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Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
The Cheshire and the Cat
"Why do you write?", the Cheshire asked the Cat.
"Why, to find myself, of course", said the Cat to the Cheshire.
(Kawaii mobile strap from Strapya World)
I've decided that I should be more diligent in my blogging. My last entry was ....... four months ago!! Life has been a rapid moving river of events, and like Alice, I disappeared down the rabbit hole, only to emerge four months later.
From the time I started this blog, I've moved from Pullips to a Fairyland Pukifee and wanted a Lati Yellow for a time (but unfortunately, the site wasn't open for ordering). Then while waiting to find some BJD that I absolutely MUST have, I bought Japanese books on how to sew tiny clothes and moved on to buy hair clips and other tiny ornaments.
That's when I stumbled down the rabbit hole of Re-ment!
Re-ment is a Japanese toy company that manufactures, among other things, all kinds of cute doll-sized toys. Quite surprisingly, at this point of time, they have a number of Alice-themed toys. How very fortunate for me!
Published using Blogpress on my iPad
"Why, to find myself, of course", said the Cat to the Cheshire.
(Kawaii mobile strap from Strapya World)
I've decided that I should be more diligent in my blogging. My last entry was ....... four months ago!! Life has been a rapid moving river of events, and like Alice, I disappeared down the rabbit hole, only to emerge four months later.
From the time I started this blog, I've moved from Pullips to a Fairyland Pukifee and wanted a Lati Yellow for a time (but unfortunately, the site wasn't open for ordering). Then while waiting to find some BJD that I absolutely MUST have, I bought Japanese books on how to sew tiny clothes and moved on to buy hair clips and other tiny ornaments.
That's when I stumbled down the rabbit hole of Re-ment!
Re-ment is a Japanese toy company that manufactures, among other things, all kinds of cute doll-sized toys. Quite surprisingly, at this point of time, they have a number of Alice-themed toys. How very fortunate for me!
Published using Blogpress on my iPad
Monday, January 10, 2011
My First BJD: Fairyland Pukifee Red Hat Ante
I'm amazed that it has been only twelve days since my last blog. So much has happened since. For starters, I got my first bjd. It's a Fairyland Pukifee Redhat Ante.
She is super adorable. It pretty much doesn't matter what wig or clothes she's wearing or what posture she's in. She is just so photogenic.
I bought my first pullips on 18th December 2010, and in just 24 days, my little family of dolls has grown to 13: two big Pullips, two little Pullips, one Pukifee, four Dollcena, four Kellys and one Tommy. Plus an assortment of pets. It's really quite amazing, like the breaking of a dam. Within these 24 days also, I have had two intense conversations with God (visions) about opening a doll shop.
Interestingly, I checked the meaning of Ante, but only found boy's version (a variant of Anthony, meaning "invaluable or inestimable". Another website says it means "beyond praise"). Then I tried the English dictionary and it's a real word! It is either a poker term which means "a fixed but arbitrary stake put into the pot by each player before the deal" or "an amount of money paid in advance to insure an individual's share in a joint business venture". So it's sort of like a deposit for involvement!
Coupled with the two visions I got, I wonder if God is saying that little Pukifee Ante is a deposit given in advance of the doll shop. Coincidentally, in medical terms, "ante-" also means "before". It would be interesting to see how all this unfolds.
I bought my first pullips on 18th December 2010, and in just 24 days, my little family of dolls has grown to 13: two big Pullips, two little Pullips, one Pukifee, four Dollcena, four Kellys and one Tommy. Plus an assortment of pets. It's really quite amazing, like the breaking of a dam. Within these 24 days also, I have had two intense conversations with God (visions) about opening a doll shop.
Interestingly, I checked the meaning of Ante, but only found boy's version (a variant of Anthony, meaning "invaluable or inestimable". Another website says it means "beyond praise"). Then I tried the English dictionary and it's a real word! It is either a poker term which means "a fixed but arbitrary stake put into the pot by each player before the deal" or "an amount of money paid in advance to insure an individual's share in a joint business venture". So it's sort of like a deposit for involvement!
Coupled with the two visions I got, I wonder if God is saying that little Pukifee Ante is a deposit given in advance of the doll shop. Coincidentally, in medical terms, "ante-" also means "before". It would be interesting to see how all this unfolds.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
My First Alice
I finally bought my first Alice off the Ebay. (The one in blue, of course.)
I collected her a couple of days ago, together with four Kelly dolls (three princesses and one prince) and a Dollcena Minnie.
Being an older doll, Alice is quite different from Dormouse. She is shorter. Her head can't tilt. Her faceup is plainer and her hair is a bit stiff. (In contrast, Dollcena Minnie has the softest and most luscious orange hair.) But between this Alice and the newer version, I prefer the dress and expression on this one. I can't put my finger on it, but the new one seems less Alice-like. Hmm..... I wonder why. Maybe it's because the older doll looks younger and less streetwise. Hahaha!
