the best of what's around

REDIRECTING...

2005-06-16T23:33:00.000-07:00

For a doze of my occasional rants, raves, and whatevahs, the sites I now frequent:

A Thousand Words

Blogs(not mine)/Online Publications
Think Christian
Get Real Philippines
Beliefnet
Palabok.com
Reviewers In A Dangerous Time

Artists Forums
Jars of Clay
Glen Phillips
Semisonic
Gin Blossoms
Dan Wilson Music
Queixa

Bye!

Blog closing...

2005-06-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

This will be the last entry on this blog although this blog will not be deleted (not for a few months). I believe that pictures can tell so much more and so much richer stories than mere words ever can. And, it's usually more fun to take pictures than to write. For the next few weeks, watch out for a website where I will publish, not my writing, but my pictures. This blog had quite a good run and I'd like to thank those who read and shared their ideas, comments, etc...To my readers, you guys all ROCK, big time!

Take care!

Closer...closer...closer...

2005-06-06T11:50:00.000-07:00

It has been more than a year since I last saw and hung out with my cousins Ogie and Gail and their kids. They drove to Washington on the weekend that I was at the Grand Canyon for Lola Paping's birthday celebration along with other relatives from California. I didn't get to join them at the party but since they stayed on for another week and their supposed trip back to California last Friday got cancelled, I was able to hang out with them this weekend.

Our first get together started with a sumptous chinese dinner at New Star Restaurant at the corner of Jackson and 5th Avenue in downtown Seattle. Lena ordered a the family dinner set which was platter after platter of delicious food that kept coming as if there was no more tomorrow.

Andrew and Stephen at the restaurant.

On Sunday morning, after coming home from church, while waiting for Ogie and Gail to return from church, and while the kids played outside, I put on my new Canon 500D Close Up lense to work.

First stop, the kitchen for some shots of the flowers on Lena's dining table.

And then off to the garden I went. Here are some random macro shots of whatever I can find worth capturing:

Of course would my day be complete without some nice shots of sweet Jessica and Julian:

After enjoying a family lunch of leftover chinese food, Lena, Ogie, Gail, and I took the kids (Jessica, Julian, and Andrew) for a visit to the Seattle Aquarium where they saw, touched, and enjoyed a few hours with some exotic marine animals found within the Puget Sound area, including a white shark, seahorses, salmon, and some gigantic sea lions.

Then we went for some ice cream and popcorn and then off to see an IMAX film featuring Sea Oasis, which was enjoyable to a certain extent but got us a rather dizzy after several minutes of staring at the gigantic dome-shaped movie screen.

Since the sun was up and shining so brightly, we went for a nice walk along Bell Town where the kids can run and play around while Ogie took pictures with his new Canon Rebel SLR camera. I didn't bring my camera with me because my battery ran out from shooting so many macros during the day and I didn't bring any extra batteries with me.

After a while of contemplating where to go for dinner, we finally decided on Gianni's in Everette, a family-owned Italian restaurant, which also happens to be my #1 favorite restaurant in the entire Washington, and where we feasted on a variety of the best tasting pasta dishes, salads, and soups. They had big servings that we thought we couldn't finish but we did.

When we got back to Lena's house, we hung out in the kitchen for some relaxing and digestion-healthy green tea (Lena's new discovery, the My Green Tea brand, is by far the most delicious green tea I've ever tasted), which we really needed after all that rich and lavish meal we just had.

I drove back to Bellevue past 9:30 P.M. Considering this is the first in so many weekends that I wasn't spending far away in some magnificent or exotic place, I had a great time! Spending some quality time with family, which I never get to do much, has been a truly refreshing way to spend the weekend.

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This post was just going to be a showcase of my first shot at macro photography using my new Canon 500D close up lense but at the last minute, I thought I'd throw in the story of my weekend with my lovely family.

Majestic Weekend at the Grand Canyon

2005-06-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

Majestic beauty like no other in the world and one of the 7 Natural Wonders of The World, The Grand Canyon was by no question on the list of my "must see" places. So on this first 3-day weekend of the year, my friends Jeof and Beth and I packed our bags, boarded an America West airbus to Phoenix, Arizona, got on our connecting flight to Flagstaff, and drove away our rental car to the Grand Canyon.

The 81-mile drive from the Flagstaff airport to the Grand Canyon National Park was a scenic 1 hour tour of the cities of Flagstaff and Williams. We weren't supposed to get to Williams but since we took the wrong turn from I-40, we ended up taking a very brief round tour of the wonderful old west city where people were partying on the streets in old west cowboy and cowgirl costumes (not sure if those were costumes or if people there really dressed that way everyday). We finally found our way to highway 64 which took us to Tusayan to our hotel (the Roadway Inn Red Feather) right at the entrance of the Grand Canyon National Park. There are two ways to tour the Grand Canyon National Park - through the North Rim and the South Rim. Tusayan was in the South Rim so we began our tour from there.

South Rim - West Side
The South Rim is the most visited part of the Grand Canyon National Park with over 5 million people visiting each year. The main entrance from Tusayan was the middle of the South Rim. We headed west first to Mather Point, the Yavapai view point, Kolb Studio, Powell Point, Hopi Point, and Hermits Rest viewpoints.

