Joie de Vivre A Wretched Man’s Quest To Follow Jesus Christ

I can’t actually believe my eyes…

My Alexa ranking has never seen so few digits before until today. Up till yesterday, it had been stagnant at 1,037,431 for quite a while already, and I have never expected it to get any better since I never actually put any effort into improving my Alexa ranking.

However, logging onto my blog this afternoon made me jump out of my office chair.

My Alexa ranking has actually jumped 438,270 points to the present 599,161! Just to be sure I went to Alexa and actually did a search for my blog and there was no doubt the new ranking was accurate.

How did I do it? Frankly I have no idea, because I rarely follow the actual instructions on how one can increase a blog’s ranking as advised by money-making experts. All I know is that I expanded my circle outside of local aggregation sites, and became quite active in these communities, visiting blogs that interest me, leaving comments and just doing one actual review of a blog for a link-back.

Now I just hope that this isn’t a glitch like what Technorati had on 5 August 2007 when everyone’s blog was rated number 1.

It is hard to imagine that it has been 30 years since Elvis Presley’s death on August 16, 1977.

Till today, approximately 600,000 people visit his grave in Graceland annually to pay their respects to a man remembered for both his generosity and kindness to his fans and his music.

And who can forget those dance moves, that voice, and especially for women like my wife who is a big fan of Elvis, his good looks (before he grew fat)?

Personally, I don’t idolize Elvis Presley nor am I a particularly crazy fan of his, but a couple of his songs have become perennial favorites of mine simply because they are meaningful or just plain lovely — both of which I’ll share with you here.

If I Can Dream

There must be lights burning brighter somewhere
Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue
If I can dream of a better land
Where all my brothers walk hand in hand
Tell me why, oh why, oh why cant my dream come true

There must be peace and understanding sometime
Strong winds of promise that will blow away
All the doubt and fear
If I can dream of a warmer sun
Where hope keeps shining on everyone
Tell me why, oh why, oh why wont that sun appear

We’re lost in a cloud
With too much rain
We’re trapped in a world
That’s troubled with pain
But as long as a man
Has the strength to dream
He can redeem his soul and fly

Deep in my heart there’s a trembling question
Still I am sure that the answer gonna come somehow
Out there in the dark, there’s a beckoning candle
And while I can think, while I can talk
While I can stand, while I can walk
While I can dream, please let my dream
Come true, right now
Let it come true right now
Oh yeah

Hawaiian Wedding Song

Picture of Elvis Presley taken from Rolling Stone Magazine.

Since we are on the topic of Roman Catholicism, I shall share with you another reason why I rejected the Roman Catholic Church and her doctrines.

In my testimony, I recounted how Roy, a neighbor and a student of my dad’s, came from a Roman Catholic family and introduced me to Roman Catholicism. Back then, I felt that the statues of saints and of Mary were no different from the idols that my mom has on the family altar.

Today I thank God for giving me wisdom then to discern that fact.

So what is it about the Roman Catholic Church and her teachings about Mary that I disagree with?

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Norski’s comment on my post on Christian marriage and how he converted to Roman Catholicism because of what he believed to be Peter’s primacy got me writing a post on this finally.

I’ve always intended to write something on the topic, seeing that I had rejected Roman Catholicism in my journey to Christianity, but it seems that even talking about it can get quite a few people all riled up. However, I feel it’s better to write about it than to keep quiet.

Before I continue, let me make it very clear that I have nothing against Roman Catholics — my wife’s family is Roman Catholic and I have many friends who are Roman Catholics and we get along really well. What I have a problem with is the Roman Catholic Church’s claim to have power over Christians worldwide because of the ‘legitimate’ power of the pope passed on from Peter.

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People who blast their Walkman phones on buses?

I’ll tell you the answer…

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Nisar sent this to me so I thought I’d share it with you.

Granted, it isn’t that new, but hey! if it makes Monday pass by just a tad faster, nothing’s wrong with a little re-hashing of old content, eh?

Personally, I’d love to have the guts to say “I’m not being rude. You’re just insignificant.” and “Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?” to some folks one day or another (the latter referring to some women I’ve met).

