becoming

Is it just me, or a really unusual sense of silence among Western media on the possible social/political/economical symbolism(s) of the “last domino” — the one with Chinese calligraphy on it, which remains standing at the end during the recent celebration in Berlin?

[And sorry for the long run-on sentence.]

——

Update (11.19.2009): thanks fellow blogger Pakkin for the detail. The characters on the last domino weren’t Chinese afterall; They are artistic fusion of English alphabets written in Chinese calligraphy style, rendering a German translation of the Chinese poem 《釵頭鳳》by 陸遊.

As many of you may know, I have a wishlist at Amazon.com. In the past, I have received items from that list sent by a few gracious friends and family members. I also received amazon.com gift certificates as gifts and honorarium.

But a recent event made me ponder if there is any alternative. My last order of books were charged over $30USD just for shipping! (I cancel the entire shipment at the end) This is really ridiculous as I can get most of the items with free shipping through Amazon.ca or chapters.indigo.ca!

The only problem is that some items that amazon.com has, the Canadian stores just don’t carry.

I tried to look for ways to export the amazon.com wishlist to their Canadian counterpart, but I don’t think there is one. So here is what I think:

1. If for any reason, you would like to sent me a gift certificate to buy books online. Send me one from amazon.ca or chapters.indigo.ca. I don’t want to waste your generosity on some crazy shipping cost!
2. If you know any open-platform wishlist site that allow people to link items to specific web-stores, please let me know. Specifically, I am looking for one that allow people to view my wishlist without creating an account or logging in.

未敢忘記。

[link: EFC canada]

Allow me not to expound the details and complicate matters. And please understand that I don’t do this often (in fact, ever) as well. But here it is:

This morning, I have a very strong sense that God is calling me to tell those that I know to seriously ponder the possibility of  doing full-time ministry by first studying theology in a seminary.

No names, no details. Just that.

And no, I did not have a vision or was sent to the third heaven. It is just a strong sense and conviction that I need to say this.

And so, it is far from coincidence that you are reading this right now.

I know, all the “but’s” will come up from your heart and mind right away. But please,

Listen first.

Listen to Him first.

No, this is not a joke.

I would never crack jokes like this. This is serious.

And if you think I can help in anyway. Let me know right away.

Why does driving bring out the worst in people?

For example, during one particularly hot day in July in the early morning hours, an elderly female wandered onto the freeway and was struck by a vehicle traveling over 60 miles per hour. As you can imagine, she was killed instantly. The freeway was quickly shut down (at 6 a.m.) and the accident reconstruction began (which is procedural and not my nor my supervisor’s decision). This usually takes between two and four hours. You would not believe the number of people, who, because they were forced to exit the freeway after hours in gridlock, felt it prudent and necessary to yell obscenities at the lowly police officer. As if it was my fault. All this while he is standing next to a blood-soaked white sheet.

Read it all here.

I may add: How can you tell someone is a redeemed Christian filled with grace?

Look at the way he drives.

[HT: Jonathan Wong@FB]

Sorry for the delay. Here are some pictures of our new place: