* tiny but powerful *

Happy 21st Birthday, David Hsu!
(And...you are still only 3 months older than me! Ha!)

The hair is...gone.

I now have 10 inches of hair (in a ponytail, in a plastic bag) sitting in my purse, waiting to be sent off to Locks of Love.
It's odd to look at it and know that it was attached to my head just an hour ago. The cut end of the ponytail has a really interesting texture, too.

I haven't cut this much hair off at one time since...middle school, I think. So it'll take some getting used to. It's shorter than I really prefer it, but I was considering cutting something along the order of 6 inches anyway...so I figured I might as well cut enough to donate (10 inches minimum). It'll grow back, after all, and otherwise that 6 inches would have gone to waste. So now every time I move my hands up to sweep my hair back, it goes *zshwoop* right where I used to start all my hairbrush strokes. And my head definitely feels lighter. If you're curious, it's now almost exactly shoulder-length. Most of you will see me soon anyway.

At least showering will take much less time. And I'll only use half as much shampoo!

Thanksgiving Edition!

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done." - Psalm 105:1

- having Steve as company for the drive over from Stanford this morning
- realizing that Jenny house is literally only a mile from Sophia's house (they live on different sides of the Danville/Alamo city limit)
- seeing Jenny's house for the first time
- hummus is good stuff
- seeing pictures of little Jenny! (heehee!)
- watching the initiation of their backyard's "waterfall" + the well-timed coincidence of Handel's Water Music on their sound system
- meeting Jenny's friend Hung, who goes to Cal and apparently knows JoEllen and Wendy and some other CV-ers
- stopping by Sophia's house on the way home and seeing the entire Cheng family for the first time in a long time
- driving alone in the Volvo with the radio on is powerfully nostalgic
- chatting with my mom over making the mashed potatoes
- playing around on the guitar with my brother
- sightreading easy Christmas music on the piano
- showering at home (no flip-flops necessary!)
- QT here...feels different, but it's good
- my brother changed his ski trip plans just so he can come to Christmas Show next Saturday
- my mom's uber-yummy cooking (because she knows how I like things! :-D)
- the first time having Thanksgiving with just the four of us
- I *love* mashed potatoes
- cranberry stuff
- fireplace fire = warm = mmmm
- post-dinner laziness in front of the fireplace
- my family always remembers that pumpkin pie is my favorite
- my mom's homemade hot milk tea is the *best*
- my dad's advice for roadtripping
- chatting with my cousin...
    TPiglette: I'll probably be gone on tour when you hear back...
    MrSleep24 7: for that a capella group?
    TPiglette: yup :-)
    MrSleep24 7: yea you guys are good
    MrSleep24 7: i like the guy that does the sound effects
    MrSleep24 7: sounds like he's shooting lightning bolts
    TPiglette: he's become a mini-celebrity around CV
    TPiglette: it's really funny
    TPiglette: people come up to him and say "hey you're that percussionist guy!"
    MrSleep24 7: it's awesome
    MrSleep24 7: lightning bolt dude
- yay for a day of play before the work marathon begins tomorrow...

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Leave it to my brother to pick out two horrendously bad movies. Our two options for tonight were "Willard" (how they managed to fill two hours with a story about some rat-obsessed psycho is beyond me) and "Death to Smoochie." Who in their right mind would rent a movie titled "Death to Smoochie"???

Now I have an answer to the question (a la Testimony's PR Fun Facts), "What is the worst movie you have ever seen?"

Moral of the story: Never send my brother to Blockbuster unattended.

(We did, however, have a wonderfully delicious Thanksgiving dinner. My mommy is the best! And pumpkin pie = SO my favorite! Plus my mom's homemade hot milk tea...mmmm.)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

