here's a quick post:

I'm alive :P the study bug has well and truly hit .. hence the lack of posts :P

between watching videos on youtube and eating and sleeping and church i've been essentially... studying.

i think i've strained my right arm (rsi owchies) - so i'm using my left arm to type and stuff... it's a bit of a bummer because i study by writing - so lots of r&r for right arm ;) and lots of reading i guess :)

so yeah. that's probably it until thursday... (prof prac OSCA!)

-- I (l) Keane ;)

There is nothing new under the sun....

All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing - What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, "Look! This is something new"? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time... (Ecclesiastes 1:8-10)

It's one of those days... when you feel like "What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?" (Ecc 1:3) - after settling into the monotony of study... humans get bored so easily! And you sit there thinking - why? And why bother learning stuff? "For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." (Ecc 1:18)

But what happened to "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Phil 4:4) ? Should we not stop complaining and rather emulate Paul as he says "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Phil 4:12b-13)?

I know I'm sure struggling with not grumbling or whinging about study, and it's definitely a struggle to rejoice when there's nothing but stress and fear of failing around me - lots of prayer would definitely help :D And chapter 4 of Philippians is definitely so helpful:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7)

And why can we rejoice? "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation" (Rom 5:8-11)

As Mum always says: "Happiness depends on happenings, but joy depends on Jesus" (hehe thanks mum :D) - noone expects this time of year to be happy - but do you have that joy?

--

Randomness: I discovered a band called "hellogoodbye" today (which i later found out is in the top 10 of myspace music :P - hehe it's so me - i hear a song then it's like 'oooh they're good - hey i like this band... oh you mean other people like this band too? oh it's cool? oh it's so not cool any more :( ) - anyway www.purevolume.com/hellogoodbye has the song "bonnie taylor shakedown .. 2K1" on it - arguably one of the cutest and catchiest songs i've ever heard (it's based on a .. shakedown! of the traditional "my bonnie lies over the ocean")

When I did the "deleted all the illegal music off my computer" thing earlier this year, I was like "I'm going to be so bored. and have no music... but *sigh* here goes" - now I have a respectable collection of legal music on my computer (not to mention a more than decent collection of CDs) and www.purevolume.com and www.myspace.com are most definitely more than enough to keep me from getting bored - see how God provides! :D

Oh and Weird Al Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" is definitely "ROFLOL" hehehehe (www.myspace.com/weirdal if you want to listen to it)

--

My bonnie lies over the ocean
My bonnie lies over the sea...

Just when it was starting to get boring.... God sends a hailstorm!!!

Spiky squash-ball sized hailstones = lots of noise, lots of people going "AAAH MY CAR!!!" (the hailstones in the pic melted a lot before we got them on the towel and took pic as well... so most of the spikyness went too :(... )


Feeling sorry for all those people with cars... smashed windscreens and dented cars is not fun :(

Some random brave people went out with their golfclubs (and helmet) to play exploding hailstone golf...




And just as quickly as it all started - the sun came out and it ended! Strangely familiar... exactly the same as the carinya y12 grad, 2003 ;) Hehe I'm off to get me some more of those hailstones and find an unsuspecting victim...

--

"God is exalted in his power.
Who is a teacher like him?

Who has prescribed his ways for him,
or said to him, 'You have done wrong'?

Remember to extol his work,
which men have praised in song.

All mankind has seen it;
men gaze on it from afar.

How great is God—beyond our understanding!
The number of his years is past finding out.

"He draws up the drops of water,
which distill as rain to the streams ;

the clouds pour down their moisture
and abundant showers fall on mankind.

Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
how he thunders from his pavilion?

See how he scatters his lightning about him,
bathing the depths of the sea.

This is the way he governs the nations
and provides food in abundance.

He fills his hands with lightning
and commands it to strike its mark.

His thunder announces the coming storm;
even the cattle make known its approach.

- Job 36:22-33

Ode to Mary: a joyful spirit :P

Sorry Mary, I won't write you an ode longer than that. yet. hey Gray's anatomy is almost on and i don't have enough time to do you proper justice ;) you have, however, been immortalised in my blog. Hehehehe :P maybe one day... but to steal your words: remember psalm 121 in stuvac!

--

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

10 days to go! I finally get immunology and i've nearly finished renal - still on track! :D

Studying the body makes me realise just how complex everything is - how "fearfully and wonderfully made" people are, and how incredibly big and powerful God is, that he made every single one of us! And not only did he make us all, he knows absolutely everything about us... ow thinking about that makes my head hurt... so many people... :P

--

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.

(Psalm 139:1-18)

And so stuvac begins!

Here's a post to the well-neglected blog - today, i guess, marks the beginning of the stuvac week! 11 more days until first exam - here goes for a (hopefully) productive and focussed week of study!

Going into this week, it's been interesting to see how God seems to speak (or maybe better said as "how well I seem to listen") in proportion, if that could be said, to the amount of stress i'm feeling - when I'm tired and sick of studying and feeling hopeless about the amount of stuff that needs to be crammed into my brain in less than 2 weeks, it's when I realise again I can't do it all on my own, and the only way that i'm going to survive exams (and, indeed, the rest of life) is to be fully relying on God - if only my unreliable self would think like that all the time! (and if that's what it takes, then let life be stressful!)

So let me change that statement about this week to : looking forward to a week of study, praising God for everything he's given me (including, but most definitely not limited to: a brain, an awesome course.. and yes, even the stuff i'm having to cram into my head) and trusting that he's in control and what he says in Jeremiah 29:11:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Not that I have already been made perfect... or i really would be joyful all the time, and never complaining or grumbling :P Happy Stuvac everyone! (and to those not at Newcastle - happy.. um.. rest of semester! hehe)

--
His oath, his covenant, his blood,
Support me in the raging flood;
When every earthly prop gives way,
This still is all my strength and stay

"...if you let yourself go, you’ll dive head first into a parallel world in which magic and nature work together. Miyazaki trusts that children will pick up on his complex ideas and accept them more readily than an adult audience. I think he brings real wisdom to the art of animation, something that Hollywood doesn’t have a hope of doing." Jaimie Leonarder, THE MOVIE SHOW SBS TV

I started studying.. then i watched Howl's moving castle with mum... again!!

But how can anyone resist Calcifer?? He's so cute...

Now I'm trying to decide whether or not to get the complete 14 DVD set of all of
the miyazaki movies... it's only $75.... and there's 14 DVDs (and 13 movies....).... *sighs* ... or maybe i should just stop playing morrowind and do some more study instead..

Going back to Newie tomorrow!!! :D but that means leaving home again :S

ugh... more liver to study... wheeeeeeeeee (oh hang on i'll save that for the renal system)

Holidays!!

Well it looks like i've finally got a lot of "free time" so I can finally catch up on my blog! :D

Last weekend in Sydney: Grace Chinese Christian Church turned 21! So the Wongs headed down to Sydney for the party to celebrate of God's grace and power demonstrated in that church over the last 21 years. We were there from 1993-2000 (when we were in sydney) so after not being there for 6 years (apart from the odd wedding/random visit) it was really good to catch up with people again :) and it was encouraging to see the way that God's grown the church and the people in it - every time we go back there's even more people I don't know!

