I rent a room and I fill the spaces with
Wood in places to make it feel like home
But all I feel's alone
It might be a quarter life crisis
Or just the stirring of my soul

Either way I wonder sometimes
About the outcome
Of a still verdictless life

Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why Georgia, why?

Everybody is just a stranger but
That's the danger in going my own way
I guess it's the price I have to pay
Still "everything happens for a reason"
Is no reason not to ask myself

Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Am I living it right?
Why Georgia, why?

--John Mayer, "Why Georgia"

Congratulations to Piya & Pradeep, the newly engaged-couple!

Piya is a dear friend from college days. She makes me laugh. We were in small group together our freshman and sophomore years. We were the Unit 1 & 3 (as in dorms) women's small group. Pretty dull, huh? Then we became GWAVA (God's Women at Various Apartments) and thought that to be much more stylish. We used to call her Princess Piya because she proclaimed (and we all agreed) herself the center of the universe!!! I'd show you the hand gestures if I could. Haha! Good times!

Pradeep is a very fortunate man.

Welcome back!

Ah, I feel at home again. Even though I spent more time on the xanga site, I never felt quite at ease as I do here. Perhaps it was just a little too complicated for me. All the gadgets, bells and whistles are pretty cool, but they were under-utilized anyway. This feels more like it....

Kick back, relax, make yourself at home. I've re-posted all the old entries here... unfortunately, they're all lumped together under today's entry. They are still in chronological order though.

It was great to have you. Come back real soon now, y'hear?

Monday, February 24, 2003

Of Guns, Out-of-this-World Hospitality and Inspiration

I've discovered that there's a certain thrill to shooting a gun (or was it a rifle?) Don't worry, I wasn't attempting to shoot anyone or any animal... we were aiming at clay disks flung through the air (the flinging itself is quite a skill.) I was in central Washington, in the midst of snow-capped mountain peaks, beautiful green noble firs and enjoying the hospitality of a wonderful Christian couple, Gregg and Glenna Hires, in their (no joke) log-cabin home.

I didn't think I'd actually do it... guns are a little scary (there's such negative connotation in general) and it seems dangerous for someone like me to handle one! It was surprisingly heavy, and I had a hard time just keeping it up and aimed away from the bystanders. The sound was deafening when the pellet/bullet (I don't think I have any of the terminology down, either) bursted out of the barrel and echoed across the canyon. Then there's the kick-back, JOLT, like this unexpected push at your shoulder... Incredible. I shot twice. Didn't hit intended (or unintended, thank God) targets.

The wonderful Christian couple are the parents of Jason's med friend. I was absolutely bowled over by their AMAZING hospitality. There were about 13 of us (and a cute little tyke named Ian) who headed to their home for the weekend. They have this AMAZING (i'm running out of adjectives) home, which the father designed and built with the help of friends and volunteers. All of us, except the single guys, had beds to sleep in. They provided almost everything we would or could need.

Glenna is AMAZING. A former Home Economics (and back in the day, they actually taught cooking and sewing) teacher - a tiny woman - she is so sweet, personable and generous. She made all our meals from scratch, including gorgeous desserts, kept fresh coffee, cocoa and cold drinks available nearly the entire time, and thought of every single detail (and more than) to make the weekend relaxing, enjoyable and perfect.

To give you a small idea of what I experienced... three stacks of clean pressed towels (in 3 different sizes) could be found in each bathroom under the sink. There were new clean bathrobes hanging there, as well, and a small basket full of shampoo, soap, Q-tips, lotions, etc etc. The house was clean and orderly, not at all in an imposing and unlived-in way, rather it was warm and comfy. The living room had nearly floor-to-ceiling windows that faced the mountains and trees, and they had NO neighbors within eyesight or earshot.

What impressed me the most was just their incredible, humble and giving servant-like hearts towards all of us. They had just returned from the Dominican Republic for a short-term missions trip, but not once did I sense that we were a burden to them. Although still feeling some jet lag, they were smiling, laughing, joyful to be around. Glenna prepared all of our meals (no doubt getting up hours before any of us peeped) and Gregg was always in there, cleaning up afterwards (imagine the dishes for one meal, not to mention the glasses used for drinks and snacks in-between!) and always on-hand to pick up things needed or keep everything running smoothly. We had to fight to help clean up, and were only successful, maybe once or twice.

