Weekend Photo Journal

Some friends from Purdue came visit Saturday. The weather was beautiful -- not too cold -- a perfect day for barbecue. I went and bought a small grill for the occasion. When the time came, my friend dumped half a bag of charcoal into the grill. I lit it with a torch lighter. The charcoal was the matchlight kind and it fired up instantly. Then I decided to move the grill because the spot was too windy. And against my better judgment, I closed the lid and locked it so that I could pick up the grill by the handle on the lid. Then when I opened the lid, a fire ball exploded onto my face. My friends later told me that the fire ball nearly engulfed my whole upper body. The damage was done and I didn't even realize it. No pain... but I could smell burning hair.

Here's a mug shot of me. I am surprised that my eyebrows are still intact.


After the bbq, we played a game of Cranium. Among all the hilarious moments, this one topped it all. And it takes a picture to explain it. So... what do you think the coodle clay resembles? Hint: a thing. To be honest, I wouldn't have guessed it right. It is a DNA. Yes, I am not kidding you, a piece of DNA. And you know what, my friend guessed it right and his team scored. Unbelievable, just unbelievable. It looked more like a vine twisting around a stick. Where's the double helix?

On Sunday, I went to the nearby Kankakee Rive State Park. Sitting by the river on a ledge formed by a shale outcropping, I read a magazine while enjoying the warm sunshine. Water running over the riffle, ducks and geese gliding and skipping over the river, tree limbs dancing in the slight breeze... nature is just magnificent. Then I discovered a succulent-like plant growing in-between the cracks of the rock. The red leaves are arranged like a flower. I have never seen a plant looking this beautiful in the middle of winter. Before I left the park, I walked over to the suspended bridge and took a picture of Rock Creek, overlooking its confluence with Kakakee River.

Sick

I am sick... both physically and emotionally.

Physically, I am coming down with flu or cold or whatever it is. Running a fever and got headache. Took a couple of advils. Hopefully will get better by tomorrow. Have a meeting tomorrow that I don't want to miss. Almost everyone in my office has been sick. It's now my turn.

Emotionally, I am sick as well. I know the reasons why I am not happy, but logically they don't make sense to me. I think I have to be like what Isaiah said, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." Oh, this has nothing to do with what I wrote yesterday. It's something new. I am not angry with anyone. I am just sad and I am a bit upset with myself. But I told myself over and over again that I should be happy and be thankful for how things have turned out.

Power Outage, again!

Good that this time only lasted for a little more than an hour. It's so cold outside. I was kinda worried that I'd be freezing to death by the time they fixed the problem.

Forgive but not forget?

Today in Sunday school we discussed Mark 2:1-12 -- a passage where Jesus healed a paralytic man. In verse 5, Jesus said "Son, your sins are forgiven." Isaiah 43:18 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."

Our conversations turned to this conclusion: To forgive is to forget.

In some sense, I agree. People who have short-termed memory tend to forgive others more easily or more often than others... partly because they don't remember or don't choose to remember things for long. I would say that I have short-termed memory most of the time and I forgive others readily. But I do remember things that happened a long long time ago. I don't necessarily hold grudges against those who had crossed me in the past, or do I? But I certainly remember -- most of the time -- who, where and when.

To completely forgive others, do we have to completely forget? Is forgetting a prerequisite to full forgiveness?

To a certain extent, the answer is yes. If we still remember the pain vividly, we still have not forgiven the person who inflicted us the pain. But the problem is, once we forget, how do we learn from the past experience? We always say "learn from history or from the past." We hold this almost as a universal truth. But if we forget the former things, from where do we learn our lessons?

A girl whom I used to date told me at the end of our relationship, "forgive but not forget." To this day, that phrase still rings loud and clear in my head. I still feel the guilt and the shame for what I had done. If she has never forgotten, how can I forgive myself?

Thunder in February

A strong line of thunder storms rumbled through the area. Even the tornado warning was sounded. The rain is going to turn into ice and snow tonight. Tomorrow the temperature will be in the teens (almost -10ºC). It'll be cold.

Cranium

Bought the Cranium game at Barnes and Noble for $10. Clearance 75% off. Unbelievable. Friends from Purdue are coming next weekend. Can't wait to try the game with them.

