Thursday, May 11, 2006
So glad that that assignment's over and out of the way :) looking forward to a blissfully PBL-free thursday :D (after a blissfully PBL-free wednesday afternoon that involved shopping, an hour and a half of piano, lots of cleaning up of room - that process is endless!, tv and ffx ;) - Zanarkand awaits!)
Ugh heartburn - dinner tonight was a really really yummy italian veal with a beautiful cheesy macaroni and rice - since i had leftover fried rice for 'dinner' before i got takeaway.. and left it sitting in my room... where it was still sitting when i got back home tonight and i was hungry so i ended up eating 2 big chunks of meat a little bit too fast ;) hence i'm sitting up now waiting for it to digest a bit before i go to bed... no more midnight snacking for joyce :P
Oops time for bed!!! *and if i was a tired little girl, i'd thank you Lord for friends and fun and msn and blogging and italian veal and finishing assignments and rest! (and that fuzzy wuzzy bears have fuzzy wuzzy hair so they can be in a cool song)*
-- Now playing - Hayley Westenra - In Trutina
In trutina mentis dubia fluctuant contraria lascivus amor et pudicitia
Sed eligo quod video collum iugo prebeo ad iugum tamen suave transeo
Monday, May 08, 2006
After another big day... which turned out to be a not so big day, but still a big day :P I'm still in perpetual grin mode from the cavemen singing 'for the longest time' and finally beating Seymour Flux on FFX!!! :D and i'm grinning to the extent that i'm actually cleaning up my room!!! (actually that's just an act of procrastination since i would otherwise be doing public health and pbl... but getting rid of all the confusing piles of paper helps!! and having all the tea in my room in the same spot helps too since i don't have a handy tea cupboard like some people... or another bookcase for that matter...)Went to unichurch again with JJ last night and it was really good to say hi and Greg's talk on Romans 6 was really challenging - "if you're a Christian you died to sin so stop sinning!!!" (so now i have to go back next week to hear Romans 7 (on how we still struggle with sin) or it'll be chewing at me :P) and one of my favourite songs was on the songlist that night too!!!! :D (column to the left ;p) Apart from the fact that it has a beautiful (new) tune, the words are also really beautiful in that the focus is all on God not me - "Him exalting, self abasing - this is victory!" :)
Well cleaning my room is a perfect excuse for procrastination and i'm glad i can see the table again, but it's definitely time to do some work now :P *plugs into study music*
-- Now playing - Nat King Cole - Let's face the music and dance
Before the fiddlers have fled
Before they ask us to pay the bill and while we still have the chance
Let's face the music and dance
Sunday, May 07, 2006
My adventure started off in the morning when I caught a bus down to a spot that looked like a good place to get off, then i got off and walked about half an hour (with the help of my trusty newcastle map :P) the rest of the way to Hunter Rhapsody which was absolutely AWESOME! It was really great to be meet the musos from other churches and have workshops with Michael Morrow and Philip Percival!! Philip spoke really well on singing in church - what really struck me was how he said that 'music leaders have a big responsibility so don't take that lightly' - so any time the church musos are being immature and attention seeking and not keeping in mind their main purpose of helping the congregation to sing, they're reflecting badly not only on themselves but the church! And it's really reminded me to be always thankful that I've been blessed with the opportunity to learn how to play the piano and cello and stuff like that! :D
And after a day of singing praise to God and learning how to guide others in the church to sing as well it's impossible to be anything but joyful! :D
So here's a list of instruments that I've now been inspired to go and learn: saxophone, electric guitar, double bass and tin whistle to add to the list of instruments i already want to learn: harp, bagpipes, drums, bass guitar - hehe one thing at a time i guess... any donation of instruments to the 'Joyce wants to learn every instrument on the planet' fund is greatly appreciated :P (oh I REALLY want a nose flute http://www.kazoos.com/noseflute.htm or maybe a new kazoo... )
And I've even manage to fit in a nap, dinner and a bit of work too! wow it's only been a day! :D
-- Now playing - Elton John - Your Song (Joyce goes into perpetual grin mode :D)
I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Tomorrow (well today) it's Hunter Rhapsody!! Looking really forward to starting on the piano at Elermore Vale, and looking forward to learning how to serve and encourage better with music tomorrow! :D (and God-willing, I might even find my way there! hehe I have a map, getting there should be a cool adventure :D) Philip Percival (guy that wrote 'Consider Christ', and 'We are His People') is speaking!!! can't wait ;)
Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,
Praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute,
Praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!
