LOL.

Sometimes, things just turn out funny. They turn out the way you least expect it to. What more can you do in those situations than LOL. There is no other word/acronym/whatever-you-want-to-call-it that can describe that emotion. The ambiguity of "LOL" is so great that the true meaning gets confuddled whilst saying/typing the word. The hilarity of the situation, the sarcasm, the shock, the failure or success of expectations.

Positive? negative? Somewhere in between? Who really knows? When you don't know how to feel, or even what you're feeling, default "LOL".

For example: Exams? LOL. Boys? LOL. Work? LOL. Expectations? LOL.

See it works? doesn't it?

LOL.

We will not fear.

In the midst of all that has happened this past week, it's hard to imagine why. All that pain and suffering in this world. Why is it happening? Where is God in all of this?

It's almost like a never-ending nightmare in Japan. First the tsunami and then the earthquake. If that wasn't enough, the nuclear plants are now over heating and there may be another horrific Chernobyl-like event coming soon. On top of that, the tectonic plates are moving so much, dormant volcanoes are becoming active. I'm pretty sure this may not be the end of it. If Japan can be affected so much, in the coming weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if other places will become victim to abnormal tectonic plate activity.

I'm praying that all of this will end soon. I'm praying that this event will bring nations closer together as other tragic events have. I'm praying that our nations will come as one and help those in need.

I was reminded of a verse today: Psalm 46:1-3

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

We will not fear, for God is our refuge and strength. I pray that God will give the people of Japan strength and look to him for refuge.

Unplugged

I guess it's a bit too late now, but yesterday was the National Day of Unplugging. Not saying that it's not a good idea, but can you call it a 'National day', if no one really knows about it? Did anyone know about it?! Maybe it was just me and I'm just sitting in the dark twiddling my thumbs on my blackberry in the dim seclusive glow of the screen. Nonetheless, the world is probably "plugged in" a little too much and a little too often. It wouldn't hurt to spend some good ol' quality time with friends (live action!) or even alone with a good book once in a while.

I think I could probably unplug for a day if I chose to, or I could be just lying to myself, who knows. Until I need to, or when the 'National Day of Unplugging' really becomes a national day people know about, I'm happy holding to my dear blackberry all day long :)

happy valley-ing my cares away

Nothing better than the cold wind whipping around you as you ski down a green circle hill at Blue Mountain. I find that in life, sometimes people are searching for a constant thrill, to consistently increase the adrenaline rush with each succeeding activity. While being complacent and plateauing is not desirable, why do people need to live for the extremes? Sure, we need something to pick us up every now and then, but why can't happiness, just be that, just happiness. Sometimes exciting, sometimes calming, random surprises here and there, never boring. But that's just me.

For some people, racing down double diamonds, searching for bigger and better hills is what they love. For me, Happy Valley is the place for me. They really did name that hill well. You can rush straight down and feel the adrenaline, or you could slowly go down, twisting and turning, or you could just go down at a relaxing pace, enjoying the scenery and watching people woosh by. You can choose to take the long turn around, or speed down that steep hill instead.

The fun part of the hill sometimes is all the people around. It's a nice reminder that in life, some people speed by, entering your life at a fast pace, but leaving it as well. Some people go slowly down, taking their time, maybe making a couple mistakes and falling here and there. You can choose to help them, to wait for them and follow them down the hill, to be that friend who sticks with them through everything, even if it's hurting them or sometimes making the hard decision to leave them behind. Then there are those who keep pace with you. Sometimes you might go faster, sometimes they may go faster. But no matter what they're with you till the end.

No matter how fast or how slow you go, no matter how many times you'll fall down, you always know that you'll make it to the end of the hill, because it's Happy Valley, and everyone makes it down there.

return to the interwebs.

I've been out of the loop lately. Although facebook stalking is a daily activity, blogging, tweeting, even stalking other blogs have not been in my daily routine; I haven't even been on MSN. For those who know me well, that is quite a change. I couldn't say that school has been taking up much of my time, but living at school, for some reason, decreases the incidences of being alone and in an insightful mood. These outlets allow the narcissistic side of my nature to thrive, thus decreasing my need to express the same thoughts to an innocent bystander, not know what they got themselves into when they asked how my day was. What better way to relieve randomness than out into the world wide web.

And so, as the new year begins (as per the lunar calendar), my goal is to get back into the interwebs.

