an explanation of sorts

Man. things are a lot busier during break than i imagined...anyhow. here's something i wanted to write a while ago but never got around to posting...

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Ever since I embarked on this journey to become a librarian, many people have expressed their confusion as to why I wanted to do something so boring. Or why I even need a Master's to become one. And what do librarians DO? Being unprepared (and perhaps even a little ignorant myself) I know that I've only given very vague & unsatisfactory responses.

Right now, I'll attempt to answer...Why library & info science (LIS)??

Besides being able to help people directly as an everyday part of the job (a big perk after being completely disillusioned with corporate america), I really didn't look too deeply into the job description before I dived right in (altho, I did talk to some librarians to get their views, looked into job security & salary a bit too). Perhaps that makes me seem very naive, impulsive and maybe even a little stupid, but after years of floundering about for direction and coming up empty, I just knew it when I saw it - that becoming a librarian was the path for me (that's saying a lot since every other path i'd considered or been asked to consider got an almost immediate "no thanks" response from me). I really believe that I have the talents and interests I have for a reason (that God made me who I am for a purpose) and the dissatisfaction I had with my work was because it was truly not a good fit with that promise. And LIS might work out better.

I know there are a lot of risks (what big change doesn't have 'em?), but I'm generally confident that this will work out, and I'm really looking forward to making a difference in my job. Whether librarians become extinct in the future or not, I've also got confidence that God's got it all under control, that this is where He wants me to be (for now) and everything is going to work out. And hey, I think the biggest step for me was to finally & actually have enough courage to quit the job that was making me miserable and move on to something less certain but with lots of hope & promise.

Ah well. So hopefully, that explains my thought process for being where I'm at now...and actually, I really appreciate everyone's concern for me about this path I've chosen. I don't know what's going to happen with it, but I know that my friends & family are gonna be here to support me thru it all and I'm truly thankful for you all. And please keep asking me your questions until i can answer to your satisfaction, cuz until then, it's obviously something i still need to work out, and you guys will help keep me honest. :)

thanks for reading that little spiel. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

i'm Freeeeee

yup. I officially finished my first semester of grad skool at 3:30pm Tues. Yippeeeeee!
Let the partying begin. :)
(also time to shop for gifts, catch up on bills, clean room, and the rest of that FUN stuff *sigh*)

Inconvenient to be sure! But necessary!

I just watched this last night and it is motivational...and scary what's happening to our Earth. What we're doing to it. *Personally, I think Gore shoulda added something about the impact to penguins (everyone loves penguins!).* This is just a quick post to get the link up and get everyone I know to watch the movie.

Don't think it's really a problem? Watch the movie and get more info on the subject and see if you still believe that. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. And if you've watched it but haven't done anything about it...why not??

Check out what we can do to decrease our CO2 emissions. Cuz each of us really can make a difference! So let's get started before it's too late.

The History of the World (according to students)

This history of the world was compiled by Richard Lederer from actual student bloopers and mistakes which I came across in class last week and got from here. It's crazy long, so I've posted an abridged version below, which is still pretty long, but worth a good laf. (btw, an update on me...1 assignment and 1 final to go with 1 week left in the semester!! woo hoo)

The inhabitants of Egypt were called mummies. They lived in the Sarah Dessert and traveled by Camelot. The Egyptians built the Pyramids in the shape of a huge triangular cube.

The Greeks had myths. A myth is a female moth. One myth says that the mother of Achilles dipped him in the River Stynx until he became intolerable. Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. In the Olympic Games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled the biscuits, and threw the java.

Eventually, the Ramons conquered the Geeks. At Roman banquets, the guests wore garlic in their hair. Nero was a cruel tyranny who would torture his poor subjects by playing the fiddle to them.

Then came the center Ages. King Arthur lived in the Age of Shivery, and the victims of the Black Death grew boobs on their necks. Finally, the Magna Carta provided that no free man should be hanged twice for the same offense.

The Renaissance was an age in which more individuals felt the value of their human being. Martin Luther was nailed to the church door at Wittenberg for selling papal indulgences. He died a horrible death, being excommunicated by a bull. Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper.

Queen Elizabeth of England was the "Virgin Queen." As a queen she was a success. When Elizabeth exposed herself before her troops, they all shouted "hurrah." Then her navy went out and defeated the Spanish Armadillo.

The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. In one of Shakespeare's famous plays, Hamlet rations out his situation by relieving himself in a long soliloquy. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote "Paradise Lost." Then his wife dies and he wrote "Paradise Regained."

During the Renaissance, America began. The winter of 1620 was a hard one for the settlers. Many people died and many babies were born. Captain John Smith was responsible for all this.

One of the causes of the Revolutionary Wars was the English put tacks in their tea. Also, the colonists would send their parcels through the post without stamps.

Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin had gone to Boston carrying all his clothes in his pocket and a loaf of bread under each arm. He invented electricity by rubbing cats backwards. Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.

Abraham Lincoln's mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin which he built with his own hands. Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg on the back of an envelope. On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got shot in his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show.

Napoleon became ill with bladder problems and was very tense and unrestrained. He wanted an heir to inherent his power, but since Josephine was a baroness, she couldn't bear him any children.

The sun never set on the British Empire because the British Empire is in the East and the sun sets in the West.

The First World War, cause by the assignation of the Arch-Duck by a surf, ushered in a new error in the anals of human history.

16 pages later...