What’s your favorite in this list?
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Got tagged by Hulkie Arzhou, a.k.a. Layer Cake. I do hope the authorities don’t use this information against me years down the road!

Layer 1: On The Outside

• Name: Isaiah, last name Chua
• Birth Date: 9 May 1970
• Current Status: Married
• Eye Color: Black
• Hair Color: Black

Layer 2: On The Inside

• My Heritage: 1/4 Peranakan (Straits-born Chinese), 1/4 Hokkien, 1/2 Cantonese, though my wife says I am turning 1/8 Eurasian too because of how much I love Eurasian food.
• My Fears: I. Absolutely. Run. From. Flying. Cockroaches.
• My Weaknesses: Procrastinating.
• My Perfect Pizza: Italian-style — thin crust, Italian sausages on top with a lorry-load of cheese.

Layer 3: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

• My First Thoughts of waking Up: Snooze button!
• My Bed Time: Usually past midnight.
• My Most Missed Memories: Childhood, running amok in a kampung (village) in Bukit Timah and days at my maternal grandma’s helping out at her noodle store.

Layer 4: My Pick

• Pepsi or Coke: Coke please, but I seldom drink colas nowadays
• McDonalds or Burger King: Burger King.
• Single or Group Dates: Depends, no preferences.
• Adidas or Nike: Adidas (blasts “My Adidas” by RUN D.M.C.).
• Tea or Nestea: Tea, with a spot of lemon please.
• Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate, especially dark chocolate.
• Cappuccino or Coffee: Coffee. Give me them old-time coffeeshop brews over Starbucks anytime!

Layer 5: Do You?

• Smoke: Yes, but trying very hard to quit.
• Curse: Occasionally and only when very miffed.
• Take A Shower: Twice a day if possible, I was not born to live in Singapore’s climate.
• Have A Crush: Don’t have one now, but had a few when younger.
• Want To Get Married: Been there, done that, happily married.
• Believe In Yourself: I do suffer from self-doubt now and then, but overall, yea, I believe in myself.
• Think You’re A Health Freak: No way, Jose.

Layer 6: In The Past

• Drink Alcohol: Social Drinker nowadays, but had drinks every weekend with friends/colleagues when younger.
• Gone to the Mall: Asking this of Singaporeans is like asking if humans need to breathe to live.
• Been on Stage: Yes.
• Eaten Sushi: First thing I did when I could afford a restaurant meal when I started working.
• Dyed Your Hair: Never, I don’t think I’ll look good blonde or otherwise.

Layer 7: Have You Ever?

• Played A Stripping Game: A few times in my younger and wilder days. I lost quite often, but won a few good ones too.
• Changed Who You Were To Fit In: Never will. Besides, I’m a most stubborn bull when it comes to changes in general.

Layer 8: Are You Hoping To?

• Get Married: Already am.

Layer 9: In A Girl

• Best Eye Color: Foreign colors intrigue me, especially emerald green and blue. Brown is nice too.
• Best Hair Color: I have a weakness for brunettes.
• Short or Long Hair: Doesn’t matter so long as the haircut suits her. Some women do look better with short hair like, say, Glenda Chong.

Layer 10: What You Were Doing

• A Minute Ago: If you think this post just magically appeared, then I was zipping through the air on a magic carpet a minute ago.
• Hour Ago: Making coffee.
• Four And A Half Hours Ago: Asleep.
• A Month Ago: In a meeting with a client.
• A Year Ago: Probably on some magic carpet ride, I guess.

Layer 11:

• I Love: The simple pleasures of life, like being in a deck chair on a beach of white sand, cold beer in hand, looking out at the clear blue sea.
• I Hate: Elitism
• I Hide: While you cover your eyes and count to 10.
• I Miss: The carefree days as a student.
• I Need: A MacBook Pro and an iPod.

Layer 12: Tag 5 People

• .:f.ART.boystinks:.
• Rinaz
• Moby
• Woonder
• Endoh

Photo by Mimbe, an ex-colleague from Mauritius.