Ahhhh

Isn't it just wonderful not having to be jolted awake by the jarring sounds of your cellphone alarm? I woke up at noon today and it was sooo NICE. Watched Stranger Than Fiction with a bunch of others until 4:30am last night after coming back from 6th Street. We went to this place called The Belmont where we were confined to the restaurant area since half of us are under-21. Overall great ambience, if a little too dark for me. They served surprisingly affordable food- I had a yummy steak and mushroom quesadilla. We were served by a pretty blonde with a European-ish accent, so we took turns guessing where she was from. Russia? Holland? Germany? Sweden? Czechoslovakia? Poland? Turns out she was from Latvia. Interesting.
Anyway, Stranger than Fiction was a good movie.. I've always loved Emma Thompson since Sense and Sensibility and she didn't disappoint in this one either. In keeping with the Will Ferrell movie tradition, we're gonna watch Blades of Glory tonight, a film that will probably remind me somehow of Mark/Asher/Joel/Kyle and their uncanny ability to quote the dumbest movie lines over the table during family gatherings at Grandma's.

Shifting Sand

It's Rez Week now at UT, a week-long event before Easter where all the Christian ministries on campus unite to pray and praise. There's a 24-hour coffeehouse right outside Gregory Gym, where there's a free flow of coffee and live music in the afternoons. There's also large panels where Christian artists paint what's on their hearts and a 24-hour prayer tent. I went to see my friend Kim play her songs yesterday, and was really touched by the whole atmosphere. You can read what she has to say here. All passers-by are attracted by the free speech board, where anyone can write down answers to questions like "What's worth dying for?" (some answers: "Love", "Equality", "SPARTA!!")

So yesterday, while hanging out at the coffeehouse with Kim and a cup of hot cocoa, I heard this girl sing one of my favorite songs from my favorite Christian band, Caedmon's Call. If you haven't checked them out yet, please go do so now. They write some of the most meaningful lyrics in contemporary Christian music, a genre where a lot of songs just recycle the same old tired phrases. Anyway, I've always loved this song since I heard it in the Smiths' lakeside home in Montana six years ago (where I first encountered Caedmon's Call's CD "40 Acres" - how coincidental). It kind of speaks to me where I am right now so I thought I'd share it.

Shifting Sand

by Caedmon's Call

Sometimes I believe all the lies
So I can do the things I should despise
And every day I am swayed
By whatever is on my mind

I hear it all depends on my faith
So I'm feeling precarious
The only problem I have with these mysteries
Is they're so mysterious

And like a consumer I've been thinking
If I could just get a bit more
More than my 15 minutes of faith,
Then I'd be secure

(Chorus)
My faith is like shifting sand
Changed by every wave
My faith is like shifting sand
So I stand on grace

I've begged you for some proof
For my Thomas eyes to see
A slithering staff, a leperous hand
And lions resting lazily

A glimpse of your back-side glory
And this soaked altar going ablaze
But you know I've seen so much
I explained it away

Chorus

Waters rose as my doubts reigned
My sand-castle faith, it slipped away
Found myself standing on your grace
It'd been there all the time

Chorus

Forty Acres and a Mule (or in this case, a really sleepy bull)

Belated photos from Saturday's 40 Acres Fest, where I got "married" to K-Fed (If you look closely you can see his name on our 'marriage certificate'), got a Longhorn painted on my face, an awesome balloon hat and a henna tattoo (not pictured). Lots of colors, lots of sun. Bevo, our mascot, whom everyone suspects is drugged, popped by for a visit. We ate mee siam and curry puffs cooked by the Malaysian association and some really good Indian vegetarian food, made our own s'mores and scored exceptionally low on the African American Student Association's "Soul Jeopardy". As Andrea said, it was great because it was so "Pasar-malam-ish." I can't think of a better word to describe it.

Fix You

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2u6k-99qcCE

Smile. It lets your teeth breathe.

As happy as a clam because my Psych test got postponed to Monday. Hello, weekend.

Spring Break 2: It's Not Easy Being Green

Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Dallas; "Beads! We want beads!"; wearing my grubby green T-shirt (thanks Mark) to avoid being pinched; "Kiss me, I'm Irish!"; gingerly loading the gun at the range; how NOT to shoot a rifle (one should lean forward, not back); wishing I had my cowboy hat with me; a girl, a lake and two trees on the picturesque Baylor campus in Waco; group picture taken with Chris' camera perched precariously on a tree branch

The Weekend before Spring Break: Yee-Haw!

