abclimmy's Xanga

Time To Fly

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:24:47 GMT

The time has come to close this blog.

It's been a long time since I've been involved with OCF. A long time, and many faces have been relegated to distant memory (yet I don't mean that as an insult, since I do cherish my memories). People come and people go in a blur of motion that relegates itself to the background as the immediacy of my own life occupies the limelight. Times change, and this blog could probably do with a little bit of it as well.

Don't be mistaken, though. I'm not doing a new blog for new friends. I'm not trying to start a clean slate. I'm just moving on. Like the chapters of a book, its time I left this page.

To something hopefully more... elegant. With a dash of elan.

find it at teddelicious.blogspot.com . I've had a few updates already penned to familiarise myself with the whole interface first.

Also, the tech bloggie still lives at tedde-tech.blogspot.com, but no updates since July 2007. Expect that to be rectified soon.

Bidding all of you adieu, and for those that follow me to my new cyberlife, welcome back :)

In Faith, Hope and Love!

teDDe~! xoxo

A timely message

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:28:56 GMT

Hope.

Built from conviction, but dashed in a single, spirited moment.

Sometimes you don't realise you've lost hope until it comes flowing back into you.

Sometimes you don't realise you need encouragement until it gets deposited in your heart.

Sometimes you don't realise God is watching until He taps you on the shoulder and says 'I've always been here'.

Sometime today...

Today was different. Today was special. An angel came and, in their own little way, gave every bit as much to me as all the pastors' sermons throughout the Convention.

(message scrambled for privacy :))

Thank God for Ablaze. Thank God for a generation of PASSIONATE youth seeking after Him.

And to that angel: go forth! To know is not enough. Be a blessing to others such that, through you, they may find Him :).

teDDe!~

Convention reflections coming another time.

The not-so-snippy update

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:04:10 GMT

Thought I'd do it in a separate post, so the faint-hearted among you would not have to suffer :)

Modelling portfolio is almost ready, its HAPPENING on Saturday! Wheee! Not happy though, my tummy hasn't disappeared as promised. Muscles have come back though, good to know, and all that running with the blokes from Hope is making contours appear in my legs I never thought I'd find.

Min's video is coming along.... limping along. Arghhh! I could tear my hair out in frustration. Two months ago it sounded so easy, I'd done a bit of video editing before, how hard could it be to slap in some pictures and videos? Well... hard enough, apparently! Especially when you know that this is the sort of thing that may be 'kept' for quite a while. I owe huge apologies to the cuzzies for going AWOL while trying to complete this project, partly it is the embarrassment of not being as technically minded as I thought I was, well, at least not in terms of making interactive menus!

Social times have changed... Zhijie, Annie and the others are off to clinics as of this week, meaning they will be notably absent from university, and notably lacking in energy from their 8am-6pm days. Its strange how times can totally throw friendships out the window, and there is a very real danger that the friendship is not flexible enough to adapt. I count myself lucky though, I'm still in good contact with them, if not rather more infrequent to do aforementioned factors, and every now and again we enjoy a sighting of each other (dang, sounds like whale watching!).

On the other hand, its been an awesome, amazing few weeks getting to know the peepitos at Hope better. Last year, when I joined because of Jing, I joined only for two reasons. 1) was Jing, and; 2) the strength of the student ministry. Following Jing's departure to Malaysia that left only one reason to stay on. At times I was tempted to go romping about to other churches and lifegroups, having gotten used to that kind of lifestyle, but a God-directed challenge saw me thrown back into the hubris of church life with Hope. And what a life! Absolutely, there is strength in unity that makes me DEPRESSED to admit I forgot. Many hands make light work... so true. And even as I avail myself to His will, I can already see Him blessing me, with new friends, new networks, new jobs, new opportunities, more lives that I can palpably sense changing around me. I've found people to be blonde and bimboey with, people to be serious with, people to do business with. People to run with, people to walk with, people to laugh with. People people people! They are like, social chocolate to me. I wonder if I'm being overfed? =)

Daddy Lim is here as well, on business. I'm beginning so see more and more of myself in him. Its both fascinating and scary. I need to keep reminding myself to keep all the good things and BANISH those habits, those mentalities which are not pleasing to God. I never thought Life would turn this way, but it has. I sometimes wish that him and mum would never have gotten divorced for the sake of having a textbook family, then I think to myself that Mum would never have learnt how to evangelise. Mum would never have learnt how to tell all those crying souls about the wonderful glory of God's kingdom. Mum would never have chaallenged herself to reach out and learnt new skill, rebuild her career. Dad would never have learnt his lessons - he'd spent a lifetime of being pampered and scared and was too narrowminded, and he finally got the slap that woke him up from his delusional reverie. Thank God. I think that Dorothy was the only one who wore the worst of it, who's life has been interminably and negatively affected by the scars of that period. I pray that God heals those wounds, before it is too late.

Stocks are performing pathetically on the stock market... they're like, 30% under original purchase price, now. Ouch! I've stopped looking at the market every day coz I don't have the cashflow to play with it anymore. Kinda a good thing, I guess. Really need a car - Dot's gone back to uni and now I have to play errand boy in bringing her home. Life is ramping up, despite the lack of clutter. I don't want to be young again, but sometimes I wish for the freedom that comes with being young.

teDDe~

Bit my arse?

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:36:51 GMT

You know that saying (well, the Aussies among you should know), "what's bitten your arse?" It's a vulgarism for asking what is WRONG with you.

Nobody has said it to me yet, but I can feel me asking myself that question. Not with any serious urgency, but that probing kind of thought that says 'hey, mate, you'd better pick up your act or soon you'll be aggravating people..'

So I'll start this off in the usual manner. Is something wrong at all? Or is it just the weak resonance of a mildly guilty social etiquette running through my head? This week I have challenged people about the way they speak. This week I have challenged people about the way they relax. This week I have challenged the seeming reliance of our generation on social aids, like MSN and SMSing, and Facebook. This week I challenged people about their work, about their relationships. And the sad thing is, we're not even halfway through this week!

Lets examine the validity of these challenges.

Speaking > In context, I was talking an international friend of mine about her Singaporean slang. Or rather, the inability to speak with anything BUT a Singaporean slang. Lets call it singlish from now on. Back in the days, when I was actually racist, I believed the perfect accent was no accent. It was something perfectly neutral that could be understood by all speakers of the language, no matter where they heralded from. Of course, in my three or so years trying to bring that idealism into fruition, I failed. Miserably. And there have been other realisations since those bygone days of Aussie 'arianism', so to speak. Fastforward to today, what do I believe? Every accent has its place, but the onus on us as travellers, as foreigners in a new country, is to be sensitive AND receptive to the local culture. That means learning to speak like they speak, learning to behave like they behave, learning to be polite like they are polite. The list goes on. I won't mention the names of the singlish speakers who told me 'why bother to learn Aussie? I'm a Singaporean! Singaporean is good' not to save them face, but because there are too many Singaporeans who have told me that and I don't want to waste my time typing their names. But the question has been itching my throat, forced only into silence by the better part of my self-restraint, that if said people are so proud of their own country, what in the world are they doing overseas, what are they doing in Australia, using our substandard resources, taking up our substandard space, taking educational lessons from our substandard teachers, enjoying our substandard environment?

Just because its cultural, doesn't mean its right. Lose your nationalism and recognise that the privilege you have is the privilege of LIVING in another country. You get the best of both worlds, but only if you reach out to embrace it.

Relaxing > This one I'm prepared to cede ground on. I guess it all depends on how you define the word and intention of 'relax'. To me, to relax means to cease all extranneous activity and to focus on oneself. the INTENTION of relaxing is to rejuvenate yourself, to maintain grounded in reality, to re-know and have confidence in both your strengths and weaknesses, which are ever changing. Looking at the online dictionary, one of the definitions is 'to release oneself from inhibition, worry, tension'. Fair enough, I can't argue with that. Perhaps I'm even misrepresenting what it means to relax. But for me, and in line with the adage 'prevention is better than cure', I do really hope that people see relaxing in a greater picture. Sorry to those relevant peeps (you know who you are) for the disagreements.

Social aids > I think its a really sad day when people make up and break up over a well-timed SMS. I think its really sad that a couple can sit next to each other in a bus for half an hour staring at nothing but their phone screens, texting their friends. I think its really PATHETIC that people say this is the new generation of communication. This is the direction of modernist culture. Its so hip, its so hop, I'm so cool and ohmigosh I 4got how2 splz prply. When you dehumanise communication, you... you literally take the human out! Relationships become a game. Facebook becomes a popularity contest. These things are not so much a social aid as they are a social ailment. And yes, they do good things do, like making talk cheaper, making keeping in touch over long distances easier, making the world feel smaller, etc. But. USE ONLY IN EMERGENCIES (read: when alternatives are unfeasible) (heck I'll admit I'm on MSN the most out of ALL my friends but I don't depend on it, I don't miss it when it's gone for extended periods). You know, I love talking to people. I love telling funny jokes and watching the way they laugh. I love telling lame jokes and seeing the admonitions form on their lips before their brains have even caught up. I love blurting out random facts to see how people react to an ever-changing stimulus. I love to provide words of encouragement, and seeing people take that and run with it, someimes even literally! I love being encouraged, and feeling that fire deep within my soul burn just a bit more brightly because someone bothered to feed it. I love. People. And I wonder what the social and communal consequences of our ever-technology-dependent, desensitised, dehumanised society is. Actually I don't have to. I just have to look around.

Please. Don't become like one of them. Stay real, stay human, keep loving people.

Relationships > ahh, don't I love this one. Yet, for once in my life, I find myself lost for words, at the outpouring of a dear and somewhat comical friend (hehehehe, soweee). How do you tell someone that you can make the decision to change, but you havne't necessarily changed once you've made the decision? Many girls, and yes, I'm discriminating here, many girls seem to be hanging out for Prince Charming, hanging out so much because they're afriad they're going to miss him. Yet to Prince Charming, these girls look like Miss Unready, because, well, all they do is hang out! The problem is, my dear and somewhat comical friend (hehehehe, soweee) is in a slightly different boat. She is a super workaholic. super super super. Crazily super. If she doesn't work, she feels distressed. Emotionally, I'm not sure if I can find anything =P. Self-development is not really the problem, or is it? While she is preparing herself financially, I'm not too sure if she's as socially or romantically equipped. A guys loves a girl for what she is, right? How does a guy love a girl who defines herself by her work, not what she IS? Well, I guess you could say that the guy has to be a workaholic, then. And if he is a workaholic, then what is the relationship defined by? Work! Yet, when I asked her to define a relationship, my dear and somewhat comical friend replied 'someone who cares for me and looks out for me'. That doesn't sound work-based! Anyway, we arrived to the conclusion she needs more self-awareness to evaluate her decisions in life, and for that I'm happy for her.

Treat others as you would treat yourself. If you never give love, don't expect any back. If you never show love, don't expect to see it.

So yes, I challenged many people this week; others I let them go insofar as I recognised there is only so much I can do - I don't control, I only encourage and advise. Of course, on many of these matters I may still be very wrong, or slightly wrong, or almost right, never perfect... but the beauty of my life as I see it is that I know why i'm doing something. Or at least I think I do - I'm always open to outside criticism. For most of these circumstances, I asked people why they do what they do. And the answer? 90% of the time... "I don't know".

Please. Make it a point to know. Ignorance is bliss only when it is something that does not relate to you. Otherwise, it's (the problem/issue) gonna come back and bite you in the bum. And thats NOT the same as what bit my arse :).

