★ A Breath of Life

Yes, incase you happen upon this post and do not know, today is my birthday.

So yes, an annual thanks to all the people that made my day extra bright, whether they know of this blog, read this blog, or no nothing of this blog or post.

Thank you…

Elliot, dude, firefly, can’t wait to watch it
Amy, hahaha, I knew it but it still makes me happy, I love how my collection is growing
Nico, my mysterious <3 it makes a gift double exciting when it’s left on the doorstep
Emmeline, thanks, I know I’m not REALLY 19 (I’m actually more like 9)
Jeff, … well it was almost surprising, but not quite, gotta check for windows next time thanks though
David, haha, thanks for dinner even though I think that fly liked it more than I did haha
and to all those who use facebook and look at that wonderful side bar that tells you it’s my birthday and to all those who use facebook and had the wonderful chance of double checking it’s my birthday

An autobiography of a man who has been called on of the four or five most influential missionaries in China. Well, that’s what the back of the book says and I believe it. I’ve always heard of Hudson Taylor, little bits here and there, but never really thought about what his story really was. Amazing. He has an amazing story. Anyone who gets a chance to , it’s really an easy read, only 155 pages (that’s with the ending poem and epilogue) and I was able to finish it in less than 3 hrs.

Here are just some parts I especially liked from the book, I guess it’s my way of doing dialectical journals now that we don’t have to… I have to say, they are useful for looking back at useful/important/rememberable parts of books

“I remember that I dedicated myself without holding anything back. I put myself, my life, my friends, everything on the alter. A deep, solemn feeling came over me. With it came assurance. I knew God had accepted my offering. His presence became real and blessed. I was an only child - fifteen - but I remember stretching myself on the ground and lying there, silent, before him. I felt indescribable awe and joy. I didn’t know what kind of service he accepted me for, but a deep sense of awareness came over me. I didn’t belong to myself any more.” p.12

“This hope had a completely practical effect on me. It led me to look carefully through my little library to see if I had any books I didn’t need any more. I also went through my small closet. I wanted to be absolutely sure that if the Master came right away, I wouldn’t be sorry about anything I had. My library shrank considerably, to the benefit of some poor neighbors - and to my own soul’s greater benefit.” p.16

“One day we met a Cantonese merchant. he was a relative of the highest official in town. Mr. Burns started talking to him in Cantonese. The man was so pleased to hear a foreigner speak his language that he became our friend and got us a place to live.” p.87

“I remembered that I had not prayed for a place to stay last night. I also felt condemned that I had worried so much about my few things, when all around me were precious souls I hadn’t cared about. I came as a sinner and claimed Jesus’ blood, realizing I was accepted in him. I was forgiven, cleaned up and made pure. How great Jesus’ love was! More than I had ever realized it before, I knew what it was like to be despised and rejected, and to have nowhere to lay my head. More than ever, I felt how great his love must have been for him to leave his home in glory and suffer like he did for me. In fact, he had even given up his life on the cross!” p.102

“Is it that hardhearted and wicked to neglect saving the body? How much punishment will the person get who leaves the sould to perish? Who say, like cain did, ‘Am i my brother’s keeper?’. The Lord Jesus commands me, commands you - to ‘go into all the world, and preach the good news to all creation’. Will we tell him it’s not convenient? Will we tell him we’re busy fishing and can’t go? That we’ve five yoke of oxen, or have married, or are busy doing more interesting things, and can’t go?” p.112

“…’I have searched for the truth a long time,’ he said earnestly,’as my father did before me. But I never found it. I have traveled far and near, but without getting it. I have found no rest in Confucianism, Buddhism or Taoism. But I do find rest in what I have heard here tonight. From now on, I am a believer in Jesus.’…’What!’ He said, amazed. ‘Is it possible that for hundreds of years you have known this good news and only now you come to preach it to us? My father looked for the truth for more than twenty years and died without finding it. Oh, why didn’t you come sooner?’” p.120

“I wanted them to ask God what he wanted them to do…’I think a collection tends to leave the impression that the only important thing is money… in fact, no amount of money can convert a sould. What is needed is for men and women filled with the Holy Sprirt to give themselves to the work. There will never be a lack of funds for the support of people like that.” p.144

What if I were to become a long term missionary? Am I ready to make that prayer and KNOW that I don’t belong to myself?

Haha, you might be thinking from my previous post… wait… they didn’t make this into a movie…? That’s right, they didn’t… at least not yet.