How do I get it? Where does it come from? How can I be more like them? The joy, humility, the thinking-of-others-before-yourself attitude that permeated their home. Is that woman for real? Do they ever fight? And will she give me her secret recipes?

I haven't even mentioned the AMAZING story of their marriage and their ministry. I'll have to save that for next time.

What struck me the most this weekend was the beautiful sweetness of a simple and joyful life. A hospitable home and the blessings conferred on both hosts and guests. That God is so good and that we have so much to share about Him and His goodness. When we left, Gregg - who is a tall, big lumber-jack kind of a man, but so quiet and gentle - gave me this big bear hug and smile, saying, "We loved having you. Hope you'll come back soon."

Dear Lord, please continue to bless Gregg and Glenna and all of their children and grandchildren, and may they continue to be a blessing to all they meet and all who are fortunate to pass through their home.


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Thursday, February 20, 2003

I'm feeling a little of the anxiety creep in. I'm trying to push off the temptation to consume inordinate amounts of caffeine. If only I didn't need sleep! This is ridiculous! Three weeks until finals and two big papers due before then as well.

The one particular thing I appreciated about working full-time (as opposed to school full-time) is that there's a regularity and consistency about working hours (ok, they're long sometimes though), leaving work at work, and the (usual) sense that evenings and weekends are free to pursue other things.

Not so with school. There's definitely an other-worldliness about students... we sleep at weird hours, get up at weird hours, are constantly thinking about how we should be studying and telling others that we plan to, but only studying half that amount of time and wasting the other half attempting to actually study... we eat microwaveable food (ok, working people do too), relegate weekends to catching up on the studying we didn't do or should've have done, and overall, like to complain and whine about how we study all the time.

Welcome to my world!

So please be kind to me (or feel sorry for me), as I'm likely to be poor about responding to email and messages in the next month. Or, if you suddently hear from me really often or get strange calls and emails in the middle of the night, you'll know I'm procrastinating.


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Monday, February 17, 2003

"We should not be scared with being confrontational, of facing people with the wrong that they have done. Forgiving doesn't mean turning yourself into a doormat for people to wipe their boots on. Our Lord was very forgiving. But he faced up to those he thought were self-righteous, who were behaving in a ghastly fashion, and called them 'a generation of vipers.'

Forgiveness doesn't mean pretending things aren't as they really are. Forgiveness is the recognition that a ghastliness has happened. And forgiveness doesn't mean trying to paper over the cracks, which is what people do when they say, 'Let bygones be bygones.' Because they will not. They have an incredible capacity for always returning to haunt you. Forgiveness means that the wronged and the culprits of those wrongs acknowledge that something has happened. And there is necessarily a measure of confrontation. People sometimes think that you shouldn't be abrasive. But sometimes you have to be to make someone acknowledge that they have done something wrong. Then once the culprit says, 'I am sorry,' the wronged person is under obligation, certainly is he or she is a Christian, to forgive. And forgiving means actually giving the opportunity of a new beginning.

It's like someone sitting in a dank room. It's musty. The windows are closed. The curtains are drawn. But outside the sun in shining. There is fresh air. Forgiveness is like opening the curtains, opening the windows, letting the light and the air into the person's life that was like that dank room, and giving them the chance to make this new beginning. You and I as Christians have such a wonderful faith, because it is a faith of ever-new beginnings. We have a God who doesn't say, 'Ah...Got you!' No, God says, 'Get up.' And God dusts us off and God says, 'Try again.'"

Archbishop Desmond Tutu's work confronting the bigotry and violence of South Africa's apartheid system won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. In 1994, he was appointed head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"One of the most extraordinary things is how many of those who have suffered most grievously have been ready to forgive - people who you thought might be consumed by bitterness, by a lust for revenge. A massacre occurred in which soldiers had opened fire on a demonstration by the ANC (African National Congress), and about twenty people were killed and many wounded. We had a hearing chock-a-block full with people who had lost loved ones, or been injured. Four officers came up, one white and three black. The white said: 'We gave the orders for the soldiers to open fire' - in this room, where the tension could be cut with a knife, it was so palpable. Then he turned to the audience and said, 'Please, forgive us. And please receive these, my colleagues, back into the community.' And that very angry audience broke out into quite deafening applause. It was an incredible moment. I said, 'Let's keep quiet, because we are in the presence of something holy.'"


