tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660946751338224182024-03-05T17:35:24.868+07:00Lost in Middle EarthThe travels, trials, and insights of an Elf of Mirkwood.Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-39249568717073338172009-08-11T17:10:00.003+07:002009-08-11T17:16:20.336+07:00Lost in Middle Earth and The Writer's TowerFor those of you who actually remember my sadly untended and forgotten blog, I'd like to announce that I am closing the pages of this book (the word "blog" gets tedious after a while), and starting another. So henceforth I will no longer post here. This blog was my first, and a good blog while I took the time to write on it... Hopefully my new blog will be just as good.<br />Without further ado, may I introduce my <a href="http://www.thewriterstower.blogspot.com/">Writer's Tower</a>. Feel free to bug me if I don't update regularly!<br />~ManwathielManwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-89315227141355077462009-03-31T20:02:00.002+07:002009-03-31T20:12:47.634+07:00JusticeFor those of you who haven't read the news article I just posted--read that first (or at least skim it). This is a follow-up, so to speak.<br /><br />Many Christian organizations in Cambodia and other parts of the world are fighting for justice for those who aren't being given justice. Some Christians, however, act as if it is not our duty to defend the rights of others--that we can simply live in complacency and as long as we don't actively pervert justice, we can let perverted justice go forward. I, however, strongly disagree with that viewpoint. Here's why:<br /><br />Exodus 23:6 "Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.”<br /><br />Deuteronomy 27:19 "Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow."<br /><br />Psalm 11:7 “For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face.”<br /><br />Psalm 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.”<br /><br />Psalm 140:12 “I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.”<br /><br />Psalm 106:3 “Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly <em>do what is right</em>.” [italics added]<br /><br />Isaiah 1:17 “learn to <em>do</em> right! <em>Seek</em> justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” [italics added]<br /><br />Amos 5:15 “Hate evil, love good; <em>maintain</em> justice in the courts.” [italics added]<br /><br />Amos 5:24 “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-33709774916183538962009-03-31T19:58:00.003+07:002009-03-31T20:02:41.724+07:00Composition...This is a news article I wrote for my Advanced Composition class. It's a bit out of date, but still relevant. I was able to attend the court hearing, so I caught a glimpse of the proceedings....Enjoy.<br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><u>Courts Declare Dey Krahorm Leaders Guilty<br /></u><br /><br />On February 16th, prosecutors from the company “7NG” charged three leaders of the recently evicted Dey Krahorm community with damaging 7NG property. Lawyers from 7NG never showed, but the hearing continued with a stand-in for the company. By the end of the trial, the judge declared the defendants guilty of “assault” and “destruction of property.” He gave them each a suspended jail sentence of over a year and a fine of three-hundred US dollars. Another lawsuit, this time against Vichet, another Dey Krahorm representative, began the day after these hearings ended.<br /><br />“It was the best they could have hoped for, but it wasn’t justice,” said Mrs. J of a social justice organization, mirroring the thoughts and words of other justice workers.<br /><br />Due to the fact many Dey Krahorm people physically resisted the January evictions by erecting barricades, holding hands, and even throwing rocks, the courts ruled the defendants guilty. Some argue that 7NG should face these charges, rather than the Dey Krahorm people who “only tried to protect their property.”<br /><br />Justice workers from around the world have called the lawsuits by 7NG “intimidation.” These workers also point out these suits occurred while the Dey Krahorm people withstood company offers of “compensation,” and the accused all hold positions of leadership among the Dey Krahorm.<br /><br />Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun of Cambodia declared the community members “greedy” in refusing to accept the company’s early offers of money or “apartments” for their land. After the evictions, the company cancelled the money offers and changed the criteria for getting an apartment. Analyses show the offers of money fell far below the market-rate value of the land.<br /><br />Although Cambodian land laws say that a person owns land if they live on it for five or more years, a small group of representatives essentially gave away a 3.6 hectare piece of land to a company called “7NG” without consulting the hundreds of families living on the land. Despite the fact that the majority of the hundreds of families in the community had lived on the land for over five years, 7NG still claims rights to the property. Since 2005 the families have faced violence and other acts of intimidation from the company as they stood their ground. Over the years, some families merely gave in and left.<br /><br />Early on January 24th police forcefully evicted the last remaining 152 families from the Dey Krahorm—“Red Soil” in English—community.<br /><br />“I was inside the site by four o’clock in the morning,” said Naly Pilorge, director of the human rights organization LICADHO. She went on to tell how the police blockaded the roads in and out of the community. “About six o’clock, many police, mostly military police, moved towards Dey Krahorm”<br /><br />Volunteers for social justice organizations filmed as police officers fired tear-gas, fire extinguishers, and water canons into the groups of resisting people. Bulldozers flattened houses sometimes even before the people could remove their personal belongings.<br /><br />“Some people were not even able to gather clothing,” Pilorge stated.<br /><br />Many Dey Krahorm people fought back, attempting to resist the forced eviction. This led to the lawsuit from 7NG, mainly accusing the community leaders of harming company property.<br /><br />Since the eviction, the company has removed the families to a site outside the city. Legal analyses on the situation by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions stated, “Housing conditions at the resettlement site Damnak Tayoung are woefully inadequate including insufficient access to water and sanitation.”<br /><br />Now far from their jobs and their children’s schools, the people of Dey Krahorm have accepted the company’s offer of apartments for lack of any other choice. Some had to pay three-hundred US dollars to get their “compensation.” 7NG did not offer homes to all of the families.<br /><br />7NG has said that the Dey Krahorm land, property valued at over 44 million US dollars, will undergo development for the betterment of Cambodian society. Planning has begun for housing, offices, and a shopping center. Since the community qualified as a slum with most houses built out of tin, wood, and plastic tarps, many Cambodians in the government say that the Dey Krahorm presence marred the riverfront property. Representatives from 7NG remain silent with regard to the accusations leveled against the company from justice workers and even others in the Cambodian government.<br /><br />Four days after the eviction, the Cambodia Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights came out with an official statement, calling the eviction “a setback for the rule of the law.”