Last week: On the way home from Sydney, I went to one of the Chinese shops and stocked up on food - which resulted in a week's worth of eating dumplings filled with BBQ pork or egg and custard, fried rice with everything (and we found out that sticking honey and sherry in fried rice does most definitely NOT make it taste better.. or good... .. *JERAM!!!*....), and in between eating and cooking, going to class and surviving through a last week of uni before....

HOLIDAYS!!!: So now I'm back home in Tamworth (since Friday night), having a general time of vegetation and gearing up to start the insane study regimen that's hopefully going to mean that i'll pass this semester!

last night i watched "Howl's Moving Castle" (another one by Hayao Miyazaki) - SOOOOOO CUUUTE!!!!!

oh and ..... I GOT TO DO STITCHES I GOT TO DO STITCHES I GOT TO DO STITCHES!!! (for the first time on real person!!!!) WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT! hehehehehehehe... it's so weird when you're sticking the suture needle through real skin instead of fake skin stuff or foam... WOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!! :D

--

And continuing in the "Joyce's favourite songs" vein...

--
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for my fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower.
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

And it's off to Sydney I go...

Time flies when you're having fun/really busy/have lots to do still!

May the mind of Christ, my Saviour
Live in me from day to day
By His love and power controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His power.

May the peace of God, my Father,
Rule my life in everything.
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing
This is victory.

RAINING!!!

It seems to be monsoon season at the uni of newcastle ;) rained today, sprinkled yesterday, poured the day before, rained the night before that (cool lights and sound fx with that one too :P)

So on a fine saturday morning (i got up at 9! then spent an hour in shower - mmmm) i'm contemplating doing my washing (starting to really need clean clothes) and thanking God for dryers. And thinking of all those poor people wandering around in the rain on open day and hoping they're not too wet or miserable...

Ok so it's been another 2 weeks...

and I am indeed a terrible blogger...

but here's another post just to keep the imaginary fans happy ;)

on the med front: in the midst of renal failure, kidney stones and i think at some point we'll look at the fascinating (really.) world of micturition (urination). Yesterday me and mikey went to Raymond Terrace to do a day of GP placement and it was AWESOME!!!! We had a fantastic GP who was not only really nice but let us do heaps of stuff as well - we got to watch excisions and curettings, take stitches out, watch lots of needles, and watch him burn lots of stuff with liquid nitrogen, talk to patients and get fed coffee and biscuits all day by the lovely practice staff :) and now there is lots of work to do, as usual.

on the life front: in between going to class and stuff, and studying occasionally, i've had a complete change on the music front of sorts as i've learned that having CDs on your computer is STILL illegal (in Australia at the moment anyway) hence i'm only listening to physical CDs, internet radio and FM radio at the moment .. that doesn't mean that i've stopped listening to new stuff or finding new stuff to become addicted to - at the moment i'm in love with the Cat Empire ;) - but now i can do all of that with a clear conscience :D

and joyce needs to run off to class!!! *runs* nasi lemak in PBL today!! I LOVE YOU YANI!! ;)

Ok, I'm a hopeless blogger. (hey it's only been 2 weeks!!) In justification of the prior statement - life has been incredibly full-on and busy for this semester. (not that I'd have it any other way, I'm loving it!)

Med-wise, we've just finished our 5 week unit on the gastro system and we're about to start another 4 or 5 weeks on renal (i.e. we can stop looking at poo now and progress to the joys of urination), had my third and last abdo exam skills tute yesterday (which means i've formally finished learning how to prod people's tummies) and GP placement is looming in early september! There's heaps of work but as always is a stack of fun :)

NCS-wise, we had mission week here last week which went "awesomely" - keeping on praying for people that heard the gospel that week and that God will work in their hearts! We often take the privilege of evangelism for granted - last week was a great reminder to me that it's such a massive privilege to be out there sharing God's message with people! Last weekend I headed down to katoomba reachout with a carful of college people which was a great weekend about mission (keep 3rd weekend of august free next year!!) And now it's back to balancing course on Islam, college bible study, bible talks on wednesday and med bible study with work and the rest of life :P

And as for the "rest of life" - I'm heading back down to Tamworth this weekend (today!) for the Conservatorium showcase - since lil bro won the violin scholarship last year, he has to play something for the showcase this year, and since big sis (me) is an overprotective perfectionist, NOONE is going near the piano part!! *growls at everyone including head of conservatorium :P* Going with another girl in 1st yer med, so it should be heaps of fun :D and I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone at church on sunday :)

So there's a short summary before I dash off to class ;) (happy now?? :P)

-- Now playing - Jack's Mannequin - I'm Ready

Well I'm ready
I'm ready to drop
I'm ready
I'm ready so don't stop

well it's been an awfully long time since i posted anything in here.... *vacuums cobwebs and spiders* just acknowledging that this site still exists... and then going to sleep...

i am alive! i am here! and i have a flu so i'm just posting to say i am alive and here ;) uni started again today i am in newcastle. zzzz

Lying on a mattress in the living room with my doona and pillows reading and surfing the net and watching dragonball z all day = a great way to spend the hols...

even cuter than piccolo (and yes, even cuter than gohan or trunks..) : the soot creatures from spirited away!!! *soooooo cute!!!!!*

CONGRATS ANTHONY AND BETH! :D

Back in tamworth.. again... but this time i have no cello :( but... i have something else to occupy me now - i've dug up the dvds of dragonball z that my cousin from malaysia gave us... and found out that we have all the episodes from trunks to the end of cell!! and 2 of the movies!!! so at at rate of 15 eps a day... for the next 3 days.. i think i have something to do apart from watch the soccer, eat and sleep now... YAY!!!



Piccolo is my hero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHSU1zL2Jic

For an awesome and really cute lego soccer video - Germany vs. World All Stars - there are several plot discrepancies but overall it makes for a great insight into the real workings of the world cup ;) and it's really cute ;)

and it's definitely time for bed but dad and joel are on computers in the living room at the moment (which is where i'm sleeping)... ridiculously enough we're all on laptops, despite the 2 desktops that are looking lonely in the corner... (but you can't sit in front of the heater with a desktop on your lap :P) - i give up it's time to plug myself into crouching tiger hidden dragon until they decide to pack up and go to bed....

did i mention that this hols i've been doing a lot of cooking? :P (when bored, play cello. when sore, plug laptop into internet. when sick of that, cook! when done with that - EAT :D) - the laptop usage and cooking can be simultaneous if i'm trying to decide what to cook and using the laptop to help to do that ;) the "recipe book" is now outdated, as i tried to explain to mum the other day :P

so far, it's been pork in plum sauce, crackling, standard chicken stirfry, pastry "boats" stuffed with .. stuff.. and a really really really yummy lemon sponge pudding thing with icecream and custard - next time i think i might put a layer of condensed milk in and maybe some coconut on top... mmm.... (i reckon the thing that made it so good was forgetting to soften the butter before trying to mix it with the sugar and lemon zest then going 'aaagh this isn't mixing!!' then sticking the bowl in the microwave (oops melties!) then going oh stuff it i'll just keep going - kate you'd be proud of me :P) i'm thinking tomorrow i'll try this brocollini and tofu salad thing that looks pretty good.... it involves frying so it can't be tooo healthy... lol look at me i'm going on about cooking!!! (only because joel's fixing computers with dad so we can't play skibi :( and mum and my cousin from adelaide who just arrived today are talking (and talking and talking and talking, as females tend to ;P) so we can't start watching crouching tiger hidden dragon....)

time for more reading on couch with warm comfy doona and snow patrol's new cd playing in the background, tummy is contentedly full (and it's no fun cooking when you're not hungry...)

