Monday, March 26, 2007

... Where do I get my ideas of Christianity?

To the Christian brethren who view my beliefs as being "non-christian": These are the songs I remember from my childhood:

"We are the light of the world
May our light shine before all
That they may see the good that we do
And give glory to God"

"Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me
Let there be peace on earth,
The peace that was meant to be

With God as our Father,
Children all are we
Let us walk with each other
In perfect harmony

Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now
With every step I take
Let this be my solemn vow

To take each moment, and live each moment
In peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me"


"Make me a channel of Your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love,
Where there is injury, your pardon Lord,
And where there's doubt, true faith in You.

Make me a channel of Your peace,
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy.

Oh Master grant that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of Your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving of ourselves that we receive,
And in dying that we're born to eternal life"

"We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love"

"This is my commandment, that you love one another
As I have loved you, as I have loved you, as I have loved you
Love your enemies, do good to those who hurt you
And live in my love, live in my love, live in my love"


These are the songs of my childhood. I still sing them to this day. These are the songs that have shaped and moulded who I am today, and what constitutes my basic belief system: Love and respect others, show humility, and live by example. WHERE does it say that Christianity is about being judgemental and turning our noses up at people of other faiths? Where does it say that we convert by force, that we hold ourselves above everyone else? Where on earth did you get your ideas?

These are the songs of my childhood. Why aren't they the songs of yours?

Saturday, March 10, 2007

California pictures!

So I didn't really get to explore much at all, but here are a couple pictures of the area :-)

Enjoy!






Friday, March 02, 2007

So I'm having a good time...

s/good/absolutely wonderfully great/

This is seriously probably one of the most important weekends of my life. I came to California somewhat confused, feeling incredibly isolated, and wondering if I was in the right place. The entire 6 hour flight to San Francisco was just one continuous identity and existential crisis.

I feel kinda bad that I won't be able to stay for the entire google microsoft reception tomorrow night (on account of the fact that I have to leave for my flight) but at least I will still be able to attend for one hour.

Today has been just an eye-opener. I am surrounded by 200 other female computer science graduate students, all in their first or second year, from all over the country, some with similar interests, others with vastly different ones. Either way, we are all going through the exact same thing. The exact same thing. I've always thought that some of the misgivings I was having were nothing, just things that were wrong with me. I thought, hey, no one else feels this way, it's just me. Boy, was I ever wrong.

For example, I am considered by many (including my friend Ethan.. hi Ethan! :-) ) to be a misogynist, mainly due to my inability/unwillingness to interact with most females. Guess what? So other girls in Computer Science have the same problem. How do you talk to girls from other disciplines about a field that you're so completely passionate about when they are (at times) so repulsed by it? I've had conversations of mine become limited to hair, clothes and nails, since there isn't much else that I have in common with them. I find that there are several other girls who have had the same problem. Let me tell you: that was so refreshing to hear. That it wasn't just me, that I don't have some abnormality about me that just makes me not want to interact with girls. I just don't want to interact with girls who don't understand, who can't be passionate about computer science and/or research. Here, there are 200. This is great :-)

Anyways, I have to head over to another place for another reception. I will definitely write during my next break! I'll try and post pictures of San Francisco. Today was just a beautiful day, and I'm fighting the temptation to go shopping. More later!

Greetings from California!

I arrived in CA late last night, and I really can't write for long (I will try and be back for tomorrow), but so far I have made the following conclusions:

-SFO is a very large airport
-People in San Francisco are generally rude
-The Westin St. Francis is a very upscale hotel
-The CS Women I've met so far have seemed awesome
-As a result of the previous point, I think I'm going to have fun here...

I have to pack up and get moving. A bunch of us are going to get breakfast! More later!