<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Bibliography<br /><br /><br />Briefing Paper: The Eviction of Dey Krahorm." 29/01/2009<br /><br />Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, Legal Analysis of the Forced Eviction of Dey Krahorm Community."<br /><br />Jack, Susan. Personal interview. 01/03/2009.<br /><br />Pilorge, Naly. "Dey Krahorm." International Christian Assembly. World Vision Building, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 01/03/2009.<br /><br />United Nations Office of the High Commisssioner, "The Eviction of Dey Krahorm Residents: A Setback for the Rule of the Law." </div>Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-47319675262670368072009-02-07T09:35:00.002+07:002009-02-07T09:37:43.650+07:00Shocking Neglect on My PartYes, I'm back from Thailand, have been back for a while now. The TPS trip was...amazing. I'm going to attempt to write up *something* (or maybe just put up pictures) about it...of course, I might not. But we'll see.<br />Eruanna's family visited, which was also wonderful. Eruanna and I had an absolutely great time. We even painted the wall with BE verbs!<br />Now I'm just catching up on school, agonizing over a presentation I think I'm supposed to be giving Sunday, etc.<br />*leaves to do work*Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-29500677481758081372009-01-13T14:19:00.002+07:002009-01-13T14:21:39.289+07:00In ThailandHey all my readers, I wish I could write to you all individually but I am very busy. I'm having a lovely time in Thailand with the TPS team. Everyone on the team is wonderful, I'll be working with 4-5 year olds at the conference, and I've been doing quite a bit of shopping lately. There's too much to say, so I'll have to talk with all of you later... I miss you guys!<br />p.s. If you are in Cambodia, PLAY WITH TOLLERS.Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-27115012018847198942008-12-24T10:40:00.008+07:002008-12-24T11:00:55.948+07:00Sights of Christmas<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQzHQVJXg-PRtpGoUu4TFZsC6eEHSzssgcY1QXSyfb9GtX7Yx9Hep95hJ5nSbaa9nbEEava-duAhLkc0lIcK52hafgn5J9Sg16f4sM6gYhfHCE-fCgmZxDTX5AFrZ9ioG3MLFZMk5J5s/s1600-h/Picture+122.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283201050897922258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaQzHQVJXg-PRtpGoUu4TFZsC6eEHSzssgcY1QXSyfb9GtX7Yx9Hep95hJ5nSbaa9nbEEava-duAhLkc0lIcK52hafgn5J9Sg16f4sM6gYhfHCE-fCgmZxDTX5AFrZ9ioG3MLFZMk5J5s/s320/Picture+122.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="color:#009900;"> Spark sleeping in front of our Christmas tree</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtswXhkGyCqEd_omlpE0YX9TxhRJNFCC7uNRwaMB8cxrS5yAaXGSDBi7G5jDDMuwAJgR_bXIG-mVY4SYBCnvuLAQBibve2kdLkIFygFGjF69Th7Wxlg9PvLCkUGsiM2S55unauh8_nh4/s1600-h/Picture+111.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283200177346502962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtswXhkGyCqEd_omlpE0YX9TxhRJNFCC7uNRwaMB8cxrS5yAaXGSDBi7G5jDDMuwAJgR_bXIG-mVY4SYBCnvuLAQBibve2kdLkIFygFGjF69Th7Wxlg9PvLCkUGsiM2S55unauh8_nh4/s320/Picture+111.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="color:#ff0000;">Part of the wreath I made last year</span><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIgXLkeSoxizQMYvC-oesu0Mvu0vOB_ApkdeO-mTDHw87YArF5EAV7bV3qO4xK2F0w0iH14MP3ZyjnUnA-V3uZiWuWMnTedHhvjnd10OhjLh2XwzHTkMIM8xEqlqUfLKHPH48Ff3YVxh0/s1600-h/Picture+099.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283199099482935810" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIgXLkeSoxizQMYvC-oesu0Mvu0vOB_ApkdeO-mTDHw87YArF5EAV7bV3qO4xK2F0w0iH14MP3ZyjnUnA-V3uZiWuWMnTedHhvjnd10OhjLh2XwzHTkMIM8xEqlqUfLKHPH48Ff3YVxh0/s320/Picture+099.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="color:#006600;">Our pretty ornaments<br /></span><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuGxl0hWf-sEj22L9C6llMkRLrDY9ydGzJPMytj5zCnT-D_5o17l3vzL2FiBfmykHepU9Y-qZ5VHjDKJRVmVIaxYOX8bqXLcRf99tbyYkRFzOVbybtm-FgPBejakIq5PeAsMimUS55r8/s1600-h/Picture+072.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283198288925173426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnuGxl0hWf-sEj22L9C6llMkRLrDY9ydGzJPMytj5zCnT-D_5o17l3vzL2FiBfmykHepU9Y-qZ5VHjDKJRVmVIaxYOX8bqXLcRf99tbyYkRFzOVbybtm-FgPBejakIq5PeAsMimUS55r8/s320/Picture+072.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="color:#ff0000;"> An oddly rotated pie that Abby-la and I made<br /></span><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiCyBfzpZWmdiH6sbhhw9IQ5E7wFuH2e7PTwCsRp9DBRYP0nLYTncmfHlMyz3MU622-49Qb1TWZqjTQ3dmk1697tj66VWHSY8xo7l-NbGUB7TT1GO78kKpmz4TlNS79B8GRxKSPvhg_eA/s1600-h/Picture+044.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283197155203190034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiCyBfzpZWmdiH6sbhhw9IQ5E7wFuH2e7PTwCsRp9DBRYP0nLYTncmfHlMyz3MU622-49Qb1TWZqjTQ3dmk1697tj66VWHSY8xo7l-NbGUB7TT1GO78kKpmz4TlNS79B8GRxKSPvhg_eA/s320/Picture+044.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="color:#006600;"> My delicious vanilla-scented candle</span></div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283197737750367346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkwiFouEqT_H-fHTYkL2wBjRf2gSrn39NOZ_JevOfPnykYvmAC0Zvdte5uKhzgYAR_wK8rxO0chyphenhyphenLyD_IBWMKh-AhAEHGcYaRFwpYeXXbKd0daFBokFw3t-NCUGJsyBS35cg4hDpj0a8/s320/Picture+063.jpg" border="0" /><span style="color:#ff0000;"> Meow hugging Abby's Christmas tree. We're not sure why.</span></div></div></div></div><br /></div>Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-18916802857726957322008-12-22T11:27:00.005+07:002008-12-22T12:37:28.980+07:00Apologies, NaNoWriMo, Carols, Thanksgiving, Elvish, and Otherwise Misscelaneous GreetingsFirst of all, an apology. I have somewhat abandoned my blog of late and undoubtably people have ceased to check it. So sorry! Life has been hectic here in Cambodia and I've barely had time for, well, anything. But now Christmas break has come around and I have...well...not much more time, but at least some.<br /><br />I'll begin at the end of November. I won NaNoWriMo. It was not easy. Not easy at all. Yet somehow I managed to struggle through and finish with 50,033 words. Last year NaNo was so easy for me, but this year I really had to push to get it done... I was very happy to have won again, though. I had a wonderful time writing with friends in various homes and cafes, and I made at least three more NaNo recruits this year! I'm very pleased with NaNo this year. Can't wait til next November....<br />Also, I'm thinking of launching a Cambodia NaNoWriDay. In other words, National Novel Writing Day. One Day. 50,000 words. My friends all think I've lost my mind (or at least what was left of it).<br /><br />I really didn't have time to type up a Thanksgiving post, so I'll give you a bit of a recap. I had two Thanksgivings, one with my youthgroup and one at my house with 37 or so friends and family.<br />Youthgroup first: We crammed into Christina's little apartment, baked, baked, and baked (which included mashing about fifty potatoes with a fork), ate lots of heavenly food, and overall had a spectacular time.<br />My Thanksgiving: 37 people, 10 pies, 2 turkeys, need I say more? It was wonderful. I ate until I felt like I couldn't move. I read the Thanksgiving proclamation and got a bit of stage fright (I hate it when that happens), and spent the rest of day hanging out with friends and eating leftovers. It was very much a multi-national Thanksgiving. We had Americans (obviously), Kiwis, Canadians, Brits, Mexicans, and Cambodians. We might have had more nationalities, but if so, I have forgotten them.