-- Now playing - Set The Fire To The Third Bar - Snow Patrol

I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from here to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My finger in creases of distant dark places

Wow it's thursday morning already!

The last few days have been filled with cello playing, cold tamworth weather and shopping with mum and watching chinese movies and playing the ultimate 2player LAN game with Joel - Skibi's Tower Defense (on Warcraft 3 - Frozen Throne)!!

tonight/last night/whatever you want to call it - i shall hereby name it tonight - anyway - tonight's NYSF (national youth science forum - science camp 2 weeks on campus at uni of canberra in y11-12 hols) training thingo with Tamworth Rotary club provided an interesting sense of.. "recall?" - 3 years ago i was the nervous little NYSF hopeful trying to get ready for a set of nasty interviews for the biggest camp of my life... (NYSF is an apparently prestigous thing to have on your resume - not that i've ever encountered any prestige from it :P the selection trials were rather stringent tho - first you have to get selected by the rotary club you apply to, then you have to be selected for the rotary area through a set of 4 interviews...) - 3 years later, i've been on the camp, been asked back to be on the interview panel, and given tips to 2 sets of people on how to get into this thing that in hindsight, was probably overrated... 2 weeks away from home was good, doing the entire sciency careers thing was.. interesting, meeting loads of people was fun, and a couple of months after the majority of us had got over the whole thing and moved on with life. so there you go - random topic for the night - that's NYSF and what i think about it (anyone in year 11 thinking about going for it - i'd head overseas for 2 weeks with the spare time and money :P)

hmmm 12 hours until haircut and i still haven't decided what to do with it yet - i'm sure some form of inspiration will hit me tonight, otherwise it'll just another case of "yeah whatever you want to do with it" (though my hair has a bad habit of either halving length or volume or both every time i say that...)

*yawns* yep i guess it's time to give the fingers a rest and stop typing and go to sleep or something since there's no soccer tonight - cello+cold = ouchies joints - lol i'm getting old! (or at least my fingers are!)

-- Now playing - Dance, Dance, Christina Päffgen - Anberlin

Don't need no drugs, you're my chemical
Now I'm dependent, no not cynical
Addicted to those glances, taking chances tonight
I need a fix in those heroin eyes

National day of mourning (or as some would have it: "weeping and anger")...

Here's to our valiant Socceroos who had every right to that game :'( Oh the injustice of it all.... well at least Australia has shown the world that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with in the game of football - thanks to GUUUUUS..... *collapses into more crying* *plugs into "Anberlin therapy"*

--

in other news: my old phone's broken so new mobile number please!

--

-- Now playing: Into the Airwaves - Jack's Mannequin

So hang on
It's gonna be a hard day
So hang on
Don't panic
Don't panic there simply is no need
It's gonna be a hard day
Don't panic
Don't panic we are hanging here
We are hanging here

I'm back in Tamworth!

Last night was absolutely fantastic - went to see Urinetown, a production by the Sydney Theatre Company (musical) with Lisa McCune in the lead female role and David Campbell in lead male (he is SOOOOOO AWESOME - it's incredible how one guy could be blessed with a great voice and good looks and be naturally funny at the same time! actually great voice doesn't really capture it - his voice is something many would probably kill for :P) - other names in the cast included Rhonda Burchmore, Shane Bourne, Gary Down, Gerry Conolly - it's so strange how TV/film actors turn into musical theatre singers... the music was incredible, choreography was great, the set was fantastic and best of all, we got in on student rush tickets that were only 10 rows back, right in the middle - AWESOME! (thanks Andy for organising everything!)

Sydney, incidentally, is a large scary city - i've never been on such a packed bus before, let alone at 11pm ;) staying at the St Barnabas terraces with the girls was great - it's like having 4 IH townhouses right next to each other in the middle of town (or, in their case on glebe point road) though they're each 3 storeys high - living on top floor would make you so fit... - the girls let me sleep in the living room with the tv too! (so i didn't sleep much just watched the soccer/napped) - i've also found that the universal game of addiction on the xbox is proevolution soccer 4 - not just a phenomenon seen only in novocastrian males, the game arrived in andy's house yesterday, and for the entire afternoon/evening (and i suspect night) the guys were up playing it :P

and now that i'm back home - time to satisfy chinese movie craving and start off with a night of Hero!!!!!! (then i'll have to get crouching tiger hidden dragon tomorrow night i think :) YAY!)

I'm FREEEEEE!!!!!!! it's such a beautiful day - socceroos get through to the next stage and no more exams!!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEE :D heading down to sydney tonight :D YAY! *blissful expression*

In 18 hours from now Joyce will be very very happy... and in 20 hours she'll be well on the way to sydney... and in 48 hours from now back in Tamworth!! countdown isn't so scary any more - not too much longer to go!!!

*chomps through incredibly yummy tandoori lamb wrap* - my "this isn't just meat" tastebuds are yelling at me because there's obviously vegetable matter strewn through the psuedo-meat, but it's still incredibly good (first tandoori thing that's tasted like tandoori all year!) mmm

one last night of study! YAY

midnight snacking is bad for your weight and can be habit forming - i highly advise against it... but sooooo goood....

After another relatively unproductive and food-filled day, i'm actually feeling motivated to knucke down and start studying again! skelly is being gradually covered in yellow post-it notes in a last-ditch effort to study for hubs...

I've cleaned up the computer desktop and removed all those icons cluttering the surface... (*heartbreak!* then again, i never used most of them anymore anyway) and now it's time to clean up the physical desktop the computer's on!

I'd just like to point out the incredibly cool dock that has replaced the windows taskbar at the bottom of the screen:





in a mac-inspired procrastination effort, i decided to mac the desktop - it's actually a lot more functional (i'm finding that at the moment anyway) than the windows taskbar, and a lot better looking anyway ;) all with a bit of help from Turn your PC into Mac and a free version of object dock (couldn't be bothered to completely maccify it - i'm not that bored just yet!)

time to study again...

I know one day, all our scars will disappear, like the stars at dawn,
And all of our pain, will fade away when morning comes.
And on that day when we look backwards we will see, that everything is changed
And all of our trials, will be as milestones on the way.
And as long as we live, every scar is a bridge to someone’s broken heart
And there’s no greater love, than that one shed his blood for his friends

Have I mentioned yet that I really love Thrice? ;o)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY!!!

Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the King!

hemmed in by emptiness, a million ways that everything could be undone
this hollow in my chest is filled with reasons not to sing but I found one, I know
we are not alone, we feel an unseen love
we are sons and heirs of grace
we are children of a light that never dims
a love that never dies,
keep your chin up child
and wipe the tears from your eyes

(mmm nothing like thrice's music box to get you through yet another night of study :D)

Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest... - Psalm 55:6

the ppl u luv the most hav the power to hurt u the most but not doing so is wat makes u luv them so much..

There is no life - life without its hunger
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly
But when you come and I am filled with wonder
Sometimes I think I glimpse eternity...