There are no words big enough to describe what we saw and experienced in the midst of these great rock formations that took millions and million of years to become the majestic beauty that they are today. So instead of describing our adventure in words, I'll let the pictures that we took tell the story:

The picturers above show the Majestic Canyon Cliffs. I purposely did not "digitally erase" the people standing by the cliff on the second picture above to show just how huge those canyon cliffs are. This view is absolutely breathtaking. I must have taken a dozen shots of just this view to make sure I get the right lighting, the right shadows, the right levels, and depths of field.

The breathtaking canyon walls on either side of the Colorado River. This picture was taken from the Kolb Studio viewpoint.

Most of the rock formations are named as temples of Hindu gods (Vishnu, Brahma, Sheba) probably because they are really shaped like temples. These formations are believed to have taken millions and millions of years to form through erosions and constant and small earth movements.

I especially like these pictures because of the gorgeous spotlight effects of the sun against the canyon temple walls as if God is telling us to look closer at his magnificent work.

The Yavapai museum and bookstore. Most of the structures and buildings around the Grand Canyon National park are designed and constructed with bricks like this one to blend in with the natural features of the entire sight.

South Rim - East Side

The three pictures above are wide-views of the Grand Canyon. The first one is a gorgeous view of the Vishnu temple. The second picture is our favorite spot with a wide view of great rock formations, the canyon wall, and further is a view of the Colorado River. The third view is my favorite "artistic" shot where the grand canyon is framed over tree branches.

This picture provides a majestic view of the canyon walls as well as the flat surface above the Grand Canyon which explains how the grand canyon was formed. The entire surface is completely flat. That's also why the all the tallest canyons were of same height.

The first picture above is a wide-angle view of the Colorado River in the middle of the Grand Canyons. The second picture above is a macro shot of the Colorado River walls. And the third view is a wide-angle view of both the river walls and the Colorado River.

These pictures above are macro shots of those amazing rock formations around the canyon walls.

The ever-friendly California Condors strutted all over the Grand Canyon and walked the pavements around the viewpoints without a care in the world for all the people around. It's as if they're so used to people, they didn't mind sharing the place with them.

Sunset view. In this picture, I also purposely didn't digitally delete the man sitting by the cliff to show just how huge the Grand Canyon is.

Gorgeous plateau on the surface of the grand canyon. I was able to get this shot from the top of the Watchtower on Desert view; otherwise I wouldn't have seen this view at all.

The watchtower on Desert View was not an original part of the entire Grand Canyon National Park but was built in the 1930's (somewhere there) to provide the widest view of the entire South Rim.

Other highlights of the trip:
1. Washington is called the Evergreen State because it really is a very green all-year round. Pine trees abound and cover most areas of the state, even downtown Seattle. Even though I've seen an aerial view of Seattle millions of times from the Space Needle, there's nothing like a window-seat view from an airplane. It was a magestic sight!

2. While Seattle is very green, Phoenix, Arizona was very brown with little specs of green in between city blocks, that were not trees when we got a closer look when our plane landed. Some of those green specs were actually tree-sized cactus plants. The aerial view of desert canyons and desert mountains found within a few miles of the city was abosultely breathtaking.

3. Fried RATTLESNAKE, anyone? There were no Asian restaurants anywhere near or around the Grand Canyon. Tusayan and Williams are all-American cities where most restaurants are steakhouses, grills, and the like. On our first night (Friday night), we had dinner at the Yippee-ya-yo steakhouse where we had our very first taste of Rattlesnake meat for appetizers. It wasn't bad at all. In fact, rattlesnake meat tasted like chicken but a little tough (makunat).

Four days at the sight and we only trecked the South Rim viewpoints. We didn't even have time to go flightseeing or hike down the Canyon Floor to the Colorado River or treck the great North Rim. This means we have got to go back! And yes, we already know just when we'll be back and I can't wait!!!

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Except for the map, I took all the pictures attached to this blog using my Canon Powershot Pro1 using a Tiffen circular polarizer filter and nothing else.

For pictures that have people in them (of myself, beth, and jeof) check out the slideshow I shared over Kodakgallery.com. Only my friends can see those pics so sorry to others. Some of those pictures are also in my friendster picture gallery.

Enjoy!!!

Me or I: A Grammar Pet Peeve

2005-06-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

I hear and see this a lot in daily conversation, on TV, people's blogs, in magazines, newspapers, internet news -- just about everywhere and it drives me nuts! What's even worse is that this is supposed to be so simple; a no-brainer; common sense. Well, it appears common sense is not so common afterall.

The issue: When is it grammatically correct to use "me" instead of "I" and vice versa?

Let's discuss:
Case 1:
"I'm thankful to those who helped my brother and I." - INCORRECT
"I'm thankful to those who helped my brother and me." - CORRECT
Case 2:
"It's been a while since my brother and me visited our parents." - INCORRECT
"It's been a while since my brother and I visited our parents." - CORRECT

Simple tips on how to determine which one you should use:
Tip #1: Put the "I" or "me" before the "my brother" (or "my husband" or "my friend", etc...)
Case 1:
"I'm thankful to those who helped I and my brother." -- doesn't sound so right anymore, does it?
"I'm thankful to those who helped me and my brother." - still correct; sounds correct because it is correct!
Case 2:
"It's been a while since me and my brother visited our parents." -- doesn't sound quite so right anymore, does it?
"It's been a while since I and my brother visited our parents." -- still correct; sounds correct because it is correct!

