- Jo's Postcards to You

Sunday, May 24, 2009 :

I forgot to post this last week...
I made my mum a mother's day video.
I thought the song was really meaningful

Saturday, May 23, 2009 : Long time no post....

uh-oh. it's been a while. weirdly enough, it's when I am really busy that i find i need to blog. when i have hours and days and an entire summer spear out before me, i feel so reluctant to blog.
it's been almost 1 week since i' ve been back at school. 2 weeks since Spring 09 ended.
Spent the 1st week at clive's after having moved EVERYTHING out of wynnewood. that was tortorous.
and Clive bought a WII!! which was a lot of fun. he also decided to have a bbq party...which meant JoAnn was put to work cooking. but i cooked really well! marinated all the meat. marinated like 15 chicken breasts after cutting them up intop chucks for skewers. and then 9 pounds of beef and made burgers. let's just say it was hard work. and then i was running around during the party too.
saturday went to the SPA...finally. after having put it off for ages (clive gave me the gift card in Dec 07) had a nice manicure and a fabulous massage....only after the massage had to go to the beef burgers....so all the knots returned.,.,.,and remain.
Moved back to school on Sunday.
and here I am at St Mary's. It's allegedly haunted. but i dont believe that. i believe that it is old and decrepid....but i ant really complain. i have my own toilet, and the shower is right down the hall. it's not as nice as wynnewood was, but you cant always live the high life. my only major complaint is the internet being kind of sucky here.
it's been slightly lonely. i dont really know many of the ppl here....and they arent really my 'kind" of people. hoping that when we do some of the SSP activities i'll be able to bond with them.
on the bright side, sam atten and sam koch are around, so i get to hang out with them.
tanya is still here. but that's bittersweet, because on tuesday she's leaving to go back to india. tis sad sad.
i try my best to go into the polsci office to do work so that i actually accomplish some. otherwise cooped up in my room nothing gets done. in the meantime, i;m returning to reading fiction for pleasure. and watching all the shows i missed.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD*
i'm pretty bumbed that terminator:the sarah connor chronicles wont be returning...wld have been cool to see what wld have happened....
as for prison break...series finale...oh gosh. PB became a bit crazed this season. the last couple of episodes returned to the cool plans/action/ticking clock thing, and came kind of full circle (special S1/2 guests!) but that ending? ridiculous. seriously? seriously? and that's how the show ends forever? like that? i know we cant always have happy endings. but seriously?
speaking of SERIOUSLY? that grey's finale. omg. shonda keeps delivering amazing tv. i just hope that the rumors arent true...because...i've always loved george. from the first episode....when he remembered what meredith was wearing...haha.
(trying to blog without giving stuff away)

on the bright side, CHUCK got renewed. and i LOVE Chuck. i;'m super excited.
have to wait forever for my tvshows to come back.

in the meantime, i'm hoping that roach can come visit me (roach if you are reading this, remember....no pressure!) waiting for my mum to come visit. i need a healthy dose of home.
and in 7 months....i get to be home in Goa. so different from being home in Singapore. but somehow Goa is always magical...especially this year...we're adding at least 4 new members to the clan in 09. and i cannot wait to meet all of them.

i've always been a homebody. and i dont think i'll ever stop.
so now when i'm away from home. i'm ust going to have to make my own home-ness whenever/whereever i can.

<3 Jo

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 : Baaaa Confessions.

So 3rd post in a few hours. This one religious. Read below for other updates.

This one has been with me for a while...probably 2 Sundays ago the priest quoted this for his sermon, and it was so beautiful. I have been itching to share it! :)

(based on http://www.osjmonks.com/saug.html)

St Augustine (c350-c430 AD) was one of the early Church fathers, and he did live a pretty sinful life for a very long time. (he wrote: "God, give me chastity and continence - but not just now." )

Eventually, with the prayers of his mother, (a saint) and the help of St Ambrose, Augustine returned to the faith, and later started a monastery -- serving eventually as the Bishop of Hippo in 396 , and fought numerous early heresies.

He's so important I even read him in my Political Thought class (alongside Locke and Hobbes...and yes, Aquinas)

The priest in his sermon, quoted this passage from Augustine's Confessions. So poignant.
How many of us are seeking and searching and looking everywhere. So easily sidetracked by other things.