Published using Blogpress on my iPad
I collected her a couple of days ago, together with four Kelly dolls (three princesses and one prince) and a Dollcena Minnie.
Being an older doll, Alice is quite different from Dormouse. She is shorter. Her head can't tilt. Her faceup is plainer and her hair is a bit stiff. (In contrast, Dollcena Minnie has the softest and most luscious orange hair.) But between this Alice and the newer version, I prefer the dress and expression on this one. I can't put my finger on it, but the new one seems less Alice-like. Hmm..... I wonder why. Maybe it's because the older doll looks younger and less streetwise. Hahaha!
Published using Blogpress on my iPad
Love, Hatred and the Infectious Nature of Sin
We love people, not only for who they are, but for who we become when we are with them. I love you, not just because you are lovely, kind, admirable and generous, but also because you draw out the best part of me, and I become kinder, more loving, more warm, more generous, more admirable, an altogether better person.
Whether we intend it or not, at every moment, we make choices about who to spend time with. Even when we are alone, in our private moments, we choose if we will spend time with someone disagreeable, reliving an old quarrel, reopening an old wound, or whether we will spend the time with someone we actually like, like an inspiring author (reading his book), a great director (watching his movie) or a wonderful friend (reliving a warm, lovely conversation). It is these things we choose to think about on a moment by moment, daily basis that injects happiness or unhappiness into our marrow, causing the factory of our blood and spirit to churn out good or bad things. When they said that happiness lies in our own hands, they were not kidding.
I have found that for me personally, the main reason I spend time with disagreeable people in my head is because there is nothing else more interesting in my life to think about. It's sad, but true.
But that's a good wake up call though. I am reminded that I have neglected cultivating the garden of my heart, so that there is no longer anything beautiful or worthy blooming, that requires my attention and tending. The most interesting feature left in it is this big ugly thistle of a wound that I am constantly circling around, pruning and fertilizing!
And like some kind of monster plant from the Little Shop of Horrors, it grows and grows and grows the more I feed it. And when it has gained enough momentum, even when I try not to pay attention to it, it comes r for food and tries to eat me alive.
That is why big ugly , wounds need to be forgiven quickly, cut off and starved. The earlier we begin, the easier they are to deal with. That is why I always remind myself that it is not a sacrifice to forgive others, though it may feel like it. I am not doing it for them, but for myself. The garden of my heart must always be well-weeded. Only beautiful and worthy things must be allowed to live there, to draw nutrients from the soil of my emotions and to consume my attention (thought space) and my time. This takes some self-discipline in the beginning and some ruthlessness in weeding out unworthy things, but eventually, it develops a momentum of its own, and becomes much easier and the more natural thing to do.
We love people, not only for who they are, but for who we become when we are with them. In the same way, we also hate people, not just for who they are, but for who we become when we are with them. In line with that reasoning, if I can prevent myself from becoming an ugly person because of your wounding (intentional or otherwise), the amount of hatred I feel for you can also be stemmed. That means I will no longer be driven along by compulsive hatred for you. Instead, I can be free to be happy around you, and consequently kind and warm towards you.
It's funny how sin tries to propagate itself. You step on my foot (intentionally or otherwise), and I become upset and angry because of the pain. If I have no healthy way of recycling the anger out of my system, I tend to pass it on by stepping on someone else's foot (intentional or otherwise). That makes someone else angry, and it propagates the anger, passing it on like an infectious disease.
(Hey, that reminds me of vampires! "I suck your blood, and you become one of the "undead" like me". Hahaha!!!)
That is why one of the most important life skills we can have is knowing what to do when someone hurts me (intentional or otherwise). We don't want to become a throbbing hotbed of infectious pain, anger and other such life-robbing things, both for our own sake and our loved ones who will likely be the most constant victims.
We need operating systems, programs and power sources that promote love, not hatred.
Published using Blogpress on my iPad
Whether we intend it or not, at every moment, we make choices about who to spend time with. Even when we are alone, in our private moments, we choose if we will spend time with someone disagreeable, reliving an old quarrel, reopening an old wound, or whether we will spend the time with someone we actually like, like an inspiring author (reading his book), a great director (watching his movie) or a wonderful friend (reliving a warm, lovely conversation). It is these things we choose to think about on a moment by moment, daily basis that injects happiness or unhappiness into our marrow, causing the factory of our blood and spirit to churn out good or bad things. When they said that happiness lies in our own hands, they were not kidding.
I have found that for me personally, the main reason I spend time with disagreeable people in my head is because there is nothing else more interesting in my life to think about. It's sad, but true.