Tip #2: Simply drop the "my brother" or "my husband" or "my anything" off the statement.
Case 1:
"I'm thankful to those who helped I." -- now it's even more obvious that it's incorrect!
"I'm thankful to those who helped me." - better? Better!
Case 2
"It's been a while since me visited our parents." - now it's even more obvious that it's incorrect!
"It's been a while since I visited our parents." - no doubt now that this is the correct one.

Tip #3: Replacement with "us" and "we". This is a very easy replacement rule to correct the usage of "me" or "I":
RULE 1: [WE = somebody and I]
RULE 2: [US = somebody and me]
Using these replacement rules, you can check the correctness of your usage of "me" or "I"
Case 1:
"I'm thankful to those who helped us." - obviously CORRECT
"I'm thankful to those who helped we." - obviously INCORRECT
so by simple replacement we know that the following are true:
"I'm thankful to those who helped my brother and me." - CORRECT
"I'm thankful to those who helped my brother and I." - INCORRECT
Case 2
"It's been a while since we visited our parents." - CORRECT
"It's been a while since us visited our parents." - INCORRECT
so by simple replacement we know that the following are true:
"It's been a while since my brother and I visited our parents." - CORRECT
"It's been a while since my brother and me visited our parents." - INCORRECT

In closing, here are a few important (common sense) points:
- If it's incorrect when used by itself, then it must not be right when compounded.
- Use "I" if the pronoun is the subject of the sentence.
- Use "me" if used as part of an object in a sentence or if it is implied by an object. An "object" is easy to spot. They always begin with "to", "with", "for", "that", "about", etc...

I was at a gathering a few months back and I overheard a guy saying to a girl, "So, let's talk about you and I...", it took all my strenght not to approach them and correct the guy and tell him that the correct usage is "me" and not "I". If I were the girl, I would probably have responded with "I feel weird talking about I and you but sure we can talk about me and you."

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"...and the final is me!" - from a letter found at a bar.

"Common sense is not so common" - a Voltair quote that's printed on a cute green shirt that I got from YRYS a couple of years ago. The words are in a crossword puzzle-like design.

I'm usually not a grammar freak. I don't usually care. Heck, I even have my occasional grammar blunders too but I just couldn't pass this one up because of its simplicity. It just really bugs me so!

96 Degrees F

2005-05-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

Yup, we reached a highest temperature of 96 degree F today at 6 PM here on the easide of Seattle! It's been somewhere in the mid-80's all day today. WOOOHOOO!!! There's nothing like a good doze of sunshine to brighten up my and everybody else's day. It's such a pleasant feeling to see everyone around me in such high spirits!

The forecast throughout the weekend is the same even in Arizona, so...

GRAND CANYON, here I come!!!

Wacky Weekend Weather

2005-05-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

It's the last week of May and it's also supposed to be the last week of spring but the weather seems to have forgotten that. This Saturday, we experienced snow and hail on the mountains and on eastside Seattle (where I live). On Sunday, the sun and the rain alternated demonstrating their might as they took turns over the sky, even sharing the glory several times.

Weirdness!

And because I was out on the streets on both days, my body fell victim to the weather's wrath leaving me beaten down and out on Sunday night and throughout Monday. Even after sleeping for 12 hours straight and gulping down two tablets of paracetamol, I feel like my body will take a bit longer to repair itself.

Unfortunately for me, I don't have the luxury. I'm scheduled to fly to Arizona this Friday for a weekend getaway to the Grand Canyon and while technically this is supposed to be a vacation, I don't think it will be a restfull one. I am still looking forward to the trip! I think going away for 4 days will actually be good for me. And after the queer and icy Seattle weather, Arizona's (steadily) warmer weather sounds just about perfect right now!

I feel so blessed...an ode (sorta) to my best friends

2005-05-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

I feel so extremely blessed to have such great friends!

John and Laurence, twas nice goofing around with you guys on the 6DTF tag board. I sooo miss your silly jokes and crazy antics (well, medyo! HAHA).

Laurence, nice to finally have you on Friendster! And nice pic with baby Derick there. I just realized I haven't seen him yet. I don't remember meeting him when I went home last Christmas. And by gosh, Cheska's grown so big! She was just a baby when I last saw her. Keep in touch, MONSTER#1. *HUGS* and regards to Mallow and the kids.

John, I think I might have been drunk when I wrote that testimonial for 6DTF. Notice how the "é" didn't show up on the word "cliché"? That's a sign of not being in the right mind! hehe... Kidding aside, I did mean every word! *HIK* :p Talk to you laters, MONSTER#2. *HUGS* and regards to my cousin out there.

SAM!!! What a chat we had today. You YM'ed me just to say hi, how are you, now I gotta go to sleep coz I didn't get any sleep at all the other night! HAHAHA!!! Oh well, I always appreciate every conversations we have, even the ones that don't make sense. HAHA! And anyway you're timing wasn't all to perfect since I had a dinner party to rush to (it was 8 PM and I was way late!). Looking forward to our next chat, Monster#3. *HUGS* and I would say regards to Au and the kids if they were with you but...:D

Novie, hope you had a good beauty rest, hun! Miss you! Love you! MWAAAAH!!!