A step at a time...

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:57:45 GMT

I'm back from cousin Lingy's Adelaide wedding. Back from my dreaded supplementary test. Resumed work. Resumed exercise. Life should be back to normal, yeah?

Nah.

The wedding was great. So many familiar, and some not-so-familiar faces. Faces that, given time I'll probably get to know much better. More of the generations from mummy' Lim's side are choosing to live in Australia. I remember, once again, what it's like to have cousins. Was sad, and in some ways I still am sad that Ling's hitched. I hope married life doesn't change her too much. Call me selfish, but I rather liked being fussed over by her and Min. Not that I'll ever know what I did to deserve it - I was a pretty spoilt and lazy child. Anyway, fat chance of me getting as much affection now... darn all this growing up :P

I sat the supplementary, am pretty sure I failed it. Life can be so cruel at times. However, I don't and can't regret what mark I will eventually end up with - if I fail, I will fail knowing I tried my best and that my study or score would not have changed any other way. unless they allowed me more time to write. I don't know if it was nerves, but this is the first exam, let alone supplementary, that i have ever failed to complete. I do question that result. Alas, the progress of Time is inexorable and allows no chance for a good wallow in my own sorrow. There's lots of things to do. And I was looking for an extended holiday. Maybe this is God's (painful) way of telling me I need a rethink? =P

Going to apply for that TV/newspaper modelling job. It's giving me incentive to exercise. Exercising actually feels really good; I don't know why people like it, apart from the sweat. It's not like we only have showers once a week, right? Sometimes I shut my eyes when I am exercising and i feel where I am boxing (with weights), or I listen to the distant pounding of my heart as I run through the steps, feeling a satisfying ache spread through my muscles. Squat, lunge forward, lift back slowly, feel the shoulderblades retracting... ahh. Was also talking to some other friends who have a resolution to lose weight, but these friends are shyshy about it. They don't want to tell anyone their goal, maybe in case they fail to meet it? I don't see the logic (but I can empathise with the underlying thought). Some people are fat, some people are thin. Some can help it, while others can't. Where's the shame in stating where you stand, and were you want to stand? I guess, if I did not have that sort of mentality, life as a physiotherapist would be very stressful; seeing overweight, at risk patients in my clinic all day. God help them. And me.

I'd post a profile pic up of me pre-exercise, but I've already started to bulk on muscle and lose weight since the exam on Tuesday, so I'll have to do the before-and-after shot with one of the wedding pictures in Adelaide.

Charles said there might be a job for me with the Brisbane Strikers (soccer) during their coaching sessions, working as one of the sports trainers. I hope that pulls through. I've still got to tie up some loose ends with other centres, Baroona Road Physio and the one in City Clinic Toowoomba, for example. If I don't cut into final year physiotherapy, I'll probably do a stint out with one of them. Also, if I don't have physiotherapy this year, it might allow me to arrange for placments in England - I'd love that, to get some contacts and a network happening over there. Will see how things pan out.

Share market has been chaotic the last week or two. My shares fell heaps, and so to did my attitude. Vanessa was partly right. Not totally, though; I bought more shares when the dip was at its nadir, and in the last two days the profits look pretty decent. Mummy Lim says not to trade unless I need the money, but thats the whole point. I do. Not for the small, tiny things like bills or going out. But for things like my car and house. Every hundred counts. =)

I miss the good old days when study wasn't study because I found it relevant and interesting. I miss the times when I found it easy to listen because I convinced myself I didn't know anything. I miss the nights when I could sleep easy because I had no responsibilities, nothing to tie me down and tame me. Well, those days are gone.

There's only the future to step into, not the past.

teDDe~

Will post piccies of the wedding shortly...

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 14:54:26 GMT

Okay so i got tagged... hmmmpf. not a very taggy person I am, but I shall try. no laughing please.