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Wednesday, February 12, 2003

...Perhaps you are rich and near to you reside the poor. Call them neighbor, and remember that you are to love them. The world may call the poor inferior, but they are not....It is your clothing that is better, not you. The poor one is a person, and what are you more than that?

Charles H. Spurgeon


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Tuesday, February 11, 2003

"Once you come to understand that life is unbelievably brief and that we really can't do anything that's gonna change anything, that we don't really amount to a hill of beans--then all of a sudden you go, 'So it doesn't really matter if I'm not great. And if I don't have to be great, that means I can fail. And if I can fail, that means I can try. And if I can try, that means I'm gonna have a good time." - Rich Mullins

"...I mean, you may be rich, you may be poor. You may have a job tomorrow, you may not. Nothing is sure in life except that you will be dead. There's something really great about living in the awareness that we will someday die. For one thing, that makes all that is hard about life more endurable because we know it will pass. So I think that it teaches us not to hold on to things, to live with some sort of detachment. Not the sort of detachment where we are unmoved, but the sort of detachment where we allow ourselves to be moved easily and quickly, but we don't try to possess those things that move us." - Rich Mullins


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Saturday, February 08, 2003

There is a family of eight, the Petrys, at my church. Six kids! The oldest is a thirteen-year old boy, John Paul, followed by three girls, Annabelle, Eleanor, Olivia (ages 11, 8 and 6) another boy of 3, Benjamin, and the youngest boy, Josiah, is a newborn. Wowza!

I'm privileged to take part in a community group hosted by this family, lead by their father, an attorney and their mother, an amazing woman who homeschools all of them!

I adore these kids. You'd think six kids would drive any person (however patient) insane, at least that's what I'd assume! But these children are incredible... they are so charming, personable, and loveable. Their parents have disciplined them so well - they are helpful, pleasant, cheerful... yes I know it sounds unreal! Eleanor (8) is an absolute doll. I arrived late last week, and everyone was already seated (cramped in a large circle that encompassed the living and dining rooms) and I looked for a seat in vain. Eleanor motioned with her hands for me to sit next to her by the fireplace. She also always sends me off with a big hug.

Olivia (6) had introduced herself to Jason and me, saying "My name is Olivia Rae Petry." We asked her where she wanted to sit, and she said immediately, "I want to sit next to both of you."

Whenever I don't show up, the girls will ask me on Sunday, "Where were you last Tuesday?" I'm so flattered that they would even notice... there's a good 20-30 people in this group!

I noticed that John Paul (13) is starting to grow up. He's this tall, really lanky boy who loves his baby brother. I can tell he really helps his mom out around the house and with his siblings. As I was leaving last week, Jonna (Mrs. Petry) called for John Paul, and before I knew it, he was racing out of the door ahead of me. She called him back, and gently scolded him.

"John Paul, you are supposed to open the door for the lady!"

"I did!" he protested.

"No you didn't. You opened the door and ran out in front of her."

"But I opened the door for her...."

"When you see a lady to the door, you need to open it and let her pass before you," Jonna said, as she stood by the door and demonstrated.

"Ohhh....all right."

Then he said to me, "I'm going to walk you to your car." And he did! It was very cute. He walked me to the other side of the street where I was parked. Of course I thanked him graciously and told him I was very impressed, and that someday he would appreciate his mom's training because all the girls would be just as impressed.

He, looking somewhat unconvinced, said, "Yea, that's what everyone tells me."

:)


5:44 AM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Tuesday, February 04, 2003

So I did a mock interview at the Prosecutor's Office. (My only exposure to that side is via The Practice on TV.) It was more like he was the interviewee, so it wasn't too helpful for practice. Very nice guy and really intent on helping me though. He did give good tips on how to land a job as an extern or intern there and some insights on that kind of job.

1. They're looking for certain characteristics - the intangible "prosecutor" aura, I think. Image, persona, etc.

2. They want people who think on their feet. "Objection!" "For what?" "Blah, blah, blah..."

3. He says you're not constrained to do what a client wants (unlike so many other fields) but that you can actually choose to do what is "right." That's very attractive to me, though they are constrained by certain ethics and protocol for Prosecutors. Whether they follow them is another thing entirely...