Leah, talking with you is like taking an overdoze of laughing pills, if there's such a thing. I miss you girl! Hey, easy on the shopping thing. Daph might get charged for overweight baggages when she comes over.

Daph! I MISS YOU girl!!!! Come over soon!

Haven't heard from Cristy or Jeannette this week but maybe next week. Wonder what Cherry's up to? Hmn...

This is going to be a very hectic weekend; what with Moira (a friend from Manila) visiting and all. We're taking her to Mt. Rainier tomorrow and then on Friday to North Bend Outlets for shopping and to see the Snoqualmie Falls. But first things first, I have to go to that "Welcome to Seattle" dinner we're throwing for Moira.

Music Makes Me Happy

2005-05-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

CDs I've been listening to these past few weeks...

Redemption Songs by Jars of Clay is my favorite CD right now. I even bought 2 copies--one to play at home and one to play in the car. This album is a collection of traditional Gospel hymns that the band altered (a little) for this record. It's great! I love it and I can't stop listening to it. On many days, this is the only album I listen to. It's spiritually refreshing. Dan Haseltine's voice has matured and changed so much since those first two albums (Jars of Clay self titled, and Much Afraid). Jars is one of my most collected bands of all time. Aside form all of their albums, I also managed to collect most of the collection CDs that featured them for the last 11 years. I hope they never stop making Gospel music. My personal thanks to the band for including "O Come and Mourn with Me a While" and "Thou Lovely Source of True Delight" on the album. I think I cried when I heard these two songs for the first time on this record! All in good faith, though so thanks!

Beautiful by Velcro is now playing on all major radio stations all over the Philippines ---esp in Manila. The album Sobrang Lakas ng Dikoryenteng Kombo is independently released and is now available in most record stores all over Metro Manila. Please do get a copy before they get all sold out. I guarantee it's a great album. The band's bassist, Bolichie Suzara, gave me a master copy of this album with only 6 tracks when I went home last year. At that time the album hasn't been completed or released yet.

You'll Be Safe Here by Rivermaya specifically written by the band for a telenovela, this song has become so popular that the band released it as a CD Single. This line, "Close your eyes, dry your tears, when nothing seems clear, you'll be safe here..." is a very comforting line! This EP also includes 2 versions of Liwanag Sa Dilim and a previously unreleased track, Imbecellisque from Rivermaya's Free album.

Live at Largo by Glen Phillips He's the voice and the music behind the Toad The Wet Sprocket. This album is so full of wonderfully written songs that touches one's heart and soul not to mention a good source of laughter (bonus track). When I heard that the first time, I played it over and over and over! I just couldn't stop laughing and how I soooooooo long to see him play live. Hope he comes back to Seattle soon.

Winter Pays for Summer by Glen Phillips His latest release, this album features 3 collaborations with Semisonic frontman, Dan Wilson and one of those songs, True is my favorite track in the entire album along with Thankful. Glen Phillips' new (solo) songs are so different from Toad music and I think it's a very refreshing change.

Albums I'm looking forward to:

Stand Up by Dave Matthews Band It's been released and I've ordered it and I'm just anxiously waiting for it to arrive in the mail.

Gin Blossoms' new album which still doesn't have a title but was announced to be in the works. Anyway the band is scheduled to perform at the Marymoore Park on June 24th. I'm buying tickets for me and 3 of my friends tomorrow so that's something to look forward to. Hopefully the album comes out before that concert.

Go by Vertical Horizon --the redux, re-release which will feature some addional songs. The album was dropped by their former label so it didn't get any promotion at all. But it has been recently picked up by new label, Hybrid Records. I'm waiting for the album's re-release (although I have the original release). "Forever" is now playing on radios as the new single off the album.

6 Days To Friday is a Philippine-based jazz band that's putting together an album of all original compositions. The first 3 songs they've completed, Beautiful, Erin's Song, and Still Standing are exceptional and extraordinary! These guys don't just have talents, they have big hearts too and their music reflects it. I'm very excited to hear the rest of the songs that they're working on.

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After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. - Aldous Huxley

This post's title is inspired by my "Music Makes Me Happy" Dave Matthews Band shirt.

Of Old Bets and Dinners and Pigging Out and Dieting and Old Jeans Not Fitting Anymore...phew

2005-05-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 2 years since we moved to Seattle and admittedly, most of us have gained weight and for some it's been pretty obvious. I don't know if it's obvious with me but I admit even I can feel the difference (somehow). WOOPS!

Over a year ago, in one of our dinner gatherings where Joey was here visiting, he bet that within a year, the jeans we brought from PI will no longer fit for most of us.

But we all like wearing new stuff so over the past 12 months, I've only worn jeans I bought here in the US. Jeans I brought in from Manila were gathering dust in the closet. All my new (US-bought) jeans are made with stretch materials so I really don't have to worry about gaining weigh because whether or not I do, the new jeans fit anyway.

