Thirsty

I am thirsty for overwhelming refreshment from God's words.

Lies that bother me right now:
No one knows me. I am useless. It won't get much better.


Why do Christian go through "the cycle"? the spiritual cycle with up hills and valleys. Why can't we just plant our heart in truth we knew and know! God, help me to think straight. God, help me to realize I am already dead and I am living a new life. Help me to live only for you...

Diving into God's Will

Last Thursday, Colonel Steve Keith spoke.
He said, "It is a sin to include God in your plan." He repeated, "I say it again. It is a sin to include God in your plan." Then, he continued, "We must be IN God's plan."

Let us stop making a silly attempt to pull God, the almighty, the biggest and the greatest, into our little plans.

Rather, let us dive. Dive into His plan.

Bobcat Jacket

Back of the Jacket

 

The mascot for my sonority-like-university-organization is bobcat, as you might have guessed. Currently, I am their designing officer. This semester’s project is track jackets.

I don’t know how much time I have spent on this. Although it is a great time killer, I have learned important lessons through the project.

 

First lesson: I can't always strive for the ideal.

As an artist, I strive to pull out the ideal from any work that I do. However, with an impending deadline that affects about fifty other bodies, I have to learn when to stop appropriately.

Second lesson: I can't please everyone.

Not everyone is going to buy the track jacket. Some won't, simply because they don't like my design.

Third lesson: Screen printing is common for 

customizing apparels. and adding color& location 

of prints cost money. Less is more.

-Design Process-

1) I sketched a rough idea on paper.

2) I used a tablet to copy the idea on adobe illustrator.

Idea #1

Idea #2

3) Then I edited them QUITE A BIT, spending hours and hours.

Edited #1

Edited #2

4) Voting process with the other officers.. and then more editing..yay...

Finally...heww..

Personally, I like the second design. It has more stories and meanings to it. Some people have said it would be more fitting for t-shirt not track jacket. 

The second was harder to edit, because it had more details and lines. Plus, simply because my file didn't get saved twice, after several hours of work.  

Almost always, seeing through LCD screen and on the real apparel are quite different. I can't wait to see how it is going to turn out. When it comes, I will post the real product ASAP! 

Engineering Process

In my Introduction to Engineering class, all of us students are now facing a real-life, fascinating engineering project. We are developing a micro-hydro generator for a missionary village in Papa New Guinea. The village is much secluded from normal society. Located deep in the mountain, about 4000 ft altitude above. 8 hours of driving one, miscellaneous road is the only way to the actual town.

Since the village is so far away from the civil electrical source, the village needs to have self-sufficient power system. Right now, the missionaries are using the solar energy. Although it is meeting the minimum power needs, one of the houses is completely out of electricity and we see the need of improvement. We attempt to make that improvement by installing a micro-hydro generator by the stream near the village. 

Micro-hydro simply means involvement of water. (Just another fancy name to call ordinary things in special ways to spicy up our lives. Water generator or micro-hydro generator which is your pick?)

Theoretically, engineers go through the five steps of the Engineering Precess.

1. Defining the problem: the missionaries considerably lack of electrical power!

2. Brainstorming: a few designs are being discussed right now. 

3. Evaluating the ideas: 

4. Experimenting the idea:

5. Optimizing the idea:    

The brainstorming part often leaves me a satisfying feeling. It always seems carried out poorly and shut down too quickly. Have you had a real brainstorming session that enlighten your brain significantly?

 There are ten teams in the class. The best design will be selected and be supported to actualize the project. This is sure exciting. More research should I start now. 

Discipline

"Easy! easy..!

Look. life is still beautiful.

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See? we've got time.

Everything depends on 

one's view of life.

Picture positive things.

take a breath and 

get some life, my friend!"

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"Many have ambitions which are never realized, goals which are never reached, aspirations for usefulness which are never fulfilled, visions which never materialize."

 - Richard S. Taylor in The Disciplined Life

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Hope is the best remedy for those who suffer adversaries in life at the moment. It provides a compelling vision that attracts weary bodies forward. However, undisciplined hope only blocks one's sight from the reality. 

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Resolution for the rest of 2010

live out these words

"I could not have worked harder."

#1: What Happened in the Drawing Class

I took a drawing class at my university as an elective. This course was targeted for non-art major/minor people like me. It surveyed the very top surface of the deep art world. Here, I would like to share with you what happened in my drawing class. You may glean some new tips about drawing. Or you may mitigate your boredom a bit by reading my story about the class. Well, I hope it will be enjoyable to you in anyway.

The very first official drawing.
Used a 2B pencil, an eraser, and a finger tip.

There were three different tea pots. Obviously, I picked the most interesting looking pot. The chosen one was really really reeealy black. (Little did I know I had to work harder to catch all the different values on that dark surface!)

As a result of being unnecessarily meticulous about proportion, I spent nearly 60 minutes to have a ROUGH sketch on the paper. At this point, I looked around and panicked at other people's 70% done drawings!

In spite of my great expectation for receiving specific instructions, such as "use your blending tool like this way" "you achieve good value by doing that way" and etc. My instructor only left me a profound statement, which, throughout the entire five-month-long course, faithfully continued to comfort struggling/lost students. In a simple and insightful way, his deep voice tossed the words into the air: "Draw. what you see."

I enjoyed observing the pot. Its dark surface was transforming the somewhat stark classroom into a romantic city at dark, starry night.

Impossible?!

It was already impossible enough for God to love sinners. 

What can it be more impossible

for God ?

Someone says our lives are like flowers...

Someone says our lives are like flowers that quickly wilt away.

Don't these flowers look too beautiful and too fresh to be dried up by the next day? We, that are in the 10s or 20s or perhaps 30s, may think we will ever feel young and looking-good. But soon or later we would helplessly watch ourselves, losing the redolence of youth.

The end of the story from the flowers on a random street.