a cooper update

This is a Cooper update.
My puppy is now a bona fide monster.

God knows...

Its been a whirlwind few weeks, a non-stop halabaloo of this that and the other. I've barely been able to breathe or catch my breath even on the few off moments I get to wind down just for a bit. It's like being winded. Perpectually. Its not a nice feeling really, neither is it a healthy one. I mean, I do do my best to "get through" and so far its been snatches of sleep and foot reflex (I'd blog about that another time). And of course a good meal at a nice place with great friends is always an extra bonus.

But these past weeks have been tough on me- emotionally and physically- and a little God sent came in the mail today. As though God knew I needed a little something more than the usual "list of stuff" to keep me going given my upcoming schedule only gets worse from here on. My good friend Sha Sha sent two little books and a prettly card in the mail all the way from Brunei complete with fairy wishes and words of love and wisdom.

And I especially like what it says on the page of one of the books: Silence is perfect peace; ignore the phone just this once.

my own cheerleader garb

I got this a while back from agent Ninja and agent Magpie as a belated wedding present and its an oh-so-cute, totally bimbotic tank top that I love so much.

I actually wore it the very next day to a huge shopping spree with Jo and she had a huge laugh at what I was wearing. I think it shaved about 10 years off my age which was quite a nice feeling. Actually met some students I knew while out wearing the tank once and they stared at me funny for a while- there goes my image! :) This is way overdue, but thanks Agents!

wedding: us

I've been slacking off on wedding photos again and I have to blog this one of Rub and I with Sam, Jo, Oli, Hongliang and Jo's totally amazing and entertaining parents. Jo (the girl next to me) is one of my best friends and my oh-so-great wedding co-ordinator. Sam, the guy next to me on my other side, was my photographer and he did one heck of a job. These two people are not only phenomenal friends but very often, my lifeline.

blue black & grey

Those of you that know me will know that I bruise easily. And given that I am also rather clumsy, its no wonder that I walk around with bruises here and there rather often. In fact, I usually have some sort of bruise on me at any point in time. Friends used to joke about my being abused.

Recently, with spate of outdoor stuff that I've been involved in have resulted in my getting way too many bruises to the extent i'm thinking twice about wearing short stuff. I know its a bimbotic thing to do and say but ah well... A girl's allowed to be vain every once in a while.

jungle beat

It’s a Jungle Out There
by Max Lucado

The story is told of a man on an African safari deep in the jungle. The guide before him had a machete and was whacking away the tall weeds and thick underbrush. The traveler, wearied and hot, asked in frustration, “Where are we? Do you know where you are taking me? Where is the path?!” The seasoned guide stopped and looked back at the man and replied, “I am the path.”

We ask the same questions, don’t we? We ask God, “Where are you taking me? Where is the path?” And he, like the guide, doesn’t tell us. Oh, he may give us a hint or two, but that’s all. If he did, would we understand? Would we comprehend our location? No, like the traveler, we are unacquainted with this jungle. So rather than give us an answer, Jesus gives us a far greater gift. He gives us himself.

Does he remove the jungle? No, the vegetation is still thick.

Does he purge the predators? No, danger still lurks.

Jesus doesn’t give hope by changing the jungle; he restores our hope by giving us himself. And he has promised to stay until the very end. “I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:20 NIV).

We need that reminder. We all need that reminder. For all of us need hope.

Some of you don’t need it right now. Your jungle has become a meadow and your journey a delight. If such is the case, congratulations. But remember—we do not know what tomorrow holds. We do not know where this road will lead. You may be one turn from a cemetery, from a hospital bed, from an empty house. You may be a bend in the road from a jungle.

And though you don’t need your hope restored today, you may tomorrow. And you need to know to whom to turn.

Or perhaps you do need hope today. You know you were not made for this place. You know you are not equipped. You want someone to lead you out.

If so, call out for your Shepherd. He knows your voice. And he’s just waiting for your request.

From Traveling Light
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 2001) Max Lucado

food poisoning

I know I need to rest, I have enough people telling me that my body is going to crash on me big time soon enough- as though it hasn't already periodically done so (more on that another time).