I was packing this weekend preparing to move to a new apartment soon and I unearthed these jeans I brought from the Philippines. All of them are size 24 (as in 24 inches in the waist line) and these jeans are not made of stretch materials. I was suddenly reminded of what Joey had said. I know I have gained some weight since we moved here because ---yeah I can feel it too. I was a little afraid to try on those old jeans so I just tossed them aside and left them scattered on the chair next to the bed and decided I'd pack them later.

This morning as I was getting ready to go to work, I picked up one of those old jeans by mistake and put it on. Guess what, it fit! I only noticed I was wearing one of those old jeans when I was putting on my shoes and noticed that the color and fabric were different.

I should have taken Joey up on that bet! :D HAHA!

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I hadn't been diet conscious at all. My friends out here can attest to my "katakawan!"

5 Things I Like About the Month of April

2005-04-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Top 5 Things I Like About April

05. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

04. The temperature begins to warm up. One, I get to wear open shoes now --- no more socks and no more boots, yeah! Two, I don't have to turn the heater on in apartment anymore -- this means my electricity bill will be cut down by as much as 60%!

03. It's Spring! Flowers will begin to bud, trees turn green again, and it's a lot less gloomy since the sorrounding becomes more alive with colors.

02. The sun begins to set later in the evening (7-7:30). More time for lakwatsa!!!

and the number 1 best thing about April:

01. Filing Tax Returns - For most poeople you'll probably find this at the top of the list of things they hate about April but for me, it's the one I like best. For one thing, this means I get to have some of my money back (refunds, anyone?) and for another, doing my taxes helps me realize my financial activities of the past year.

The task of itemizing my receipts serves as some sort of a financial walk through of the past year and what a wake up call it has been! I can't believe I spent hundreds on dollars on stuff I didn't need and it wouldn't even have mattered if I wasn't forced to itemize receipts from the past year! Light-bulb moment here. What can I do to minimize this kind of expenses again in the next year?

Just like any other habit, becoming more responsible with money is a habit that we can all develop by continually practicing sensible, responsible, and balanced spending. This doesn't mean depriving oneself of the good things life can offer. That's why I call it balanced spending. Allowing oneself to splurge and buy impulsively once in a while within a reasonable limit should keep one from constantly wanting things.

Checking my receipts, I realized at least one upside to my impulse buying. A majority of the stuff I bought impulsively do not necessarily depreciate in value and some actually become even more valuable with time (such as out-of-print, hard-to-find records and books). At the very least I can classify those as assets and if I had a balance sheet of my personal financial standing, they can show up as positive if not appreciating in values. Sad to say, the rest are just that -- unreasonable expenses -- money down the drain. Hopefully there'll be a lot less of those next year.

Relationship Advice

2005-04-15T10:48:00.000-07:00

20050315
11:08 PM
I was listening to RX 93.1 over the internet and the top 10 topic of the day was "what relationship advice would you give yourself?" Responses had been a tremendous combination of seriousness, funny, smart, witty, and still some were very profound. I had good laughs, and a lot of "AHA", "oh yeah", "oh sure", and "hmn...yeah!" moments for the entire Rush Hour show with Chix and Del (yeah, I call 'em that coz close kami e! :p). Anyway, remembering the show, I kind of got into thinking about what advice I would probably give myself on the subject relationships and here's what I think I needed to do most:

"Don't just try to survive it. More importantly, live it!"

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I wrote this on my (not-so-online) journal last month and I just thought I'd post it here too.

How to ensure your criticism remains constructive...(especially if the person involved is a friend)

2005-04-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

Consider Persons A, B, and yourself. Assume that Person A is your friend. You're good friends. And then you find yourself having an issue with Person A. But since you and Person A are such good friends, you, as much as possible, try hard not to be confrontational with Person A, for the sake of the friendship(or at least you convince yourself it's the way to keep/save the friendship).

So you seek out Person B and tell them about your issues with Person A with the hope that they may talk to Person A and get the matter resolved.

The problem with this situation is when Person B is in the position to use what you told them to destroy Person A. Even though your intention was meant to be constructive, the result might potentially be destructive to Person A.

My advice: please do tell Person A directly. If you think you can't, try. If you still think you can't because it's hard to confront your friend, try again. If you think you can't because Person A might not understand or might get deffensive, try anyway. If you think you can't because you KNOW for sure Person A will get defensive, tell Person A anyway.

Personally, I would rather risk losing the friendship than jeopardizing my friend's future and possibly my friend's life by telling about my issues with my friend to other people who might prove potentially dangerous to my friend. Afterall, if the friendship is good and solid, then it will find its way through every obstacle. Sometimes, you might take a while to get there but when you do, it will be worth it.

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Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love with all my heart;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

All Four Seasons In One Day

2005-03-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

This is the weirdest day ever --- weather-wise, I mean. Early morning greeted us with scattered rainshowers, which turned into very dark and very gloomy late-morning and noon with no showers, then the sun shone so brightly in mid-afternoon before snow and hail started falling from the sky in the late afternoon until early evening. I looked out my office window to find everything covered with thin ice.

It was like experiencing all four seasons in just one day.

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Good thing I found a space at the lower level (covered) parking garage today! Whew!

