Food for thought

repost from snufericious and another related link to this entry. Enough said.

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On a different thread, started reading "Prozac nation" last night...

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This morning, I received this in email from P.Chun, who was reading "Vice and Virtue", some food for thought:

"Create Your Own Merit

Never depend on the admiration of others. There is no strength in it. Personal merit cannot be derived from an external source. It is not to be found in your personal associations, nor can it be found in the regard of other people. It is a fact of life that other people, even people who love you, will not necessarily agree with your ideas, understand you, or share your enthusiasms. Grow up! Who cares what other people think about you!

Create your own merit.

Personal merit cannot be achieved through our associations with people of excellence. You have been given your own work to do. Get to it right now, do your best at it, and don't be concerned with who is watching you.

Do your own useful work without regard to the honor or admiration your efforts might win from others. There is no such thing as vicarious merit.

Other people's triumphs and excellences belong to them. Likewise, your possessions may have excellence, but you yourself don't derive excellence from them.

Think about it: What is really your own? The use you make of your ideas, resources, and opportunities that come your way. Do you have books? Read them. Learn from them. Apply their wisdom. Do you have specialized knowledge? Put it to its full and good use. Do you have tools? Get them out and build or repair things with them. Do you have a good idea? Follow up and follow through on it. Make the most of what you've got and what is actually yours.

You can be justifiably happy with yourself and at ease when you've harmonized your actions with nature by recognizing what truly is your own.

- Epictetus"


Epictetus resources: http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/ethicsbook/c5057.html
Epictetus works: http://classics.mit.edu/Browse/index-Epictetus.html

Sharon Lebell - the art of living - Epictetus - http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/006251346X/qid=1124164933/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/002-2871787-9172860?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Swan Lake - MODERN version?!?!?!

**Disclaimer**: if you are shocked at my extremely critical opinion below, please remember the first amendment! Yes, I was THAT upset!

I was very enthusiastic when I organized a group of friends to go up to SF for the Swan Lake ballet, with the modern twist.

I have to say I have never been SO disappointed by any show in my life!! I walked in expecting beautiful dancing at the least, if not on the same level as the Russians. But what happened is that other than the original music, everything including the story line was changed! My friends and I still couldn't piece together the entire story or what happened specifically at certain sections.

Basically the story is about some young spoiled prince, who leads a rich yet boring life. He met some bar girl and likes her, but his elegant Queen mother rejects her because of her lack in social grace and "common-ness". So at this point most of us expected it to be a Cinderella type of love story. But then the prince sneaks into a "swank" bar and finds out that she's an escort if not a prostitute (or something... ). .... Then the prince is locked in his room with a mirror admiring himself .... then we find out that he's incestuous with his mother the queen.... then we think he's psychotic because there's a scene that transforms his room to something like a mental institute.... and the queen obvious has a wandering eye ... uncensored relationship with a dark stranger.. etc.. etc... ==> you can tell how we are SO lost here...

Most of the dance happened when the prince is delutional and went to commit suicide by a lake in the park(?). After scribbling something on a sheet of paper he dug out from the trash, he is ready to jump into the water (?), when a bunch of half naked men in "swan" pants came out for the dance?!?!?! (whatever happened to the beautiful girls as swans?)

wait, it gets even weird-er from here. (is it possible to suck more?) The lead swan dancer is like 30 lbs heavier than a dancer really should be. So we have this "fat" swan and his belly is not exactly washboard like the other younger and slimmer dancers. Plus he has so much DARK CHEST HAIR!!!! I think my friend who sat next to me noticed how disgusted I was. (unfortunately, we had too good of a seat too close, near the front of the orchestra section)

Basically, instead of beautiful slim young blonde girls dancing lightly on their toes, we have a FAT older guy with bare chest and lots of unshaven dark chest hair bounding around on his feet (he can't jump too high, for the obvious reason that he's a bit on the heavier side, definitely a big 6 ft+ guy over 200 lbs). After about 30 minutes of this none-sense, we all notice how he's SWEATING like he just walked out of the shower. Certain points in the solo section, the young prince has to touch him and support him for certain moves. I can only IMAGINE how wet and disgusting it is to have to get a handful of this sweaty hairy beast!!!! (I distinctly recall the scene from "Along Came Polly", when Ben Stiller wiped his face on this sweaty hairy guy's naked chest at a basketball game)...

