Application of Hooke's Law and Faith

To anyone taking physics and any of its corresponding subjects would be very, very famliar with Hooke's Law, which states that the extension of a spring is proportional to the force on which the spring is exerted and will go back to its original length when the force is removed so long as it doesn't exceed the elastic limit.

K.

Well, our faith is like a spring. We stretch it like a rubber band, and we fear that we must go past our elastic limit and snap. Well let me tell you something: only God knows your limit. Each time I stretch my faith, I do it in fear. But nothing ever happens, seriously. Because I'm not past my limit yet.

If there was something you wished to do, but you think you are not good enough, just do it. You are never not good enough, except when you don't try at all.

4 More Days

You missed Pat Mesiti didn't you?

Let me tell you something: YOU MISSED EVERYTHING.

But don't worry. He'll still be around for tomorrow's service and for his three day seminar on this coming Monday to Wednesday (26th - 28th). Again, post a message here if you need transportation assistance.

Yesterday and Tomorrow

1. People out there, Pat Mesiti, an extremely talented and gifted motivator, is going to lead service at City Harvest KL this Saturday (24th, 5.00pm) and Sunday (25th, 9.00am and 11.30am). To those who already know him, you should already be familiar with the strength of his words. To those who have yet to see him, check out this trailer:

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

Not only will he be leading preaching during the weekend, he will also be giving a consecutive 3-day seminar on Monday to Wednesday (26th-28th)! The best part is, it's all free. So, I seriously encourage and beg all of you to get your butts down to City Harvest KL. If you need transportation, just post a reply here and I will try my best to arrange something.

2. Yesterday (22nd), I went to the home of the Special Children Society of Ampang (SCSoA) with a group of friends as part of our Leadership and Life Skills project. Mind you, we did not go merely for the sake of getting the job done (at least, I think we did not have that mentality), but we were hoping we could learn something from the trip. The thing that I was SO FASCINATED by was the innate leadership roles that were assumed by the autistic people. Although they might not have the same level of understanding and perceptive and logical capabilities like many of us, they still were able to care for each other. And one thing you can be sure about the care from an autistic child: it is always real.

Oh yea, we went swimming with the people of the home. I tell you something, some of them can swim 100 times faster and longer than most of us (literally). We were more exhausted by that event compared to the rest of them. The caretaker of the home told us that some of them are being trained to join the Malaysian National Paralympic Team. Not only do they swim, they are also trained to play football and go riding. Yes, you heard me correctly, they actually go horse riding on a weekly basis. WHOA.

Another thing I noticed is this: although they might be sufficiently financially funded, you can actually see that they aren't 'overtreated' (Have anyone been to the Taman Megah Handicapped Home?) I actually felt like the friends we made there actually needed company. So we are actually planning to visit them again, sometime after our finals.

Last but not least, Sheng Mae's friend, Yvonne, who is a frequent volunteer at the centre, was treated to a surprise birthday by her friend who secretly visited the center. I think the person who was most surprised was me. :P Oh well, the cake was awesomeness I tell you. AWESOMENESS. Oh, and I would like to THANK MAE FOR BEING THE ABSOLUTE BEST EVER ORGANIZER EVER EVER EVER. You'll do miracles in the future, I promise.

11. Ice Cream. Creameria. Coffee.

7 Attributes Of Our Exxageratively and Extravagantly Effective God

When I was searching for God's natural attributes, I only expected infinity and eternity to be found. However, I found something on the web that is far more complete than I can ever hope it to be. God's 7 natural attributes are infinity, eternity, immortality, immutability, omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence.

1. INFINITY. God is infinite. He has no limitations nor imperfections. Man is limited by relations of time and space. He has mental and physical limitations and imperfections. Man is finite; God is infinite. God's powers are unlimited. He has universal and perfect relations with all other existence.

2. ETERNITY. God is eternal. There never was a time when God did not exist. He always was, always is, and always will be. Eternity is infinite time. Eternity extends in both directions. It is just as far backward into eternity as it is forward into eternity. For the believer, eternal life has a beginning but will have no ending. God, however, not only will live forever in the future, but also has lived forever in the past.

