| nibbles |
[Jul. 28th, 2008|03:45 pm] |
Me (pretending to be a whiny 12-year-old): Everybody in school say I very short.
Colleague (pretending to be administering test): Don't worry, you'll grow out of it!
haha, i know i haven't blogged much about work (ok, i haven't blogged much in general) but there are bright points to everything and i just felt like sharing that. :)
somehow, i'm not really in the blogging mode nowadays. perhaps i haven't written for so long, i need a little more time to get into it.
even when i fail You
i know You love me
i know You love me |
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| oopsie |
[Mar. 29th, 2008|11:10 pm] |
okay so i know i owe alot of updates... heh... particularly about the job, all thanks to God :) um, soon? :P just wanted to post this video about a guy singing BOTH parts of A Whole New World...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=t9-CS2v8wcc
actually if you listen objectively he only sounds RELATIVELY like a girl when compared to his male voice, but still it's pretty awesome and if nothing else, his facial expressions are hilarious. ahhh parodies, i love parodies :P |
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| sucky |
[Mar. 15th, 2008|11:48 am] |
thank God for not letting me get a job as a receptionist... coz i totally SUCK at it. receipting and making and answering phone calls - definitely NOT my calling. i've made more mistakes than i can count and some of them are not very minor, either. this sucks. I SUCK. Father, please help me get through this time of trial...
LJ just made a hush-hush decision to make all new users have ads on their pages, unless they pay to have their pages adfree. personally if i think a site is worth it i won't mind the ads, i seldom look at them anyway. but the way this information was disseminated was made was very unpalatable indeed, and i don't like the tone in which it was conveyed. LJ no longer gets my vote for people looking for a free blog - but i'm not sure there are many other adfree ones out there.
the only thing that's making me smile a little is a quote from an annonymous user on Facebook Scratch & Win:
Just remember, if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.-FGM |
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| if only i had read this article sooner :P |
[Feb. 21st, 2008|02:05 pm] |
Dealing with the Quarter-Life Crisis
Peter Vogt, MonsterTRAK Career Coach
When high school pals Alexandra Robbins, 25, and Abby Wilner, 25, got together over lunch several years ago to catch up on their lives after college, they were both ready to tell some glowing stories about how well they were doing.
"At first, we both said we were having a great time," recalls Robbins, an English and American studies double major in college, now working in the New Yorker magazine's Washington, DC, bureau. But before the conversation went much further, the fronts that 20-somethings often put up vanished. Both women admitted they were feeling unhappy, confused and somewhat adrift.
"Then we started seeing that many of our friends were feeling the same way," Robbins says. "And there weren't really any resources to help us deal with what we were going through."
So Robbins and Wilner decided to create one themselves. The result, based on their own experiences and several hundred interviews with fellow 20-somethings who graduated from college in the past few years, is their book, Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your 20s.
When you interview more than 200 of your peers, you inevitably learn a few things you'd like to pass along to others. For Robbins and Wilner, their book and its accompanying Web site are vehicles for doing just that. They also welcomed the opportunity to offer career and personal advice here -- particularly for those in the middle of a confusing, demoralizing quarterlife crisis.
Here are a few of Robbins and Wilner's recommendations:
Don't Have a Career Plan? Don't Worry
You don't need to freak out if you have no idea what you want to do with your life, stresses Wilner, a Web administrator in Washington, DC, who majored in psychology in college. "I temped and got a taste of various fields and companies out there before I settled into my first permanent job," she says. "So don't let those external pressures get to you, don't think that all those people with plans have everything figured out, and don't think of it all as some kind of race and that other people are ahead of you. We all backtrack at some point as we make shifts in our plans. That's just the way it is."
Separate a Job's Meaning from Its Trappings
"Forget about how much money a job will pay you, forget about societal prestige, and forget about what your parents and friends think about your job," says Robbins. "You have to figure out what's meaningful to you in your career and what will warm your heart and make you want to jump out of bed each morning."
Case in point: Three weeks after Robbins graduated from Yale University, she took the first job offer she got after being, "completely seduced by the trappings. The pay was wonderful, I liked the people, I had my own office with a door, and my commute was only 15 minutes."
There was only one problem: "The work sucked," she deadpans.
Robbins lasted for eight months but was miserable the whole time. Don't make the same mistake, she stresses.
Scared, Lost or Clueless About Your Career? You're Normal
Maybe you're questioning yourself and your place in this world more than ever. Maybe you're barraging yourself with intense self-interrogation, as Robbins puts it. Maybe you're filled with anxiety and fear. And maybe you believe you're the only 20-something who feels so confused.
You're not, Wilner emphasizes. "One thing I honestly wish is that I had done the research for this book even earlier, because that in itself helped me tremendously," she says. "Listening to everyone's experiences, anxieties, thoughts, fears, hopes and dreams...so much like my own. Who knew?"