Game Rules
For those who are being tagged, you need to answer 20 questions (choose any 19 questions from the one who has tagged you, and add 1 question of your own). Send it to at least 8 bloggers and you will get all the blessing from everyone. You can't tag the one who has tagged you.

1. What was your childhood dream?
If i remember correctly, it was first, to be a train sweeper, then a firefighter; champion handball player, scientist and then doctor. finally a physiotherapist, which i am living out, with the minor complication of having to be a student first, because nobody ever told me...

2. Do you prefer rainy or sunny days?
stoopid question dooDz, i like boooooth, can't i have both? although 5-minute shower rrestrictions in QLD make the rainy day look extra tantalizing...

3. What colour(s) do you like most?
yellow, green, red.

4. What is the last thing you would tell a person you love?
dunno, need to find someone first before i experiment what i CAN'T say? yeah? ummm...

5. Which place on earth do you want to go the most?
I'm sitting on it? The chair in front of my computer. And no, i'm not a compubum. Just rather... full, at the moment.

6. What would you do when you are in deep sadness?
Praise God! And then find lots of chocolate. ANd then go running and wish I'd never eaten the chocolate. By then I'd have forgotten what the original problem was.

7. What are you scared to lose in your life?
My life? Nah, not really, maybe my eyesight (which is practically gone already without glasses). And my sense of purpose.

8. If you ever meet someone that you love, what would you do to her/him?
well, based on track history, 1) pretend i don't love them, 2) pretend i DO love them hahaha, 3) take so long to warm up to the idea that by the time i'm ready, the next ICE Age has come and gone.

9. List out 3 good points of the one who tagged you.
a. thoughtful in a provoking kinda way
b. lateral conversation infuser (goes a treat with cino-chats :))
c. generous

10. Until now, what is the moment that you regret most?
Getting Grettel Colleen to sign my teenage bum after the first episode of Big Brother. I can't believe i mooned over 200 people in public at Southbank just for a bit of notoriety... and a dare. And it was a shocking TV show anyway ( i didin't know at the time coz i didn't watch it). Thats like having your arch-enemy's grubby mitts all over, well, your butt.

11. Have you ever had a crush on the person who sent you this?
nada :)

12. What is your ambition?
where to start? more practically, where to STOP? =D

13. What is the thing that will make you think he/she is bad?
ummm. eh? no comprehende.

14. If a genie appeared in front of you, what would you ask for?
a. how many wishes I have
b. a road-legal Ferrari 430 Scuderia with all options painted in black-hole-worthy with orange racing stripes and a garage to hermetically lock it in.
c. umm. 5"11, eurasian features, can dance latin, dresses up without cutting material DOWN, at home in heels or flipflops, and has a smile that knocks me for eight. And a laugh that sounds like the symphony orchestra wouldn't be too bad, either.

15. What is your #1 resolution for the new year?
LOVING MERCY. Wait, no, HUMILITY. That'll be the hardest one =)

16. What is the most important thing in your life?
Mah God. Don't mess wid Him, ya know? Coz He knows you :)....

17. When do you wish to settle down?
When I resist the forces of nature no longer (like gravity and ageing, not toilet calls, you daft thinkers)

18. Outer attractiveness or inner attractiveness, which one do you prefer?
inner is the requisite. but i don't think i'd let people very far without the other, either (in terms of finding the one, i presume?)

19. If you ever want to let go something in your life, what would it be?
my STARBURST tummy

20. Love and Money, which one do you prefer?
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... my heart is deceitful above all else. ALL else. It MUST be, because it is saying... money =_=

Tags? I don't like tagging people. it feels underhanded. BUT, if i were to dream up a few names, Mizz C Keasberry and Glenanananana, otherwise known as boofytook :) I didn't change a question because the creative brain bcells have gone to sleep.

Urghh, that took much longer than expected.

teDDE!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:40:43 GMT

So...

New Years Resolutions?