3. IMMORTALITY. God is immortal. He is not subject to death. That which is immortal is deathless, imperishable, incorruptible, indestructible, indissoluble. It never fades, never dies, never ends. It does not depreciate, decay, or corrode. It results in unending existence; it is exempt from death.

Some people claim that God is only living to the point where people believe Him, that whenever everyone ceases to do so, He shall perish. Little do they know that their deaths are imminent with the failure to hold onto God's words, and so the statement above might seem to be a paradoxical denial.

4. IMMUTABILITY. God is unchangeable. What He now is He always has been and always will be. God cannot change for the better because He is already best. He cannot change for the worse because He thereby would cease to be perfect. Infinite perfection is unchangeable.

All created things are subject to change and deterioration, but God remains always the same. Stars burn out, mountains wear away, buildings crumble; plants wither, flowers fade, animals die; metal rusts, food decays, machinery wears out. Mankind changes, suffers, and dies. In our changing universe, only God is unchangeable.

5. OMNISCIENCE. God is perfect in knowledge. God's mind is perfect. His knowledge is infinite, eternal, and complete.

6. OMNIPRESENCE. God is everywhere present. Wherever we are we can say, "God is here!" He is our nearest environment. One is no nearer to the presence of God on a mountain than he is in a cavern. Nearness to God is not a matter of geography. No point is nearer to God's presence than any other point. One needs not shout across the empty miles to an absent God. God is here; He can hear your faintest whisper. God is not everywhere present in the same sense. God is in heaven, through His power and presence He is everywhere present and acting.

7. OMNIPOTENCE. God is all powerful. He is almighty. His power is infinite. There is nothing that He cannot do. With Him all things are possible. The power of God is designated in the Bible as God's Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the impersonal power of God. The Bible uses the words power and spirit interchangeably. Every work that God does is performed through His power or Spirit.

(Adapted from Systematic Theology, by Alva Huffer, published by Church of God General Conference, Oregon, Illinois 61061, U.S.A.)

T and L

There is no such thing as coincidences, only destiny.
There is no such thing as failures, only detours.
There is no such thing as lucky chances, only opportunities.
There is no such thing as perfect timing, so just start whatever you wanted to do now.
There IS such thing as the blindfully faithful and the faithfully blind (unfortunately).
There is no such thing as the best, only the preferred.
There is no such thing as the worst, but the undermined.

Learning is like eating an endless bar of bittersweet chocolate, only sweet to those who adapt.
Laziness is the mean. Superb dilligence is the top 2.5% of the population.
Love cannot be measured, if it can be, it isn't love.
Lies are still lies, no matter what colour it is.
Laughter is a taste of heaven.
Loyalty is a taste of heavenly friendship.
Life is a gift of God.

Hope

There is a special someone who I think I have deeply affected, if not mentally, spiritually. It's not like I wanted it to happen, but the strangest of all things is, things don't always happen the way I meant it to. Sometimes, I don't even understand myself, but I guess that wouldn't even be a sufficient reason for things. Sometimes, when people tell me about me, I start to lose myself, and become more of what others want me to be. I start forgetting my own roots. I start forgetting my past. And most importantly, I start to lose that bond. Just because I become so transparent. I'm very confused.

But so are you, so it wouldn't be fair to judge us this way. Oversensitivity might be a good yardstick, but it's not even representative of how much our friendship is worth. I might not be giving people my best, but what is my best? I don't even know, and if you can tell me that my best is of a certain value, you are more than just wrong. Here is not a place to question, here is a place to look back and tell ourselves, "Hey, we were very stupid back then." But I guess it would only be courteous to do the righteous thing.

I'm sorry.

If the chain has already been broken, tell me that we can walk down the street as mere acquaintances. But, be assured, that can never happen. Because we are more than we think we are. And I thank you for that. From the start.

123

1. OMG EVIE YOUR BLOG IS TOO 'REVEALING'. Kakaka. It's okay if you don't understand this.

2. Okay, the issue at '1.' has kinda left me stunned. I mean, why am I always the last person to find out about things. Plus, someone lied to me. Naughty, naughty...

