"i--am not--a man!!"

ahhh... gotta love that eowyn in Return of the King ;) a small cheer arose from the crowd when she uttered those words in the nazgul's nonexistent face right before she stabbed him.

i had such a blast watching LOTR a couple of weekends ago! there was an organized 3-day showing of the extended versions at CanIL... i hadn't seen the movies or read the books in a few years, so it was great to get all hyped up over LOTR again. and CanIL has quite a few hardcore fans, which made the experience even better :) it's awesome when i can hum the melodies, discuss both the movies and the books and what was added, changed or left out, and swoon over aragorn and legolas and faramir with fellow admirers!

i took an english course in my second year at UofT called Science Fiction and Fantasy, and one of the books we studied was The Two Towers... it was my professor's favourite volume of LOTR and it eventually became mine. one of the characters i grew to really admire was faramir. TT had not yet been released at the time, and the whole class was eager to watch it at the end of the fall semester. you can imagine, then, with the book so clear in my head, my disappointment at how much they changed the story around in the second movie:

So were there any weak spots? Afraid so. I found myself utterly bewildered by the radical rewriting of Faramir, the brother of Boromir. I had heard something about this going in, but I had told myself that I'd just chalk it up to making the novel fit the screen. But it's just too much. Faramir's character was supposed to be the gentler, wiser version of Boromir who should have been with the Fellowship to begin with. Instead, we get an untrusting militia captain, who falls for the seduction of the ring nearly as hard as his brother did. Granted, the story still works, and still makes sense, but I always loved Faramir in the novels. Here he loses the charm he held in print by losing whatever characteristics separated him from Boromir. It's too bad, but it's not the end of the world. I guess if fans lived with the loss of Tom Bombadil, they can take a drastic change to another lesser character as well. Secondly, in the book, Faramir is able to easily resist the lure of the Ring. The filmmakers felt this would contradict their central premise, that no one can resist the Ring. The filmmakers realized that the encounter with Faramir, the only human they encounter in their journey, was the only opportunity they had to make the Ring a major issue in the middle film.

i can't remember where i got this excerpt from... it was part of an online review of the movie, but it expressed my sentiments exactly. anyway, watching the movie again this weekend, i found that i still couldn't let it go... when faramir said he was taking the ring to gondor, i couldn't help muttering under my breath and shaking my fist at the screen.

but let me backtrack to the first movie.

i never liked boromir much, and i initially despised him after i first saw how the film misrepresented faramir's character. but this time around, watching boromir succumb to the temptation of the ring and try to take it from frodo... i found myself empathizing with him. he's human, you know? the great thing is, he realizes the error of his ways and repents. he loses his life trying to save merry and pippin... which is all he can do to make up for what he's done. and he's lucky, aragorn gets to him in time for him to confess what he's done, and so he dies with the peace of knowing his king has forgiven him and is by his side.

not everyone can be as lucky as boromir. some people leave this world never realizing how sinful they are... some do but are too proud to repent. some repent in their hearts but never get the chance to face those they've wronged to ask for forgiveness. some just never get around to it, thinking they have all the time in the world, but then some ill-fated event takes place and it's too late to say or do anything.

and so... the story of boromir is not so bad. at the end of the day, it's all about finishing well... finishing strong. when the filmmakers decided to make faramir 'more human' at least they got something right cuz he still finished strong...

...with eowyn by his side ;)

front row line up - me, A, K, C, J

¡feliz cumpleaños!

last month, my roommate A celebrated her birthday. i wish her all the best... and we both wish H were here to have celebrated with us. H, if you're reading this, know that we miss you dearly!

CanIL common room

p.s. template look familiar? out with the old, in with the older!

the meaning of human freedom (in the moderately Calvinistic model)

"What does it mean to say that I am free? It means that I am not under constraint. Thus, I am free to do whatever pleases me. But am I free with respect to what pleases me and what does not? To put it differently, I may choose one action over another because it holds more appeal for me. But I am not fully in control of the appeal which each of those actions holds for me. That is quite a different matter. I make all my decisions, but those decisions are in large measure influenced by certain characteristics of mine which I am not capable of altering by my own choice. If, for example, I am offered for dinner a choice betwen liver and steak, I am quite free to take the liver, but I do not desire to do so. I have no conscious control over my dislike of liver. That is a given that goes with my being the person I am. In that respect my freedom is limited. I do not know whether it is my genes or environmental conditioning which has caused my dislike of liver, but it is apparent that I cannot by mere force of will alter this characteristic of mine.

"There are, then, limitations upon who I am and what I desire and will. I certainly did not choose the genes that I have; I did not select my parents nor the exact geographical location and cultural setting of my birth. My freedom, therefore, is within these limitations. And here arises the question: Who set up these factors? The theistic answer is, 'God did.' "

From Millard J. Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 125-126.

