Beyond What You See...

I'm Yours- Jason Mraz

2009-09-02T02:26:00.001+08:00

Get Away Soon!

2009-08-02T23:59:00.004+08:00

I hardly blog nowadays. I have facebook which I check into every now and then, had the hi5 thingy too but then deleted it after it sent invites to all the email contacts in my gmail address book. I tweet, again every once in awhile. Well I guess I just feel like I don't have to share my thoughts or my whereabouts online.

But at any rate, I have these nagging feeling the past weeks or so to travel. I want to travel for pleasure. I just want a change of scenery, be relaxed and get awed by the new sights and experience. I want a taste of different culture. I need to go away.

I miss travelling. I want to travel. I need to travel. I will travel. Out of the country. Soon.

That Miracle...

2009-06-10T01:42:00.001+08:00

Here we are, all of us, basically alone, separate creatures, just circling each other, all searching for that slightest hint of a real connection. Some look in the wrong places, some they just give up hope because in their mind they're thinking "Oh there's nobody out there for me," but all of us, we keep trying over and over again. Why? Because every once in a while... every once in a while, two people meet and there's that spark, and yes, he's handsome and she's beautiful and maybe that's all they see at first, but when it comes down to it, making love... making love... that's when two people become one.

And yes, it is scientifically impossible for two objects to occupy the same space, but what's important is we try. And when we do it right, we get close...

... to our own MIRACLE.

a good night...

2009-06-07T01:50:00.002+08:00

Earlier, the movie "MUST LOVE DOGS" was shown at the 2nd Avenue Channel. It was a good movie. =) After awhile, I took a shower, went to my room and turned the TV on.

"You've Got Mail" - another one of my favorite movie - is on HBO!!! This is really a good night... though it could have been better ... but it will be... soon.

New pet puppy!

2009-04-16T03:24:00.001+08:00

This is my nephew's new pet puppy - COFFEE! Its a pomeranian and it is really cute!

2009-04-12T04:43:00.000+08:00

Saw this article at Yahoo news and it is quite insightful that I had to blog it. Read on...

Five essential characteristics that define a real man, according to Esquire's columnist

By Tom Chiarella for Esquire

A man carries cash. A man looks out for those around him -- woman, friend, stranger. A man can cook eggs. A man can always find something good to watch on television. A man makes things -- a rock wall, a table, the tuition money. Or he rebuilds -- engines, watches, fortunes. He passes along expertise, one man to the next. Know-how survives him. A man fantasizes that kung fu lives deep inside him somewhere. A man is good at his job. Not his work, not his avocation, not his hobby. Not his career. His job. It doesn't matter what his job is, because if a man doesn't like his job, he gets a new one.

#1. The Communication Style of Man

A man can speak to dogs.

A man listens, and that's how he argues. He crafts opinions. He can pound the table, take the floor. It's not that he must. It's that he can.A man can look you up and down and figure some things out. Before you say a word, he makes you. From your suitcase, from your watch, from your posture. A man infers.

#2. Man's Ability to Handle Mistakes

A man owns up. That's why Mark McGwire is not a man. A man grasps his mistakes. He lays claim to who he is, and what he was, whether he likes them or not. Some mistakes, though, he lets pass if no one notices. Like dropping the steak in the dirt. A man can tell you he was wrong. That he did wrong. That he planned to. He can tell you when he is lost. He can apologize, even if sometimes it's just to put an end to the bickering.

#3. Man's Basic Instincts

A man does not wither at the thought of dancing. But it is generally to be avoided.

Style -- a man has that. No matter how eccentric that style is, it is uncontrived. It's a set of rules.
A man loves the human body, the revelation of nakedness. He loves the sight of the pale bosom, the physics of the human skeleton, the alternating current of the flesh. He is thrilled by the wrist and the sight of a bare shoulder. He likes the crease of a bent knee.
Maybe he never has, and maybe he never will, but a man figures he can knock someone, somewhere, on his bottom.

A man doesn't point out that he did the dishes.

A man knows how to ridicule.

A man gets the door. Without thinking.

He stops traffic when he must.

A man knows how to lose an afternoon. Playing Grand Theft Auto, driving aimlessly, shooting pool. He knows how to lose a month, also.

A man welcomes the coming of age. It frees him. It allows him to assume the upper hand and teaches him when to step aside.

He understands the basic mechanics of the planet. Or he can close one eye, look up at the sun, and tell you what time of day it is. Or where north is. He can tell you where you might find something to eat or where the fish run. He understands electricity or the internal-combustion engine, the mechanics of flight or how to figure a pitcher's ERA.

A man does not know everything. He doesn't try. He likes what other men know.

A man knows his tools and how to use them -- just the ones he needs. Knows which saw is for what, how to find the stud, when to use galvanized nails.

A miter saw, incidentally, is the kind that sits on a table, has a circular blade, and is used for cutting at precise angles. Very satisfying saw.

#4. The Paradox of Man

He does not rely on rationalizations or explanations. He doesn't winnow, winnow, winnow until truths can be humbly categorized, or intellectualized, until behavior can be written off with an explanation. He doesn't see himself lost in some great maw of humanity, some grand sweep. That's the liberal thread; it's why men won't line up as liberals.

A man resists formulations, questions belief, embraces ambiguity without making a fetish out of it. A man revisits his beliefs. Continually. That's why men won't forever line up with conservatives, either.

#5. Man the Island

A man is comfortable being alone. Loves being alone, actually. He sleeps.
Or he stands watch. He interrupts trouble. This is the state policeman. This is the poet. Men, both of them.

A man loves driving alone most of all.

A man watches. Sometimes he goes and sits at an auction knowing he won't spend a dime, witnessing the temptation and the maneuvering of others. Sometimes he stands on the street corner watching stuff. This is not about quietude so much as collection. It is not about meditation so much as considering. A man refracts his vision and gains acuity. This serves him in every way. No one taught him this -- to be quiet, to cipher, to watch. In this way, in these moments, the man is like a zoo animal: both captive and free. You cannot take your eyes off a man when he is like that. You shouldn't. Who knows what he is thinking, who he is, or what he will do next.

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.

Eli Mattson

2009-04-05T01:47:00.002+08:00

I like this guy. He didn't win America's Got Talent but I am definitely sure he'll make it big! Heard his CD is about to come out soon...

snapshots!

2009-04-01T02:05:00.003+08:00

Travelling

2009-03-14T01:52:00.002+08:00

These are pictures in Boston. Oh man, I miss the snow! hahaha. Well I guess the feeling is brought about by the the heat of Manila. I am not a fan of the freezing cold but I sure am not thrilled about the summer heat!

I wish I could leave work and travel for awhile. I miss my sister and I just want to travel and travel. I sort of feel lazy the past days...

you are my Miracle of LOVE

2009-02-14T07:31:00.000+08:00

Enjoy the Love in the Air!

2009-02-13T19:13:00.000+08:00

Hey it's my Birthday =)

2009-02-04T23:43:00.000+08:00

Day was okay, another birthday... another day of the year...

And to cap the night, I went to see Marley and Me - last full show at the movie theaters. =) I have heard some not-so-good reviews about it BUT... for a dog lover such as me, the movie was really good... and yeah... it made me love my dogs even more... and yes, I did cry during the last scenes...

I will add that movie in my DVD collection. =)

Good Night!

it's showing here...

2009-02-01T02:03:00.001+08:00

Marley and Me will be showing here in Manila on Feb 4! How cool is that!

Anyway, I have read some online reviews of people in the US who have watched the film and it wasn't as good as the book but regardless, I am still looking forward to watching that movie. =)

Papa Roy

2009-01-08T14:13:00.003+08:00

A very good friend from the MEDIA died earlier today due to heart attack. I am lost for words to express how I feel. I never had a friend who died. This is the first time. And I can't seem to stop crying...

All I could really think of was how fun it was being with him, and how he listened to me during times I was feeling so low about work... and how he told me that it matters to them that it was me they're working with so they make good in all our advocacies... Oh God...

Papa Roy, we will miss you terribly... I will miss you...

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T20:24:00.003+08:00

The long holidays was something we all looked forward too but now that it's over, reality kinda hits hard! =) Well, work resumes and all the stresses that goes with it. Some people have resumed being their worst selves, and others retreat to being indifferent. We can only control what we do, changing does not guarantee that others will do too.

So for 2009, I expect less from others and more from myself...... the way I have done last year, and the year before that, and the year before that... ... ... without losing the nerve to fight back when needed and keep silent when it ain't worth it. =)

I feel 2009 will be as good, if not a better year for me! =) no harm wishing.....

Happy New Year!

2008-12-30T22:48:00.002+08:00

Have been surfing the net for whatever and reading news online as the holidays actually make me feel "lazy" or at least the holidays give me an excuse to feel lazy. =)

But anyway for some serious thoughts, I will be posting here an excerpt, actually the last paragraph of the article published in Inquirer, Dec 24. The editorial talks about the global crisis we are facing but how we could actually make ourselves truly Christians. It was nicely written I had to blog it and share it. Happy New Year everyone.

The coming economic hard times should not stop us from giving gifts. Far from it. What we simply want to say is that when we stop giving from our surplus and start giving from our substance, that’s when the true spirit of Christmas comes unwrapped.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

2008-12-24T02:17:00.000+08:00

Marley and Me - THE MOVIE!!!!

2008-12-13T01:47:00.009+08:00

Remember the post I wrote about a book I read called Marley and Me? It's now a movie!!!

I learned about it the other day as I was at the bookstore where I bought my copy of that book and noticed that a in the cover of Marley and Me was the part that it is now a major motion picture starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston=)

I loved that book so much because I do have my own pet, with the same breed - a Labrador. And the craziness of "Marley" somewhat reminds me of my own dog's quirks. My pet's puppy pic is located at the sidebar of this blog.

I really am thrilled it's a movie so I logged in the net and surfed it. I found the trailer and oh boy, was I excited to see the scenes I read from the book! It's showing in the states this Christmas!

Oh I hope they show it here soon!!!

See the trailer below:

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Past Christmas Pics

2008-11-17T01:18:00.004+08:00

That's my eldest sister, Christmas 2001 in New York with Nirro when he was still a baby. =) I was also there at that time.

I miss the snow... this was taken 2001 in Queens, NY. At my Auntie Perla's place, who recently passed away...

This was Christmas, December 2004. My eldest sister and her husband weren't there. They were in Manila. From left, Agnes, my brother's wife, My Kuya Ced, My Mom, ME, my Diche (2nd sister), and my Dad. My other sister looks like the youngest right? =) Well, that's always the case, but the thruth is, I am the youngest one in the brood of four.

This is CHANGE for the Better

2008-11-05T18:22:00.001+08:00

Barrack Obama's Victory over the US Presidency - definitely ONE FOR THE BOOKS!!!

Arrrgh!

2008-11-05T02:22:00.001+08:00

It's always like that. After a vacation, work just piles up!

Busy ME

2008-11-05T02:21:00.003+08:00

Talk about busy!!!!! I just finished printing docs to be submitted to DEPED, it's almost half a ream thick!

