i've finally reach that milestone on FB - 500 friends. hold the confetti.

i love FB. i rate myself among its most active users. hehe.. actually, i'd rate myself A for Active! for many of the social media i subscribe to. i might not generate enough noteworthy buzz to draw followers or even feedback for that matter, but i enjoy them all the same. syiok sendiri. haha..

still, i feel like the list has somewhat grown superficially. i'm not "popular" enough for such honor - though i might have lived long enough hehe. while i know every one of the 500 people, calling each one a "Friend" is quite a stretch. it's quite a dilution to what i understand that word to be. if i were to accept requests based on my definition of that word, it would a very small network. hehe..

so i try to make the most of it, and to extend whatever i could beyond the cyberworld, if possible. if not, i still think that the virtual world is good ground to germinate and sustain relationships. well, it works for some of us. ;D

all said, maintaining relationships is hard work and there are only so many we could handle at one point -- so i'm very thankful to all who clap with me. :)

take me back against the everglades

back against the out-of-state

this is the last place I go for now

does it matter that I fall down, my wall down
when the border is inside or remained
brings me back
do you know the adversary
and carry all the burdens of peoples' pasts

surjan stevens :: damascus

so first it was like this:

and then it was like this:

which led to this:

and i was like this:

thanks, @thestar_rage! :D


oh, what i won eh? two passes to:

:D:D:D:D:D oh yeahhh!

i love the icons that appear every time i hash-tag country names when i tweet abt the world cup.. cool eh? ^__^

i'm not a big fan of the WC but i do make it a point to watch the final ;).. my fav team? each time when the championship rolls around, i'd randomly choose a team to support.. i'm all for underdogs but i love the big names too hehe.. what do u call a "fan" like me? hehe.. oh well..

let's see.. thanks to my "unwavering" "support", italy won the 2006 cup, and france 4 years before that, and brazil in 1998. *COUGHshamelessCOUGH* hehehe.. don't rber catching the game in 1994 (Form 4!) or earlier.. heh.

this year, my (monopoly) money is on spain.. even so, there's always a soft spot for england (as i suspect most msians would from watching too much EPL).. someone told me spain stands a good chance this time.. so viva la español! :D

i love the gems random surfing can dig up. i don't remember how i reached there, but i'm a-loving richard beck's experimental theology blog. if psychology and theology is your cuppa (i kinda think that it could be mine :), then i think you'd enjoy it. it's long-but-light reading - me likey!

i was in the midst of reading The Theology of Calvin and Hobbes (i love C&H, unreservedly =D and there are a lot a lot a lot of article titles that have caught my interest so i'm a happy camper for now *grins*) but i was nearing saturation point so i'm taking a break lah. it's Friday after all!

speaking of which, i met up with my ex-colls (whom i have "lovingly" dubbed my barnacles aka barneys for their "stickiness" urm.. long story) over lunch.. at amcorp mall. we quickly discovered how disastrous a decision it was - with the terrible jam and unexpected crowd and that it was 10 train stops from KLCC - everything went awry.. we ended up spending only about 20mins eating together (my traveling time alone took up almost four times that o_0) anyways, loved seeing them, but never again (lunch on a weekday)! hehe..

mm back to work. ;)

D for Distinction.

yesterday, i received the results of my previous bible school night classes (Genesis and Life of Christ). i got them late because i delayed in sending in my enrolment form, which was necessary for the academic office's records. the school rules said that when i clock in 16 credit hours, i have to matriculate for a course. and i was due for matriculation like two semesters ago. i'm just glad they didn't reassign my credits for these two subjects to Audit status. i also quite paiseh that the registrar office had to call me like.. many times chasing for my documents. truly there are no procrastinators like me. i'm infamous!

anyway.. so yeah, i got a D+ for LoC.

if you remembered, this (LoC) was a class that i pretty much was excited about. i had an excellent teacher who is one hardworking dude, and very knowledgable at that. it showed in his teaching and how he manages discussions. alas, he had a student like me. i know my laziness would come back to bite me one day, and finally it has. sigh.

i am kinda bummed out about this but i had it coming: i didn't complete some of the assignments - both reading and written, and my test scores were mediocre. i wanna complain that the requirements were too heavy but i see most of my working adult classmates completing everything required of them. and it wasn't like i didn't have time to do what i needed. argh. i've got no one to blame but myself.

:(

last saturday:

• woke up at 1130 to chongy's call for lunch
• wrote an email of hopefully comfort
  
• reached chongy's place at 2 with 2 packets of fish head noodle (sorry about the bones)
• left at 4 for music practice and finished in slightly less than 2 hours
• dinner in setapak at one of hubby's students' parents' simple food joint
• came home at 1030 & chongy picked us up for supper at k3k kuchai (sorry abt the long detour home)
• slept slightly past midnite

and on sunday:

• woke up at 8 for church
• 1-hr jamming session after service w worship team
  
• cheap n nice lunch at tan yew lai w sunday lunch gang
  
• movie screening at central market annexe w chongy & audrey
  
• dinner at puzzini & supper at +wondermilk w hubby & chongy
• slept slightly before midnite
  

meals and music and rest.
life is about such decadence.

kinda makes up for a lousy friday.
kinda.

i is drooling... :9

about the only thing i like about my current phone is the cover's nice shade of pink.. i honestly regretted getting it - specifically cos its camera function sucks! grr.. and its price has dropped almost by half in the last 3 months! kinda testament to what kinda phone this is kan!

sigh, and i'm kinda gugu-gaga over this hottie right now. sigh. i walk pass its promotional booth everyday with longing eyes and heart, but i just. can't. afford. it. and i need to buy a new couch for my living before i get this (priorities, priorities. so, IKEA oh IKEA, when art thou sale? July i hope!)



so yeah.. maybe next year. sigh my darling.. when will you be mine?

mmhmm.

Is it escape? Is it a coping mechanism? Maybe a bit, but I feel that it is much more than that. The song becomes a hopeful defiance. A declaration that the injustices and absurdities of our postmodern existence are not the final downbeat. Music becomes a confession of disbelief in the world that surrounds me.

[jf]

you should see the stars tonight
how they shimmer shine so bright
against the black they look so white
coming down from such a height
to reach me now, reach me now

you should see the moon in the flight
cutting cross the misty night
softly dancing in sunshine
reflections of this light
reach me now, you reach me now

and how could such a thing
shine its light on me
and make everything beautiful again

and you should feel the sun in the spring
coming out after a rain
suddenly all is green
sunshine on everything
i can feel it now, i feel you now

and how could such a thing
shine its light on me
and make everything beautiful

and you should hear the angels sing
all gathered round their king
more beautiful than you could dream
i've been quietly listening
you can hear 'em now, i hear em now

and how could such a king
shine His light on me
and make everything beautiful
and i wanna shine
i wanna be light
i wanna tell you it'll be alright
and i wanna shine and i wanna fly
just to tell you now
it'll be alright, it'll be alright
it'll be alright

'cos i got nothing of my own to give to you
but this light that shines on me shines on you
and makes everything beautiful, again
it'll be alright, it'll be alright

david crowder band :: stars (from the mount wilson observatory)

zul kinda alerted me to the string of bad news on today's paper.. and wow. it's just so bad. so sickeningly so.

. . .


12 Arise, LORD! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.

13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
"He won't call me to account"?

14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.

15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
call him to account for his wickedness
that would not be found out.

16 The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.

[psalm 10]