Off to bed for me, need to be recharged for a big day tomorrow!! (hehe i'm so excited!)
-- Now playing - Billy Joel - For the Longest Time
Whoaaaaaa ohhh ohhh for the longest time... :P
just imagine the cavemen ;)
Thursday, May 04, 2006
oh yay I think they might have gone to bed now :) time for round 2 of sleep! :D YAY!!
(That doesn't mean, Kate, that I take back my previous comment about life being too short to waste on something like sleep... :P)
-- Now playing - RIKKI (music by Uematsu Nobuo) - Suteki da ne
(if you can't see the characters, use the Shift-Jis encoding that comes with IE)
素敵だね
二人手をとり 歩けたなら
行きたいよ
キミの街 家 腕の中
その顔
そっと触れて
朝に溶ける
夢見る
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoon powdered green tea
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup light cream
Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the sugar melts, and simmer the syrup for 5 minutes.
In a separate bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of the syrup with the powdered green tea, then add that mixture to the syrup in the saucepan, and stir until evenly mixed.
Add the light cream and heavy cream , pour into an ice cream freezer, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.
Now I'm wishing for an icecream maker!! though eating this stuff probably wouldn't be too good for me :(
Reading through Colossians again (I love that book!) - Colossians 1:10 sets a challenge: "Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.""
Walking "worthy of the Lord" would mean acting in a way that shows how worthy and able and gracious and strong the Lord is. So it is with the phrases "worthy of God" and "worthy of the Lord" and "worthy of the gospel" and "worthy of the calling." They mean: Act in a way that fits the great value and glorious nature of God and the gospel and your calling. And what fits with that great value? Faith. Above all things, faith and its fruit of love fits the worth of God and the gospel.
So think this way. NOT: I must have faith and love so as to be worth God's favor; BUT RATHER: God's favor is free and it is infinitely worth trusting. Walking worthy of that favor means walking by faith, because faith is the one thing that agrees with our bankruptcy and God's infinite "worth." Looking to God's infinite worth for our help and satisfaction is "walking worthy of God."
Wanting to walk ever more worthily of God with you,
Pastor John
-- Now playing - Unsent letter - MGF
I've given up some thing, I guess that doesn't matter
I've started other things, I guess that doesn't matter
But I finally wrote your song, another unsent letter
In a pile addressed to you, c-/ of something, somewhere better
Monday, May 01, 2006
There are just some days when you feel like Stiny. or when you feel like having a danish. hmmm.It's just one of those nights when there's nothing that I feel like listening to in the music library and all I really want to do right now is go to sleep - what a good idea! sleep is not as overrated as it originally seemed to be... ah, Dianna Krall... the ultimate in blues and 'i really need to chill and it's the middle of the night'...
Well it's time to sleep i think, my brain has switched off and i've typed down to the bottom of the picture of Strongbadman ;)
-- Now Playing - Diana Krall - Black Crow
In search of love & music
My whole life has been
Illumination
Corruption
And diving diving diving diving
Diving down to pick up on every shiny thing
Just like that black crow flying in a blue sky
I looked at the morning
After being up all night
I looked at my haggard face in the bathroom light
I looked out the window
And I saw that ragged soul take flight
I saw a black crow flying
In a blue sky
Sunday, April 30, 2006
I'm back in Newcastle! :D hooray! My room is looking like it's been cleaned up (because mum has been in it :P) and there's some new and different clothes and BRAND NEW FRESH SHEETS!!! (hehe i'm not usually too fussed about the entire personal hygiene and clean stuff thing, but i really love fresh clean sheets ;P) so now i'm sitting here with the great easy jazz cd playing "in a sentimental mood" ... mmm... and thinking about going to sleep as i kinda do need to if i'm going to be awake at church tomorrow morning :P

I think this picture summarises me playing FFX (except I usually have a human head... and my ears aren't pointy like that... *sighs - I wish :P although preferably more elvish slightly less... 'foxy'...*).
