From Elevators to Cucumbers

You know how in movies people are able to open the top of the elevator, and climb out onto the top of the elevator? This usually happens when the hero is saving the day. Well, that's something i would really like to do sometime...not saving the day, but climbing out of an elevator...well, i suppose i wouldn't mind saving the day either. The only thing is, i have yet to find my 'partner in crime'......hehe.

I've always wanted to do that...since i was young....of course at that time i was way too short so i would have needed a ladder, but now...well, i just need a really strong guy to help out. Anyway, i've always wondered what it really looks like up there-dusty and grimy, i'm sure...not to mention hot and dark. Well, that's not gonna stop me cuz i have my mind fixed on this one...i think it would be so cool! Weird? Perhaps......but it's something i've always wanted to do. I suppose any sane person would be wondering what's wrong with me but who really cares?

I was just thinking of this today when i was in the elevator with my mom and brother. I mentioned how it would be so interesting to go up there and see what it was like, but they looked at me really weird, so i dropped it and decided not to mention the fact that i intend to do that someday. I do have a curious streak in me and i suppose this is one of the areas in which it shows. Must be the same part of me that likes hot pink!

Okay, i just wanna add this in before i go for today because i am sitting here crunching away on cucumbers and enjoying myself immensely. I got this method of eating cucumbers from my best friend, so if you like it, thank her, and if you don't, well then let's all pretend that we don't know who she is.

Anyway, next time you are gonna eat cucumbers plain, try this: Pour some sugar into a small bowl and then pour in a tiny bit of soysauce-just enough to cover the sugar crystals. Then, dip slices of cucumbers into this sugar and soysauce mix, and eat it....it is actually quite yummy! A new method of eating cucumbers....especially useful for those who don't like them but believe that they should be eating them to keep a good complexion. Well, enjoy this one...i like it.

Anyway, college classes start tomorrow for me. The end of my 'almost 1 month' holiday is here and i'll be sitting through my first class of organizational behavior tomorrow morning. Taazzz.....

Speak the Truth in Love, Full of Grace and Hope

Time and time again i realize how difficult it is to tell someone the truth without hurting them. This is especially tough when we genuinely believe that our own opinion is true and we feel the necessity to convey this message of truth to the other person or people, whichever the case may be. But then, there is the issue of whether our own opinions are really true or not. How do we know that what we think is the truth; is the Truth?

Once we are convinced that what we are saying is True, we face the issue of how to communicate this to the other person without hurting them. Having been brought up in a more conservative country, we have learned to say things that make people feel better about themselves, even if it's not the Truth...this is supposed to be more polite. This is of course, a very general statement as different individuals differ in many ways. But if a friend came up to you and asked you if she had put on weight, and in fact she had, how many of us would actually acknowledge the truth? We would prefer not to hurt her feelings, right? The difficulty with a society that does not speak their mind because they hope to maintain a 'peaceful' atmosphere; is that when an individual does speak the Truth, he/she is looked upon as being rude, inconsiderate or just trying to cause trouble.

But then again, there are different methods of 'speaking our mind'. We can do it with the other person's best interest in mind, or we can do it to make ourselves look better or to shoot the other person down. It is important at this point that we stop and examine ourselves to see whether we are actually being constructive, or if we are just causing trouble, in which case, we should probably back off. I myself face this problem quite often. Being sure that we are trying our best to help the other person is very important, otherwise we are presenting our own opinions and views for a very selfish purpose...not good.

Once we know that we are speaking the Truth in love, we should do it with grace and hope. We can do this by having a sense of propriety and consideration for others, by trying to help them be their very best and improve. If we can't be helpful and constructive, then it would probably be better for us to just stay out of the way and not say anything, as we will probably end up just messing things up worse. So, it is important that we speak the Truth for the right reason. I personally do not claim to be a model citizen in this area, but i do know that speaking the Truth is vital, and doing this out of love is even more important although it's NOT easy.

So, speak the truth in love, full of grace and hope......

A Very Bland Shade of Pink

I am supposed to be on holidays, but one would never know with the amount of things that i have to do. I am presently working on this 8-page essay on the k-society...don't ask. In addition to that, i am trying to get my university applications out soon, otherwise i will remain in college for the rest of my life...or so it would seem.

