November 30, 2005
Happy 22nd birthday, Marianne! Welcome to the 22 club! I hope you will have a beautiful day. :o)

As for me, it's 7:15am, and I'm still slaving away at that SOC paper. Kids, try not to schedule too many social events around major papers. It's not good for your soul or your circadian rhythm. Although, I must say, I quite enjoyed the meal I had at Lucy's with Elliot with pulled pork nachos, fresh candy crusted curried Atlantic salmon (say *that* in one breath!), and spinach gnocchi. Mmmm...

School is unnatural, I say! At least I have Falling Up to accompany me for the time being.

November 26, 2005
Still should be writing papers, but seems that my social life isn't allowing me to do that these two days. Anyway, I had a pleasant gathering with the MCBC folks at Waterloo today at William, Wilfred, and Simon T.'s today. We shopped, cooked, cried (don't deny it, even if it was because of onions!), ate, and jammed. Oh man, I hadn't jammed since I don't know when. And it was really fun. My throat is sore from all that singing (and screaming high notes... or just screaming in general, when we tried to punkify some songs), but a good sore it is. :o) Apparently I sound like Dido. Haha, yes indeed, perhaps I try to hard to emulate her sometimes.

Anyway, I'm wiped. Gonna go to bed now, and hopefully by the morning, I can read the stinkin' chapter on Aboriginal rights (highly interesting topic, terribly long text) so I can start writing that paper of mine.

November 25, 2005
Should be writing papers, but I'll write here instead, for the time being. Listening to Jimmy Eat World's live session at Toronto's Orange Lounge. Good stuff from Futures. Check it out. Hope the link works.

Some less weighty things first. I did some Christmas shopping today. I bought 3 packs of candy canes, and am still coming up short! I want to give away too many candy canes! :oP Still not done yet though. I think I'll just bake or something.

Happier still... I got to meet up Mrs. Jasmine today! :oD Hung out with her at Conestoga Mall, with some Timothy's drinks. She said that possibly her and Amber are much like Becca and I, close, but not that close. Feud prone, sometimes. Very interesting, and all the more interesting because I think it's true. Anyway, I'm glad to hear that her life in Ottawa is going well, and that she's enjoying being married to Todd very much. :o) I'd love to see her again. Wish I had my camera with me. Next time!

Alright, now for my hymn class. We touched on Praise and Worship music this week, and Trevor led us in some song singing. It was good. We talked about good points about P&W, bad points about it. Ken then launched into a sermonette about how the genre is quite flawed in that it seems quite narcissistic, in that it keeps asking for God to do things the way the singer would desire. It's very much about personal expression of emotions, and while that can be good at times, it's quite lopsided if you keep doing it. If you keep saying "I want to see you high and lifted up, shining in the light of your glory" (and things like that), you'd think something was wrong, not going your way, if that didn't happen. There was a lot more said, but I'll just leave it at that.

I went home after that lecture, and it seemed that a light had gone on inside. I've always wondered why my perceptions of God has been limited to the warm and fuzzy God who does things for me, and why there isn't more reverence and humility in me and the people I see around me. Could it be that the songs we sing in church are so burned into our minds that it has altered our image of what God should be like? Do we even have the right to have an image of God, to expect Him to be things that we want Him to be?

Granted, I think contemporary song writers realize this flaw in many worship songs from the 80's and 90's, and are trying to rectify that by writing songs like "How Great Is Our God," which places its focus mainly on God. Worship leaders should beware of finding good balance in their song sets so that both personal expression and reverence of God is found.

Well, that's about it for now. I'd talk about my adolescent class from Tuesday, but I think I've procrastinated enough. :oP

November 20, 2005
Today, I got to go to Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church as part of the "explore the traditions" sermon series Brandon has been giving at Elevation. I actually missed the Eastern Orthodox message, but hey, that's okay. I think the sermon series is a brilliant idea!

Out of the 3 major branches of Christianity, Eastern Orthodox is the most forgotten. I really don't have too many ideas of how they worship. All I know is that they have cool buildings resembling Russian roofing. I also think of Kerolos from back in high school who was an Orthodox Christian, and devote too, so I have a positive, though horribly vague, image of Orthodox Christianity.

