"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

friendship truly is one of life's greatest blessings. im just sitting here in my dorm room thinking, and i simply can't help but smile when i think about how lucky i really am. i thank God for bringing so many people into my life that i can call friends. ive known some since i was a mere toddler, others since elementary or middle school, many from four years of high school, and now im still getting to meet more and more awesome people here at UT.

there's SO many opportunities to meet people here. classes are packed with hundreds of new faces, and there's always some event taking place seemingly every day. strangers are everywhere! but then again, you know what they say, "strangers are just friends waiting to happen."

i guess i tended to always take my friends for granted back at home. living here at UT for over a month now, i appreciate all my friendships more than ever before. i miss all my buddies back home and in other cities, but at the same time, im so grateful that i got a crazy, strong group of supportive brothers and sisters here.

anyhow, whoever is reading this (im assuming i know you), wherever you may be, i just wanna say that im glad God brought you into my life. yes, even YOU.

clubbing? overrated. well, i guess it all depends..

so i went clubbing yesterday night for the first time in my life. i expected there to be alot of "loose" girls on the dance floor with the bass all the way up and the speakers blasting and the entire room filled with the smell of cigarette smoke. oh wait, that's exactly what i saw.

lemme first get this thing straightened out, just so there's no confusion. i went clubbing yesterday for 2 reasons:
1. to celebrate carolyn's bday
2. to see what "clubbing" was like

i did NOT go clubbing yesterday because of any other reason, so no, i didn't go there to dance with girls, hit on girls, or do anything with girls.

however, i must say that i would have felt a lot more secure if i brought a baseball bat or a potato gun or something. if there's one thing i can't stand, it has gotta be aggressive girls. and yeah, trust me, there were plenty at the club. but hey, it's all good, i was with a group of innocent church kids. hahaha and once the dance floor got really crowded and some girl started getting too close for comfort, i sat down. hahaha i thought it was quite funny, but maybe i just have a weird sense of humor =P

anyhoo, so now that i can say that ive gone clubbing, i hafta admit that i actually did enjoy dancing. however, im never gonna go clubbing just for the heck of it. maybe once in a blue moon to celebrate a birthday or go with a group or someone i reallly wanted to dance with, but never to just go for the sake of going.

and there's my two cents on clubbing.

better days...are here!

hehe just got back home from taking an MIS skills test. basically, this skills test is not for a grade, it's only pass/fail basis. you get 3 chances to pass the test, but if you don't pass, then you don't pass the course. you hafta get an 80 on the test to pass. the skills test is supposed to see whether you have "mastered" the art of microsoft office, namely word, excel, and powerpoint. so at 8:00, i walk into the computer lab with barely any knowledge of microsoft excel, bits and pieces of info about microsoft powerpoint, and a general knowledge of microsoft word. i say hi to my classmates, sit down in front of a computer, log in, and prepare my mind to fail.

i was surprised to find that there was a handy little practice test for me to take, so i spend about 15 minutes clicking away, and when im done, i press "done" to grade it. and...yipee! a 45!

with just a slight hint of hesitation, i start the actual test. i finish after 15 minutes, and with a chuckle, i press "done" to reveal my failing score..and i got an 86!

hahaha i literally started laughing out loud in the computer lab.

anyhow..the big booty bash that was supposed to be last week is...tonight?! haha im gonna go clubbing tonight for the first time ever. hehe *shrug* it's worth a try..and plus, it's for carolyn's bday!

babytaiyan: let's go clubbing tongith!!:-D
babytaiyan: for my birthday!!
bam warrior: clubbing?
bam warrior: tonight?
...
bam warrior: hrm..
bam warrior: but..
bam warrior: but..
bam warrior: i dont have any pimp clothes here :-P
babytaiyan: oh please
babytaiyan: mok IS the pimp!!
babytaiyan: =-O

