Charismatic

Here's  a screenshot of a blogpost I stumbled across when I was googling 'Give me Jesus 只要耶穌' (yes, I do google my stuff occasionally to see if the right things are coming up for the public).  Made my day that a store in Hsinchu is playing the album, and that people like what they hear, and they are sharing about it. In fact, a few people from HK have contacted me on Facebook saying that they bought the album because they heard it in the store. Love that the music speaks for itself.  Grateful.

I have been 'cursed' with 'caring'. I wish I didn't care about so many things, but I do. The craziness online recently about different controversial issues in Taiwan have been rather overwhelming for me. My heart is in a state of grief. Feel burdened almost everyday for the past few weeks.  Haven't said much on Facebook. Haven't expressed too many views. I still believe that it's more beneficial to observe, to listen, to find out more. to compare, to quietly form a well-balanced view with a firm foundation. It's been even more tough than usual for me to wade through all the noise online, because it's all in Chinese. My speed in reading Chinese has improved in leaps and bounds over the past few years, but it's still a million miles behind my English reading.  I have only stated 2 views online: One, I abhor and detest online trolling, anonymous phone threats of violence, and any other underhanded, cowardly way of expressing displeasure...

A 16 year old who looks 30.  But an amazing songwriter!

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. ...