ya noe, i think the blogger is back! i hope she is.

there's many times in the day i'd think, "i want to blog this down!" but when i get home which is late, like 1245am tonight, i would be to tired or lazy to blog or worse, i would have forgotten what it was! like tonight. just at the beginning of supper min, i had a great blogging idea... but seriously, as i travelled the 90 mins home, i couldnt, for the love of me, remember what it was that i had so wanted to blog.

small wonder why writers who are serious (i think) about writing carry around pocket books to scribble writing ideas (not unlike what i did on the feeder bus past midnight tonight, trying to scribble down whatever's that's left of my million blogging topics!). no wonder too then that some writers carry around a tape recorder, and instead of scribbling frantically on whatever scraps of paper they can find, simply press the "record" button n speak discreetly into it. this method, i conclude, is no too bad for an illegible writer like me. but, not something i m crazy enough to do.

what i m crazy enough to do, however, is spending loads of money on books. i decided, after walking out of borders tonight, that my number one obsession is books. if you were to add up the value of the books i own... it'll come up to... (i had actually left the comp to go to my shelves to do a rough calculation!) at least $3000. and not to mention that i've only begun to accumulate this when i started working. so... in the short 6 n half years, i have enmassed alot! n mind you, i only bought them during sale (i get staff price!) so can u imagine the retail value? n these are just books i kept for myself. n i give books as presents. so yeah... i ve spent way more than what i have got left on the shelves! n hmmm... there's many books i've loaned out that's gone missing too... sigh. a small price to share the riches of knowledge? (haha... sorry kinda cheesy today... dunno why)

since i m talking abt books, let me tell you that for b'day, i ve gotten

- C.S Lewis' "Weight of Glory". which i have just finished. it was a delightful surprise fr M1 L. n it was a small miracle in itself cos it was small chance that anyone could get me a book that i hadnt already own. n on top of that, a book that i wanted to buy (like real soon, at the staff sale!) more on lessons from the book another time.

- $20 Borders gift card. from my lovely staff team. besides the wonderful card and dim sum treat. that's the reason for my late night borders shopping today after Supper Min cos today's the last day for the 30% online voucher. so i grabbed the chance to buy books there at 30% less. got "Masterclass in watercolours, oils, acrylics and gouache" and "starbucked".

so yeah... the borders gift card paid for "starbucked" which is, no prizes for guesses, on the story of starbucks! (did i tell u i love starbucks? i think it's revolutionary in creating a culture that was unthinkable. who would have thought you could sell a cup of coffee at $5 and pp would queue for it? v much like stories on Mac, Coke etc. culture changers, trend-setters. i love innovation n creativity, n of course world domination! wahaha. ok... i got carried away. more of that in another blog entry way later.) i had a hard time putting down Khaled Hosseini's "Kite Runner" and "a thousand splendid suns". it's only when i was nearing the cashiers' ( it was a v long queue!) that i decided, since i got a kino voucher from my company as bday gift, i shall buy "Kite Runner" with that.

- $10 Kinokuniya Voucher. refer to above.

(gotta note here that i've also gotten many other stuff that i really m thankful for. im blessed with lots. not so much abt the gifts, i'm talking abt their givers.)

so yeah... books are my obsession! i had even been toying with the idea of stopping work for a year to read, self-study (i dont have money to finance my studies la), paint, take pics! n if i do, then i'll be a frequent sight at starbucks! haha. which one i wont tell ya! more hahas.

sigh... dream on. if i dont work, where got money to paint? or buy frappucinos? chey. dream on darling!

wow i can really rattle on eh? oh oh, more thoughts. quick grab them!

i m energised by my book purchases! n i do really need to budget book money. i cant juz spend on them. someone (i forgot who... no surprises there) told me that sometimes spendthrift-ness (err... wat s the word or its correct form?) can be mistakenly labelled as generosity or masked by good bargains n we dont get to deal with our lack of discipline in handling money. well, i think i need to look into this area. i cannot be penny wise yet dollar foolish.

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on my way out of the train station (oh i boarded the last train again tonight), my MP3 was playing "i can only imagine" n i think the line that caught my attention went like " when your face is before me...blah blah..." n i began imagining



well, if i m to see God face to face... i'd know i'm home. finally. that's when all my desires n pining will be fulfilled. the ache n pain (Rom 8:23) will be soothed. my joy shall be unexplanable yet complete, tho incomprehensible to me now. i know i shall be still. words will be too empty. i know i would cry tears of joy if there'll be tears in heaven (Rev 21:4). crying juz thinking abt it now

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i cant even begin 2 thank u for your love! u never fail 2 amaze me with how deep your love is. i know n believe ur every "i love yous".