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.
You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed you fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

Imagine Augustine...seeking the truth, seeking the Lord, but being lost. And God found him. Flashed. Shone. Breathed. Pray that we are not so blind that we ignore the flashing lights.
We forget where God truly is...within us, coming to us every single Mass, in the Eucharist. in HIS Real Presence. No symbol. HIM. Body and Blood. He is with us, in us, we just have to believe and as that hymn goes, "taste and see, that the Lord is good." It took me a long time to see what the Sacrament meant. but here I am. I believe in what it is. I probably tried to ignored the flashing lights. The knocking at my door. How amazing is it, God does not give up on us? He keeps right on knocking. Or He finds the window and comes in. Or He sends us people who challenge us, lead us, inspire us. We just have to be willing to hear and see Him.

Which I guess brings me to this week's Sunday readings:
it was Good Shepherd Sunday. And the readings were about sheep and shepherds. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The Church does however, have shepherds to lead us along. and they are called and challenged to be good shepherds for their flocks. Do we the "sheep" act as good sheep? Sheep aren't stupid. Or just a mindless pack (remember, the reading is about the sheep dispersing/getting lost!). [this isnt going to be a post/rant about conformity thought...i am not going to get into it, but i think that stringent individualism is bad. I believe in community, in unity. Conformity can be good (as long as it doesnt clash with one's conscience i guess)]

Back to the SHEEP! We are called sheep because we are called to LISTEN. What does listening mean? It means to hear and obey. To internalize what we hear, to act on it.

That's what we are called to do! Hear. Act. Internalize. Listen. (woah. that spells HAIL how apt...)

O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.

I'm on a bit of an update-the-word-about-me spree. (see posts below. some new, some have added pics)

Finals are almost over! technically they are over, just have that silly paper to do. will sit and do it tomorrow :) then FREEDOM! (for 1 week, before i have to go back to school for summer scholars)

the weather has been sort of crap lately -- all rainy and dreary. not that i like the hot hot sun either. (on account of my ezcema) but today the ezcema is acting up for no reason :(

Today I had my Islam final, and therefore ended an entire semester with my "daily buddies" the 2 people I got to see every weekday for over 3 months. Most awesome semester, involving shared misery, shared laughs, and lots of bitching! I could not have survived without our post-Islam bitch sessions. So right after Islam we 3 headed over to Wendy's so I could have a frostie. (which i have been craving since Dr Carter mentioned milkshakes in class like 3-4 weeks ago) It was my first ever frostie, and i got a chocolate with twisted in mnms (ok. it's like a mcflurry, only better)

pictures of ma daily buddies! (sadness because erina is leaving for ireland next semester, and possibly spain after that)

Studying:

Frosties:

(attempts to take a picture of all 3 of us daily buddies....slight fail.)

Also, last friday, I finished my research methods paper: it clocked in at a whopping 31 pages. and was entitled:

Crouching Tigers Unleashed: Understanding How Structures and States Created East Asian Development Through Comparative Case Studies of Mexico and Singapore

I know! :P ridiculous. but i am so proud of my achievement! :) If any of you want to read it (haha) send me a message and i'll send you a copy lol.

So last friday, i needed to unwind. How better than with the ASA?
Had a real blast with them.

In the car...

Chicken cheers!

Me and Miguel! :)

Asian Love :)

It's been a while. Don't worry, I didn't forget about blogging! I just had quite a few crazy things going on ... numerous papers and now finals week. But I'm so close to being done! (only 1 take home essay left! :) )

So, my last post was on April 25th: my bro's birthday. The next day, I "entertained" by having him over, and cooking him a huge dinner. I'm so proud of myself -- did it all from scratch! :)

It was a multiple course meal!

Soup: Hot and Sour Vegetable Soup

Appetizer: Stuffed Mushrooms (stuffed with mushroom; sausage; hotdog)

Main Dish: 4 meat pasta (shell pasta, cream sauce, hand-made meat balls [with onion/garlic in the meat], hot dog slices, italian sausage, bacon...all topped with cheese.] yummilicious if i do say so myself.

Dessert: Chocolate Pudding (also my very proud creation); Salame de chocolate (my very own version without egg, because you can't cook it, and that could kill you)

Post-dinner: Tea and the same orange-cream biscuits I ate as a child.

All in all, a fun fun evening.

The Stuffed mushrooms: