sacha chua living an awesome life

(2008)

W- and I got to know each other over lots of carpool conversations. One time, he gave me a lift downtown. I asked him to drop me off at the Lillian Smith library, which was just a few blocks from my dorm. I had just discovered that I could order books online and have them delivered to a branch close to me, and I was looking forward to a quiet evening with a pile of books.

I hadn’t expected forty-two books to arrive all at once.

I called W- on his cellphone and explained the situation. He drove back, loaded the books into his car, and helped me take the books to my place.

I wonder what he must thought when he saw me with those two large piles of books and big puppy-dog eyes.

-*-

2009

After we cleared the dinner settings, W- sat down with Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age. He was nearly done with it, and had been amused by Stephenson’s occasional geek references (pirates and ninjas! Lisp!). I started reading You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard. When I finished before he did, he said, “Sometimes, you scare me.” I made slurping sounds, and he laughed. We joke about this–I practically inhale books. Most nonfiction books are easy to skim. On the other hand, fiction and really well-written non-fiction are meant to be savoured.

-*-

2009

“I have some more books for you,” W- said as he walked in the door. He had dropped by the library at his workplace and picked up a few books: one book on women and success, and another book on design.

He often brings home books he knows I’ll like. Two weeks ago, he brought home books about leadership, management, and workplace engagement. Before that, he brought home books on productivity, life, and comics.

He reads them as well. He likes how I bring a constant stream of books into his life, and often enjoys reading my finds.

-*-

2009

We went to the library today. W- and I were browsing through the section for graphic novels. Flight Vol. 4 (Kazu Kibuishi) caught my eye. I picked it up and browsed through it, then tucked it into my to-read pile. When I looked up, I noticed that W- already had the next volume in his. That made me smile.

-*-

2009

“There seem to be about fifty new books in my account,” W- said over lunch.

I’d borrowed a great idea from a friend and had someone go through my long list of things to read, requesting them from the library if available. My assistant must have put the requests on W-’s library card instead of mine.

He laughed and corrected himself. “Okay, seventeen outstanding holds.” He read a few titles and smiled. He knows who I am, what I read, and why I read what I read.

-*-

I often tell people that my two main reasons for putting up with Toronto’s winters are W- and the Toronto Public Library. In some countries like my homeland, books are hard to get. I want to change that. Someday.

School is winding up nicely. I’m making progress on my research. My
personal life has been much too interesting over the past few days,
and that’s why I’ve been feeling up and down. Thanks to everyone who
called, texted, and e-mailed support… <hugz> You rock.

The past few weeks have been difficult, but we seem to have cleared
the worst and have come to a new understanding. It amazes me that even
though I kept trying to walk away and even though he was also under so
much stress from business, he refused to give up, and he refused to
let me give up.

Maybe this is a big part of what love is. It’s not so much about
having lots of high points—those will come with time—but being able
to deal with the low points. And day by day, week by week, month by
month, we’re learning.

From “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran:

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

Besides, there are high points too. <grin> I just have to blog
more of them so I’ll remember.

This isn’t an LJ post, so please e-mail me your insights or use the
form on my page… =)

On Technorati: love

Random Emacs symbol: utf-fragmentation-table – Variable: Char-table normally mapping non-Latin mule-unicode-* chars to iso-8859-*.

Photo by Rob Dudley. License: Creative Commons Attribution.

Wow.

Just wow.

Whenever I falter and lose sight of my way, other people lift me up,
set me on my feet, and point me back in the right direction.

Where would I be without my family and my friends and those random
strangers and acquaintances who take a moment out of their busy days
to reach out to me in all their generous humanity?

I am thankful for these moments of sadness and confusion, however
brief they are, because they give me an opportunity to appreciate and
deepen my respect for the wonderful, wonderful people in my life.

From friends who called and messaged and e-mailed as soon as they read
my doubts, to my mom whose encouragement addressed my fears and
strengthened my resolve, to coworkers who not only told me of
interesting opportunities but also expressed their concern

I am loved beyond my ability to comprehend, and if I can spend the
rest of my life sharing that experience of love with other people…
wow!

It’s been said that it takes a village to raise a child. I am being
raised by the world.

On Technorati: goodkarma, love, :)

Coelho, Paul. 1988. _The Alchemist._ p149.

“From where I am,” the sun said, “I can see the Soul of the World. It communicates with my soul, and together we cause the plants to grow and the sheep to seek out shade. From where I am—and I’m a long way from the earth—I learned how to love. I know that if I came even a little bit closer to the earth, everything there would die, and the Soul of the World would no longer exist. So we contemplate each other, and we want each other, and I give it life and warmth, and it gives me my reason for living.”

On Technorati: quotes, love

Random Japanese sentence: うちは黒１匹、白２匹で、３匹の猫を飼っている。 We keep three cats, a black one and two white ones.

This is what it’s like to be loved. =)

I was having one of my I-hate-being-an-international-student moments
when Dominique turned up online, telling me his Sacha-sense was
tingling. I was incoherent during the first half of our Skype
conversation, but he just kept listening to me and joking with me
until I felt better.

I don’t think I’ll wake up in time to go to IBM tomorrow, so I’ll make
it up on Monday instead. I guess I’ll work on the reading paper,
then…

On Technorati: dominique, friends, love

Random Japanese sentence: 我々は犬や猫や鳥などを飼うことができる。 We can have dogs, cats, birds, and so on.

My mom told me a totally warm-and-fuzzy story about paper penguins.
Awwww! She loves me very, very, very much. =D

On Technorati: mama, love, family

Song

>

You bound strong sandals on my feet,
You gave me bread and wine,
And sent me under sun and stars,
For all the world was mine.

>

Oh, take the sandals off my feet,
You know not what you do;
For all my world is in your arms,
My sun and stars are you.

On Technorati: love

Random Japanese sentence: 猫がネズミを追いかけた。 A cat ran after a mouse. Neko ga nezumi o oikaketa.