Woah, been a long few days... Dad and bro arrived on weds aftnoon... we've been doing ALOT since then. getting him started in school, admin stuff- uniform, sch books... timetable. blah blah, stuff in the room- table lamp, and all the necessities. ; )

Praise God for my HD in my Roman Empire Sources tests!!

this week has been relatively short, maybe cos of the ANZAC day break, plus my politics lecturer is in Canberra- so NO tutes or lectures! woo hoo. but been doing tonnes of reading late into the nights, been listening to Pastor Prince's sermon cds- but always can't keep my eyes open beyond 1am- cos of the 7am early mornings (gotta send my bro to sch).

I'm still alive and well, i must say.
it feels funny to be typing this and being at home on a friday at 940pm, usually thr's cell. (shifted to 4pm) yea... i like my beef lasagne (which yee siang thought i lovingly made, but the lovingly part is true. just lovingly bought.) haha.

to prove to u that i'm still rather energetic (altho i'm rather low on fuel now) I'm going to screeeaaam and shout!!!
iiiiiiii wwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaannnnnnnnaaaaaaaa SSSLLLLeEEEEEEEPPPP.....

same website... beginning of a triathlon. woo.

got this from miki's blog... she took it from www.sportshoot.com.au... nice. *athlete at rest*  

They're coming...... *yay*

Your Grace is Sufficient

Your grace is sufficient for me
Your strength is made perfect
When i am weak
All that i cling to I lay at your feet
Your grace is sufficient for me

I'm no longer striving to merit your love

I rest in your promise to me

That all of my sins have been

Washed in Your blood

Your mercy is all i need

You see me as righteous

Becos of the blood

That made the atonement for me

Your Mercy has triumphed

Where i should be judged

So now, by your grace, i am free.

*one of my all time favourite old songs... really feel blessed everytime i sing it and remember His love and grace. Yes, it's sufficient! More than enough for me!*

Watched 28 days later last night. It's a really alienating film... I mean, watching it was simply disturbing. Imagine waking up to an empty world- like literally empty... u walk for miles and miles, but u see no one. not a soul. I thought that was extremely tough to film tho. The camera spanned for miles over London and it was lifeless. Brought back memories from a book i read a couple of years back. Titled "The Hot Zone" By Richard Preston, this book basically describes real life events in 1976 when the virus Ebola broke out in Zaire and Sudan.
"Ebola does in ten days what it takes HIV ten years to accomplish."
And i watch this show, 28 days later... and this virus takes 10-15 seconds to infect it's victim... driving the person wild/mad- infusing the blood and distinguishing the infected with bloodshot eyes.

Anyway, it got me thinking about these viral infections and what it means for us today.
Everyone's afraid of nuclear weapons and bombs and all that, but imagine fighting something u can't see, something that kills u from the inside out? makes u crash and bleed? how gruesome and horrifying is that? gah, honestly- if u think SARS was bad? read more about Ebola.

*shudders*
It'll blow u away.

Without God, Life makes no sense.
(summary of First Chapter: The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren)

The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for the longest time ever. According to Rick Warren, it's a wrong starting point- becos we ask self-centred questions like: "What do i wanna be?" What can i achieve, What shld i do with my life? What are MY goals, My ambitions? But the focus on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose.

Contrary to many popular books, movies, and seminars- i doubt u'll discover your life's meaning by looking within yourself. You didn't create yourself, so there is no way u'd beable to tell yourself wad u were created for.

You were made by God and for God- and until u understand that, life will never make sense.
It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other seemingly good path leads to a dead end.
Many self-help recommendations often lead to great success. Consider your dreams, Set some Goals. Aim high! be disciplined. Never give up.
But being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the same issue.
You could, reach all your goals, become a raving success by the worlds' standards and still MISS the purposes for which God created you.

God is not the starting point of your life, he is the SOURCE of it. To discover your purpose in life you must turn to God's word, not the worlds' wisdom. You must build your life on eternal truths, not pop psychology, success-motivation, or inspirational stories.