Pics taken during the MOA signing with DEPED

2008-10-24T01:01:00.004+08:00

Ok, I have no choice. Gloria is included as we were having the signing ceremonies for the MOA between PULL Foundation (the Foundation established by the Rotarians for the MEGUMI Reader project) and the Department of Education.

It has been really busy at work.... So, to compensate for my long absence here, I am posting these work-related pics.

That's me and Ella, the M and E Officer for DEPED Adopt-A-School Program
That's Secretary Lapus, who by the way got the highest public-approval rating conducted by Pulse Asia Survey in July 2008.

These are my bosses who happens to be so nice and so sincere, Mr. Tambunting and Mr. Gamboa. I believe that working with them under this project also makes me a better person. I hope things continue to work out in this worthwhile endeavor.
That's Ella, Sir Jorge Caparas (Son of the MEGUMI Reader Prime Mover, MAT Caparas), Roel of DEPED, and Rowel from UP who is also the lead software developer for the MEGUMI Project. This was a good day for us. The smiles reveal all that! =)

Time to Work. Time to Play.

2008-10-01T00:32:00.003+08:00

Gone are my days of reading books without interruption or finishing various TV series in DVDs. Work has been very very very busy!

Well, I did anticipate this so I went on a weekend get-away but right after that, my weekdays and weekends have been all about work!

The book I am reading, "The Kite Runner" isn't finished yet. Good thing it's a holiday tomorrow so I intend to do some reading, although I have work lined up to do as well.

I also miss spending time with my dear pets! But I intend to "walk the dogs" this weekend.

By the way, I am about to have a new fish pet - a flowerhorn! Turns out my boss has this fish pond somewhere in Malolos and he breeds flowerhorns. They say it's lucky when it is given as a gift, so here's hoping I get luckier! =)

The break tomorrow will give me time to set up a new fish tank for my new pet.

I'm sleepy now... Till then.

This is exactly how I feel...TIRED and SLEEPY

2008-09-26T19:14:00.001+08:00

PASS THE RH BILL! NOW NA!!!

2008-09-23T23:31:00.002+08:00

I was busy typing some report when the news item caught my attention - the RH Bill in the plenary! The session was suspended, as the debate was getting (as expected), a little heated.

Hey Congressmen, NOT ALL CATHOLICS BELIEVE WHAT THE CHURCH DICTATES! Remember this, The Church is the People, the Faithful. Not the clergy! And ninety (90%) percent of Catholics believe and awaits government funding for RH care and services. These are the things that matter, not some dogma from whatever and whoever who has not seen the plight of mothers and children in the Philippines!!!!!

hmnnnn...

2008-09-23T01:41:00.002+08:00

Today's a special day and even if I am so sleepy I wanted to blog about it. We just got the electricity restored, and we lost it since 10am. Naturally, I couldn't sleep so when the light turned on, I got up the bed and logged on the net. =)

I just wish I am not this busy. The past week was full of meetings and this week's pretty much the same!

Haay... Good Morning...

The Weekend getaway

2008-09-15T23:26:00.003+08:00

I had one of the best weekends last weekend. For quite a while, I never felt that happy the way I did during the last two days I spent out of town with someone I love so dearly.

Wish it could always be like that, and my life would be perfect. =)

Being a teacher

2008-09-15T23:08:00.003+08:00

I am done with Tuesdays with Morrie. I feel like I have to blog about it since I mentioned it in an earlier post.

Actually, it just took me one sitting to finish that book because once you start reading it, I can't really put it down. I consider it now one of my favorite books.

A teacher indeed affects eternity, as you can never tell where his or her influence stops. Thanks to the author, he shared all that was passed on to him by his professor Morrie to us.

I used to be a teacher, well I never really gave too much meaning to it, it was just an opportunity that arose when I was in law school and I took it, so I could have my extra-money aside from my allowance while studying the law. The funny thing was, I was teaching Math, particularly Algebra as my college degree was Math major in Computer Science.

Anyway, recently I got this message from a former student I don't really remember through my nephew's blog and she said she has been looking for me and found me through a picture posted in my nephew's blog. She wanted to thank me because I made her like MATH that she became a Math Whiz in her class. And now she's also in law school. =)

That was one of the best compliments I ever got. It felt good knowing I have touched her life the way I did. Priceless.

On reading

2008-09-07T23:15:00.003+08:00

I am done reading The Witch of Portobello and what a "reading journey" it has been.

The concept of "blank spaces" is something we all could relate too. Read the book.

Now, I'm suppose to start reading "the Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini as recommended by a very dear friend, but I'm reading "Tuesday's with Morrie" first. This is one book I have always promised myself to read but never got to buy the book then.

This is another heartwarming story I will definitely write about.

About the future

2008-09-07T21:18:00.003+08:00

"The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating."

Which means I have to start creating the future I really really want huh?

Paulo Coehlo and his books

2008-09-02T05:16:00.000+08:00

I have to admit that ever since I read Paulo Coehlo's The Alchemist, I developed a liking for his works. The book was a recommended read by my best friend in law school, Raffa. From thereon, I have read his other novels, The Valkyries and Eleven Minutes.

Now, with this new project I manage, I find myself being able to do a lot of reading. =) And so after that sweet book of Marley and Me, I am now reading another Coehlo - The Witch of Portobello. Interesting. I am not done with it yet but the first fifty (50) pages are quite intriguing.....

Will try to share my thoughts about it next time...

*** next in line is "the Kite Runner" which I realized has been developed into a major motion picture...

One good night

2008-09-01T21:16:00.005+08:00

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.-- Anonymous

Last Wednesday night, I had dinner with the UNFPA Country Representative for Indonesia, Dr. Zahidul Huque, with whom I had the priviledge of working for in Jakarta. Consequently, Dr. Huque has become a very good friend of mine, too. He used to be the UNFPA Country Representative for the Philippines from 2002 to 2006. He was here in Manila last week, together with five (5) other delegates from Indonesia, to attend the 2nd Regional Consultative Meeting on Universal Access to Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support in Low Prevalence Countries (LPC).

Anyway, my post is not about the said conference but more about my "friendship" with this great person. You know how someone touches your life unexpectedly, in ways you can never really explain? That to me is Dr. Huque. And in the process, a unique and a very special kind of friendship was built. Something you know you would want to preserve for the rest of your life. I couldn't help feeling honored and privileged having his trust and confidence in me. Even the way he speaks about me to others makes me ask, "Am I really all that?". It can be pretty overwhelming as I wonder what have I really done to merit this person's respect and friendship?

In his kind of life, he has undoubtedly met thousands of people, in all forms and shapes, from various cultures and destinations. He would know the people that are trustworthy from those who are not. Needless to state, I feel so blessed I am one of those people whose life he has touched in ways that could never have been achieved otherwise. And because of him, I am more confident and secure...knowing I am on the right path.

Sometimes, it just takes one person to make the difference you need.

Marley and ME

2008-09-01T20:38:00.002+08:00

I've been meaning to write about this book I read - Marley and Me. It's about a dog, a labrador retriever and its owner ( who is of course the author of the book).

It's "a heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family in the making and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life."

I guess in a way I could relate to it because I, too have dogs, a mixture of sharpei and labrador retriever, which I love so dearly. My day actually starts with them, cleaning their cage, changing their water and giving them their "breakfast". I also believe they can't sleep at night unless I give them my "good night" kiss.

The author's relationship to Marley quite resembles the one I have with my own pets. The attachment to one's pet, the joy of simply being with them, the irritation at some of their nasty habits when I'm busy and the longing during times I can't be with them. I must confess I found myself crying during some parts of the story.

You see, those who love animals, dogs in particular, share common values. This is something I have observed from pet lovers around and to quote the book:

"Animal lovers are a special breed of humans, generous of spirit, full of empathy, perhaps a little prone to sentimentality, and with hearts as big as a cloudless sky."

Indeed, that statement is so true. You can learn a lot from a dog. - Courage, Joy, Unconditional Love and Loyalty are just some of them. Everyday, my pets show me what unconditional love is all about. They really don't care about anything else but me and my attention for them as well. They can also be very protective and possessive at times. =) But most of all, they are contented simply having me with them, as that is probably the best part of their day. And the truth is, that is mine, too.

Give them your heart and they will give you theirs. "It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not."

Read the book and appreciate your dogs more. And if you don't have pets, you will probably get one. =)

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2008-08-21T04:47:00.001+08:00

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities

let the river take you

2008-08-21T02:43:00.002+08:00

in moments of silence and solitude
a river of memories run through my mind
sitting on top of the rocks beside it
i find the past stuck between stones
preventing the present from flowing undisturbed
beyond the river
the future runs deep.

i stood from where I seated
and allowed myself to be carried by the current.

who knows how far or how deep the river takes me
but i'm going with the flow...

First Date

2008-08-14T21:10:00.001+08:00

This is so funny. Talk about an "unorthodox" date!

First Date

If you didn't see this on the Tonight show, I hope you're sitting down when you read it. This is probably the funniest date story ever, first date or not!!! We have all had bad dates but this takes the cake. Jay Leno went into the audience to find the most embarrassing first date that a woman ever had. The winner described her worst first date experience. There was absolutely no question as to why her tale took the prize! She said it was midwinter... Snowing and quite cold...and the guy had taken her skiing in the mountains outside Salt Lake City , Utah . It was a day trip (no overnight). They were strangers, after all, and truly had never met before. The outing was fun but relatively uneventful until they were headed home late that afternoon.

They were driving back down the mountain, when she gradually began to realize that she should not have had that extra latte.

They were about an hour away from anywhere with a rest room and in the middle of nowhere!

Her companion suggested she try to hold it, which she did for a while.

Unfortunately, because of the heavy snow and slow going, there came a point where she told him that he had better stop and let her go beside the road, or it would be the front seat of his car.

They stopped and she quickly crawled out beside the car, yanked her pants down and started.

In the deep snow, she didn't have go od footing, so she let her butt rest against the rear fender to steady herself.

Her companion stood on the side of the car watching for traffic, and indeed was a real gentleman and refrained from peeking. All she could think about was the relief she felt despite the rather
embarrassing nature of the situation. Upon finishing, however, she soon became aware of another sensation.

As she bent to pull up her pants, the young lady discovered her buttocks were firmly glued against the car's fender.

Thoughts of tongues frozen to poles immediately came to mind as she attempted to disengage her flesh from the icy metal. It was quickly apparent that she had a brand new problem due to the extreme cold.

Horrified by her plight and yet aware of the humor of the moment, she answered her date's concerns about "what is taking so long" with a reply that indeed, she was "freezing her butt off" and in need of some assistance!

He came around the car as she tried to cover herself with her sweater and then, as she looked imploringly into his eyes, he burst out laughing.

She too, got the giggles and when they finally managed to compose themselves, they assessed her dilemma.

Obviously, as hysterical as the situation was, they also were faced with a real problem. Both agreed it would take something hot to free her chilly cheeks from the grip of the icy metal.

Thinking about what had gotten her into the predicament in the first place, both quickly realized that there was only one way to get her free.

So, as she looked the other way, her first-time date proceeded to unzip his pants and pee her butt off the fender. As the audience screamed in laughter, she took the Tonight Show prize hands down. Or perhaps that should be "pants down." And you thought your first date was embarrassing.

Jay Leno's comment... "This gives a whole new meaning to being pissed off."

Oh, and how did the first date turn out? He became her husband and was sitting next to her on the Leno show.

Nice Ending huh. =)

HOUSE Season 5

2008-08-09T03:21:00.004+08:00

I am so hooked on this series "HOUSE" that I got to finish Season 1-4 by watching 3-5 episodes per night. And now Season 5 will air in the US this September. I wish they air simultaneously here, but the "2nd Avenue" channel airs just the 2nd Season! Imagine how long it will take before they air Season 5! Which means I get to watch only after the whole Season 5 is done airing in the US and DVDs are out!

Watch the trailer as aired in the US.

On forgiveness:

2008-07-30T21:32:00.000+08:00

Here's another profound story:

One day, the sage gave the disciple an empty sack and a basket of potatoes. "Think of all the people who have done or said something against you in the recent past, especially those you cannot forgive.

For each of them, inscribe the name on a potato and put it in the sack."

The disciple came up quite a few names, and soon his sack was heavy with potatoes.

"Carry the sack with you wherever you go for a week," said the sage. "We'll talk after that."

At first, the disciple thought nothing of it. Carrying the sack was not particularly difficult. But after a while, it became more of a burden. It sometimes got in the way, and it seemed to require more effort to carry as time went on, even though its weight remained the same.

After a few days, the sack began to smell. The carved potatoes gave off a ripe odor. Not only were they increasingly inconvenient to carry around, they were also becoming rather unpleasant.

Finally, the week was over. The sage summoned the disciple. "Any thoughts about all this?"

"Yes, Master," the disciple replied. "When we are unable to forgive others, we carry negative feelings with us everywhere, much like these potatoes. That negativity becomes a burden to us and, after a while, it festers."

"Yes, that is exactly what happens when one holds a grudge. So, how can we lighten the load?"

"We must strive to forgive."

"Forgiving someone is the equivalent of removing the corresponding potato from the sack. How many of your transgressors are you able to forgive?"

"I've thought about it quite a bit, Master," the disciple said. "It required much effort, but I have decided to forgive all of them."

"Very well, we can remove all the potatoes. Were there any more people who transgressed against you this last week?"

The disciple thought for a while and admitted there were. Then he felt panic when he realized his empty sack was about to get filled up again.

"Master," he asked, "if we continue like this, wouldn't there always be potatoes in the sack week after week?"

"Yes, as long as people speak or act against you in some way, you will always have potatoes."

"But Master, we can never control what others do. So what good is the Tao in this case?"

"We're not at the realm of the Tao yet. Everything we have talked about so far is the conventional approach to forgiveness. It is the same thing that many philosophies and most religions preach - we must constantly strive to forgive, for it is an important virtue. This is not the Tao because there is no striving in the Tao."

"Then what is the Tao, Master?"

"You can figure it out. If the potatoes are negative feelings, then what is the sack?"

"The sack is... that which allows me to hold on to the negativity. It is something within us that makes us dwell on feeling offended.... Ah, it is my inflated sense of self-importance. "

"And what will happen if you let go of it?"

"Then... the things that people do or say against me no longer seem like such a major issue."

"In that case, you won't have any names to inscribe on potatoes. That means no more weight to carry around, and no more bad smells.

The Tao of forgiveness is the conscious decision to not just to remove some potatoes... but to relinquish the entire sack."

T.G.I.F.

2008-07-26T02:46:00.002+08:00

I am still awake. Well, I just wrapped up watching the DVD of One Tree Hill's Season 5 and oh m, it was bitin! =)

What do you make of a last scene where the lead actor calls someone, asks that person to marry him - then showing the three (3) women who were all part of his past answer their phones all at the same time???

Now definitely Season 6 is worth waiting...

Anyway, I am just really glad it's Friday. I have never looked forward to Fridays than I do now. =)

stress relievers

2008-07-24T01:49:00.002+08:00

Last Sunday, I was able to buy the DVDs of my favorite series ONE TREE HILL Season 5. It actually started airing at the "etc" channel but then again, don't you just love it when you can watch the episodes without waiting for another week? =)

I also bought the DVDs for the series HOUSE - Season 1-4. I am kinda hooked on this series at the 2nd Avenue channel, which airs Season 2. Yun pala, tapos na Season 4 sa States and they're starting to shoot Season 5. Yipee!

I also bught this movie "Made of Honor" starring Dr. Mcdreamy of Grey's Anatomy. It was cute... Certified Chick Flick.

Anyway, watching those DVDs are my stress relievers... I don't like going out anymore. Whenever I get the chance, I just want to be home. Sleeping. Surfing the NET. Reading - which reminds me I have yet to find time to finish this new book I bought a month ago. Watching TV and DVDs... and spending time with my dogs. Perhaps those are signs of aging! =) Oh well, I don't really mind...

I do miss spending time with that one special person... But we're busy, what can we do?

Ok gotta go. I just want to write here.

Nirro's 7th Birthday!

2008-07-15T23:28:00.001+08:00

It is Nirro's 7th Birthday today! My Mom and I fetched him at his school and met with my sister and brother-in-law there. Then we went to SM North Edsa as he wanted to play games at QUANTUM. =) That's us taken from my CP. I realized that when I use the camera in front of the cellphone, it uses VGA and not the 2megapixel lens. That explains the"fuzziness". =) At any rate, Nirro had a fun day! I did too! =)

DVDs, atbp.

2008-07-12T00:17:00.002+08:00

One Tree Hill Season Five will be aired soon on the etc channel. Yahoo! =) I have always wanted to go buy new DVDs of the series' I have been following but I don't have the time.

Anyway, there's a whole lot I want to blog about, as always, but I am too tired to write. And its the weekend, I was hoping I could travel out of town so I could get away for awhile. It's a regimen I do to find my peace within. However, I have to do a report that has to be ready by Monday. Darn.

I hope to find time to write about the "tales" I have gathered while riding taxicabs. You know, I am a certified G.I. No, not like AMercian G.I.s but GI as in Geographical Idiot. =) I have no sense of direction and find it hard remembering places even if I have been there a couple of times. That is why I would rather take taxicabs going to and from my point of destination. With gasoline prices up and taxi fares going up, I feel frustrated! But I don't have any choice... either they bring me there (dad's driver) or I take a cab.

As such, I have collected many tales from personal stories of taxicab drivers to anecdotes and their take on issues plaguing the country, especially in politics. It's an interesting piece... if I get the time to write them. hehehe.

Ok, I am really tired now and want to relax watching TV before going to sleep.

Till then....

STRESS MANAGEMENT:

2008-07-07T17:52:00.002+08:00

I checked my emails before doing a report and got this one from my good friend Nadia. It was an interesting read and worth blogging. Excuse the "caps" since I am too tired to retype it. This is exactly how it looked when the email was sent to me.

So, read on...
=============================================

A LECTURER, WHEN EXPLAINING STRESS MANAGEMENT TO AN AUDIENCE, RAISED A GLASS OF WATER AND ASKED:"HOW HEAVY IS THIS GLASS OF WATER?" ANSWERS CALLED OUT RANGED FROM 20G TO 500G. THE LECTURER REPLIED, "THE ABSOLUTE WEIGHT DOESN'T MATTER. IT DEPENDS ON HOW LONG YOU TRY TO HOLD IT."

IF I HOLD IT FOR A MINUTE, THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM. IF I HOLD IT FOR AN HOUR, I'LL HAVE AN ACHE IN MY RIGHT ARM. IF I HOLD IT FOR A DAY, YOU WILL HAVE TO CALL AN AMBULANCE. IN EACH CASE, IT'S THE SAME WEIGHT, BUT THE LONGER I HOLD IT, THE HEAVIER IT BECOMES."

HE CONTINUED, "AND THAT'S THE WAY IT IS WITH STRESS MANAGEMENT. IF WE CARRY OUR BURDENS ALL THE TIME, SOONER OR LATER, AS THE BURDEN BECOMES INCREASINGLY HEAVY, WE WON'T BE ABLE TO CARRY ON. AS WITH THE GLASS OF WATER, YOU HAVE TO PUT IT DOWN FOR A WHILE AND REST BEFORE HOLDING IT AGAIN. WHEN WE'RE REFRESHED, WE CAN CARRY ON WITH THE BURDEN."

"SO BEFORE YOU RETURN HOME TONIGHT, PUT THE BURDEN OF WORK DOWN. DON'T CARRY IT HOME. YOU CAN PICK IT UP TOMORROW. WHATEVER BURDENS YOU'RE CARRYING NOW, LET THEM DOWN FOR A MOMENT IF YOU CAN." "RELAX; PICK THEM UP LATER AFTER YOU'VE RESTED. LIFE IS SHORT. ENJOY IT!

AND THEN HE SHARED SOME WAYS OF DEALING WITH THE BURDENS OF LIFE:

* ACCEPT THAT SOME DAYS YOU'RE THE PIGEON, AND SOME DAYS YOU'RE THE STATUE.

* ALWAYS KEEP YOUR WORDS SOFT AND SWEET, JUST IN CASE YOU HAVE TO EAT THEM.

* ALWAYS READ STUFF THAT WILL MAKE YOU LOOK GOOD IF YOU DIE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT.

* DRIVE CAREFULLY. IT'S NOT ONLY CARS THAT CAN BE RECALLED BY THEIR MAKER.

* IF YOU CAN'T BE KIND, AT LEAST HAVE THE DECENCY TO BE VAGUE.

* IF YOU LEND SOMEONE $20 AND NEVER SEE THAT PERSON AGAIN, IT WAS PROBABLY WORTH IT.

* IT MAY BE THAT YOUR SOLE PURPOSE IN LIFE IS SIMPLY TO SERVE AS A WARNING TO OTHERS.

* NEVER BUY A CAR YOU CAN'T PUSH.

* NEVER PUT BOTH FEET IN YOUR MOUTH AT THE SAME TIME, BECAUSE THEN YOU WON'T HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON.

* NOBODY CARES IF YOU DON'T DANCE WELL. JUST GET UP AND DANCE.

* SINCE IT'S THE EARLY WORM THAT GETS EATEN BY THE BIRD, SLEEP LATE.

* THE SECOND MOUSE GETS THE CHEESE.

* WHEN EVERYTHING'S COMING YOUR WAY, YOU'RE IN THE WRONG LANE.

* BIRTHDAYS ARE GOOD FOR YOU. THE MORE YOU HAVE, THE LONGER YOU LIVE.

* YOU MAY BE ONLY ONE PERSON IN THE WORLD, BUT YOU MAY ALSO BE THE WORLD TO ONE PERSON.

* SOME MISTAKES ARE TOO MUCH FUN TO ONLY MAKE ONCE.