TFWIAT (+ things left off from previous lists)::
~ Stanford students don't care as much about the rivalry as Cal students do (we never have, not even when we had the Axe for 7 years)
~ getting email from Severine (one of the girls I lived with in Madrid!)
~ Brian said goodbye to my hair: "I'll miss you [hair]...even though you smack me in the face whenever I lead a turn"
- the feeling of a Friday, on a Wednesday!
- Codigo2000 (2:24:00 PM): it was good for me to read, just in terms of understanding and appreciating tina
  Codigo2000 (2:24:25 PM): i like understanding and appreciating tina :-)
- Erin had Isaiah 43 (the worship song) stuck in her head "aalll day"
- ...and then it got stuck in my head after she told me that!
- afternoon naps
- dinner + looots of catching up with Bryan Lung
- Bryan's away message: "Deenar with Tinar!"
- the card-swiper at Stern only charged me for one dinner: "It's all-you-can-eat. *wink*"
- Bryan and I still understand each other totally well
- hanging out in Twain reminded us of memories from sophomore year
- he wanted to keep talking to me even though his sinuses are all stuffed up
- hearing his excitement about FiCS
- his encouragement to me, telling me what gifts I bring to my friendships (thanks Bry...really...wow.)
- he doesn't take me for granted :)
- Minna lending me her Music40 notes for the weekend
- JuKa828 (12:37:18 AM): gnite tinar
  JuKa828 (12:37:21 AM): ngo oi le

JuKa828 (12:06:35 AM): ooh ooh
JuKa828 (12:06:40 AM): i have new cantonese!!!
JuKa828 (12:06:55 AM): ngo mm tsong ih le
TPiglette (12:07:00 AM): sad! :-(
JuKa828 (12:07:05 AM): heehee
JuKa828 (12:07:07 AM): oh for you
JuKa828 (12:07:14 AM): ngo ho tsong ih le
TPiglette (12:07:17 AM): hahaha
JuKa828 (12:07:18 AM): ngo oi le
TPiglette (12:07:18 AM): aw ;-)
...
JuKa828 (12:07:34 AM): and i also walk around saying random things now
JuKa828 (12:07:43 AM): like, i want to eat your chicken
TPiglette (12:07:47 AM): HAHAHA
JuKa828 (12:08:18 AM): ngo srong sek le ge gai
JuKa828 (12:08:22 AM): oh no not ge...shoot
TPiglette (12:08:29 AM): "jek"
JuKa828 (12:08:44 AM): hahaha
JuKa828 (12:08:45 AM): ooh ok
JuKa828 (12:08:57 AM): and even
JuKa828 (12:09:03 AM): "i dont like you. i want to eat your dog."
JuKa828 (12:09:11 AM): hahahaah
...
JuKa828 (12:09:36 AM): ngo ge so si hai bing do ah?
JuKa828 (12:09:51 AM): ah, hai li do
...
JuKa828 (12:12:12 AM): ngo tsong ih ngo jek gao
TPiglette (12:12:20 AM): yes, we all know that
JuKa828 (12:12:27 AM): mm goi

Impressive! ;)

----
*Addendum:
JuKa828 (12:14:31 AM): i hope i still remember how to pronounce all this
JuKa828 (12:14:37 AM): oh rats
JuKa828 (12:14:40 AM): i was going to walk up to you
JuKa828 (12:14:46 AM): and say "i want to eat your duck"
JuKa828 (12:14:51 AM): but now i've spoiled that surprise
...
JuKa828 (12:15:25 AM): oooh i could also say
JuKa828 (12:15:39 AM): "qi so hai bing do ah? ngo mm tsong ih sek gai"
TPiglette (12:16:15 AM): right...

TFWIAT::
- surprise lunch with my dad yesterday
- listening to David play piano and sing
- Testimony singing at the World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil
- hot chocolate and pretty candles
- Justin and Jimmy putting up with me being in their project group
- Erin sharing her poem with me
- rediscovering my journal entry from May 2, 2003
- a class-wide extension on the ChemE150 problem set, since the 150A project was due today
- my brother, born 18 years ago!
- Chi-En asks good questions
- stillness in prayer with Tmony
- everything Rob does or says is somehow hilariously funny
- Lisa and I were so on the same wavelength: "this feels like backstage before an orchestra concert!"
- dinners after Tuesday rehearsal...always a party at Wilbur Dining
- Erin
- tonight's RUF = *so relevant* to my life right now
- Ephesians 4:11-16. especially verse 16.
- Mindi's baked desserts...mmm
- David taught me two new chords on the guitar!
- teaching David how to play Twinkle, Twinkle on my violin
- teaching Adam how to play Twinkle, Twinkle on my violin
- teaching Mindi how to play Twinkle, Twinkle on my violin
- what a successful night of teaching!! :-D
- Felix helping me with the ChemE150 even on his night off from schoolwork

balee42 (12:46:38 AM): Yay!!
balee42 (12:46:52 AM): I shall now do the dance of joy.
balee42 (12:46:55 AM): *dance*
balee42 (12:46:59 AM): Okay, done.