After watching the new Prince Caspian movie, I decided to go back and start rereading the books for … I’m not sure, the third or fourth time. I love those books so much, and yet I can’t remember them. So, I started at book 1, the Magician’s Nephew. And WOW, my love for the books has been restored. It’s such an easy read and so captivating that I finished it in a couple hours. Reading it on my own with a new perspective on life and a new understanding of all the allegories involved, it really meant something different. It’s true what the reviews about these books say, everyone should read the series at least 3 times in their life; as a child (oh what a wonderful adventure story to read to your kids), as a young adult (or teen or whatever, you know, that age when you’ve learned to ‘close read’ books), and as an adult (when you’ve started to forget all those childhood fantasies and faiths).

Anyway, rereading the first book, I vaguely remembered the kids jumping into pools with the rings, freeing the witch, the creation of Narnia, and the one apple that would create the portal from our world to theirs. Of course, I only remember those as adventure and fantasy that kept me captivated and daydreaming about my own adventure. This time through I saw how true it was to the story of man, of how we brought sin into the perfect world that God made for us, and how horrible that really is; how even though sin is horrendous, God gives us the chance to be forgiven. Anyway, I’m not an English major, far from it, so my writing is horrible (I totally admit to that) so I’m not going to try to write the gorgeous eloquent review that this book deserves. Just go read it. It’s good. I promise. And if you don’t think it’s good, well then, you’re just like Uncle Andrew.

I was wondering if the names of the characters had any significance. I thought about it long and hard. I can’t figure it out… is there a significance?

Yay! Yesterday I went with my family and some people from church to go watch the new Narnia movie, Prince Caspian. I have to say, I was already really excited to go see the movie. I’ve already read the entire Narnia series at least twice over, but somehow I can’t seem to remember all of it sad.

Anyway, I was very impressed with the movie. I must say, I think it was a lot better than the first, well done. The music from the movie is gorgeous (how can I not say so, there are so many heroic horn parts!) and sent chills up my spine it’s a good feeling. I really like how they kept to the morals and lessons from the original books and made sure to hit the key points. For a Christian watching the film, you can totally see all the hints to the struggles of temptation by Satan (the White Witch) and the power of God (Aslan!!). I also liked how they threw in the lines and convos between Lucy and her siblings, why they couldn’t see Aslan, why he didn’t come to the rescue like the last time. I give it two thumbs up!

Haha, as a side note, I don’t know who else noticed when they watched the movie, I liked how in the beginning as the Narnians charged to battle, Peter yelled out “For Narnia!” and they lost. In the end battle, he called “For Aslan!” and they won. How true is that to our lives

Haha, while I was reading up on Elliot’s notes on facebook I came across this meme that he did. Cool, I’ve been tagged for something

When doing this I realized… dang, this is really hard… what is interesting about me?

“The meme asks me to give a link to the person who meme’d me, to tell 7 interesting things about me, and to then pass the meme on. I interpreted the meme to mean that I should tell things that you’re not likely to guess. Here goes:”

1. I tend to find ways to relate everything to food (i.e. homework… mmmm yummy!, that game is delicious, I ate it…)

2. I really really love music (instrumental music) to the point that I was seriously thinking of majoring in music A part of the reason why I wanted to get jaw surgery was because after freshman year it became increasingly hard to play the flute and this year it because extremely difficult to play my french horn. (yay! I’ll be able to play again in about2 weeks!)

3. I like to talk with/through facial expressions and eyebrows

4. I love socks, they’re just so comfy and soft. I’ve never worn sandals at school. (including the UCLA campus, but not including my room)

5. I have a pretty strong sweet tooth, love desserts but I think chocolate is too sweet

6. A dream of mine is to open up a bakery. I probably never will.

7. I used to be able to touch my nose with my tongue, but I haven’t tried it since my surgery

If anyone ever did read this and happen to see my tag of them, I would tag Christine, Phoebe, and Nicolette :T

http://www.youtube.com/user/docjazz4

Wow… just… WOW.