I have to say that this whole application process is very tedious. I mean, there are so many intricate details that need to be taken into account and addressed. Besides that, the U.S. has thousands of universities, so how am i supposed to narrow it down to three that i want to send my applications to? Well, that's actually what i am trying to figure out now. I've managed to zoom in to Texas (i've eliminated 49 states!), simply because of the weather, which is similar to the weather here. I need the sun...lots of it and the less snow, the better. I do not function at my best in cold weather-something that i have learned by living through some cold, snowy winters in the States.

Anyway, i should be going somewhere in Texas, but where exactly, i have yet to figure out. My decision will be made based on the standard of the uni, the population of undergraduates, the location of the campus, the reputation of the university and also the amount of financial aid they are willing to offer me, an undergrad transfer student. I can proudly say that i have narrowed my list down to about 15 uni's...which really is an achievement for me.

Believe it or not, i started this whole process the end of last year while i was in the U.S., thinking that i would be able to access more information there, but apparently it was mostly a nice thought, because i didn't do much at all. Of course, there have been many pauses and breaks along the way as i have not been very consistent with the whole thing. I only really started moving after i had decided my major, which was fairly recently. That itself took quite a while, as i was seriously contemplating doing English. What changed my mind was the sociology class that i took. I really enjoyed the class, and it is something that i can see myself doing sometime in the future.

Anyway, so yeah...i'm gonna be doing sociology, i should be going to somewhere in Texas...and i hope to transfer the beginning of next year. Well, i'm not hoping to leave here, but i am hoping to go there...if that makes any sense. I'll definately miss it here....first and foremost, my friends...the food...well, so many things. I'll write about that some other time perhaps, i'm checking out Baylor University now...

Ciao!

What's in a Name?

Elle, Nell, Dan, and Daeni are just a few of the many nicknames that have been given to me by people who feel that my lengthy name needs some editing. I suppose i would agree that my name is relatively long and having something shorter for daily use would be more functional….especially in sms-es.

When i was born, my parents were debating on whether to name me Daenielle or Dawn, and well, you know what the conclusion was. Personally, i’m happy with their choice. Dawn is beautiful when written-i really do like it a lot; but when put in oral form, it can end up sounding a lot like Don. But then again, Daenielle can end up sounding like Daniel if not handled with care, so i suppose the real reason why i prefer Daenielle, is simply because it is my very own.

My parents have this thing where they wanted each of their children’s names to be unique; hence we have names that are spelled differently, although the pronunciation is basically the same, whichever way it is spelled . Thus, instead of Danielle, i am Daenielle…..with an extra ‘e’. There is a low part to having an extra ‘e’ in my name, and besides the fact that most people spell it wrong, Word underlines it in RED! Now i know what my friends with Chinese names feel like…hehe.

Living in Malaysia has been strenuous on my name as it is commonly misspelled and well, i don’t even want to touch on how it is often pronounced…or mispronounced for that matter. Well, it’s not that bad...i'm exaggerating a bit. It does get frustrating at times, but i think over time, it has become a more hardy name-if that’s possible for names, and i have become more tolerant. Either way, i have gotten used to it and it doesn’t annoy me so much any more.

Back in school, i had a teacher who would avoid calling on me in class, simply because she had no idea how to pronounce my name. I find that rather hilarious, but i can’t say that it didn’t work to my benefit. So i suppose having a difficult name to pronounce is not that bad after all. But then again, there are those times when someone was calling me and trying to get my attention, but i had no idea at all that they were addressing me, because what they were saying did not remotely sound like my name.

Looking deeper into my name, i can tell you that it is actually a French name and it means ‘God is Judge’. To those who are interested in educating themselves on how to pronounce my name properly, well i suggest you go watch Ever After, starring Drew Barrymore…and well, you kill two birds with one stone because that is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Well, i suppose it is rather unusual to dedicate a whole blog to one's name...but then again, it's ME, and this is an issue that i actually have to deal with, believe it or not. I think that i have become more sensitive to the spelling of people's names in general because of this, and i most definately understand why it's frustrating to recieve a certificate with your misspelled name on it. Small things can make a big difference.

