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read between the lines
what i've been up to i've been doing a lot of returning to my roots from the pre-depression era lately...and this is one song that came floating back into my mind. kinda relevant considering the last sermon i heard was one on surrendering (the most catchy but unoriginal quote: an abundant life is an abandoned life).I Turn Everything Over by SWITCHFOOT Monday found me on my knees again Breathing You in To blur the lines that mark where I begin And where You end No use in trying to pretend Come take me again 'Cause rumor has it I'm not who I've been Come define me What can we do If the rumors are true? I turn everything over I turn myself in I turn everything over I turn myself in There's nothing left of me to defend I turn everything over I turn myself in, yeah The evidence convicts the hollow men After looking inside To my dismay I find I'm just one of them 'Cause I'm an already but not yet resurrected fallen man Come break this limbo And I know You know just who I've been Come define me What can we do If the rumors are true? I turn everything over I turn myself in I turn everything over I turn myself in There's nothing left of me to defend I turn everything over I turn myself in, yeah Rumor has it You love me Rumor has it the world spins upside down Rumor has it my only hope is You And the rumors are true I turn everything over What can we do If the rumors are true? I turn everything over I turn myself in I turn everything over I turn myself in There's nothing left of me to defend I turn everything over I turn myself in I turn everything over I turn myself in I turn everything over I turn myself in There's nothing left of me to defend I turn everything over I turn myself in, yeah -- i like that it's an upbeat song because surrendering is easier when it's done gladly. not that it's been easy, or i've succeeded fully. but i'm getting there, i'm getting there all right. what have i been up to lately? simple pleasures, like: -good music. third eye blind, travis, jamie cullum, and for the past week, switchfoot's first two albums =) -reading. yeah i can't believe it either. i recently tried reading children's books (not the picture books, the compendium ones with lots of text) at the library during lunch. i probably look retarded doing it but who cares? haha. they're the only books (aside from magazines) that i can finish within the lunch hour. i read back home too but rarely on weekdays as my eyes need to rest from working their way through work. -exploring new places on foot. one bad thing though is it's given me the worst outbreak of zits i've ever had, due to this hot weather. the zit army has taken a break on my face and has now returned to invading the shoulder blades, arms, chest, back and entering new territory like the stomach and calfs! unbelievable. but the feeling i get from fulfilling my wanderlust is...good, haha. -retro-gaming. currently hooked on perfecting my 100-storey sim tower. it's amazing the double high i've gotten from combining my favourite tunes with games, back in the day. i wonder if anyone else does the same. for example, the killers goes well with well, killing, in tomb raider 3, while switchfoot's redemption turbo-charges my playing speed in harry potter 3. i play john mayer while working on roller coaster tycoon 3 and nothing builds momentum like duran duran's greatest hits collection while erecting buildings and feeding the townfolk in zeus. and pretty soon, i hope to start bowling, journalling and fooling around with the piano again once my wrist totally heals from the accident. i was actually starting to write a few entries again (hadn't written in what, a year?) till the accident kind of put things on hold. it took me a week to move my wrist around again, a month and a half before i could write without wincing in pain, and two months before i could put moderate weight on it (i.e. carry a mug full of water or holding a plate with one hand while washing it). unfortunately, i, fool that i was, thought i could carry two grocery bags full of a week's supplies of lunch with the injured hand while the other hand squashed the change back into my wallet. i was suffering the consequences of a pain right in the centre of my palm (like a nail-pierced hand?) for days after, so no, i guess it's too soon to start bowling again. but at least my parents' and my other injuries have more or less healed (just scars remain). thankfully, my keyboard-typing skills were not affected, although it was a week before i could type without whatever minimal pain i had in my metacarpals (wrist pain not included, although i only felt it every half-hour or so since i wasn't moving it much). which means i had to get my ass back to work on the third day, 'cos my injury was too minor to warrant more than a day of MC. ah, the accident. all i will say is that it dug up some major fears and evoked a lot of questioning and further soul-searching. jazzed by jamie i think this is like the 2nd time i've been online, wireless, on my new (read: one-year-old, rarely-used) hp tablet. it's a lazy sunday and i made it for service today before the sermon started...yay.-great, my internet connection just got lost, and my tabbed browsing history just got wiped out. hmm, guess the public wireless service here is really unreliable. a pity since i was listening to jamie cullum on youtube.- yes, i recently discovered jamie cullum, through the most unlikely source (in my opinion): a colleague whom i'm not even close to. she just shoved me her external hard drive and went, here, take whatever music you want. and so i took whatever caught my eye, and that happened to be jamie's twentysomething [UK special edition] -- the one with the extra set of songs. it was so good i actually went and bought the CD, as well as jamie's later album catching tales shortly after. yes, unlike most people i still own (proudly) a discman. jamie's music has been so soothing, like a healing balm for my tired, troubled soul. when i listened to his songs, my first reaction was, i can't believe i could've missed such good music all this while (for it has been, after all, 6 years since twentysomething came out). i mean, of course i'd heard about the jazz hobbit and saw his promotional trailer when he was interviewed locally a few years back on a business network's morning show. and sure i'd heard bits and pieces of his music whether on the radio or in a film. but i'd never actually heard any of his songs in their entirety and i found that, when i finally did hear them out, i really liked them. it is a big plus for me as well that he plays the piano in a jazz crossover-to-pop kind of way, because it is exactly the kind of stuff i aspire and try to play whenever i'm jamming on the piano (an exceedingly rare pastime i get to carry out in recent years due to inescapable constraints). and i must say, his songs are just a joy to play on the piano. especially the re-interpretations of covers he does by the bands i dig, like radiohead. i dare say his music has helped my productivity at work to a certain extent, which was unexpected because as a general rule, i find that playing jazz or slow songs when i work slows down whatever i'm doing and relaxes me too much. but that wasn't the case here. it kept me at a moderate, yet comfortable pace...and i realised that is something i really need right now: to calm down. and i obviously connect with the lyrics in his songs, be they covers or originals. it helps too that they model a bright outlook on life. one small bone of contention though, is that his music videos don't quite capture the spirit of his music. some even look cheesy, like the animated shadow figurines in photograph, which is actually a beautiful song to sing, especially the chorus. on another note (pun intended), i also tried sampling michael bublé from my colleague's music collection, but found i had an adverse reaction to the music. what's more, i am more familiar with bublé's music! haha. the only song i ever really liked of his was crazy love, probably because it was the only original. i really hate covers when they're done in the almost exact same way as the original, because more often than not, the original sounds better. i think that's enough of me waxing lyrical about my comfort |
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