Urrh... If we didn't carpool to SF, I am sure I would've left at the first intermission possible! "disappointed" is not even close to describe how I felt, I think in addition to the expensive ticket, they also owe me the 3-4 hours wasted on going to SF and the effort put into getting there!!!!! I am APPALLED at the level of so called "artistic" interpretation of a piece of classical work. Judging from the fact that some of the audience actually applauded at the end, I have to say that it's indeed suitable for the vulgar, crass blue collar working class.

O, did I mention that at the end, the prince mysteriously dies (I think the dance implies he died), and he ascended into the parallel universe with the FAT swan, (as his lover? what is all this crap anyway?!) And the rest of the swans are vicious and attacks the prince as well as the FAT swan, gosh, I didn't even know that swans are so feisty and so beastly!!!!

*** I could barely contain my repugnance. Indeed, this is perfect entertainment only for the Simpsons family --> in other words, your average unrefined As!

Hanna House Tour

On Sunday I finally toured the famous Frank Lloyd designed Hanna house at Stanford. This is another activity I've heard of for years, yet always delayed doing. Maybe it's a sign that I should start to pro-actively organize events, haven't been doing that for the past 2-3 years thought.

The Hanna residence is some times refered to as the "Honeycomb House" due to its hexagonal theme throughout.

One of the unique features of the house is that all the interior walls are non-load-bearing. Thus they function more like those Japanese screens rather than like functional walls. They serve the purpose of provide visual division and conceal privacy, yet they can be disassembled and seamlessly moved to another section of the house, thus changing the interior layout significantly.
The ease with which the nonmasonry walls could be assembled or disassembled allowed for considerable alteration of interior space.

(running out of time, more to come, with pictures)...

Fourth Soil

where did our small group name - the "Fouth soil" came from? (We are one of the Mt. View sg affiliated with the Great Exchange Covenant Church in Sunnyvale, CA. )

Matthew 13 - The Parable of the Sower

1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."

10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'[a]
16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

The most beautiful woman existed ...

If I ask you a question "Who's the most beautiful woman in history (at least Western history)?", what would you answer be?

haha... no,no,no, I am not that narcissistic ..
Well, Chinese history has always recognized the 4 ancient beauties, with the lady of the West Lake being the top.

Helen of Troy? close, she started a war. Cleopatra? getting warm, she's definitely captured the heart of at least 3 kings. But the woman I want to introduce you to today is -- Nefertiti.

Sorry I don't have the time to finish this entry, just find her on Wikipedia.org, I am sure they will have a very comprehensive entry about her. =)

Aeroscraft - way to travel in the FUTURE

Aeroscraft - The Flying Luxury Hotelby Joshua Tompkins, Popular Science

This is not a Blimp. It's a sort of a flying Queen Mary 2 that could change the way you think about air travel. It's the Aeroscraft, and when it's completed, it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin or relax in their well-appointed staterooms.

Unlike its dirigible ancestors, the Aeroscraft is not lighter than air. Its 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two thirds of the craft's weight. The rigid and surprisingly aerodynamic body—driven by huge rearward propellers—generates enough additional lift to keep the behemoth and its 400-ton payload aloft while cruising. During takeoff and landing, six turbofan jet engines push the ship up or ease its descent.

This two-football-fields-long concept airship is the brainchild of Igor Pasternak, whose privately-funded California firm, Worldwide Aeros Corporation, is in the early stages of developing a prototype and expects to have one completed by 2010. Pasternak says several cruise ship companies have expressed interest in the project, and for good reason: The craft would have a range of several thousand miles and, with an estimated top speed of 174 mph, could traverse the continental U.S. in about 18 hours. During the flight, passengers would peer at national landmarks just 8,000 feet below or, if they weren't captivated by the view, the cavernous interior would easily accommodate such amenities as luxury staterooms, restaurants, even a casino.