Wooo hooo!
(yea, yea. so 16 pages is not that much, but you're talking to a techie former engineer here! i haven't had to write hefty papers since high school..and let's not dwell on how long ago that was!)

Anyhow...16 pages later...i'm thoroughly sick of the words library, librarian, and users. Ack! hope my prof doesn't feel the same way! :) of course, i still need to proofread it and stuff, but the hardest part's over. After this, just 2 more papers, 3 assignments, 1 presentation, and 1 final to go before my first semester of grad school's over! But I'll feel a lot better once Nov's over. Even tho there'll still be some stuff to do, the worst of it will be over. And it'll be a lot more spread out as well!

It's sad. I was totally looking forward to a winter break of luxuriating, veging and just plain relaxing. But i've been putting off so many things during the end-of-semester crunch that my to do list is already a mile long (not to mention the ski trips, hanging out with friends, etc. that i also MUST do). I have a feeling i'll be just as busy during break as I am now. Granted, with a lot more fun stuff...but busy just the same. *sigh* actually, i think i'll probably just put off some of the stuff on that To Do list instead... :D hee hee

b&s's wedding

oops. i nearly forgot! here are the hard-to-describe bridesmaid dresses from the wedding!
ain't the new couple gorgeous??

cute kiwi!

taking a break from my crazy load of papers, projects, presentation & assignments (i can't wait till dec & winter break!!!) to post a really cute little animated story lor sent me. i promise to post more frequently during break. enjoy!! :)

bf

wow! what a treat for y'alls! 2 "news" flashes on the same day!

i love to leverage (cuz i'm lazy)...so i've linked to a post by Bob (my bf, fyi) you might be interested in reading about how we celebrated 3 months on Mon (we cooked a very tasty dinner together and watched an ep of TAR. yay!). And if you don't already know, he recaps how we got together too. :D For those of you who've seen me recently, he'd be the reason I can't wipe the grin off my face or why i get that dreamy look in my eyes (maybe not when we're working on those little bumps he mentioned...but all the other times). =P

oh yeah! and THIRD news flash. I got a new laptop!! it's got wireless and a much longer battery life...i'm so happy. i bring it to school to take my notes on and everything....it's a Dell (yeah...sigh...poor starving student and all)...but it's a lattitude (their business line) so hopefully that'll mean it's better quality. it seems pretty durable to me. *shrug*

the 4th time!!

Wow!! I'm gonna be a bridesmaid...AGAIN! :D

It's not till end of july next year so there's a while yet. But yup! I'm really happy and excited for my friend (she's been my co-worker the whole time i've worked..even as a summer intern at HP...and i used to talk to her nearly everyday!) it's gonna be a local wedding. And i'm the only bridesmaid too! (does that mean i'm the maid of honor?? does that mean i have to write a speech?!?! i swore my sis's would be the one & only...sigh) But yeah. I guess after brian & sherry's wedding, i'll start working on this one! haha at least they're not coming in parallel, then i'll really know that ALL my friends are getting married!

wikiality

Is truth really just a democratic concept? (i don't think so) But is modern society, the media & the Internet making it so?

This is a pretty hilarious clip from the Colbert Report about wikipedia (we watched it in one of my classes). But it's also a pretty sobering reality check for us to question just how credible the stuff on there is...

weirdness factor

i had the weirdest dream last night.
(so weird, that it's worthy of a post after 1+ month of silence!)

ok. onto the dream!
for some reason part of my leg broke and fell clean off. but they found another leg that would match and attached it onto me...and it worked! it took quite a bit of getting used to..and i still wasn't totally comfortable with it by the time i woke up. in fact, in the part of my brain that was still rational, i was thinking "how would this even work? they'd have had to attach all the veins, nerves, etc..." talk about random! there was other stuff going on..and other ppl in it. but that's all i remember now. what do you think my subconscious is trying to tell me?

onto reality!
life's been busy. lotsa learnin' to do.
like what i'm learning tho and got no regrets about quitting. (but i do miss that healthy paycheck...still not worth it tho imo)

the next chapter begins

It's a big week of change...and I'm not sure what I was thinking when i picked my end date to be the same week as when class starts. I was just crazy!!! I feel like I've barely closed the chapter on those 5ish years of work before jumping head first into prepping for school. Yesterday, I went on campus to get my ID card (yay! student discounts here i come!) and listened to some sorority girls in line behind me talk about their parties, etc and felt soooo old. heh I can't believe I'm going back to school.

Anyhow. Yup. I will officially begin my return stint as student tomorrow with a wonderful first day 10am-10pm (there's class 10-4 and then a training session for tutoring SAT verbal 5-10). oh boy, can't wait. Not to mention, it'll be my first time riding the Light Rail. woo hoo! no need to deal with parking, saves gas, free VTA pass thru school and helps the environment...oh wait! and uninterrupted time to study on the train! WOW. it's an all-around win.

On Monday (my last day), I woke up in a panic. The enormity of what i was about to do sorta hit me and I was thinking "omg! what was i thinking?? i'm crazy!! is it too late to turn back?" Heh...yeah. I'm a bit scared about this latest venture of mine, but I know engineering's not for me and I'm tired of sticking with it based on fear. Besides which, I have faith that God doesn't want me to be doing something i hate for the rest of my life (so bye bye engineering), but instead He made me for something better and what's more...it'll be something that I'm good at and LOVE to do. So I'm grabbing onto His promise and going "to infinity & beyond!"