I had some, somewhere... can't remember what they are now. Everything kinda lost steam after my 21st, after I managed to tick off most of my goals, step back and pat myself on the back for the good job I'd done. Problem is, every time one stops, the inertia builds up again. It's practically a given.

Anyway, this year's resolutions. I thought about it quite a few times, at work, at caregroup, while eating dinner, playing the nintendo, while sitting on the toi... umm, nevermind. But it all boiled down to a point when I read a magazine by Jerry Savelle on what its means to succeed in God's eyes.

Micah 6:8 - He has showed you, O man, what is good.
       And what does the LORD require of you?
       To act justly and to love mercy
       and to walk humbly with your God.

It distills into three (3) things.

1) Integrity. To practice what I preach. to live a life that is the same whether anyone is watching or not. To live the dream that plays out again and again in my mind. 2) Loving mercy. To give when unwarranted, not because I should, but because I want to. To let my heart break with the same things the break His heart. And very honestly, I have a heart so hard at the moment you'd need a diamond drill to break into it :). 3) Humility. As Eve said, as Vitamin once commented, and as most other friends have variously remarked... I have none. =P Plain and simple, like vanilla ice-cream. I know where I stand with that.

So, these three things. That is what it means to succeed with God. And, I guess what it means to be a fulfilled and strong Christian. On the basis that I demonstrate NONE (or negative values) of these, I think I'm very far away from being a strong Christian. I guess admitting it is the very first step towards becoming more humble. And it hurts! =P

Well, those are the spiritual resolutions. What else? Might as well have three material resolutions, eh? =)

1) Double my stock portfolio's value. Gotta be careful here, the market is pretty volatile. But its better to do it now while the fundamentals still exist... than wait five years and miss out. 2) State of constant fitness. None of the crazy see-sawing of past years. I don't think my body tolerates it as well, anymore. Also depressing not being able to fit into the business pants I had tailored just last year =(. 3) Pimp out to the physio establishments, and pre-secure a job above $55K per annum. Yes, I'm ambitious. Didn't you know?

So what's yours? :)

teDDe!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 02:48:38 GMT

Hmmm.

Can't believe I'm posting again. Obviously the whole insane-side-of-life thing didn't work out; I was too busy being insane to try and record it =P

New direction to the bloggie. Short, sweet, and pvery probably no pictures (despite buying CS3 to experiment around with).

Studying for supplementary exams. Yeah. sucks to be me! I wonder at why God would put me through such a humiliating circumstance... and then I realised it... it's because I have no humility in the first place =). Predictably it was the cardiothoracic module that let me down. I like to blame it on the course coordinator who is the university equivalent of a mama bird that can't teach its babies to fly. Although, all my time spent playing Z's xbox, eating out, and not turning up to classes had something to do with it. I still praise God though, for my other subjects. Three distinctions take some of the salt out of the wound.

Commenced reasearch work with Uni of Qld. it is semi-decent pay at $30 per hour. I expect to be finished it in late January - with a neat pay package that should cover the erroneus spending over Christmas and cousin Ling's wedding present. Plus, the resume is looking better.

Wrapped up Christmas with Dick Smith Electronics. Can't believe how much and how many people are spending big, despite having 'no money'. Where I work is far from an affluent suburb, yet people seem to have... deep pockets. Maybe they haven't heard of the concept of thriftiness before. Well, as long as they don't complain when I buy their houses, I'm fine =). I got my biggest pay packet ever, too. $750 ($680 from DSE) after tax. I don't even know if I'll earn that much upon graduation as a physiotherapist! If only this was sustainable throughout my final year... hahah, wish on, Theo :).

Got challenged by a caregroup buddy to come back to Church. With her luck, my soddy prayers, and a bit of divine intervention, I find myself NOT rostered on for Sunday work for the first time in, like, 9 months. Uh-oh.... someone wants to meet me, I guess O.O.

