel, by Graham Dobson.

















Happy Hospital, by Yoann Plard.



















Obi Wan Kerisst, by Jens K Styve.

Now that this tee has arrived, i'm wondering if this tee will go unworn in public... Will i get some religious people pulling me aside to issue a warning, or will i get into trouble with the law or something. You know how particular our gahmen is about maintaining "religious harmony", especially with the recent controversial madness over cartoon drawings of certain religious icons.

Personally, when i saw this tee the only words that jumped out at me was: Jesus, my Hero/Saviour. Of course, not without a touch of humour.
Ok, i admit the former (the "Hero" bit) was utterly cheesy but in all honesty, that's the message i'm getting.



This leaves me with three questions:
1. Are my thoughts and worries unfounded and i should just go ahead and wear it... Big deal.
2. The fact that i'm actually worrying over a t-shirt design in relation to the society i'm living in spells something, doesn't it? The want for free expression comes with... fear?
3. Or is it genuinely a serious issue?

Ok, all this sounds a little silly... But, what do you think?