So the job thing overall is a little discouraging to me. I naively feel that we should be honest and describe who we are and our goals, our interests, etc and see if there's a good match. Yet it seems to be more of what can I say that will make you hire me, regardless of whether I really mean it? Then again, how do any of us know what we want at this stage anyway? (By the way, my interviewer had no idea he wanted to be a prosecutor until a year after he had done it.)


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Sunday, February 02, 2003

I was pretty shocked at the news of the space shuttle Columbia. I think it was particularly because they were so close to landing.

I read a few of the crew's biographies... one man was only 41 yet had three children, 22, 18 and 17. He had graduated second in his class. One of the two women was a mother of an eight-year old boy. They were all so young, and it was all so sudden. God be with their families.

Death hits and I'm sobered again by the brevity of our lives. It could be any one of us at any moment.

"Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." - Ephesians 5:15-16

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'" - James 4:13-15


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Thursday, January 30, 2003

THE PLAYWRIGHT INCARNATE (by Sheldon Vanauken)

A play about a play about a play

One night some of the characters in Smith's play got to talking, right in the middle of Act II. They were all, drinks in hand, in Bob's comfortable rooms at the University. The windows were wide to the spring night, and the chapel bell was striking eight o'clock.

BOB: Look here, have you all heard this crazy story that's going around--a story that this play we're in is being written by somebody named Smith who made us and the whole University? What nonsense! Science says the University has always been there. And Smith--I've never met him. Nobody has. He's not even in the University--I checked.

TOM: Well, he couldn't be if he's outside the play writing it, could he? He's not in our time and space at all, supposedly. But Linda says she can hear his voice inside her somehow.

LIZ: That's why she's rooming with that awful Beth--because Smith wants her to be kind to Beth.

BOB: What's the matter with her? Voices! Where's this crazy stuff coming from?

TOM: Well, there was a fellow named Smithson at the end of Act I. Of course we weren't here then. Anyhow, he started it. All he talked about was Smith and what Smith wanted us to do. But he also said that he was Smith, in some way. He said that anyone who had seen him--Smithson--had seen Smith. If Smith exists, Smithson just could be his word to us.

KAY: Wasn't there some kind of trouble? I heard something about it. Didn't he get killed?

JIM: Yes, that's right. It was some sort of demonstration. He was talking to a crowd about Smith, and some minister called the cops. They said he was killed resisting arrest.

BOB: So the great author gets shot in a street brawl! (Laughs) So now who's writing the play? In fact, who was running things when he was alive and asleep? (Laughter) Some Smith!

LIZ: According to Linda, Smith was writing it--and still is.

BOB: Come on, Liz! Either he was in the play of he's 'out there.' He can't be two people!

TOM: He could be. I wrote a story once and put myself in it--but I was outside, too.

JIM: It's too improbable, though. I might buy the idea of Smith the creator, but not one that sticks himself in the play and gets killed. Undignified! Dumb! But a lot of fools do believe it. They've got a sort of club called the Smithsonian, and the Smithsonians say that Smith invented the play and put Smithson in it to tell us about Smith himself.

BOB: A lunatic! Saying he was the author! Megalomania! Getting himself shot proves it.

TOM: I was talking to that Jewish guy, Paul Bishop, the other day. He used to hate the very name of Smithson, but then he had some sort of experience on the way to Danville or somewhere--after Smithson was dead. He said Smithson spoke to him. So now he's a Smithsonian, one of the leaders. He says the play's a great experiment because Smith lets us choose. Smith wants us to help him make the play come out right because we want to. Paul says Smith loves us a lot. He put himself in the play to tell us what he wants us to do.

LIZ: And we killed him!

BOB: I'll do what I want to do! Dammit, there's no proof at all. Look at the play--each scene grows out of the one before through perfectly natural causes. Listen--we invented Smith!

KAY: Of course we did. And Smithson was just a character like us, only with delusions. A nut!

TOM: Still, it's possible, you know. I was outside my story, but there was a Tom that was me in it, too. If there's a Smith outside this University, how else coud he speak to us? But there'd be a risk: he'd have to be all character as well as all Smith--so he could be killed, you see. Maybe we ought to look into what Smithson said if he sort of died for us.

