Cool blogthingamajigs!

Got this off another blogger's blog. Tried it myself, it's pretty cool. And to think that my answers to the quiz questions reveal my exact age! Scary...

You Are 19 Years Old

19 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

The next one is a book of the bible thingy...quite cool, and quite accurate as well...I liked this one best:

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Which book of the Bible are you?

brought to you by Quizilla

There's also this element thingy that I did, the results of which I don't entirely agree with. Let me know what you think.

Your Element Is Air

You dislike conflict, and you've been able to rise above the angst of the world. And when things don't go your way, you know they'll blow over quickly. Easygoing, you tend to find joy from the simple things in life. You roll with the punches, and as a result, your life is light and cheerful. You find it easy to adapt to most situations, and you're an open person. With you, what you see is what you get... and people love that!

What's Your Element?

I feel sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread

Few would deny the fact that the invention of the Internet and all its relevant innovations, instant messaging systems in particular, has changed society forever. It has affected the way people think, act, gather and disseminate information, study, and communicate, just to name a few. These changes are by no means all good. There have been positive and negative effects that the Internet has brought. It would be wise to attempt to separate the good changes from the bad, and arrest any negative habits or tendencies that have been birthed through the advent of the dotcom era.
Just one generation ago, the preferred modes of social intercourse were face-to-face meetings (e.g. home visits, outings, etc.) and letters, or “snail-mail” as it is now known, and, occasionally, phone conversations. These older and more traditional methods of communication, particularly the former two, required one to be fully engaged with the person whom one is relating to.
This is to say that, if for example, you were speaking to Caroline, your friend, face-to-face, you would be speaking to her only, and (if you observed basic rules of courtesy) your mind would primarily be engaged in processing information received and deciding what to say in reply to her. I am speaking of the days before people carried phones and pagers with them everywhere, and when privacy was a common, and perhaps undervalued, commodity.
These methods of communication produced, I believe, a generation of people conditioned and equipped for methodical, concentrated application to one task at any particular time. The steadfast, dependable people that are my parents are part of that generation of “small-time” multi-taskers. When they study, they study. They don’t blast blaring, heart-pounding music into their ears while they do it. They study, and at the most, play soft, soothing Mendelssohn in the background while they do it. When they eat, they eat. They don’t eat, read, SMS, and catch a Chinese serial all at the same time. When they eat, they eat, and at the most, talk to you while they do it, or catch up on the day’s newspaper while downing their fried rice. When they work, they work. They don’t chat with 5 different persons online while they search for information.
I suppose that one of the issues that fill the generation gap is the inability of many parents to comprehend the vast capacity that their children have for multi-tasking. Multi-tasking, meaning involving oneself in several distinct activities that require brain processing power at one time. You see, I believe that for many of those who grew up without mobiles and instant messaging, things had to be done one at a time. There was such a thing as concentrating on a particular task, doing it well, and finishing it before one went to another task. But in today’s culture, shaped in part, I believe, by the technology that we are so fond of, people have been conditioned to compartmentalize their lives, to live their lives in many separate “windows”, much like the widely used operating software present in a vast majority of computers today.
I see the epidemic of crippling boredom that afflicts so many young people today as a symptom of an unhealthy mindset. We have grown so accustomed to doing so many things at one time, or working in so many windows at once, that we put ourselves in real danger of becoming “Jacks of all trades, but masters of none”. You see, the human mind does have limited resources, whatever the proponents of the limitless human potential doctrine may say. If you apply your cranial energies to one task, there are limited “cranial energy units” left to apply to other tasks. Think of it as spreading butter on bread. Everyone gets a set amount of butter for spreading over their various pieces of bread, or tasks in a day. If you were to spread your butter too thinly, the bread wouldn’t exactly be very tasty, would it? The trouble with our multitask way of life is that by applying ourselves to so many different tasks at the same time, we are, in effect, spreading our butter too thinly, and shortchanging ourselves, as it were. Each “piece of bread” receives much less butter, and spread messily and hurriedly for that matter, than it deserves.
I believe that most of us are familiar with the instant messaging, or IM for the tech-savvy, systems that have revolutionized the way we communicate. IRC, MSN, and ICQ. All well-known household names among modern teens today. These IM systems have replaced (I think) the phone and the pen and paper as the modus operandi of choice for keeping in touch with their friends and loved ones. Unfortunately, these systems also tend to reinforce the compartmentalized mindset and way of doing things. The IM universe of multi-windowed chat rooms offers an ideal environment for one to learn the fine art of multi-tasking, new millennium style, training us to spread butter over 5 pieces of bread at one time, chatting to this guy, and that friend, and that pal, while surfing for information for a school project and replying a mail, grabbing a sandwich, and downloading music and movies all at the same time.
The point is, as I stated earlier, that it is so important to ensure that each of our tasks and activities receive the proper amount of resources (time, energy, etc.) to enable us to perform them well. If we merely allow ourselves be caught up in the pop culture of the day, of killing 7 birds with half a stone, and miss the wisdom of steady, concentrated application to one task at one time…we will be so much the poorer. As I mentioned at the beginning, not all the changes that the Internet age has brought are good, and I sincerely believe that this is one of those negative changes: the development of a multi-tasking lifestyle that will, I fear, cause many to lose out on their potential and waste the butter that has been allotted them in this life.