It's great to be back ;)

-- Now playing - Maire Brennan - Perfect Time
Teach me to learn your ways
Carry me under your wings
In your perfect time
Friday, April 28, 2006
Hmmm I'm becoming rather domesticated - it's all the teapot's fault, I tell you!! I never used to be concerned about anything in the kitchen until that teapot came along!!! :P
-- Now playing - Julie London - Cry Me A River
Now you say you're lonely
You cry the whole night through
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river
I cried a river over you
Thursday, April 27, 2006
According to researchers from the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia, a new condition has been observed called "Motivational deficiency disorder" (MoDeD). Characteristics include overwhelming and debilitating apathy, and in extreme cases it can fatally reduce the motivation to breathe. The condition affects up to one in 5 Australians and is estimated to cost the Australian economy about $2.4 billion in lost productivity every year.
The researchers say that treatment for MoDeD was showing promising early results in phase II trials, which are yet to be publish. Indolebant (Strivor), a cannabinoid CBI was effective and well tolerated. "One young man who could not leave his sofa is now working as an investment adviser in Sydney", said Professor Argos. "This disorder is poorly understood," he said. "It is underdiagnosed and undertreated."
The condition (which is obviously not real) was officially created at the conference on disease-mongering in Newcastle (hey!! I was at the Royal Newcastle while that thing was on!! all I thought was hey there's lots of doctors talking around a table of ... FREE FOOD!!!). While this article was obviously written to highlight disease-mongering (and promote the conference), it's worrying that people took the BMJ April Fool's edition seriously (e.g. typing in "indolebant" into google brings up some great articles (the second one even starts bagging out pharmaceutical companies and the fictional Healthtec that produces the fictional indolebant!!):
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/HealthRepublish_1604867.htm - Couch potatoes are sick, need drugs (ABC science online)
http://www.999today.com/health/news/story/2977.html - Australian scientists discover new disease
and the Chicago Tribune's article on the disease being a fake - "There is a cure for a new disease called fictionosis" (http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-0604090324apr09,1,7989646.column?coll=chi-health-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true) was a result of writer of the article sending an email to the professor who wrote the MoDeD study, and her finding out that it wasn't real!!
Thanks for clinical pharmacologist Professor David Henry for showing the world a great Aussie sense of humour :P hmmm now that I know that I'm suffering from MoDed and need treatment... where do i get my hands on this indolebant stuff.... Healthtec!! Help me out!!

Save the last email for strong bad!!!!
http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail150.html - The sesquicentennial strong bad email!!
In other news... my digital camera is out of batteries (and has been since easter) and the charger is in newcastle :( which means that i'll just have to treasure all of those fantastic sunsets from our balcony in Tamworth in my head and not share them with any of you. MWAHAHA. and it also means that i can't post a pic of my beautiful new teapot!! It even spills stuff from the base like a proper teapot and keeps your tea hot for hours!!
Mum and I went shopping today :) it's fun to shop with mum, even in Tamworth ;D and it's not fun to drive out of a carpark at sunset with peak hour traffic and a large ute blocking your view as you turn right - aaaagh! And I went and saw the dentist who is nice :) and Dr Dad gave me a flu needle :( :P at least i hopefully won't get sick again :D
Oooh time for inspector rex! Ever since they killer Moser it hasn't been the same :(
-- Now playing - Simon and Garfunkel - Old Friends/Bookends
The sounds of the city
Sifting through the trees
Settle like dust
On the shoulders
Of the old friends
Can you imagine us years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange to be seventy
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
For the first time tonight, I've yelled "SEND IN THE CLOWNS!!!!" at spicks and specks which i recorded because the second last ep of prison break was on ;) and I WAS RIGHT!!!! (and Al was wrong!!!!) and there wasn't anyone around :( which takes the wind out of the sails somewhat but i still got it right!!! (well, i figured if i yelled out 'send in the clowns!!!' every time they started singing i was bound to get it right one day.. :P)
Agh it's 11:30 again... Dr Dad tells me to go to sleep or I shall remain coughing as i have been for the last 5 weeks - I've upgraded from Symbicort to Seretide! pink dragon!! :P
I find it ironic that the major "enemy" figure in FFX is called "Sin". After wasting so much time on that game this holidays, I've been thinking (in the time when i haven't been playing or occasionally doing something else) about what justifies me wasting so much time on the game - and there isn't much standing in favour of it... while playing it is fun and a good way to unwind, i've been playing it so much that there isn't much to unwind from! however, FFX is a really really good game and if anyone has a lot of time on their hands... :P it's great!
