Never ask a graphic designer for a favor...

a friend forwarded this e-mail to me, and it was LOL-funny... so i'm posting it here too =)
....
Shannon (the secretary) has lost her cat and has asked David (the graphic designer) to help with a lost poster. This is their email correspondence - read from top to bottom. Hilarious.

From:Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 9.15am

To:David Thorne

Subject:Poster

Hi

I opened the screen door yesterday and my cat got out and has been missing since then so I was wondering if you are not too busy you could make a poster for me. It has to be A4 and I will photocopy it and put it around my suburb this afternoon.

This is the only photo of her I have she answers to the name Missy and is black and white and about 8 months old. missing on Harper street and my phone number.

Thanks Shan.

From: David Thorne

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 9.26am

To:Shannon Walkley

Subject:Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,

That is shocking news.

Although I have two clients expecting completed work this afternoon, I will, of course, drop everything and do whatever it takes to facilitate the speedy return of Missy.

Regards, David.

From:Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 9.37am

To:David Thorne

Subject:Re: Re: Poster

yeah ok thanks.

I know you don’t like cats but I am really worried about mine. I have to leave at 1pm today.

From:David Thorne

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 10.17am

To:Shannon Walkley

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,

I never said I don’t like cats. Attached poster as requested.

Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 10.24am

To:David Thorne

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

yeah that’s not what I was looking for at all. It looks like a movie and how come the photo of Missy is so small?

From: David Thorne

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 10.28am

To:Shannon Walkley

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,

It’s a design thing. The cat is lost in the negative space.

Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 10.33am

To:David Thorne

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

That’s just stupid. Can you do it properly please? I am extremely emotional over this and was up all night in tears. you seem to think it is funny. Can you make the photo bigger please and fix the text and do it in colour please. Thanks.

From: David Thorne

Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.46am

To: Shannon Walkley

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,

Having worked with designers for a few years now, I would have assumed you understood, despite our vague suggestions otherwise, we do not welcome constructive criticism. I don’t come downstairs and tell you how to send text messages, log onto Facebook and look out of the window. I have amended and attached the poster as per your instructions.

Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 10.59am

To:David Thorne

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

This is worse than the other one. can you make it so it shows the whole photo of Missy and delete the stupid text that says missing missy off it? I just want it to say Lost.

From: David Thorne

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 11.14am

To:Shannon Walkley

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

From:Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 11.21am

To:David Thorne

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

yeah can you do the poster or not? I just want a photo and the word lost and the telephone number and when and where she was lost and her name. Not like a movie poster or anything stupid. I have to leave early today. If it was your cat I would help you. Thanks.

From: David Thorne

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 11.32am

To:Shannon Walkley

Subject:Awww

Dear Shannon,

I don’t have a cat.

I once agreed to look after a friend’s cat for a week but after he dropped it off at my apartment and explained the concept of kitty litter I backed out of our agreement. I have attached the amended version of your poster as per your detailed instructions.

Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 11.47am

To:David Thorne

Subject: Re:Awww

That’s not my cat. where did you get that picture from? That cat is orange. I gave you a photo of my cat.

From: David Thorne

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 11.58am

To:Shannon Walkley

Subject:Re: Re: Awww

I know, but that one is cute. As Missy has quite possibly met any one of several violent ends, it is possible you might get a better cat out of this. If anybody calls and says “I haven’t seen your orange cat but I did find a black and white one with its hind legs run over by a car, do you want it?” you can politely decline and save yourself a costly veterinarian bill.

Regards, David.

From:Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 12.07pm

To:David Thorne

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Awww

Please just use the photo I gave you.

From:David Thorne

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 12.22pm

To:Shannon Walkley

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

From:Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 12.34pm

To:David Thorne

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

I didn’t say there was a reward. I don’t have $2000 dollars. What did you even put that there for? Apart from that it is perfect can you please remove the reward bit. Thanks Shan.

From:David Thorne

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 12.42pm

To:Shannon Walkley

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

From:Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 12.51pm

To:David Thorne

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

Can you just please take the reward bit off altogether? I have to leave in ten minutes and I still have to make photocopies of it.

From:David Thorne

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 12.56pm

To:Shannon Walkley

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

From:Shannon Walkley

Date:Monday 21 June 2010 1.03pm

To:David Thorne

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

Awww

Fine. That will have to do.

sleepy

i'm back to a college-styled bedtime routine, mostly b/c of my inability to pass up any sleep-in days... added to today's waking up at a ridic hour to report for airport shuttle service and subsequent weirder sleeping-in schedule = current insomniac dilemma.

i don't actually have anything much to say tonight. and i don't have to wake up 'early' tomorrow, so it feels actually alright.

i notice i've been blogging about 1x/month here on blogger; in the past, i'd blog an average of 4x/month or more on xanga... speaking of which, i need to get back to my project to digitize those journal entries.

i find that there is a lot of things on my mind tonight, but without proper rest, it feels more like a foggy mess. a lot of errand-y type things, mostly, things i've meant to do but haven't gotten around to yet. some creative projects to the list of errands. and a trip awaiting booking, still waiting on hope. a lot of questions about the value of things, how much is it really worth it to spend $x on z? y?

okay, dawdled enough on the internet for a lifetime. i suppose i can always answer the questions on my mind later, as in, after i rest later.

the best listener

back from memorial day family retreat and quickly lapsing into life again... even with my current chill life, it's so easy to miss 'whispers' from god.... almost a year ago, i willy-nilly went to Arizona to spend some time with some kids. the lesson i shared about was the story of how God reveals himself in various ways, eg, how God speaks,... out of wind, earthquake, and fire, God spoke to Elijah in a gentle whisper (1 kings 19:9-18)... i guess he can choose to speak in louder ways, befitting a creator, so why whisper?

is it the intimate quality?
is it so we'd have to really listen?
is it because of its clearer quality?
is it that we'd not be able to withstand anything louder?
is it that there's no point in shouting to be heard?

as five girls whisper late into the night, on the very same bunk beds that have bore other whispered conversations over years past--- the topics of interest may change with each passing life stage, the palatable community resting there remain the same.

homecoming.

of all the good listeners i'm blessed with in my life, none is better than my mom. she is the best listener. perhaps that's one of the great gifts she's endowed in me, the self-same ability to listen.

as i continue to pursue becoming a better therapist, this same skill will need honing.
as i continue to pursue becoming a better daughter of the king , this same skill will also need honing.

in re-reading elijah's story, it is when he is discouraged in ministry and facing persecution that god provides fuel for the journey back to the mountain of god and reveals his presence and speaks in his gentle whisper.

in pursuit of...

life, liberty, and the pursuit of holiness



can you imagine the difference that would make?

easter blog

i want to blog more but have been preoccupied and blog-shy (still not quite used to blogger).

but it's easter, so why not :P heh

i will post a small piece of wisdom someone told me recently, that a mentor shared with her; i really liked it--

"Sometimes, God takes a long time to do things suddenly"

maybe for a long time, nothing has happened. when things finally do happen, they're really on a roll! to me, it says that even when you don't see any visible signs of god at work, he is. and when things are all set up, all the pieces in place, when the timing is correct-- bam! checkmate.

a reminder to be patient in waiting and prepared for action... and to trust... and to hope too.

happy easter!

i wonder what other wonderful things god has in store for me?

days away from change

i confess that i am often too hard on myself. a splash of perfectionism internalized at an young age, and not quite grown out of it yet. i'm still not sure why that is..., i am just grateful that god loves me for me!

saw this on fb:



if i can give my younger selves some advice (tho not quite as life-transforming as the cusp of becoming a parent :p), i would tell...