Oh, and I've given up on a nice car, for now. Instead, all spare monies are going into my slush fund for a holiday house at the Sunshine Coast. A cool 250K is needed, at least. I'm 10% there. Think it's doable by 2009? Godspeed!

Kinda sad. Jing has left for Malaysia, Sue went to NZ and is working in Sydney come February, I FOUND Vanessa again, but she's moved to Sydney permanently too (boohoohoo: well she's not lost in SanFran, but Sydney? thats almost as far...) and Joanne popped into Brissy and then left again with only a phone call to let me know. But I'm only kinda sad because the most important person is still in Brissy... ME! Muahahaha :) Besides the ego tripping, its hard to mooch over their departures when I know God has so much more in store from them, away from here. I can't have my cake and eat it, too, so to speak.

Hey, does anybody know how to rollover lost super into a current account if your previous three funds are all registered under slightly different names? They are like, nicknames, so I don't actually have a change of name certificate. Oh, bummer...

teDDelicious

Rain-on-Pneumonia Day

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:03:09 GMT

I found out today.

Pneumonia as I knew it for the last 20 years doesn't exist.

And I know this because of a minor, vaguely disappointing revelation suffered during my study of cardiothoracics.

Mummy Lim used to tell me to stop playing in the rain because I would catch pneumonia. Being the willful yet pain-phobic brat I was, I knew that disobeying was a surefire way to unleash the wrath of the papa's belt, or a decent switching from one of the numerous canes left lying strategically around our house.

Funnily enough, I never really questioned the logic behind the idea of pneumonia. What is it? Fluid in the lungs. About as simple to understand as eating starburst = pleasure. Where'd the fluid come from? Easy.. the rain! =_= And, given the opportunity to not do physiotherapy, I probably would never have been relieved of this ignorance myself; failing, perhaps, to contract the darn condition.

Seriously... I'm not trying to be funny - I'm seriously thinking back to my childhood and the justifications I used to ground my understanding of pneumonia.

Anyway, in retrospect, I wonder why - being the smartarse I tend to emulate quite well - I never asked my parents "If I close my mouth while running in the rain, will I get pneumonia?" In secondary school, indeed I could have been much more critical, given my dramatically increased utilisation of brain cells, and asked, "How come drinking water doesn't have the same effect as playing in the rain?" Or in university, due to numerous incidents of pseudo-drowning while trying to keep up with my friends in the pool. The list goes on.

Of course I knew about immunocompromise. Of course I knew about resistance, about opportunistic infection, about blah blah blah. But as Jane likes to say, I never 'strung it together'. I never built up my little tent of knowledge; no, the sticks were still lying haphazardly on the ground when I received my daily blonde revelation. Its disappointing because it takes some of the cuteness in my childhood away. Its disappointing because I never pushed my parents for the truth. Its disappointing because my parents never TOLD me the truth. And that's how it is with Santa Claus, with the Tooth Fairy, with Superman, with most other supernatural or ethereal events and/or circumstances we tend to witness in our lives. Sometimes, no matter how much we think we've got in the brain department, we just can't string it until someone or something is bold enough to show us the way. Its a scary thought. Belief can get us far only inasmuch as we remain unchallenged. But the ability to substantiate is what holds us firm, even as the winds of change begin to blow.

I could just as easily have not believed in Jesus, in his death and ressurection, had I never been motivated enough to look for answers. But I was, and what I found there was anything but disappointing.

Make your life count: don't let it drown in ignorance.

teDDe!

BTW - pneumonia is where the alveoli (air sacs for gas exchange in the lungs) become inflammed and filled with fluid, hence disrupting gas exchange and compromising one's ability to breathe.

(pictures added in later edit - at uni at the moment)

No More Christian Nice Guy AND Doctor who???