Funny little shop in Johnson City (LBJ's hometown); LOVELY BEER-BATTERED MUSHROOMS IN RANCH SAUCE at a bar in German-ish town Fredericksburg; adorable Peach Garden cafe and store; atop Enchanted Rock at sunset; happy we made it up that darned huge pink rock; Arlena's puppydog look; CAMPINGG!!! with chips and bread; the morning after; R-O-D-E-OoOoOoO; me, my hat and a piece of fudge; the crowning of Miss Rodeo Austin; Hook 'Em Horns!!!

Spring Break 1: Road Trip!

Life imitating Art at DMOA; the stained glass spiral ceiling of a Dallas chapel; waiting by the train tracks; they spelled my name WRONG; great home-cooked dinner at Paul's; Arlena, my mocha and me in downtown Houston; the road-trippers; with the rest of the gang at Jan's

To Munyuk

with love!

Stolen from Fish's blog with no permission whatsoever:

"i was just consolidating my thoughts and deciding what to blog about post CAs when The Call came...The Call that came 8 years late

the most unexpected phone call with news that our primary school report books are ready for collection, 4 years since leaving secondary school! i recall the ruckus that we kicked up at the end of sec 1 when someone suddenly realised our pri school report books (filled with As and amazing comments :P) hadn't been returned to us; and again months before we left school, only to be told that they had gone "missing"

The Day has come then. that those missing beige books have re-emerged from the depths of dust, years after renovations is a pleasant surprise! it's not the report cards themselves, but the revelation that they were not lost in a black hole and are indeed going to be returned soon (: you know the elation you get when you find that missing cheapo black pen that has no real worth except that you stupidly spent half a morning looking for it only to discover it in a hidden corner of the sofa? yup that feeling :) :)

haha i know i sound utterly ridiculous but i don't care! we're going to be reunited, me and my beige book. and for the few other a1 ppl i know too (: "

It's ridiculous how happy this news is making me... I thought I had lost all documentation of my glory days in Primary School... haha but now there's proof that I used to be kinda smart! Eh, Beth?

Okay will now stop resting on the laurels and get back to work. I mean Spring Break. Oops.

(Fish, if you feel terribly violated by my blog-theft, please let me know...)

The 51st Post

The tests are over and Spring Break has finally arrived!
Haven't exactly decided on the finer details of our 'great tour of Texas', but I'm sure we'll be discussing it soon.
I'm gonna spruce things up a bit with a mixed bag of pictures.
I found the perfect soundtrack to Spring: Albert Hammond, Jr.'s Yours To Keep. It's good music to bop along to on a road trip, made even better by the album art - the cutest I've seen in a looong time:

Yay. Always, always judge an album by its cover.

Moving on... I found a 1949 penny today. Gonna keep it. It's cool to think that the coin could have passed through the hands of American ladies who wore hats like these:

What a great photograph, huh?

And my last few pictures will be of the gospel brunch I had last Sunday at the famous live music venue cum BBQ house Stubb's, before we took all those cliff pictures. A gospel brunch is exactly what you think it is - eating a good Southern buffet brunch while being entertained by a gospel choir. The food was phenomenal: migas (scrambled egg with tortilla strips, onions, sliced peppers, tomatoes and cheese), fried catfish, biscuits and gravy, and of course, good ol' Texas BBQ (steak and turkey) with Stubb's very own Smokey Mesquite BBQ sauce. It was an interesting combination, stuffing ourselves silly while listening to the Texas State University gospel choir belt out praises to the heavens. But a very good one.

*~sIgNz dA+ i"M sTilL a tEenybOpP3r @ hEaRt~*

Songs that help me study:
Born To Make You Happy - Britney Spears
I Think That I'm In Love With You - Jessica Simpson
Only Hope - Mandy Moore
Love For All Seasons - Christina Aguilera

... and a few more recent ones:
Glamorous - Fergie (it ROCKS!)
Walk Away - Paula DeAnda
Say It Right - Nelly Furtado

and who could forget, the QUEEN herself:
That's The Way It Is - Celine Dion

:) Yup I'm pretty sure I'll be friendless from now on.

Tribute to my Sister

Summer: “You will not believe this, but it turns out I am totally smart."

It's been 3 days and I'm still AWFUL PROUD of ya!

Weekend In The City

(My market auntie pose)

Just another lazy sun-drenched afternoon in Austin. More to come!