6 days to go...

After another increasingly unproductive day, it strikes me that I have started to whinge incessantly, which is becoming incredibly irritating to myself and must be irritating everyone else around me... thanks for the encouragement and putting up with me pples - only a week to go ;)

It's come to the point where I've gone over all the med sci targets a few times now, and i need to revise to the point where i can regurgitate enough information in the exam to sound like i know what i'm going on about (or maybe even actually know what i'm going on about!) - it's like when you can sightread perfectly through a piece, but you need to memorise it.. or where you've mostly memorised a piece but need to perfect it - that's the hardest kind of practice, and i think this is probably the hardest kind of study...

So letting anatomy slide until monday night, and aiming to survive the next few days of med sci first... and trusting God when he says: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9) and "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:34) and taking him seriously when he says "Do everything without complaining or arguing" (Phil 2:14)

And so with study, exams and life in general: "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Heb 12:1) and take heart that "neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (Romans 8:38-39)

The Idea of North obsession has been resurrected! (as has the now playing section! i knew it wouldn't stay dead for too long...)

Now playing - The Idea of North - Just a Closer Walk

Just a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, if you please
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be

(dum dum dum dum doo bee doo bee doo doo doo... )

Here we go.. a catch up post about the Northwest Bible Conference (aka June Long Weekend conference aka *the* conference) looking through the photos i took, this is the clay and evie show. :P

Friday night, arrive and unpack at youth camp then go to bed then wake up and watch Germany beat Costa Rica ;) - Joyce feels really really old (last of the 2004 y12 girls to still be camping!).

Evie gives us her most responsible expression as we head down for a wake-up game of soccer... (or a wake-up game of freeze butts off and hope that the sessions start soon). Incidentally it was another really really rainy conference - it just about never rains in Tamworth these days, and we got about 40mm on the first day!! (Thank God for the much needed rain tho)

The theme of the conference this year was "See him coming" - we had John Woodhouse and Stephen Turner speaking from 1&2 Thessalonians, etc. on the second coming over a series of 7 talks - both encouraging (to look forward to when our Saviour and Judge will return) and challenging (we so often lose sight or forget in our comfortable 21st century existence!) - John left us with the challenge that Paul left to the Philippians: Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ!


It was great to see everyone again :) though Clay didn't last long after Evie tried to extract his brain - (that long blonde hair is just covering brain-removing implement) - therefore I get his Emery hoodie!!! yay!!!




Monday morning: wake up to an absolutely freeeeezing morning - fog everywhere and ice on the cars, but the sun through the trees was pretty (oh btw this is my old school for anyone who hasn't seen it before)

and blogger isn't letting me post any more pics :( there has to be this black hole somewhere where they all disappear to every time i click "post picture"... hmmm - time to study then!

-- Now playing - I'm sick of the now playing segment. Coming up with a new one :P

I made a mistake, says ref
June 13, 2006 - 9:43AM

A dreadful refereeing blunder cost Australia a goal against Japan - and that's official.
Egyptian whistleman Essam Abd El Fatah apologised to both Socceroo goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and captain Mark Viduka for getting it horribly wrong, and thanked God his howler did not decide the match.
The episode had a happy ending, with Australia winning its opening World Cup match 3-1 after a rousing finish in Kaiserslautern, and the Aussies praising the referee's honesty.
But the error could so easily have torpedoed Australia's 2006 campaign, and certainly looked like doing so with just minutes left on the clock and Australia trailing 1-0.
The referee's booboo came midway through the first half when Japanese playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura floated over a cross from the right wing.
As Schwarzer rose to collect it, he was barrelled by not one but two attackers - Atsushi Yanagisawa and Naohiro Takahara - and the ball lobbed into the net untouched.
Schwarzer looked dumbfounded as he sat on the turf and the referee signalled a goal.
Australian players remonstrated with the Egyptian, but to no avail, and when the incident was replayed on the Fritz Walter stadium's giant screen, Australian fans burst into a cacophony of boos and catcalls.
Schwarzer said he deliberately refrained from protesting to the referee because the official was not going to change his mind and any protest might look like poor sportsmanship.
But he revealed that he did ask the referee about the incident during an injury break shortly afterwards.
"I went up to him and I basically said to him, 'Referee, what's the story?'
"And he just said to me, 'I'm sorry, I made a mistake'."
"It was a clear foul, it should never have been a goal," Schwarzer said.
"Everyone makes mistakes; he made a mistake and I think it's big of him to admit it.
"He said to Dukes (Viduka) after the game, 'God was on my side', in the sense that the result went our way and it (his decision) didn't affect the result in the end."
Viduka confirmed later: "He said was God was with him today."
The Socceroo captain was also in a forgiving mood, saying: "It was obvious he made a mistake, but everyone makes mistakes."
It might have been a different story, however, if the Socceroos had not turned on such a barnstorming finish to the match.
"That goal kept them (Japan) going," Viduka said, "but as soon as we equalised it was a different story."

AAP

Ahhhh time to chillllll....

Prof prac exam was good :D time to chill until dinner then time to study again :)

*soaking feet in yummy smelling bubbles* *plugs into Missy Higgins*

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!!!!!!

the end of that game was absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!!!!

Just got back from the Northwest Bible Conference (@ trinity church, tamworth) - which was AWESOME (more on that later)

time for bed!

-- Now playing - for a change nothing is playing. I am going to stop listening to music and go to bed :P (pity i don't have anything appropriately celebratory on my computer... like.. waltzing matilda or something....) teehee

If anyone has the Feghmaha CD by Tripod, Joyce wants to listen to it again... since she pulled out the lyrics again today ;) e.g.:

the anatomically "correct" "Ugly men with beautiful women" (appropriate after anatomy lab sessions ;P):

Gatesy and Scod: Ugly men with beautiful women,
Yon: You see it...
Gatesy and Scod: ... all the time in the world today.
Yon: Why is it...
Gatesy and Scod: ... ugly men are so attractive?
Women must look...
Yon: ... deep inside.

Scod: They know we're...
Tripod: ... all ugly inside.
Scod: 'Cause we're all guts and stuff.
Gatesy: And bile ducts.
Yon: And pancreatic juice.

another song great for the anatomy lab is "Let's take a walk":

Yon: Let's take a walk, my love,
Down by the river, my baby.
Down where we used to go,
Until the day when we found that body.

Let's not forget, my love,
It was our favourite spot once.
Please don't let one bloated corpse,
Ruin all our memories.

and best of all, "on behalf of all the geeks":

Scod: On behalf of all the geeks,
I'd just like to say,
I've been telling you all along,
That Lord of the Rings was cool.

Yon and Gatesy: He told you so many times...
Scod: I told you...
Yon and Gatesy: He told you so many ways...
Scod: I told you...

I wore a cloak to school every day,
But who's laughing now? Ha ha...

Yon and Gatesy: (Maniacally) Ha ha ha ha ha!
Scod: Yes indeed!
Gatesy: Yes indeed!
Scod: I gotcha!

Tripod: Now you'll all do as I did,
You'll name your first child "Bilbo".
But don't try to catch up now,
It's too late to make amends.
You were far too busy with girls and cars and sport...

Scod: ... and friends...

