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Testing, testing, one, two

My personality is rated 36.What is yours?

Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive personality; a natural leader, who's quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once; someone who takes chances and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your company because of the excitement you radiate.

Errr...okay. Better get back to radiating, then.

More
Received my copy of "A Walk to Remember" on DVD last week. A bargain at around $17. Predictably, I watched it 2.5 times in a row, and predictably, I cried. I remember having heated discussions with people who panned it for being a) too cheesy b) too sentimental c) not accurately portraying Christianity in having some dodgy statements about faith.

You know, I thought it was most excellent. It is such a surprise to watch a movie that even attempts to show positive aspects of Christianity. By no means did it market itself as a "Christian" movie, if such a thing actually exists, and so, through the gentle telling of a lovely romantic story, it influences people into seeing just how being a Christian can change people and give them a whole new perspective on life - namely God's perspective.

Not to mention it has one of those throwaway lines that I love (almost on a par with "I'll go down in history as the man who opened a door!" from Ever After or "Lembas bread... and look, more lembas bread" from The Two Towers")... "Ergo, a second blanket".
Heehee!

Trust
Short and sweet. Learning to wait on God in all things. Painfully understanding the difference between resembling a doormat and actively seeking His will while leaning on His grace. What He has planned is ultimately so much more glorifying to Him than anything we can envisage.

Friday, Glorious Friday
At last, the end of another week. 3 days of blissful long weekend coming up. Yay!

Sidenote: saw Chicago last night with 13 friends. Renee and Catherine were rather impressive, and Richard - the boy can dance. Sort of.

More of the same, please! Bring back MGM musicals!

Well worth it
I feel like a cross between a half dead drongo and a zombie this morning after staying up to watch the epic quarter final encounter between Andy Roddick and Younes El Aynaoui in the Australian Open last night. For those who have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, it's the first grand slam tennis tournament of the year and the match between these two men was incredible.

21 - 19 in the 5th and final set with Roddick emerging the winner. (If that doesn't sound impressive, the scores of the first 4 sets were 4 - 6, 7 - 6, 4 - 6, 6 - 4. A total of 83 games were played. The minimum you need to win a match is 18 games.) How these two managed to still hit winners from all angles after almost 5 hours of superb tennis was a sight to behold. No wonder they both received a standing ovation. Well deserved. Thrilling stuff.

I have a dream...
... to live in Europe for 3 months in mid - late 2005. I'm dreaming of living a month in Austria, a month in Italy and a month in France. Next year, I'm planning on going on mission overseas for 3 months, and in 2006 I'm considering going to bible college, God willing. In between though, I'm keeping hopes of my European cultural adventure alive. How awesome to soak in all that history and atmosphere in some of my favourite parts of the world.

Can't wait.

I'm off to see the kitchen, the wonderful kitchen of Oz
Heading up to KYCExpress this weekend and can't wait! 1500 Christians descending on Katoomba for 2 days of talks, singing, fellowship, book-browsing, prayer and good food.

Of course, this is contingent on me and my cooking team not poisoning anyone along the way as we attempt another year of gourmet camp food. Is that a paradox? Can such a thing exist? Are the days of baked beans on toast every morning and spag bol for dinner over? Not to mention rice cooked by Westerners which, I'm sorry to say, is not really rice! Give me the Asian texture and consistency any day! =)

Music lovers
I had an interesting conversation today that has prompted me to think about why I'd call myself a music appreciator and a music maker but not necessarily a music listener or collector. Music to me is not as much a hobby, an obsession or a lifestyle choice but more just a part of how I express myself. Ask me to name my favourite recording artist and I can't, because I like individual songs as opposed to a body of work. Ask me what genre of music is the best, and I can't answer that either, because you can't define music wholly by its genre. No doubt everyone is influenced by the music they grow up on and the music they listen to. They pick and choose their favourites and grow in critical appreciation of various artists and genres for various reasons. Music is the brainchild of both the talented and the marketable. For some reason though, I think the artist is separate from the music itself. Does Vanessa Mae playing Bach on an electric violin add to my enjoyment of that piece of music? No, but the music itself is inherently the same. It's just interpretated differently. So, we might have opinions about performances of various pieces. We might be turned off a song because we don't like the singer's personality or attitude. Is this a critique of the music itself or just of the tangible expression of it? Do you really dislike a song or just the way it has been categorised / performed / marketed / arranged / distributed. Or is it all one and the same?