Anyway, the service was about 1 1/2 hours, and was mostly in Greek. I would describe it as very sensual, as it appeals to all your senses. You've got incense filling up the entire sanctuary, piquing your olfactory faculties. There is chant-like, Eastern-sounding singing throughout the whole service, appealing to the aural senses. Ornate wooden panelling, the beautiful vestments, paintings, icons, other objects I really don't know the name for give a visual feast. Possibly a little overwhelming for a first-timer, but I think it's cool that such a different worship style still glorifies God.

Some other interesting things during the service. Well, as we walked into the Church, people kissed the icons and lit candles just outside the sanctuary. Of course, I wasn't comfortable doing that, because I didn't know the meaning behind these actions. Also, people talked during the service, and children and infants were an integral part of the service. The priest actually gave the message in a way suitable to the children; in fact, the children were sitting right up front, and it was an interact message on giving. Infants got first dibs, so to speak, on Holy Communion. The congregation would recite some Scripture, kneel to pray (knee rests!), sign the cross now and again, stand, and sit. No singing, no note taking of the sermon, no greeting each other formally (although again, people talked throughout the service, and people kept arriving until the end of service!). There was a book in the pews with the service script and procedure (crude way of describing it, but...), but I didn't read it. Hmm...

It was cool. I'm glad I went, although it's hard to meet God in a place where you're rather confused. I'm happy that people can connect with God in this way, and that it's not just one way or no way at all. People in this congregation would probably be very confused if they came into my Chinese baptist church, so there you go.

I found a website about Orthodox Churches, for people who are interested to read up more.

All for now. Back to seminar preparation!

November 18, 2005
Talk about blessings from the Lord. I mean, I'm not that great a leader at Alpha, I can always work harder at school, and home life can always use improvement on my part. But He still grants me with good gifts. So about the horrible midterms last week... the stats midterm gets dropped (which dramatically raises my mark, I'm sure), and for the adolescence, I did better than the previous midterm! Seeing that I didn't even read the last chapter covered, that really, really, really, really, really surprised me. I thought, at best, high 70's. But I end up with an 89%! What?!? It's nothing but God. :o)

Anyway, main reason for posting. I am trying to figure out my summer term, seeing that I'll (finally) start in fourth year, meaning that I should really make sure that I graduate on time! The summer will be a busy one - I'll need to do grad school applications, applied apprenticeship application, find a job (maybe), all on top of 6 courses. Perhaps I won't work at the lab, but we'll see. So... here's the tentative courses I'll be taking in the summer. They really should offer more...

ENGL 210F � Genres of Business Communication (finally get this out of the way)
PSYCH 455 � Honours Seminar: Social Psychology (sweet, I like Spencer... he's funny, and I like social! I hope I snag 1 of 25 spots!)
PSYCH 356 � Personality Theory (I'm not that interested, but I'd do this over organziational behaviour or personnel selection - sorry Viv!)
PSYCH 354 � Interpersonal Relationships (slightly better than above... but what I'd really like to see is culture and psych!)

And 1-2 more from this list (all DE... which is bad):
GER 101 � Elementary German I (I've always wanted to do German, so this is my chance)
RS 206 � Jesus: Life and Legacy (do I wanna learn about Jesus...)
RS 221 � Cults & New Religious Movements (...or cults?)
SOCWK 301R � Understanding Diversity in Canada (depends on instructor on campus, but if he/she's bad, I won't do this)

So yeah, I'm attempting 6 courses in the summer, of all terms. :oP At least I can drop something if it goes bad. And there's a distinct possibility that I'll be doing 3 DE courses! Is that even allowed?!? I dunno. I mean, I'm there in the 'loo, I might as well as go to classes, right? I was also gonna get my HIST 254 over with, but the Honours Seminar conflicts, so I'm gonna pick PSYCH over history. They offer 254 every term. So I'm covered in that way.

Thus concludes the summer planning of Vic.