Tony Help Me: you better be dancing w/ guys only
Tony Help Me: i better not hear of you bumping and grinding
Tony Help Me: or i'll be bumping and grinding the back of xiao's hand into your face
Tony Help Me: >:o

don't worry, meson, i got self-control..
..and just in case there are some wacko girls, i got a potato gun too.

college ain't no high school

i must say that im feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. it's probably just this week though. i mean, i never had this dilemna before. in high school, i hardly ever really studied hard for any tests, and even with such half-hearted efforts, i would still receive A's. but now, i studied so much for my tests, to a point where i felt like i knew every single thing there was to know about each of the 4 subjects, and yet, i came up short. it's not like i failed the tests or anything, i got B's on all 4 of them, 3 of them high B's, but i guess i wouldn't be so disappointed if i hadn't studied so much; it's the fact that i DID study so hard that really annoys me. but it's alrite, college better get ready; cuz im about to own it.

lalala anyways, im gonna go ahead and end this poll concerning which of the JPGs is gonna get married first. personally, im pretty confused about the results. alex yang? did everyone get "ALEX" and "LEX" confused, or something? =P ah well, other than the alex yang getting 7 votes, i must say that everything else fell into place pretty much like i expected. in my opinion, i see jeremy getting locked down first, but that's just me.

so now, it's less than a week away from my 19th birthday. so im just wondering, how old do you think i really look? please be honest. im curious.

if at first you don't succeed, pick yourself up and try again..

ok. i am now thoroughly disappointed with myself. after studying my butt off last week, the rewards were not what i expected. after a series of careless mistakes and mental lapses during my test-taking, i now find myself in a position i never found myself before: i need to try HARDER?! what the pooh. i was the ultimate chump last week; i think i might have even set a world record or something for hours studied in a week.

aah what's going on.

Better Days
- Point of Grace

It's a heart attack a minute
In this life down here on earth
We're all stranded right here in it
Wondering what it's worth
There are always threads of trouble
In this tangled web we weave
But tomorrow may just be ok
See here's what I believe

Better days are on the way my friend
Just a ways on down the line
I believe that just around the bend
Everything's gonna be fine
Better days are just a dream right now
It's like all you do is pray
But the world keeps turning
Bringing us better days

Well the storms won't stop descending
And the rain won't cease to fall
And there ain't no use pretending
Cause it's bound to find us all
Well it's easy to get hopeless
And drive yourself insane
But before you stop and set up shop
In the middle of the pain
Remember

I know you've heard all the platitudes
About attitudes and positive thinking
But time just keep marching on
So just hold, on this too will pass
I know you'll see your face in a smile again

I believe in better days

funny how the little things make my day..

NO PAIN, NO GAIN

ouch. my entire upper body is so sore. so i worked out yesterday for the 1st time in 2 weeks, and MAN did it feel good. but i felt the results today when i woke up for class. but hey, you know what they say: no pain, no gain.

anyhow, the weather up here at UT is SO AWESOME!! i even found myself jogging outside yesterday after a terribly draining workout, and trust me, that almost never happens.

anyways, planning on maybe going back home again next weekend, but not too sure yet. bea and jon-erik coming up to UT on october 17-19, so gotta be up here for that :)

bam warrior: when are you and JE planning on coming up?
bam warrior: hehe
froggerinthesky: uhm...october 17-19
froggerinthesky: you guys aren't gonna be in SL, are you?
bam warrior: hehe
bam warrior: just thinking bout that
bam warrior: but nah
bam warrior: i might go back next weekend
froggerinthesky: yeah, i hear lots of ppl are coming back next weekend
bam warrior: oh really?
froggerinthesky: so u all BETTER BE IN AUSTIN on oct 17-19!
froggerinthesky: otherwise....the wrath of the BEAst will be upon you
bam warrior: ............
froggerinthesky: aw come on, you know i'm an idiot
froggerinthesky: :-)
froggerinthesky: you should be used to random outbursts of madness.
froggerinthesky: ....CALCULATED madness...MUAHAHA i am the modern PIGlet.
froggerinthesky: ..get it?! HAMlet..?
bam warrior: .......
froggerinthesky: hehe ^_^

oh, and something about going back home on halloween weekend for PUPPET TEAM?!? hahaha still thinking bout it..

