Watching a movie, 3 units.

It is my habit that I only watch a movie once, either in cinema or on DVD, however good it is. Watch it twice and the flavour is gone.

There are, of course, exceptions. A few of them, in fact.

Huge fan as I am, I still think Music and Lyrics is crap.

half empty, half full.

I always see my glass half full. Always.

Like, I would say, "Yippee! Today is Thursday already!!", when my husband would go, "Sigh, it's only Thursday." Of course the fact that his job is 100 times more stressful and demanding than mine doesn't help him a lot.

But then again, it's Thursday already! The long weekend is almost around the corner!

Plus we are going to see Shrek 3 tonight!

Life is beautiful after all.

愛是。

在臨睡前，你跟你老公談天，你繪形繪聲不停口地說着一大堆你認爲很有趣的生活瑣事呀八卦消息呀公司gossip呀等等等等。兩秒之後，你老公跟你說：“嘩大笨，你好無聊呀。”

Scottish Folds. Persian. Siamese. Bombay. Chinchilla.

若一個人只愛名種貓，不愛家貓流浪貓，那人還算不算愛貓？

但這些人世界上真的有許多。我認識的也有不少。他們都不是壞人，也是真心愛他們的名種貓咪。只是他們的愛沒有引申到那些樣子可能不太討好的街貓罷了（即是可以選擇的話他們會去寵物店買貓而不會去領養）。

唉，人總是膚淺的，只愛看漂亮的東西（包括靚仔靚女）。

但我真的覺得我的豬仔包好可愛囉咩唧。

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其實我家小寳也是來自寵物店。本來打算入店混吉一輪就走，但當我一抱起那時仍是豆丁般大的小寳，他便不停的purr（即是從肚子裏發出，代表他很開心的那些聲音），又黏着我不願我放下他，於是我便真的沒有再放下他了。之後良心不斷受責難（我一直也堅持只會領養不會買），惟有去流浪貓中心贖罪。如是者我的生命便多了隻豬仔包。

想說的是，無論你的動物朋友是身價不菲或是人棄你取，都要盡力愛他們。他們可能是你生命的一部分，但你卻是牠們生命的全部。全部喎！好大的責任喎！

停一停，諗一諗。

Quote. Unquote.

"Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse." ----- Philip Yancey

Planet Earth

Watched the first episode of Planet Earth with BB last night.

I have always liked the BBC documentaries narrated by Sir David Attenborough. It's always entertaining, almost like watching a movie. And because the DVD we bought was a high definition one, the graphics were jaw-droppingly stunning.

I think the review on Amazon.com says it all: "...Planet Earth is quite simply the greatest nature/wildlife series ever produced....Accompanied by majestic orchestral scores by George Fenton, every episode is packed with images so beautiful or so forcefully impressive (and so perfectly photographed by the BBC's tenacious high-definition camera crews) that you'll be rendered speechless by the splendor of it all."

I doubt if anyone who watches this is not touched by the wonders and grandeur of this world (and all things in it). It's as if God was saying to us, "You who do not believe, look at this! Who else is capable of such creation, with such perfect cycle and harmony!"

I always feel closest to God when I watch natural history documentaries.

返教會。

星期六，我跟爸媽去了一間在我家附近的中文教會，出席它的周六崇拜。

我之前從來沒有到過那教會，所以有點擔心，不知它的崇拜形式怎樣，會不會嚇走/悶走我爸媽。曾想過，不如我去當探子，先返一個星期，覺得好才帶爸媽去。但朋友說，你帶父母返教會，是好事，神一定會保守你們的。

於是我們三個人，戰戰兢兢的踏進教會。

結果是，神再次證明給我看，一切事情都在祂掌握中。講道有關父親節，牧師說一些他跟他女兒的生活事，又說些父母經，我爸媽在幾個笑位都有些反應，證明他們沒有恰眼瞓。（嘩，看見他們笑，我即刻鬆一口氣！）。