LIZ: If we can hear Smith in us--as he must be if he made us--Smithson is the only way.

KAY: Oh, Liz! You've been listening to Linda too much. Why don't I hear the voice of Smith?

LIZ: Have you ever tried to? Would you want to hear it? Smith's not going to make you listen.

TOM: She's right, Kay. Look, do you know what's so impressive about all this? It's the idea of a sort of trinity: Smith outside writing the play; and inside as a character; and with each of us, too. I don't know whether it's true, but it's exactly the way it would be if it were. Like that story I wrote. And, also, you know, it'd be all NOW to Smith, sitting there out of our time: this conversation or Smithson living and dying even the way it all comes out. This thing has the feel of something true. A sort of rightness.

BOB: Tom, for God's sake! You sound like a Smithsonian! It's just a cult, man! There's no Smith. (Shouts) All right, Smith! Show yourself! Speak! (Grins) See? No Smith!

Smith smiled slightly as his eyes ran down the page. Then he looked at the end of Act I, a little sadly. "Yes, that does it," he murmured to himself. "The way." Then he looked at the ending of the play, the last scene; and he smiled again.

Currently Reading
Under the Mercy
By Sheldon Vanauken
see related


8:37 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Tuesday, January 28, 2003

"...if a man diligently followed his desire [for Joy], pursuing the false objects until their falsity appeared and then resolutely abandoned them, he must come out at last into the clear knowledge that the human soul was made to enjoy some object that is never fullly given...in our mode of subjective and spatio-temporal existence."

--C.S. Lewis, The Pilgrim's Regress (underlines mine)


7:56 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it

Tuesday, January 28, 2003

Birthday Delights:

1. My dearest buddies Grace, Ellen and Christine came crashing through my door on Friday evening, to my great bewilderment and surprise!

2. A most excellent and impressive homemade breakfast by Chef Yip, complete with sausage & veggie (including avocado) egg scramble, pancakes, blueberries & mandarin oranges, toast, juice, and a view of the Space Needle!

3. A weekend full of Scrabble, Speed Scrabble, team and solo NURTS, and Jenga - in cafes, on the dining table, on the air mattress and (almost) in the shopping mall.

4. A lovely dinner with Jason at Palisade, this fancy-schmancy restaurant overlooking Lake Elliot on the Puget Sound. Even I enjoyed their famous crab cakes (heralded as the best in the city!)

5. A beautiful Victorian English wooden bench with beautiful spring green upholstery and tassels!

6. Eating, drinking, gaming and being merry.

7. No studying. :)

Whew. What more could a girl wish for?


3:41 AM - 1 eprop - 1 comment - email it


Friday, January 24, 2003

I'm beginning to feel great affection for my Group 6 members. They are all interesting, bright, witty and funny folks. Tonight we had a potluck and played Trivial Pursuit (which I'm horrible at... not only is it the 1981 version, but why pursue what is trivial?) and there's nothing like a group boardgame to get people together! Let's test your trivia-savvy...

What is the largest of the Japan islands?

Where is the White Nile?

What was the name of the scientific machine in "2001 Space Odyssey"?

Who painted "The Artist's Mother"?

Who was moviedom's "Mr Belvedere"?

Who was the magician in King Arthur's Court? (Ok, probably the only question I could answer!)

My main contribution was to be the die-roller for my team. They want to take me to Vegas, baby!


3:01 AM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Monday, January 20, 2003

Our church is in the Seattle Times! Check it out:

The Seattle Times: Local News: 'Emerging churches' drawing young flock

While you're at it, check out the Mars Hill Church website, listen to a few sermons or songs. Click on "Menu" and then "MP3/Audio". The menus float, so it can be a little hard to maneuver at times.


6:53 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


It's the official holiday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and that's why I get the day off school. :) But seriously, I have been thinking a bit about race, ethnic and gender issues recently.

I attended a talk by this Harvard Law prof, an African-American man who spoke on reparations (basically, compensation via money or otherwise?) for slavery in the U.S. After my quarter+ of law studies, you'd think I would have seen it coming... it's obviously a continuing tort case! African-Americans have continued to suffer the ill effects in several areas including health care, housing, education, etc.

