Just want to blog about something rather amazing that happened today! Will get straight to the point, I got a new electric guitar! For the guitar geeks it's a Duesenberg Starplayer TV in surf-green. Got it second-hand off a guitar forum at almost half the price that is retailing in the shops now, which is an absolute, absolute steal. But as much as I can wax lyrical on end about the guitar, I think the real story here is about how I got my guitar.

So yes, I responded to the seller on the forum yesterday, and he told me that I can drop by his house today to test it before buying. Had to travel all the way down to Bukit Panjang, and it was along the way on the journey that I decided to text old (bird) friend Atiqah, because she lives in that area too and I probably passed by her house. Told her about my reasons for being there, and then proceeded on to go and meet the seller. He was a great guy, gave his name as Airi, told me that he was a recording artiste, has an album in the making, and that he brought down this amp from the studio just so that I could try the guitar at his house. All along I was just like, okay cool -shrugs- and wow-whee-whoo-ing at the appropriate places, because c'mon I wasn't really that interested in this guy's life, and for a fleeting moment I thought he was trying to brag to me! Besides I am here mainly for the guitar, so I was really just trying to be as indifferent as my insouciant voice can summon. So I kinda spurned most of his attempts at small talk about gear and music and life. He brought out another guitar and offered it to me to try, but I kinda declined and just focused on transferring him the money online and looking to haul butt out of there asap. 

It was only when I was midway on the journey back home that Atiqah messaged me again, asking if I bought my guitar from Sezairi Sezali! Apparently he tweeted about it right after I left his house, and Atiqah follows him on Twitter. I obviously do not. Also, Atiqah knows for a fact that he lives in that area, and that I am in that area getting a second-hand guitar! It is not very difficult to put A and B together, and then you get C and D and E and F because of his revelations of his music recording artiste career and whatever else... I promise you I looked like an absolute fool in the train, half-smiling to myself and half-shocked at that realization. I walked into Sezairi's home and spent 20 minutes in his house and bought a guitar from him and I walked out without recognizing that was him!

Okay perhaps at this point it will be a good idea to remind you who Sezairi Sezali is. He won the last Singapore Idol a few years back. Didn't really follow that contest, and definitely not a true fan, but I actually watched him perform at Indoor Stadium a couple of years back! He was the opening act for Taylor Swift's concert, which I was at. He's probably got thousands of screaming fans who would love to get an encounter like I did. And I could have laid claim to the fact that I was jamming with Sezairi right in his house! But obviously I didn't, and I feel like a gigantic idiot for being so oblivious to who he is! Okay la he's not a globally known superstar, but still, it must take a huge effort to win Singapore Idol, and to get to where he is today, right?? Hahaha and I walked right past all of these opportunities to get to know him. Least he could do is to shout out his name and I would be sure to identify him haha, but he is so humble and really easy-going and friendly. What a way to introduce yourself too, as a "recording artiste", instead of "Singapore Idol winner" or "Taylor Swift opener". 

Okay. Back to the guitar. The Duesenberg plays really great, and it is in spectacular condition apart from several small cosmetic dings which you can't really see unless you are looking for it. The pick-ups are a blast, and I think it's versatile enough for just about any kind of music in church. It needs a good polish and some maintenance work, but it's got a whammy bar for vibrato, which I will need to get used to! Think I'm going to have a lot of fun with it. 

In a series of meteorite mishaps and asteroid adventures that have happened today, I am so upset and disappointed and sad that these astronomical events didn't quite live up to my expectations! In case you haven't known, there was a meteorite explosion over the skies of Russia this afternoon, and there were reports of hundreds of people injured from the sonic wave that caused windows to shatter. You can Google some of the video captures that charted the meteorite's progress across the bright sky. It is absolutely amazing, it is practically a fireball that descended from outer space. And that's not all! It was calculated that at approximately 3:26am tonight there will be an asteroid named "2012 DA14" flying by at close range to our planet Earth. It won't hit us, and it certainly isn't the biggest asteroid ever, but it is the closest asteroid in I don't know how many years and it is once-in-a-lifetime event and the newspapers and the Internet are all talking about it.

If you know me, I am a strong proponent of witnessing the historical moment, and I like to catch record-breaking events or watch people create history. And the ostensible thing to do for asteroids and meteorites would be to stay up and try and catch a glimpse of it! I'm amazed at astronomy and I quite like stars and comets and planets and moons and the sort, so I wanted to at least stay up and watch the live video streaming that NASA is providing for the asteroid. It didn't help that I watched some of those Russian meteorites videos and they showed a huge fireball across the skies, and I kinda wound up expecting a similar fireball trail across my night sky at 3:26am. It really was splashed on the newspaper headlines and then NASA made such a big hype over it, and my hyper-imaginative mind went aliens invasion and end of the world and Transformers and Armageddon.

Let me tell you that it was just over about half an hour ago, and it was nothing exciting at all. Zilch in the night sky. No fireworks or trail or star or fast-moving bright light. And the video feed is super anti-climatic. It just went "And it's coming in... and it is over the Equator now... and it is at its closest to Earth now, and the people in Northern Hemisphere should see it exiting now". That was that!!! It was over in less than a minute, and I cannot believe I stayed up late for something that was stupendously boring and I couldn't see anything in the night sky! For all the hype, I would have thought that there will be more involved to it, but nope it just came and gone without so much of a whimper.