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 01:06:38 GMT

Was driving back from a (successful) Honours meeting with my Honours Coordinator this morning when I heard a braodcast on 96.5FM's Focus on the Family segment. They were talking about the regression of male characteristics in contemporary society. The crux of this very, very interesting talk was the following book:

Recommendation: If you're a guy, read it! (I'm buying my copy this weekend :))

I've always been a little disappointed that Christian males come across as rather 'sickly-sweet'. And even more disappointed with the arguments they use to justify their positions. Perhaps this book was made for them. Even me, self-professed manly-man (with many begging to differ, hehehe), is looking forward to reading it, to see how well my views correlate with that of the author's. Good times!

- - -

In totally unrelated news, I went to the Law Revue 2007 hosted by the University of Queensland's Law Society. What can I say... I never knew that lawyers had so much artistic talent! Well, for the 20 or so personnel who acted anyway. Very impressive, consistently funny, if not lame, (but hey, I"m a physio, I was built for lameness ;) er... ooops >.<) and nothing beats the HOME-GROWN humor. Why pay $60 for an international comedian when you can support your local doods and dudettes in letting a bit of creativity rip? I also really loved how they really spun out new homur of really old jokes... I must have been out of touch of the comedy scene too long caz I didn't think it was possible! Alas, got nothing to show of the night except the booklet which I cannot find. Probably left it in the car...

Anyway, really liking hang-out time with Sue Lynn (5th year law exchange student from NZ). Interesting gal with funny accent and assertive, too. For a non-Christian, I find her stimulating, and am hoping we can continue the 'discovery' of what it means being a Christian and interacting with Christians in contemporary society. alot of myth-conceptions to clear up, there :).

- - -

Anyway, just for laughs and kicks... I was gifted with a duck-bill mask in cardiorespiratory pracs last week. IT supposed to be really good at inhibiting air-borne infections but is about as claustrophobic as a living on the inside of a balck cube with no windows. To be honest, I didn't mind it, although when I donned it for the purposes of this glamorous photoshoot, I could smell starbursts... O.O

Shot #1! Been a while since I put on the uniform... can you medicos spot all the things I did wrong? Apart from looking like a traumatised asian male version of Red Riding Hood who is assuming the soccer penalty shoot-out position... cheh =_=. Suffice to say I've seen myself in more flattering ways.HEY... I am BETTER LOOKING THAN THAT FULLSTOP. stop laughing at me please.

Shot #2! Okay so I lost the littel hoodie that made me look quasi-arabic desert camel rider kinda guy, and the bandana-induced 1m-long goatie. Thats what the two thumbs up are for. Also realised that I was wearing the duck-bill around the wrong way (only 50% chance of getting it wrong, bimbo!) coz the metal bit that is supposed to hug my nose was instead cradling my glottis. With my pink-undershirt and gangsta bandana, this is the medical profession at it's coolest. Operating from the messy confines of my bedroom since 2006.

Shot #3! Just before I finished the shoot, a peculiar thought struck me. It seems alot of doctors marry within their own ranks. Class superiority or desperate minority? I investigated the relationship on a visual level. Here is me, hitting on the camera as if it was ... was... a pretty girl (I can't remember any names.... is it Jessica Beal?) Note the raised, playful eyebrow and smoky, seductive eyes. Ouh, and I'm gently stroking my concealed chin, not trying to pull my Adam's apple out, in case you misdiagnosed me on first sight. How romantic it must be, playing "I spy" with your fellow neurologist over the operating table as one casually attack a patient's hip with an industrial 24V drill in a THR procedure.

So, class superiority or desperate minority? I know which one I'd pick! Hahahahahahaha ;)

Sorry mayo, matty, petey, an' others. I couldn't resist :)

NB: I did NOT steal the uniform. It was given to me by my Tito (Uncle) Eddy, an orthopedic surgeon from America. Although my use of his materials would certainly ranks as one of the more blasphemous occurances in medical religion. ^^ teDDe07, living proud in this first-generation tradition of no shame!

Keep it real, yo!

teDDe!