Jesus made the emphatic statement; "If your arm causes you to sin - cut it off!" Today, we might also say; "If your computer causes you to sin - throw it out!" "If your TV causes you to sin - unplug it." "If beer causes you to sin - quit buying it!" (http://onefamilyoutreach.com/bible/Romans/ro_06_12-23.html) - if the playstation becomes an ungodly addiction, it's going over the balcony!
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. . . . In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."—Hebrews 12:1-2, 4
-- Jeram made me feel dumb. again. (this part is in tiny print because Joyce, being a proud human, does not like being wrong or looking silly :P but appreciates it because it makes me laugh and keeps me humble :P)
-- Now playing - Idea of North - No More Blues
Up 'til now, I had tried to escape life
Jump on a plane and take off far from problems and strife
But it didn't work
'Cause problems have this habit of chasing you around
not letting go - no matter where you try
to run away to -
they will turn you round and force you to look them right in the face
Saturday, April 22, 2006
HAPPY 21st, ANNA!!
As another day closes i think i can honestly say this time, I am truly content.
-- Now playing - From the musical "Wicked" - For Good
It well may be
That we will never meet again in this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend:
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird in a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you: - because i knew you -
I have been changed for good
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Went to Autumn school again tonight but kinda tired so not much soaked in... had a driving lesson and i learned to look over my shoulders and turn my head around when reversing and everything that doesn't involve staring straight forward out the windscreen (scary!!!)
Watching Joel play Ratchet and Clank 3 on the PS2 maybe letting him loose on the gaming consoles this hols is not a good thing with COD:UF as well - we were going to start WoW again for 2 weeks but i've found that I've developed a certain amount of disgust regarding life in an imaginary world - escapism doesn't even cover it. While it is undeniably fun, it is also dangerously addictive... it isn't inherently evil to play mmorpgs, just like it isn't inherently evil to drink alcohol. And could those two or three or fifty hours of your life been potentially put to better use? While I don't think playing computer games is wrong, it's a fine line between having fun and making friends through/over/because of them and turning them into your life's passion that distracts you from the real life that, unlike the game, isn't infinite. (She says, as she again embarks on FF8 and 10)
Had a great thunderstorm tonight :D more 'raining' on the driving logbook - power kept jumping in and out of autumn school - brownouts! I'm glad it held off until tonight though ;) ... it's raining i'm pouring the old man is snoring :P
It's incredible it's thursday morning already!! (well 12:25am counts, surely!) and almost a week of the holidays is gone - need to get stuck into the books again!! Sleep is definitely required ;)
Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
Song of Solomon 8:4
-- Now playing - Natalie Merchant - Kind and Generous
You've been so kind and generous, I don't know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I'm in debt to you
For your selflessness, my admiration
For everything you've done, you know I'm bound,
I'm bound to thank you for it....
Oh, I want to thank you for so many gifts you gave with love and tenderness,
I wanna thank you
I want to thank you for your generosity, the love and the honesty that you gave me
I want to thank you, show my gratitude, my love and my respect for you,
I wanna thank you
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Easter camp: @ Dave and Kathy Wark's (approx. 45? minutes out of town i.e. Tamworth), Friday to Monday, with Trinity Youth Group! It was cold and muddy and lots and lots of fun! Catching up with friends, sitting around the fire, eating lots of great food, listening to some really great talks! and it was just great to remember and celebrate that Jesus died and rose again! We had a fantastic easter camp concert (as per tradition) - which has been properly revived with another great song from the guys ;) and after 4 days of little sleep and no showers for most (but i got showers because i was sick and sleeping over at little miss "I'm getting too old be a camper so i'm coming back as a cook and i live 10 minutes drive away"'s house!) coming back home to a long sleep was good too.