There are endless arguments about what kind of modern day music is better / original and therefore more worthy. There are also many opinions about what part music plays in a person's life. Go watch High Fidelity. At the end of the day though, all I know is that I like certain songs. It might be one bar that catches me, it might be an interesting lyric, a throbbing accompaniment, a cheesy sentiment or an association in my head and heart. I always go with my gut - listening to a song in complete isolation without necessarily any knowledge of who is singing, who wrote it, who else likes it or how awful the video clip is. Can I pick what inspired the song? Can I understand at any level what it is communicating? Can I enjoy it without being influenced by my past experiences of music? It might be hampered by a bad interpretation but the potential will always shine through. Or not, in some cases.

I wrote this about an hour and a half ago and have since lost my train of thought. Oops. I have now regressed to the level of "awww... birdy... pwetty... awww.... kitty.... cute" after a visit to the pet store. A post-disclaimer stating that the above stream of consciousness does not fully represent my views.

Guys and salad - part 2
I was reading an old post of mine and am surprised to see that the world has changed and tipped itself upside down in just under half a year. At the birthday dinner I was at on Saturday, a total of 2 guys ordered salads. One, two. Count them with me. That is a quarter of the guys who were there. You're looking at a 25% jump in male salad intake. What is the world coming to?

Elvish Obsessions
Now, I know that this is going to cause a lot of you to nod knowingly and wink at each other, (after being jokingly accused yesterday of wanting to get ear implants in my attempt to "be like"/"be with" Legolas!) but I adored my first horse riding experience yesterday.

I was having second thoughts about taking this up as my "new hobby" for the year. I think it's because I was trying to have a little part of my life that I could keep separate and where I didn't feel like I was sharing the experience of learning to ride with others. I know it sounds immature and insecure, but oh well. After all, it's not anyone's fault that horse riding is such a fun thing to do! Once I got on Tonto's back and I'd learnt to walk and trot though, I was hooked. It's just a bonus that I'm not actually sore this morning!! Just a tiny twinge when I first sit down, but other than that, no pain at all.

Anyway, we'll see how I feel after a couple of lessons. I am on the hunt for a replacement hobby of sufficient uniqueness and might try figure skating if I'm still feeling unsettled about it in a few weeks.


Old friends
Also unexpectedly had dinner with my oldest close friend last night. That's in duration, not age, mind you. She and I shared about life, love, struggles, joys and our relationship with God. It was only after realising we were freezing to death in short sleeves on my porch swing that we thought it would be wise to wrap up for the night! This was the day after Kaz's birthday dinner last night, which was really special to be able to share with her, and also a church music team brunch with relatively newer friends on the Sunday.

A fine weekend!

Fan Fiction
I've just been turned into a Legolas / Eowyn 'shipper. While I love many characters from Tolkien's book (including Aragorn, Galadriel, Eomer), Legolas and Eowyn are my favourite male and female characters from the 2 movies so far. So reading this part of a fan fiction novel in progress has completed converted me to the idea of Legolas and Eowyn together, as well as completely ruining my romantic sensibilities. Drat these new obsessions! How are we ever meant to face up to the realism of human relationships when we keep getting fed fairy tale romantic notions? *sigh*

Shortest Friday Five ever
The next Friday Five is due to be published today so I might as well answer last week's.
I've never considered myself a mono-syllabic kind of girl. In fact, I've been accused of having recurring verbal diarrhoea. I prefer to call myself verbose.