Secondly, last week I was competing in a competition (basically, it's like a law clinical experience.) My partner was male, the opposing team were both males, 2 of 3 judges were male. The last judge who also acted as mediator, was a female. So all of us are squished in this tiny classroom, and sometime during the round, the other team's attorney (role-played of course) asked, "Should we put all of this on the board or just take notes?"

I (acting as the attorney for our team) said, "That's fine, I'll just take notes." And we continued... At the end of the round, after the judges' comments, the one female judge pulled me aside and said "Can I talk to you for a moment?" in this serious tone and intense look on her face. She said, "NEVER do what you did back there." I was puzzled and had no idea what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" I asked. She then proceeded to explain that secretaries take notes, and that because I am this young female, I should not volunteer to do such things, esp. around older men, who will then treat me as a secretary. She said that I need to maintain my "edge" or else they will think of me as a "pretty GIRL" emphasized on the GIRL.

I was bewildered, because it had never occurred to me. After all, I am in a law school class comprised 2/3 of females! I don't think I've ever experienced gender discrimination. On the contrary, I've embraced the beauty of distinction between males and females that God has created! But then, I began to worry... will I get taken advantage of? I look young for my age, I'm short, I'm "sweet" (according to the female judge) and therefore, will the opposing side see green lights to trample over me and my clients?

Such a different world, this legal world. I don't blame the strident feminists for being angry. The female judge was speaking on her own experience... she had been treated like a secretary, not an attorney, because she was too soft, not tough enough perhaps. Now the questions scratch at the back of my mind. Do I need to toughen up in order to be a good attorney? And does that conflict with the gentleness and kindness that Christians are to manifest? Will my clients suffer as a result of my "sweet"ness? But Lord save me from becoming militant!


3:39 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Wednesday, January 15, 2003

Congratulations to Chris & Linda, the new quite-happily engaged couple! :)


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Wednesday, January 15, 2003

This past couple of weeks have been crazy. I'm even getting sick of coffee, if you will believe. I started a new round of addiction - Vanilla Coke! :)

This quarter is definitely tougher than the previous. I feel like a zombie some days, and others I'm just pushing through by frenzied necessity.

But good news! I sent out my first round of summer job applications. It's a temporary load off my back. Hey, I can only do my best and God will provide the rest. Pray for me regarding the summer, that I will be placed where God desires. No use in being anxious over what is largely out of my hands.


6:52 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Thursday, January 09, 2003

"You should not let a single person in the world, whatever sin that person may have committed, come before your eyes and depart without having found mercy with you. And should that person not ask for mercy from you, then you must ask it of him. And were that person to come to you a thousand times, continue to love them so as to lead them back to the right path. Always have compassion, for all of us have sinned." -- St. Francis of Assisi

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal... lock it up safe in the coffin of your selfishness. But in the casket... it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable.... The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell." -- C.S. Lewis

"The best moments any of us have as human beings are those moments when for a little while it is possible to escape the squirrel-cage of being me into the landscape of being us." -- Frederick Buechner


1:43 AM - 2 eprops - 1 comment - email it


Monday, January 06, 2003

Surprisingly, returning to Seattle after the break hasn't been difficult. The city feels familiar and (with mostly sunny skies) strangely comforting. Of course I miss family & friends. However, the studio apt is uniquely my own space and now there are familiar faces of new friends to return to!

Top 10 Highlights (in no particular order) of my winter break in SoCal:

1. Watched The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Version at least two times completely, including the appendices, and read most of The Two Towers. My mom liked to ask, "When's the test?" Haha.

2. Animated and lengthy discussions with Joy on everything from Biblical truth & historical context to PDA in romantic relationships! I think Joy should be a lawyer! :)

3. Disneyland - the annual tradition with Norcal-ers. This year the faithful included Bev and Allen! Whoo-hoo! Bev ate avocados for breakfast and is secretly a million years old and of elvish descent, Allen debated with Joy and pined for Cinderella from across the parade rope line, and both beared (bore?) with our unending bad jokes and allusions to LOTR.

4. Hanging out with junior-high buddies ("Friends Forever!"), high school buddies, church buddies, and buddies that don't fit into the above categories.