But that's a good wake up call though. I am reminded that I have neglected cultivating the garden of my heart, so that there is no longer anything beautiful or worthy blooming, that requires my attention and tending. The most interesting feature left in it is this big ugly thistle of a wound that I am constantly circling around, pruning and fertilizing!
And like some kind of monster plant from the Little Shop of Horrors, it grows and grows and grows the more I feed it. And when it has gained enough momentum, even when I try not to pay attention to it, it comes r for food and tries to eat me alive.
That is why big ugly , wounds need to be forgiven quickly, cut off and starved. The earlier we begin, the easier they are to deal with. That is why I always remind myself that it is not a sacrifice to forgive others, though it may feel like it. I am not doing it for them, but for myself. The garden of my heart must always be well-weeded. Only beautiful and worthy things must be allowed to live there, to draw nutrients from the soil of my emotions and to consume my attention (thought space) and my time. This takes some self-discipline in the beginning and some ruthlessness in weeding out unworthy things, but eventually, it develops a momentum of its own, and becomes much easier and the more natural thing to do.
We love people, not only for who they are, but for who we become when we are with them. In the same way, we also hate people, not just for who they are, but for who we become when we are with them. In line with that reasoning, if I can prevent myself from becoming an ugly person because of your wounding (intentional or otherwise), the amount of hatred I feel for you can also be stemmed. That means I will no longer be driven along by compulsive hatred for you. Instead, I can be free to be happy around you, and consequently kind and warm towards you.
It's funny how sin tries to propagate itself. You step on my foot (intentionally or otherwise), and I become upset and angry because of the pain. If I have no healthy way of recycling the anger out of my system, I tend to pass it on by stepping on someone else's foot (intentional or otherwise). That makes someone else angry, and it propagates the anger, passing it on like an infectious disease.
(Hey, that reminds me of vampires! "I suck your blood, and you become one of the "undead" like me". Hahaha!!!)
That is why one of the most important life skills we can have is knowing what to do when someone hurts me (intentional or otherwise). We don't want to become a throbbing hotbed of infectious pain, anger and other such life-robbing things, both for our own sake and our loved ones who will likely be the most constant victims.
We need operating systems, programs and power sources that promote love, not hatred.
Published using Blogpress on my iPad
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Loving God. The Best Revenge is To Be Happy.
Loving God spurs me on to love people, but it also ignites me to love things. It's like falling in love. Suddenly, all the world is warm and cozy and rose-tinted. Food is more delicious. Music is more moving. And things and activities of all sorts take on a different dimension and are filled with a deep pleasure. It is as if falling in love is the human-to-human parallel of having a relationship with God. Is it any wonder then, that all the world wants to fall in love?
I think, not everyone gets to deepen and savor the feelings of happiness that being with God brings. A lot of us are born, feeling unloved and unlovely. It takes a while to figure out that what God desires from us is not what we can do, not what we can achieve, not what we own and not who we can save, but us ourselves. I often think that this is so important to God that He embedded it into the way He designed babies, so that we will have a constant reminder.
Many baby animals are born with the ability to walk and run (or swim, as may be the case). But human babies are born half-blind and immobile. It will take years and years and years before we can perform even the most basic actions of walking, running, eating on our own, cleaning up after ourselves and getting our own food. If left on our own at birth, we will most certainly die.
Mysteriously, it is at this stage that a parent's instinct to love, protect and provide a child is especially deep and especially strong. The baby can do nothing and give nothing back. The parent must sacrifice much to keep up with the needs of the child. Yet a deep, overwhelming something wells up from our innermost being to balance off the pressure of sacrifice: passion, desire, love and deep stirrings in the spirit. I see this as a pale reflection of what God constantly feels towards us.
It is curious that the first thing we feel inclined to do when we meet a baby is to try and elicit a smile from them. When the baby makes eye contact and gives a toothless little grin or a little chuckle, we feel so happy. It's the weirdest thing. Could it be that is what God desires from us in "worship"? Eye contact and a chuckle? That thought makes me laugh and I feel God laughing along with me.
On my best days, the world is filled with a warm, cozy pleasure. Everything is alive and beautiful, and every person is amazing and wonderful. I think it is very important to be able to shed the unhappiness of yesterday like a snake sheds its skin or like a butterfly breaking out and leaving its cocoon. Yesterday's tragedies and unhappiness cannot contain the glory of the person God designed for me to become. If I ever want to attain the fullness of that glory, of that joy, I need to be able to break out of the seductive lures of past unhappiness. I think God helps us by giving us a short memory. As long as we don't keep revisiting the traumatic event, rehearsing its every painful detail, it gets washed away in the rapid flow of time and its after-effects is bleached to a clean, beautiful, fragrant white, as if by the sun. (Sheets blowing in the sun. Blue skies, green grass)
I feel like that is how it is with my life. Everyone has their own share of sorrow, their own share of tragedies, of Lemony Snickets type of series of unfortunate events. Everyone snubs their own toe at some point or have someone step on their foot or have some other equally random and painful event happen to them. We all get the chance to practice forgiving, forgetting and letting go.