* WE COULD LEARN A LOT FROM CRAYONS. SOME ARE SHARP, SOME ARE PRETTY & SOME ARE DULL. SOME HAVE WEIRD NAMES, AND ALL ARE DIFFERENT COLORS, BUT THEY ALL LIVE IN THE SAME BOX.

* A TRULY HAPPY PERSON IS THE ONE WHO CAN ENJOY THE SCENERY ON A DETOUR.

On BELIEVING:

2008-07-06T18:07:00.003+08:00

Since it is Sunday and for us Catholics, it's Church Day. An hour from a busy week, particularly on Sunday, spent with God; praying and thanking HIM for all his blessings. And most of the time, asking HIM guidance and for His blessings.

Anyway, I give you one of my favorite quotes. A great point to ponder for those who do not believe.

Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that HE exists. -- Blaise Pascal.

It's the weekend

2008-07-04T18:54:00.004+08:00

It's the weekend and it is raining here in Manila... well, Quezon City to be exact. I am glad its the weekend as that means I could sleep until late morning without having to worry about work for awhile. =)

I am actually scheduled to spend quality time with my nephew and my parents tomorrow, which I look forward to. However, I also do want to have some quality time with myself, spending it with people dear to me other than my family. Oh well. Maybe next weekend as next work week is full.

I miss having to spend hours and hours of my time watching DVDs, without a care in the world. Now, I still get to watch TV and some series I follow with distractions here and there.

OK, I just wanted to make my presence felt in the cyberspace. There are other things I wanted to write about but I feel a bit tired. Till next time.

A tribute to my pets

2008-06-30T14:38:00.007+08:00

This is Pichu and Motombo when they were a month old. =)

That's MOTOMBO and PICHU was the one lying on the side

PICHU while I cuddle her during her "puppy" days... =)

Pichu NOW - almost 8 months

Cuddling MOTOMBO

I can't explain it but I just adore my pets so much. I am referring to the two(2) dogs I have. Well, we actually have three (3) and I love that other dog dearly as well, but she's technically my dad's pet and the oldest among the three (3). She's actually a Border Collie which explains why she's so intelligent! She's the only one who always manages to "escape" from her cage from time to time. =)

PICHU - Female

My pets in their separate cages in the garage...

MOTOMBO - male, and is actually claimed by my nephew that is his and I am simply taking care of him... =)

Anyway, back to my own pets, aside from the various species of goldfish in my fish tank and small pond in the garage, these dogs Pichu and Motombo are just so sweet. I had them since they were just a month old and took care of them ever since. So they're like my "babies". =) I used to make them sleep over my lap when they were smaller but now at almost eight (8) months, they've grown so big already! That is why they have two (2) separate cages.

I am so sensitive to their needs that I wake up and go out to check on them at the wee hours of the night when I hear them incessantly barking. They're either hungry or some people outside the gate caught their attention. In any case, I always check them even if I am so sleepy already.

Every morning, I prepare their food ahead of mine. =) And you see them watching out for me as I emerged from the front door and then start to bark as a way of greeting me. My parents sometimes don't approve of how much I spoiled them especially with the budget I allot for their food but hey, they can't put a price on the joy and affection these dogs give me.

For some reason, they make me feel calm when I am stressed. They also make me feel that I am not alone as long as they're around. Come to think of it, I had them during the time my parents were away on vacation in the US and Canada. The way they look at me seem to say that they need me and that everything's gonna be ok.

A lot of people has asked me to give up one of them and I simply can't. Oh no. Over my dead body. =)

That's Pichu again... being the female one, she's a just a bit sweeter than Motombo...

On Humility

2008-06-29T00:46:00.004+08:00

Let's just say with new things to do comes new people to meet, all of whom vary in terms of personalities and character. That explains the quotes...

"To be humble to superiors is duty, to equals courtesy, to inferiors nobleness."

"The test of good manners is to be patient with bad ones."

Hmnnnn...

On Greed:

2008-06-29T00:35:00.002+08:00

"There are many things we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up."

Grounded? Hmnnnn...

2008-06-27T22:43:00.002+08:00

It's the end of the week, but not work. =) I have a meeting tomorrow ... enough about enjoying the weekend. =(

I am more grounded now than yesterday. That explains the new song in the blog and the somewhat sentiment it carries with it... But it's really a good song I even changed my message alert tone to that tune.

I feel okay but somehow still feel some "void" inside me, know what I mean? Maybe not. Even I don't get myself for feeling the way I do.

Ok, HBO's got this film on starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. It's halfway through already but its good to watch again. I saw this first on the plane going to Jakarta.

Good Night for now.

REALIZE

2008-06-26T18:37:00.001+08:00

Sing along with the new song of my blog...

REALIZE
Colbie Caillat

V1: Take time to realize,
That your warmth is
Crashing down on in.
Take time to realize,
That I am on your side
Didn't I, Didn't I tell you.

But I can't spell it out for you,
No it's never gonna be that simple
No I cant spell it out for you

C: If you just realize what I just realized,
Then we'd be perfect for each other
and will never find another
Just realized what I just realized
we'd never have to wonder if
we missed out on each other now.

V2: Take time to realize
Oh-oh I'm on your side
didn't I, didn't I tell you.
Take time to realize
This all can pass you by
Didn't I tell you

But I can't spell it out for you,
no it's never gonna be that simple
no I can't spell it out for you.

C: If you just realized what I just realized
then we'd be perfect for each other
then we'd never find another
Just realized what I just realized
we'd never have to wonder if
we missed out on each other now.

V3: It's not always the same
no it's never the same
if you don't feel it too.
If you meet me half way
If you would meet me half way.
It could be the same for you.

C: If you just realize what I just realized
then we'd be perfect for each other
then we'd never find another
Just realize what I just realized
we'd never have to wonder
Just realize what I just realized

If you just realize what I just realized

OoOoOOo

missed out on each other now
missed out on each other now

Realize, realize
realize, realize

I almost cried...

2008-06-22T22:09:00.003+08:00

I was up all night because of the typhoon. Well, it didn't start that way though. I was just actually awake because I was watching the C/S channel. Then I got hungry... while looking for some snacks I then heard the sound of strong winds - like a whistle, but a very strong one in the air... the chimes hanging at the door of my parents house started to make all those sounds as the wind blew on them. I was staying in this other house but within the same gate. Naturally, our dogs started barking and barking! Then the power was cut-off.

The darkness made our pets more frantic and scared, with the sound of the chimes adding to the furor. I thought for awhile that electricity will come back in fifteen (15) minutes, but then when it took hours I got worried and stressed. Not only about the dogs who were restless but also because of my fishes who now lack the oxygen supply from its electric air pumps.

I was in the verge of tears as I watch my fishes gasp for air inside the tank and really got worried when the biggest goldfish, a black ranchu, has turned upside down!

Just in time, my very special friend texted me his usual morning greeting, even telling me he'll sleep again. However, I texted back my "situation" and apparent helplessness to him. And fortunately, he gave me "light" when he said I should do water changes, water being H20, and the act of pouring water in the tank actually creates aeration in the tank. He actually wanted me to let the water from the faucet to flow in the tank or in a temporary basin that would serve as the fishes' tank for the meantime, but I said I don't have a net that would prevent the fish from swimming out of the basin when it becomes full (as water will keep pouring in to create oxygen...). Moreover, goldfishes are sensitive to tap water. When I do water changes, I always put "angel drops", it's an anti-chlorine chemical and water purifier. It also regulates the amount of ammonia in the water which can be deadly to goldfishes.

I decided to just do partial water changes just so to create some air for the fishes. It could work rather than I just stare at them doing nothing and watch my fishes slowly die! Imagine my delight when during the process, my black ranchu slowly swam and turned upright! I was so relieved. So what I did the next hours were to watch them, with just the help of a candle light. So every hour, I remove four (4) gallons of water ( I have a 20-gallon tank) and put water back in. At some point, I saw one fish swimming towards me gasping for air above the surface. I tried to blow air from above and then suddenly, the air pump started to create the bubbles. Electricity was restored!!!

I was so happy! The fishes then started swimming towards the bubbles, perhaps catching their breath and storing air into their lungs! I also noticed that the dogs stopped barking... For a moment then, I just watched the tank as the fishes swim excitedly.

Then the stress and the sleep deprivation I had took its toll on me, I felt sleepy...It was only then that I felt how tired I already was, it was time to rest...

Pichu on the cover! =)

2008-06-22T02:22:00.000+08:00

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com

Check out my Magazine Cover Look!

2008-06-22T02:11:00.001+08:00

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com

The importance of imagination—J.K. Rowling

2008-06-17T20:32:00.006+08:00

These are excerpts from the author’s Harvard University commencement address in June 2008.

I was just truly moved with all the wisdom embodied in it. Definitely worth sharing to you all... Definitely worth blogging about...

____________________________________________________

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.
____________________________________________________

I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.

I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called 'real life', I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.

These might seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.

Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.

I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.

They had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.

I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.

Poverty entails fear

I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.

What is more, I cannot criticize my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.

What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.

At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.

I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.

However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person's idea of success, so high have you already flown academically.

Epic failure

Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.

Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.

Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.

Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.

Test of adversity

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.

You might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense.

Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

Formative experience

One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London.

There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.

Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government. Visitors to our office included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had been forced to leave behind.

I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.

And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since. The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. She had just given him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country's regime, his mother had been seized and executed.

Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.

Power of human empathy

And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.

Amnesty mobilizes thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people's minds, imagine themselves into other people's places.

Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathize.

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the willfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.

What is more, those who choose not to empathize may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

Connection with outside world

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people's lives simply by existing.

But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people's lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world's only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better.

We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

Friends and affection

I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children's godparents, the people to whom I've been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I've used their names for Death Eaters.

At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.

So today, I can wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

Migration, Family, Love, Life

2008-06-15T00:31:00.003+08:00

Here's an article by Prof. Randy David I find very touching. It actually even reminded me of one of the reasons why it is important for couples to plan their family --- TIME.

I may sound a bit incoherent but let me explain why.

If the father's earnings are not enough to provide for the family, the mother steps in and find employment herself. The kids are then left to their yayas or among themselves, if old enough to be left alone all day long. Worse, if opportunities here are not satisfying, they find work abroad, missing the whole concept of having a "family". Devoting their time working to earn the family's keep deprive parents of spending quality time with their children, which is essential to their growth and development as human beings.

So having more children to look for means having to work as much and less time spent with each of them. And with overseas work becoming a trend in every family, it also means having no time to be with your family altogether.

So whenever the Church and pro-life advocates oppose population management and artificial family planning methods, I wonder what "LIFE" are they protecting? What kind of "LIFE" do they really want for the many Filipino families struggling to survive?

Read Prof. David' article and understand me better...

Public Lives
Love in the time of migration

By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:20:00 06/14/2008

MANILA, Philippines—One of my students, Arnold P. Alamon, has written a graduate thesis titled, “Lives on Hold: Sons of Migrant Parents.” It is based on the retrospective accounts of the six young men he interviewed on what it was like to create their own lives while their parents worked abroad. Poignant and rich in detail, their stories are evocative snap shots of the Filipino family in transition in the era of overseas migration. They show the scars beneath the imported clothes. They articulate the gap that could not be bridged by international calls and text messages.