9/6 Note: yes...i know this is horribly post-dated, i actually started this but never got around to posting it. i can't believe i've already been in school for 2 weeks! i have a feeling i'll be posting a lot less often. :( but one day...i hope to get around to posting the top 10 reasons to be a student...

so why monday?

Lor (5:23:15 PM): so, curious... why stay the extra monday?
shal (5:27:46 PM): dude
shal (5:27:51 PM): everyone asks me that
shal (5:27:53 PM): haha
shal (5:28:06 PM): so we have employee stock purchase plan....
shal (5:28:09 PM): i think i should blog about it
shal (5:28:21 PM): anyhow....so yeah. the subscription period ends like aug 19. which is sat
shal (5:28:26 PM): so i thought that meant i had to stay till monday
shal (5:28:30 PM): in order to get it
shal (5:28:38 PM): so i told my boss monday
shal (5:28:57 PM): but i found out later that it'll end aug 18 instead. but it was too late to change
shal (5:29:03 PM): besides. i don't mind having the weekend.
shal (5:29:11 PM): i still need to download all m y personal stuff from my laptop!
shal (5:29:11 PM): hehe
Lor (5:29:17 PM): i see
Lor (5:29:49 PM): i was kinda figuring you wanted to rub your 1-day week in the rest of us working stiffs' faces :P
shal (5:32:40 PM): haha
shal (5:32:42 PM): nope
shal (5:32:46 PM): had nothing to do with that
shal (5:32:59 PM): but thanks for mentioning ti..now i've got another perk
shal (5:33:08 PM): and i don't feel as stupid for saying monday
shal (5:33:10 PM): haha
Lor (5:33:17 PM): ...
Lor (5:33:29 PM): you're, um, welcome...
shal (5:58:35 PM): :-)

6 days left!!

Just 6 days of work left!!!! Omg. I can't believe it. It feels sooo surreal. I don't think my mind will fully grasp it until it happens. After working at Intel for 4+ years, I will no longer be coming into work everyday. Bye bye forever parking garage & cube & cafetria (no regrets there!). Actually, I don't have any regrets about quitting. I only regret not doing it sooner cuz I know I've only stayed out of fear of moving on...fear of the unknown. But yay! I'm leaving and I'm not sure if what I'm going on to is gonna work out or not, but at least I'm gonna give it a shot. I'm no longer gonna just look longingly across & fearfully down from the saftey of the cliff edge. I'm taking a running leap. Maybe I'll make it across and maybe I won't. But hey, if I don't, I just might land on a ledge that I don't see yet from where I'm standing. Who knows? :) But I'll never find out just standing around. So outta my way, cuz I'm jumpin'. Wheeeeee!

10+ simple pleasures

Got tagged by chris. So in no particular order (and trying not to repeat anyone else's):

10. Watching a good (or decent) rom-com and letting out a *blissful sigh* at the happy ending....ah...the romance!

9. A good day on the slopes. Being able to board the whole day, relatively short lines, not too crowded, and good snow (not fresh powder necessarily, cuz that can be sticky, but packed powder is nice)

8. Communicating without words. Being able to just catch a friend's eyes and know we're thinking the same thing...or that we get each other...that we're on the same wave-length.

7. Enjoying a clean room. I don't enjoy the cleaning part, but aftewards, seeing the results and how spick-n-span things are...it all becomes worth it. Closely related to this is sleeping in my bed after I just changed the covers/sheets, etc. I just feel like things are crisper and I think to myself "好舒服哦!" Unfortunately, cuz i'm such a lazy butt, i don't get this pleasure very often.

6. A job well done. There's something to be said for completely a task, especially when I can watch people genuinely enjoying the fruits of my labor (like after planning an event or baking/cooking). Then all the hard work, time, energy, frustration, blood & sweat are worth it.

5. A good game of ULTIMATE!!! It just feels great when i can make some good plays! (like going all out to catch the "touchdown" pass, successfully cutting and losing a defender to catch a pass, making a good pass-especially a forehand) But it's also fun just to be a part of a team, working together for the same cause. Yay!

4. Having just the right amount of change to pay for something...not only does it lighten the coin purse, but it's almost like saving a dollar! (cuz i never count my change as part of my actual $)

3. Chilling with my girl friends. Getting together to talk the night away with the gals, catching up with each others' lives and usually involves food too. hee hee And it's something that happens far too seldomly.

2. Star gazing. Counting shooting stars, finding & making up constellations, and realizing yet again how very small I am (and how very big the universe is)...

1. Getting plenty of sleep. Being able to wake up without the alarm, stretching out as far as I can when I do finally decide it's time to get up & letting out a little groan of contentment as i stretch is soooooooo satisfying. =P

What are your simple pleasures?

Man, this list could go on forever!!! :) I had to try to avoid copying other ppl's simple pleasures in my official list, but some other simple pleasures i love are below for your reading pleasure. :D

11. Eating something yummy. Like a good piece of dark choc, my fav jamba juice, sipping a mojito, guac&chips, the perfect brownie, juicy ribs, delicious sushi rolls, etc. etc. etc.

12. Unrestrained laughter...laughing loud, hard & often....at nothing, at something, at whatever! Laughing till my stomach aches, i can't breathe and tears are streaming. Hrm...can't remember the last time i did that...