<br /><br />After Thanksgiving I caved in and decorated my room for Christmas. I have bells, candles, angels, and a little mini Christmas tree that looks simply adorable next to Tollers' cage. A few days later we decorated our family tree, which is huge, beautiful, and highly erratic. By now the rest of our downstairs is decorated, complete with wreaths, tinsel, stockings, a red table cloth, candles, and other decorations. It definitely looks Christmassy. Since then we have baked hundreds of cookies. We've made sugar cookie cutouts, gingerbread men, date swirls, Russian tea cakes, molasses sugar cookies, peanut blossoms, peanut-chocolate cookies, and quite possibly something else I forgot. I'm not quite done yet.<br />Youthgroup had a lovely Christmas party. It was quite a small group since it was the night of the Click 5 concert (which was something between a disaster and fantastic, from what I've heard). We still had a wonderful time eating pizza, having a more or less odd gift exchange, playing games, talking, and overall just goofing off. Cross Culture had a Christmas Worship Service last Friday which was great, although we had a few problems with the powerpoint.<br />Tonight Cross Culture is joining with a few other people to go Christmas caroling! Abby will arrive soon to help me bake cookies for us to eat afterwards. It should be fun.<br /><br />A few weeks ago we had our annual Christmas Craft Fair...It was much fun. Four hours straight of shopping.<br /><br />Speaking of shopping, I finished both my shopping and wrapping yesterday. I'm ready for Christmas!<br /><br />School ended Friday, but I have to work ahead on my TPS work (English and Science) so that I don't get behind while on my mission's trip to Thailand. I did some Chemistry reading today and may do some later...maybe not. I don't really mind having a bit of work over the holidays.<br /><br />Speaking of holidays, Christmas involves presents and my amazing friend Meow gave me an extremely cool Klutz bracelet making kit. Naturally, I had to do something in Elvish, so I am now wearing a bracelet with the Lord's Prayer in Elvish on it. Here's the Lord's Prayer in Quenya, but I printed it out in the proper font when I actually did the bracelet.<br /><br /><br />Attolma i menelessie, nai airitainiéva esselya.<br />Our Father who is in heaven, be it that will be hallowed thy name.<br /><a name="Line_2"></a>Nai ardalya tuluva. Be it that thy kingdom will come.<br /><a name="Line_3"></a>Nai írelya tyarniéva mardesse ve menelesse.<br />Be it that thy desire will be done on earth as in heaven.<br /><a name="Line_4"></a>Anta men síre ilyaurea mastalma.<br />Give (to) us today daily our bread.<br /><a name="Line_5"></a>Ar avanta men raikalmar ve avantalme raikatyarolmain.<br />And forgive (for) us our wrongs as we forgive (for) our wrong-doers.<br /><a name="Line_6"></a>Ar nai útukuvalye me mailenna<br />And be it that thou will not lead us into overmastering desire<br /><a name="Line_7"></a>ná fainu me ulkallo. Amen.<br />but release us from evil. Amen.<br /><br />Not a perfect translation, but still pretty cool, no?<br /><br />I'm getting so excited--Christmas is right around the corner!<br /><br />Well, I'm off to mix up some cookie dough.<br /><br />Isusarad 'Elir! (Merry Christmas)<br /><br />~ManwathielManwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-2635358591785603262008-11-27T14:42:00.001+07:002008-11-27T14:42:34.039+07:00Thanksgiving ProclamationIt is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.<br /><br />We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?<br /><br />We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown.<br /><br />But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.<br /><br />It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent father who dwelleth in the heavens.<br /><br /> Abraham Lincoln, 1863Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-83365911628225278802008-11-03T17:08:00.001+07:002008-11-03T17:11:09.944+07:00NaNo Is Here.What are you doing reading my blog??? Crazy person, get back to your WriMo.<br />What do you mean you're not doing NaNoWriMo? Get started. Now.<br />What? I'm *not* supposed to be spending time writing on my blog?<br />You know, you're right. I'm off to do some writing.<br /><br />Yes, NaNoWriMo has begun. Havoc is wreaked upon the world.<br />12,604 words and counting.Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-88270712817783347582008-10-27T18:50:00.002+07:002008-10-27T19:06:38.621+07:00An UpdateI suppose I owe you all an update before NaNo starts and havoc is wreaked upon my social life, online and offline.<br /><br />Lately I've been doing loads and loads of schoolwork--I'm absolutely loving my Advanced Comp class, absolutely dying under the load of my Chemistry class work, rushing through my health class as fast as possible so I can skip it in November, enjoying History/Literature/Bible, and not enjoying Spanish. I'm about to go to Chem class right now, so I'm afraid this must be short.<br /><br />I've been doing quite a bit with youthgroup of late. Since we didn't have youthgroup while Christina (our youthleader) was in the US a bunch of us went to Sovanna mall, had pizza, ice cream, and played in the arcade (well, not me, I didn't particularly feel like embarrassing myself). Twas an utter and complete blast. You can go to <a href="http://www.abbysroom.blogspot.com/">www.abbysroom.blogspot.com</a> to get a more detailed account (just scroll down a bit), although I did not play games in the arcade, get left in Sovanna, or blow dry my hair, since I don't own a blowdryer.<br />Youthgroup wasn't spectacularly fun last week, but most of the time it is very, very fun. We've been playing capture the flag and I have discovered that American style is not much fun compared to the other version, whatever version the other one may be.<br />At ICF we've been playing quite a fun game, where four people pretend to be guests to a party, and one person plays the host. The four each have to act out something on a piece of paper--an adjective and a noun--and the host has to guess what they are. We had a depressed poet, a weird lobster, a sad egg, an irritated pencil, an icelandic cowboy, a bubbling chemical experiment, and a tyrannical hobbit. Guess who wrote the last one =D. Oddly enough, I got to act it too. I got to scream about The Shire, the little folk rising up against the big folk, ruling in the place of the Dark Lord, and crushing the big folk with the iron fist of the halfling. Much fun, no?<br />We also had a potluck at ICF, I was a bit worried about the amount of food, but there ended up being enough (although there weren't enough plates or silverware!). I took brownies, which appeared to be quite popular since none were left. A lot of my youthgroup were there, so I had fun hanging out with them.<br /><br />Saturday I spent the day making sock monkeys! I named mine Monkeystein, after Frankenstein, of course. Kris, Hannah, Abby, and Sam finished their adorable monkeys too. They were referred to as disturbing at ICF, I cannot concur.<br /><br />Ahh, NaNo starts in less than a week! Here is what you may expect during NaNoWriMo:<br />I will randomly blurt out things about my characters at very random times<br />I will randomly blurt out plot ideas at very random times<br />I will bring my notebook to all social activities and while I will attempt to refrain from writing, I might fail misterably in my resolve, hence the notebook.<br />My internet life will be sadly lacking, I fear.<br />E-mails will not be replied to unless they are very urgent or I have that strange mysterious thing called "free time."<br /><br />Anyway, with that said, let us talk about the future. Do you know where you want to go to college? How are you going to pay for college? What are you going to do with your life? Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? Ok, nevermind that, I'm talking about the near future. Thanksgiving and Christmas to be precise. I simply CANNOT wait. Thanksgiving will be very fun, we have lots of people coming. And Christmas is always fun, naturally. I'm excited =).<br />This upcoming Friday we have a costume-bowling party at Cross Culture! I'm sooo excited. I'm wearing my elf dress, naturally, but I have to figure out a way to keep it clean, keep myself off the bumper cars, and bowl with those sleeves... Hmm. Something will be figured.<br /><br />Ah, class is begun, must head off!<br /><br />~ManwathielManwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-52766041127076405542008-10-11T10:21:00.002+07:002008-10-11T10:22:33.255+07:00<div align="center">First they ignore you, </div><div align="center">then they ridicule you, </div><div align="center">then they fight you, </div><div align="center">and then, you win. </div><div align="center"> -Gandhi</div>Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-86310227182521724472008-10-03T08:00:00.001+07:002008-10-03T08:02:25.205+07:00<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-A0zAjtEmXvA23D5xRmFl_zcSIen0RcI69V96uad2LQqGX8XYaxLKhegYtkDh0xvMDWpkCvQMwVuTRYa8QHc5aQ9LT_RfjJXxlvupQMqygHBjo7P0YYZ2fyGqahuIpWKbRkyRlCQfzjE/s1600-h/nanowrimo_participant_icon_small2.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5252726505315099282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-A0zAjtEmXvA23D5xRmFl_zcSIen0RcI69V96uad2LQqGX8XYaxLKhegYtkDh0xvMDWpkCvQMwVuTRYa8QHc5aQ9LT_RfjJXxlvupQMqygHBjo7P0YYZ2fyGqahuIpWKbRkyRlCQfzjE/s320/nanowrimo_participant_icon_small2.gif" border="0" /></a> Oh, yes yes. The madness begins in a mere month. The excitement!<br /><br /></div>Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-65607608922373882902008-09-10T14:03:00.003+07:002008-09-10T14:20:41.497+07:00So...The two paged biography turned into a three paged biography. English class <span style="color:#ff0000;">was</span> a blast. Chemistry class not so much. Star Trek <span style="color:#ff0000;">is</span> awesome. Data <span style="color:#ff0000;">is</span> more than awesome. Tolkien wrote hysterical short stories. That periodic table doesn't want to <span style="color:#ff0000;">be</span> memorized. I have videos to watch (Chem videos), essays to write. Three pairs of earrings somehow wound up <span style="color:#ff0000;">being</span> bought by me, despite the fact that I<span style="color:#ff0000;">'</span>m supposed to <span style="color:#ff0000;">be</span> broke (stupid earring addiction). Youthgroup has <span style="color:#ff0000;">been</span> fun. Slime needs to <span style="color:#ff0000;">be</span> researched. Season Four of Atlantis <span style="color:#ff0000;">is</span> <span style="color:#ff0000;">being</span> re-watched. Season One of Next Generation <span style="color:#ff0000;">is</span> so lame it<span style="color:#ff0000;">'</span>s funny (except for the occasional brilliant episode--like Datalore). Tollers has discovered that he can fit halfway out of his cage. I<span style="color:#ff0000;">'</span>m actually not worrying about <span style="color:#3333ff;">Be Verbs</span> at the moment. I have books to read, things to make, brownies to bake. It has been discovered that the Cookie Monster only eats cookies as a "sometimes snack" now (American propaganda... I grew up on the cookie-eating cookie monster and I<span style="color:#ff0000;">'</span>m fine!!!!). The US Constitution <span style="color:#ff0000;">is</span> fascinating. Alexander Hamilton <span style="color:#ff0000;">is</span> boring, as of last week. It<span style="color:#ff0000;">'</span>s <span style="color:#ff0000;">been</span> raining lots. College <span style="color:#ff0000;">is</span> worrying me. God used <span style="color:#3333ff;">Be Verbs</span>. I need to get working on that essay. I also need to get off this computer. Headache, ya know.<br /><br />And that, my friends, <span style="color:#ff0000;">is</span> pretty much my past week. Ooh, I'm going to go highlight the <span style="color:#3333ff;">Be Verbs</span> in this post...<br />Now, look at this, same post--no <span style="color:#3333ff;">Be Verbs</span>--what thinkest thou?<br /><br />The two paged biography turned into a three paged biography. I had fun in English class. Chemistry class, not so much. Star Trek rocks. I can only describe Data as "more than awesome". Tolkien wrote hysterical short stories. That periodic table doesn't want to stick in my head. I have videos to watch (Chem videos), essays to write. Three pairs of earrings somehow wound up purchased by me, despite the fact that my friends describe me as "broke" (stupid earring addiction). I had lots of fun at youthgroup. Slime needs researching. Meow and I have begun re-watching Season Four of Atlantis. Our wonderfully lame Season One of Next Generation has me chuckling (mentally, of course, I'm Katherine) at it's...silliness? (except for the occasional brilliant episode--like Datalore). Tollers has discovered that he can fit halfway out of his cage. I'm actually not worrying about Be Verbs at the moment. I have books to read, things to make, brownies to bake. It has been discovered that the Cookie Monster only eats cookies as a "sometimes snack" now (American propaganda... I grew up on the cookie-eating cookie monster!). The US Constitution fascinates me. I declared Alexander Hamilton boring, as of last week. Rain pours down in beautiful torrents every day. College worries me. God used Be Verbs. I need to get working on that essay. I also need to get off this computer. Headache, ya know.Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-89412527964781944902008-09-04T19:10:00.002+07:002008-09-04T19:17:37.206+07:00Geek-rantAs I wait for my various family members to get off the ps2 and pop in a Star Trek, I decided to flesh out a few of my geeky-trekkie ideas. To be more specific: Wouldn't it be awesome if the Borg could assimilate a Q?<br /><em>If</em> the Borg could assimilate a Q, and I stress the "if", then the Borg would add the Q's abilities to their own--right? And since the Q are near-invincible, then the Borg would be near-invincible. I mean, come on, how spectacular would that be? Bad, yes, I'll admit, but spectacular as well, no? Imagine such an awesome episode... The Borg wouldn't even have to assimilate anymore! They would just go *pouf* and then perfection. Or some such thing. Of course, the rest of the Q Continuum wouldn't be too happy about that, so they'd probably wind up destroying the Borg (bout time, I'd say), which would be good and sad at the same time. It usually is the Continuum that ends up fixing problems that other Q's (usually Q) make. That would be so great, though... Q messing things up and getting assimilated, the Borg taking over everything in the blink of an eye, all hope lost... And then the other Q's would zap everything back to normal. So cool. Of course, there is the little problem that the Borg could never assimilate a Q, because the Q are, as I said, almost all-powerful. Oh well. That is a problem for another day.<br /><br />For the record, I don't expect any of you to understand any of that (except my parents and Isaac, most likely, and even if you understand it you probably can't follow my train of thought). And that, my friends, is all.<br /><br />Live Long and Prosper \\//Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-31164906156375092192008-08-30T12:56:00.000+07:002008-08-30T12:57:44.099+07:00Nothing WhatsoeverI decided to come on here and post a post telling you absolutely nothing whatsoever.