3. My sister's birthday today.

The Need For Prayer

1. I found the song:

The Prayer
Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli

I pray you'll be our eyes, and watch us where we go
And help us to be wise, in times when we dont know
Let this be our prayer, when we lose our way
Lead us to a place, guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe

La luce che tu dai, I pray we'll find your light
Nel cuore restera, and hold it in our hearts
A ricordarci che, when stars go out each night
Leterna stella sei, ooooo

Nella mia preghiera, let this be our prayer
Quanta fede ce, when shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place, guide us with your grace
Give us faith so well be safe

Sogniamo un mondo senza piu violenza
Un mondo di giustizia e di speranza
Ognuno dia una mano al suo vicino
Simbolo di pace, di fraternita

La forza che ci dai, We ask that life be kind
E desiderio te, And watch us from above.
Ognuno trovi amor, We hope each soul will find
Intorno e dentro se, Another soul to love.
Let this be our prayer, Let this be our prayer
Just like every child, Just like every child

Needs to find a place, guide us with your grace
Give us faith so we'll be safe
E la fede che, hai acceso in noi
Sento che ci salverai

If you haven't heard this song, you are SO, SO, SO deprived. Period.

~o0O0o~

2. These days, I find myself being in HELP's Resource Centre a.k.a. library more often. Today, as I was searching for research materials, I found a few inspiring quotes:

You always eat food. But do you ever eat 'food' as such? You do not. You eat steak, you eat chicken, you eat strawberries. You always eat some specific type of food and not 'food' in general. Food is a concept. A hamburger is the idea.

A very good example would be how we choose a place to eat. A classic conversation would be something like this:

Person A: Hey, what do all of you want to eat, ar?
Person B: Anything la.
Person C: How about we eat pizza today?
Person A & B: Okay.

So, what are they eating? To state that they're eating food is already considered a not so intellectual answer. But to answer 'pizza' would then prove the point that we eat more than just 'food' these days. We eat ideas. Food is now not a need, it is a commodity.

Proof is sometimes no more than a lack of imagination in thinking of an alternative.

This quote, I shall leave it to you to interpret it subjectively.

Edward De Bono, How to Have A Beautiful Mind (2004)

~o0O0o~

3. I have so many things to pray for these days. Okay, maybe not so many, just about countable with my bare hands. I encounter several problems when I pray:

i. I sleep.
ii. I start thinking about other stuff.
iii. I don't know whether my prayers were answered.
iv. I'm still not used to it.
v. I kinda get mixed up with the order of things.

ARGH. And it happens that I am going to need a lot of prayer for the next few weeks. No, it isn't about my assignments. It's about transformation and change.

Prayer is a church's lungs.

I must be running out of breath then... Drowning.

That's About It...

Today I was pretty high.
No idea why.
Must be the sky.

AHAHAHA. Rhymes.

Guess what? I restarted playing the classic FF8. It's so nostalgic, I tell you.

But I must make sure I actually get a head start on finishing my literature review and lab report.

Today, Florence was replaced YET AGAIN. This time by Miss Choy Swee Leng (Did I get the spelling right?). She's pretty cool, so no worries. I also cancelled going for an experiment last minute. I am so bad.

Bla.

EDITS (After I stole people's ideas from thier blogs :P...):

GOOD LUCK WHEN GETTING YOUR SPM RESULTS!

CONGRATS EVIE.
I always never underestimated the power of pink.

POH SIM YOU BETTER GIMME THOSE PICTURES!

BZZZZZ

Guess what? I woke up to an army of swarming mosquitoes and itchy bites. At 5.00 am. NOT A GOOD THING FOR A SATURDAY!

I mean, I woke up earlier then Boon Woei when I don't even need to go for the Psychology Exhibition at HELP.

And so, I blogged all my irritation here. Okay, not so irritated already.

I NEED THIS SONG!

I can't remember the name. All I know is that is was sung by Andrea Bocelli and some lady. If you see me, ask me to hum the tune and hopefully you can tell me what the song is.

URGENT!

PLEASE REPLY ASAP!

PLEASE!

Oh, and I think the song is half English half Italian-or-Spanish-or-Latin. Not sure. Sorry can't be of a better help...

5 Things About 9 March 2006

1. Sam cut his hair. Apparently, Sam is the kind of person who cannot tahan his hair getting cut, something about it being geli. So, congratulations for successfully enduring those moments of pain. And, his hair is so drooling cool! Sometimes I wished I had the type of hair which will just STAY PUT AND NOT STICK OUT SO MUCH (even Brylcream Extra Strong gel, Gatsby wax and creams/hairsprays can't hold my hair down for long enough...). I also dream of having a visible hairline, for the lack of a hairline will mean that I can only wear the Afro look. Maybe that's why I shaved my head to start with. AHA, that's another hairstyle I can wear: BOTAKCHIN-NESS. To those who are still waiting to see me bald again, I would probably be shaving on the 30th of June (exactly half a year after I first shaved), which also happens to be Sharon's birthday. Yes, I'll try to remember your birthday~~~

2. Today is quite a good day. I even found Miss Winnee's quiz to be not so bengang-ing as some of her other quizzes had been. And despite the fact that I forgot to bring my notes AND handphone, nothing really bad happened. Very few sources of temptation were at work. I went through the experiments smoothly, and learned that there WILL be an act of deception. No matter what. Plus, I actually had Bible Studies today! The last time I had it was like 1 month and 2 weeks ago. The downside is that good news always come with bad news. Must be Murphy's Law at work or something. Hopefully things will turn out well.

3. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. If I seem stoned, or if I seemed moody and depressed, just be assure that I'm okay. I just have so many things to think about. Everyone has so many things to think about. But I think I just spend more time thinking about things... Sometimes I wished that the answer would just come to me when I snap my fingers or something, but little did I know that the harder you search for things, the more worthwhile it becomes.

4. My sister is taking the camera to an event at Starbucks tomorrow, so I can't bring it. SOMEONE PLEASE BRING A CAMERA TOMORROW. If you don't know why, this message isn't for you.

5. I'm a perfectionist. Wait, let me rephrase that: I CAN be a perfectionist. And a very perfect one, to be frank. This can be both good and bad. The bad thing is that I take up TOO much time. The good thing is, things will be very near perfect. Relative to my standards, that is... Number 5 is not exactly a 9 March news, but it is somehow related to it. Some people will understand tomorrow.

Answer to the Question Below

Answer to 'A, B and C':

The only one whose color can be determined is C.

If C's stamp were red, then B would have known that his stamp was not red by reasoning: "If my stamp were also red, then A, seeing two red stamps, would know that his stamp is not red. But A does not know that his stamp is not red because he did not see two red stamps. Therefore, my stamp cannot be red."

This proves that if C's stamp were red, then B would have known that his stamp was not red. But B did not know that his stamp was not red; therefore, C's stamp cannot be red.

The same argument, replacing the word red with yellow, shows that C's stamp cannot be yellow either. Therefore, C's stamp must be green.

If you don't understand this, you can ask me to explain directly...

Murphy and Smullyan

A few updates:

1. Boon Woei's blog has been moved from the 'To Desperate To Be Listed' column to the 'Special Mention' Column, because he deserves it. Miss Betesy and Ai Li are still considered desperate. AHA. I'm so mean.

2. Julian will continue to be Julian Loh Something Something till he finally tells me his full name. Every other people on my links list should have their full names there so that other visitors will know whose blog they are visiting.

3. Josh updated his blog template. It looks so gothic and everything, and I'm left with this generic template which is not personal but is shared with over a 1000 other bloggers... Sometimes I wished I took a course in XHTML or CSS. I mean, I don't even know how to add a shoutbox and to encode music into the system.

And on to the main topic:

MURPHY'S LAW

The fundamental law for the pessimistic. But not all of Murphy's Laws are wrong in its own way. You'll understand why.

1. If anything can go wrong, it will.
2. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.
3. If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway.
4. If you perceive that there are four possible ways in which something can go wrong, and circumvent these, then a fifth way, unprepared for, will promptly develop.
5. Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
6. If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
7. Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.

A, B and C

This is a logic puzzle I discovered when I was scavenging for research materials in the library. If you are stressed out by your assignments, or exhausted by the sheer complexities of the day, please skip this part. You have been warned.