13. Lounging around reading a good book. It's such a treat to have enough free time that I can just sit down for a while and have enough energy and eyes not being too tired to read...it happens so seldom these days, but I'm looking forward to getting more chances for this very soon. Of course, I'll be trading my computer screen for textbooks, but eh.

lesson from the kiddies

News Flash!
We are too busy for God. Not just the high schoolers with SATs and college apps to worry about...or the collegians with their loads of coursework...or even the young adults with work & all the added responsibilities of growing up...

no matter what age we are...we are ALL too busy for God. Even my 1st, 3rd & 4th graders proclaimed everyday how busy they were with instrument lessons, sports, school, etc etc...too busy for God. I was stunned. It made me re-examine my own reasons for why I so often feel like I'm too busy for God. And I realized that my busyness was just an excuse and really not a valid reason in my avoidance of spending time alone with God.

It reminded me of when PTim preached a while ago (for the prayer month kick-off..maybe feb?) about how it's important for us to figure out WHY we don't want to spend time with God and address that first. I think part of the reason for me is that I'm tired and I know God wants me to do more, but I'm not sure I have the energy for anything else (I don't got the bandwidth! in geek speak). But I also gotta remember that God is the only one who can restore & refresh me and I can go to Him for anything, with anything that I'm feeling. I can lay my tiredness at His feet and just seek rest (cuz He promises rest to the weary in Matthew 11:28-30).

And when I am doing His work, to not count on just my own strength, but His, so that He can truly be glorified through it. And when I know I can't do everything that I want to (or think He wants me to), I can seek His guidance, especially in knowing exactly what He wants me to do! "If you need wisdom--if you want to know what God wants you to do--ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking." --James 1:5 (NLT)

egged

My car got egged on Sunday.
I was walking to my car Monday morning and saw something white on the roof and was wondering what it could be...and as I got closer, I realized....it's an egg. Ewwwww! It had dried up. And so it was kinda tough to get off. bleh :( What a way to start the week. *sigh* But thankfully, it wasn't tooooo hard to get off. As I was scrapping off the egg tho, the smell of it rather made me wanna gag. Not so much that it stunk or anything...but it definitely had a smell. I had to break the clean up in 2 tries cuz I was rushing to get to the doctor's on time. But gee...i've never gotten egged before. Why would someone wanna egg my car? :(

vbs & weekend recap

my crew (from left): me, tobi, alinna, annabelle, & tytus

Last week I helped out at my church's VBS (Vacation Bible School) that's a morning program (9am-12pm) for kids. I had a crew of 4 kids that I took from station to station (crafts, games, Bible stories, and a short movie) all week long. I was surprised by how much fun I ended up having! I even reverted a bit back to my childhood on Friday when one of the songs & its motions got stuck in my head and hopping & skipping around all afternoon (much to hanlin's dismay...hee hee!) My kids were really well-behaved though, so I really lucked out. And when some of 'em grabbed my hand as we walked between stations or all tried sit next to me, I felt soooo special. Man! I'm such a softie. But it was a tiring week, so I wasn't totally heartbroken when it ended.

As for the rest of this weekend? It passed by in a blur of the music ministry performance (which was really good!!), meetings, and the beach on Monday (perfect day for the beach!!) with the youth. I'm totally pooped and today's my first day back for a full day of work in over a week! ugh. talk about a rude awakening.

I'm working on a post on what i learned from vbs. Hopefully i can post it sometime this week. :)

you gotta be kidding me!

i know owning a pet's the trendy thing to do...but a hotel for pets?!?!

on a completed unrelated note, here's an interesting article on gas saving tips. i think most of it's common sense, but there are a couple things i didn't realize (like using overdrive on the highway and every 5 mph higher than 60 decreases your mpg...). i've been wanting to inflate my tires for a while now, but was horrified to discover that Chevron now charges for the "free air & water...cuz that's how it should be" (or something like that) that they used advertise!! Then yesterday, I was gonna get air at the shell that gives it free to customers, but there was too long a line waiting for the attendant. hopefully, i can get air on my next fill up.

More Tips on Saving Gas Money: 13 Ways to Save on Gas and Improve Mileage

1. Stay within posted speed limits. The faster you drive, the more fuel you use.
2. Use overdrive gears. Overdrive gears improve the fuel economy of your car during highway driving.
3. Use cruise control. Using cruise control on highway trips can help you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, reduce your fuel consumption.
4. Anticipate driving situations. If you anticipate traffic conditions and don't tailgate, you can avoid unnecessary braking and acceleration, and improve your fuel economy by 5 to 10 percent.
5. Avoid unnecessary idling. Turn off the engine if you anticipate a lengthy wait. No matter how efficient your car is, unnecessary idling wastes fuel, costs you money and pollutes the air.
6. Combine errands. Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.
7. Remove excess weight from the trunk. Avoid carrying unneeded items, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in the trunk reduces a typical car's fuel economy by one to two percent.
8. Keep your engine tuned. Studies have shown that a poorly tuned engine can increase fuel consumption by as much as 10 to 20 percent depending on a car's condition.
9. Keep your tires properly inflated and aligned. Underinflated tires cause fuel consumption to increase by six percent.
10. Change your oil. Clean oil reduces wear caused by friction between moving parts and removes harmful substances from the engine.
11. Check & replace air filters regularly. Your car's air filter keeps impurities in the air from damaging internal engine components. Clogged filters can cause up to a 10% increase in fuel consumption.
12. Buy only the octane level gas you need. Remember, the higher the octane, the higher the price. Check your owner's manual to determine the right octane level for your car.
13. Own a fuel efficient vehicle. The difference between a car that gets 20 MPG and one that gets 30 MPG amounts to $1,500 over 5 years.

nyc, biay & vbs

what a very acronym-y update!