These are stories that no longer shock us. The improbable has become typical. They are the stuff of recent Filipino films, and they are often romanticized in songs. My particular interest in this study is the shift in the semantics of love in the family that it documents.

The substance of the parental role in the traditional family is equated with being a “good provider.” Apart from the basic necessities of food, shelter, and clothing, the assurance of a solid education up to college is generally treated as a Filipino parent’s primary obligation to his/her children. In turn, children are expected to obey their parents’ wishes, to look after their younger siblings, to do well in school, and to take care of their parents in old age. Husband and wife are supposed to be supportive of one another in the performance of their culturally-prescribed roles as provider and home maker, respectively.

Modernity has long disturbed this traditional order, but none perhaps has turned it more upside down than the phenomenon of overseas work. It is now common for fathers to leave their children for extended and indefinite periods in order to provide for their needs. Where the man in the family cannot find a job that provides adequate income, the wife must step into the role of provider and look for work. Today, in the typical Filipino family, the old roles have melted, and both husband and wife have to earn a living to support the growing needs of their children. But the impact of these changes on the family as a world of meanings is not as jarring as when both parents have to leave their young children behind in order to try their luck abroad.

That is when the tacit understandings that bound the Filipino family together come into question. Children, confronting the paradox of the absentee-provider, begin to miss the living presence of the parent who dutifully remits the money and the “balikbayan” boxes containing goods. Entire studies can be conducted on the countless ways in which parents, spouses, and children desperately attempt to compensate for the physical distance that overseas work has put between them. Telecom companies have tapped into this human need in order to expand their sales of pre-paid calls and other real-time communication schemes aimed at bridging the distance. But it takes much more to sustain the spirit of family life under these circumstances.

The young men in this study appear to have survived their parents’ absence quite well, a fact that is often celebrated as Filipino resilience. Almost all of them managed to finish college, and they all believe that living on their own somehow forced them to be strong. But an unmistakable sense of loss, often surfacing as resentment, is palpable in their accounts. One of them says, almost as if he were grieving: “My parents did not see me grow up.” They grope for words to describe the passing of an era in which part of their lives have been sacrificed.

It would however be wrong to think that only the children have suffered. I will surmise that the loss is probably at least double on the parents’ side. I say that as a parent. From the moment they were born, I have looked at my children with a wish that I could see them grow into fine human beings every step of the way. I have perhaps exulted in their triumphs, and bled in their pain, more profusely than in my own. I think of them when I visit a nice place, or eat an unusually fine meal. I worry for their safety, and I cannot imagine not being able to recognize them in their mature years. This is what love commands us to do.

The traditional Filipino family, like the one in which I grew up, was not always good at verbalizing familial love. But it was there. I saw it in my mother’s eyes when anyone of us was unwell and in my father’s eager face whenever he would ask his children to recount their achievements in school or at work. A word of praise said in my presence came as rarely as an open profession of love. I rejoiced when my parents gave me money or bought me a gift on my birthday, because I did not expect it. Yet I never doubted that in my parents’ scheme of things, I was someone special.

In the age of absentee parenting, the communication of love has taken the form of a steady stream of gift-giving. This however cannot compensate for the erosion of intimacy. As the sociologist Luhmann nicely put it: “Roughly speaking, one loves not because one wants gifts, but because one wants their meaning.”

We expect those we love to show us, by their actions, the depth and complexity of their inner world, not the broad practicalities of their material situation. This is true not only for lovers and spouses in long distance relationships; it applies as well to children and parents torn apart by migration.

It has been very easy to measure the economic benefits from overseas work. But I doubt if one can ever quantify what the Filipino family has given up in terms of love, or what it is doing to recover it.

* * *

The Time of my Life by David Cook

2008-06-06T23:53:00.004+08:00

I have been busy working and meeting deadlines re: the MEGUMI Reader project. And now is my time to unwind. I was "googling" David Cook as I wanted to see the lyrics of the song he did when he won. It was, needless to state, very inspiring. I find myself quite relating to it. =)
David Cook: The Time of my LIFE

"The Time of My Life" is the coronation song for the winner of American Idol season 7, David Cook. It was released as his first single exclusively on iTunes on May 22, 2008. The song hit #1 on iTunes within 11 hours of its release.

I’ve been waiting for my dreams
To turn into something
I could believe in
And looking for that
Magic rainbow
On the horizon
I couldn’t see it
Until I let go
Gave into love and watched all the bitterness burn
Now I’m coming alive
Body and soul
And feelin’ my world start to turn

And I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time
To be more than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

Holding onto things that vanished
Into the air
Left me in pieces
But now I’m rising from the ashes
Finding my wings
And all that I needed
Was there all along
Within my reach
As close as the beat of my heart
[Time Of My Life lyrics on http://lyricsmusicvideo.blogspot.com ]

So I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life

And I’m out on the edge of forever
Ready to run
I’m keeping my feet on the ground
My arms open wide
My face to the sun

I’ll taste every moment
And live it out loud
I know this is the time,
This is the time to be
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
I know this is the time
This is the time of my life
Time of my life
More than a name
Or a face in the crowd
This is the time
This is the time of my life.
This is the time of my life.

About writing:

2008-06-03T02:15:00.000+08:00

A writer needs three (3) things, experience, observation and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others. --William Faulkner

Taking Control

2008-06-03T02:07:00.004+08:00

There is a time when we must firmly choose the course we will follow, or the relentless drift of events will make the decision. --Herbert V. Prochnow

David Cook: American Idol 2008

2008-05-22T16:44:00.005+08:00

David Cook, center, is congratulated by fellow contestants, David Archuleta, left, Carly Smithson and Michael Johns, right, after he was announced the winner of "American Idol" during the finale at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, Wednesday, May 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

I've been a fan of AMERICAN IDOL since Season 3. It was the time it was shown in the Star World Channel that I got to learn about it. Though in between, work schedules prevented me from following it religiously.

This particular season, I got hooked up again because of many promising contestants, two of which were the Idol finalists David Cook and David Archuleta. I've always liked the younger David because of his seeming "naivete", however, when I heard the older David sing his own rendition of Billy Jean, that did it for me. =) I heard myself saying "Wow!" as I was watching it alone.

Needless to state, I am glad David Cook won the American Idol 2008!

Read the article below:

How David Cook won 'American Idol'
By DERRIK J. LANG AP Entertainment Writer
Article Launched: 05/21/2008 11:43:23 PM PDT

LOS ANGELES—David Cook's transformation from soul-patched slacker to "American Idol" is complete, and his overwhelming victory probably says as much about his soulful gaze and in-season makeover as it does about his chops as a rocker.
Or maybe it says even more about who's voting these days.

Other than his hair—both on his face and atop his head—not much about the 25-year-old from Blue Springs, Mo., changed since his performance of Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do" during the Hollywood round. Back then, he was a promising "Idol" hopeful, but he didn't have the instant juggernaut feel of 17-year-old crooner David Archuleta.

And yet when Cook was crowned "Idol" on Wednesday night, it was a landslide: Host Ryan Seacreast said he'd won by a margin of 12 million votes out of the record 97.5 million cast by viewers.

"I actually walked into this with no expectations, and I'm walking out of it with no expectations," Cook told reporters backstage after his win. "This show is a springboard, but it's still a crapshoot."

From the outset, the ex-bartender provided soaring vocals and just enough outside-the-box behavior—see his rendition of Chris Cornell's version of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"—to keep viewers cooking up votes for Cook every week. Neither Cook nor Archuleta was ever a low vote-getter.

But it was Archuleta who always received the most praise—by both judges and loud fans—right up until Tuesday's final performance, in which judge Simon Cowell declared that Archuleta had scored a "knockout" over Cook, who sang Collective Soul's "The World I Know," U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Dream Big."

Or maybe being rebellious turned out to be worth the gamble for Cook; it's been suggested that a poor showing with the judges can drum up support from indignant or sympathetic voters.

Criticism may have made Cook's win sweeter for some, but don't call it an upset. Several online outfits predicted he would take home the top prize: a record contract and an SUV. DialIdol.com, which tracks busy signals on the separate phone lines dedicated to each contestant, correctly projected him the winner Wednesday morning.

So why did the older David best the younger one—the one who couldn't take a step on the "Idol" stage without a collective shriek coming up from every under-13-year-old girl in the audience?

One reason for Cook's winning appeal may be found in a rustling in the show's recent ratings: Viewership for teenagers 12-to-17 for "Idol" was down this season, and the median age of an "Idol" viewer, once in the mid-30s, is now up to 42, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Cook was, after all, the first "rocker" of many to take the crown from a steady stream of pop- and R&B-type singers. Perhaps an older contingent helped push Cook over—way over—the edge. The upper age limit was raised from 24 to 28 in season four; could another increase be on the way?

Another reason could be that Cook was so genuinely humble—and not as quiet or obsequious as Archuleta—throughout the competition, even until the very end. On Wednesday, he told reporters it was an honor to share the stage with the teenage singer from Murray, Utah. Cook said Archuleta had more talent at 17 "than I know what to do with at 25."

Cook was overcome with emotion when he won, bending down toward the stage, his eyes filled with tears when he stood back up. It was the second time in as many nights that the scruffy, grainy-voiced belter had broken down. And a few weeks earlier, when he seemed edgy and distracted, he acknowledged that he had "things going on," perhaps a vague reference to the struggles of his older brother, Adam, who is battling advanced brain cancer.

On Wednesday night, Cowell saw fit to apologize to Cook for casting him as an also-ran to Archuleta. Just before the winner was announced, Cowell uncharacteristically backtracked on his words of the night before, telling him he was one of the nicest and most genuine contestants the show has seen, and allowing that the competition "wasn't quite so clear cut as we called it."

Beyond his booming voice and continuous acclaim, Archuleta became the focus of controversy when his father, Jeff, was reportedly becoming too heavily involved in his son's rehearsals and asked by the show's producers to back off. News of such an altercation may have cost the doe-eyed crooner votes from a more knowing adult audience, who perhaps couldn't stomach the thought of rewarding a stage dad.

The only behind-the-scenes story about Cook to surface during the competition concerned his sick older brother, who made the trek to Los Angeles from Indiana to watch his brother perform as a member of the top seven finalists. Such adversity can only make someone on TV seem more human.

Whatever the reasons really were this year, in a competition that can crown a 29-year-old gray-haired Southerner one year and a cheery 17-year-old high-school student from Arizona the next, it's ultimately impossible to tell why America choose its "Idol" the way it does.

Busy busy busy Bee

2008-05-20T01:23:00.003+08:00

I can't imagine how time flew so fast. I got caught up in this new project I now manage and coordinate that my world suddenly turned upside down. New people to meet and work with... oh well...

Just trying to make my presence felt. Haven't blogged in awhile and I miss it!

ramblings...

2008-05-11T04:55:00.002+08:00

I have a lot of things on my mind....