My sister

Said hi to my sister on MSN. She told me her boyfriend proposed to her yesterday. I am very happy for her. And I think it will be a relief for my parents for various reasons. Let me see if I can get more details from my sister. Will keep all of you posted.

《青玉案》

辛棄疾《青玉案》

東風夜放花千樹。更吹落，星如雨。寶馬雕車香滿路。鳳蕭聲動，玉壺光轉，一夜魚龍舞。
蛾兒雪柳黃金縷。笑語盈盈暗香去。眾裡尋他千百度。驀然回首，那人卻在，燈火闌珊處。

Supermarket

I went to the supermarket to get some fried chicken for dinner tonight. Before I reached the kitchen counter. There was this floral section and buckets were placed in the middle of the aisle. Only a handful bunches of flowers were sitting in the buckets. And a crowd of men (and I am not exaggerating... maybe 4 or 5 or them) were huddling around the buckets to pick out the leftover flowers. I dunno what exactly I was thinking. I found it funny though, but at the same time I felt sorry for them. Why do we have a Valentine's day anyway? And why are men expected to deliver gifts and flowers on this day? Is this a marketing scam after all? Or we, men, are just so pathetic that we can't treat our women as if everyday were a Valentine's day and have to fight for the leftover flowers on a special day like today?

Of course, I don't have the privilege to have to think of a Valentine's day gift this year. But I did prepare a little something for all my female colleagues at work today. A glass candle holder with Hershey kisses and little paper stars. I am glad they liked the gifts. :)

boy or girl?

I was sooooo happy last night. I was on the phone with a very very good friend of mine and she hit me with a big big news. She is having a baby. A baby. Yes a baby! Oh... I got soooo excited that I forgot to take an exit and almost got lost on the way to Purdue. I had traveled up and down that highway a thousand times, but I managed to miss the exit coz I was so occupied with talking to her, and so elated to even pay attention to the road.

I remember sending her and her husband a X'mas card, and in the card I urged them to make baby. Bingo! Am I persuasive or what?

I am very happy for her. She will be a great mother, always worrying... :) I know that God will see her through her pregnancy. No worries!

Need to start shopping for baby clothes and toys. Or should I wait to see if it's a boy or girl?

Barbershop

Weldon and John brought me to the Barbershop Chorus tonight. Weldon is seventy some years old. A retired auto parts salesman I met at church. John is a farmer, farming about 800 acres close to town. He told me he will retire soon. Anyway, they were so enthusiastic about taking me to the Barbershop that they stopped by tonight at my place and took me there.

Barbershop is different. No accompaniment. A cappella if you will. And they didn't use a keyboard during the rehearsal either. I didn't realize how much I missed singing in a choir. I just joined the Choir at church couple weeks ago. But to sing in a larger group ... Man... did we sound good. Everything came back to me... the urge to sing and perform... the music... and perfect harmony. I think I will join the Barbershop Chorus. Oh by the way, this is an all men group. I sang in a mixed ensemble in College. So it's quite a different experience I had tonight.

I am glad that there's something else to occupy my time.

Trebuchet

My colleague and I went to Toysrus today at lunch time and each of us bought a box of Tinkertoy. Our goal was to build a trebuchet over the weekend and hold a competition Monday to test out our creation.


I got home from work in the evening.... skipped dinner and started building my trebuchet. After half an hour of hard work--voilà!--a trebuchet built exclusively using Tinkertoy.


The Tinkertoy I bought came with flexible tubes and they turned out to be very useful. They serve as the pivot point for the lever and also help secure the top of the trebechet.


The counterweight wasn't heavy enough, so when when I tried it with a paper ball. The ball didn't fly too far... oh maybe 2 or 3 feet. But hey... not bad huh?


I can't wait till Monday and see how my trebuchet would perform against my colleague's. I know... we are soooo childish. But it's all good fun.

Power Outage

Power has been out since 3 am this morning at my apartment... actually the nearby area as well. Well... except the house across the street. That's the only one that still have lights on. Weird.

So... no shower for me this morning. :(

Update: Called up my answering machine at home just now. Electricity has turned back on!