NYC was great! Hot & humid and icky but lots of a/c so not soooooo bad (unlike at my house now). Lots of good conversation. Not bad shopping. Good food (espeically babbo...mmmmm...i'm so happy i went).
I'm hoping Di will post a recap on it so i don't have to... :D (i know not to count on shar or nan to do it...haha). Here are some pics to tide you over.

in the meantime...guess what?!?! i'm now passed the 300th day of my BIAY plan!!!!! I can't wait to finish. wonder how i should celebrate this milestone...any suggestions? :)

i can't believe next week's already VBS (vacation bible school)!!!!!! i'm gonna have to be up and at church by 8:30am everyday *gasp* and spend the morning with a group of kids (elementary school aged i think) as we rotate thru a bunch of stations learning about the Bible and Jesus. and THEN i'm gonna go to work afterwards (craziness!!). i think i'm gonna be totally pooped. I hope I can handle the kids! Being the youngest kid in my family, i really haven't had much experience working with kids. I always feel a bit awkward around them. Not quite sure what to say & how to interact with them. heh i remember last yr, i helped out for just 3 days and i only started to feel more comfortable on the last day! HAHA so wish me luck!

7/21 additional note: Yay!! Di did a recap! She pretty much covered it all. What a great vacation! free flight, free lodging, good food and quality time with the gals! =P

About the Food: you've GOTTA order shake shack's portabello burger with meat (it's not on the menu)...that was THE best!! and i liked buttercup's cupcakes better cuz they're less sweet. and we actually asked the waiter to water down the margarita at Dos Caminos but it was Still too strong. they musta watered it down a lot too cuz when it came, it was so thick that it was hard to suck with a straw, but after the adjustment, it was pretty watery!

About the Weather: saturday was PERFECT....not too hot, not too humid, even sprinkled a little in the afternoon. But it got progressively hotter with each passing day. So by monday it was crazy & miserable outside (which is why we mostly cabbed & shopped in a/c). OH! nearly forgot. The a/c wasn't working at sushisamba (for part of dinner)!!! so we were like sweating while we ate...which did not make for a pleasant experience.

break time!

Wow...3 posts in 1 day?!?!
This was fun! but i think i have an IQ of 0. :'(

COME-uni-KAY-shon

words.
they're so commonplace...just a bunch of letters strung together. and yet they have the power to make or break someone's day. Carelessly speaking can really create a mess of hurt feelings or anger or whatever that takes up so much more energy to clean up than if the words had never been used in the first place!

Altho i haven't hurt anyone with my words lately (at least not that i know of!!!) i do feel like a lot of words that have been coming out of my mouth (or um...typed in emails...and more like end of May timeframe when i orginally wrote this =P) aren't necessary and are a waste (of energy, time, etc). reading the verses below really reminded me that i need to consider what is occupying my mind so that the words i speak & write will also be purposeful & valueable and not just...wa-wa-waah-wah. *imagine the sounds that come out of the adults' mouths in snoopy cartoons*

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. -- Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. -- 1 Cor2:13 (NIV)

=================
Now...here's my update to these thoughts:
actually, misinterpreting someone else's words can have equally unfortunate results. but how you understand what another person's saying is totally dependent on so many factors, including your impression of the person speaking, your personality, your history (like if certain words are major triggers for you), etc. etc. it's all sooo complicated! thinking about all the things that can cause communication disconnects, it's amazing that people can understand each other on the first try at all. And in view of that fact and also cuz i assume most of the people i know are well-meaning and speak with good intentions (not to harm)...could we please give each other the benefit of the doubt before jumping to the wrong conclusions? just a thought.

a poll

out of curiosity....

1) what's your favorite book(s)?
2) what's on your "next to read" list?
3) how do you usually get your books (ie. bookstore, online, library, borrow from friends, etc)?
4) when was the last time you went to the library?

Wuz aaaah-p?

i feel like it's high time i updated...but not really sure wat to update with. july 4th was wonderful! nothing like a 4-day vacation to forget all about work. (which only made it that much harder to come back on wed. but YAY! it's only a 3-day week. wooohooo!)

i saw 2 fireworks displays over the long weekend. it was great. i can't believe it's been over 2 yrs since i've seen fireworks. i'd forgotten how pretty they are. i'll add a pic to this post once i upload the pics from my camera (which has LOTS of pics from ages ago but i've been too lazy to plug it into my computer thus far). i also went up to Cal this past weekend. and i'm ashamed to admit that i'd forgotten how to get to the Big C. Ended up having to ask a security guard at lawrence labs (yeah...major detour...all walking!!). such a steep climb!! but yay! now i remember..and hopefully i won't forget the way again. :)

swing dancing's going well. it's quite fun actually. and if you're in a non-A/C'd room in the middle of a heat wave, then it has the same affects as any aerobic exercise! heh heh (or if you have a partner that likes to twirl you around and around and around...)

I'm going to NYC next weekend with the gals! I can't wait!!!! i really need to do some shopping (i'm compiling a list of things i need in my head...hope i remember it all!) and can't wait to hang with shar, nan, al & di (altho, i saw them all pretty recently, but only for the briefest of moments each). yay!!

random poll

What do you do when you encounter a person asking for $ on the street?