In The Spotlight: Sneeze Fever

2005-03-29T13:25:00.000-08:00

Spring has officially began last Sunday and so is allergy season. According to clinical studies the chances of a person having allergies are about 15% if neither of the person's parents has allergies and about 60% when both parents do (stat c/o of Gurunet).

In my case, I have the worst allergies. Regardless of the season, air temperature, environment, humidity level, pollution level, or whateverelsehaveyou, I sneeze continuously for at least 30 minutes to 3 hours every morning after waking up. My friend, Myra, who was often my room-mate when we used to travel together, called it my "morning sickness." But that's not the extent of it. The tiniest of dusts will have me sneezing my brains out any time of day. My other friend, Beth, with whom I shared an office for almost 2 years, can attest to that. In fact, we often exchanged "bless you's" throughout the day even after she moved to the office next to the one we used to share, which I continued to occupy.

Yesterday (Monday) morning, I woke up sneezing, with runny nose, itching eyes, and a splitting headache. These are symptoms of allergic rhinitis, more populary known as hay fever. And since my anti-allergy medication puts me to sleep, I had to skip work.

This probably explains my being a "neat freak" both at home and at work. My daily morning ritual is to "sanitize" the office in the morning when I get in using sanitation wipes. And at home, I often stayed up until 1 AM just cleaning.

---
Quote of the Day: "I used to wake up at 4 A.M. and start sneezing, sometimes for five hours. I tried to find out what sort of allergy I had but finally came to the conclusion that it must be an allergy to consciousness." -- James Thurber

Digressive Ramblings...

2005-03-16T13:52:00.000-08:00

Rain, rain, welcome back! Wouldn't be Seattle without it (1:08 PM)
We're seeing our first rainfall in 3 weeks! It's not a heavy downpour. In fact, it's just one of those occasional showers that fall randomly througout the day. I intentionally parked my car outside in an uncovered area because it's been begging to be washed for months. Sorry to say, I have no time for soaping or scrubbing. My poor car. I take comfort in the fact that it's been treated with a paint guard so dirt won't stick. I promise to give it a really good carwash this summer.

Caffein doze...(1:18 PM)
It's after 1 PM and I just gulped down a full cup of my daily caffein doze. I am not one who drinks coffee during breakfast. I usually just drink orange juice or milk in the morning and take my coffee after lunch--the time of day when I get most sleepy but doesn't have the luxury of hitting the sack.

WOoops!(1:29 PM)
I woke up late this morning--9 AM. My first failure after 3 consecutive days of successfully waking up at 6 AM and getting to work as early as 8 AM. Today, I came in at 10:30. Last night, I made the mistake of putting my cellphone (which serves as my alarm clock) right next to my pillow where I can easily reach for it and turn it off when it buzzes so I can go right back to sleep. And there was the cause of my failure to get up early! During the last three days (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday), I've been putting the cellphone on the dining table and leaving my bedroom door open so that when the alarm sounds off, I would have to force myself to get out of bed and walk all the way to the dining room to turn it off. By that time, I'd be wide awake and wouldn't be able to take anymore grant nap (or I like to call it OT for 'over-tulog'). I'd probably fail a few times before I can get this routine down again. But I'm keeping the failure quota to 3.

Food (or fool?!) for thought (1:43 PM)
Have you, my dear readers(hopefully it's plural), realized that this post's topic is a redundant? Webster defines both "digressive" and "rambling" as adjectives and lists "digressive" as a synonym of "rambling" and vice versa. But in my title, I used "rambling" as a noun rather than as an adjective. Errr, or did I use "digressive" as an adverb? Hmn...I can imagine the face of my college English teacher, Mrs. Tuason (the best English teacher I've ever had) all creased up at my digressive ramblings...Of course I could have just used "Random Thoughts" (**yaaawwnn**) for a title. But then if I did, I wouldn't have this extra paragraph of more ramblings! Oh well!

Update (3:56 PM)
Hail or snow is falling with the rain outside my office window. What a pretty sight!!!

Links! The Coolest Websites!

2005-03-09T15:20:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't noticed, I recently added some links on the lower left side of this blog. And I'd like to give some information about some of those links:

Home Sweet Home
Links to websites about Baguio City and the Philippines, my home. Get Real Philippines and Grabeh.com can be a bit shocking for the uninitiated but I happen to share many of the ideas expressed in these websites. As a matter of fact, I wrote one article for Get Real once, a long time ago. The article is still there but I'm not going to tell you which one it is. Those who know me and where I stand in terms of our country's "condition" should know which one is my article. The Tagalog website is refreshingly cool and relaxing and a very fun one at that. I had fun trying to answer the salawikain and reading some of the tula, sawikain, and the origin and stories behind some of the more popular tagalog slang or salitang kanto.

Good Reads
I'm continually amazed by the vast amount of evidences that prove the existence of the one true God, creator of all things. Evidences that disprove the big-bang and accidental self-organization theories of the existence of life and its evolution. These evidences were discovered by scientists -- the very people who question the existence of God and who claim that there is no proof. They've discovered the proof but are too blind or too stubborn to admit that what they've found are the very proof that they've been searching for. The "Phinest" Source is my favorite because it gives a very extensive explanation of the "Phi", a.k.a. golden number, a.k.a. the building blocks of nature, which I think is the most beautiful number ever discovered and which is also the biggest proof of God's intelligent design of life and of the universe. It's no wonder this number is also called the Divine Proportion.

