jackie9714_rocks's Xanga

no inspiration to write about anything + changed layout

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:42:26 GMT

Recently, I want to write something but I have totally no inspiration. (edit: and changed layout by the way :))

Back in some time ago, a lot of thoughts popped up in my head that I felt like I had to blog about. Sometimes there were too many ideas that I had to scribble them on a memo in case I forgot.

The reason I want to write is because I feel there is an imbalance in my reading and writing. We all know reading is something passive and writing is the other way round, therefore I believe we should write as much as we read to learn to the fullest.

After I woke up this morning, I remember I had this weird dream where a teacher at school gave me a small water bottle because mine was too big... Dreams are always crazy, no matter in a good way nor bad way, but at that moment I thought: Hey, I could write about my dreams!

That could work, since I often dream a lot at night (I know it means my brain doesn't get enough rest, but that's how it is...), I can turn my crazy dreams into interesting stories!

Okay, I have school now, I might try to do that later. ;)

----------
Jacqueline

*just a small thought: Why do couples that are about to get married have to sign a "paper" or something? I thought they love each other enough that they trust each other to be their only other-half...

my birthday + talent night

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:49:49 GMT

***Just a little update on what's going on recently :)

Last Friday was my birthday. It was my first birthday without my family around. It was my first birthday without my helper to be the first one to say “Happy Birthday” to me every year. But I had a great one.

That day was also the Talent Night hosted by where I live and which I signed up to perform. It was actually a competition, but I took it as a performance and I did it just for fun. When I was in Hong Kong, I remember I grumbled to my mom “How come her (my sis) school has “talent show” but not in my school? If my school did, I definitely would do something on the stage because that would be fun!” Now I had the chance, why not grab it?

I sang and played Butterfly Fly Away by Miley Cyrus. I was a bit nervous. It was after all my first time to sing on stage. But once I started to sing, I felt like telling a story to a small crowd of people more than singing. It felt amazing when I saw that the people actually paid attention and listened to my story.

There were only 4 contestants. I won the first prize but I think the most outstanding one was the one who sang and played the piano, you can tell he studies music. I truly want him to know I enjoyed his performance a lot.

I was excited for the whole night. The excitement lasted till the next day…

----------
Jacqueline

color blind... i hope we all were.

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:51:51 GMT

If everyone is color blind, then there is no racism?

This came off my head as I am now reading "The Help". It is an easy-read yet profounding. (will write more about it sooner)

About the book: http://www.amazon.com/Help-Kathryn-Stockett/dp/0399155341/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256621312&sr=1-1

At the same time, the book reminds me of one of my all-time favorite songs:

Song: Love is Color Blind
by Sarah Connor (feat. TQ)

It don't matter if you're black
White or yellow, if you're brown or red
Let's get down to that
Love is color-blind

[Verse 1:]
I remember when
I was a child and couldn't understand
People having fun
Discriminating all the different ones
Mama just used to say
When you grow up you'll maybe find a way
To make these people see
That everything I do comes back to me

[Bridge:]
You gotta live your live
We're all the same, no one's to blame
They gotta live their lives
Just play the game and let love reign

[Chorus:]
It don't matter if you're black
White or yellow, if your brown or red
Let's get down to that
Love is color-blind
You're my brother, you're my friend
All that matters in the very end
Is to understand
Love is color-blind

[TQ:]
I remember as a young boy
I watched my neighbourhood go up in flames
I saw the whole thang through tears of pain
And a situation's rackin' my brain
I wish I could fly away and never come back again
We need some love you all
We need some real deal help from above you all
I mean the kids watchin'
And I just can't see it stoppin', I don't understand
I mean we all bleed the same blood, man!

[Bridge:]
You gotta live your life
Better than our fathers did
Let's make some love, baby, have some kids
They gotta live their lives
And I don't care what color they are, or you are, or we are
It's all love, baby!

[C-Part:]
You have been my mother
You could have been my brother
What if you were my sister
If you were my father?
You could have been my fella
You could have been my teacher
What if you were my friend?
Would be so nice to meet ya

[Verse 2:]
Take it out to the world
Tell every boy and every little girl
Be proud of yourself
Cause you're as good as anybody else
Put away your prejudice
Open your mind, don't need a stick to this
Try to make this earth
A better place without a racial curse

[TQ:]
Yeah, it's time for some changes

[Chorus]

----------
Jacqueline

definition of "LIFE"

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:34:01 GMT

Some time ago when my friends and I were choreographing for a dance competition, I thought "Dance Is Life".

Then, I started to listen to different genres of music, I thought "Music Is Life".

Not long ago, I read a number of quotes and I believed we should "Live ~~For~~ In The Moment".

I still believe in these 3 definitions. And I reckon we should enjoy, treasure and do what we are interested (of course, moderately and rationally), and SHARE with others.

What is your definition of life? Has it ever changed?

----------
Jacqueline

What's the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:20:28 GMT

That happened a week ago..

