hiatus

HY wants me to let you know that she's on a short hiatus, as work and other commitments call.

in the meantime, you can check out the links to the right. or visit some good reading at Sojourners.

P.S. i'm not sure what's up with Big White Cube, but hopefully it's back up and running.

apple of my ire

I swear the Big White Cube must have heard my grousing against it.

It did the most uncharitable act yesterday. I had just returned from a nice morning cycle along the beach, when I noticed there was a bad smell in the house. Then I noticed my Emac was emitting smoke!! And it wasn't even booted up!! And it was only barely a week old!! Outside, the sun was shining nicely and the sky a hospitable shade of blue.

Anyway. I gathered my nerves and called the AppleCare hotline--which for some bizarre reason directed me to a voice somewhere in Australia. Connection was awful, so after repeating myself for the seventh time, Voice burst out, Ma'am, you may be in danger! You'd better turn off your computer now and bring it to the service centre immediately.
I asked: You mean, I have to bring this hunk of hardware to the centre myself??
Voice: Yes Ma'am
Me: Can you get someone to carry the computer to the centre? It is kinda heavy (a total understatement)
Voice: No, Ma'am, we'll have to charge you a delivery fee
Me: Erm, I have to say this is pretty unfair. The computer was not installed for me when it was delivered. It could have been defective in the first place. It seems unfair to charge me for delivering something that was defective to begin with to the service centre.
Voice: Ma'am, I am so sorry this has to happen to you. I understand your frustration.

... and so on and so forth ... Voice went for about another five minutes telling me about how he empathized with me and "my frustrations"... I was drumming my fingers, thinking "understand, understand ... you(3) pi(4) yong(4)!

In the end, Pa and I took the Defect to the service centre. The address of the place says it is located in Ang Mo Kio, but the street directory says it is closer to Yio Chu Kang. That area of Singapore reminds me of a box of tangled-up electrical wires--there was even a Marine Parade New Town! We kept getting lost. We were racing against (the closing) time.

It was a good two hour ride. Pa and I managed to talk quite deeply about his newfound freedom, and his history. It was easy conversation, more comfortable than any we've had in ages.

I guess God works through recalcitrant computers too!

the big white cube

My emac arrived two days ago.

It is quite an anti-climax; after months of deliberating the pros and cons of getting the machine, the wait, the (bump of a) hype about the new OS Tiger, I find I have no way to connect the cube to the net. I need the following: 1) a superlong telephone line plus a dial-up network 2) an Airport Extreme card 3) a Mac driver for a PC-compatible USB card.

All of which I do not have.
I gave in to convenience and got 2) An Airport Extreme card.

Or rather, Shortcake bought it on my behalf. After which I will have to get it from her, install it in my emac, decide if I prefer POP to IP to whathaveyous, and hopefully, after a million mouse-clicks and very crossed fingers, the big white cube says hallo to the world.

I am mildly irritated by the Thing, and even more so knowing that computers are inanimate objects that should live blame-free for all their shelf lives.

I have not named the Thing yet.

Pa Pa

Hurrah!! My dad accepted Christ!! He will be visiting ARPC tomorrow with Ma.

I am amazed, bewildered, jaw-droppingly awe-struck by God. He has done it again. I cannot believe my dad could ever be Christian. This self-made man who, like the regular guy does, looks out for No. 1 first and foremost; this wizened 60-year old who grew up steeped in the mantras and sutras of taoism, this man who believed he had a special angel.

It is by the grace of God that my Dad heard the call into Christ's wonderful light. Amen Jesus!! Yay God Yay God Yay God!! :o)

odd and even days

I live in a strange dichotomy of odd and even days. On odd days, my day's work is measured by the thickness of the Recruit section, what the fridge has in store for lunch as well as feeding Effie, Bloo, Xuan Xuan and their unnamed neighbours (including E, B and XX, I have six sweet basil plants, two lemon balm shoots and one dunno-what flower that Ki gave me for my b'day). On even days, work is a whirlwind of violently "gentle" reminders, sermon reviews and spurts of intense concentration as I do the dance between music teams and bulletins.