Time to blow this joint

In the words of my carpool buddy, it's time to "blow this joint".
By joint, i mean work of course!

Yes, indeedy. I'm quitting my job and giving up the cushy salary to go back to being a poor (literally!) grad student. I'll be starting SJSU this fall and I'll be studying Library & Information Science. (yes, major career change) It's a little intimidating, but I'm excited to finally leave the work that i haven't been enjoying for a while now and moving on to something more interesting, more rewarding, and more fitting to my skills & personality (at least i think so). No end date has been set yet, but i think it may be sometime in Aug (probably right up till school starts...gotta save while i can!).

This also means that i'm now gonna have to learn how to budget (and how to live w/i my means...no more impulsive shopping sprees? or extravagant european vacations? waaaah!), which i've never done before. Anyone got any pointers for this newbie? :)

Oh...and as i bid adieu to the hi-tech industry (and for all my fellow nerds out there...) =P

not here

“Heaven is not here, it’s there. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next.” – Elisabeth Elliot

it's so easy to get wrapped up in busyness, the details of the daily grind and just getting thru the day such that the big picture is forgotten. i don't wanna "settle"! i don't wanna get lost in the mechanics of living and forget what my real purpose is. That i'm looking forward to something greater than this world & this life & what i can see. and what's more, i can't afford to forget it! the consequences are far too great.

lost in my stream of consciousness

gosh..is it already time for another almost weekly post?
i have lots of pics i need to download off my camera...that'd make for a perfect post...too bad ih aven't gotten around to downloading them yet. i don't have much to say besides i'm sooooo tired and i can't believe it's only tues!! i feel like my head's been in a fog since i woke up mon. it's really weird actually. i don't think i had an especially busy weekend or anything. pretty typical. maybe it's just all accumulated and that's why i suddenly feel so tired. or maybe it's the weather! such dreariness lately. maybe i'm suffering from SAD? i hope i don't get sick!! this weekend's church retreat. we're going down to asilomar. and hopefully ppl will humor me again this yr and toss the frisbee for a bit! yay!! and i wonder if we'll be able to get a bonfire going. that'd be cool. oo! i have a free blockbuster rental coupon that expires soon! arg! i guess i'll have to get something on sun or something. shoot! i was gonna say something, but i forgot in the midst of my previous stream. hrm...it was good too! let's see...what else is happening? oh. i'm gonna see an allergist 2moro for the rashes i've been getting. i'm sure you're thrilled to know that. :) oh yeah. and i'm gonna have to share what i was like in jr high/HS/college with the youth at the end of the month. oh and i really should look into getting my ticket for NYC. *sigh* so much to do and so little will & time to do it....is it time to go back to work now? guess so.....

i feel like i should post something to draw focus/attention away from the past 2 posts on chivalry ;) but i don't really have much to say. Oh...btw, i should put a disclaimer that the list on my friend's post does not necessarily reflect my personal views and opinions. i linked to it more to be informative. :D

My brother passed his quals. So now he's officially an PhD candidate. and now he can relax cuz he plans on taking full advantage of his full ride & stipend and is in no hurry to graduate. :) heh heh

My dad flew in yesterday night from Kunming so we'll be celebrating his bday and father's day (cuz i'll be gone on a church retreat and mimi & myron'll be busy the weekend after) this saturday! think we're gonna be making sushi and lobster and thai spring rolls...i'll probably make a pecan pie while i'm at it (it's my dad's fav...no oil and lots of sugar).

Thankfully, i believe the last of the activities i need to help with are over and hopefully i'm gonna get a break from organizing stuff for a little bit. Ahhhhhhh....that'll be nice cuz i feel like i've been jumping from one event to another since Feb (ski trip, scavenger hunt, europe, GA...). whew! it's been a busy couple of months. so i look forward to a bit of downtime.

chivalrous acts - #8 & #9

I'd like to submit a few more items to the list of chivalrous acts (mentioned in my previous post). They're pretty simple & probably obvious to most ppl but i thought i'd mention it anyhow (and #8's one that applies to everyone, men & women).

#8 - When dropping someone off, it's nice to wait until they're safely inside (or at least have opened their home door) before driving away. I think this is pretty practical because i view making sure a person gets home safely as part of my responsibility when driving anyone home. (i mean. what if they forgot their house keys and you've already left and they have no cell phone. then they're stranded!) Of course, guys, it's nice if you walk your date to her door when you're dropping her off, but i personally wouldn't hold it against you if you didn't. On the other hand, driving away after i've barely shut the car door would be viewed as highly inconsiderate.

#9 - (disclaimer: i didn't come up with this one...a guy actually gave me this one) Walk a girl to her car at night. This one can get a bit tricky depending on logistics...if it was a hangout at your place (the guy) and there's several ppl leaving at the same time and they all probably parked close by, then you probably don't have to. but what if the neighborhood's super safe? what if there are 2 girls and only 1 guy and they parked in totally opposite directions? ...so use your best judgment.