To minimize noise, the aft-mounted propellers will be electric, powered by a renewable source such as hydrogen fuel cells. A sophisticated buoyancy-management system will serve the same purpose as trim on an airplane, allowing for precise adjustments in flight dynamics to compensate for outside conditions and passenger movement. The automated system will draw outside air into compartments throughout the ship and compress it to manage onboard weight.

The company envisions a cargo-carrying version that could deliver a store's worth of merchandise from a centralized distribution center straight to a Wal-Mart parking lot or, because the helium-filled craft will float, a year's worth of supplies to an offshore oil rig. "You can land on the snow, you can land on the water," Pasternak says. "It's a new vision of what can be done in the air."

Aeroscraft
Purpose: Long-range travel for passengers who are more concerned with the journey than the destination
Dimensions (feet): 165 h x 244 w x 647 l
Max Speed: 174 mph
Range: 6,000 miles
Capacity: 250 passengers

Mosaic in LA

Last weekend I went down to LA with the Canaan folks for J&J's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and the bride is stunningly beautiful (luv ya Jen!), and I will have to post a separate entry with pictures for that occasion (after I finish uploading and processing all the photos).

For this entry I want to reflect on the Sunday message I heard at the Mosaic. I have actually heard of the Mosaic years back, something about them start having services at nightclubs in downtown LA, in order to draw in a crowd with a different leaning. I thought at the time, wow, this is radical stuff! And a few of us always had the curiosity and wanted to visit. So I was very excited on Sunday when I finally made it years later, although due to the long LA-SF drive, we were only able to attend the first morning service at a different sub-urb location.

Take away from this powerful sermon by Pastor E. McManus:

He started the sermon asking everyone to take a deep breath, consciously inhale and exhale. (My thoughts were "what, is this a relaxation routine or something?!") He then started talking about that the air we breath is communal, that through involuntary in/exhale, we are actually sharing something together, that we are INFLUENCING each other in very subtle ways. And this was the central message of his talk: that we are constantly influencing and being influenced by the people around us in this world, what we do have an IMPACT on other people's lives.

Just like someone being sick can spread germs around and make other sick, we can through our actions and speech, pass on +/- ions to those around.

"influence" -- our influence on ppl around us is in direct proportion to our character (not necessarily Godly character). Invisibly, our actions and speeches have an impact on the surroundings and we are constantly leaving marks on other people's lives, equally marked by them or the things we perceive around us.

Neutral people have no influence, they are just like a buffer in the world, they don't make a significant impact on people's lives. This all being contrasted with Hitler or Osama bin Laden, who had immense amount of influence in the world, and thus shaping the human history. But our own character is not enough, we need to breath in Life, breath in Jesus. (2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness)

"I am with you heart and soul" -- who do you know that will trust you completely such that they will follow you unquestionably?

"Whose life are you investing in right now?" -- need to celebrate the positive primary influences in your lives.

is Christianity a religion?

I heard a very interesting sermon from Dr. Tim Keller recently (sermon downloads), he talked about the *differences* between Christianity and other so called religions. It was a very powerful lesson, and I am no theologian, but I will try to summarize based on what I understood and my "take home". If you are interested, you can always download his sermon online.

Scripture reading: Mark 2:23 -3:6 (NIV)

Lord of the Sabbath

23One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"

25He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? 26In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."

27Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Mark 3

1Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."

4Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.

5He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

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- "If I obey and is a good person, then I will (have to) attain the reward" vs. "I believe we are all sinners, Jesus' salvation saved us; as a result of this belief, therefore I obey and there is a desire to do good deeds from within the new me!"