(Smullyan 1982)

Three subjects - A, B, and C - were all perfect logicians. Each could instantly deduce all consequences of any set of premises. Also, each was aware that each of the others was a perfect logician. The three were shown seven stamps: two red ones, two yellow ones, and three green ones. They were then blindfolded, and a stamp was pasted on each of their foreheads; the remaining four stamps were placed in a drawer. When the blindfolds were removed, A was asked, "Do you know one color that you definitely do not have?" A replied, "No." Then B was asked the same question and replied, "No."

Is it possible, from this information, to deduce the color of A's stamp, or of B's, or of C's?

I'll give the answer after a few days. No cheating!

Princess

Since I got Evie's driving exam date wrong, I'll review her blog for her.

One thing to note, her favourite colour is obviously PINK. But don't worry, she's not another radical Sungei Wang lala-mui. She's just Evie a.k.a. Princess.

It's funny, she has me on her links list but I didn't have her till today. Feel so guilty already.

Another thing, the person who I deem to be the MOST and perhaps the ONLY mature person within the 3 year gap from my age would have a blog which labels her in the same category as narcissistic children. But with a year behind me, she technically has allowance to be kiddish for some time.

And since she's so stressed with her driving exam and all, instead of yelling at people or kicking the instructor, she asks people to help her ongo a simple Johari/Nohari Window thingy. As a good friend, I shall attempt to make you visit those sites too:

http://kevan.org/johari?name=princess_evie

http://kevan.org/nohari?name=princess_evie

GO VISIT THEM NOW. Or just visit Evie's blog; her link is on the right.

Temptations

Now in shocking pink:
GOOD LUCK EVIE GIRL!
Although you'd probably already pass your driving exam by now...
Edit: OOOPS, exam next Monday. I thought it was today :D.

Today I resisted temptation. Do you know how hard is it NOT to spend any money especially when you're hungry? It was several hours of pure unadulterated suffering. And guess what? Our dear lecturer Kenneth Phun had slides containing pictures of GREEN APPLES a.k.a. food. And he talked about hunger, thirst and sex. Sex I couldn't be bothered with, but FOOD?!?!

You evil lecturer.

He also gave us back our Quiz marks today. I got 6/10, not the score I would be pleased with, but I kind of expected it. Must remember that marks are not eevrything.

And thank goodness Mae fetched me back. I was really lazy to walk. In the car, she was talking about taking her groupies to eat Cheese Crab.

YOU BETTER NOT TALK TO ME ABOUT IT TOMORROW AR!

At least now I know how hard is it to save up money, but when I finally get what I've been wanting to save on, it'll surely be worth it. Worth every cent.

See ya tomorrow...

New Record

The longest distance walked around my neighbourhood on an ordinary day:

To view a larger picture, click on it.

Super tired after that. But very satisfying. Anyone for another round?

Random Stuff

1. I love the the blissful feeling I get when someone tells me about their life.

2. Kevin Lee is so passionate. He went to Ipoh, but came back for our Greg's wedding dinner and left back to Ipoh following the wedding dinner.

3. Sheng Mae is a calming driver. It's like I wasn't sitting in a car...

4. In Saturday service on the 3rd of March, I was surprised when I found myself to be numb to the loud music and drums.

5. Ally likes undercooked pasta.

6. Julian likes drawing buildings, Ally likes drawing rooms, Jessica likes drawing anything Japanese, but I like drawing abstract art. Josh doesn't draw, he just sits around and plays the guitar...

7. When you have an urge to do something, do it. I had the urge to go to school early on March 2nd to study the first chapter of the psychology textbook before the Intro. to Biopsychology mid-term paper. No prizes for those who guess correctly the most prominent section that came out for the exam...

8. Good things come to those who wait. I waited for everyone to clear from the front of Miss Winnee's office for the signups for the open-day extra-credit offer. She allowed Boon Woei and I to add my name at the last minute.

9. I lose things very easily.

10. I think my computer is obsolete. I can't play RE4 on my computer probably due to the sucky graphic card.

11 is the number of my birthdate.

12. BTW, anyone noticed the return of the sudden spikes of Internet connection?

13. Haven't sent Mell her copy of the Matrics yet. But I will soon.

14. I'm saving money for something, so try not to get me to spend on anything...