... now i really want to listen to this CD again.... teehee.... or maybe just get back to studying and packing!! :D

A million awful things get done to trees, but worst of all.... TREES GET CHAINED TO HIPPIES!!!

-- Now playing - Diana Krall - Dancing in the dark

Dancing in the dark 'til the tune ends
We're dancing in the dark and it soon ends
We're waltzing in the wonder of why we're here
Time hurries by, we're here and we're gone

Don't you hate it when the computer dies just after you've written a long post? *sighs*

In summare:

-> Finally sorted out hospital for semester 1, saw tutor for the last time today :D all good, all over yay yay yay yay!
-> Sorted out lift to get back to Tamworth for the conference on Friday :D Going back to Trinity for NWBC (north west bible conference) !!!! YAY!!!! YAY!!!! YAY!!!!
-> Joyce needs to get a lot of work done by Friday morning but it's worth it because it means she can go to the conference!!! YAY!!! YAY!!! YAY!!!
-> Joyce decided to eat 7 iced mini donuts with half a cup of hot chocolate tonight and is feeling sick. (all in the name of competition, and pretending to be from IH - thank God for nexium and imodium!!!)
-> Joyce wants to go to bed. Joyce is going to bed to sleep off all the sugar and milk.

Song for tonight: La Cucaracha

Chorus: La cucaracha, la cucaracha,
Ya no puede caminar;
Porque no tiene, porque le falta
Marijuana que fumar.

Ya murio la cucaracha,
Ya la llevan a enterrar,
Entre cuatro zopilotes
Y un raton de sacristan.

Con las barbas de Carranza,
Voy a hacer una toquilla,
Pa' ponersela al sombrero
De su padre Pancho Villa.

Un panadero fue a misa,
No encontrando que rezar,
Le pidio a la Virgen pura,
Marijuana pa' fumar.

Una cosa me da risa:
Pancho Villa sin camisa;
Ya se van los carrancistas
Porque vienen los villistas.

Para sarapes, Saltillo;
Chihuahua para soldados;
Para mujeres, Jalisco;
Para amar, toditos lados.

Translation of the chorus:

The cockroach, the cockroach
He can't walk anymore
Because he doesn't have, because he lacks
Marijuana to smoke

Not that there would be any political or historical motivation behind this song of course, it's all about poor cockroach who's run out of marijuana... (and yes, you would have heard this song before)

however, -- Now Playing (is) - Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars

Let's waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads
I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own

having a "middle aged" moment.... eating cheese and crackers and listening to diana krall - oh what has the world come to? :P in love with "The look of love" (diana krall) - been looking for it for ages then it was half price at Sanity!!! *blissful expression*

found this cute mug today:

if this is a :











then it stands to reason that this is a:











teehee ;) ok back to study for Joyce!


-- Now playing - Diana Krall - 'S Wonderful

'S wonderful! 'S marvelous!
That you should care for me!
'S awful nice! 'S paradise!
'S what I love to see!

Ten things to do before 9am (in no particular order :P)

1. Wake up (this is preferable, but probably not necessary to do the other 9 things)
2. Have a long hot shower
3. Go for a walk in the rain
4. Do three hours of solid study
5. Clean room
6. Have a decent breakfast (i.e. not instant noodles!)
7. Grab a cup of jasmine green tea
8. Brush teeth at least twice
9. Get burnt at least twice
10. Listen to the same Chili Pepper's song at least 4 times
(11. Post on blog!)

I put an "at least" in there for people who aspire to be, but just aren't as hardcore as me :P For the record, I've brushed my teeth 3 and a half times now (the half was when i thought "WHY am i brushing my teeth again" and stopped.), burnt myself repeatedly on the heater in my room (that i've been sitting with my back against all morning) and got hot jasmine green tea on myself (fortunately my hand was too cold/numb to notice too much or the rest of the tea would have gone), and listened to "She Looks to Me" 6 times now (and counting) - the reason for this bizarre and possibly insane behaviour follows:

In a twisted kind of reverse nocturnalism, my plan to study until 4 (am) and wake up at 2 (pm) backfired... with me going to bed at 10:30 and waking up (not intentionally and definitely against my will) at 4:30am!!!!!!!! - actually, that's not even reverse nocturnalism, that's just not sleeping. Conceding that further attempts at sleep were probably not going to work (after several nights of not sleeping properly), I decided to make the most of the unexpected consciousness and do some work, taking breaks to brush my teeth and listen to the same chili pepper's song over and over again (abnormal behaviour is a direct consequence of not enough sleep/being up at imaginary hours!) - hence i've had the most productive 3 hours of study since... a long time ago...

So now I'm sitting here watching the rain and drinking this evil but yummy mug of tea thinking i'd rather be in the rain again but the washing and more study needs to be done :( I love the way it rains in Newcastle - it's that nice drizzly rain that you can stand outside in all day and the sky even managed sun and blue patches at the same time as rain yesterday! Definitely looking forward to a morning/afternoon nap hopefully i'll start getting sleepy soon... *sighs*

-- Now playing - Anberlin - Time and Confusion

live for today we'll dream tomorrow we've got big plans in sight
we'll take this city and by nightfall...
the bright lights are calling

sooooooo hungry........... in my desperation for food, i've broken into the instant noodle stash........ silly upmarket instant noodles that taste really bad when they're raw.... i need to get myself more of those cheap noodle cake thingoes that taste really good raw... and are filling and also very addictive.... i can tell that these noodles are going to taste really really bad or make me sick or both but i'm sooooooo hungry!!!!!!

yep, as i thought - lack of flavour disguised by excess spicy stuff and oh good i've burnt my tongue on boiling water - now i don't have to worry about what it tastes like!! yummmmmm ;)

i think some form of plot is going on... whenever i try to study this weekend, some old friend has to pop up on msn and say hi or someone else will call or something like that - the sure solution is, of course, to quit msn and leave the phones on silent.... but that would make me antisocial and wouldn't let me procrastinate... it would, however, mean that i would have done more study than i ended up doing....

must be a symptom of hunger - the return of the ellipse!

epilogue to that most interesting (i'm sure) story : those noodles were indeed terrible. and made me feel sick, hence i am not hungry any more or using ellipses. The moral of the story is to not eat sub-standard quality instant noodles, particularly not at 12:20am, and not to study at all because it makes you hungry. and hurts your head. oh i'm in such a weird mood tonight... (aah an ellipse!)

AAAGH the score is 1:1 with 2 minutes to go!!!! *mental screams of AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!!!!* Thanks for the MSN commentary mike :P - oh draw :) well done Australia i'm going to bed and sleeping off the disgusting noodles - never trust noodles with 'singaporean noodle flavour' written on them! i'm laughing at the word "hmpf" - just look at it!!! "hmpf". *teehee* "hmpf* oh dear i'm madly giggling at the screen i'm far too tired to be awake...