5. Realizing that I like soymilk but I can't be a true granola girl.

6. Wise counsel and listening ears from Pastor & Mrs. Keng. Thanks again for your prayers!

7. Hugs and kisses from Mom & Dad. :)

8. Dinner & show w/Jason, with a hilarious rendition of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

9. Sitting in my leather recliner with footrest in my reading corner.

10. Eating GOOD Chinese food. TOO much Japanese food though.


4:06 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Tuesday, December 31, 2002

It is the last day of the year. Do you ever feel sad that this one seemed to pass so quickly? It's a strange thing - this passing of time, or rather, our perception of it.

How is that those little church kids I once knew are suddenly graduating from high school? My "little" cousin, who I used to jump on the bed with pretending to be rockstars, is taller than me and is learning to drive... my younger sister has graduated from college! How often do we hear our parents say, "I suddenly woke up and found myself to be middle-age!"

Sheldon Vanauken, author of A Severe Mercy (by the way, a heart-breakingly beautiful book about love, faith, death and hope) probably said it best. He said that we often say, "How fast time flies!" or "I can't believe how long it's been since..." or "It can't be that many years already!" etc. because humans are like fish out of water.

We were made for the eternal realm, and therefore the passing of time feels a little odd, as if it doesn't fit quite right. We are surprised, or perplexed that we should find ourselves years older than what our internal clocks feel! And what should make it feel so unless we somehow felt that it should be otherwise?

Currently Watching
The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Extended Edition)
Starring Elijah Wood ~ Directed by Peter Jackson
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6:18 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Monday, December 23, 2002

It's strange going home and having it feel a little foreign to you. It took me a day or so before I felt like my bathroom was really mine. You know how you place your toiletries in particular cabinets and shelves... well, it's all different here! But I'm getting used to it.

Joy is back from D.C., so we're content as can be! We also put up the Christmas tree, plus tinsel and lights...a little late, but we can still enjoy it through the new year!

Jason's family hosted a big Christmas party last night -- Chinese food was delicious, and the festivities were excellent! Not only did we have our very own Larissa Lam sing, there was also a spectacular world-class (I think?) violin player! And best of all, 70 or so (mostly) Chinese folk singing Christmas carols together!

Currently Reading
The Two Towers Being the Second Part of the Lord of the Rings
By J. R. R. Tolkien
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4:21 AM - add eprops - add comments - email it

Wednesday, December 18, 2002

WOW. I mean, WOOOOWWW.

That's all I need to say about The Two Towers. It's taken me a couple hours after the movie just to settle down, b/c it was so intense. What else? GO SEE IT.

WOW.


11:57 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Joys That Sting

Oh doe not die, says Donne, for I shall hate

All women so. How false the sentence rings.

Women? But in a life made desolate

It is the joys once shared that have the stings.

To take the old walks alone, or not at all,

To order on pint where I ordered two,

To think of, and then not to make, the small

Time-honoured joke (senseless to all but you);

To laugh (oh, one'll laugh), to talk upon

Themes that we talked upon when you were there,

To make some poor pretence of going on,

Be kind to one's old friends, and seem to care,

While no one (O God) through the years will say

The simplest, common word in just your way.

--C.S. Lewis

REMEMBER

HELEN JOY DAVIDMAN

D. July 1960

Loved Wife of C.S. Lewis

HERE THE WHOLE WORLD (STARS, WATER, AIR,

AND FIELD, AND FOREST, AS THEY WERE

REFLECTED IN A SINGLE MIND)

LIKE CAST OFF CLOTHES WAS LEFT BEHIND

IN ASHES, YET WITH HOPE THAT SHE,

RE-BORN FROM HOLY POVERTY,

IN LENTEN LANDS, HEREAFTER MAY

RESUME THEM ON HER EASTER DAY.


4:29 AM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Tuesday, December 17, 2002

I'm so excited to watch The Two Towers (Part II of the Lord of Rings.) Jason got us tickets to watch it immediately after my final tomorrow. I can hardly contain myself, much less study!

If you don't know what the hype is all about, watch the trailer at the LOTR site (bottom right-hand corner.)


6:17 PM - add eprops - add comments - email it


Monday, December 16, 2002

I didn't realize there was this whole underground world of people linked up through blogging. It's incredible. Technology blows me away.

Currently Reading
Civil Procedure: Cases and Materials
By John J. Cound, Jack H. Friedenthal, Arthur R. Miller
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8:51 PM - 1 eprop - add comments - email it