Hopefully I'll be updating my blog a little more. I also got a tumblr page for funsies. Those will probably be where my random posts and finds will be, making this a site for actual blogging and longer thoughts if required. I wouldn't want to kill this site just yet, seeing as I already have a handful of retired blogs around already.

On top of my random tumblr page, I've made another one for a more productive use. I was thinking about all the food blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs...etc out there, and I was trying to devise a new and uniquely themed blog. Some people have random quotes, some people have random definitions, and now, I have random facts... about feet. :D

Yes, I really did make that. I figured, why not put my knowledge to good use. To share it with the world somehow. I've also found a good study tool. Whenever I learn a new fact that sticks out to me, I can post it and always return to it at a later time. Win-win. Also, what better way for the general public to learn about the feet than a fact or two a day. Just a glance, and you'll find out something new or something interesting. I'm not expecting a lot of visitors to the site, but if anything, it'll be fun to have it just there, if only for my own reference.

That is plan for my return to the interwebs. Hopefully, I can keep up with it. Although I don't know how often the blogging part will keep up, but twitter, tumblr and my foot facts I definitely will. So I guess I'll see you guys around!

it's my year.

According to the Chinese calendar, 2011 is my year, that is, the year of the rabbit

It's my year to shine, my year to make a difference, my year to be different, my year to be better. Although it probably should be a continuous journey throughout my entire, what better time to decide than now, the beginning of MY year.

So let me tell you what's going to happen this year.

This year I will:

[ ]focus on God more, focus on myself less

[ ]procrastinate less (I'd say "no procrastination" but who are we kidding here)

[ ]drink at least 4 cups of water a day

[ ]go to the gym at least twice a week

[ ]eat at least 1 fruit a day

[ ]learn to play squash well

[ ]sleep earlier

[ ]have more patience with people

[ ]be more diligent in posting on the interwebs

[ ]not forget to pray for someone when I tell them I'll pray for them

[ ]be diligent with devos

[ ]keep up with people who matter in my life

[ ]learn a new foot fact each day

Hear, hear. *glass clinking* To a better me.

my little elephant

love. joy.

hmm...

I feel like I should post something.

Even though you know where you're going, life starts to get just a little bit scarier when you know you're almost there.

Victoria's (not-so) Secret Dating tips for Boys

I thought I'd share my infinite wisdom with you all (lol). Hopefully it'll help you boys out there steer away from some major errors on the field and help all those poor innocent girls out there dealing with boys trying really hard to become men.

[repost from Twitter] + extra comments (due to Twitter character limit)

dating tip #1 for boys: never seem too desperate (i.e. message her every morning)

- It's very unbecoming of a man, plus she's bound get tired of you, especially if your conversations are bland. Let her message you first sometimes.

dating tip #2 for boys: never continuously pry about who she's out with (i.e. "who's the boy??" "hot date?!" "who is he?!!?")

- Jealousy, clingy-ness, insecurity are three qualities that girls frown upon when looking for a significant other. If you're like this BEFORE you date, I can't imagine how'd you be AFTER. If she's out with a friend, she's out with a friend, leave it.

dating tip #3 for boys: don't start using terms of endearment within a month of talking to her (i.e. "silly", "sleepyhead", "piggy")

- It's just too fast. If you start doing that, she'll just run in the other direction. All you're doing is causing shivers to continuously travel down her spine. Non-mushy nicknames are fine though.

dating tip #4 for boys: never use the line "hehe, you're so silly :P" it makes you sound like a girl, and it's totally uncool.

- *shivers* Boy flirting fail 101.

dating tip #5 for boys: Never use your mom as an excuse to give the girl anything (i.e. flowers)

- Lame. Plus, if you haven't talked to her for long, she won't know how to take it and freak out. Flowers always mean something, especially when randomly given and not during a special occasion. Birthday and graduation flowers are acceptable.

dating tip #6 for boys: don't tell sob stories and try to get pity points on your first date.

- It's your first date, she probably doesn't care much about you yet, and sob stories are definitely not going to help your case. Makes you sound like you're looking for some lovin' that you're probably not going to get.

dating tip #7 for boys: yes, we live in the 21st century and you may be in gov't debt, but it doesn't hurt to pay for a couple meals.

- Chivalry is not dead, and your wallet is not empty.

dating tip #8 for boys: on a first date at a meal, don't sit next to her, lawyers do that to make the witness uncomfortable.

- That's what boyfriends do. Are you her boyfriend? No, didn't think so.

dating tip #9 for boys: never overstay your welcome, you want her to want you right?