我媽比我爸好像更爲受落（她甚至跟我弟弟說：“不如你下次跟我哋一起返啦！”），這個我也能理解 --- 她的一個篤信佛教的好朋友去年中風，昏迷了３個多月後奇跡醒來，經過多次手術，現在康復過來，更奇跡地信了主。這對我媽是一個挺大的影響。雖然我爸還有點猶疑，但我自有一套“對付”他的策略：“喂老豆，我哋下星期返完教會之後，我帶你去食好好味漢堡包吖！”“咦，好噃！”感謝神給我一個這麽嗜食的父親。

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一切都比我想像中順利。以前我常問神也問自己，爲何向家人傳福音會這麽困難？爲何自己沒能力也沒勇氣向他們說自己的信仰（我當年受浸也沒告訴家人，“現在不是時候”我跟自己說。）。現在謎底開始揭開，原來一切自當有時。Timing。

神的timing，你永遠也估不到；但祂的timing，永遠是perfect的。

嘩，好勁。

（羅馬書８章２８節果然係永恒金句。）

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett

Did you watch Buffett and Gates Go Back to School yesterday on Pearl?

I was most impressed with Warren Buffett's answers, which were succint and genuine, sometimes humourous, and always inspiring.

Two things he said that I remember particularly - that public speaking is the most important skill/asset that one should acquire, and that the paramount quality a good leader should possess is the ability to bring out the best in people. This is coming from a 77-year-old who has spent a good part of his life running a hugely successful and profitable business, and who is dedicated to "making this world a better place". So, you better listen to what he's got to say!

Two of the world's most powerful and richest people sharing their perspectives on life, work, philanthropy, and everything else - it is a programme too good to miss.

呃稿費。

中午時分，坐在office，大腦開turbo （平時返工都冇咁搏盡），希望藴漾靈感，在這兒寫點什麽。

20分鐘（吃完一碗魚蛋魚腐米綫）後，決定放棄。腦袋便秘，誰也拿它沒法。

這可能也是幸福的反映 -- 生活中沒有什麽值得報告的事情，一切如常運作。平淡是福。

（嘩，我呢種心態，真的絕對有條件做師奶。）

（我都話我份工好得閒傢啦，可以用15分鐘發呆，然後再用30分鐘打這篇文。嘿嘿。）

（但我工作時真的很勤力嗰喎，又盡責，交功課又快又準（下省3000字...)。 唔信問我老闆吖。）

You could grow a baby in seven months.

(OK you could not, but you know what I mean. Or you don't. Whatever.)

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Last week, the long-awaited reprints of our wedding photos were finally ready for pick up. Before we hired Raymond, our wedding photographer, we had been fore-warned about his lack of efficiency when it comes to "post-wedding productions". We went ahead and hired him nevertheless because we were truly impressed with his photography skills and passion.

Anyway. Fast-forward to February this year, 3 months after our wedding, and we had a first look of our wedding pictures (in A3 casting sheets - we had to use a magnifying glass to help us see the pictures clearly). It was worth the wait. Both BB and I were really glad we hired him to shoot us on probably the biggest day in our lives. We quickly went through all the thumb prints and asked him to help us develop some reprints, so that we can send the photos to our friends and relatives.

That was another four months' wait.

Anyway, now we have all the reprints, and very shortly we will be sending the photos and thank-you cards (which are now being printed and will be ready in two weeks) to all our guests. I know some of them have been waiting patiently for our thank you notes (which should according to western custom be sent within a month after getting married)...

It feels great when the last task on your "wedding to-do list" is about to be accomplished :)

榮幸。

剛與E通電話。E是我的舊同事，大家以前在律師行工作時是鄰居（她的office在我隔壁），又同是基督徒，所以會常常互相扶持鼓勵（在我們的舊公司，不互相扶持鼓勵的話，會發癲的）。