Happy 18th Birthday, Tim!!!
Wow, my little brudder is growing up. I love you and I will see you soon!

How do you tell when it's time to give up?

StanfordGirl82 (2:19:02 PM): hahahhahahahaaaa
StanfordGirl82 (2:19:03 PM): oh Tina
StanfordGirl82 (2:19:05 PM): hahahhahaaaa
StanfordGirl82 (2:19:10 PM): so I was talking to Eric
StanfordGirl82 (2:19:21 PM): and he was wondering what time I was getting off lab
StanfordGirl82 (2:19:24 PM): and I said oh probably around 5
StanfordGirl82 (2:19:49 PM): and he said "will the lab be closing then, or could I stop in to look around"
StanfordGirl82 (2:19:52 PM): hahahhahahahahahahaaaa
StanfordGirl82 (2:19:57 PM): does lab close???
StanfordGirl82 (2:19:59 PM): hahahhahahahaaaaa
StanfordGirl82 (2:20:09 PM): we would not be mad scientists if lab closed!!
StanfordGirl82 (2:20:12 PM): hahahahahahahhahaaaaa
StanfordGirl82 (2:20:18 PM): *maniacal laughter*

Two days' worth of TFWIAT (Things For Which I Am Thankful (now more grammatically correct))::
[ Friday ]
- prayer buddying with Josie ... first week of prayer buddies for my action group!
- seeing Ann/Jeff and Kat/Bonnie also meeting in the dining hall
- alto sectionals are uber-efficient
- altos' interchangeable-ness (fun with wardrobes!)
- borrowing Victoria's pretty skirt and sweater for Ragtime Ball
- dinner with my roomie, which actually doesn't happen often
- Kari: "...I forgot who we're talking about."
- (check the quote page)
- retelling dinner quotes to Justin and laughing so hard my stomach hurt
- Eric Liu's silliness
- entering the lindy contest with Neal: "I intended to get us eliminated. But not that quickly. Sorry!"
- amazing dance performances! Yay everyone! (too many to name!)
- Brian's selflessness in DJ'ing the other room the whole night
- having so many Tmony-ers (past and present) at Ragtime
- waltzing to a Billy Joel song
- the live band played extra music at the end
- things make so much more sense when I write in my journal
[ Saturday ]
- running Opening rehearsal by myself this morning: everyone was so cooperative and hard-working! Thanks guys!
- Brian is a great demo partner
- Brian rushing home to get his other waltz CD's because someone had forgotten to return the originals to me
- prayer buddying with Lisa and Tony
- making fun of the Backstreet Boys album playing in Wilbur Dining
- it's hard to learn and follow God's lessons...but it's good for me
- laughing at the prank call I got on my cell phone from a random Cal student trying to heckle me (I mean, c'mon, you've got to have better things to do with your time? This guy must've gotten my number off of the Voluntary Student Organization directory on the Stanford website)
- free pizza
- Big Praise, even though the worship style was somewhat hard to connect with (it makes good "exercise" once in awhile)
- Erin is lovable even when she's grumpy
- seeing Christians from so many different fellowships all gathered in one place
- having Erin to cry with (I love you!)
- honest, vulnerable prayer
- that God really is our Father...even if we're still learning what that really means
- meeting Marcus, whom evidently I had met at Chinese Bible Church back in high school -- he remembers me, but I didn't remember him (*sheepish look*) ... it's such a small world!
- so many Tmony-ers/alumni at Big Praise
- girldates with Chi-En
- yummy pumpkin pie at Jeff/Alan's housewarming party
- so many Crusade people in one place hanging out and having fun
- seeing Christine (and BV)!
- seeing Jessica Hastings!
- Chi-En got to meet more Crusade people
- laughing with Chi-En (and at her...heeheehee)