- If she looks at the time a lot, she wants to go. Let her go, unless she says otherwise. If she stutters when she says she doesn't need to go, she wants to go.

dating tip #10 for boys: never boost yourself up by pushing people down. Very uncool.

- Sure you talk to the mail room and janitorial staff, that's very kind of you, but not so much when you describe it as "understanding the importance of the people at the bottom who need to put food on the table"

dating tip #11 for boys: Don't try to make yourself sound "mature" when you really aren't. (ie don't make living on your own sounds so tough)

- "oh, you know, I have to clean the house, do laundry, and cook, I have so little time for anything else!" Two letters for you, BS. What about the rest of the people who live alone and have a life?

dating tip #12 for boys: Never say "hehe you're so silly :P" Yes, it was DT#4, but it srsly has to be re-iterated. Major turn-off.

- It's like you have nothing better to say, she probably just told a joke, do you have so little imagination that you can't properly respond to her?

dating tip #13 for boys: don't try to get a girl to talk to you by telling her you're running away from home/pseudo-suicidal. Pretty pathetic.

- It does work for the next hour because she is a nice girl, but you just ruined your chance forever. Unfortunately, no girl really wants to date a run-away or a guy with extremely low self-esteem.

dating tip #14 for boys: Don't tell the girl that you think your parents don't love you on your first date (DT#6) Not gonna make her love you!

- Really, what did you think that was going to achieve? Trying to make her feel bad knowing her parents love her?

dating tip #15 for boys: Don't continuously playfully comment/ make fun of her traits/mannerisms. It gets tiring after 20 times.

- This one is simple. We all know you get tired when a girl continuously makes the same remarks about your traits/mannerisms, so why do it to her?

dating tip #16 for boys: Don't put down her lifestyle because you think yours is better - "I like to be independent, I'd never use my daddy's money"

- Well I'm sorry your daddy doesn't love you enough to give you money (SNAP j/k... but careful, that leads to DT #6 and #14). She'll admire your independence, and then frown at your ignorance.

dating tip #17 for boys: Never say "hehe you're so silly :P". Yes, it's that important.

- We'll let you slip once or twice, but anything more... ... If you say it as a joke it's fine, but if you mean it seriously and continuously say it, we have a problem.

dating tip #18 for boys: Yes, she did compliment you, but it probably didn't mean as much you thought it did. Don't make her feel awkward for saying it.

- "It means a lot coming from you", unless it was some kind of heartfelt compliment, try to avoid that. She only told you she's impressed by some of your skills, just smile and say thanks, she most likely didn't mean anything more.

dating tip #n for boys:.... I'll try to add more as I think of them, if you have any other tips, comment! and I'll include them in my list.

Hope you all enjoyed my tips and I hope you boys put them into use, and stop scaring away the innocent. lol. These were all things you should never do, but maybe I'll make a list of the positive things to do one day.

If you keep with these, you should be better off, however I'm sure guys can come up with even more unthinkables that can ruin their relationships. Oh boys, you're so silly, hehe :P.

original posted: aug 28, 2009

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dating tip #19 for boys: don't ask obvious questions like "where's your boyfriend?" to try and find out if she's single. That's just a game killer, unless she does.

- Congratulations, you just created your own awkward moment. When you make it so obvious, you lose your game, especially if it's early on in your game. In a conversation, that question will probably never come up naturally, so are you really that desperate? Be friendly, not wanna-be-boyfriendly.

dating tip #20 for boys: you probably shouldn't steal your date's car of your first date. Maybe the second? LOL.

- link it! poor girl haha

dating tip #21 for boys: don't be late for a movie and become immature because she didn't stand up in the middle of the theatre in the middle of the movie.

- If you're not watching the movie with just her, don't expect her to wait outside for you, especially if the movie started 30 minutes ago. If she tells you what row she's in, man up and COUNT, 1, 2, 3, 4.

dating tip #22 for boys: if the girl cannot take spicy food, don't take her to a restaurant and order the spicy dish on the menu. LOL

- tip for girl, tell the guy you can't take it, and don't order the spicy menu item the next time you go out! That becomes your fault. haha.

dating tip #23 for boys: the silent treatment is so passé.

- Err, did you expect to impress her with that on your second date? All girls want petty guys right? No.

dating tip #24 for boys: definitely don't leave retarded voicemails.

- Really? I never realized that such egotistical jack***es actually existed. The reason some girls stay single. LOL

So why aren't we?

If this is really true, the biggest question is "Why aren't we doing this now?!"