One last note. Chivalry is defined as "The manifestation of any of the qualities idealized by knighthood, such as bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women." So basically (imo), chivalry's not about performing all/any of the acts on this list...it's more like an attitude that will naturally result in doing of some of these things. So this list is really just examples of chivalry in action. There are a ton of ways to be chivalrous so i'll just leave it at this and i'll step off the soap box...for now. :)

it's a small, small world

i was recently referred to a blog by a girl giving advice on asian american christian dating and imagine my surprise when i discovered that the blog author is none other than an old high school classmate of mine!! :) it took a while cuz i didn't recognize her from the photo on her blog. but as i read on, the pieces started falling into place and i couldn't shake the feeling that i knew her! so i emailed her and asked. and sure enough...it's her.

she makes some good points on her blog. especially this post on the lost art of chivalry. :D Now guys, before you turn away in disgust, I really urge you to read her post cuz, speaking as a girl, i can vouch that these little, seemingly insignificant & pointless acts really do make a difference. they make a girl feel safe and cared for. they show that you respect and care about her as well. (of course, i'm not saying you've gotta to all 7! that's reserved for the fairy tale prince charming :]) AND if you do it for ALL women, then HUGE kudos to you cuz that TOTALLY shows character.

i feel like i've gotta give a shout out to my carpool buddy,C, who is the only person i know who does this. i was pretty shocked that he always opened the car door for me, but i soon learned that he does it for all his female acquaintances. that's just impressive beyond words. so way to go, C! =P hope that doesn't embarass you too much. hee hee

Memorial Day weekend

i find long weekends are both good and bad. it's Great to realize on sunday that there's no work on monday. but on monday it's only that much harder when i realize that i have to go to work the next day. Cuz the weekend's long enough such that I'd forgotten all about work, so the realization is a very very unwelcome jolt back to reality. :( Ah well. Being back at work ain't ALL that bad. i guess. after all, i've got time to post this recap! =P haha

Friday i worked from home in the morning. Had lunch with Day to catch up (she's back for a month looking after her nephew. yay!) And then took off early to help set up for youth group Guys' Appreciation Night. I got there around 3pm and it ended up just being me and Phoebe for a while!! So I moved some stuff to get things ready and she pretty much finished cooking everything so there'd be less stress later. I didn't wanna start decorating cuz didn't know what the girls wanted to do. so i ended up putzing around a bit. but it still beat being at work! hee hee It was a busy and tiring night. And a little stressful as well (especially at the beginning when i left my script & schedule on the stairs and couldn't find it!!). But it turned out really well (at least i think it did). The girls did a GREAT job and after my part was over in the body worship & skit, i was pretty much able to relax & enjoy the rest of the night! whew! Check out the pics here & here.

Saturday i treated myself to a haircut at Umbrella salon with Jen (my sister's stylist for her wedding). They raised their prices!! But ah well. It was nice to pamper myself after all the busyness. :) And then afterwards I went to Joy's grad dinner and got drafted to sub for worship team the next day!!

so Sunday morning bright & early (but...um...10 mins late for practice. eek!) i got to church. The doors were all locked!! So i walked around the whole building trying the doors, but no luck. So i stood outside the window in the front and thankfully someone saw me and opened the door for me. :) hee hee It was so weird hearing my voice from the mike. And it didn't help that 1 of the songs had an echo part where just the women sang! so i could totally hear my own voice. But I stood as far away from the mike as possible :) ...and it wasn't till the last song when i started feeling more comfortable and able to ignore everyone else and just worship. it was really cool then! too bad it lasted all of 1 min. haha After that was youth group core meeting where phoebe & i had to lead cuz chris & george were both out of town. It was neat tho spending time alone with the leaders. It's so rare for me to talk to the guys especially. So it was cool. And then i went home to chill with the fam and have dinner.

Monday was X3 and Alex's bbq. X3 was ok...i wasn't really that impressed with the storyline or with any of the new mutants introduced. The bbq was fun..the first bbq of the summer for me (i missed the bbq part of steven's bday party)! i brought my frisbee, but unfortunately, there was not much space in the backyard to throw. so after watching 2 movies (wedding singer & pirates of the caribbean) and munching on a ton of good food (i spoiled my appetite on all the sweets & snacks but still stuffed myself with the SCRUMPTIOUS beer steak and some yummy chicken drumstick...mmmmMMMmmm), a few of us went outside to kick around a soccer ball (after a couple near misses playing in the house =P) and throw the frisbee for a bit. I was in flip flops and very very stupidly kicked the ball straight on. part of my toenail came off and started bleeding but i didn't realize till a while later when i looked down and saw the red. ew. and that was the end of that. :)

whew! it was actually a pretty busy & tiring weekend!! but lots of fun. and such beautiful weather! now i guess i should really get back to work. and the rest of reality... i'll have to upload pics from my camera and update this post with some bbq pics later.

plz shout a little louder

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our consciences, but shouts to us in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
--C.S. Lewis

i've read/heard this quote twice recently and i really identify with it.
when things are going smoothly, i tend to rely on myself to get things done and while i appreciate God's blessings in my life, His voice is very gentle and easily missed. So i continue on my merry way, doing my own thing and get so busy that i have very little time for God. it's often then that i run into problems or just feel like life's spiraling out of control and realize (yet again) that i have wandered far from God, that i can't do everything on my own, and that I need Him - His wise counsel...His strength...His patience...His love...everything.

It's sad that it takes pain & troubles to get my attention. That God needs to throw up these roadblocks in order to remind me who He is and what my purpose is. And get my easily- distracted-gaze refocused back on Him. But I'm immensely thankful too that God cares enough to shout at me to get my attention. That no matter how many times i lose sight of Him (on a weekly or even daily basis!), He calls out to me and helps me find my way back.