Foremost is the new project I will be getting involved with.. I have been asked to officially start on the 16th of May, which is a Friday. The thing is, I have another "summer get-away" with my aunt who's here from Boston, scheduled for this coming week, and I have to adjust the dates so as to avoid conflict on that project.

Hmmmnnn.... I hope everythng works out though. The travel agency supposedly holds office on a Sunday...

More about the new project next time. =)

more about ZOOBIC

2008-05-11T04:28:00.006+08:00

That is one of the tigers, up on the roof of the caged jeep that we were riding...

Isn't this cute??? =) It reminded me of Phumba - the cartoon character in LION KING =). Notice the stripes on the piglet's body? =)

That was my hand there... see? =)
Camel
Bear

2nd Summer Get Away

2008-05-05T02:58:00.005+08:00

Last May 1, being a holiday and all that, we went to SUBIC! Our second summer get away! This time, my brother in law was with us, as well as two of my nieces (Cousin's daughters..), another cousin and my Tita from Boston.

Subic is a nice place - neat and somewhat pristine. They say those forest are "virgin forests", untouched and unaltered. The Tiger Safari was just one of the many things to be enjoyed there. However, since we were just doing a day trip, it was the only one we visited. There's the Ocean Adventure, Beaches to enjoy, Go Carts and of course shopping at the Royal Subic Mall. Too bad hotel reservations were full! My nephew was sort of disappointed we had to head home that same day...

Anyway, the TIGERS were amazing.... I did enjoy it kahit bitin ng konti yung part where you get to ride a "caged" jeep as you enter the area where those tigers move around freely...

Maiksi yung time dito. I would have wanted to stay longer watching these creatures eat the raw chicken meat from the guy inside our jeep...

That's my nephew intently watching the Tigers in front of him....

The MEGUMI Reader

2008-04-25T03:49:00.003+08:00

The Megumi Reader started as a project of the only Pinoy ever to be Rotary International President MAT Caparas.

The Department of Education (DepEd) has announced that it is adopting the Megumi to help improve teaching-learning process in the classrooms.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus says that the gadget will help assist the non-readers among elementary pupils and promote literacy.

This Filipino-made electronic book is a low-cost, portable, simple-to-use device that can accommodate content for more than one learning area and can be used for multiple languages.

Designed for the safe use of children, the Megumi Reader is highly interactive and has no moving parts.

It was also learned from the Department of Education (DepEd) that this gadget dubbed "Megumi Reader" was further developed by the Partners for Universal Literacy or PULL Foundation.

The press report disclosed that the Megumi-reader is another project of the DepEd through its Adopt-A-School Program which facilitates the mobilization of resources and interventions from the private sector to improve education in public schools.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said that "the Megumi Reader is a breakthrough in our effort to integrate technology in enhancing the teaching-learning process. Its interactive features and versatility will help develop our pupils meta-cognitive skills- the ability to learn how to learn".

It was further learned that the PULL Foundation is looking forward for its success "so we can make this available to all public elementary schools nationwide".

The Manila Ocean Park

2008-04-24T23:52:00.008+08:00

I was with my Tita, my father and pamangkins last Wednesday at the Oceanarium. I've been there before (as I previously posted in the month of march...) but since my aunt visited Manila from Boston, we deemed it necessary to bring her there.

These are just some of the exotic fishes you would see inside...

Lipstick Fish
Rock Fish

Seahorse
Spider Crab

more about bohol...

2008-04-15T23:26:00.007+08:00

The Chocolate Hills ...

A visit to Bohol wouldn't be complete without seeing the tarsier...

Panglao beaches... Pretty Nice huh? =)

Bohol Plaza and Resort ... Nice Pool...

There is something about being away in a place as beautiful as Bohol... If you could, visit the place and stay longer....

some snapshots... more later...

2008-04-09T10:08:00.003+08:00

Loboc River Cruise
See how pristine the river is....
One of the Panglao Beaches
The Chocolate Hills
Bilar's Man Made Forest
The Hanging Bridge

... and I'm back ...

2008-04-07T07:46:00.003+08:00

Good Morning Good Morning. =)

My trip to Cebu and Bohol was really fun! For one, my nephew was with me and that made a big difference. There were lots of pictures taken and so many highlights to share but that will be for later. I still have to reduce the size of the photos before uploading them. And I have tons of things to do around here before my aunt from Boston visits.

Hopefully, will be back later...

1st Summer Get-Away

2008-03-30T06:14:00.003+08:00

I'm leaving next week for Cebu and Bohol. I am particularly psyched to be in Bohol because it's in Panglao. I have only seen the Tarsiers and the Chocolate Hills and now I will get to see the famous Panglao Beach. Hmmmn.. I am not a fan of the sun but I enjoy travelling and sight seeing.

This reminds me that I have to buy a sun block with SPF30 at the very least...

New Look

2008-03-26T23:40:00.008+08:00

I have a new template! =) Well, it took me sometime to decide what the new look would be, but after hours of browsing, I settled with these pink flowers. Just did some tweaking with the fonts and its colors. Originally, they were all pink! Which is really not that good to read. Bad for the eyes pa nga eh.

I basically placed the same widgets on the side bar and as an added feature, I placed my new dog's baby pic! Technically, she's still a puppy but the picture was taken when she was just a month old and she was so cute! They're actually two (2), Pichu and Motombo but I acquired Pichu first. And my nephew kinda claims ownership over the male pup. Hehehe. They've grown so big already as they were a cross breed of Sharpei and Labrador. At four (4) months, they can no longer run around their cage. I make it a point to let them out of there and play in the garage for at least thirty minutes to an hour, everyday. Otherwise, they become so cranky - barking and barking. Which reminds me, I have to get a new cage so I could separate them already. Okeydokey.

My work here is done... at least for tonight.. =)

Holy Week, Manila Ocean Park etc.

2008-03-25T22:09:00.006+08:00

I have been offline the past days, not because I intended to but because internet cables were busted and I didn't fix it till today. Well, it was the Holy Week and taking time off from cyberspace was a good thing to give up, sort of fasting which Catholics do during the Lenten Season.

So what has happened those past days? For one, my nephew, Nirro graduated from Prep and is on his way to Grade One next school year. =)

He studied nursery, kindergarten and prep at the same school I did. Back then, they only offered nursery classes. In fact, I was one of the "pioneer" students of that school ran by nuns. Needless to state, I was their first valedictorian. Hehehe. That was back then okay? =) After his graduation, we headed to Gerry's, a new branch opened in Banawe, which was within the area we live and then proceeded to Manila Ocean Park.

It was "bitin" kasi medyo maiksi yung lilibutin mo but I think may mga gagawin pa, like the Crab Race Area and Boat Ride Entrance. For P400 ( adult) and P350 (kids) fee, it was worth it. It's nice to see how "rich" our oceans are. Inside the place, there are interactive boards where kids could utilize touch-screen monitors and learn more information. Then there's also the fish spa which would cost you additional P100 if you wish to try it. When the fish started "biting" the dead cells off your feet, it felt ticklish that after awhile I took my feet out! hahaha. But my nephew "braved" those fish bites and finished the whole 20-minute session with them.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday I spent with my nephew (as he slept here) and other nieces (daughters ng cousin ko). As usual, they're favorite hang out was my room. My TV was on all day, either showing the Cartoon Network channel or DVDs of Disney Cartoons. And then, they endlessly played computer games as well. The younger ones jumped up and down the bed it nearly broke! hahaha and early afternoons during those days, they pet the puppies PICHU and MOTOMBO with me. By the way, we managed to make them watch the Seven Last Words movie shown on TV and surprisingly, they sat still and attentively watched. Hmmmnnn, it was a spiritual week for them, too you know. =)

Sunday was of of course Church Day and it seemed to me, more people went to mass. Perhaps some people do go to mass only during special events.

There's another thing pala that happened this past week. A "crazy" neighbor went to our house and literally picked a fight with us! Will do away with details but suffice it to say that because of her actions ( she's one of the tenants here in our compound), proper notice was served informing them to leave the premises within a month. WHat took place was really odd as she had all this wild story accusing me and my cousins of weird stuff we never did. In fact, we don't even see her much less know her until she went to our house asking for everyone living in our home and then started telling this wild story. True enough, she's a little "deranged" that's why she had to go. Tsktsktsk. That caused quite a stir around the household and some neighbors. But after ahwile, we did just laugh about it. But then again, she really has to leave as she might cause more trouble, kasi nga even among the other neighbors kasi she was picking fights na in the past days. Kaya ayun, baka ano pa maisip gawin. =(

Starting Monday, I have been and will be busy. Basta busy. Official and household stuff. I want to leave the city nga muna eh. Breaktime kumbaga. Hmmmnnnn.....

just feeling a little vain...

2008-03-12T23:45:00.001+08:00

Unexpected Endeavors

2008-03-12T09:54:00.000+08:00

Where does my INNER COMPASS point? Apparently, it points to unexpected endeavors, according to Tickle.com. =)

Read on.

"Checking out a new art exhibit, catching a baseball game, or just picnicking in the park — who knows where you'll find yourself next? You are an adventurer in the truest sense — spontaneous and flexible with a passion for trying new places and things.

With your easygoing nature, you are the quintessential road tripper. No maps, no plan, no timelines. You'd rather let the road take you wherever it may lead. North, south, east, or west — your inner compass has no limits. So give it a spin and let it decide where your next adventure will be!"

Sexy? Me? and Who AM I in the Past Life? hehehe

2008-03-11T23:28:00.002+08:00

SMART SIDE OF SEXY

What a big ... brain ... you have. When it comes to the art of attraction, people are definitely drawn to your mind. And what a beautiful mind it is! Whether you look the part in horn-rimmed glasses and a finely pressed suit or dress simply in a T-shirt and jeans, you really stand out when you have the chance to flaunt that intellectual prowess.

You're happy to go out and party with the crowd, but you'd definitely prefer a night of intimate conversation. You've read the classics, or at least know what they are, and get the greatest rush when you can fully connect with a special someone — both mind and body. While you may have the looks as well, it's all about the brain that turns up the heat when you're around. Smart thinking!

----------------

A FAMOUS POLITICAL FIGURE

Whether you were ruling the Roman Empire or shaking up the 18th century, you're sure to be making waves in any era you're in. Driven and focused, you want to make a difference and help people. If it gets you into the history books, even better!

Ambitious and motivated, you've got your eye on the prize and aren't afraid to go after what you want. You'd love to shake things up and make waves in the world. A little fame thrown in there wouldn't hurt either. So, keep chasing your goals. You're sure to go far in this life — and the next ones!

-------

hmnnnn... interesting evaluations from Tickle.com. =)

Good Sunday

2008-03-09T23:52:00.003+08:00

I have been able to catch up watching various TV series in the "etc" channel. And I found myself smiling and laughing alone for the witty remarks made by the characters or in the values shown in those episodes. =) Somehow, they made me think and reflect on certain situations in my own life.

hmmnn... I never thought it would turn out to be a good Sunday...

Articles to enlighten you

2008-03-09T23:26:00.005+08:00

The situation in our country is currently volatile, with all the search for TRUTH re: the ZTE-NBN deal ongoing.

