Charismatic

My first full-length Mandarin hymnal album is out! It was released on Sept 1, and it is officially in all Christian bookstores in Taiwan. It is also in some mainstream CD stores and bookstores like Eslite Bookstore 誠品. Last week, it was also shipped to Christian bookstores in Hong Kong and Singapore. Hopefully, it will be on the racks soon in Malaysia too!  "Give me Jesus 只要耶穌" Kinda surreal. I have been working for 2 years on my personal album but suddenly birthed this hymnal album in 2.5 months: 2 months of music production, half a month of shoots, designing and manufacturing. That is pretty fast, considering that T and I produced all the tracks with the help of vocal producer, Hao Ku on 6 tracks. I also arranged the strings for 8 tracks. T gave one track a full Enya-meets-Braveheart electronic treatment. We also did one short acapella breather.  Well, since then I've been doing a couple of promo stints here and there. Not terribly busy, but...

I have a fortnight's 'breather'. 'Breather' is in quotation marks because the time spent working needs to be productively spent on preparing for more work. Hah. That is why I am still on the computer at 1.30am.  My 'breather' is due to the fact that the Nanchang show for David Tao was unexpectedly cancelled less than a week before the show date. And, I have also finished all my vocal recording for hymnal album (unless there are some backing vocals I have to do). It's quite interesting to myself that I've barely sung any backing vocal parts for this album. A very 'unplugged' way of arranging and recording the music. I have 2 weeks to relax, supposedly. But I've been trying to organize my next few months. Two months. It's a very short time to pump out a full length album. But I'm relishing the process and I'm not too stressed. It's a blessing to be able to have someone provide the funds to record an acoustic hymnal ...

I'm a little jittery. I have a photo-shoot for the upcoming hymnal album this afternoon and a rehearsal tonight for another friend's album launch that I'm back up singing for.  Jittery because I had a cup of steaming black coffee on an empty stomach. Q, a friend, said it helps to flush out water from the system and reduce bloating. And friend also insisted that I do a mask this morning for make up. Hmph, the things people do to look good for one silly day.  Well, so far, today has been ok. Not too bloated. I can't do the whole protein sake thing without feeling starved and miserable. So I won't try. But I've been working out regularly for the past few days.  I remember every formal shoot I've done and I've always been a little nervous because posing for photos is actually very tiring and it's a real skill. The first one was the worst.  I didn't know how to pose. I didn't know how to describe something I wanted. I didn't know ...

My thoughts are everywhere. So this post is going to fly all over the place. Apologies in advance.  I have a deadline to meet. It's a frightening one. Not impossible, but tough because of how long it normally takes me to focus on arranging. Usually a couple of days of trying to arrange before the arranging actually happens. I want to say I hate arranging, but I can't. Love-hate is more accurate. I love making music. I hate that daily life and making music doesn't make very well. If I have to cook healthy meals and exercise and go to church and keep up friendships, it's very hard to be 'in the zone' for making decent music.  That's why I'm listening to this song by the twins. As annoying as I find their (莫名奇妙)popularity, they have been a blessing in some little way to many people. So God bless them.  Weary. I have this supposedly awesome life. A few people have messaged me privately on FB and congratulated me on my awesome life. ...

...for a breathtaking birthday. Thank you for the computer keyboard. Although you insisted on getting one with Taiwanese characters (which I don't need), I don't mind. Haha... Your stubbornness about geeky things makes you pretty special. The novels. You don't like reading, but you don't mind buying me a bunch to kick-back and enjoy (while you watch Game of Thrones. Hah) The card. It cracked me up. Your whacked sense of humour is what I love about you. The exquisite dinner. Smoked salmon and char-grilled tuna Caviar Lobster/Sea-food soup French wine The best tasting steak on a bone I've tasted in years The cake. Although you didn't like chocolate, you bought that pricey cake just because it was in my wish-list. Lastly Mr Ipad. THAT was a surprise. An OMG OMG OMG extravagant kind of surprise. Well, w did save a lot of paper on that gig because of your gift. Yay :D. Thank yewwwwwww.  Th...

Hebrews 10:1-4 New International Version (NIV) The law is only a shadow  of the good things  that are coming—not the realities themselves.  For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect  those who draw near to worship.   2  Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3  But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.   4  It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. The passage talks about the imperfect sacrifices israelites used to offer. 'The law…can not make anyone who approach perfect'. It served as a 'reminder of sins every year'  Because if those sacrifices worked, the worshipers, 'once purged would have no more consciousness of sins'. 'For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away...

"Dear Sir. Although you understand certain aspects of my personality, I don't think you have much of a clue about my background, upbringing and country. Suffice to say that my background is vastly different from yours. It's really hard to accept advice that is tailored to a different culture. You've never been in my shoes and I don't know what it is like to be you either. How do we communicate properly like that? " The more I travel the more I realize that most people from a different culture/country will never fully understand me (even up to about 70% is very rare), and if I don't work very hard, I won't understand them either. Obviously, the onus is on me to work harder to understand them, because I am in their land. I'm trying. Wish it wasn't so uncomfortable 70% of the time.