..yes, no, maybe so? iono..

ok i just spent a really long time updating my blog links. im not really sure why i did it, but i hope it helps at least one person out. so now, every link to your left should be a relatively up-to-date blog. no more abandoned blogs/webbies.

slackers. =P

(oh btw, if i accidentally missed your link, just let me know)

oh jonathan MOK? i've heard about you...

welcome to college. every day brings forth new and wonderful opportunities to meet new and interesting people. i must say that i have gotten quite used to attaching names to faces, so thank God for that. however, one thing that kind of bothers me a bit, well, i wouldn't say it bothers me, cuz that's quite a strong word with quite a negative connotation, but let's just say it surprises me whenever i introduce myself to someone as "jonathan" or "mok" or "jonathan mok" and the person already seems to have "heard about me."

i don't know what it is over here, maybe it's the food or the weather or whatever, but im having a bit of trouble reading people's minds over here. so whenever i hear someone say something like that, i never know whether it's a good sign or a bad sign.

with a slight hint of hesitation, i always question, "what exactly have you heard about me?" and the replies vary from "oh, i just heard you're really fast" to "oh, i just heard you're pretty smart" to "oh, i just heard you're from fbcc." but i guess the most confusing replies are the ones that are lacking in words. for instance, when the person just smiles and shrugs, or when he/she just shakes his/her head and walks away.

..heh, im j/k. that last reaction hasn't happened (yet), but it just makes me think: what kind of impression do i give people? in a world where first impressions sometimes make all the difference, does the way i act portray the image that i want to give people?

the thing that astounds me the most is when people say they already knew i was a christian before i told them. i used to think, "no, that's not possible. they're just saying that." but now that i think about it, i believe that it's essential that i demonstrate God's presence in my life through whatever im doing.

im not entirely sure how that really works yet, but trust me, im gonna figure it out soon enough.

the newest addition to me and peter's room...



dude. what is this blasphemy in my dorm room?! what's going on?!

The heart of worship is surrender.

Surrender is an unpopular word, disliked almost as much as the word submission. It implies losing, and no one wants to be a loser. Surrender evokes the unpleasnt images of admitting defeat in battle, forfeiting a game, or yielding to a stronger opponent. The word is almost always used in a negative context. Captured criminals surrender to authorities.

In today's competitive culture we are taught to never give up and never give in -- so we don't hear much about surrendering. If winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable. We would rather talk about winning, succeeding, overcoming, and conquering than yielding, submitting, obeying, and surrendering. But surrendering to God is the heart of worship. It is the natural response to God's amazing love and mercy. We give ourselves to him, not out of fear or duty, but in love, "because he first loved us."

...

You know you're surrendered to God when you rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda, and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don't have to always be "in charge." The Bible says, "Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him." Instaed of trying harder, you trust more. You also know you're surrendered when yo udon't react to criticism and rush to defend yourself. Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships. You don't edge others out, you don't demand your rights, and you aren't self-serving when you're surrendered.

- Rick Warren

what a weekend. went back home, spent some quality time with my sugar land homedawgs, and all in all, thoroughly enjoyed my 2-day stay. home is definitely where the heart is, and i must say, after that 1st night sleeping in my own room again, i once again felt right at home. went on my shopping spree friday night and saturday morning, got a haircut, and then it was time for the talent show. it turned out to be a great success, and to top things off, through sports for charity and the talent show, fbcc helped to raise $20,000 for charity! man, God is awesome!

attended my very 1st FOCUS service today, and to sum it up in a single word: awesomeness. it's amazing being able to see with my own eyes how God's working back at home. i accidentally left my sermon notes at home, but i remember one specific phrase from the message today: giving up our everything to God is the least we can do.

how true is that? in light of EVERYTHING the Big Guy has done for us, surrendering our lives to Him really is the very least we can do.

praise God for this weekend.