New Red Hot Chili Peppers CD is definitely happy music - Snow (Hey oh) is just boppy and happy, Hard to Concentrate has to be one of the sweetest songs ever written... by anyone ;) and appropriate for studying med - "Cells about to separate, Now I find it hard to concentrate" (teehee) and then there's what's playing now:

-- Now playing - Red Hot Chili Peppers - She Looks to Me

She shows the world up with her smile
And then she throws the fight
She looks to me, she looks to me
All right

and on that happy note i'm going to bed :D

Here's a post in memoriam of Group J - the most awesome PBL group in Semester 1 Year 1 (no bias or anything... i know the other groups were disadvantaged in that they didn't have me :P) - I think we deservedly earned the titles of "most lazy group", "the group that scared off their PBL tutor", "the group with the "horrendous" hospital tutor", and finally the "group J clique" - and we probably had the most food at our last PBL which alone would qualify us for best group ;) Looking forward to spreading the "Group J influence" next semester!! (mwahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa)

I've been converted into a sofa!! On tuesday, a couple of people from my public health group decided that i was more useful as a pillow/beanbag/something to sit on...

It feels so weird that semester 1 is essentially over... and we've been at uni for almost 4 months... feels like forever but at the same time it's going so quickly! ;)

In other news... my new monitor came in yesterday!! But it didn't come with the picture of the birdies :( hehe - it's so good to be able to use the computer for more than 20 minutes every 2 hours!

Over the year, there's been a few songs I've discovered I can listen to over and over and over again without getting sick of that always make me grin when they start playing - for example, what's playing now...

-- Now playing - Straylight Run - Existentialism on Prom Night

Sing me something soft
Sad and delicate or
Loud and out of key
Sing me anything

Welcome to a multicoloured post just for something different

I finally got Missy Higgin's Sound of White and I'm loving it :D And for interest (and because it was part of a deal at Sanity and because it was cheap) I got the Demon Days CD... which I'm going to reserve judgement on until I've listened through a few times and given each song a decent chance.... but at the moment to be honest the prognosis is not looking good - so far I'm at a "I would listen to this because I like this song" level of 1/15... hmm El Mañana just started playing.. ok maybe make that 2/15 *at this point, the monitor dies. again* - should I wait until 1:30 in the morning to finish the rest of this post? I think not. But will I leave the computer running all night so that I can finih this post tomorrow morning? indeed I shall - now where was i in that sentence? maybe i should leave all this blindly typed gabble up on this post to reflect the "journal" style/function/whatever of the blog... or maybe i should just delete it and stop boring people with the random workings of my mind and the irritating (well it must be getting irritating) and continuous whinging about the monitor and there you go my brain's lost its train of though again - the question is, however, if i leave all this stuff here, should i go through and edit out all the spelling mistakes i'm bound to be making as i'm typing blind or should i leave them up there to create a more realistic reflection of my current situation? or maybe i should just go to bed now and stop babbling. that sounds like a good idea. i want missy higgins back.... *hits the back button on the keyboard heaps of times* wow i did end up waiting for the screen to come back - turns out that i can't count and it came back at 12:15pm... since it dropped out at 10:30ish... how did i manage to kill that much time?? definite bedtime ;)

And the story of how 4 fictional characters sold heaps of albums (thanks, wikipedia! - warning: this story is very very very long.) :

The story of Gorillaz begins in 1997. Stu-Pot was a mentally deficient keyboard enthusiast and star employee at Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium. Satanist hoodlum Murdoc Niccals decided to ramraid Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium to procure synthesizer equipment in order to establish a "chart topping" musical group. However, Murdoc ended up driving his Vauxhall Astra through the building and directly into Stu-Pot, permanently damaging ("fracturing") Stu-Pot's left eye and putting him into a catatonic state. Murdoc was sentenced to "30,000 hours of community service, plus 10 hours every week of caring for the vegetabilised Stu-Pot". Not long after, Murdoc again injured Stu-Pot in a car accident in Nottingham's Tesco parking lot when attempting a 360°, which permanently damaged Stu-Pot's right eye, but revived him from his coma. Murdoc then recruited the newly recovered (albeit still mentally defective) Stu-Pot as the keyboardist and vocalist for his group, re-dubbing him 2D for the matching pair of dents in his head from the accidents.

Murdoc then found a drummer for the group in a SoHo rap record store: African-American expatriate Russel Hobbs. Russel was a middle-class New York native and was deeply troubled as a youth. He was expelled from an expensive private school for suffering from demonic possession. The trauma of said possession resulted in a four year coma from which Russel was roused only by an elaborately executed exorcism. After his recovery, Russel began attending Brooklyn High School, where he quickly cultivated friendships with a group of rappers, DJs, and street musicians. He has said that "hip-hop saved [his] soul."

This was a short-lived respite, however, as all of Russel's newfound friends were suddenly gunned-down one night in a drive-by shooting. Russel, the sole survivor, became the unwilling receptacle for the spirits of all of his slain compatriots, most notable of whom was the rhyme dropping blue phantom, Del. With their latent possession of his body, Russel gained incredible musical prowess in percussion, rap, and hip-hop as well as a disturbing side-effect: his eyes glowed an eerie white. With this new and violent turn of events, Russel's family shipped him off to England in hopes of helping him recover from his traumas quietly -- not realizing they'd put him directly into the path of Murdoc's aspirations to superstardom, and the excesses that came along with it.

At that point, all the fledgling group needed was a guitarist. Like so many British bands before them, the trio placed an advertisement in NME. The very day the ad ran, a FedEx freight container from Japan was delivered to their doorstep and out jumped a mysterious amnesiac 10-year-old wielding a Gibson Les Paul. The tiny girl made an incomprehensible introduction in Japanese and tore into a "riff to end all riffs" which ended with an impressive karate kick to the air. She then spoke a single word in English to the stunned boys, which became her moniker: "Noodle". In the later part of 1998, the Gorillaz played their first show at the Camden Brownhouse which ended prematurely due to a riot during their song "Punk". EMI A&R man Whiffy Smiffy discharged several rounds from shotgun to disperse the crowd enough to make his way to the stage and quickly signed them to the label. Ten months later they had recorded their self-titled debut LP.

In the winter of 1999 Murdoc acquired the property of Kong Studios, a sprawling haunted studio with a rather shady history, situated atop a hill in the midst of a run-down cemetery and landfill in Districtshire, Essex. The Gorillaz lived and recorded in Kong Studios up until their 2002 11-month tour of North America. At the end of July of that year, the Gorillaz took a six month break in L.A.. There they attempted to get a movie project off the ground. Meanwhile, that Halloween, Kong Studios had been shut down tight in its owner's absence by local law enforcement after an unknown man was seen running, naked and in hysterics, in the marshes near the studio. The police proceeded to keep the area secured while they investigated the strange paranormal events surrounding Kong. The Gorillaz spent the interim period working on their movie, while living in a large rented home in the Hollywood Hills.

Alas, the film was not meant to be, due in part to extensive over-partying, in-fighting, and disagreements with producers, directors, and a notable incident of Murdoc getting himself banned from the Playboy Mansion for stealing ashtrays. Understandably, at this point the Gorillaz went on a year and half hiatus, each of the members going their separate ways to find themselves. Murdoc headed to Mexico to booze it up in Tijuana brothels, getting himself arrested for passing bad cheques in the process. He enjoyed little company in his Mexican jail cell aside from his raven, Cortez, and two Mexican mobsters who would later help break him out. 2D went back home to work for his father at his carnival, re-establish his grip on reality, and come to terms with his newfound pop icon status with the ladies.