This is an especially interesting point to me: People obey laws in society, not because they are all inherently good people, but because they are afraid of the consequences if they don't obey. Consequences can be anything from physical punishment to mental/peer/social pressures. It's the fear that stems from these negative consequences that drives people to obey and be good behaving citizens in the secular world. Even with some other religions, believers are told to obey and thus achieve a good status within their deity's eyes, and then they will be rewarded accordingly. Only Christianity is different, it tells of the gospel story of our God who came down to earth to "save" us, that the consequences are severe but He has already paid the prices for us, all we have to do is BELIEVE in Him, in His salvation. When we do sincerely take the gospel into our hearts, then we will be a changed person. We will, out of the love for Christ thus the love for others, want to become Sanctified, want to spread God's love to all those around us, and want to make a positive impact on other's lives. Through this altered heart/mind, we will want to do good out of our own free will, to share the overflowing grace from God with those around us. Then the desire to (not necessarily obey, but) do good will prompt us to be viewed as a group of law-abiding model citizens in the society. The difference is that clear: we desire to do good because we genuinely care; others choose to obey in order to avoid negative consequences (whether they believe it's for this or the next life). The motivation is such stark contrast from other religions. And the driving force behind our newly gained desire to spread goodness is not from within ourselves, because that would be severely limited by our innate selfishness. Instead it stems from us being the vessel that is fulfilled with God's love and grace, that not only are we so filled and benefit from it, that we CANNOT possibly contain it within ourselves, that we are compelled to overflow and spill over the top, to downpour it into our surroundings. We have no choice because the people around us will detect and witness these positive "ions" flowing outwardly from our lives. We feel this calling in our lives, and we desire to strive to become a better person.

Salt and Light (Matthew 5:13-16)

13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

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- "salvation by deeds" vs. "salvation by faith" - Abraham's story. This part is so well known that I don't think I will need to recount my perspective on this one... Just go read Genesis.

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- "There is no middle ground!"
That Jesus is life, He is everything!
There is no middle ground when it comes to beliefs, there is no such thing as "I LIKE Jesus". One either believe and throws everything away for Him, or just a none-believer. There is no integrity in the middle!

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- Sabbath ==> Rest!

Work and Rest (Luke 6). Jesus is our infinite rest, that we are constantly in turmoil because there is a "machinery of self censorship" and "eternal inner murmur of self reproach".

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- Dr. Keller also mentioned several other attitudes regarding religion, amongst them 2 other types of beliefs are:

• self discovery (people who do not believe in the established teaching, but prefer to "discover" the truth on their own during their life time
• self-righteous (people who study and obey the bible, and feel that they've earned the "reward" - moral conformity)

Canova marbles - LOVE in art

Since I am on the topic of art, I would like to dedicate an entry to a particular piece of art work that makes my heart sing with appreciation.

Canova marble statue of "Cupid and Psyche" version 1, at the Louvre, Paris.

When I first walked through the neoclassical sculpture section of the Louvre, I already know that I liked sculptures from this time period, but when I set my eyes on this particular piece of art work, I felt my heart skipped a beat and was totally enthralled by the beauty of it. Words cannot describe the intense feelings I experienced when I saw it, I was completely stunned. I was especially striked by the wingspan of Cupid, which, together with Psyche's up reaching arms, formed a near perfect X-shape. The design and the composition of this piece is unrivaled in my eyes. And the smoothness and the perfection of the bodies makes one wonder if this piece of stone had a life of it's own. That is taking sculpture art to the highest level. I enjoyed this piece more than the big 3 at the Louvre, it's my favourite piece of art work at the Louvre! And the myth of "Cupid and Psyche" is another reason that has enshrouded this piece in immense beauty, sadness, and romance! I even dragged my bf at the time back just to see it a week later when he arrived in Paris.

"Here is one of the most poignant statements of love in art. The subject comes from the story of Cupid and Psyche. In the last chapter, Psyche falls into an eternal slumber, and Cupid, unable to witness the death of his only love, flies down from Olympus to wake Psyche with a kiss. It is this moment that Canova chose for this sculpture--that moment when love is most triumphant.

This work of art is particularly striking because the intertwining nature of the composition. As he reaches down to her , she reaches up to him—deliberately emphasizing the unifying nature of love."

(see reference on other marble statues)(and Bulfinch's version of Greek mythology online version)