Cool Blogs
This is a collection of blogs by friends and family.

O. P. M.
O - Original
P - Pilipino
M - Music
Need I say more?

Affiliations
Jargon - my college batch mailing list
Ex-GP - the best people I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I'm glad we're able to keep in touch through this list. Afterall, we used to be one big happy family and I'd like to think we still are.
The Ground - ah, Gounders! So close to my heart! Ten years and still going stronger, better, and bigger!

------
Know of any cool site I missed? Email me or post it here as a comment. Thanks!

Mt. Baker Scenic Byway

2005-03-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

Mt. Baker Scenic Byway was a 3 hour drive from Redmond via I-405 and I-5 north. The 50-mile climb to the mountain top was an uneventful (but not exactly boring) hour and half drive. There were very few houses and they seemed to be at least a mile or two away from each other and almost no people. After driving for about 30 minutes of seeing only livestock, we amused ourselves by searching for, and counting the number of people we saw who were outside their homes. We must have seen about a couple hundred cattle and less than 10 human beings! HAHA.

Halfway through the climb, we stopped by the Silver Lake County Park located on the edge of the Mt. Baker National Forest. The lake was calm, beautiful, reflective (literally), and so flat and quiet. We didn't stay too long. It wasn't fishing season so there was really not much to do except enjoy the calming effects of the lake and its sorrounding forest.

Next stop was the refreshing view of Nooksack Falls down Wells Creek road. The water flows from the North Fork Nooksack River, at the top of which are huge glaciers from which icy water flows through the river. We stayed there a bit longer taking pictures of the forest from one side of the river and from the the other side, which bore the sign "No Tresspasing," but we went anyway to get closer to the river atop the water falls and to get a good view of the gigantic rocks that anchored the trees of the forests on either side of the Nooksack River. The track down the water falls view point was muddy and slopy but it was a short hike and the spectacular view more than made up for it!

This is a view of Picture Lake, at the very top of the Mt. Baker Scenic Byway park. This was what we hoped to see when we got there. But what we did see was nothing but ice and snow covering the entire lake. No picture views. No reflection of Mt. Baker on the lake. Just white snow everywhere.

The temperature at the top was way below freezing point. It wasn't snowing. Nor was it raining but it was freezing cold. And guess what, we had no proper jackets (not for this temperature anyway), no gloves, no bonets. Hour hands, nose, ears, were frozen. But we didn't care. The view of Mt. Baker and the cascades was so dramatic. It didn't look real. It was like looking at an oil painting. We couldn't resist posing and taking as many shots as we possibly could in an attempt to preserve the histrionic sight.

We headed back before it turned dark. The trip to Mt. Baker was too short but even though we didn't see as much as we would have wanted, what we did see was enough to make the weekend a glorious one with nature.

-----
Of course what would a weekend be without a trip to the outlet malls, right? Well, we did go and spent some...We ended the day with a nice japanese dinner and a visit (well it was more than just a visit) to a nearby Wallmart.

Lovely Weekend...

2005-03-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

I love weekends, especially when the weather is good for going out. It will be nice to go out again on another northwest adventure. Tomorrow it's off to Mt. Baker Scenic Byway we go. But first things first, Friday night movies with Million Dollar Baby and of course, Numbers on TV tonight at 10. Sunday will probably be a quiet rest day, which I'm also looking forward to, unless the guys come up with a plan after the Mt. Baker trip.

HAPPY WEEKEND, dear readers!

Time like these...

2005-03-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes trying to make the best of what's around can be hard and frustrating. It can be a lot of hard work just making things work. I'm at a place where things are good: good job, good company(i mean people to hang out with), good community, clean environment, peaceful...almost a dream place to live! But it's not! Somethings are missing --- the bigger, more important ones that without them, everything else, no matter how great, is really just the bear minimum.

"Traditional scientific method has always been at the very best 20-20 hindsight. It's good for seeing where you've been. It's good for testing the truth of what you think you know, but it can't tell you where you ought to go." -- Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

How true!

-----
Just missing the love ones from home. I'm really really really feeling so homesick right now.

Adventures Ala Lewis And Clark

2005-02-25T11:25:00.000-08:00

"I've found a formula for avoiding these exaggerated fears of age; you take care of every day -- let the calendar take care of the years" -- Ed Wynn

It's been months since I worked on my photo albums and scrapbooks and I'd almost forgotten how relaxing right-brain activies were. Two nights ago, I finished six pages for two sets of pictures from our visit to the Jimi Hendrix Memorial and our team's RTM celebration on board the Royal Argosy cruise and last night I finished 2 pages (6 pictures out of 12) of the 2003 picnic at Northbend pics.