Joel (my big little brother who is taller than me :( ;p) is playing Call of Duty (UF) on the laptop - gunfire resonates through the house yet again even though there isn't a LAN going on... speaking of LAN, I'm definitely going to have to organise one for the Tamworthian gaming crowd this holidays - all takers email me :P
Time for bed it is going to be a long day tomorrow...
-- Now Playing - Clannad - Farewell Love
Secrets I left behind, farewell now
A new world to desire, to desire
Change the pictures, change the pages
It matters little how I knew you
Voices of memories, I hear you
A book of stories told, stories old
Dreams of good times, dreams of sad times
And foolish moments we will always share
Má bhíonn tú liom
Bí liom, a stór mo chroí
Má bhíonn tú liom
Bí liom, a mhíle grá
Má bhíonn tú liom
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Mike, Malithi and Krish are the best. and they can STOP WHINGING!! :P hehe had a great today - take home messages are: mike and malithi do best in public health when they have had 180ml of scotch each prior to class, tomato and bacon on chicken ravioli is not inedible but not the best, and do NOT look out onto the other balcony from mike's place (you guys know what i mean ;p)
Andy is the new and upcoming big thing in Australian Musical Theatre. (hehe is that good enough? :P) i thought the zip folder was going to be the midis so i had a pleasant surprise when i found zipped wmas!!! they sound really really good - my favourite's For a Moment... I get to say i know you when you become famous! :P
3 more sleeps until easter camp!!
-- Now Playing - Sum Assault - Distance
Moments always pass me by
Though I never even try
Noone ever lived a lie
We do our least resistance
We do our keep your distance
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Random song on media player brings up enya - I've decided i really don't like enya any more... the hmm and mmm and la la la actually gets irritating instead of soothing :P how changeable the human is ;)
I hereby declare tonight 'catch up with sleep night' and waking up late this morning ;) Blood pressure tute! yay! :D
-- Now playing - george - Jaded
I don't want you to make me jaded
I don't want to give you the power to make me raise my voice
I don't want you to make me jaded
I don't want to give you the pleasure of seeing me cry
I just want to find a beautiful face
And remember why I am standing here
I just want to be at that beautiful place
And remember why we're standing here
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on
your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will
make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Easter camp in.. 10 days!!!
which means.... holidays in 10 days!!!
And it's 1:15 in the morning and i'm still jumping!! :P naps are good but they mean you can't get to sleep at night... oh well ;) I'm becoming an expert at solitaire... that game is going to get chucked out the window or DELETED!!! one day when i'm in a bad mood - i can just tell...
Should probably go to bed though off to town tomorrow for a lecture and a tute and it's going to be a good day :) and the assignment's nearly done - all i need to do is get off my butt and do some work once in a while and look what happens! :D
One day i'm going to get myself organised... :)
-- Now Playing - Metallica with San Francisco Symphony - Nothing Else Matters
So close no matter how far
Couldn't be much more from the heart
Forever trust in who we are
And nothing else matters
Sunday, April 02, 2006

Cleaning up photos on computer - look what i found!! All i need to do is photoshop evie in that gap between me and andy and we'd have a great photo of lindavala... hmm that's a pretty good idea, actually...
I managed to get most of the assignment done today... even with a 3 hour nap :P hehe

well there you go - i'm back off to church :)
-- Now playing - Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American (thanks, Jeram!)
I'm not alone because the TV's on, yeah
I'm not crazy 'cause I take the right pills, every day and rest
Woke up, got dressed, went out for the whole day with Mary and did a little bit of work but then got home and then went to the NCS elegant evening tonight - heaps of fun :) learnt how to salsa, waltz and some rock and roll thing, met lots of people, got to know lots of people better :) got back to uni and watched the rest of a dodgy harrison ford movie with jeram and mary...
so it was a great day, but i've managed to do achieve nothing academically with it ;) which means that tomorrow afternoon i'm going to disappear off msn and put head down and do some work!! (if anyone sees me on msn tomorrow afternoon, please remind me that i typed this!!)
Thank God for daylight savings (or lack of) - just when you need it the clock goes back an hour ;) well it's most definitely time for bed!
-- Now playing - Straylight Run - Mistakes we knew we were making
So we bottled and shelved all our regrets
Let them ferment and came back to our senses
Drove back home and slept a few days
Woke up and laughed at how stupid we used to be