November 14, 2005
Oof. What a horrible week of midterms last week! But hey, it's over. And so is the weekend. :oP Had a good time with Ceci on Friday (Chicken Little! Lucy's! Decoration the sanctuary!), and had a decent Saturday (Ikea) and Sunday (church, lab interview). Weekends are not nearly long enough. I find myself wanting to do more than I actually can, so I end up not doing that much. I end up sleeping a lot. Which led me to a rather sleepy day. So strange how sleeping too much makes you sleepy, but there it is.

Oh man. Muse's Time Is Running Out has such a cool, creepy quality. I love how Matthew Bellamy spits out the words, which works well with the lyrics. Oh, and he also takes these deathly gasps in between lines, like he was dying in the song or something. So neat. In a freaky way.

Well, a good way to start off the week is to finally have gotten a hold of Hazel Henry and finalized my co-op term for next term. I get to be in Mississauga, and attend JOY fellowship! Sweetness! Currently, I'll have 40 hour weeks of unpaid goodness. :o| Well, it's a good way to determine whether or not it's the kind of thing I want to do in the future!

I better get to work on my original hymn. Good times writing hymns!

SONG OF THE MOMENT

Trace the shape of my heart
Till it becomes more familiar to your eyes
I've been lost without you
Cold without your love
It's taken days and nights to make me realize

Rescue me from hanging on this line
I won't give up on giving you
The chance to blow my mind
Let the eleventh hour quickly pass me by
I'll find you when I think I'm out of time

Take the place of my heart
Till I become a stranger to my life
I've been down without you
Wrong without your love
In time will I be what you're thinking of?

"The Eleventh Hour," Jars of Clay (The Eleventh Hour)
I don't enjoy when God reveals all the nasty stuff that I contain to myself, but it's a necessary process. Sometimes, I feel more lost in the fray as I get to know my inner parts more. It's hard to surmount this ugliness inside, but it's not a solitary process. In fact, the most powerful Being in the universe is right alongside us in the journey.

November 6, 2005
This is what Dr. Fugelsang will receive from me tomorrow instead of the assignment. It will be submitted along with the picture on the left. I think it is rather persuasive and effective.

Professor,

Although I did not complete the assigned lab, I did create this festive headpiece. I think you will agree that it is worth an A.

Regards,
Victoria Mok

The above has been plagarized... I mean cited from S. Ng, personal communication, November 6, 2005. As well, the headpiece is err, borrowed, from M. Heppleston, personal... creation, November 3, 2005. [May 13 addendum: Sorry the pic is gone!]

How do you like THAT! It's much better than doing my assignment. Because if I don't have to do this assignment, I can just move on to... my other assignments! :oP

November 2, 2005
Oh dear. I've reached 22! :o| Sounds old, as usual. I sure don't feel like a 22-year-old. I just keep thinking about that poster in the washroom in the SLC that talks about how Terry Fox started his national marathon at 21. I have yet to do something that life changing and nation changing.

Thanks to the girls for putting up all those balloons outside my door! And for all the e-mails coming in wishing me a happy birthday. I really appreciate it. :o) Oh, and thanks to the Oasis crew for yet another edifying get-together. Nothing like meeting up with William's the group to chat about life.

SONG OF THE MOMENT

Dear God
It's me again down here
Don't wanna sound insincere
I'm lost
Sometimes you're so unclear
What can I do?
I'm feeling so far from you

Frustrated
Irritated
Disconnected from it all
The weight of the world
Has pushed me to the wall

I surrender
To you I'm giving in
Come take me
Save me
I want to start again
I'll open my broken heart
'Cause I've reached the end and
You are the way to begin

I've seen a million empty smiles
Living in denial
I don't wanna live like that
When nothing's real
I hate how it is to feel

Frustrated
Irritated
Disconnected from it all
I'm breaking
I'm aching for something beautiful

All the riches in this world
Couldn't fill this great big hole
It takes something so much more
Only you can take me
You can make me whole

"The Way To Begin," Krystal Meyers (from her self-titled debut)
One of 5 tracks I purchased for myself for my birthday. :oP Excellent little Avril Lavigne sounding song that was played quite a bit on Air1 in the summer. Nothing like some good, fitting pop punk to start a new year for me.