Wiiiiiiii!!

i remember the last time i had so much fun with a gaming console was during a brief period toward the end of high school when a friend got me hooked on tekken 3. i was obsessed with julia and in love with jin ;) but that didn't last very long. i think my real gaming streak ended in grade 8 with SNES and my favourite game at the time--street fighter II (loved that ryu!).

well... after reading and hearing about all the hype surrounding the nintendo Wii, i was very curious to try it out and immediately agreed when B offered to bring it over. Wii sports was all we got a chance to play. but that's ok, because Wii sports is more than enough to handle when you're completely out of shape and decide to play all the games anyway and with full force and motion as though you are actually holding that bowling ball or baseball bat or tennis racket or golf club or you're truly in that boxing ring and the only thing that matters is knocking your opponent to the ground...

i think there should be a big disclaimer warning people that they could injure themselves or others around them, not to mention damage whatever else is in the room. or maybe there is such a thing already and i just didn't notice. anyway, we're renovating the house right now so thank goodness the room was mostly empty because i found myself using up a LOT of floor space to move around. (btw, i should also warn you that playing the Wii on hardwood while wearing socks is not a good idea.) i was whining to my friend R about how sore my ENTIRE body was from playing Wii sports (even my ribs are bruised, for goodness sake!)... and it's the kind of sore i've only ever felt after the first few days of training hardcore again after an extended period of no martial arts. when R told me she was sore too, i flipped out because R is probably the strongest, fittest girl i know, yet she still managed to overexert herself playing raving rabbids. oh, and she managed to damage the tv at her bf's house when she was playing Wii sports baseball for the first time because she accidentally let go of the Wiimote on her first swing and since she swung hard enough for a home run the strap broke and the Wiimote flew into the tv screen and cracked it ;) the Wiimote left my hands a couple of times too but thank goodness i'm not that strong!

actually, bowling and golf are quite relaxing games. and baseball was just frustrating. i think it was the tennis and boxing that did me in. i caught myself doing unnecessary things such as ducking as though the ball was really coming toward me just so my doubles partner could get to the ball. boxing was a bit frustrating because holding the Wiimote and nunchuk and throwing a real punch doesn't actually result in that same move on the screen. i had to hold the controllers and move them in a slightly unnatural way to get the moves i wanted, and of course i can't remember how to do anything in the middle of a fight except move the way i've always been taught. ah well, it's still fun.

i could go on and on about the nintendo Wii... but i'll stop here. overall, i really enjoyed myself! at the very least, the Wii provides an excellent workout. and the pain is definitely worth it :)

happy new year!

merry--

--wait. i just have to get this one little thing out of my system.

remember the good old days? when our ages still ended in "-teen?"

remember when we had so much uncontainable energy and zeal and fire and passion in us that it overflowed in everything we did?

remember when getting together to be with one another was such a big deal because it it took a lot of planning and effort to make it happen? remember when it seemed like a gazillion miles from scarborough to mississauga? or newmarket? :P

remember when everyone had crushes on everyone? remember when it felt like the end of the world if your crush didn't like you back? remember how people used to confide in each other and talk over the phone or icq and this used to draw people closer together?

remember when church activities were the ultimate social highlight? retreats, picnics, plays, Bible studies, carolling, gym day... and even planning and preparing for them were highlights in themselves? remember the kind of effort we put in writing each other Christmas cards or signing each other's yearbooks and handbooks because these things were actually meaningful to us? remember when we did all these things for each other and it didn't even feel remotely burdensome because we used to genuinely value each other's company and the time we spent together?

not to say that we don't now. but it really was different back then. the old adage "you don't know what you've got til it's gone" really does hold true... now that i can feel my youth slowly slipping away through my fingers, i would give anything to live out my youthful years again and do so with a much greater appreciation of life back then.

oh, right. merry Christmas everyone :)

Catapult!

beating around the bush

so it's snowing here...... i can't remember the last time i appreciated a snowfall. i normally don't like precipitation of any kind, but gosh darn it, these days i'll take anything that's not rain!! it hailed on friday too... woke me up in the wee hours of the morning. anyway, H made a snowman at around 1am last night and i struck a pose with the handsome fellow.

i miss a lot of things back home. i miss my boots... the goretex army ones that keep water out. i miss my winter jacket. i miss having more socks to choose from in my drawer. i miss my bunnie. i miss large doses of sunlight. i miss (i can't believe i'm saying this) the TTC and the fact that it runs past 7pm. i miss driving. i miss homecooked meals. i miss my guitar. i miss... having power?! man, those two days without it were rough. luckily A bought a headlamp to light up our dark basement.