<br /><br />Yep.<br /><br />So this is a nothingness post.<br /><br />I will tell you, though, that I bought a plant for my room and named it Fergus. Contrary to popular belief, I do <em>not</em> talk to it. Well, at least not most of the time.<br /><br />And that, my friends, is the end of the nothingness.Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-7585549347458105762008-08-20T16:44:00.006+07:002008-08-24T15:30:14.352+07:00Tollers<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq8juMLvs4_LOgpL3F3nfEdbzLBOTE1J1Fsk2OcOZNCBn3NUcMibpUirYpLy3ql3xHU6OgIGJqAfWhQqhEijw1wClVSlLtTjoch6mD1ri1EFQl_v-vxdeD6t_lCfK9pkTchj0JARQrgk/s1600-h/Picture+001.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236533867994954610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq8juMLvs4_LOgpL3F3nfEdbzLBOTE1J1Fsk2OcOZNCBn3NUcMibpUirYpLy3ql3xHU6OgIGJqAfWhQqhEijw1wClVSlLtTjoch6mD1ri1EFQl_v-vxdeD6t_lCfK9pkTchj0JARQrgk/s320/Picture+001.jpg" border="0" /></a> Yes yes, I am finally getting around to this Tollers post! Shall I begin at the beginning? Tis always the best place to begin, dost thou not agree?</div><br /><div>As I was saying: Tollers. Most of you know that I have been wanting a parakeet for ages. I finally managed to get a cage and all my parakeet accessories (perches, mirror, toys, food dishes, etc) ready a few weeks ago, and began hunting for a parakeet. Living in Cambodia, this is not an easy thing. In the US if you walk into a pet store, there will be parakeets. Guaranteed. $14 parakeets. Every petstore. But in Cambodia we don't exactly have regular pet stores. With that said, I will continue from the almost beginning.</div><br /><div>We heard from our bird-people-friends that you could find people carrying little cages of birds around on the other side of town. My dad set out on the motorcycle and drove for what seemed like ages, to the other side of town. My foot, brilliant thing that it is (or not), decided to take a nap as we drove. We reached the location and found birds, but none were parakeets and they decidedly looked like they had mites or mange in one form or another. I felt so sorry for the poor birdies, but we left without finding my parakeet. Dad and I went to the bank afterwards, where I made a fool of myself by being unable to get my stupid foot to actually work (I hate it when it falls asleep), I practically fell over and then I couldn't put my shoe back on. I limped for a few minutes, but eventually my foot started to work again, which was a relief. As afore-mentioned, we went home without a parakeet.<br /></div><br /><div>This was when the dreams began. </div><br /><div>I had dream after dream about buying parakeets--and trust me, these were strange dreams. I won't relate them because you would probably never look at Tollers the same ever again and I wouldn't be surprised if you never spoke to me again, either. Let's just say that they involved glasses, pets for blind people. mutant penguins, parakeets trying to fly away, and eggs hatching into bright pink parakeets... Not your normal dreams, if you ask me. </div><br /><div>The dreams occured for several nights, until my mom managed to take me up to Central Market to follow a parakeet lead... Well, we didn't find parakeets, which was heartbreaking, but a very nice man who sold locks told us where to find a petstore! I was ecstatic, so we quickly went to the street where the petstore was supposed to be.</div><br /><div>As we drove down the road suddenly I spotted them--hundreds of parakeets, all jammed in one little cage. I screamed something about parakeets (what else? Did you expect me to start babbling about the hidden theology behind LoTR?), and we pulled over. I jumped out and ran over to the cage of birds. </div><br /><div>The petshop wasn't exactly well cared for... The birds, as I said before, were in a cage far too small for the many birds, and the other pets in the store didn't look healthy. Most of the birds had feathers falling out and didn't look too good, but I managed to spot a few healthy looking ones. I watched the birds for a while, until I spotted one that looked young, healthy, and very active (he was attempting to shove another bird off of his food dish in order to get more for his greedy little self). I pointed to the one that I wanted, the store owner stuck his hand in the cage, and pandemonium broke out. The birds were going crazy, flying from one edge of the cage to another as fast as they could--it wasn't a surprise when the store owner grabbed the wrong bird. I decided to give this bird a chance, so I looked at him for a while, then discovered that he was missing a toe and did <em>not</em> look healthy. I told the store owner that I wanted the other one, and attempted to point out <em>my</em> bird amongst the masses. The next bird wasn't the one I wanted either, but finally the store owner managed to grab the bird I wanted and put it in my little travel-cage. I paid the store owner, and headed home with my own little parakeet!</div><div> </div><div>Well, I can't give you the full minute by minute analysis of my bird, but he is adorable, I trimmed his wings myself (with a lot of help, admittedly), his name is Tollers, thanks to the suggestion of one of my fellow TPSers--oh yes, about the name. For a brief time I had people shocked that I had not named him something Tolkien related. Sorry to burst your bubble, my friends, it is Tolkien related, just too obscure for most of you to know of =P. Anyway, he is my dear little birdy, he likes to eat my rings, my fake vines, my hair, and my fingers. He is one of the cutest little birdies ever and I am really worried that one of my friends is going to try and steal him.</div><div> </div><div>And that, my friends, is all. Oh, and here is Tollers and his favorite "snack."</div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237631689451225986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKCr6v_pPBGut0dkHV-lfw6UooukGS6gq7B_K9LriUPLXUkHLFQ71K2jZINnlAzo7_j5ThiNm-eIVl6H__gpyZ2uQu9bZGklOoHPLAtag_411DrYZtu5ZVqgRRUXvn9YbCndxIMjZ_r6U/s320/Picture+002.jpg" border="0" />Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-45839707326886431862008-08-14T18:47:00.004+07:002008-08-14T19:00:23.099+07:00A Downpour of Rain, A Reminder of GloryTis the rainy season in beautiful Cambodia. Rain is pouring down at the moment, like it did last night at the same time, the night before, and the night before that. I love every minute of it. The trees swaying in the wind--the sound of water on tin roofs--water flooding our yard--rain blowing through my bedroom window and soaking my room--everything. I love it. I love the thunder that makes the ground shake, the lightning that makes the sky bright as day, everything. And then sometimes, if it's still light outside, you can see a rainbow--a constant reminder that God keeps his promises, something that I often forget. God made the rainbow, the rain itself, the wind, the thunder, and the lightning, and it all serves to glorify him. That's what the rain reminds me about: God's glory. I have a slightly awkward habit of breaking into worship songs at the top of my lungs when it rains. It's awkward because I frequently forget just how loud I am singing (the rain drowns out a lot of noise) and I get people staring at me funnily. But that's what the rain makes me want to do--worship God. I love the rain, singing in the rain (or rather in a nice dry room <em>while</em> it rains), and more specifically, worshipping God when it rains.<br /><br />If there was no rainy season, life in Cambodia would be quite different. The river would never overflow, the rice-fields would never flood, and the Cambodian way of life would be drastically different. By something as simple as rain, God has enabled the Cambodian people (and probably every other people group, when you think about it) to develop the culture and way of living that they have today.<br /><br />God has used something as simple as rain to show His glory in Cambodia and in the rest of the world.<br /><br />Something as simple as rain.Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-32955358019184660242008-08-11T15:45:00.002+07:002008-08-11T16:18:02.766+07:00The First Day of School (Among Other Things)School started today. Isn't that such an ominous sentence? Doesn't it immediately bring terrible thoughts of pile after pile of homework to your mind? No Abby, I'm not talking to you, we all know you love school, but not everyone does. Well, I have one thing to say to all you pessimists who can relate to the third sentence in this blog post: Stop being so pessimistic, school's not that bad.<br />Ok, some of you are thinking "Katherine, give me a break, you're a homeschooler. You sit on a couch watching Star Trek and eating doritos all day."<br />Well... I have very little to say to that except that if you think such a thing, you should really do some research. Here is what I did on my first day of school:<br />Health, Algebra 2 (I'll actually do Geomoetry this year, I'm just finishing up last year's work), Exploring America (which encompasses history, writing, literature, and Bible and included me beginning a two-page summary of my worldview), Spanish, read 1/3 of <em>Peace Child</em>, worked on memorizing the periodic table of the elements, Classical Roots, Analogies, Art, and a few other things that were undoubtably so boring that I have already forgotten them. Oh, and I haven't even started Advanced Comp or Chemistry yet. To put it simply, that's not sitting on a couch watching Janeway beat up the Borg. Not at all. I know very well that my friends who attend private (or even public) school are probably all doing something vaguely similar to what I'm doing. So hey, I'm as much an expert on the first day of school as any other Sophmore on Planet Earth. Thus I can truthfully say, from experience, that the first day of school isn't as bad as everyone seems to think it is. In fact, school in general can actually be pretty fun, and if you look at the first day for me, school probably <em>will</em> be pretty fun this year. Even for a homeschooler. And no, I'm not a social invert.<br />But anyway, getting on with what I was saying, the first day of school was actually pretty fun. Spanish was just...well... It was the first day and was pretty much just housecleaning that I fastforwarded through (BJU Press Distant Learning stuff). Art started simply enough, but I flipped through the book and saw what looked like some <em>awesome</em> lessons. Math is, well, math, 'nuff said. I don't like it but I don't hate it. It has always been that way it will always be that way. Classical Roots... I don't know if I've ever told anyone, but I absolutely positively love my Classical Roots book. It has all these awesome famous quotes in Latin and is filled with writing assignments that are simply a blast. I also love dissecting those words and figuring out their history. Analogies started out rather dull, but I know that it will be at least somewhat fun, eventually. My Health book is a complete crackup, it was talking about how our bodies are the Holy Spirit's temple (which they are, of course, don't get me wrong here), but instead of using the word "body" it used the word "temple" pretty much constantly. I kept thinking of an area of my forehead, which wasn't exactly what the book intended. It looks like it'll be halfway decent, although it looks relatively dull. Now we get to my American History/Exploring America. This thing is AWESOME. Basically it combines History, Literature, and Faith. It has the regular history book part, but it also comes with a book of complete source documents! How awesome is that? I get to read the words of Benjamin Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt without any editing or frustrating people interjecting their own summary of what so-and-so said. I love, love, love it. Of course, I am now supposed to be writing a two-page summary of my worldview which is going...well...interestingly. I'm not the kind of person who really talks about my worldview, so it is rather interesting getting it down on paper. I'm not sure how to describe half of it. But moving on, I haven't started the literature for this course yet, but I've seen the books and they're wonderful classics like <em>Uncle Tom's Cabin</em> and <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em>. Mom also supplied a list of extra credit literature which I will, naturally, be reading as well as the required lit. I've already started with the afore-mentioned <em>Peace Child</em> which is, to put it gently, not for the squeamish... I absolutely can't wait to start my TPS courses. Chem sounds very fun and Advanced Comp will be good, I'm sure, except for that pesky Be Verb rule... I'm working on memorizing my elements and you'd probably be surprised how fun it is to memorize "Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, Neon, Sodium, Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Phosphorous, Sulfer..." Yeah, that's as far as I've gotten. But tis fun!<br />So yes, the first day of school wasn't bad at all, and I got to read with Tollers sitting on my shoulder (what do you know, he's interested in the classics as well as fantasy!).<br /><br />And because I feel like it, here is a list of books that I know I will be reading this school year. First of all we have my school-required-and-extra-credit books:<br /><br /><em>Peace Child</em><br /><em>The Scarlet Letter</em><br /><em>Narrative of the Life of David Crockett</em><br /><em>Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass</em><br /><em>Uncle Tom's Cabin</em><br /><em>Company Aytch</em><br /><em>Humorous Stories and Sketches</em><br /><em>Up From Slavery</em><br /><em>In His Steps<br />Mama's Bank</em><br /><em>Christy</em><br /><em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em><br /><em>The Giver</em><br /><em>Adventures of Tom Sawyer</em><br /><em>Adventures of Huck Finn</em><br /><em>Portable Poe</em><br /><em>Walden</em><br /><em>The Day They Came to Arrest the Book</em><br /><em>My Antonia</em><br /><em>Grapes of Wrath</em><br /><br />And as to my own, personal reading:<br /><br /><em>The Sword of Shannara </em>(I should at least finish it, no?)<br /><em>Pendragon</em><br /><em>Emma</em><br /><em>The Silmarillion</em><br /><em>The Unfinished Tales </em>(I need to read these two again)<br /><em>The Virtual Mummy </em>(I'm maybe halfway through)<br /><em>Brush up Your Shakespeare</em><br /><em>The Treason of Isengard</em><br /><em>Twilight</em> (Because Abby's making me ;) )<br /><br />Naturally, more books will come along and will be read... But for now tis a good start for a list, don't you agree?<br /><br />Ah, I'm boring you, so ttfn, I'm off for now... Be expecting a full-size post about Tollers to be coming along soon, I'm on the wrong comp for pictures of him right now, so you will be spared that mammoth post until at least another day.<br /><br />Oh wait, I just remembered, I'm not done with this post! I did say "Among Other Things" in the title, if you will recall, so I intend to continue boring you with this post.<br /><br />I wanted to talk to you all about the Taizé service at ICF... Most of you know that I haven't gone to ICF since I went that one time eight years ago, but I decided to go to the Taizé service (which is very different from the normal service and only happens every few months) with Abby. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it all turned out to be very peaceful and relaxing. I did a reading from Isaiah, which I butchered, and actually turned out to, oddly enough, be my favorite Bible passage! The service was very quiet and was composed mostly of singing with beautiful flute music, reflective pauses, Scripture readings, and prayer. Twas all very nice and worshipful. I fully intend to go next time. Of course, next time I won't sit on the floor... I think every bone in my body cracked when I stood up =D. But it was definitely worth it and was overall a very nice, calming time of worship.<br />Oh yes, and speaking of church services, I'm planning to go to the ICF afternoon service (as well as my usual ICA morning service) next week, because I've heard that the youthgroup at ICF is very good... Thus I might as well try it! Regular youthgroup is starting up soon and I'm very excited about that. Hopefully it'll be good this year around. The Highschool group was quite good last year. I'm going to try helping out with worship again this year... We shall see how that goes.<br /><br />And that, I think, is really all. Namarie!<br /><br />~ManwathielManwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-26918661084629211062008-08-06T12:45:00.002+07:002008-08-07T17:28:53.399+07:00Parakeet Needing a NameNo, I haven't got my parakeet yet (alas) but since I like my pets to have a name on day one I've decided to get a head start on names... And I need your help! Check out the poll on the right side of this post ---> and give me your opinion! If you choose "other" go ahead and comment on this post giving me your suggestion. Whatever your decision may be, feel free to give input on this post in the commenty comment section. Thanks!<br /><br />~Manwathiel<br /><br />*edit*<br />Too late, the parakeet has been named! Tollers be his name, thanks to a wonderful member of Isaiah. I'll undoubtably make a whole post on the subject of Tollers later, but for now he's being shy and hiding in his cage, but I'm sure that he'll do something of interest soon!Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-12112738250796006972008-08-05T18:10:00.002+07:002008-08-05T18:15:13.609+07:00Songs...I have decided that two songs can pretty much sum up what I want my life to be about. Yep, two songs. Here they be:<br /><br /><u>To the Ends of the Earth</u><br />Hillsong United<br /><br /><em>Love unfailing<br />Overtaking my heart<br />You take me in<br />Finding peace again<br />Fear is lost<br />In all you are</em><br /><br /><em>And I would give the world to tell Your story<br />Cause I know that You've called me<br />I know that You've called me<br />I've lost myself for good within Your promise<br />I won't hide it<br />I won't hide it</em><br /><br /><em>Jesus, I believe in You<br />And I would go to the ends of the earth<br />To the ends of the earth<br />For You alone are the Son of God<br />And all the world will see<br />That You are God<br />You are God</em><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br /><em></em><br /><u>Mission's Flame</u><br />Matt Redman<br /><br /><em>Let worship be the fuel for mission's flame</em><br /><em>We're going with a passion for Your name</em><br /><em>We're going for we care about Your praise</em><br /><em>Send us out</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Let worship be the heart of mission's aim</em><br /><em>To see the nations recognise Your fame</em><br /><em>'Til every tribe and tongue voices Your praise</em><br /><em>Send us out</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>You should be the praise of every tongue</em><br /><em>You should be the joy of every heart</em><br /><em>But until the fullness of Your kingdom comes</em><br /><em>Until that final revelation dawns</em><br /><em>Send us out</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Every tribe, every tongue</em><br /><em>Every creature in the heavens and the earth</em><br /><em>Every heart, every soul</em><br /><em>Will sing Your praise, will sing Your praise</em><br /><em>Every note, every strain</em><br /><em>Every melody will be for You alone</em><br /><em>Every harmony that flows from every tongue</em><br /><em>Will sing Your praise, will sing Your praise</em><br /><em>Will sing Your praise, will sing Your praise</em>Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-8167672630232728172008-08-02T09:40:00.001+07:002008-08-02T09:42:13.645+07:00A poem loosely based on Tolkien's Elves and their love of the sea:<br /><br /><br /><br /><u>The Voice of the Sea</u><br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">As I walk under trees of green,<br />I realize what my fate is to be.<br />No longer will I hear the trees sing,<br />For I am to fall for the love of the sea.<br /><br />The voice of the sea is calling me;<br />Calling me to lands unknown,<br />Calling me to shores that are free,<br />Calling me to lands renown.<br /><br />Lands that are free from hurt and pain,<br />Lands that nothing will ever maim,<br />Lands past the sea that is my bane.<br /><br />The cries of the gulls along the shore—<br />The voice of the sea is calling me.<br />The whistling foam that all adore—<br />I am called by the voice of the sea.<br /><br />The voice of the sea is calling me,<br />Out to the wilds of the deep.<br />In little time I shall see<br />Where storms arise and strange things sleep.<br /><br />Never again shall I love the trees.<br />Love how softly they sway in the breeze—<br />For I am called for the love of the seas.<br /><br />Someday across the sea I will flee,<br />And there I will find that I am free.<br />For the voice of the sea calls to me.</span></em>Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-58948956837353520502008-07-29T13:12:00.003+07:002008-07-29T13:20:22.896+07:00Books Missing...Hey everyone, a bit of bad news from me. Yesterday I found out that about half of my book collection was stolen while I was in the US. You all know me and should know that my books are my most prized possessions, and now everything except my Tolkien books (which is about half of my book collection) and the few books that I had with me in the States are missing. This includes my Artemis Fowls, my Lawheads, my Redwalls, the Dragons in our Midst series, a couple books by Anne McCaffrey, The Case for Christianity, a collection of Sherlock Holmes, The Thrawn Trilogy and Hand of Thrawn Duology, and several other series. I feel kind of like I would love to do something nasty to the thief (please pray that I stop feeling like this). There is a possibility that we can get the books back, since there is only one place to unload English books in Cambodia, but we're not sure yet if we'll be able to. My only consolation is that maybe the thief will pick up The Case for Christianity or one of my devotionals and that God would work on his heart. Maybe this could end up working for the better, although I confess that I most definitely am not feeling optomistic about this...<br />Anyway, if you guys would pray that I handle this well--and that, if it is God's will, we could get the books back--I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much!Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-62058190078016722942008-07-26T13:01:00.003+07:002008-07-26T13:04:39.953+07:00Home...<div>Well, after a wonderful two weeks in CA, I am back in Cambodia watching Stargate and wondering just *how* to unpack all those boxes... My room is a mess, I'm exhausted, and I am also very excited to be back. And I'm afraid that I have no other update to make...