I have to give a presentation this Friday and i am having trouble with everything. The colour scheme of the powerpoint bugs me, I don't know which findings to include and which to exclude, and of the findings I've finally decided to include, I don't know how to order them in a sensible fashion. Oh help me. It's a mess.
This is the rough outline of the presentation (for now):
Introduction
Focus Questions: Who are they? Why do they come?
Youths in Singapore: Shrinking percentage
M Youths: Changing structure in TR
Qualitative Research
Methodology
Findings
Characteristics of Youth
Needs and Concerns of Specific Categories
Secondary School
2nd Generation
(should I add Uni? NSmen?)
Youth & Church
Worship
Structure
Why Youths Respond
Leadership
God and Scripture
Relationships
Skills
Models of Youth Ministry that work
Conclusions
Suggestions & Recommendations
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
14:37 Wednesday
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Monday, July 26, 2004
The Run
That's us grinning at the end of the run.
We finished the 10km in 1hr 8mins 51sec. The weather was fantastic - it's amazing how little you sweat - and we just kept on trudging along. The sun was pretty bright though - not used to it as I always run in the evenings here. They had pails and pails of water which they filled up with long green hoses. People were throwing water over their heads as they ran, and if you stood too close, you would get showered on too. After the run, we collected our medal, our orange finisher's T-shirt, a bananna, and went and joined a "cool-down" class. It was a carnival :)
Sunday, July 25, 2004
Sunday musings
I like writing. It makes my vague experiences concrete, validfying my existence.
I have three pieces of toast in the oven. One with tuna and cheese, one with cheese only, and one with nutella. The nutella flavoured ice-cream (called bacchio) we bought at Gold Coast was really good. Like the real stuff, but colder, creamier and less guilty. I had three spoonfuls of nutella from the bottle today. Bottle to spoon to mouth. Yum. I yearn for the ice-cream.
Zaphenath-Paneah was the name Pharaoh gave to Joseph when he made him in charge of the land. It was an Eygptian name - a name from a land that God did not choose. I wonder if it would make a difference whether the story was true or if it was only a metaphor. Is my faith affected if it was only a metaphor? Must there be eternal absolute unchanging truth? I fear becoming postmodern.
I am eating my toast in this order: cheese, tuna&cheese, nutella. What if there was no toast after all, and I am only telling you a story? Would it make a difference to you?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
I'm back, Part II
12 Things that have changed since I've been gone:
- Fish have all died. :( new crop of fish that look almost the same, but not quite.
- $2000 poorer.
- Swam with a sea turtle
- Saw 5 rainbows in a single day while driving on the Great Ocean Road
- Saw a wild kangeroo.
- Frollicked on a deserted beach.
- Found out that my friend likes ice-cream, choc, and all things sweet.
- Found out that same friend likes her pictures to be composed of "30% land; 70% sky".
- Two cows have missing rumps.
- Willing to spend $20 on TWO taxi rides in a single day cos tired of travelling.
- 3500km under belt (consequence, see above)
- Realised that I'm willing to hang out with my friends the day i arrive home even though half-asleep.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
I'm back
Spent 17 lovely days in Australia and now I'm back. This blog looks ugly to me now. I think it is time for a make-over.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Saturday, June 26, 2004
Nasty Brutish Short
That was the phrase that went through my mind while i was ploughing through 4 Lonely Planet books on Australia - a book on the East Coast, one on Victoria, one on Sydney and one on the Great Barrier Reef.
It is past midnight, seven hours before dawn, twelve hours before nightfall, twenty four before the darkest hour, perhaps three hundred and seventy six thousand six hundred and eighty before I die.
Three Crosses. I took this picture in a cold graveyard in Farnborough, UK in April 2003. I like it because it is like the three crosses at Golgotha. 
Friday, June 25, 2004
blink blink
alright sleepyhead, you can get up now. it is after all 2:20pm in the afternoon and the sun is streaming in from the window, enticing the bald plant to grow more shoots. "grow more shoots! replenish your luxuriant leaves! i'll work my sunny disposition and convince the sleepy block to give you lots of prophylactic fish water! heck, maybe a fish will die and get buried by your roots! we can dream what we want can't we?"
we can dream what we want can't we?
erm, actually, no. sorry. you may not; you have not been cleared for access; you failed the qualifying interview; you are not cool beautiful awesome spectacular gifted perservering loyal determined smart lucky enough; you can however, if you wish, get an application from us for an ordinary sized dream. Hurry, 'cos Applications close in the next 26 seconds.
25..24..23..22..21..20..19..18..17..16..15..14..13..12..11..
10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1
time's up baby.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
breakfast
buttered toast with melted cheese, sliced tomatoes and chunks of sausage, and a cup of coffee. heavenly. :)
i would post a picture but i ate it all up already. hee.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
echos
I've had the house to myself the last three days cos the parents are out of town. It has been quiet - my thoughts seem to echo off the walls.
Last night, I sat in front of the TV with a bottle of red wine and a bowl of instant tom yam beehoon. I still have no idea what was showing on TV. I think all I did was just to stare into space and listen to the silence. By the time I got off the sofa at 1:30am, the ground looked wonky. Interesting sensation. I've never gotten high before, and still haven't. I've got a long way to go.
I was thinking the other day what a conservative gal I am. I'm not into body piercings at all, or bungee jumping, or scuba diving, or all night partying, or wild drinking, or free sex, or anything like that at all. All I do is read, hang out with a few close friends, work, sleep, run, eat, and GO TO AUSTRALIA TO RUN THE 10k!!! hee. I had to put that in caps just for the effect.
Gosh, the paragraph above just proves the point.
fly away blue!
blue bottle fly!
Did you know that the last animal brought to court and finally executed by the church was a cow? Unbelievable. It is said that a certain St Bernard unwittingly wiped out all the blue bottle flies in an area by peevishly saying "Be Thou excommunicated" to a fly that was irritating him by flying around his head. What is this??? The locust (the woodworm in "The History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters") was also excommunicated in 1338.
It is hazy outside today - it is that time of the year. Singapore has four seasons - hot, hot & wet, hot & humid, and hot & hazy.
Yesterday I ran for 30mins around Barker Road. Surprisingly, it felt short. :)
I've also started a new blog titled "Afterthoughts".