one piece of advice i would give to students who are tight on cash: don't. gain. weight. don't try to save a few pennies by buying food that's less nutritious for you because it'll eventually end up around your midsection and then you'll have to dish out more cash to get yourself new clothes that you can actually breathe in and don't cut off your circulation. of course, if you do manage to maintain your weight... don't go to the mall, period. now, if you wanna lose some of the weight you've gained, get H to cook you up an adventurous dish or two that'll guarantee to mess up your appetite ;) now, once you're able to stomach what it is you're actually eating, this method won't work for you anymore because believe it or not, these dishes are quite yummy!

aiy... in all honesty, it's been a really tough semester for me in sooo many ways. and it still is. God, help me to face all of it.

costco

costco is dangerous. once you go in, it's almost impossible to come out empty-handed... you suddenly find yourself bombarded with a million items that you never knew you needed in bulk until that very moment... for example, a box of chocolates... or two... or three... or...

yah :P

my roommates, A and H

on the side... a lot of things are up in the air right now. for one, i may not go home for the holidays this year... and i'm not so sure how the next semester will play out. please pray for me if you can.

CanIL chapel

은혜

today's chapel at ACTS was special... it was a CanIL one :) the Harvest Choir sang a medley in English, Gaddang (a Filipino dialect) and Korean, and we all dressed for the occasion. it was an honour for me to be able to wear the traditional Korean hanbok of a dear classmate of mine. with so much exposure to Korean friends, food, movies, songs, soap operas, CDs, language sessions, stories, prayers, scriptures, even homework, i feel like i am somewhat Korean already ;) what a blessing this culture has been to me here!

...next to marvelling at this!!

autumn @ TWU
[taken by H]

my top priority this semester...

snoozing in the CanIL common room

i saw the light

sorry for the lack of updates... been preoccupied with a million things. it's the last day of september already and i don't know whether i feel more relieved or terrified that the semester is that much closer to being over.

on a random note, i attended a service last sunday that was unlike anything i could've ever imagined. it was "country western" sunday at a church called The Loft, and i was invited by a friend who was invited by her landlord. the church is held on a farm/ranch where they teach kids how to ride horses... apparently, the church initially stemmed from that ministry (or something like that). it's just so strange to me, but i guess it's no different than... say a basketball camp for kids. they said the children's horseriding camp got to a point where they saw 100% of the children coming to the Lord. i dunno what to make of all this... anyway, the services are held in one of their indoor riding facilities which they've turned into a makeshift chapel. when we got to church last sunday, there were a few people riding around and arriving on horses... everyone was dressed up for the country western theme so there were cowboy hats and vests and boots and everything country western you can think of... i totally stood out in my regular jeans and t-shirt and flipflops. and my goodness, the worship...... imagine one of those lively worship sessions with people dancing and waving their arms about and shouting hallelujahs left right and centre... it was just like that, except everything was country! the band was country, all the songs were country, everyone looked and acted and sang and danced country... the one song i did recognize was "i saw the light" but only because it's on david crowder's collision cd... but if you've ever heard it on that cd, let me tell you that it sounded *just* like that on sunday! i wish i had brought my camera with me that day. anyway, instead of your typical choir performance, the children line danced to a song by randy travis. after that was the offering and then the message. the pastor's a great speaker... thing is, i was getting a whole lot of "prosperity" vibes and i didn't like that... but i won't get into that here. cowboy sunday at the loft was one interesting experience nonetheless :)

(no, this isn't the loft... just felt like including a barn pic (taken by A) to go with the post :P )

smallville

for all you superman [lana??] fans out there, i forgot to mention... on our way to white rock on friday, we drove through cloverdale... a.k.a. "smallville" :P i can't believe how close it is to langley.

yaaah... anyway.

(i'd probably care more if i actually watched the show!)

white rock

went down to White Rock yesterday and gaped at the beautiful land seascape... how awesome it must be to live in a town that is situated along the beach like that! if i were living in one of those houses that faced the water, i'd be at my window 24/7...

so we made a little inukshuk along the beach and named him darren. then we replaced his head with a different stone and the inukshuk became very feminine-looking so we renamed her daryn after one of our TA's ;)

shooting star!!!

i saw one, i saw one!!!

i've never seen a real live meteor before! i mean, i've seen it in movies, pictures, things like that...

but tonight i saw one with my own two eyes!!! standing in the middle of a field with the rest of my dormmates, on the outskirts of campus, around 1130pm, coming back from a walk in the woods, waiting for the train to pass so we could cross the tracks and get back to the dorms...

and then there it was. it was GORGEOUS :D even though it was just one lone meteor... imagine seeing a shower of them!!! dagnabit!!!