</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>~Katherine<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec25e_8msSkr-uJn9jzPr8eBpuT9yRhnYD1JFUWk4T9A86NoxZz457YzMwBW0Wg4WrUkgHegbCWZSoDBMawlB7Ticvc6mP5TyK7QVwMya1Oevi1j4z6iB7FU4tQMj4tGPNWsq-puyb1Q/s1600-h/Picture+001.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227199622996415730" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec25e_8msSkr-uJn9jzPr8eBpuT9yRhnYD1JFUWk4T9A86NoxZz457YzMwBW0Wg4WrUkgHegbCWZSoDBMawlB7Ticvc6mP5TyK7QVwMya1Oevi1j4z6iB7FU4tQMj4tGPNWsq-puyb1Q/s200/Picture+001.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><-- La Jolla Cove in California</div>Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-25941692734991729122008-07-14T04:35:00.012+07:002008-07-14T04:51:18.756+07:00A Tribute to My First Camera<div><div>So as some of you know, and some of you do not, my first camera that I recieved most unexpectedly for my 14th birthday broke a week ago. I was heartbroken. My first camera! I have recently gotten a new one (and thus gotten into quite a bit of debt) but I will never forget my first camera. This post is a tribute to my camera. Here are several pictures that I took with my first camera. All pictures are copyright to me, Manwathiel, please do not save them, copy them, reproduce them, or any such thing.<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div></div><br /><div>With all that said... I give you a tribute to my first camera:<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkb4f5e1z74WoXNTi-ZXIFolQmyyJk9r4XtXSDDe0saryh5fbsM1D2wI5yj7Yo7pqgkUgi5fqgPS0bL9rnShma2ILtiQej7SaHpDjpK_nIwkGwADYKEVUmrlxH-Wbnuxp0-g4w9FZTXM/s1600-h/Picture+080.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222616389614501266" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifkb4f5e1z74WoXNTi-ZXIFolQmyyJk9r4XtXSDDe0saryh5fbsM1D2wI5yj7Yo7pqgkUgi5fqgPS0bL9rnShma2ILtiQej7SaHpDjpK_nIwkGwADYKEVUmrlxH-Wbnuxp0-g4w9FZTXM/s200/Picture+080.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuCzIX90Vwbl0OfNXel3j6mSQP4sx6g_8TUVTiZ0tzZ6KTuLdxGf4Cvwm72pcB-t4Y4scE3QFnKwm26bJxZiKm_YFhBhvfTuj7Wa7_nMABtoA9sNn6MxbZd1rzWuNDZvkW51j6rHDDpOM/s1600-h/Picture+052.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222616760242399298" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuCzIX90Vwbl0OfNXel3j6mSQP4sx6g_8TUVTiZ0tzZ6KTuLdxGf4Cvwm72pcB-t4Y4scE3QFnKwm26bJxZiKm_YFhBhvfTuj7Wa7_nMABtoA9sNn6MxbZd1rzWuNDZvkW51j6rHDDpOM/s200/Picture+052.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxu8YPbLaGZiSdvgxkbaa_4Yii52-ehldLJ_lPNA6gxqH7upNwwO3OIoNYGWLdgE9vBLndKBH-R4cskHrApdZbSJRqHrs8DoLtgL_9HKSYCg0APifPi3J0AH4Q2EB3f08R83iSq15re4E/s1600-h/more+pics+078.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222616587456960418" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxu8YPbLaGZiSdvgxkbaa_4Yii52-ehldLJ_lPNA6gxqH7upNwwO3OIoNYGWLdgE9vBLndKBH-R4cskHrApdZbSJRqHrs8DoLtgL_9HKSYCg0APifPi3J0AH4Q2EB3f08R83iSq15re4E/s200/more+pics+078.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxu8YPbLaGZiSdvgxkbaa_4Yii52-ehldLJ_lPNA6gxqH7upNwwO3OIoNYGWLdgE9vBLndKBH-R4cskHrApdZbSJRqHrs8DoLtgL_9HKSYCg0APifPi3J0AH4Q2EB3f08R83iSq15re4E/s1600-h/more+pics+078.jpg"></a></div><div><br /> </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHuYMF5aRUF0IAoqsx3dNhuSIX3LqYvCoehHGorIsDdPaxquS3ohOgeZHaiaTo6BbUrYmPF0wKXVSbidjgtZ4fcsBsaHiqdbJYrT3dBfgpLeyih1igusfnqy3PyF7VMeLa1so82UXiAg/s1600-h/digital+pics+032.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222616961589963746" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipHuYMF5aRUF0IAoqsx3dNhuSIX3LqYvCoehHGorIsDdPaxquS3ohOgeZHaiaTo6BbUrYmPF0wKXVSbidjgtZ4fcsBsaHiqdbJYrT3dBfgpLeyih1igusfnqy3PyF7VMeLa1so82UXiAg/s200/digital+pics+032.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap08UaPyLVyKsP7_luuJtE5WqyPRuXjbfEYkMoaYfxfHlrGOsUPvjKeuq8AvDb10QpQd2nhigBNfYA2ym3Gzr9u6z7EI6L_Yem10s3yEI9v1uuZEG21TCia9QOGV5FgZqCrGD82t996Q/s1600-h/Picture+003.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222617278611527506" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap08UaPyLVyKsP7_luuJtE5WqyPRuXjbfEYkMoaYfxfHlrGOsUPvjKeuq8AvDb10QpQd2nhigBNfYA2ym3Gzr9u6z7EI6L_Yem10s3yEI9v1uuZEG21TCia9QOGV5FgZqCrGD82t996Q/s200/Picture+003.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwMeisQncctAGfJtiSFieppCp7QUOHzD3SOJheUwjPLdQEN9eNlBa5WL4FrdXW9Wj5H4NknJ4cL0Zh994r-tJwGmvVvOQFXuJcBOIxHDtSBVJK4Jm4oAP294q6siZpIDD4WcSnmapFos/s1600-h/Picture+059.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222617860801608674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwMeisQncctAGfJtiSFieppCp7QUOHzD3SOJheUwjPLdQEN9eNlBa5WL4FrdXW9Wj5H4NknJ4cL0Zh994r-tJwGmvVvOQFXuJcBOIxHDtSBVJK4Jm4oAP294q6siZpIDD4WcSnmapFos/s200/Picture+059.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1rYlFGeWYk9Y8Z6LOl3mfZCAtXwtWjoVZvzxA1DI3S0f8GZHG2mmZGCMHvD6XrAw4cslv_XzBaqhhar_nToZ0h0SYGahPXiehB97PinhKA0_V-turuunI_hheR-SWK1QOf255hKiCqI/s1600-h/digital+pics+141.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222618679004768114" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1rYlFGeWYk9Y8Z6LOl3mfZCAtXwtWjoVZvzxA1DI3S0f8GZHG2mmZGCMHvD6XrAw4cslv_XzBaqhhar_nToZ0h0SYGahPXiehB97PinhKA0_V-turuunI_hheR-SWK1QOf255hKiCqI/s200/digital+pics+141.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RHGLsdtmXuRRyJW8Q-QLg9JNmH_911uYgW5wixzzzBSYusQR-sdVGZ_gOereEvC9RRY4VoWDKX3Vp5qRv0V_UiKt9XI8_IxPV5Dbe8xhE_vp9EVyGBi1YJdoVu8MvwEvwBE8X_DeVg8/s1600-h/Picture+123.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222619190513399954" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RHGLsdtmXuRRyJW8Q-QLg9JNmH_911uYgW5wixzzzBSYusQR-sdVGZ_gOereEvC9RRY4VoWDKX3Vp5qRv0V_UiKt9XI8_IxPV5Dbe8xhE_vp9EVyGBi1YJdoVu8MvwEvwBE8X_DeVg8/s200/Picture+123.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5IUN5aRn1DVm9bFB7kMXf3EW_o4c079lSszclf-NCIQt-ALEe3y1n_dKVi-Ap0wvRIaMqPDz3L4GjhDPWTK5nI_L2rfoqqKU0oXL-Zs0VudsScuUhqvVAfziMiwv0q0vVVyne8_CX20/s1600-h/digital+pics+125.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222618133320094098" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5IUN5aRn1DVm9bFB7kMXf3EW_o4c079lSszclf-NCIQt-ALEe3y1n_dKVi-Ap0wvRIaMqPDz3L4GjhDPWTK5nI_L2rfoqqKU0oXL-Zs0VudsScuUhqvVAfziMiwv0q0vVVyne8_CX20/s200/digital+pics+125.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFoGZsjtzBL1Dctlf6bJoScFso8g1Am1yHWN_gmfaiFoWAyxRzjyfzLIPC-rhaoVpkn2UCqeobclL2I_f7lDKOAB_ow2LFCQZFhb38qcTqv_CZLTbU8ktPFhiN7lcqd_jqVDV9o_SwumE/s1600-h/Picture+002.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222619398275703426" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFoGZsjtzBL1Dctlf6bJoScFso8g1Am1yHWN_gmfaiFoWAyxRzjyfzLIPC-rhaoVpkn2UCqeobclL2I_f7lDKOAB_ow2LFCQZFhb38qcTqv_CZLTbU8ktPFhiN7lcqd_jqVDV9o_SwumE/s200/Picture+002.jpg" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Manwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166094675133822418.post-9530618599960510632008-07-04T09:13:00.002+07:002008-07-04T09:16:40.899+07:00California, Here I ComeI'm on my way to beautiful San Diego tomorrow! I really can't wait--especially since I'll be meeting up with four of my awesome TPS friends (yay!) as well as seeing quite a few friends who live in SD who I haven't seen in....well...two years, I guess.<br /><br />So to my fellow MEA-ers--I can't wait to meet you all!!!! I'm getting so excited =D.<br /><br />To my friends who I haven't seen in two years--I'm looking forward to seeing you all and seeing what's changed in your lives since I saw you last!<br /><br />Sorry for the short post and the lack of regular posts... I'll try to get up a more detailed (I can hear your moans) post about D.C. later...<br /><br />TTFN!<br /><br />~ManwathielManwathielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17287043028761697298noreply@blogger.com1