my young therapist self: .................... trust yourself more (???)
my post-break-up self: you may not believe me, but one day, without your knowing, the heartache will have gone missing and you won't be missing for anything. you are braver, wiser, and more beautiful than you think. your pain will bring others healing, and it will bring you growth and maturity.
my graduate school self: your expectations of community is too high. school will only teach you maybe about 2% of what you will need to know, the rest you will learn as you go. find people willing to explore pasadena together and GO already!
my first-dating self: be as honest as you can be, it's called vulnerability. face your insecurities. guys are different than girls, accept physical intimacy as a part of relating in a dating relationship and know your boundaries. pray together.
my college self: take more risks, go sailing with the sailing club, get more involved with things outside of church/christian friends, your circle will only get smaller and smaller...
my high school self: don't worry so much about AP classes, learn more about what you are passionate about! let guys ask you fully out, if they are actually interested, to the dances you will attend.
my jr. high self: you are making an incredibly grown-up choice, sometimes God lets you choose and both choices are legit. these friends you will still keep in touch with, even at age 28-- oh, you should bring a plastic bag on your trip to catalina, *everyone* is going to get seasick! heh
my elementary self: remember heng-chuan, it will be such an unique childhood experience. Not every child gets to snorkel on the weekends, catch tadpoles, climb len-pu trees, play with critters, and run around barefooted. you will return one day, and the whole place will have transformed but for the childhood memories...

allergies

achoo.

can't tell if the zyertec really helps or if it's only delaying the sneezy reactions for a headache instead :( ... things like cold medicine too, they don't really help, they just mask the symptoms so you can relatively function until your body recovers naturally. i think western medicine is temporary relief, bought at the price of daily choices that ultimately matter far more for long term health.

short-term relief always wins out over long-term good. so tempting to look for the "quick fix," especially when someone or something is suffering, but most things in life are a little more complex than that.

...

sunday afternoon, chris & i headed out to hang out w/some of his friends from norcal, down visiting. we had dinner, dessert, and one of those conversations that last long into the night. we left when it was nearly midnight, all of us having talked past our adult bedtimes.

those kind of conversations are deeply satisfying to me, i love having conversations with people who think deeply, who ask great questions about life out of their own struggle or experience or plain curiosity... i also find that i enjoy talking to people in a different life stage, especially those older than me, because those interactions happen rarely for me. it was refreshing, the conversation and my cup of tea made me want to stay past 'time to go'.

the topic revolved mostly around parenting, which is more relevant for the other three couples present. one of whom is a father of a two year old, two of which were expectant mothers and fathers. then there's chris & me, single-dating :P there were also other interesting topics sprinkled in, like technology & parenting, job hiring/firing, nerdy references to the world of online gaming and guilds, harry potter, and other tv shows. the conversation flowed nicely. there was laughter and depth.

i was surprised by a few things: the comfort i feel with people i have only met once or twice before, the ease at which i gave my opinions, and that i had something to contribute! :) i guess i was just interested in the conversation. and while everyone gave their opinions, there was room for discussion...

i was challenged by a few thoughts that i will continue to wrestle with:
-expertise takes devotion to a singular subject, and to be truly well-trained in anything takes about 3-4 years of full-time immersion in that area of expertise.

*application: if i want to be an expert as a MFT, i will need to narrow my focus on something in the field and get as much up to date information/techniques/research/experience/etc as i possibly can in that one area. like the b. quote, my vocation is to be the intersection of my greatest passion with the world's greatest need. i'm still refining my passion within the social service field, and how to find a way to meet genuine needs.

-3 character flaws of people (as described by a... NBA recruiter? :p)
1. soft
2. selfish
3. stupid
if a candidate has issues in 1 area, they may be able to overcome that particular struggle. if they have issues in 2 or more, they are a risky choice and should be screened out.

i see it sort of as...
1. motivation/self-direction + ability to struggle thru hardship/criticism/endure/persevere
2. character/integrity + ability to work with others/teamwork
3. lack of experience/resources/ability + willingness to learn from mistakes

eat nachos!

Cross marks the spot

drank coffee too late tonight. might as well take the time to catch-up on several lagging things... like blogging.

Soon after i wrote about "feeling restless"..., i went for my weekly supervision at Citrus Counseling, and the conversation ends up being about... something (i forget :p).

but the take away point i got:

^{romans 8:28-29} And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

purpose/calling = conforming to the image of Jesus.

in other words, my destination = Christ

what a wonderful map of what direction i'm wanting to be headed towards... :) i can have no better compass!

sacrifice

hmm, i thought there was a xanga option to get a copy of all your entries on a CD when you shut down your site. i guess that is no longer an option.

i can either pay for premium for a month to dl all my old entries, or do the ol' copy+paste routine. copy+paste*jig*

i chose the latter. it's going to take some time, time i do have! haha

so far, it's reminded me how much i love writing my thoughts down. i'm amazed by this girl in typed font. shhhh, don't tell, but she sort of resembles me ;) i want to sit and have a cup of coffee with her. i write wayyy too much, must work on cutting down the future size of my entries. i also like my photos, videos. i took time and care to format pictures/text. and when i re-read myself, i inspire myself to continue to write. =)

hi.

taking a break from the xanga-copy-and-paste-project now that it's getting towards bedtime.

i came across this blog entry at the end of today (see below), which i will re-blog here... Pastor Gabe preached on this passage this past Sunday. i didn't want to acknowledge it to myself outloud, but the very same photo of the red planter with clinging ivy and the ghosts of tulips resurfaced in my brain, of God asking an impossible sacrifice in 2008.

i thought in giving up what was so close to me, i hoped against the odds that Issac might be spared. for me, Issac was not spared, he was sacrificed and left on the altar. it still hurts today. i wonder too, whether Job ever misses his first family, despite god replacing all the things he originally lost at the end of his story.

when i reflect on it, part of me knows that my trial is hardly on par with the choice Abraham had to make. i'm grateful for the support of friends back then. i'm grateful for the love i have now. god provided other good things for me. but i don't have any answers to give Job or Abraham, had God not provide a substitute for his sacrifice. God certainly did not spare his own son many years later. maybe i just need to think about this bible story a little more, of sacrifice, of obedience, of my response to GOD.

...

Tuesday, 06 May 2008 [xanga]

• 
  Some time later, God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddle his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and the wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided" -Genesis 22:1-14
  
  
  
  there is so much between these lines
  
  

restless

i've been feeling restless lately.

school always gave an anticipated end-goal, graduation. now that school is done, when do you ever really 'finish'? (short of being 6 ft. under, one hardly graduates from life :P).

life while in school had always been busy for an overachiever like me. (overachiever b/c w/out parental prompting, i had still somehow internalized cultural expectations for academic 'success'). i did a lot of things, had to forgo sleep at times, but nonetheless i am proud of the things i achieved in JrH & HS (I don't know why, i am not as super impressed with my college and grad school achievements, which cost the parents much more cash. go figure-- shrug).

now life outside of school has been blissfully restful (which, i know, is not the norm).

i count myself blessed during this interim. every day that i get to sleep in, i feel blessed. every yummy lunch i get to prepare and eat at home, i offer a short prayer of thanks. i am delighted to find an endless continuity of time spent w/chris, a luxury i never thought possible (yet, why not?). i actually have time for leisure reading! i love that i don't need the 9am-5pm job to survive in this world, at least not yet.

maybe it's knowing that this idyllic lifestyle *cannot* last, i'm waiting for a coming graduation, whose shape and arrival i'm not sure i'd recognize without a cap and gown in hand... or, maybe it's the need to be productive for the space and energy i occupy daily to prove my existence worthwhile... or, just feeling like since the rest of the world is busy laboring, what's so special about me that i do not labor along?

i don't know. i have been feeling restless, and the feeling is an undercurrent that pops out in fantasies of traveling, to dream life-sized dreams, to go on a journey, to start the next big thing in my life already!... but i am horrible with visioning, and even worse when it comes to quieting the guilt of spending $ on trips for my entertainment (seems... selfish). shrug. so... instead, i do other things, like clean the kitchen stove... i scrub furiously until the stove is spotless of any grease, a white-top almost as good as new, with fresh aluminum liners thoughtful of future spills.

some might argue that the next big marker in my life should be marriage. yea, that would be an unmistakable sort of defining moment... that would be an amazing moment. or maybe getting my license (that would be miraculous too, given my slow pace towards that goal). or making a purchase as big as a downpayment on a house. these are the fuzzy developmental milestones this side of school has to offer... and they all seem to fall short of being life-satisfying right now. (more waiting required)

i want to sail in a direction set by myself. i want to feel the rush of the wind, the warmth of the yellow sun, hear the splash of the waves slap the sides of the boat as i ride each wave towards... a wonderful destination.

is there such a thing as 'destiny'?

i wish i had a compass to mine.

jury duty

last week, i was summoned to fulfill the civic duty of waking up early, making myself a thermos of coffee, driving to the Pomona courthouse, shuffling past metal detectors, up an elevator, and into the already-sardine-like-occupied jury assembly room at 8:30am.

yes. boring. too much waiting around, waiting for something to happen while not a whole lot happens. feels like going to the airport, without the excitement of a destination (which is just sad)... and, well, doing a whole lotta nothing made me pretty tired! :P

in the morning, two jury panels were immediately called. i was not called, but the person sitting next to me was called, which was nice, since i got more leg room. [tangent: first business of orientation is to inform the lot of us that drinks are not allowed in the carpeted main room, but are allowed outside in the hallway or in the little corner at the rear part of the room where there are some (what i assumed to be) linoleum tiles on the ground. (seems more wrong to *not* follow rules inside a courthouse! :P heh).] i sipped on my contraband coffee i hid my coffee from view, sipping occasionally and read my theory-based sex book with its discreet cover all morning.

right before lunch, i was called for a panel. we were given instructions to return to a such-and-such court room at such-and-such time, after lunch.

----
break for lunch (a courthouse picnic of donahoo's friend chicken! :D)
----

after lunch, the picked group of about 30 potential jurors filed back into a different wing of the court and sat on long wooden benches in a hallway. we waited for another good hour and a half, while the court finished up on another case.

finally, we were let into the court room.

it was considerably brighter in the courtroom and spacious, especially compared to the dimly-lit narrow hallway with its narrow benches. the judge's table took up an entire wall directing facing the entrance. the judge asked us to be seated in the chairs facing him. he introduced us to the various 'fixtures' inside the courtroom. the bailiff. the court-recorder. his secretary. the attorneys and the defendant.

----

i started to feel nervous. i was not even the one on trial, but sitting before a judge and the thought of giving a personal account of myself before other jurors made me nervous! my mouth became dry. my heart started to thump audibly. my feet jiggled.

maybe it's b/c it's a place where decisions about people's lives are made. it's a place where (human) justice is administered. there was a solemnity about the place. the judge spoke kind words to instruct us on what to expect and what to say, his questions were appropriate and serious all at once... it made you want to tell the truth and do your best and hope you will pass successfully from under scrutiny.

well, turns out we ran out of time to finish selecting the jury in the same day and we all had to return the second day. on the second day, i was picked to give my background information. i already knew i would not be picked for the jury, given that i work with Domestic Violence and the case involved spousal battery. It would have been educational to see the justice side of things to a case of someone i might work with in my clinical setting... but, alas, neither side would really want someone like me on a jury for a case like theirs. oh well.

----

i left my jury service behind for the year, along with a sense of... the seriousness of justice. the accountability that i will have to give one day for my life before god, and how scary that will be, even knowing christ's blood covers my shortcoming. human justice, however flawed and corrupt and ridiculed it may be, is a reflection of god's character. he is just.

one day, he will bring true justice, and i think, all our knees will quake at the sight of his coming.

taking a line out for a walk...

sometimes, just need to put pen to paper and see what comes forth..

in art therapy, they call it, 'take a line out for a walk'

it's not that there's nothing to blog about, i guess i'm just not used to this new space yet. or maybe even though i have more free time nowadays, it seems i have less self-time... i've practically replaced blogging with fb-time, even though i think the former is more suited to my way of self-expression, reflection, and ultimately, of growth.

i've always been a somewhat private person, who also happens to value saying things in indirect ways. i like the richness of language to communicate multiple meanings, like triple-layered chocolate cake. its self-same ability to create and destroy worlds, fictitious and truthful both at once.

it's nice to be back, although a tad lonely w/out the familiar readership :P

just... taking my line out for a walk tonight.

beginnings

it is 2011, a new year with new tales to tell.

i'm going to renew my passport tomorrow, bid farewell to my old one, with plenty of visas mostly to taiwan, but also to places like guatemala/honduras & kenya.

i'm not sure this next passport will be its equal in terms adventuring, but by the time the new passport has expired (another ten years), i hope it will have brought me further to the oh-so-many places in this world worth savoring.

to journeying beyond (toast)