I really liked the sound of the ocarina after playing OoT (Ocarina of Time), but now I really love it. It’s absolutely gorgeous! I have to admit that in all my ridiculousness, after playing OoT I went ahead and bought the cheapest ocarina I could find… sad mistake. I should have known better. Paying only $3 for a plastic ocarina wasn’t going to get me much, but it was fun for a while, till the weird airy sound started to get annoying (which by the way isn’t me, it’s the ocarina… I googled it). But really, the ocarina is a bit of an obscure instrument, not many people have heard of it, especially before OoT came out (I’m sure they’re a lot more famous now because of OoT). But it’s still lovely as ever. Adding that to my wishlist for sure (though I’ll probably end up buying it myself like I tend to do…)

Fun Fact: There’s a part written for the ocarina in the orchestral score for the Tiny Tunes theme song (I know, I’ve played it)

Amazing, the best concert I have ever been to

Last night I went with Katrina to a concert featuring our school’s wind ensemble, the top wind group on campus. It was simply amazing and definately worth the $3. Every time I heard the horns it sent wonderful chills down my spine, they were gorgeous, hitting high notes like they were nothing! The balance was … almost perfect, and all the musicians looked like they were having a lot of fun.

The concert made me double realize how much I miss playing my horn. Sitting there, I could only try to imagine what it would be like, what it was like to be in orchestra. I really miss those times when we had powerful songs that I actually had to practice to try to get right. I miss playing so much I have dreams about my horn. Last weekend I actually did pick up my horn to play at church to practice with the brass band. It was depressing to say the least. My jaw has moved at least half a centimeter and I’ve gotten rubberbands since the last time I played, everything was so hard. I’ve never had that feeling before. I find it harder and harder to play as my jaw gets worse, but I’ve never picked up my horn and not be able to play at least the c scale with ease, usually it can come so naturally, but I really struggled even to hit the high e which should be easy for me T^T I hate my underbite. I can’t wait until surgery…

UCLA Fight! Fight! Fight!

Last Saturday was pretty much the most exciting football game I’ve ever seen, and I actually knew what was going on (yay me :D). It was also my first time tailgating. I went over with the IV group, why not get the full football experience? The burgers were delicious and I played my first non-virtual game of that one game where your try to throw your balls closest to the tiny white ball… I totally forgot what it’s called, it’s got a funky name.

The actual football game was more exciting than the eating. I got a free pom pom and helped spell out the U in UCLA in the stands :3 It’s so fun to watch a football game with others who are totally into it, yelling, cheering, booing… oh man, poor Cal guys XD Coming into the last quarter I totally thought we were going to loose. With only 3 minutes left on the clock they had the ball and the score was Cal21, LA 23. No matter what it seemed impossible for us to win. Everyone was getting depressed when suddenly… and interception! He runs all the way down the field from like the opposite 20 yrd line to the touch down!!! Everyone was cheering and jumping, screaming, hugging… it was crazy! Total score, Cal 21, LA 30. Yep.. it was pretty fun rubbing it in the face of all the Berkleyers

Last night we successfully walked down to the majestic Crest theater to catch the 7:30pm showing of Across the Universe. I was a little anxious to see the film after hearing that the renditions would be ruined because of my love for the Beatles, but the film was simply amazing. We all left the building feeling… well really a mixed feelings… the film can only be described as “trippy”

Personally I think the songs were redone in such a way that they fit perfectly with the film so that the remake really didn’t bother me. They brought out the emotions filled in the songs x10, and yes that includes the extremely high and insane feeling from I am the Walrus.

I have to say though, the movie is lengthy and I can think of several scenes that could easily be cut, but then again then there wouldn’t be as much to talk about and laugh at after the movie. Like seriously, did they really need the weird jumping blue men? I guess so since everyone talks about them afterward.

Weird for me, I really liked the actors. I thought that Jude and Max really matched their characters, I personally like their acting, and of course Jude’s accent. Lucy took a while to grow on me, but she really is pretty; I like her flowing golden hair.

All in all, very good. I’d think of buying the DVD… think about it…

Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Images of broken light which
dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a
restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as
they make their way across the universe

Sounds of laughter shades of life
are ringing through my open ears
exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which
shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Jai guru deva
Jai guru deva

Keane - Somewhere Only We Know

I walked across an empty land,
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand.
I felt the earth beneath my feet,
Sat by the river and it made me complete.
Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in,
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.

I came across a fallen tree,
I felt the branches of it looking at me.
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in,
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.

So if you have a minute why don’t we go,
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything.
So why don’t we go somewhere only we know,
Somewhere only we know.

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you gonna let me in,
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.
So if you have a minute why don’t we go,
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything.
So why don’t we go, so why don’t we go,

Hmmm yea,

This can be the end of everything.
So why don’t we go, somewhere only we know,
Somewhere only we know?
Somewhere only we know.

What a beautiful song
I’m so glad I get to hear it over and over and over and over… It’s really relaxing :3 It also gives more meaning to this piece drawn by a good friend of mine. Isn’t it beautiful