I guess this challenging Friday Five just encouraged the one word answers out of me, somehow.

1. Do you wear any jewelry? What kind?
No
2. How often do you wear it?
N/A
3. Do you have any piercings? If so, where?
No
4. Do you have any tattoos? If so, where?
No
5. What are your plans for the weekend?
Aha - more than one word! Dinner with a friend tonight, teaching singing tomorrow, afternoon tea with a group of friends, dinner with another group of friends for a birthday, church on Sunday, brunch at my house with the morning church music team and horse riding in the afternoon, followed possibly by meeting another friend after dinner. Phew!

How small is this world?
Sometimes it amazes me that in a city of a few million people, you can work floors away from acquaintances, friends of friends and relatives without realising it til you decide to start work at 7:30am and bump into someone organising some phone communications metres away from your desk.

< patting myself on the back> that was all in one sentence, and so early in the morning. nice < /patting>

In my new abode in Chifley Tower, I work 1 floor away from Julian, a Christian friend of a very good friend of mine, 3 floors away from Nigel, who used to go to my church, and 4 floors away from Derek, also a Christian, who married my 2nd cousin! It looks like there is quite a Christian presence in this building (as opposed to the 2 Christians I found in my old building.) I wonder if there is some sort of prayer group or bible study group?

Writer's Block
Ugh. I feel like I'm back in Year 6, writing a creative story on "why I'm looking forward to high school".

Anyway, I'm in the middle of writing a song. Actually, I should say I'm at the start of writing a song, cos I've been at it for a week and have gone nowhere, fast. I know the feel of the music and what I'd like to say, I'm just having trouble actually saying it. I mean, how can I fit into 32 or so lines what the cross means to me - something which defines everything I believe in and every part of me?

Back to the Bible for more inspiration, methinks!

Think outside the square
It's a habit of mine to try something new every now and then. I was tossing up between adult ballet classes or horse riding. I'm going for my first trail ride very soon. I must admit that besides the fact that riding along the coast at Malabar seems much more adventurous than a ride in Centennial Park, I was won over to Malabar Riding School because I told the lady I couldn't do Sunday mornings because I had church and she was really surprised and pleased and we had a little conversation about it!

Ever since my first pony ride at age 7, at the three ring circus... NAH... you don't need to hear all that!
I've never ridden a full size horse before and for someone who has always had this romanticised idea of horse riding (almost as bad as my figure skating obsession!), I thought it was about time I learnt. I've been reading up about it on the net and rang around a dozen places in Sydney. I now have slightly marginal fear of making a fool of myself when mounting from the ground for the first time. Which runs a close second to my fear of falling.

Oh well... here goes nothing!

Flirting with something new
Wasn't going to post this but what the hey!
A new quiz that I saw on Kaz's blog. How amusing. I'm hungry.


What Kind of FLIRT are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Happy New Year
We have now launched into the 4th year of the new millenium. Life just seems to whiz by at the speed of light sometimes, and you can never quite be prepared for what might happen. Cheesy Forrest Gump quote? Check.

I thought that I'd do last the last Friday Five in retrospect.

1. What was your biggest accomplishment in 2002?
Moving house with my family and staying sane, followed closely by emotionally and financially tying myself to the aforementioned house for the next 25 years.

2. What was your biggest disappointment?
Occasionally losing sight of the cross and my hope in Christ cos I was too busy looking at my feet.

3. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions?
Nope. Why wait til 01-01 to resolve to do something when you can do it straight away?

4. Where will you be at midnight? Do you wish you could be somewhere else?
At home and I wouldn't have it any other way. Mind you, I wasn't home alone - just a teensy little party that went til about 6am. But again, good friends, fine food and loads of fun - I wouldn't have it any other way.

5. Aside from (possibly) staying up late, do you have any other New Year's traditions?
Well, there's been a party at my place for the last 3 years so I guess we've started our own tradition right? The only thing I always do is wish my parents a Happy New Year 5 minutes before midnight.