To simplify your life, just remember that there is an 'e' in between every two letter of my name...that might help. Oh, and remember that each letter plays a vital role, so you don't want to accidently miss any. "What's in a Name?" Well, in a name, you have a whole bunch of letters, each of which plays a significant part and it's existance or lack of existance should be considered carefully as it really does make a difference.

Spaghetti alla Cream of Chicken

Ingredients:
Cooked spaghetti
Campbell’s cream of chicken soup
Mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn)

This is a recipe of my own, which i happened to create one fine day. I don’t usually come with up recipes and so i was delighted when this one tasted so fine. What happened was i came home from college, hungry, and wanted something to eat. So i decided to put something together based on what we had in the kitchen. I wanted something quick and yummy!

I opened the refrigerator, found a container of freshly cooked spaghetti noodles and decided to try mixing that with cream of chicken soup, as i felt like eating something slightly soupy. I have to admit that after i had mixed these two ingredients together, the spaghetti and soup appeared very boring, as the color was rather bland. Hence, i decided to add some color to it…in the form of some green, red and yellow vegetables, which happen to balance off my food pyramid.

By sprinkling some of these vegetables in, i was done and had managed to concoct a meal which was surprisingly more delicious than i had expected it to be. Anyway, if you’re hungry sometime and you want to come up with something that is fast and delicious, try this. Or of course, you could call the Mc Donald’s or Pizza Hut delivery service.

Divertiti!

The Chapter of Love

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angles, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13

Will We Still Be Friends Forever?

I was swiveling around in my blue computer chair after a busy day, pondering on what i wanted to share with all those dear souls who give up a few minutes of their day to read my blog. Just then i heard the first few chords of Vitamin C’s Graduation Song as the song started playing on my bright red radio.

*And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives
Where we’re gonna be when we turn 25
I keep thinking times will never change
Keep on thinking things will always be the same
But when we leave this year, we won’t be coming back
No more hanging out cause we’re on a different track
And if you’ve got something that you need to say
You better say it right now cause you don’t have another day*

I smiled to myself hearing these lyrics, as this song always brings back so many of my treasured memories. It reminds me of all the friends i’ve had since as far back as i can remember. So many times my friends and i had sat around talking about what we were going to do when we grow up, and in what direction our lives would lead us. But, it was all just talk at that time and we never really imagined that we would grow up so fast. Over the years, there have been a few times of departing when it hit me that we were actually parting, going different ways, and that things were going to change as we were moving on in our own separate directions-just as two roads diverge in a yellow wood. At times like these, my friends and i would hug, cry, and bid farewell to each other, promising to keep in touch.

*Cause we’re moving on and we can’t slow down
These memories are playing like a film without sound
And I keep thinking of the night in June
I didn’t know much of love, but it came too soon
And there was me with you, and then it got real blue
Stay at home talking on the telephone and
We would get so excited, we’d get so scared
Laughing at ourselves thinking life’s not fair
And this is how it feels*

I decided to start typing just to pour out my feelings and describe how i feel, as my thoughts and memories were overflowing. What had happened to all the promises of keeping in touch? What had happened to all the friends that i was supposed to and intended to keep in touch with? I had had so many friends in high school, many whom i had spent hours with after school hours working on various assignments, from planning annual school events, to making decorations for Teacher’s Day. But what had happened to all those wonderful friendships? Over a period of time they had blossomed so beautifully, but now…? It takes two to keep up a friendship, and i have to admit that i have not been too faithful on my part.

*So if we get the big jobs and we make the big money
When we look back now, will our jokes still be funny?
Will we still remember everything we learned in school?
Still be trying to break every single rule?
Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?
Can Heather find a job that won’t interfere with her tan?
I keep, I keep on thinking that it’s not goodbye,
Keep on thinking it’s a time to fly,
And this is how it feels*

How the years have flown by and actually will continue flying. People will come and people will go, but what about our friendships? What about all the people that have made a significant impact on our lives somewhere along the way? Will we still remember them in the time to come? Friends are truly a gift from God, but how well do we treasure this gift that has been given to us ever so freely? Now, many of us are in college. Before we know it, we will be out in the working world, and how will our present friendships and relationships be at that point in time? Will we even remember our ‘best friend’ from college?

*Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?
Can we survive it out there? Can we make is somehow?
I guess I thought that this would never end
And suddenly it’s like we’re women and men,
Will the past be a shadow that will follow us round?
Will these memories fade when we leave this town?
I keep, I keep thinking that it’s not goodbye,
Keep on thinking it’s a time to fly*

So, what has happened to all our friends of the past? Have they become part of the past? What about our friends now? Will they still be our friends as we move on and as we go off to different parts of the world? And what about our friends to come? How will those friendships turn out? Vitamin C, in her song, throws out a wise question by asking, “Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?” Without realizing it, all our friendships throughout the years have in many ways influenced how we have developed into the person that we are today, and through this we have matured in many ways. Now, as we have reached a turning point in life where we are graduating and going our own ways, it is important that we do not let our memories of the past fade, and that we don’t forget all our past friendships. Our lives will change as time goes by, but we should always remember our friends, every single person that we have met along the road as we travel the journey of life.

*As we go on, we remember
All the times we had together
And as our lives change, from whatever
We will still be friends forever.*

Dedicated to all those people who i have met somewhere along the way. To those who made it for the reunion today, well, it was wonderful to see you all after two long years. Thank you for coming!!!

The Piazza

The air in this ancient city, would be crisp cold if it weren't for the rays of sunlight streaming down from the heavens, bringing the temperature up to a very pleasant level. It is the end of winter and there is already a touch of spring in the air. The piazza is full of people rushing to and fro, busy with their daily activities. Along the roadside there are many colorful, outdoor cafe's. The wonderful aroma of Italian cuisine drifts onto the street, tempting passerby's to stop what they are doing and simply enjoy the fragrance. Pizza margherita, lasagna, ravioli, tiramisu, gelati, and over 650 different types of pasta....all just waiting to be tasted. Ahh...heaven on earth?

The piazza is surrounded by all sorts of shops and old historical buildings. In the centre of the square is a fountain. Crystal clear water surrounds the rider, who is seated firmly on his horse in the middle of the fountain. As i turn to my right, a particular building catches my eye. The architecture is simply breathtaking. Up a flight of slightly discolored stairs are two huge pillars supporting a statue of a man holding a staff, resting on his stone chair. Above him are three windows, each one with a flag that has three vertical stripes: green, white and red. Further up, a chariot pulled by four black horses appears as if it might fly off the top of the beige stone building at any moment.

Italy is a place i am passionate about. Three days in Italy can have a significant impact on one’s life and that is exactly what happened to me. Rather peculiar how life leads you down certain paths. To think i was in the middle of my semester in college and was supposed to be going to France, not Italy; and the next thing i know, i’ve been to Rome, spent a day down at the bay of Naples and had such an awesome time, that i would trade my time there for absolutely nothing. It is rather hard to describe the precise feeling, but when placed in a city that is overflowing with history, one is overcome by a strong feeling of awe and admiration.

Some other time perhaps, i will elaborate on the details of my splendid trip. For now, i will continue dreaming of the day when i shall go back to this place with mouth watering food, green meadows, fresh air; old, historical buildings and structures, and really friendly people with an equally beautiful language. Till then...arrivederci!

The Genesis of my Blog

You know, i never really imagined that i would ever end up coming up with my own blog but then again, there are many unexpected things in my life that have happened. Fortunately, this is one of the better ones. Friends play a major role in my life and so this blog sprouted from the inspiration and support that i have recieved from certain people. Thus, i decided to start a blog where i can share my thoughts and ideas, as well as experiances with those interested, as i go through the many phases in life.

It is easy to start a blog. Being consistant with it and not fading out is the more challenging part. With this in mind, i have decided that i will write whenever i feel 'inspired' to do so...well actually, whenever i have anything i want to share. This might be multiple times a day or once a week, depending on certain variables. What i write about will totally depend on what is close to my heart that day or what i feel like sharing with the world. Then again, i might just have lotsa free time and not know what to do with it.

Anyway, i hope i have completed enough of the formalities to get on with the real thing...hehe...well, to those reading this, have fun and i hope you enjoy reading my blog. (note: You don't have to agree with or accept my ideas and thoughts to enjoy it.) Oh, another thing....please do feel free to express yourself and to tell me what you think, keeping in mind that blogs are not meant to be gossip collumns but instead a place to channel our thoughts.

Well, looks like it all begins here.