More Things I'm Thankful For::
- in-person and in-the-morning Core meetings
- seeing my Tmony-ers happy with last night's performance
- Mike's email saying he's glad he gets to be my Opening partner
- Chi-En wants to hear what's been on my mind
- pictures from last night's dorm show! (yay ALTOS! yay girlcore!)
- okay, the sops, tenors, and basses are cool too ;)
- Mindi's fabulous cooking (teriyaki salmon...mmmm)
- Mindi made a salad that I actually ate and enjoyed (*GASP*)
- the coziness of David/Mindi's home
- getting to know Martha better
- telling them more about Testimony
- Mindi: "Oh, no, Tina! You've given him another catch phrase! Now he's going to say that to me all the time!" (re: "Where Is The Love?") ... hahaha, they are *so* adorable
- creme-brulee ice cream
- jamming with another violinist (there's nothing quite like violin harmony)
- David is *amazing* on the guitar
- teaching Mindi how to hold a violin and bow
- exploring through old hymnals
- hearing a non-Tmony version of "My Jesus, I Love Thee"
- time away from campus

Things I'm Thankful For::
- playing violin for worship (it's such a different mindset/experience)
- Eric can speak into my life like no one else really can
- Adam/Jenn's prayer for me last night
- encouragement from Steve (previous Tmony director)
- having such troopers on Core this year
- being adopted into Ssonia/David's prayer buddy meeting at lunch today
- getting work done during the afternoon
- sore fingertips from practicing violin (doublestops and octaves, whee)
- being challenged musically during my lessons
- Kevin sent me an email just to say thanks for being his director (sooo sweet)
- Jenn found my cell phone!
- Jenn coming by to see if I could have dinner with her
- Chi-En joining us at dinner
- mashed potatoes = yum
- Nolan Sharpe's story at Crusade tonight (wow. I have a lot to think about.)
- Eric wants to stay at *Stanford* for law school! :-D
- finding a parking spot right in front of Kinko's
- Testimony's fun with digital cameras
- a packed lounge for our dorm show at Zapata
- so many Testimony alumni (Bryan, Chi-En, Jenn, Sanghyup) there to support us
- Jarreau's courage and honesty in his testimony
- sumptim wong (12:52:12 AM): goodnight, tina! i love you! =)

BOO TO AIM. PLEASE just let us finish our Core meeting!!!!

Thanks, guys. I wasn't looking for praise, but I appreciate the encouragement. This isn't really about what I've already been doing, but rather what I should be doing from here on out. Right now I (and Core) could really use prayer for wisdom, discernment, and discipline in how to be a good leader. I have a lot to learn. Pray also that I would remember this is not about me.

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." - 1 Corinthians 15:58

I love Testimony. And I love Crusade, and Opening, and Kids Community, and my new combination of Music and ChemE. I love my friends: the old friendships that I've been able to keep close (I'd been a little worried about that), and the new connections that I have the resources to nurture this year (whereas I wasn't at a place, personally, to do so last year). The best thing about all this is that I know God wants these things to be important to me. So I feel very good about where I'm spending my time this year. God is good.

A 'berachah' that I wrote at action group tonight:

"Blessed be the Lord, who teaches His children to know and delight in His goodness. He shows us the error of our ways and sheds light onto our paths. Praise be to God, for every good gift and blessing comes from above. May we grow in opening our hearts to His guiding hand and our eyes to His wisdom. God alone is the answer; only in Him we are whole. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

We decided in action group tonight that we're going to try having weekly prayer buddies! Yay! I'm spreading the prayer buddy virus!

We had *four* Testimony freshmen at the Swing Kids dance tonight! Yay for Kevin, David, Tony, and Victoria! Jarreau and Lisa had wanted to come, too, but sadly they couldn't make it. I am slowly spreading the social dance virus through new Tmony. ;) I'm really proud of all the new dancers! Kevin did really well in the beginners' lesson, and Victoria picked up things amazingly quickly when she arrived later in the evening. David and Tony already knew some swing before Stanford, so tonight I taught them both how to lindy hop.

The dance was fun, but I'm back early again for the same reasons as last week (my back hurts, and I need to get up early tomorrow). It was refreshing to swing dance for a change, since most of my dancing nowadays involves waltzing. It was also great to dance with many dance friends whom I rarely see anymore. Unfortunately, I think the Toyon floor was hard on my back -- maybe I'm too accustomed to the sprung floor in Roble? It was either that, or the fact that I already danced for three hours at Opening rehearsal this morning, or the fact that I haven't subjected my back to such a large dose of swing dancing in a long time. Perhaps all of the above.

Oh, my brain hurts. Predestination is SO the hot topic of the year. Seriously. I think tonight (at least, the post-talk discussion in my room; before that I was rather confused and muddled) may have cleared up some of my issues...maybe. Like I said, my brain hurts. I feel like a lot of this is just a problem of semantics. Sigh.