Read Prof. Randy David's articles below and get enlightened.

A big year for verity

By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:22:00 03/01/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- Just about everybody in our country these days is looking for the truth—senators, bishops, the media, students, professors, spin doctors, and street-corner pundits. Truth is the most sought-after commodity, yet its nature and uses are also the least understood. But, it appears we are not alone in this sport.

Vanity Fair calls 2007 “a big year for verity in film” and quotes the marketing tag lines of seven of this year’s big hits—“Atonement,” (“You can only imagine the truth”); “Michael Clayton,” (“The truth can be adjusted”); “Gone Baby Gone,” (“Everyone wants the truth … until they find it”); “In the Valley of Elah,” (“Sometimes finding the truth is easier than facing it”); “Redacted,” (“Truth is the first casualty of war”); “Reservation Road,” (“To find the truth, you have to find who’s hiding it”); and “The Number 23,” (“The truth will find you.”)

Almost all of these can suitably describe the Filipino’s experience with truth. But the last two are especially relevant to us. Sometimes indeed, we don’t actually have to see the truth to know it; we only need to find out who’s hiding it. In 2001, the public clamored to know the contents of the infamous “second envelope.” When it was blocked by Joseph Estrada’s 11 senators, everyone became sure of what it contained, and thereafter lost all interest in determining what it really contained. It was all that was needed to bring out EDSA People Power II.

One could sense that we are today quickly moving in the same direction. When Romulo Neri, former director general of the National Economic and Development Authority, suddenly invoked executive privilege in the middle of his testimony at the Senate inquiry on the national broadband network (NBN) deal with China’s ZTE Corp., it became clear to every reasonable person who was listening that he could not say what he wanted to say because it would incriminate President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But this concealment was not enough to make the public form a judgment of what was being hidden.

Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada’s testimony made this possible. He provided crucial information, and the public’s imagination filled the gaps. Today, there is almost nothing that Neri can tell us that we don’t already know after hearing Lozada. Neri’s truth has thus become redundant. If it has any remaining uses at all, it may only be to secure a conviction or acquittal in a court of law. But the public does not need this level of determination to be able to act with confidence in the political sphere.

Truth is anything but simple. “A mobile army of metaphors” is how the philosopher Nietzsche calls it, rather than as the accurate representation of reality that many assume it to be. Because of its complexity, modern society has parceled out the search for truth into many specialized quests. The quest for truth about the physical world is assigned to science, while prophetic truth remains the province of religion. Outside of these two spheres, the quest for truth is subordinated to specific goals. In modern politics, what matters is not so much what is true, but what one can invoke to legitimize one’s rule. If it were otherwise, liars would never be in power. Similarly, in law, the applicable code is not so much what is true or false, but what is legal or illegal. Judges know that not every truth is worth knowing, but only those facts in a case that are relevant to a determination of legality or illegality.

To understand these distinctions is to be able to appreciate the parallel inquiries that are going on in the different institutional spheres of our society. They may all be about the same subject—the ZTE-NBN deal—but their objectives are different.

As I see it, the object of the Senate inquiry is to know how and by whom the deal was put together, how and by whom it was assessed, and how it was finally approved. The goal is not so much to determine criminal culpability as to identify weaknesses in the law and existing procedures, possible lapses in judgment, and implications for legislation and governance. Because the Senate is a political body, the inquiry also becomes inescapably a moment in the ongoing contest for power between the majority and the minority.

It is true—politics is not exactly the best site to look for the truth. But then, neither is the justice system a privileged site for finding the truth. Indeed, a refrain we often hear from lawyers is that not all truths are admissible in court. It is clever for Malacañang to argue that the proper resolution of the ZTE-NBN controversy rests exclusively with the courts. Treating it as a purely legal matter is a way of suppressing the many other faces of truth.

What is at stake here is not just the legality or illegality of a contract. More than this, what is at stake is the power of citizens to hold their leaders accountable for decisions that are made in their name. Have these leaders been transparent and faithful to their oath of office? Or have they misused the powers and prerogatives entrusted to them? Such questions are decided not in court or in church but in the public sphere of politics, not by judges or prelates, but by a nation’s citizens.

We should wait for the next elections then, they tell us. Under normal circumstances, we should indeed. But if the electoral mechanism itself has been rigged and brazenly abused by the present leadership, shouldn’t the first step be to repair this vital mechanism of democracy and restore its legitimacy? This brings us to the key question: Do we still believe this is possible under Ms Arroyo? The truth has caught up with us. It is time to face it.

Truth and institutions

By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:07:00 03/08/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- We may not always be successful in finding enduring solutions for our problems as a nation, but at least our attempts to grapple with these issues enrich our political vocabulary. This is good for us in the long run. An increasingly complex world requires a complex and nuanced way of talking about it. This is what makes paradigm shifts possible and new solutions imaginable.

Take a look at the semantic harvest from the ongoing ZTE national broadband network (NBN) controversy: “dysfunctional procurement system,” “permissible and forbidden zones” (of corruption), “patriotic money,” “moderated greed,” and “damaged institutions.” Add to this the current obsession to “let the truth out” while observing “due process” and respecting the “rule of law,” and one gets a fairly good picture of the present state of national reflection.

But words are tricky. They are ways of seeing, but they are also ways of concealing. As they evolve in meaning, they acquire new senses, but they do not entirely shed off their old usages. One has to be alert to the specific context in which they are used.

Two difficult words in particular have been used rather freely in current political communication: “truth” and “institutions.” Everybody in this country is looking for the truth, and yet we cannot seem to agree on the form it should take. Consequently, there is broad disagreement on where we must look in order to find it.

The government says that the only truth worth trusting is the one that can be found in courts of law. But there is no single privileged site in which to find the truth. The Senate insists that its hearings are precisely devoted to finding the truth. The media believe that their investigations and reportage are steady sources of truth. The churches speak of the higher transcendental truth of prophetic wisdom. The academic sciences—with their structural analyses and public opinion polls—are not far behind in staking their claims in this contested terrain.

As if the issues pertaining to forms of truth were not complex enough, we are also divided on whether all the truth about the actions of individuals, including public officials like the president, should be made public. We invoke the rule of law as if it were simple. Yet, how does one reconcile the individual’s right to privacy with the public’s right to know? How does one balance a president’s claim to executive privilege with the public’s right to information on decisions affecting their lives?

This is why we need institutions. Institutions are structures that simplify the multiple questions of collective living. They consist of values, roles, codes and procedures by which reality is processed and choices of action selected. Institutions therefore are instruments of order, the means by which a society stabilizes its existence in an unpredictable environment.

In early societies, truth was simple, and the last word on it typically came from the elders or the wise men of the community. Institutions were not differentiated. In modern societies, truth takes many shapes, depending on the specific function to which it is applied. Institutions become specialized. The judicial system adopts rules of evidence in determining if something is lawful or unlawful. Lawyers call it “due process.” Science develops specialized procedures for posing questions, collecting data, testing hypotheses, and drawing findings on the nature of the natural and social world. Scientists call it methodology. Politics, religion, art, the economy, etc.—each one of these spheres develops a separate system appropriate to their functions. The “truths” they yield within their respective horizons are important but they cannot claim an all-encompassing relevance. Nietzsche was right: “There are no facts, only interpretations.”

Therefore, when we say we must respect our institutions and follow due process, we have to be aware that we are not speaking of one dominant institution or one due process, but of many. No single institution can claim basic primacy over the others in a modern society. We cannot speak of judicial institutions and their rules of evidence and proper procedures as if they were the source of the only truth that really matters.

The world is much too complex to be understood as the horizon defined by legal experts. Corruption as a phenomenon is of interest not just to judges and politicians. It is of interest too to other institutions outside the legal and political system—the media, the Church, the educational system, the family, the economy. As information-processing systems, all of them have procedures for establishing what is truthful and relevant. Indeed, as human beings in society, we all make reasonable judgments about the meanings of events in everyday life without waiting for lawyers to speak—except when the issue has to do solely with legality or illegality.

This is precisely Malacañang’s problem. A privilege it claims in law looks sinister in politics. Even if the Supreme Court upholds President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s right to invoke executive privilege to keep Romulo Neri from testifying before the Senate, that victory would almost certainly spell a further loss in political legitimacy for her. Even if no one eventually goes to jail for the ZTE-NBN deal, the negative information it has generated will make it extremely difficult for Ms Arroyo to govern, or for anyone associated with her to win public office in an honest election.

English Bulldog Puppies FOR SALE!!!

2008-03-09T13:50:00.001+08:00

These are my nephew's puppies. And they're for sale! =) Very cute and very healthy pups. Interested? Text or call 0915 - 4316739 and look for Robert.

Waiting for your own fairy tale

2008-03-07T23:59:00.006+08:00

This article was forwarded to me by a friend as this was written by her friend as well. The article was so real I don't think anyone can't relate. Definitely worth blogging about... =)

WAITING FOR YOUR OWN FAIRY TALE

By Ruby de Vera
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Last updated 18:39:00 02/12/2008

MANILA, Philippines—We've all taken down the Christmas decor, lit the fireworks, and wished everybody Kung Hei Fat Choi. We all know what comes next, the one day most single people dread, Valentine's Day.

There may be filial love and platonic love among other kinds, but what really makes the world go round is that heart-wrenching, butterflies-in-the-stomach, cloud-nine-feeling, sleep-depriving, cold-hand-in-your-heart kind of love.

Romantic love has inspired countless artworks, movies, songs, business deals and even crimes. A theory goes that everything in this world all comes down to one thing: to find the perfect match.

We pursue good education to get a good job, which leads to good pay, which leads to buying power, which leads to being more attractive to the opposite sex.

Men who have power are always more attractive than men who have perfect cheekbones. Ask Donald Trump if you don't believe me.

Economics is a good gauge. During Valentine season, cash registers ring nonstop at restaurants, jewelry stores, lingerie shops, beauty counters and motels.

The wedding business is a multimillion-peso industry. Married people get taxed less because they have to pay for the house, car, and tuition. All these because of love and affection toward another person.

Fairy tales

The beginning of a relationship is a most magical time that we'll always fondly look back to. Nobody seems to do any wrong, the smiles never end, the lack of table manners is cute, and even the arguing of who hangs up first is standard operating procedure for the first few months.

Couples try to know each other's likes and dislikes. When they're apart, they feel pure torture. They make all excuses just to have a reason to be together. There is no "too tired," "too late" or "too many kisses."

Couples exchange text messages—"Good morning," "Have you eaten?," "What did you have for lunch/dinner/merienda?," "I miss you," "Are you thinking of me?"

Then the princess kisses the prince and suddenly he's a frog, or he kisses her and she becomes a witch.

Horror stories

Everyone whose heart is not made of stone has surely gone through at least one heartbreak in one's lifetime.

As children, we were set up for it. In grade school, teachers would cut out hearts in half and distribute them to the class, and the kids scurry around the room, trying to find their other half.