後來我們倆都離開了律師行，做了in-house counsel （公司法律顧問）。但依舊保持聯絡。

今天和E通電，因爲她正在轉工，現在有幾個機會在面前，每個機會也有優點缺點。“所以我想找個我信任的人談談，看看她有什麽意見。”她認爲我就是那個她信任的人。

心理由衷的覺得榮幸。能夠得到別人的尊重與信任，比任何東西也來得珍貴。

其實以前我都覺得我思想都算挺成熟的，分析能力也可以。但人大了，認識的人多了，便越發覺跟很多人相比，自己其實不外如是（有時甚至幼稚得很 -- 叫得大笨，可以有幾醒吖？）。 話雖如此，現在E對我投以信任票，我當然也會盡力替她分析，希望協助她做出適當的選擇。臨收綫時，我不忘加一句“I will pray for you.”畢竟到最後，人所知道所掌握到的都有限，只能依靠上帝的大能引領。

忘了說，其實E也是我很信任的人。她經歷過的事，不是每個人也能熬過，但她卻能把一切都化爲榮耀歸於神。對她，我有無比尊重。

Where is God when it Hurts?

I started reading Philip Yancey's "Where is God when it Hurts?" this morning on my way to work. The very first paragraph in Chapter One captured me immediately:

"I feel helpless around people in great pain. Helpless, and also guilty. I stand beside them, watching facial features contort and listening to the sighs and moans, deeply aware of the huge gulf between us. I cannot penetrate their suffering, I can only watch. Whatever I attempt to say seems weak and stiff, as if I'd memorised the lines for a school play."

Philip Yancey is my favourite Christian writer, and for good reasons. He always approaches sensitive and difficult topics from a very practical perspective, with honest sharing of his life experience. He does extensive research - not just in the library or on the Internet for theories and analysis, but by speaking to real people with real issues, which makes his books a lot more human and touching. Reading his books is like a walk in the park, except that you leave the park with a stronger biblical faith without realising it.

回家。

過去兩星期，我流了很多眼淚，也思考了很多事情。

我思考得最多的一件事情，是關於天堂。

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星期二晚，葬禮進行期間，我坐在教堂裏，聼着A的太太，親人，好友忍着眼淚跟我們分享A的生平趣事。我看見安詳地睡在棺木裏的A。我看着一段有關A由兒時到大的photos slide show，包括一張於去年聖誕節大夥兒在我們家開派對時拍下的照片。我忍住淚在台上讀了詩篇121篇。我唱了很多歌頌上帝的聖詩。

那晚，我哭了很多。但同時間，我不斷在想：不知道A現在怎樣？他會不會正在天堂，看着他最愛的DVD，吃着他最愛的Mos Burger，完全不知道我們為他哭？還是他特地從天堂走了下來，坐在我們當中，為我們的傷心而難過？

實情是，我心裏真的有這麽一丁點點羡慕他，現在終於可以踏足天堂。永生的盼望終於實踐。不知道天堂是怎麽樣的呢。

我們相信基督的人，在眼淚流盡過後，還有信心和盼望。我們相信終有一天會在天家重聚，我們盼望這一天到臨。我們知道，我們現在說了再見，以後真的是會再見的。這是痛失親人的人最大的安慰。

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前幾天，我跟父親說：“不如我帶你返教會吖”。父親的第一反應是：“唓，你間教會講英文嘅。”（而不是“唓我都唔信嘅/唔好搞我/講耶穌悶死人啦/等等照頭淋冷水答案。）心裏暗喜。即是如果我帶他去一家中文教會他就不會抗拒啦。我跟他說，如果他跟媽咪都信了主的話，我便死而無憾了。我說這話時的認真，希望他會感受到。

真的。知道自己雖然要離開，但跟心愛的人會有重聚的一天，還有什麽需要牽掛？

當年今日。

今年的六四，爲了種種原因，令人倍加傷感。

悼念活動我不會去了，但歷史，我亦不會忘記。

一段。

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." --- 2 Timothy 4:7-8

“那美好的仗我已打過了，當跑的路我已經跑盡了，所信的道我已經守住了。從此以後，有公義的冠冕為我存留，就是按着公義審判的主到了那日要賜給我的；不但賜給我，也賜給凡愛慕他顯現的人。” --- 提摩太後書4章7-8節