My laptop was on my desk in my bedroom. At around 2 a.m., I was woken up by a rumbling noise, then I realized it came from my laptop and I saw my laptop glowing. It was scary because at night, at this time, it was particularly quiet and I had never set my laptop to turn on automatically. So I had to get up and switch it off, and the other scary thing was after I powered it off, it restarted itself. What I did was I plugged the power out, removed the dry battery and went back to bed.

This is probably not the scariest thing ever happened but this was what came off my mind. ;)

EDIT: ohh the other scariest thing was the 10 minutes before my grade 8 piano exam. I was waiting outside on the sofa alone, shaking all the way - no matter how hard I tried to tell myself it's nothing BIG.

----------
Jacqueline

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

TRUST

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:39:34 GMT

We live in a world full of trust.

Whenever you get into a bus, you trust the driver is taking you to the right place.

Whenever you take a flight, you trust the aircrew is providing you safety at their best.

Whenever you cross the road, you trust the cars beside you remain rest.

Whatever you learn in school, you trust the teachers are giving the right information.

Whatever food you get from the supermarket, well, you trust the quality by knowing where they are made from.

Whatever building or house you are at, you trust it is not going to fall.

However mad are your parents at you, you always trust them.

However complex is electronics, you have it right in front of you and you trust it is not going to explode.

However hateful is the government, it is still hateful and unbelievably difficult to trust…

Because we trust each other, we work and live together.

Without trust, the world is nothing.

----------
Jacqueline
*It is impossible to go through life without trust: That is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.* - Graham Greene

what i learnt this week

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:02:45 GMT

Sorry guys, haven’t blogged for a while cuz I’ve been having a Microsoft Word diary. XD Life here in Melbourne is pretty nice. Today, I saw horses on the street again :P

In this orientation week, I have met people from different countries. I have learnt a lot about their countries and cultures. More than that, I also realized what is happening on the Earth is actually related to me. I know this is abstract, let me explain more.

In these years, there have been a lot of terrorist attacks (e.g. 9/11), natural disasters (eg. In Si Chuan), all we could do was to give prayers and donations. We know these are tragedies, we feel sorry for the victims and we know the world is trying their best to avoid more of these to happen.

Recently, I met a girl from Indonesia, when she knew there was a tsunami in Indonesia (last week), she was so frightened, shocked and worried and she said “On my god, is that happening AGAIN? WHERE is it?”

This is when I truly feel bad for her. This tsunami is affecting Indonesia, the home country of my friend.

I remember the humongous tsunami in 2004, at that time, there had been a lot of donation activities. I also heard a lot of talks and speeches about it, even my school principal at that time talked about it for the whole morning. Back in the days, I did feel bad for them, but I didn’t think much about it because all I had been worried about was my tests and exams in school. However, when I knew about the tsunami in Indonesia last week and after seeing my Indonesian friend’s reaction, my heart sank to the bottom with much sympathy…

I am glad the tsunami did not affect where my friend lives. But to the people who have to deal with this tsunami, I truly wish everything goes better for you. <3

----------
Jacqueline

How you doing?

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:05:27 GMT

Hi!! Just a quick update and by the way, I miss my guitars!! <333 :P

This is the apple bread I made two weeks ago. I substituted oil to applesauce (as suggested by other recipe viewers on the net), it tasted great. That was the day I became obsessed of applesauce +cinnamon +toast!

Well, this is one boring and flat chocolate cake without chocolate that I made some time ago. XD

So, to make it less boring, I changed the flag. And here you go, a “peace” of cake. Haha. It’s indeed a piece of cake to make. J

Now I’m in Melbourne, school will start in a week. I’m excited. I just arrived here for a few days but I miss my guitars already… Did I mentioned that? XDD

Have a nice day!!!

----------
Jacqueline

Banana Cream Pie

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:46:51 GMT

This is the Banana Cream Pie I made last week:

Well, it doesn't look that appetizing, does it?

The probable reason is because the sliced bananas on top turned black. According to the recipie on the internet, it says I had to bake it, but the comments to the recipie told me not to bake, so I ended up baking it half of the time needed.

Turned out that the bananas on top were not fully cooked, and it got oxidized.

Anyway, it tasted heavenly great. I liked the cream most, its taste was milky, not too sweet and the texture was so smooth!! It was also fun to cook the cream, at first the whole "cream" was watery, but eventually it started to bubble up and became creamy.

I will definitely give a second try. ;)

----------
Jacqueline

Beef and Tomato Pie

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:19:57 GMT

Baked Beef and Tomato Pie last week.

Before cheese melted:

Baked for 2 mins..

Cheese melted!!

Mmm... Done!! :)

Inside the pie, there's mashed potatoes. And from the photo above, you can see ground beef, tomatoes, onions and cheese (cheddar), which is the top layer.

For the pie crust, I bought the "pie crust mix" in CitySuper, I couldn't find that in Welcome nor ParkNShop... :(

We had this pie as a side dish for dinner, but I think it should be a main dish, so did my family. :)

I liked it, my family liked it. It's a pity we couldn't finish it all, the pie was too big. :O

I should have invited my neighbours, but that would be too weird... o_O

It was fun. :)

----------
Jacqueline