How to get that cool doodleboard thingy on your blog

Yes, yes, I know it's cool. It's also incredibly easy to put it up on your blog. Here's how:

1. Go to www.doodle-board.com
2. Create an account (you have to, in order to get that cool doodleboard thingy...and anyway, it's free!)
3. Get the html code
4. Go to your blog template
   
5. Copy and paste the html code for the doodleboard anywhere you please. (Please note that in html, wherever you put the code, that's where it's going to appear on the blog. So choose wisely.)

If you want to put it on your sidebar, try pasting the code just above the part of the template that says
It may be slightly different on your template, but just go ahead and give it a shot. You might want to use the preview button before you publish your changes.
Have fun! And thanks for helping to liven up my blog!

Praise report - :p

(Ed - Sorry for the late update...was caught up with some other stuff and the infernal writer's block that seems to have chosen me as its very special friend these few weeks. :p Ugh. Just to report on a promise made in one of my previous posts)
I did it! I managed to extract myself from the soft, cruel arms of my bed at 7 a.m. that morning! And I managed to stay awake the rest of the day too! (Recognition here has to go to a friend that helped me by giving me a timely wake-up call that morning. ;p)
All glory and praise to God!

The shepherd and his lamb

El-adonai sighed, his face taut with frustration as he once more attempted to extricate the little lamb from the thorny bush. How long had he spent here already? 1, 2, 3 hours? He shrugged to himself. It just defied comprehension, how that little bleater managed to get himself into trouble every time his back was turned. The lamb's irrepressible penchant for mischief had prompted El-adonai to dub him Orep, meaning “stiff-necked” in his native Hebrew, for he had been forced to bail him out not a few times. Orep simply refused to lay still so that he could gently extract him from the thorny hedge he had fallen into off a short cliff.
A wry smile softened the sun-hardened leather of the old shepherd’s face. He remembered the first day Orep found his tiny feet could carry him places. In a matter of minutes after his first quivering step, El-adonai had had to unceremoniously yank him back from the edge of a small cliff. Little Orep had been chasing a pretty little butterfly.
The other lambs in the flock had since learned to heed the old shepherd’s steady, quiet call. They had learned that listening to him kept them away from the frightening beasts that prowled the edges of the hills where they grazed. Listening to him and following his gnarled staff meant that the grass that they ate was always more tender, the shoots juicier, the waters calmer. And they were content.
But Orep was different from the rest. He was a born prodigal. Stiff-necked he certainly was. He simply refused to listen. He seemed to delight in waiting for the last possible moment to scamper into the safety of the flock before ben-Adoni, the old shepherd’s young son, came close enough to do more than wave his staff furiously in the air at him. Then he would peek from behind one of the more placid ewes, his little black eyes dancing in mischievous delight as taunted the young shepherd, glorying in yet another successful escape from his reproving blows. The old shepherd’s gnarled staff had found the stiff neck of the little mischief many more times, perhaps, than all the other lambs put together.
Orep let out a weak bleat, his nostrils heaving and his little mouth foaming, as he feebly strained against the thick shrub of thorns that imprisoned him. El-adonai sighed again and once more attempted to reach into the thick shrub for him. Seeing his approaching hands, the lamb, with a sudden burst of energy, began to struggle violently. The old shepherd drew his arm back with a sharp cry of pain as the lamb knocked his arm, deeply grazing it against the thorns in the thicket.
