With the Holy Spirit

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Have you ever had your things stolen?

Well, I have. And I just had my property stolen. A bag of gorgeous, delicious array of fruits of oranges, apples, pear and grapes stolen from a labeled "ELAINE Room 4 E" basket from my cluster fridge.

I thought I misplaced my bag of fruits, but that was quite silly. Cuz if I misplaced it, it would still be somewhere in the kitchen, most likely on the table. But nooo...there was nothing. Not even anything left in my basket. I wondered if the thief had a conscience. She/He stole my fruits and left me NOTHING in my basket!!

Honestly, I had sneaky thoughts to bombard the cluster board with letters full of eloquent criticisms and sarcastic comments, which I am well capable of. Also, with adequate knowledge of pharmacology, I thought of putting laxatives into my fruits next time, and catch the culprit going to toilet 24/7 out of intensive diarrhea. Instead, by God's grace, I wrote a nice letter which had words like,

"I am upset, not because the bag of fruits which rightfully belongs to me, was stolen, but simply because there is dishonesty and inconsiderate people among us...I hope that everyone will be more alert in lieu of this unfortunate incident."

Sister Francesca said, "God is good to u dear, he lets u experience what the hungry experiences."

Hmm. Maybe she's right.

It is pretty much as blessing that my life is criss-crossed with such people I guess. When I was young in primary school, I had a friend who sat next to me in class. For 1 whole year, she stole my stationary every week. It never came back. In secondary, I was pick-pocketed before when someone put its hand into my pocket and took my wallet. Last semester, my pair of spectacles was stolen by another it from the cluster toilet. And this semester, a third it stole my bag of fruits. Oh well.

For self-consolation, and with utmost conviction, I say, "Bad people exist for us to do good through them. And they exist so that they can be converted."

Elaine's amateur psychological and psychiatric diagnosis is :

Maybe the thief has Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD) and/or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)....or some form of mental illness to go on a stealing rampage.

In Easter Spirit, I shall forgive. Hard to, but well, possible.

Dear annoymous friend,
may God bless u.
Blessed Easter!

-Yours truly ;

Monday, April 06, 2009

I thought I would dedicate an entry for one of men I most admire - Leonardo da Vinci.

If he were alive right now, I would be the first to beg him to let me be him apprentice!! His close friend, Vasari had said this of him:

In the normal course of events many men and women are born with remarkable talents; but occasionally, in a way that transcends nature, a single person is marvellously endowed by Heaven with beauty, grace and talent in such abundance that he leaves other men far behind, all his actions seem inspired and indeed everything he does clearly comes from God rather than from human skill. Everyone acknowledged that this was true of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist of outstanding physical beauty, who displayed infinite grace in everything that he did and who cultivated his genius so brilliantly that all problems he studied he solved with ease.

—Giorgio Vasari

Indeed so, I share his sentiments. Not only was Leonardo an Italian polymath, he was also a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. Imagine that even from humble beginnings (he was born from a peasant mother), his works stretched far and beyond borders, and live on, even after his death..Of which I enjoy seeing his art-pieces with my very own eyes in Paris, Milan, Rome...

This painting is the oh-so-famous "Mona Lisa". In Lourve, Paris, it's smaller than u would imagine it to be. From where I stood (10metres I think))away from the small teeny weeny painting, I couldn't even see it properly because of the reflection of the bullet proof cover and to the annoyance of excited patrons jostling and elbow-ing my ribs. And I got scolded by the guards for taking a pic. Of which the security did not erase my photos, thank goodness.

Ahh, of wonders and wonders. These sketches unveil the hidden knowledge of anatomy of which Leonardo da Vinci had soaked as an apprentice. Lovely.

At the chapel at Milan, unfortunately, instead of an English speaking guide, the one which I had was an Italian guide. Didn't understand. I remember that thereafter, when the guide realised how lost our faces were, he spoke in English for 5-10mins to explain. God's grace. Apparently, the painting was so blurred and almost marred, that the faces of the apostles are hardly well-defined unless Adobe photoshop was done. Last supper.

Virgin in the rocks. Shows John the Baptist with Jesus. I love this piece. Found in Lourve, Paris too. Because Lourve was so BIG, and I had only 2hours, so the first pieces I zoomed to, were obviously the ones created by Leonardo da Vinci. In case my blog gets taken down because of copyright laws, all these photos are in acknowledgment of wikipedia. =) I dare not show originals I took, in case I get charged.

-Yours truly ;