Do you ever feel like God's trying to get your attention?

freaky

My mom got home yesterday around 9:30pm and our front door was wide open. She remembers locking it...but when she went in, everything looked undisturbed. and instead of calling me or my sis, she decided to stay at home (but it was creepy, so she turned on every light in the house =p)!!!! i got home from cg and then proceeded to check out the rest of the house (all the potential hiding places a burglar caught in the act could possibly be). it was kinda scary actually. even tho, logically, i'm sure a burglar woulda jetted out the back door by now. or if he had a gun, he woulda already come out and stuff. but still...a little scary every time i opened a door to make sure no one was in there! whew!! everything was fine and i don't think anything was taken...so my theory is that maybe the door wasn't completely closed (let alone locked) and the wind pushed it open...

Europe Posts completed!

Be warned. My posts on europe are a day-by-day, detailed summary of the trip...skim at your leisure. :) They're located on my old blog, post-dated to the actual trip dates (March 30 - April 10), and if you haven't seen them yet, the photos are all here.

For those who want a short version, here you go!
Europe was a lot of fun and travelling with Riza & Christine (here on, R & C respectively), 2 relative strangers...actually turned out really well. We got along just fine so that was a big blessing. And altho rain was forecasted for nearly everyday, it only really rained once and that was in the one city that wasn't forecasted to rain!! so we pretty much got the exact opposite of the weather forecast which was great. :) We mostly followed Rick Steve's guide to Eastern Europe (from here on, RS) since that's the only guidebook we had for restaurants and walking tours.

R & C soon realized (much to their amazement) ... that about every 2 hrs i'd say "are you guys hungry?" They always answered no & not really... but me? it was always snack time!! =P

Thruout the trip it was a running joke about how i was always struggling to close my suitcase. R & C had to teach me how to pack (roll up my clothes to get rid of the air) in krakow before i could get everything to fit without using the expander. (i'd like to claim that it was the 2 things of coffee we were bringing for dayna that took up so much space...but i'm not sure how truthful that would be =P but it's really not like i brought that much clothes either!! i was a total minimalist when i packed! i wore everything i brought except for the 1 nice, just-in-case outfit that we never needed.) of course, the joy of being able to fit everything without the expander (with the expander the suitcase always tended to be front heavy & tip over when left alone) lasted only a couple of days cuz by i went a little overboard shopping in vienna & frankfurt. :) hehe

Since one of my dreams is to be a contestant on TAR, I thought this trip would be a perfect chance to test my eligibility. Ummmm...I think i'll have to rethink the whole idea. I don't know how they do it, but i always felt soooo lost! and we wasted a lot of time figuring out who to ask and then looking for the place often took a lot longer than it ought to have! How discouraging!

The main lesson I learned? Don't try to do too much. Yes, I know how much the plane tix cost and how hard it is to get vacation. But I woulda gotten a lot more out of each place if I was able to take my time and only go to a few places (and places that are close to each other...i advise against overnight trains! but if you must, do 1st class).

Ok. I know that was supposed to be short, but how to you condense an action-packed period of 12 days into less than that???

Tagged

I typically ignore when i read someone's post and they tag me at the end of some survey...after all, there's no way they'd know if i read it or not! :D But this time I got tagged by name, so i guess i'll have to fill it out...and tag some more ppl! =P haha

1. Four Jobs:
a. hardware design engineer (current)
b. SAT tutor
c. receptionist
d. line judge, score/time keeper, shot clock, etc. for CCS waterpolo in high school (got paid so it counts!)

2. Four Things I Wish I Had Done Earlier In My Life:
a. really live on my own, far away from any parental aid (which would force me to cook & clean for myself. have yet to do this actually...)
b. become a committed follower of Jesus
c. practice/use/learn Chinese (to be fluent...and know taiwanese too for that matter...)
d. not quit playing piano

3. Four Places I Have Lived:
(you know where i live now...so i'll skip it for more interesting locales)
a. Taipei, Taiwan
b. Berkeley, CA
c. Chesapeake, VA
d. Chicago, IL

4. Four Countries I Have Been To:
(wow! i could fill this in with just my last trip alone! =P but i'll just count it all as 1 instead)
a. Czech Republic/Poland/Hungary/Austria/Germany
b. Costa Rica
c. Taiwan
d. China

5. Four Countries I Would Like to Visit:
a. Australia/New Zealand
b. Russia
c. Greece
d. Thailand

6. Four of My Favorite Dishes:
(hard to pick just 4! i have favorites for each food genre really...)
a. 豆腐皮 (a tofu dish)
b. curries (especially Thai red curry)
c. sushi/sashimi
d. chicken tikki masala

7. Four Sites I Visit Daily:
a. my yahoo
b. google
c. weather.com
d. google reader

8. Four Software Applications I Cannot Live Without:
a. IE
b. trillian/AIM
c. vnc/vpn (so i can work from home)
d. acrobat reader? (that's kind of a stretch but can't think of anything else)

9. Four Things I'll Never Forget:
a. thanksgiving & christmas dinners with the fam
b. the hot chocolate in krakow & budapest
c. finally realizing that i'm really a Chinese-American (and not totally chinese...and don't wanna be either!)
d. "just" the 10 of us...haha

10. I Tag....
a. Diana (i'll be nice and only tag you so you can tag everyone else! =P)
b. Phoebe
c. Drea
d. Riza

moving...AGAIN

moving to blogger's built-in commenting system and changed templates cuz it really was getting to be a little too pink (just a smidge). :)
kept my old blog here