Images of the dreadful lion flooded his memory as he grabbed his bleeding arm. He shut his eyes, and he was running again, furiously running, searching for the source of the frantic cries of little Orep. El-adonai had allowed himself a moment’s slumber that afternoon, giving an irresistible opportunity for the mischievous lamb to wander off, this time in pursuit of a terrified dragonfly. His young legs brought him over the gentle slopes, into the forest, straight into the jaws of a ravenous young lion.
El-adonai paid a high price for the salvation of Orep that day. The scars of that fearsome struggle with the lion he still bore, a continual reminder of the depth of his love for his flock.
But still the stubborn little lamb would not learn. Again and again, the old shepherd reproved him, patiently called him with the rest of the flock each time, gently guiding and leading him with his gnarled staff. Again and again, little Orep had to be delivered from the thorny bush, the starving dog, the baying wolves. Again and again, the gnarled staff came down upon his stiff little neck. When would he ever learn?
Today had been all too familiar. The lamb had bolted at the first opportunity, again during the sweltering heat of mid-day, when El-adonai was leading the flock to the quiet stream not too far into the forest for a refreshing drink and wash. Now here he was, stuck in a thorny brush, just under the shoulder of a small cliff he fell over while chasing yet another of his fantastic playmates.
The old shepherd had borne this long enough. He gritted his teeth, thrust his arm again into the thicket, ignoring the protesting screams of his fresh wounds, and took firm hold of little Orep’s stiff neck. “This ends now. Out you come, little one”.
In one swift motion, he wrenched the frightened and weary lamb from the cruel clutches of the thorny brush. Little Orep yelped with pain, for the thorns tore at his flesh as he pulled. Panting and foaming at the mouth, Orep lay helpless at the feet of the old shepherd.
“You leave me no choice, little lamb. Your disobedience is very costly, for me, for the flock, and for yourself. Your rebellious legs will have to be broken, until such a time as you have learned to heed my voice. But first, these wounds have to be bound.”
Reaching down his leathery hands, the old shepherd scooped up little Orep and gently slung him over his broad shoulders. With firm, steady strides, El-adonai made his way back to the stream, where ben-Adoni was keeping watch over the rest of the flock.
Little Orep lay still, safely slung over the broad shoulders of the old shepherd.
“When will you learn, little one? When will you ever learn?”
Back at the stream, the old shepherd lovingly washed and bound the wounds of the little lamb. The time had come for little Orep to learn to love, to trust, and to obey him.
With a heavy heart, the old shepherd swiftly and surely broke the legs of the little lamb, willing himself to ignore his pained cries. And then, just as gently, just as slowly, he bound the broken legs of little Orep and once again lifted him up and slung him over his broad shoulders. There little Orep would stay until his legs healed, until he knew the love of the old shepherd. There he would learn how much he needed the old shepherd, and there he would learn to hear, to recognize, to love, and to obey his steady, quiet voice.
El-adonai quietly began to feed the little lamb on his shoulder.
" The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. " - Psalm 23
“He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” – Isaiah 40:11
“ I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep , and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.” – John10:11-15
"For though He wounds, He also bandages. He strikes, but His hands also heal. He will rescue you again and again so that no evil can touch you." - Job 5:18-19