Not meant to be

I had been praying for a sign. I guess the signs were too subtle and I was too dense to recognize them. So the truth was instead made obvious to me. I had been preparing myself mentally so the impact turned out to be not as wrenching as I thought or feared to be. I guess it was also due to the Lord's protection. His love is unconditional.

Much as I would like the situation to be otherwise, I know that this is the Lord's will and I will try my best to obey and submit to His will. It is never easy. We are often driven by selfish needs, wants and desires. To submit one's selfish and myopic interests under the Lord's will is what we always preach. To put it into practice is a test in itself. I will, however, do my best.

"You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today."
- Deuteronomy 30:8

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."
- Ecclesiastes 3:11

Indeed, the Lord works in ways we cannot even begin to comprehend. As the people around me who have been reminding me recently, we are mere mortals. Our current existence here is temporary. What we should work towards is to glorify God and our eternal life.

The Lord is my strength and my refuge. May the Lord guide me through these troubled times. Death no longer has a stranglehold on us. What more, then, do we have to fear?

Most Wanted

Been racing around Camden, Rosewood and Rockport in my Chevrolet. After some modification and performance tuning, I am finally back on track to winning back my BMW M3. Tried out RX-8, but was not really comfortable handling it. Been dodging roadblocks and spike strips as well, chalking up quite a bit of bounty.

To the police, I may seem pestiferous but I only aim to get back my M3. To do that I have to win street race after street race. I have decided to leave the place after everything is over. I just have to be careful until then.

Got my Gallardo today courtesy of Ming. The circuit and speedtrap races were close affairs considering the rapid acceleration of the Gallardo, but I managed to hold out for narrow victories. Guess I will still be driving my Chevrolet for the time being. Too used to it.

The World Today in History
On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.

Forza Italia!

24 years since the glorious victory in 1982.

16 years since the shootout horror on home ground in 1990.

12 years since the shootout anguish under the hot American sun in 1994.

8 years since another shootout disappointment and defeat by the home team (France) in 1998.

6 years since the golden-goal heartbreak in Rotterdam inflicted again by France, of all teams, in Euro 2000.

4 years since the ignominious defeat to Korea in 2002.

9 July 2006 -- The day when the demon of penalty-shootout was finally exorcised, when revenge was finally exacted, and when Italian football once again went into footballing folklore and history.

Despite being troubled by scandals back home, was drawn into a difficult group, and was matched against the host nation in the semi-finals, the Italians displayed the characteristic discipline and teamwork to win the most coveted trophy in football. This is the mark of a true championship-winning team. Forza Italia!

Über!

Überburger was über! Nice food and great ambience. The amount of space available is a rare luxury for the diner, especially in a restaurant located in town. Existentialism, relativity, consciousness, Rawls, Nietzsche, Foucault, Hegel, Gramsci all came into the picture. Kind of like a refresher course to me. Never exercised my mind with such intensity in a long time.

Chocolate Overdose; Plate Overkill. Check out the size of the cookie in the background too!

On a different note, the adventures of Leo and Tol continued this morning in Kerning City subway. The two heros combined to slay over a thousand Jr Wraiths, putting to rest the troubled undead souls, while at the same time gaining a ridiculous number of tablecloths as reward.

The Road to Guantanamo

A most thought-provoking documentary/movie. Are some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay wrongfully detained? Did the United States really resort to such measures depicted in the show to coerce the detainees to confess to being Al-Qaeda fighters? Also, it seemed that the amount of resources devoted by the Bush Administration to detain people whom they believed to be Al-Qaeda fighters was startling.

There is no love lost between me and terrorists. Yet I do sympathize with the innocent slapped with charges and treated unjustly. As correctly pointed out by my friend, we are all unfortunate bystanders. Indeed, all too often, we are caught in circumstances not of our choosing and there is no way we can get out unscathed.