Going, Going...Gone

Tonight, I finally decided to sit down and have a browse through my gmail inbox to delete old messages and countless unwanted newsletters.  I had close to 800 unread emails and over 2000 messages, accumulated over the last three-four years. To make things easier, I created a new folder and entitled it "SAVE" and transferred all recent, important emails before marking the remainder for deletion.  I tried to delete the rest with a blind eye, but found myself transferring old email messages from long-lost friends and ex-lovers (uh, not really but you know, potentials) into the SAVE folder.  The whole process was almost like spring-cleaning.  Each time I transferred an old email into the SAVE folder, I knew that I would probably never read the message again or forget about it... yet I wanted to keep it just for old-time's sake.  

After sorting through all my emails and executing the mass deletion, I decided to transfer all the saved messages into my now empty inbox and delete the SAVE folder.  BUT, AHH!  Somehow, I deleted absolutely everything by accident.  By the click of a mousepad--words from which so many memories have been transcribed are now lost forever.  

I felt so disappointed immediately after it happened, but now, I have mixed feelings.  When I see my email account completely void of any message, I get the impression that this is a new beginning.  A clean slate?  The accident could be likened to a catharsis, almost--but a release from what?  If anything, this is a great example of what it means to "cut down on excess"--even if the excess means a few gigabytes in cyberspace.  

So, I have FINALLY decided to delete my hotmail account which was created back in 2000. After years of plotting its demise, rockyval@hotmail.com will become history.  But first, a eulogy in the form of an amusing story.  At one stage, I received "fan mail" from people of different nationalities expressing how happy they were to finally find me on hotmail and MSN.  Apparently, they had seen my YouTube videos and really enjoyed my music.  Back then, I hadn't posted any music online yet so I was really confused.  I got to the bottom of it and found out that there was a girl who performed Avril Lavigne covers on YouTube under the name "Rockyval"!  She dressed like Avril too.  Well, the Lavigne imposter can now have rockyval@hotmail.com--but please, use the domain with dignity.  It was first created as a tribute to one girl's love for THE ROCK aka Dwayne Johnson or "The People's Champ", not for a "Sk8rgirl".  

Michelle

Michelle Li has been my housemate over the last six months. It's been a week since she returned to her hometown in Guangdong, China and I miss her. This girl has one of the best hearts around. While staying together, she insisted on praying for me nightly-- for the miraculous healing of my eczema. Those "bedside" moments in prayer have touched me so deeply. How many people are willing to do that? Even I myself have not been as persistent to seek my own healing. Now, despite the distance, we stay in touch via Whatsapp and Skype...and she continues to pray. I'm learning what it means to be "compelled by love to love", and she has been an excellent teacher.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Moonlight

Sometimes, I think I have insomnia although this hasn't been diagnosed.  It takes me a long time to fall asleep.  Sleep disturbance, a topic I've been tutoring second year uni students over the last month...and ironically, I myself have poor sleep.  A few nights ago, I was lying in bed thinking about the number of lab reports I have to finish marking and about the number of assignments I have to submit by the end of Easter break.  I was stressed out and distressed while speaking to God, asking for his peace to guard my heart and my mind...

...and then I looked up, saw this through my skylight and felt happy.  It was almost as if God was reassuring me that he's got his eye on me and that he will show me beautiful things.  I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and I'm convinced that he WILL do it again just as he's done throughout my academic life.  

Love

I want to meet

The

Tallest

Man

on

Earth

He visited the Sydney Opera House

Snail Mail

I love receiving postcards, especially when they arrive when I least expect.  This morning, I received one from a certain friend--no stamp or address, delivered by hand--and it made my day.

It's a Lomo Sunday

I've been playing with digitalized Lomo cameras since purchasing the iPhone 4 on the first week of March.  Here are some pictures I took on a very eventful Sunday last weekend:

 I recently joined the worship team for Planetshakers City Church and while waiting at the backstage fire exit for the morning service to start, I spotted two hot air balloons in the distance.

Up

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Fall

Alley Mop

The S-steel of Lt Collins St

Stepping into Laurent 

Jonathan Boulet.

I watched them play at The Corner Hotel with new friend Ben. One word--eargasmic.  

Jonathan Boulet's young drummer hitting it hard.

Check out their music here

--More to come: this Lomo-phase isn't dying out yet--

Good Vibrations

 

 "Lomo Lomo" for iPhone4

This is attempt #___ to start blogging again.  Thank you, Belinda, for giving me some inspiration to write a new entry at 2am.  Belinda is a new friend who found me interesting enough to interview for her series on people who are "working towards their dream jobs".  You can read the interview here.

The conversation with Belinda brought many things into perspective for me, the interviewee.  Often, I don't ask myself why I like doing what I like to do or why I do what I do.  It is usually understood and hence, not worthy of discussion.  It isn't until somebody asks me the questions that I realize my dreams/desires are not as trivial as I would have otherwise perceived.  And so, I reflected about my affinity for playing music...

Playing music to large audiences has been a dream since high school.  The pep rallies and talent shows were great fun, and as a teenager searching for security in what would bring me recognition beyond academic achievement and a friendly disposition, I would dream of musical success.  At 17, it was reasonable to dream about the music videos I would create or the sold-out shows I would perform in stadiums across the world.  Fame, money, fortune.

Now almost at 23, these aspects of the dream are no longer appealing but the drive to play music is greater than it has ever been.  I believe this is so because I recognize that I'm going through a process of refinement dictated by the "heart" I have gradually come to put into my music.  If you cannot feel your own music, don't expect your audience to.  When I play music, I want people to listen.  I want to make music that people will remember--music that I cannot fake.  If a musical career is in the works, I intend to safeguard this sincerity so that my songs will not become depersonalized in the context.  There is still so much to discover about how aspects of my self and my musical ability can culminate into something beautiful, but for now, I'm happy knowing that I'm blessed to be entrusted with this gift of song and that I'm equally blessed to be able to enjoy it.