"For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible.... everything got started and finds its purpose in Him." Col 1:16

Unless you assume a God (the existence of one), the question of life's purpose is meaningless.
-Bertrand Russell, atheist
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Started my reading yesterday- it's 3 days late i noe, and altho i've done this book before.... i think like all things that u do the 2nd time-- u do it cos u want more out of it. You've experienced the essence, not so much wad Rick Warren has to say... but wad God has to say thru him and his book. Just like how u go back to the same restaurant to eat (for good food and service) or you visit the same retail store twice (goods value for money)... u go back to the same place because u wanna see wad more u can get out of it, and that's prolly how i'm seeing reading this book again...

Anyway, for more info (if u're interested)... visit www.purposedrivenlife.com
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What drives you?

Isn't it Ironic??

A few many years ago, Alanis Morissette wrote a very popular song about irony.

The irony of it was, many of the things she singled out as ironic weren't actually ironic. They were merely unfortunate--like having a black fly in your Chardonnay. Irony only happens when the result is not what was intended, especially if it's absurd or funny.
And that's why it's ironic when people misuse this word.

Let's get literal

When people say things such as, "His breath literally knocked me dead," I wonder for a minute how they managed to come back to life without looking, u noe--rotten. And then I realize that they're using literally when they mean figuratively.
If something literally happens, it means that it actually happens. It's ridiculous to say "literally" when u mean the opposite.
The best way to avoid this language mangling is to keep the word literal out of your sentences unless u really mean it, and u want your listener to know the cat really did jump three feet in the air when it saw the dog.

Disregard for the dictionary

Irregardless is not a word, regardless of the fact that people sometimes use it as one.

Be accurate, more or less

There's a difference between less and fewer--and if you use these words correctly, you will really sound like you've got a high-powered brain sitting atop your shoulders.
Use fewer when you're talking about things that can be counted, such as individual hairs and snowflakes. Use less when you're talking about things that refer to general quantities, such as hair and snow.

Use your head

Use and utilize generally mean the same thing. Why use those extra letters if you don't need to? Most words ending in -ize should be euthanized.

A unique kind of error

Unique means "one of a kind." Therefore, despite what the salesman tells you, something can't be "completely unique." It either is unique, or it isn't. Just like it's unanimous, or it's not. Or there is consensus, or there isn't. (just like when someone says "general consensus"-- isn't consensus something that's general=majority??) haha, unless u mean General consensus-- in gladiator, u noe, that guy)

Once your ears get sensitive to this mistake, you'll hear it and related mistakes everywhere. (i dunno if it's a bad habit or something)

What's up with Aussie's Channel 10 promoting "all new" episodes of their TV shows? Does this mean that some shows are only partially new? (Trust me, they feel only partially new.)

Could you care less?

Is sounding smarter something you still could care less about?
If you couldn't care less, I would be worried. Unless, of course, you cared so little that you didn't care enough to care less. Gulp.
So there you have it.

Beg to differ

Some people think i have horrible english.. and i agree- for the large part of this post i've tried to type U as "You" and exclude the excessive use of shortcut/MSN/chat lingo, but i fail disastrously. My dad refuses to believe that he's paying for my university education, only to have me email him in my singlish, half-broken jargon (if that even qualifies as a classification)- best part is that i'm doing an English major- what a joke.

Some Favourite Political Quotes....

Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas. - Joseph Stalin

All warfare is based on deception. - Art of War, Sun-Tzu, Chapter 1, Paragraph 18

There never was a good war or a bad peace. - Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)

To accept civilization as it is practically means accepting decay. - George Orwell, 1940

A-Zs of A friend....

Accepts you as you are
Believes in you
Calls you just to say "hi"
Doesn't give up on you
Encourages you in anything you do
Forgives your mistakes
Gives unconditionally
Helps you
Invites you over
Just "be" with you
Keeps you close at heart
Loves you for who you are
Makes a difference in you life
Never judges
Offers support
Picks you up
Quiets your fears
Raises your spirits
Says nice things about you
Tells you the truth when you need to hear it
Understands you
Values you for who you are
Walks beside you
X-plains things you don't understand
Yells when you won't listen
Zaps you back to reality.

A friend gave this to me.... i now give it to all my friends. ; )
You noe who you all are.... This is for You.