One such Valentine, I couldn't find my match and I seriously thought I would have to write a Valentine card to myself, a really sad thought for an 8-year old. My teacher found me a half; it's with another lost kid.

In college, when raging hormones and peer pressure are at their peak, I had a humongous crush on this boy. We were in the same class, and we were sort of friends. Until now I still don't know if he ever had any idea, but he started to get a little too nice.

When the object of your affection pays a little more attention to you than usual, the tendency is to start having delusions that he likes you back.

These delusions were encouraged by this boy asking my advice about Valentine gifts. The delusions were also promptly destroyed when, on the day itself, he handed me a card with a red heart on the flap. I flipped it over and it had my friend's name on it.

No guarantees

There are the things that I should have banged my head for. I can't count the number of times I felt like reaching inside myself, taking out my heart, and giving it a warm hug because it felt really cold inside my chest.

The promise of forever and ever is not cast in stone. No insurance company would ever issue a policy on broken hearts and shattered dreams. Even marriage, with the binding agreement in black and white recognized in all courts, is not a guarantee of eternal bliss. You can get alimony, though.

When a chapter comes to an end, you cry and mourn the passing of an era. Give it the grieving it deserves, but don't hold on to something that would hurt more than give happiness.

Every cloud has a silver lining, everything happens for a reason, there is a bigger plan— all clichés and all true. It doesn't mean that we don't get battle scars, but that's all it really is; something to show our grandchildren when we're 90 and senile.

Still, however trampled we might have gotten in the past, it's no reason to immediately suspect the next candidate as a potential sadist whose only purpose in life is to karate-chop your fragile heart to pieces.

Every person is unique; and while learning from past mistakes is good, we shouldn't get cynical about love in all forms. There are no rules in handling relationships, and even if there were life would be utterly boring we'd all be flinging ourselves down a cliff and be extinct.

Don't be the idiot who waits for a punchline when someone cute asks you out to a movie and dinner. The next time you see him he will be with someone who actually took the offer seriously. Look forward to your next fairy tale, and who knows, it might just end happily ever after.

words of wisdom ...

2008-03-07T00:01:00.001+08:00

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children . . . to leave the world a better place. . . to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."--Ralph Waldo Emerson

just some stuff

2008-03-02T03:10:00.003+08:00

I took a photo of the flowers and the mickey mouse shawl because receiving them made me feel special. =)

The flowers wil wilt but having these pics somehow "preserve" them and the memory as well.

Life is sweet!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2008-02-14T14:28:00.002+08:00

Aren't they supposed to be "enemies"? hehehe

2008-02-09T22:37:00.000+08:00

When Grandma Goes to Court

2008-02-09T02:12:00.001+08:00

When Grandma Goes To Court

Lawyers should never ask a Mississippi grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.

In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'

She again replied, 'Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a
youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.'

The defense attorney nearly died.

The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said:

'If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair!'

My fishes...

2008-02-08T08:22:00.000+08:00

Look at how big my Ranchu have grown... =)

I am using the Tetrafin Food for added colour and I must say, it did make the fishes glow brighter. =)

photos photos photos

2008-02-08T08:02:00.000+08:00

That's my nephew NIRRO =)
Of course, my birthday would not be complete without a Starbucks Mocha Frap... =)

A Happy Birthday Indeed ...

2008-02-05T22:55:00.000+08:00

I had a very special and indeed a very happy birthday as I spent it with people who truly care and love me. =) Aside from that, my friends (old and new) remembered my special day. =)

It feels really good knowing that they know... =)

My nephew was all excited for my brithday too that he spent the night here with me. I then brought him to school the next day, which was awhile ago actually.

I also had very special gifts - a mickey mouse shawl, and a new cellphone! My nephew forgot his gift for me so that's another surprise.

My day couldn't be better than what transpired...

To all you out there who didn't forget, my sincerest gratitude! =)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

2008-02-04T01:21:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to Me... Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday... Happy Birthday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

brothers and sisters

2008-02-02T23:32:00.000+08:00

At the seaside restaurants in Macapagal Ave., pirated DVDs are being sold. That is where I bought the Gossip Girl series and about two (2) weekends ago, we were there again having dinner and naturally, DVDs were bought. =) I bought this series called "Brothers and Sisters" because it seemed interesting, with a cast including Sally Field, Robe Lowe, and Calista Flockhart aka Ally McBeal. Since we bought a lot of movies, I watched them first. It was just last night that I began watching the b & s series and I am right. The series was good!

I particularly like the way they show the dymanics in a family composed of five (5) children whose lives and personalities complement and clash at the same time. I can't help but relate in certain situations and see my family do the same. =) They seem dysfunctional but then I realize, no family isn't. Know what I mean?

They are the "Walkers", and theirs is a family that argue on matters about politics, beliefs and values but at the same a family that you know you could count on and will always be there in times of crisis and triumphs. They give true meaning to what a family should be.

Nice. =)

thinking out loud

2008-01-31T01:09:00.001+08:00

I've been sick the past days, but nothing serious. Anyway, I'm getting a year older next monday, February 4. Yup yup yup. My birthday's coming up and I am truly wishing that it will be a very special day... =)

My parents will soon be here, too be by the end of February, so my home alone days will soon be over... and so is my temporary "independence". hehehe.

5-minute Management Course

2008-01-22T20:49:00.000+08:00

Some of you must have received this email already a long time ago, as I have. But I just felt it was woth blogging about.

Read on...

Lesson 1:

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.’ After thinking for a moment the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom her husband asks, ‘Who was that? ‘The next door neighbor,’ she replies, ‘it was Bob.’Great’, the husband says, ‘did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?’

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2:

A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.The nun said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?” The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.The nun once again said, “Father, remember Psalm 129?”

The priest apologized “Sorry sister but the flesh is weak.”

Arriving at the convent, the nun sighed heavily and went on her way.

On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, “Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory.”

Moral of the story:

If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 3:

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out.

The Genie says, “I’ll give each of you just one wish.” ‘Me first! Me first!’ says the admin clerk. 'I want to be in the Bahamas driving a speedboat without a care in the world.’ Puff! and she’s gone.

‘Me next! me next!’ says the Sales Rep. ‘I want to be in Hawaii relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse and an endless supply of Pina Colada with the love of my life’. Puff! and she’s gone.

“OK, you’re up” the genie says to the manager. The manager says, “I want those two back in the office after lunch.”

Moral of the story:

Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4:

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing?”

The eagle answered: ” Sure, why not.”

So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested.

All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:

To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 5:

A turkey was chatting with a bull. “I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, “but I haven’t got the energy.” “Well, why don’t you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull, “they’re packed with nutrients”. The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.

The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.

He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.

Moral of the story:

BullShit might get you to the top, but it won’t keep you there.

Lesson 6:

A little bird was flying south for the Winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was.

The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.

A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:

(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.

(3) And when you’re in deep shit, it’s best to keep your mouth shut.

THIS ENDS THE 5-MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE

Gossip Girl

2008-01-22T02:38:00.000+08:00

Bought this DVD about a series called "Gossip Girl". I think it is or will be shown here in the "etc" or the "2nd Avenue" channel. Anyway, the plot was supposedly "wicked" as it involved the life and scandals of teenagers and their families inthe Upper East Side of New York, where the so-called socialites live, as featured in gossip girl's blog. The latest scoop and revelations in their lives are documented in her blog that sometimes they even resort to her for information.

A blog being so relevant in a story set in New York City was enough to catch my attention that I bought the DVD. I started watching it and I was a bit disappointed. The series sort of reminded me of the movie "CRUEL INTENTIONS", featuring the rich kids of New York and how they manipulate things to serve their selfish interests etc etc etc. The series could even be done without the "blog" element. I was hoping otherwise, know what I mean?

Cute Puppies!

2008-01-12T00:35:00.000+08:00

Look at how cute these two puppies are!!! This was taken just days before christmas...
Look at how "BIG" they've grown... but still lovable as ever!

random thoughts

2008-01-07T00:39:00.000+08:00

Finally, my first post for the new year.

My computer caught a virus and due to the "holiday season", It was just recently that I had it "cleaned" and "disinfected" . Besides, I wasn't really missing "blogging". Sitting down and typing my thoughts just wasn't one of my favorite things to do the past days that even my emails got clogged.

Anyway, I got through the holidays and it was okay. Different but okay. I have my puppies and my fishes to keep me busy and my plants, too. =) I guess you could say I'm more of a "hobbyist" nowadays than the "blogger" that I was. =) Nothing compares to the joy of taking care of my pets as they reciprocate the care you give 'em.

Okeydokey. Just making my presence felt for 2008. =) HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

ooops..not exactly home alone...

2007-12-21T22:39:00.000+08:00

I have two (2) new puppies... breed = sharpei mother + ? father ... hehehe

Well, since there were many dogs in the neighborhood where the mother sharpei resides, Manang Mel (brother-in-law's sister) isn't sure what is the father's breed... they suspect it's the neighbor's Labrador though...

The female puppy as shown above is "PICHU".

The male puppy is "MOTOMBO"...

With my fishes and the puppies, Im not excatly HOME ALONE... =)

Four days to go...

2007-12-21T22:13:00.000+08:00

It's just four days before christmas... Hmmnn..

This christmas will be different for me. For one, my parents are away and I am HOME ALONE...

But I am hoping that it will be more than just different... maybe a little more special?

Who knows... In four days I will find out.

It's You... Maybe it's you

2007-12-11T00:37:00.000+08:00

To date there are six billion, three hundred thirty nine plus million people in the world...

Some are hopeful for things getting better...
while some are content going through the motions

Some are unable to face the the truth...
while some tell lies to go through the day...

Some are coming home...
while some are running away

Some are standing still...
while some took the plunge to never let go

Some are evil fighting the good...
while some are good struggling with evil

Some are scared and unsure ...
while some are focused, committed, and determined.

Six billion people... And all you need is ONE.

The crazy thing about the ENGLISH LANGUAGE

2007-11-27T02:32:00.000+08:00

Here are some "crazy" things about the ENGLISH Language:

-- There is no "egg' in eggplant

-- No ham in hamburger

-- And neither pine nor apple in pineapple

-- French Fries were invented in ENGLAND

-- Boxing rings are SQUARE

-- A Guinea Pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a Pig

The rest of what was sent to me wasn't that interesting so I end this here. =)

Till next time...

just some personal stuff...

2007-11-24T02:15:00.000+08:00

My new fish tank! =)
I have ranchus, orandas (Black, red cap and orange) and Pearlscale goldfishes there! They're so nice to watch; it helps me relax... =)
My character pillows from someone so special!

Christmas time is here! I put up that tree all by myself. Nice huh?

Old and new "passions"

2007-11-17T02:47:00.000+08:00

Was at starbucks the other day and ordered a caffe latte. Not my usual drink there (mocha frap) but being in starbucks has always been a way of life for me. =)

I'm into taking care of "plants" nowadays... =)
Pearlscale Goldfishes in the fish tank. =) a.k.a "ping pongs".
New set-up at the fish pond...

Flowers have bloomed from my Mom's plants. =)

Christmas time is here!