It took Robbins and Wilner hundreds of hours and conversations with their peers to learn that they -- and their peers -- were normal. You are too.
"If I had known back then what I know now, I wouldn't have beaten myself to a mental pulp so frequently," Robbins says. So neither should you.
This article originally appeared on MonsterTrak.com.
(couldn't find the article on MonsterTrak.com so i copied it off FastWeb at http://www.fastweb.com/fastweb/resources/articles/index/110459?id=O8NA8MXB7GRM.561a46b6c3072b74604a5e5c14487475 incidentally, MonsterTrak.com and FastWeb.com look really helpful for newly graduated jobseekers, but i guess the realisation comes a little late... updates soon :P) |
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| An awesome reminder for any Christian |
[Feb. 19th, 2008|03:27 pm] |
Philippians 2:14-16
Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
how could i have missed this verse before? i must not have read the Bible systematically enough =X |
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| Eye/Ear-Opening :P |
[Feb. 15th, 2008|11:26 pm] |
Daddy was just explaining to me how Methodism started, that when John Wesley had his heart-warming experience, he was listening to someone read out one of the most boring treatises ever... yet God was able to reach out and touch him through that. that shows, he pointed out, that it isn't just dynamic preachers and captivating sermons that change people, but sometimes merely hearing the Word being preached and meditated upon changes us in ways far beyond the style in which the message has been presented. not that it's an excuse for boring sermons, but it also gives us no excuse to avoid boring sermons - because every sermon, no matter how boring, is a presentation of the Word of God and has the ability to draw people closer to God.
profound thought, but very interesting indeed. :) |
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| the pms punch |
[Feb. 13th, 2008|08:20 pm] |
or peak, or valley, or whatever. i just feel at my lowest low tonight.
Daddy tried to give me a pep talk about using my gifts and talents (inclusive of my degree) for God, and it did help me to focus for awhile before i realised that most of my talents have to do with comforting or cheering people up or making things pretty, and have very little to do with a university degree or getting a good, high-profile, challenging job. not that i require one of those but every graduate seems expected to get one of those, and every other job seems to assume no graduates would apply to them. i feel either over- or under-qualified for anything i remotely want to do. and for jobs that i'm just nicely qualified for, i'm terrified of not delivering what they expect to get, which is a high-flying graduate with managerial and analytical skills beyond the average person. I DON'T HAVE THAT. what i have is a naive mind and a heart that is often too kind for its own good, and wouldn't last two seconds in the presence of efficient and/or unscrupulous people. i told Josh the other day that i felt i would have had more job openings if i hadn't had my degree, even though that's ungrateful and i apologised to God after saying it.
not that it wasn't a good pep talk. in fact, i think if i had had it at the start of my job search it would have done me a world of good. as it is, though, i'm thoroughly discouraged and disheartened now and any mention of work, efficiency, success or related topics is likely to be greeted with tears of frustration.
enough whining for now. i must endeavour to press on even if my feelings and hormones aren't up to the task. sleep cures all ills, tomorrow is a new day yadda yadda. bright points, girl, bright points.
bright point #1: thank You God for taking such good care of Randall and giving his group favour in the Theatre class, even though he only had 1.5hours of sleep. i know he still hasn't finished the project of that demanding teacher but i'm more reassured now and i know You are constantly with him, dear God.
bright point #2: am setting up a parody app within Facebook, which is at least giving me a little of a sense of achievement. update you when it's ready to launch :)
bright point #3: lame jokes. while walking home just now i overheard a bunch of teenagers laughing - they were all teasing one guy who kept going "but her surname isn't long what, it's just 4 letters!" and everybody else kept going "yah, but her surname is Long!!!" which amused me to no end, especially since the guy still seemed blur and didn't seem to get it :P
thank You, Lord, for these bright points. |
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| priorities |
[Feb. 13th, 2008|12:29 am] |
i was gonna log on and post a psm-y post about job search and lack of related success, but...
i´m really, really worried about Randall. it´s midnight and he´s still in school rushing his project which the teacher only approved this morning, and wants to see tomorrow. he only had his dinner at 11.30pm and he´s been under tremendous stress and pressure from this teacher for months and months, and this is only the latest assault.
Please, Father, let the torture end soon... Please hold him up and help him not to collapse under the pressure. Please help him to finish the project and get some rest... And please, please, PLEASE let that horrible teacher not murder him with more criticisms and deducted marks tomorrow... Because I´m so afraid for his mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health right now. Please, God *cries*
Father, I pray you be with Randall throughout the night and tomorrow, every minute and second. |
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| Jokes :P |
[Feb. 5th, 2008|12:53 am] |
Disclaimer: these aren't my jokes, but my dad forwarded them to me from some joke service he receives and i only just opened them. the first one is like duh but the 2nd was pretty funny! have fun :)
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me. .
Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. .
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.
The dead batteries were given out free of charge.
A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
A will is a dead giveaway.
A backward poet writes inverse.
In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulting in Linoleum Blownapart.
Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
A plateau is a high form of flattery. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis. |
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| Crisis in Gaza: Sign the petition! |
[Jan. 23rd, 2008|07:03 pm] |
i know that some people don't want to look at "heavy" stuff at the end of a long day...
i know some people object to online petitions because they think people will use them to assuage their guilt instead of taking better action against injustices...
i know this may not be agreeable to all who read my blog (apologies if so)...
but in issues like this, how can i help but feel helpless? what else can i do but sign it with as much sincerity as i can muster, and pass it on to those whom i think may care?
Email from Avaaz.com:
Dear friends,
The people of Gaza are being squeezed to death. This week's blackouts have finally reached the attention of the world -- and the international community could help end the blockade. Our obligation is clear. This isn't about Israel vs Palestine or Hamas vs Fatah: this is about 1.5 million human beings locked up in the biggest prison on earth. The siege of Gaza is a collective punishment violating international law, and far from ensuring Israel's security, it is only stoking rage and desperation.
Incredibly, the UN, European Union and Arab League have so far failed to act. We must seize this moment with an emergency campaign: demanding that the international community step in to end this blockade, ensure the free flow of supplies, and help broker the ceasefire which civilians on all sides desperately need. Please click below to sign the emergency petition -- we'll deliver it to the UN, EU and Arab League when we reach 100,000 signatures, so sign and tell everyone you know:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_end_the_siege/8.php?cl=50720081
The humanitarian crisis of sealed-off Gaza is only getting worse, and a rain of missiles is falling. No genuine peace talks will be possible while the siege continues. In the Israel-Lebanon war of 2006, we saw how global pressure and assistance can help stop a crisis and protect civilians from harm -- we cannot stay silent about the crisis in Gaza. Please add your name now at the link above, and forward this message widely.
With hope and determination,
Ricken, Paul, Galit, Esra'a, Pascal, Ben and the whole Avaaz team
PS For more about the crisis:
Associated Press article including Red Cross report:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iNIUuovp8Buyld1S6EFTSWfznQZwD8UB050G0
Former Clinton official calls for ceasefire, ending siege:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/21/opinion/edmalley.php
UN reports on the humanitarian crisis, including background to the blackouts:
http://www.ochaopt.org/?module=displaysection§ion_id=11&static=0&format=html
Deepening medical crisis in Gaza (UN):
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75693
PSS In a global interactive poll, tens of thousands of Avaaz members helped to set our direction for campaigning on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and achieving a reciprocal ceasefire were both supported by over 90% of respondents:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/annapolis_results_2 |
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| if only... |
[Jan. 14th, 2008|01:40 pm] |
WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY
DID THEY COME UP WITH SOTA ONLY NOW
I WANT TO BE A STUDENT AT SOTA!!!
http://www.sota.edu.sg/school/curriculum/synopsis/group6_dance.asp
*WAIIIIIIIIIIIILS*
it's everything i ever wanted to learn about dance!! sigh...
oh well. i might have turned out quite different if i had pursued that route instead of the current one. after all, God's ways are higher than mine :)
(but a part of my heart still cries WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY) |
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| hopes |
[Jan. 14th, 2008|12:53 pm] |
asked mummy today how to listen to God in prayer, and gained a couple of new thoughts...
1) go for a silent retreat, where the atmosphere is conducive for you to listen to the quiet promptings and nuances of God in your mind
2) use the Bible to help you focus on God's word even as you clear your mind of other distractions
the 2nd point is especially useful, what with the hectic schedules that are practically required of any individual in touch with the helter-skelter of industrial life these days, that rob us of our ability to be still and wait in silence for God =X
the 3rd point i came up with while thinking about it, which was:
3) keep a prayer journal where you can crystalise your conversations with God
and that seems to work marvelously for me, perhaps i am simply the type of person that thinks better while writing :)
some nuggets reached out and grabbed me yesterday and today, i append them here as usual:
Teach me Thy way, O Lord
Teach me Thy way
Thy guiding grace afford
Teach me Thy way
Help me to walk aright
More by faith, less by sight
Lead me with heav'nly light
Teach me Thy way
(i have no idea why, this song just made me cry the moment i heard it in service yesterday... even before i paid attention to the words it made me cry. 0_o)
when put to the question yesterday at Young Adults Group, i found to my surprise that my favourite verse was "Come, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." at least, it was the first verse that came to mind... but thinking about it, i realised that i did rather live by that verse quite alot. interesting.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)
yesterday's QT:
Isaiah 35
v3-4: Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you."
v8: A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.
today's QT:
Hebrews 10
v-11-14: And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
(this caught my eye because the issue of sacrifices came up during YAF on Saturday...)
v22-25: ...let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
(heh i only intended to bold the parts which were significantly meaningful, but there turned out to be nothing in this passage that i could leave out...)
