bad day.
11.9.2009

what a bad day. its one of those days where you hit every red light in traffic. where every doubt and fear in life surfaces all in the same day. where you feel like everything you do is obsolete. where you feel tired and extremely burnt out. its just one of those days.

bad day.
daniel powter.

the birth of something [some what] new.
photography portfolio / establishment.
cover art graphics.
11.4.2009


style one.


style two.

during the creation of my architecture / design portfolio, i was considering inserting a photography section. still am, but, in thought, the word / graphic play of this was too ingenious. [really just a stroke of luck] for those who know me, i have an OVERsatuRATED style of photography. XD

friends.
random conversation.
10.18.2009

so last sunday i randomly walked in on a conversation of several morningstar coworkers talking about how to provide the best organization for small groups, so that everyone, both leaders and members, will be taken care of. [or at least that's what i got out of it during my short stay.] so i sit on down and karl asks jokingly, "well, who's going to take care of norman??" then steph and josh chime in saying, "we all take care of norman!" definitely something true. i owe alot in this past year to people in morningstar. samuel, karl, sandy, olivia, steph, josh, dora, deborah, msf worship team, it is definitely a good group supporting me. from house dinners, talking with me about what's on my mind, and having bible study together, i am really glad God has placed such people in my life. thank you all.

on a side note, got to talk to samuel in singapore on the phone saturday. it has been a while, friend. well... five months at least.

studio.
project concept.
kelleher studio.
10.26.2009

had a short presentation for studio yesterday about the general direction of my project. we are redesigning campus housing and living with our site being high street to 4th street. my proposal addresses the aspect of high street providing an amenity to student life, but not necessarily being student friendly. my concept would be to create a bridging system that accommodates student housing, commercial amenities, mono rail system, and parking, so that the pedestrian path from campus to housing unit is uninterrupted. whereas the bridge is no longer viewed as just a walking surface connecting distant two places, but is hyperactively connecting and housing places, people, and programs. a bridging community if you will.

conceptual diagrams and renderings.
havent explored the actual form of the architecture yet, this is all concept and organization.







除你以外.
stream of praise.
i have been listening to them often ever since coming back from taiwan. that might be due to the fact that i bought like 8 of their cds. love this song and heard it again over the weekend at the missions conference. great speaker, pastor jiang. he is a taiwanese native serving as a missionary in asia and america. he was once an interior designer before going into service. i throughly enjoyed his sermons.

the rich young man.
morning star fellowship.
10.9.2009

this past friday started our new small groups. my new small group leader is mr. joshua wu. our subject was mark 10:17-31, the story of the rich young man. a rich young man had come up to Jesus and asked, "what must i do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus' first response was, "you know the commandments: do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother." the man replied that he had kept these commandments since he was a boy. Jesus then said, "one thing you lack, go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. then come, follow me." the young man left, saddened, because he could not give up his wealth.

during the bible study, i learned many new things from this old story. the ten commandments are split into two types of commandments: person to person relationships and person to God relationships. the first four commandments are based on the relationship of person to God, while the final six commandments are based on the relationship of person to person. funny how i never really noticed that. Jesus first asked the man how is relationships were with people. to which he replied that he had kept all those commandments in regards to people. but when Jesus asked him how his relationship was with God, he failed and left. i feel this really starts to answer the question of faith and deeds in terms of eternal life. being a christian with eternal life requires both faith and deeds. faith alone cannot allow you into heaven, while deeds alone cannot allow you into heaven. the final six commandments addresses deeds, while the first commandments address faith. you cannot simply do one or the other. both are required of us as christians.

i feel this bible study topic really has started to begin to answer the questions that i feel are bothering me in my life. it is really easy to obey those commandments regarding person to person relationships, well, relatively. but for me it is really starting to learn to obey the first four commandments. the main point of the story was not that Jesus wanted us not to have material things, but not to have these material things rule over us. these riches don't necessarily mean material wealth, but could also cover personal ambitions, desires, and goals. Jesus asked that man to lay down everything that was important to him. everything. everything. everything. if Jesus had come up to me and said, "lay down everything you are doing, everything you have, everything you want, and come follow me." it is hard to say what i would do. and that is my personal struggle right now. as a christian, we need to be willingly to trust in God no matter what he calls us to do. that he will provide for those that he loves. can i really do that? if God is calling me to lay down my own ambitions, my own dreams, to follow his calling, am i willing?

mark 10:29-31

["I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age and in the age to come, eternal life. but many who are first will be last, and the last first.]

melody chen.
msf recreation night.
10.2.2009



a walk along the olentangy river trail.
with sam ludwig and scott mcclemore.
10.3.2009



pictures from dora.
random morning star fellowship meetings.


sigh, melody always cries now when i hold her. =(.


me and rex, the new student from taiwan studying landscape architecture. plays guitar, bass, and drums! and christine.

breakeven.
the script.
been listening to this band quite often lately. combines both of my favorite traits in bands, a lead singer who plays the piano and an international background. this group is from dublin, ireland.

so You can shine.
10.1.2009



during the course of my life so far, i feel i've had many personas. one for school, one for home, one for church, and one for close friends. as the years progressed, i can start to see some disappearing or some merging with others. i feel i am at a point in my life where there are two distinct personas left in me. the stronger one, is the selfish one. the one that wants to become some famous architect or designer. the one who wants to change the world through architecture. the one that wants many things in the world. the one whose happiness depends on those things of the world. but the other one is somewhat more... different. it recognizes the shortness of our lives and longs to make a difference in the world through service. it is one that thinks that dedicating your life to bringing the gospel of Christ to as many as possible would be worth sacrificing your all to accomplish.

right now, im at a crossroads. in this year i need to discover which persona will determine my actions for the next stage of my life. will the two merge together? will one completely overwhelm the other? i don't know right now, but i do feel a battle going on. something that can be only solved by prayer and trust in God.

let me be my true self, whatever that may be, so You may shine God.

滿有能力.
stream of praise.



我的盼望 就在耶稣基督里 在祢里面满有平安
生命泉源 就在耶稣基督里 有主在我里面活着

我宣告在我里面的 比世上一切更有能力
我不属这世界 我高举耶稣的名
我宣告在我里面有 活水涌流满有能力
有耶稣在我里面活着 我勇敢站立

有主在我里面 没有惧怕 能战胜仇敌
有主在我里面 没有惧怕 还得胜有余

so it begins, once again.
the ohio state university senior year.
9.23.2009

well this is it folks, my final year as an architecture undergraduate student. hard to imagine where i will be in one year. though rather excited too. i tend to view change in a rather negative way. i've been in this town basically my whole life. going on 21 years now. i've made alot of connections and friendships that i think will be rather hard to move away from. though i would say all of my closest friends are all gone and moved away now. it is rather weird not having someone to talk to whenever you need it. seems like a opportune time to make my exit and bid my farewell of columbus. but we'll see what this year brings for me. it definitely calls for more trust and faith in God for sure. only 8 more courses to take until i graduate. i feel senioritis kicking in already. lets hope thats not the case.

thompson main library.
shooting the library with paul.
9.22.2009