I am so disappointed now hahaha I think I kinda expected too much. I really wanted to see a fireball, but it wasn't going to happen at all, and my aliens or Transformers didn't exactly materialize either. The so-called historical event is terribly misconstrued too. I feel so cheated for all the excitement generated, only for it to come and go in a little over 45 or 50 seconds and then life goes back to normal, and it didn't even create a bang. Sigh. I feel like a poor little boy who didn't get what he wanted for Christmas hahaha. Okay this is so depressing and disappointing, I am going to bed wishing that I went to bed earlier. 

Led worship and shared the message last night at youth service, and this is something which I constantly tell myself to not get into such situations, but it still happens anyway! I always end up neglecting one for the other, and then end up unprepared for both, and I feel terrible about it. But last night was a good reminder to not trust on my own failings or to lean on my own strength. The topic for last night was on the power of the cross, and why did Jesus have to die on the cross for us.

I'd like to look back and think of how my ministry has evolved over the years? Like how I prepared my messages in the past and how I delivered it is drastically different from the way I do things now. It is all these changes that allow me to grow and lead more effectively, because you sort of gain experience as to what works and what doesn't. And I think my personal relationship with God also improved a lot too, in terms of the way I view my perspective of Him, and how it changes my attitude towards certain aspects of my life. I think preparation for everything is key. It helps that when I prepare for worship I know somewhere in the equation that I have to first worship God; and just the same that if I want to speak to others about Jesus I have to first meet Jesus and talk to him first. You know, such an orientation helps me tremendously now, which previously I didn't really pay much regard to.

But for all of these, boo-boos still happen! Last night I wanted to recite Isaiah 53 in The Message version, and I have this dual-translation Bible which shows the NIV on one column of the page and The Message on the other column. Then Rachel was laying down some really really heavenly synths on the keyboard, and I started the recitation of Isaiah 53 in The Message... but somehow when I flipped the page I read the second half in NIV instead, and didn't realize it until the end! Oh well. Mistakes happen. But I sincerely hope that God's word transcends different versions of the Bible, and the gospel is received just the same.

Generally I think I'm pretty much happy to be left alone in school, like there can be days where I just go for my lectures and tutorials, sit alone in class, and then leave for home, all without really having to talk to anyone at all. But that's not to say that I am a caveman recluse who hides from people, nor does it imply that I have no contributions to the class discussions at all! I do have very good friends that I've met in school, with whom I have lunch or dinner once in a while. I speak up in class about topics that I have great passion for, or on subjects that really interest me. But I just kinda think that my uni life is kinda drab and boring, not staying in hall, not really interested in school activities or CCAs, stuff like that.

And this is too stark a contrast with my JC and secondary school days! I go out with friends several times in a week after school, or we sign up to be student leaders or orientation leaders or go crazy in CCA. Haha I know deep down somewhere there's an enthusiastic Guan You and there's a quiet Guan You, and they kinda live on two different time tangents, but they are still there.

Anyway, I had back-to-back classes from 9am to 5pm on Tuesday with no breaks in between at all, save for the 15 minutes interval before each class began. Remembered being absolutely exhausted, and definitely not in the mood to socialize some more, but I still went out with a group of fellow Geography honours friends to have dinner with one of our prof! Prof Zhang took us for an economic geog class last semester, and at the end of the module he invited all of us to his house for a party (quiet Guan You did not attend). Several months later, they decided to ask him out on Tuesday for an early Chinese New Year gathering, and we went down to Holland Village and spent the evening at Crystal Jade.

Honestly, I can't say that I have a lot of things in common with these friends, but I really enjoyed myself. Most of the time I am really lazy to bring myself to the effort of getting to know my peers, but occasionally I try to bring out the social butterfly in me and enjoy things abit. 

January has just ended, and strangely it does not feel like the inception of the new year has only consisted of one month. I feel like I have been in 2013 for very long already, even though I am still not used to writing "2013" on the occasions that I have to scribble dates. I still have to add that additional stroke to make my 2 become 3, and even as I am typing this post I have to backspace and change my 2012 to 2013. 

I think part of the reason why January has seemed extra long is because of all the new changes that are taking place? School has resumed, although I will be the first to tell you that it is nothing exciting because it is my final semester and nothing interests me anymore. I have a new and wonderful cell group on Friday nights, and I am just starting to get to know them better. There has been some changes to various things and I am still trying to come to grips with all of them.

Possibly the most annoying thing in school is how everyone sort of has an idea of what they want to do when they graduate, but for the most part I am entirely clueless? And this past week there was a Career Fair in my school, and I vehemently skipped it because I don't want to know that I am not good enough for the jobs on offer. Truth be told I don't really want to do anything that is related to my Geography degree, and for whatever other reasons I am just trying to search for some open door somewhere which does not really exist yet. 

Okay maybe there are some doors, and maybe there are some signs, but for the most part I am belligerently trying to do things on my own and trying to assume that I know better. Which I know very well will not bode well, but ahh whatever, please let me make these mistakes.