But I don't like being MADE to rest because I ate something wrong. Food poisoning sucks. And to make matters even more histerically worse, I got it from eating at a hospital cafeteria! How absurd is that! I mean, if I had gotten ill from eating at some roadside stall (not that we have any in Singapore, really) or seafood or all the other "risky" stuff- fine. I got ill eating bean curd (tau kuar) and black egg (lu tan) from a kway chup stall.

So I've barely kept food in. The husband has been patiently trying to coax me into eating, my mother has served up "cheng-cheng" food after food. Nothing sticking.

Bleah.

ink inc.

I love watching TV, most of you that know me already know that. And this is one of my all time favourites. The guys include one girl (Kat Von D) who's slated to get her own show called LA Ink. My personal favourite is Chris Garver (third from right) who's amazing at traditional japanese art and stuff. If I do get a tattoo (and I probably won't ever. My mom will personall skin me alive, regardless of my age) I'd get it from him. Yeah, I'd fly to Miami to get inked.

“Miami INK” takes viewers into the inside world of tattooing from the shop, to the artists, and their clients. Get an in depth look at the emotional stories behind the tattoos and the meaning people attach to them. People from all walks of life come for tattoos, from punk rock, to South Beach socialites, to celebrities.

The series follows four master artists, Ami James, the tough guy of the bunch, Chris Garver, Darren Brass, Chris Nuñez, and the apprentice Yojiro Harada. Ami, Darren, Chirs, and Garver met ten years ago when they all studied in Miami under the world famous tattoo artist, the late Lou Sciberras. During their apprenticeship they all lived and worked together becoming the best of friends. Eventually they went their separate ways and opened up their own tattoo parlors in Los Angeles, New York, Connecticut, and South Beach. Their dream was to one day reunite and open their own tattoo parlor together as partners." (from TV.com)

magnified

Be Magnified (Randy Rothwell)

I have made You too small in my eyes
Oh Lord, forgive me
And I have believed in a lie
That You are unable to help me.
But now, Oh Lord, I see my wrong
Heal my heart and show Yourself strong
And in my eyes and with my song
Oh Lord, be magnified (bis)

Be magnified, Oh Lord
You are highly exalted
And there is nothing You can’t do
Oh Lord, my eyes are on You
Be magnified,
Oh Lord, be magnified

I have leaned on a wisdom of men
Oh Lord, (Please)forgive me
And I have responded to them
Instead of Your light and Your mercy
But now, Oh Lord, I see my wrong
Heal my heart and show yourself strong
And in my eyes and in my song
Oh Lord be magnified

where did it go?

... we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless...
- Paul Bowles

what do you fear?

‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond imagination. It is our light more than our darkness which scares us. We ask ourselves – who are we to be brilliant, beautiful, talented, and fabulous. But honestly, who are you to not be so?

You are a child of God, small games do not work in this world. For those around us to feel peace, it is not example to make ourselves small. We were born to express the glory of god that lives in us. It is not in some of us, it is in all of us. While we allow our light to shine, we unconsciously give permission for others to do the same. When we liberate ourselves from our own fears, simply our presence may liberate others.’

- Marianne Williamson in Return to Love: Reflections on a Course in Miracles

Can you spell P-e-p-p-e-r?

I never knew how far having a dash of Pepper could go.
(yeah, the ground one. White, black or peppercorn.)
Amazing...

flipped out

The world looks so much better when you flip it on its head.

i'm looking at you

To You,

Buzz off.
You're annoying.
And you're annoying me.
Oh, and you smell bad too.

Go away.
Now.

I call "Uncle"

I used to be invincible.
At least I believed I was.
I don't think so anymore.

Over the last three days I've had a combined sleep of about 12 hours and while my eyes are holding up (Clarins eye gel, I swear by it) my body is barely making it and I'm beginning to feel- dare I say it- my age. Its like being on a threadmill and going and going and going and going and going.... gone...

me.

Is this you?
In case you're wondering, that's me right now.

stretched

s t r e t c h e d