Russel disappeared into the States to literally and figuratively exorcise his personal demons, regrettably including the ghost of Del, leaving Russel a mentally and spiritually exhausted wandering shadow of the man he once was. After shambling around Los Angeles for some time, Russel was taken in by Ike Turner and helped to recover, and while living in Turner's basement Russel recorded his own solo album which was shelved due to strange supernatural activity inherent in the music itself, which Russel described as something of a "cosmic disruption".

Noodle travelled to Japan, in a fruitful attempt to uncover the secrets of her own past which included not only the revelation that she was a test subject in a secret government super soldier project, but that she also speaks fluent English. Armed with her newfound knowledge and iron resolve, Noodle was the first to return to Kong Studios. There she went to task battling the zombie and monster-infested darkness of the building, set up the "Search For A Star" contest, and began the process of pulling the band back together to record their new album, Demon Days.

hmm maybe i can cope with the gorillaz cd... likeability is up to maybe 3 or 4/15? *gives it time...*

-- Now playing - Jack's Mannequin - Bruised

Sometimes perfection can be
It can be perfect hell
Perfect

Hours pass
And she still counts the minutes that I am not there
I swear I didn't mean for it to feel like this
Like every inch of me is bruised...

From INOUT designers

BY ADRIEN ROVERO, 2005

6 bicycles versus ONE car. this bike park occupies a single carpark space, like a critical proposal TO THE TRAFFIC.

196 H X 340 W X 40 D CM Galvanised steel
In Partnership with ROVAGRO SA and SIGNAL SA

and more inane urban art/design stuff can be found at: http://inoutdesigners.ch/pages/projects/config_01/config_01.html

Just for fun ;)

also worth checking out:

http://cameratoss.blogspot.com - experimental art that actually is cool and good looking! (and, I'd imagine, fun to create!)

Cam-flip81 by Brian Cassidy


My room is really clean now... since i spent all afternoon cleaning it and redesigning the desk so there's room for computer stuff and textbook/study stuff on it!! And getting rid of all the dust that's accumulated and making the piles on the floor go away (slowly but surely...)...

So now that I've had my afternoon off.... time for dinner! and then a night of study awaits ;)

-- Now playing - Jack's Mannequin - I'm Ready

I put on the same clothes I wore yesterday.
When did society decide that we had to change
And wash a t-shirt after every individual use -
If it's not dirty, I'm gonna wear it

YAY hopefully a new monitor will be coming soon!! (and i hope this one holds until i finish this post!) Here's an extra long post to make up for not posting for a while ;)

After the most productive study day since... a couple of saturdays ago, my brain is, again, feeling fried - why did I sign up for this 5 years of study thing? (but i'm loving it!)

And I've finally got my act together and got the pics off my camera so...

here's a pic of Mr Skelly Thrifty (Skelly T.) who lives in my closet now ;) Isn't he simply gorgeous? made from almost accurate plastic (note strange floating ribs, position of mandible in relation to sternum and the way the skull cap attempts to fit, just to name a few :P) and best of all he was really cheap!! (hence the name - on the box, it says "Mr Thrifty"... strange marketing if you ask me..)

Last night PYGs (uni students group) at Elermore Vale ran youth group with a celebrity night - surprise appearance from Rowan Atkinson himself!! Fortunately I managed to avoid a picture of myself in a cheongsam - (google it!) - how do people wear those things? (if you didn't google it or can't be bothered, it's a traditional chinese dress with traditional cuts in the side of the dress that go, well, pretty high.. feels like a miniskirt with extra long flaps at the front and back - and comfort factor is definitely hovering somewhere around maybe 1/10?)

I've just spent the last hour redecorating my room in a last ditch attempt to not do any work... and because I just changed the sheets on the bed (more procrastination - and I love fresh clean sheets!!! and i kept getting black pen all over the light brown quilt cover (since i'm studying on the bed because the table is being taken by computer) so i thought i should probably change my quilt cover to the black one so i can study on it - ooh it's black.. and white... and red!! :P) - and since i've decided i'm going to stay here for the rest of the year, it gives a nice sense of "lived in"....

As do the little critters on my bed - teddy, donkey (who's actually a dog - i just decided that he looked like a donkey... hey i was 4 and obsessed with anything equine when i got him!!) and the blue squishy one is Tieman (he came to summerfest with a tie on him, and after being repeatedly hung from doors by the tie... the tie.. went.)

So in conlusion to a productive day and an even more productive (even if it was in a different way :P) night, all i can say is: photos look really good on the wall if you can get them "off the wall" a bit (stop wasting money on photo frames!!), if you study on your bed: a) clean up your room so that there's a table to study on!! (because the posture ends up really hurting your neck and back) and b) change the quilt cover to something that the pen colour that you're using won't show up on too much (because if you're a klutz like me, then your quilt cover will end up with interesting... patterns...) and always put your mouse mat on a flat surface because when the mouse starts sliding across the screen and you have to move it every, say, 2 seconds, it starts getting annoying... ;) and lastly, David Gray makes really good background music, but if you listen actively too much you may end up with a headache.. unless you have a mug of "relaxing tea" in hand and you're planning to go to bed ;) like me now! (oooh tomorrow's sunday - church!! *happy grins* :D - feels like this week has been sooooo long but time's flown as it always does..)

-- Now playing - David Gray - Babylon

Sunday all the lights of London
Shining , Sky is fading red to blue
I'm kicking through the Autumn leaves
And wondering where it is you might be going to
Turning back for home
You know I'm feeling so alone
I can't believe
Climbing on the stair
I turn around to see you smiling there
In front of me

Dancing Princess 7

He called me Jess because that is the name of the hood which restrains the falcon.

I was his falcon. I hung on his arm and fed at his hand.

He said my nose was sharp and cruel
and that my eyes had madness in them.
He said I would tear him to pieces
if he dealt softly with me.

At night, if he was away, he had me chained to our bed.
It was a long chain, long enough for me to use the chamber pot
or to stand at the window and wait for the late owls.
I love to hear the owls.
I love to hear see the sudden glide of wings spread out for prey,
and then the dip and the noise like a lover in pain.

He used the chain when we went riding together.
I had a horse as strong as his,
and he’d whip the horse from behind
and send it charging through the trees,
and he’d follow, half a head behind,
pulling on the chain and asking me how I liked my ride.

I was none of these things, but I became them.

At night, in June I think,
I flew off his wrist and tore his liver from his body,
and bit my chain in pieces
and left him on the bed with his eyes open.

He looked surprised, I don’t know why.
As your lover describes you, so you are.

--

Well there's nothing like a lovely dark and violent poem to start the day ;) If anyone knows where this poem comes from or who wrote it (google isn't telling me..) I'm sure the future English teachers from UNE will appreciate knowing...

"Run and pray..." - I am NEVER catching 104 back home from town ever again!!! Malithi and I had this great idea to catch the 104 since it said 'Jesmond and Uni' - I had a vague recollection that it was the bus that took an hour to get home on... and the vague recollection turned into that sinking feeling you get when you realise it is the bus that takes an hour to get home on and we're driving through Tighes Hill... which is nowhere near where you're supposed to be... though the sunset on the water at Carrington was really beautiful and so was the pink sky.. which almost made up for the long detour... but when we got to university drive, i had another sinking feeling as i realised this was the bus that skipped most of university drive and came out at the lights... *sighs* so by then, i was fairly busting and very thankful that teds selfies was on the way back home ;)

And here is the result of an extremely productive 2 hour lecture on biostatistics: "African Art 101" by James T... and critique of critique and random writing by Mike - hehe that out of context bit in the right is very open to interpretation...

And now it looks like a night of work since our lovely easy-going and laid back tutor has gone interstate and we have a reputedly tough new one tomorrow :( which is good, because it means that we'll do work now, which is also bad. :P

Hehe here goes - work time!! oh life is so hard ;)

Now playing - Discover America - Green Eyes

Cause everybody wants to know your name
And they're just thinking of the perfect words to break the ice
But every time it's just in vain
Cause you're not impressed
But you're so polite

AAAAGH!!!! To say that internet explorer 7 beta is "crash-prone" may be an understatement... I want out!!!

Quick post before monitor hits its "death at 40 minutes" - what I had typed before IE7 also died was med bible study was awesome and shopping at tuggerah was fun and i'm looking for a new monitor and my room smells like jasmine because the evil little puffing glade air freshener decided to spill all over printer cover...

It Is Never Right to Be Angry with God - John Piper

November 13, 2000

Recently I said those words to a group of several hundred people: "It is never, ever, ever, right to be angry with God." As I looked out on the people there was an incredulous look on many faces. This was not landing well. Clearly many did not agree. This was confirmed in a question-and-answer time, when one person asked from a microphone, "Would you say something more about not being angry with God? Did you mean to say that it is never right to be angry with God?"

My answer was, "Yes, that is what I said. But perhaps you are stumbling over something you think I said which I didn't say. So let me add this: If you are angry with God, it is never right not to tell him so." This made some people scratch their heads again and look more puzzled. It puzzled me that they were puzzled. So I said it again another way: "If you are sinning by being angry with God, don't compound the sin by hypocrisy." The perplexity stayed on many faces. So I said it again: "If you sin by being angry with God, don't add to it the sin of trying to conceal it from him. That would double the offense."

Some were obviously tracking with me, but others looked baffled. At that point, I left it and went on to another question. But I have been thinking about those baffled looks ever since. Why was this so difficult to grasp? What assumptions were out there that made two simple statements so baffling. "It's never right to be angry with God." And: "It's never right to hide your anger from him, if you feel it." To me nothing could be more obvious. Why is this so non-controversial to me and so baffling to some others?

Here are two possible assumptions that may be common in many heads today, which would make them balk at what I said.

First, many assume that feelings are not right or wrong, they are neutral. So to say that anger (whether at God or anybody else) is "not right" is like saying sneezing is not right. You just don't apply the labels right and wrong to sneezing. It just happens to you. That is the way many people think about feelings: they just happen to you. Therefore, they are not moral or immoral; they are neutral. So for me to say that it is never right to be angry with God is to put the feeling of anger in a category where it doesn't belong, the category of morality.

This kind of thinking about feelings is one of the reasons there is so much shallow Christianity. We think the only things that have moral significance in the world are acts of volition. And we think feelings like desire and delight and frustration and anger are not acts of volition, but waves that break on the shore of our souls with no moral significance. Small wonder that many people do not earnestly seek to be transformed at the level of feelings, but only of "choices." That makes for a
very superficial saint (at best).

This assumption is contrary to what the Bible teaches. In the Bible, many feelings are treated as morally good and many as morally bad. What makes them good or bad is how they relate to God. If they show that God is true and valuable, they are good, and if they suggest that God is false or foolish or evil, they are bad. For example, delight in the Lord is not neutral, it is commanded (Psalm 37:4).

Therefore it is good. But to "take pleasure in wickedness" is wrong (2 Thessalonians 2:12), because it signifies that sin is more desirable than God, which is not true.

It's the same with anger. Anger at sin is good (Mark 3:5), but anger at goodness is sin. That is why it is never right to be angry with God. He is always and only good, no matter how strange and painful his ways with us. Anger toward God signifies that he is bad or weak or cruel or foolish. None of those is true, and all of them dishonor him. Therefore it is never right to be angry at God. When Jonah and Job were angry with God, Jonah was rebuked by God (Jonah 4:9) and Job repented in dust and ashes (Job 42:6).

The second assumption that may cause people to stumble over the statement that it is never right to be angry with God is the assumption that God really does things that ought to make us angry. But, as painful as his providence can be, we should trust that he is good, not get angry with him. That would be like getting angry at the surgeon who cuts us. It might be right if the surgeon slips and makes a mistake. But God never slips.

So I say it again: It is never right to be angry with God. But if you sin in this way, don't compound it by hypocrisy. Tell him the truth and repent.

Pastor John

-- Now playing - Anberlin - Paperthin Hymn

You never know what temporal days may bring
So laugh, love, live free and sing
When life is in dischord
Praise ye the lord

Inspired by one of my Sydney con. BMus (composition) friends, I've decided to start composing again. Something called "Requiem for Moses"... Med bible study getaway is TONIGHT!!!! It's going to be so fun :P

oh... strong bad beat me to the composition.... http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail125.html

How can i compete against someone who looks totally awesome all the time? Oh well...

YAY the monitor came back to life again... i'm starting to think this problem isn't going to go away :( nooooo.... an hour isn't too bad... agh i've managed to kill an hour??? well it's time to end this post and go to bed!

-- Now playing - Story of the year - Taste the Poison

And it's the same old story
I've seen it all too many times
It's the fall from glory
that makes you feel alive

Well, after the breakdown of the monitor last night and this morning and this afternoon here is a belated birthday post ;)

The adventures of Joyce the newly 17:

The day started at 5:30, when two strange people burst into my room, forced me into a jumper then tied a blanket over my head and then chucked me into a car, where we drove and drove and went for another walk (well, carried the blindfolded me) up a hill where i found myself at the obelisk in time for an awesome sunrise!! Then we had maccas for breakfast and it was back to bed for me ;)

After a fun tute in town, group J and a few special honorary group J'ers crashed the Bogie Hole (the cafe, not the literal hole) and forcefed me a huge slice of really yummy (but really really rich) cheesecake then dinner :)

then it was back home in time for dinner and reality :)

and the "festivities" (or excuse to have cake in PBL) spilled over to today where we had more cake in PBL and lollies :) and mr thrifty the skeleton finally turned up in newcastle :D just in time for my self-declared "adopt a skeleton" day ;)

So now i'm hoping that the monitor holds out until i finish this post - it's been moody and breaking down all day... and nursing my hyperglycaemia ;) no more cake until friday's PBL... ;)

Looking back on the last 17 years, there is so much to praise and thank God for - for blessings of friends and family and music, seeing how his hand has been on everything that's ever happened (and will happen!), for life itself and most of all, that I can call him father :D "By the grace of God I am what I am" - 1 Corinthians 15:10

and another thing to be thankful for: my carinya jersey and the jeans came back!!! I went downstairs to do a load of washing and they were sitting on the laundry floor as if nothing had happened :D YAY!!!

A big thank you to all the people that made yesterday so special - especially to the strange people that abducted me and my first year med "family" (hehe you all know who you are :P)

-- Now playing - The Ataris - In this diary

I guess when it comes down to it...
Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up -
These are the best days of our lives!