"I want to know You more..."

Current Music:: Vertical Horizon - "Finding Me"
Technically, I started blogging exactly two and a half years ago today. But soon thereafter I went for about four months without blogging at all, so I haven't really been blogging for 2.5 years. It's cool that I've finally been able to consolidate my first month's posts onto this blog, though (before, it was on a separate blog because the first one I created had chronic problems, and I ditched it to start a new one. But now with the "change time & date" feature, I was able to re-enter those old posts into this blog). It's definitely interesting to look back at all the old stuff I've written here. My writing style has changed a lot.

My poor paper journal has been horribly neglected. I need to start paying more attention to it. Journaling was such an important part of my growth while I was in Spain. If I know that it's so good for me, why don't I just do it? I suppose that's the story of my life for lots of things. :-P

JuKa828 (8:22:55 PM): whatcha doing?
TPiglette (8:23:08 PM): history reading
JuKa828 (8:24:23 PM): you fuzzy ;-)
TPiglette (8:24:29 PM): BAH
TPiglette (8:24:30 PM): NO

Whoa. November 12th is a Wednesday again. Just like it was 6 years ago. I guess that makes sense. (Moving one day of the week per year, plus an extra for leap year.)

Current Music:: Jars of Clay - "This Road"
Guitar is so cool. I want to learn more! I know, I know - I'd have to find time to practice if I actually want to get better. Wishful thinking there...

School is still busy. But this week is much better than last week. And TSF is over! I wrote all 7 of my letters within 12 hours - woohoo. Proofreading last night went relatively well (due mostly to the fact that we have significantly less letters this quarter), so we should be set to turn everything in tomorrow. Many thanks to Eric for his help as the TSF Sage (even though he's not in Tmony anymore).

Quick updates::
- Yay for girldates. :) Meep!
- My kids were sooo hyper at church on Sunday. One of our shyest kids (the lead pastor's oldest son) started to open up a little more, which was really cool to see.
- A more-detailed post about Saturday's Caedmon's Call/Jars of Clay concert will be forthcoming.

Tonight's "Vietnamese Ball" (a badly-named teaser event, put on by the Viennese Ball Committee) was fun (we indoctrinated a new Tmony person into the world of social dance, and even Steve showed up towards the end), but I left early because I'm really tired. It's been a long week, and my back was starting to get tired too, so I figured that I shouldn't push it (especially with Opening rehearsal at 9:00am tomorrow morning). So I want to sleep. But...Branner is having a party. Which is loud and obnoxious. And my room is on the Branner-side of Kimball. Booooo.

I got a 93/100 on the musicianship exam!!

Yay for being done - no more midterms, and it's Friday!

The ChemE150 midterm was LONG. We were given 3 hours (more like a final than a midterm), and I still ran out of time. It was one of those "write frantically up until the last second" exams. But at least it didn't completely demolish me. I just wish I knew the material better so that I could have gotten through the difficult problems more quickly. I was taking forever on the first few (there were NINE questions total - yes, NINE) before I decided I had to skip stuff and move on -- and luckily, the last half of the exam was way easier than the first half. So I got through to the end, but I didn't have enough time to finish all the stuff at the beginning. I'm just glad it's over. I'd been really stressed out about it, so now that's a huge load off my shoulders.

Tomorrow morning I have to take the musicianship part of my Music 23 midterm. I've already done the harmonic and rhythmic dictation parts of it, but now I have to do the other parts that require preparation (singing one line while playing the other parts, vocalizing a rhythm while clapping the tempo, and realizing figured bass without writing anything out). Compared to ChemE, this will seem like a piece of cake. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but music is certainly a lot less stressful. I think it's because being at Stanford has given me the general sense that "I can't do ChemE" but "I can do music."

After tomorrow, I will be done with midterms!

From Erin's blog::

--The Story of Purple--

Tina: Since when did you have a purple backpack?!
Erin: *confused*
Tina: Remember when I told you that purple was your color and you said "noooo!"
Erin: Ooohhhh...
Tina: and your mom sent you a purple purse with a purple pen and a purple notebook
Erin: I have since embraced my purple identity...
Tina: Ha! I knew it! Hahahahhahahaaa

Silly girl. ;)

I've finally updated the quote page for the first time in four months. There aren't too many new ones (I've been delinquent), but the ones I've managed to catch are pretty funny. :) Enjoy.