1225

Aslan peeling off Eustace's dragon skin:

"'The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was jut the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.  You know — if you’ve ever picked the scab of a sore place.  It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.'

'I know exactly what you mean,' said Edmund.

'Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off – just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt – and there it was lying on the grass, only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me – I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on — and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I’d turned into a boy again...'" - The Voyage of the Dawntreader, C.S. Lewis

...
...
...

To love is to know You.
To know You is to give up knowing other things.
And giving things up hurts.

1144

"As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

1143

"When a man becomes a writer, I think he takes on a sacred obligation to produce beauty and enlightenment and comfort at top speed." - Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

Today, I stayed in bed, read this book cover to cover, and ate a lot of Smarties. Wish I could have more sick days... without the sick.

1065

Pictures and the Stories Behind Them:

Lee-Ann and I have been talking about taking a road trip for so long, and we finally did it! This is the best I could do in a moving car, but look! It's Seattle!

This is Felicia. I met her in 2008 during my first time in Taiwan. We've hung out together in Taiwan, Portland, Vancouver, and Hong Kong, so I was incredibly excited to see her in Seattle!! She is very beautiful, hilarious, and stylish (can you tell that she picked out my outfit?), and she is such a blessing to have in my life.  She says things like, "sketch ma-getch" and "broham," and has the instincts of a mother bear. Felicia was kind enough to let us stay at her place for the past 3 days, and take us around Seattle. The good times were endless.


















On our first night, Felicia took us to Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream Shop. It was probably around 8 or 9 at night, and there was still a huge line-up outside the store, which made sense, because it was some of the best ice cream I have ever had in my life! It was SUPER creamy, not TOO sweet, and they had unique flavours like salty caramel and earl gray. AND you can ask for half scoops, so you can get two flavours in one scoop, but they're basically two scoops! So legit!

For Sunday morning brunch, we went to Portage Bay Cafe. The wait for a table was 45 minutes long, so I knew it had to be good. This is the Lemon Curd French Toast, and there was a topping bar so you could pile fresh fruits onto your food! EVERYTHING was SO delicious. The sweet food was super rich, and the savory food had such strong flavours. I would probably rank this on one of my Top 5 Meals I've ever had in my life (not that I actually have a top 5), because it was just that good.

When we were walking back from Pike Place on Sunday afternoon (which is the only touristy thing we did, and it was for a very short amount of time because we got there as everything was closing up... sadly enough because I really wanted to see the market), we passed by the most adorable antique shop. I could have spent HOURS in there, because every shelf, wall, and room was lined with little trinkets like old-school cameras, vintage suitcases, posters from the 30's, antique furniture, and even things like can labels, toys, jewelry, and picture frames (with the pictures still inside, which I thought was a little weird to be selling) all ranging from the 20's to the 70's. Basically everything you can think of was there. Like there was even this old briefcase full of vintage postcards, and it was just so incredibly cool. I probably loved it so much, because there was SO much stuff in it that it reminded me of my room.

On our last day, Felicia took us to The Elliot Bay Book Company. It was this quaint little book store that smelled like wood and fresh pages. All the shelves had little pieces of paper taped onto them with handwritten descriptions and reviews of certain books, which made the whole place seem that much more personalized. I picked up an $8 copy of To Kill A Mockingbird (my favourite book of all time!) and this beautiful book called Everything is its own reward by Paul Madonna. I actually found it in the Comics section, but it's more like a book filled with watercolour paintings and writing on them. The author describes himself as an artist that supports his writing by painting. It's mostly monochromatic, and even thought I'm usually drawn to brighter colours, it was so pretty that I fell in love with it right away and just had to have it.

Across the street from the book store was this record and used CD shop called Everyday Music. We found some of the most ridiculous records there, and it was just incredibly fun to look around at all the different stuff they had there. It was crazy because even though it was a used CD shop, they had basically every artist that I was looking for. I bought 4 albums for just $25! Essentially, we spend the day doing a bunch of hipster things, and it was great.

One of our last stops was Dick's Drive-In Restaurant. It was one of those places that hasn't changed very much since the 50's. They had greasy $2 burgers, classic milkshakes, and an old-fashion vibe to it. Felicia described it as, "what America ate before they realized what health was,' aha! It was gross in the best kind of way, and was a pretty sweet experience.

Overall, it was one of the best trips I've ever been on, and so much fun because we had our own agenda. I wish I could have stayed a little longer to explore the city and eat more good food!
But now, I have a friend to entertain while he's here from California, work, and then another retreat this coming weekend. Things are running non-stop for me, and it's kinda crazy, but it's also going to be so good.

987

"When Louis Borgenicht came home after seeing that child's apron, he danced a jig. He hadn't sold anything yet. He was still penniless and desperate, and he knew he that to make something of his idea was going to require years of backbreaking labor. But he was ecstatic, because the prospect of those endless years of hard labor did not seem like a burden to him. Bill Gates had that same feeling when he first sat down at the keyboard at Lakeside. And the Beatles didn't recoil in horror when they were told they had to play eight hours a night, seven days a week. They jumped at the chance. Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have any meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig." - Outliers, Malcom Gladwell

957

I did some retail therapy today, and while I was shopping, this song came on:



I forgot how much I love this movie and the movie soundtrack. They're both amazing.

^ This picture has gotten me the most reblogs on tumblr. It isn't much, and it's kind of a strange thing to feel proud of, but it makes me feel good to get reblogged, especially when it's my own stuff!

932

"Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, "it might have been."" - Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut

866

"From then on, I was terrified that I or one of my parents were going to die. My mother worried me the most. She was the force around which our world turned. Unlike our father, who spent his life in the clouds, my mother was propelled through the universe by the brute force of reason. She was the judge in all of our arguments. One disapproving word from her was enough to send us off to hide in a corner, where we would cry and fantasize our own martyrdom. And yet. one kiss could restore use to princedom. Without her, our lives would dissolve into chaos." - The History of Love, Nicole Krauss

760

People sometimes wear me out.
But are always worth it.
Unfortunately, I've come to realize that once school (life/reality/etc.) starts, I can't live like this anymore.
Eventually, I'm going to have to cut out the nonessential and face the fact that there's not enough effort in me to both keep myself sane and make everyone happy.

"Once Uncle Julian told me how the sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti said that sometimes just to paint a head, you have to give up the whole figure. To paint a leaf, you have to sacrifice the whole landscape. It might seem like you're limiting yourself at first, but after a while you realize that having a quarter-of-an-inch of something, you have a better chance of holding on to a certain feeling of the universe than if you pretended to be doing the whole sky." - History of Love, Nicole Krauss

757

Things I Like:
#66.

Being content is sometimes more important than happiness.

561

"When we our betters see bearing our woes,

We scarcely think our miseries our foes.

Who alone suffers, suffers most i' th' mind,

Leaving free things and happy shows behind.

But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip

When grief hath mates and bearing fellowship.

How light and portable my pain seems now"
 - Edgar, King Lear, Shakespeare


In other words, don't ever think you have to suffer alone.

This song never ceases to send chills down my back.

345

"... the saddest people I've ever met in life are the ones who don't care deeply about anything at all. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand, and without them, any happiness is only temporary, because there's nothing to make it last."
-Dear John

330

Amazing. Gritty. Difficult. Beautiful.

310

"For you, a thousand times over." - The Kite Runner

274

^ A childhood favourite of mine.

This goes along the lines of what Abby blogged about a while back.
I often find it so difficult to think about others when I have a bad day. It's like when I'm sick, tired and stressed out, it's all of a sudden okay for the world to revolve around me. Or just because I'm going through a tough time, I'm allowed to take it out on somebody else. We live in a society that appeals to human selfishness so much. We're able to eat when we're bored, conveniently buy anything we desire, and when we're grumpy, people are supposed to understand. We feel what we want, say what we want and do what we want. It's not that it's a terrible idea, but sometimes, it clashes with the whole putting-others-before-ourselves thing.
I just gotta remember: Love still applies even when I'm not in the mood for it.

272

"The trick to finding ideas is to convince yourself that everyone and everything has a story to tell." - What the Dog Saw by Malcom Gladwell

PS: Today, I SO CLOSE to finishing the 24H crossword puzzle while skytraining back home. One day, I'll get there, or maybe I'll finish half of it and find my other half who will fill out the other half for me like in this video:

249

"The courtyard looked no longer like a museum; it looked more like a zoo. Creatures were running after Aslan and dancing round him till he was almost hidden in the crowd. Instead of all that deadly white the courtyard was now a blaze of colors; glossy chestnut sides of centaurs, indigo horns of unicorns, dazzling plumage of birds, reddy-brown of foxes, dogs and satyrs, yellow stockings and crimson hoods in fresh, transparent green, and the larch-girls in green so bright that it was almost yellow. And instead of the deadly silence the whole place rang with the sound of happy roarings, braying, yelping, barkings, squealings, cooings, neighings, stamping, shouts, hurrahs, songs and laughter." - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

I wish this is how church is actually like.

194

"People accept the love they think they deserve." - The Perks of Being a Wallflower

130

"Please don't go. I'll eat you up. I love you so." - Where the Wild Things Are

He knew. He always knew where he was loved most.

123

Favourite:

""Why do you think I had to learn to act so independent? I also get mad too quickly, and I hog the covers, and my second toe is longer than my big one. My hair has its own zip code. Plus, I get certifiably crazy when I've got PMS. You don't love someone because they're perfect," she says, "You love them in spite of the fact that they're not."

I don't know how to respond to that; it's like being told after thirty-five years that the sky, which I've seen as brilliant blue, is in fact rather green.

"And another thing - this time, you don't get to leave me. I'm going to leave you."

If possible, that only makes me feel worse. I try to pretend it doesn't hurt, but I don't have the energy. "So go."

Julia settles next to me. "I will," she says. "In another fifty or sixty years." -My Sister's Keeper