Today was an "even" day, so I was busy. I learnt a rather mind-blowing truth first thing in the morning; that all our Christian gatherings are complete and lacking nothing. So many times I think music team ABC needs XYZ musos, another acoustic guitarist, one Clay Aiken, a harp, flying angels, etc. But as Paul tells the Ephesian church (cf chapter two and other parts of the Bible), we are fully saved, and we are already now the temple of God. So, as one very discerning, definitely talented musician friend said, you don't need six individual players, just two in a band. Still, something recalcitrant in me says ... more is good, big sound is good mooozeek.

Spent the better part of today putting theory into practice. I am currently in the throes of organising the music teams for church camp. For some reason, only one bassist has signed up for the camp. And I am not sure if we want to/are able to lug/rent a drum set on location. So, we may have to do with a skeleton band. All is complete. All is good ... *whatever* is good enough.

At a certain limit, the human brain just gets too exhausted with all the probable possibilities. I think mine just reached cracking point.

Hopefully, Murakami and sleep will save me.

I can't believe the weather

I think i have taken three showers today. It's one of those dejavu moments, when the minute you step out of the bath, you start to perspire again. ARGGGH.

People around me are starting to link things together--the impossibly hot weather, the bout of earthquakes, the crazy animals running amok in the zoo, the number of TCS stars getting pregnant (and being paid to appear on TV for being preggies), the devastating tsunamis...my friends say, the world is going mad these days.

maybe it is.

I need another shower.

other than the news...

...what is really good to watch on tv these days?

Caught the tail end of this strange reality tv show where two families exchanged mothers. Trading Spouses, I believe it is called. This episode featured a rich, obviously well-maintained tai tai swopping places with this rather frumpy, typically heartlander-type. The sad bit was that Frump was the one who was rather unattractive inside, and the TaiTai was actually pretty sweet. You think you'd see the classic scenario of the Plain-Jane-with-Heart-of-Gold winning popularity votes over Babe-with-Candyfloss-Personality prevailing. But sadly, no.

Then again, it could be just the way the film was edited.

Barely half an hour ago, Jack LaLanne was on TV again with his Juice Tiger. The lady who was pushing the Tiger with him looked unhealthily over-exuberant. Really quite unsettling to watch.

Am going to curl up in bed with Murakami. Hopefully he will keep the nightmares at bay :o)

price of freedom II

Had a couple of interviews so far. The earliest few were a laugh. Well, the first didn't actually happen. Loooong story: In short, the lady who called only decided to give me the details after the assigned time for the interview had passed (like, five hours). The second interview was an equally big joke; the guy wanted me to sell security equipment (I was like, huh...come from where one?).

anyway, some of the responses were better, but I won't bore with the details.

okay, okay, so the job situation isn't entirely hopeless ... I confess, I am a chronic worrier :o)

A verse from the Bible that struck me recently was Proverbs 21:25. The ESV translation says "Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman" Hm. Maybe I really should do the impossible and Just Stop Worrying. By the way, Proverbs is really quite a book of gems. Some verses paint rather quaint images, like verse 19:24, "The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth!" So, if you are going to ARPC's church camp 2005, do try to read through the book lah. Am giving you a headstart :o)

the price of freedom

watermelongirl
Originally uploaded by hwees.

My days can start pretty depressing sometimes. A small lucky handful of you may never know how it feels to be actively looking for a job. For the rest of us hoi polloi, this is familiar: you search the Classified Ads, you send off resume after resume, and as the days go by without that blessed, hope-inspiring "new message" email notification--the phone stays stubbornly silent--your heart feels heavier, your blood runs slower, your future looks dimmer. You watch your money trickle off in the bank.

Such is the life of a freelancer,
and such is the life I have chosen.

The point when desperation kicks into the human pscyche comes when you've given your best and there is no more trying to be done. You are suddenly thrust from the smokescreen of fear-quenching busy-ness into the nothingness of boredom, prayer and anticipation. Yes I am the sort who cannot take a break :o)

I know things will probably get better with time, I have friends who are walking examples of happy, well-fed freelancers, and I have buddies who keep me posted on the newest job openings of relevance. It has been a humbling experience. Almost simultaneously, I learnt that I cannot rely on people and yet have seen the goodness and generosity of the human heart.

But ultimately, it boils down to simple faith. I have faith that my God is good and He will be glorified. And that is where it all begins and ends. This is what I cling to. All my hopes, efforts, friends, theological training cannot keep me going if not for this somewhat naive faith in the heart and character of an awesome Creator God.

In more ways than one, it has been a humbling experience.