Whenever I forgive someone, I remind myself that I am not doing it for their sake, but for my own. I don't want to spend any more time being unhappy than I already have. Time is a precious commodity that flows like water. It either turns one way or the other. I can turn that river into the tunnels of memory, spending time reliving every moment of a traumatic event, every detail of an argument, every insult I would like to hurl at my "enemy". Or I can direct that river down a sun-filled canal, spending it with people I actually like (like an author, a musician, a friend or my dogs), doing something I really enjoy. Like I always say, "The best revenge is to be happy".
Published using Blogpress on my iPad
I think, not everyone gets to deepen and savor the feelings of happiness that being with God brings. A lot of us are born, feeling unloved and unlovely. It takes a while to figure out that what God desires from us is not what we can do, not what we can achieve, not what we own and not who we can save, but us ourselves. I often think that this is so important to God that He embedded it into the way He designed babies, so that we will have a constant reminder.
Many baby animals are born with the ability to walk and run (or swim, as may be the case). But human babies are born half-blind and immobile. It will take years and years and years before we can perform even the most basic actions of walking, running, eating on our own, cleaning up after ourselves and getting our own food. If left on our own at birth, we will most certainly die.
Mysteriously, it is at this stage that a parent's instinct to love, protect and provide a child is especially deep and especially strong. The baby can do nothing and give nothing back. The parent must sacrifice much to keep up with the needs of the child. Yet a deep, overwhelming something wells up from our innermost being to balance off the pressure of sacrifice: passion, desire, love and deep stirrings in the spirit. I see this as a pale reflection of what God constantly feels towards us.
It is curious that the first thing we feel inclined to do when we meet a baby is to try and elicit a smile from them. When the baby makes eye contact and gives a toothless little grin or a little chuckle, we feel so happy. It's the weirdest thing. Could it be that is what God desires from us in "worship"? Eye contact and a chuckle? That thought makes me laugh and I feel God laughing along with me.
On my best days, the world is filled with a warm, cozy pleasure. Everything is alive and beautiful, and every person is amazing and wonderful. I think it is very important to be able to shed the unhappiness of yesterday like a snake sheds its skin or like a butterfly breaking out and leaving its cocoon. Yesterday's tragedies and unhappiness cannot contain the glory of the person God designed for me to become. If I ever want to attain the fullness of that glory, of that joy, I need to be able to break out of the seductive lures of past unhappiness. I think God helps us by giving us a short memory. As long as we don't keep revisiting the traumatic event, rehearsing its every painful detail, it gets washed away in the rapid flow of time and its after-effects is bleached to a clean, beautiful, fragrant white, as if by the sun. (Sheets blowing in the sun. Blue skies, green grass)
I feel like that is how it is with my life. Everyone has their own share of sorrow, their own share of tragedies, of Lemony Snickets type of series of unfortunate events. Everyone snubs their own toe at some point or have someone step on their foot or have some other equally random and painful event happen to them. We all get the chance to practice forgiving, forgetting and letting go.
Whenever I forgive someone, I remind myself that I am not doing it for their sake, but for my own. I don't want to spend any more time being unhappy than I already have. Time is a precious commodity that flows like water. It either turns one way or the other. I can turn that river into the tunnels of memory, spending time reliving every moment of a traumatic event, every detail of an argument, every insult I would like to hurl at my "enemy". Or I can direct that river down a sun-filled canal, spending it with people I actually like (like an author, a musician, a friend or my dogs), doing something I really enjoy. Like I always say, "The best revenge is to be happy".
Published using Blogpress on my iPad
Monday, December 20, 2010
Fuzzy Resolutions
I bought an iPad connection kit so that I can connect my little Fuji Finepix to my iPad, and extract the pictures immediately (without the need to use a notebook). Then, using Blogpress, I can publish to my blog immediately. Blogpress is great because it also uploads the pictures to my Flickr account. Unfortunately, however, the pictures on the blog turn out to be pretty small. I can make it larger, but then, it would be pixelated. It's especially obvious with the Takeda Hinata wallpaper. The first was published on notebook, the second on iPad.
I hope I can find a solution soon. Right now, it's a bit distracting.
Also, the indoor pics of Naomi in a bunny suit, taken without flash has loads of noise and isn't as clear I would like it to be. Ideally, I need a light tent and proper lighting.
That would give me perfect pictures. But for now, the current setup will have to do.
Published using Blogpress on my iPad
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