Thought for the day:
Encouraging words have the power to lift up those who are weighed down.
Search me, O God
And know my heart today
Try me, O Saviour
Know my thoughts, I pray
See if there be
Some wicked way in me
Cleanse me from every sin
And set me free
there's more thoughts from yesterday but as usual i've run out of time :P hope springs eternal for job search... more updates later hopefully! :) |
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| thoughts |
[Jan. 10th, 2008|01:04 am] |
Night Safari was quite fun at first, but i suppose after awhile the darkness and quietness gets to you, and you start to feel sleepy... :P
the otters were cute, though! :D
i dropped the little orange lock that holds my phone cover together, though =X which means i might ACTUALLY have to change my 3-year-old phone! sighs.
i don't know why i'm so snappy and restless today. perhaps i should just rest.
(i need colour
i need passion
i need to go to work each day looking forward to the world being a better place because of the labour of my hands
help me, Father God...) |
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| inexplicably |
[Jan. 9th, 2008|01:05 am] |
am suddenly terrified of new opportunities.
WHY AM I SUCH A CRAVEN COWARD???
Father, give me the courage to do what i have to, should do... =X |
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| Christmas :) |
[Dec. 21st, 2007|01:08 am] |
sorry if i worried you folks with the previous entry... i was feeling rather down then, but everything was settled just a couple of days later :) i just haven't been able to find the time to update =X sorry!
Christmas is coming!! Christmas is coming :D carolling has got me all excited about it :) seems a bit strange without my family to put up the Christmas tree and all, but i'll be fine :) have not had much time to feel lonely at all =X
arghh, so many things to do =X but thank God that i am given the opportunity to do them :)
pray for my safety, k? :)
and if ever anyone needs someone to talk to, don't hesitate to give me a call :) i'll be here for you, as much as i'm able :)
have a Merry and Blessed Christmas! :) |
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| six feet under |
[Dec. 12th, 2007|01:27 am] |
i think i may be more deeply upset than i realise.
yesterday i managed to clear up some of the misunderstanding and bad feelings, which was good...
today i just started it all over again.
it's terrifying when the nightmare you always feared begins in real life... it's destabilising when you find you have to admit that the nay-sayers were right after all.
dear Father, help me cling to You, and cling to the Truth, no matter what. help me remember that it's not about finding out the truth of what happened or who people are, but about clinging to the Truth of Your love and desire for all of us to grow more Christ-like in every way, to love others as you love us, to take the log out of our eyes before trying to take out the speck in others'.
and, dear Father... please protect my mind from the negative thoughts which seem to assail me 24/7 nowadays. |
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| pity-party for one |
[Dec. 10th, 2007|10:04 pm] |
after yesterday's triumphant post, i can't help feeling there's all sorts of ironies in posting an entry about failing miserably today. on hindsight, perhaps God knew i needed to be cheered up a little yesterday because today was gonna be so crappy.
but today started out well... today started out so well. well, except for the nightmare about being told by my dad that FMC wasn't going to give me the job because they found someone else so much more qualified. but it's just a nightmare, right?
so work went alright today, no picky customers, no million phone calls to make me sweat, relatively straightforward data, the feeling that i'm doing a good job. had a nice waffle and bought some pkts of chips too, the old-fashioned type that come in transparent packets and cost a dollar each.
then the phone call came frm FMC... nope, i didn't get the job, and having rather hoped for it i was rather disappointed. should've known not to get my hopes up but too late to say that now.
walking home my too-long pants got wet in the puddles along the rain-soaked paths, and my socks made my shoes painfully uncomfortable.
the fact that i was going to a job that i disliked tomorrow, and being worried about someone, made things harder to bear.
it wasn't easy to figure out how to cry for help without being overly demanding or pressurising... it wasn't easy at all. in fact it was so hard that i lost my temper and took it out on someone who had already had more than his fair share of problems. and that, in itself, created a whole new problem. now i've alienated myself from one more source of support, and one which has been very very important to me for a year now, but whom i've not dared to lean on too much for the past couple of months because of his problems.
yes, it's all falling to pieces around me and i've caused it with my lack of restraint, as usual. and as usual, i have no idea how to put it back together again and am miserable.
i wonder how i can possibly justify breaking down twice in three days?
it's my party and i'll cry if i want to |
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| placeholder |
[Dec. 10th, 2007|01:43 am] |
-thank God for worship this morning :')
-thank God for good rest this afternoon
-friend's grandma's wake:
-psalm 130
-psalm 23 last verse
-BBC
-1 Thess 4:13-17
-I serve a risen Saviour
-how we grow through pain (how we deal with the pain: focus on pain, or focus on positive behaviours we should be having to deal with the pain) |
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