*humming*

nothing to do with anything, but guess what i'm listening to......

tchaikovsky's first piano concerto :) FINALLY!! you know, ever since that time i blogged about hearing it on the radio and then telling myself i wouldn't change the station until i heard it again... well, i never did hear it again. i was really disappointed cuz i even requested the station to play it and they never did... or maybe they did but i just missed it. anyway, i was disappointed but i managed to put it behind me.

and then sometime last week or so, it occurred to me out of the blue that maybe i can find it on youtube! and lo and behold, i did. (there were a few videos available but i like the one with Kissin best.) this little discovery has made me soooo happy :D sometimes i forget how much i really love the piano... i guess i stifle it for the most part cuz then i get all bitter when i start dwelling on how i never had the opportunity to develop my playing beyond my one year of lessons as a child. for yeeeears, my mom promised me a piano...... *sigh* well, life is what it is. i suppose there are far greater tragedies than not having a piano :P though last week i did ask God (very seriously) if He could give me a piano in heaven. by then i'll have all the time in the universe to learn and be able to play my heart out ;)

--

today i was woken up by the loudest, most powerful thunderclap i had ever heard/felt my entire life. it happened around 530am... no rain, just thunder. (not until mid-morning anyway). it felt like the thunder was coming from *within* the building cuz i could feel it shake the very core of my being. it was awesome!

intermission

sorry, i know i haven't been updating... classes have been super intense and i'm doing everything i can to keep all the material in my head.

;)

bloody heel ^_^

i did a really silly thing today. i attempted to speed-walk about 3.5 km in my brand new white flipflops. (i shoulda gone with pink :P) other than sweating profusely, i wasn't in any kind of pain during the walk... i didn't even notice anything until i got back to my room. and really, i was freaking out more about my flipflops than my heel. i know, they're thin and not really meant for walking long distances, but i'd feel weird having to wear my runners or my ACG sandals to church every week! plus, the flipflops were actually pretty comfortable so i'm not sure what it was that cut me... maybe a small rock? anyway, the pic below is less graphic than the one i took of my actual heel, which was covered completely in blood. but no worries... after first scrubbing away at my flipflop (which now only has the faintest hint of pink but looks completely worn down) and then scrubbing the stains out of the carpet, i eventually got to washing my heel and the cut wasn't so big after all.

onto other news... the pastor that's been speaking on the da vinci code was away on a mission trip this week so we got a "normal" message today :) i also got a fairly good deal on some lean ground beef at the local IGA... buy one get one free, you can't go wrong with that! but that was also why i speed-walked back to campus... i guess it's true when they say that nothing in life is free. hehe.

i'm going to cultus lake provincial park in chilliwack tomorrow, so i'm pretty excited... hopefully i don't hurt myself!

happy canada day!

today was relaxing. i slept until noon... haven't done that in ages. a few of us were gonna try to go to vancouver but it didn't happen. everyone had lunch together and then Nv, N, F, H and i walked over to fort langley to see what was going on there for canada day... it was pretty hot. we had ice cream and drinks at jaffa's which is this really cute old-style ice cream parlour diner kinda place... and then we headed to the fort. we got sidetracked at the "museum" before actually reaching the fort... it was just three barn looking buildings with stuff inside... farm machinery and what not. and there were tents set up but people were already taking it down, so whatever was there earlier, we had already missed it. i was pretty disappointed that we went all the way there to see nothing but old tractors, but then we heard bagpipes playing in the distance so we knew there was something going on elsewhere. just further up the street was the actual fort and the museum we were told about. the fort admission was free on canada day which was nice. i walked around and took some pictures and went to the museum. we hung around in the cool shade and eventually took the bus home. then i offered to make pasta for everyone, which i did quite successfully :) and now F and H are watching "be with you"... yes, i brought the movie with me and i'm making everyone watch it ;)

H, Nv, N, F

hiking (somewhat)

what a relief to be done the first set of courses...

i should backtrack. wednesday was great cuz it was the one time we had absolutely nothing due for the next day... so a bunch of us went for a walk. or a hike. something in between. we took off and headed towards the trail(s) behind the campus. it was quite an adventure, really... we encountered lots of brush, lots of insects, had some minor obstacles like a creek to cross and a muddy canal and some slippery slopes. but overall it was really pretty. i'm so pleased to have this kind of "access to nature" right in my backyard. there were a couple of pretty bridges and things along the way too... i took my camera along and took a lot of pictures. mostly the trees... next to the mountains, i'm just amazed at the trees here... they're so big and beautiful. gorgeous. and it was another beautiful day... anyway, we got lost and somehow ended up on this semi-residential street... and kinda walked down this street and that... passed by a trailer park... and we just kept walking and walking... then we hit the highway and started walking along it... ohh man. walking on a trail under the shade of trees is one thing, but walking along the highway is really not so pleasant. it was a looooooong and tiring walk up glover road, but we made it back to campus 2.5 hours later. i was exhausted. but it was good exercise... and i was using my ACG sandals that i got my mom to send me, and i could walk to the ends of the earth in those... i'm so grateful they came in time. oh yah! my package arrived on wednesday. my only regret is i wish i had sent for some shorts.

the "semi-residential" street