The last set of scrapbook pages I completed before last night, was for last year's trip to the Skagit Valey Tulip Festival and Whidbey Island (both on summer 2004). But I've still got hundreds and hundreds of photos and memorabillas from our exploration of the Pacific Northwest that are still lying around and waiting to be placed in a scrapbook or photo album. Here's a list of those trips:

Summer 2003 - Cheasapeak Bay (40 something pictures)

Summer 2003 - Columbia River Gorge (120 something pictures)

Fall 2003 (50 something pictures)

Christmas 2003 (100 something pictures)

Spring 2004 - Olympic National Park Huricane Ridge (80 something
pictures)

Spring and Summer 2004 - crabbing and fishing trips to Jeomma Beach (200
something pictures)

Summer 2004 - 6-mile hike of Mt. Si, Northbend, WA (166 pictures)

Summer 2004 - two whale-watching trips San Juan Islands (200 something
pictures)

Summer 2004 - Hotair Balloon Ride (193 pictures)

Summer 2004 - Columbia River Gorge (200 something pictures)

Summer 2004 - Ellensberg Rodeo (100 something pictures)

Summer 2004 - Oregon (70 something pictures)

Thanksgiving 2004 - Olympic Peninsula: Cape Flattery, First and Second
beaches, Rialto Beach, and Hoh Rainforest (300 something pictures)

Winter 2004 - Leavenworth (200 something pictures)

Fall 2003 and 2004 pictures (100 something pictures)

Christmas 2004 - (1000 something pictures)

Of course there were dinners, birthday parties, restaurant-hopping, baby showers, bridal showers, visits from relatives, but I'll save myself the trouble and just put them in photo books.

Looking back, the last two years had been quite an adventure with nature. We've explored most of the Pacific Northwest ala-Lewis and Clark and it feels great! Medyo masakit sa bulsa pero ok lang. At least when I'm old and grey I know I won't regret not having lived a full life when I could. Plus, I'd have a mountain of stories to share with my future grand children and the hopefully the pictures will tell the stories long before I'm gone.

Endless Loop

2005-02-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

The Alarm sounds off. It's eight o'clock in the morning. He turns to his side, ignoring the buzzing sound and goes back to sleep for another half hour before the alarm buzzes off again. This happens until it's nine-thirty and he finally gets out of bed, heads to the shower, changes his clothes, pours some cereal and milk into a bowl and eats breakfast, packs his computer and drives twenty minutes to work.

At work, earphones on, mp3 player in the background playing Bethoven's Moonlight Sonata, volume up, eyes glued to the computer monitor, fingers busy typing words and numbers, solutions to problems, letters, meeting invitations, email responses. He checks the internet for stock prices and interest rates once and then goes back to work. At twelve-thirty, he gets up to the cafeteria or drives down to his favorite restaurant to get lunch.

Back at work, a meeting appointment snoozes. He picks up his laptop and heads down to the meeting room where he'd sit for at least an hour listening to a seemingly endless exchange of non-sense cliché's like going forward, basically, more than anything, in the first place, contributing his own just for fun, and counting the number of times any speaker inserts you know or though in between words within the same sentence as if it was a comma.

At six o'clock, he packs his laptop, books, and notes and gets ready to leave the office. He goes home, takes a shower, eats (and/or cooks) dinner, watches TV for a couple of hours, writes some email, surf the internet for a few minutes, turns off the light at twelve-thirty and goes to sleep.

Seven and a half hours later, the alarm sounds off...again!

What if time is an unending loop (Einstein calls it a "circle bending back on itself") and none of us is aware that every single event in our lives gets repeated over and over and over again? Even if it isn't, notice how people seem to fall into a routine, consciously or unconsciously, whether or not they planned it, and whether or not they wanted their lives to be that way?

We fall into a certain comfort zone that becomes more and more difficult to get out of the longer we stay in it, even if it makes us horribly miserable, depressed, and stressed. What really causes the depression, sadness, and stress is not the condition we are in but the fear of getting out of that condition, the fear of leaving our comfort zone for the unknown, and the fear of the unknown. If we can learn to admit to ourselves what it is that we're afraid of, then maybe we can do something about that fear so that we can step out of this paralyzing comfort zone that keeps our world and our lives stuck in endless circles.

And
then
maybe
we
can
also
start
to
really
LIVE!

-----
Interesting reads on the theories on time and conquering your fear: Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman, and What Are You Afraid Of? by Lavinia Plonka.

No Limits!

2005-02-21T11:00:00.000-08:00

Picasso once said, "While I work I leave my body outside the door, the way the Moslems take off their shoes before entering the mosque."

This morning, I was woken at 4 o'clock by a noise outside and I just couldn't go back to sleep again no matter how hard I tried. So I sat up in bed, settled my laptop on my lap and started tinkering with the keyboards. Next thing I know it was 9 o'clock and I've finished more than half of the work that I had lined up for the day. I never noticed the time as it passed by. I didn't even notice that I was working at all or at least it didn't feel like I was working.

Did I just experience Picasso's "leaving my body behind" approach? I hope I did. It feels great knowing I have accomplished so much in so little time. What's even better is the fact that what was supposed to be an unfortunate event(getting woken up at 4 AM and not being able to get back to sleep) has been turned into something productive. I like that!

Feeling Strangely Fine

2005-02-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

How like you to make the whole world disappear and
How like you to make everything seem so clear and
How like you to make me want to stay forever
Here behind your door

I opened the jar of assorted chocolates that has been sitting on my desk for a week now. Chocnut, Flat tops, Curly tops, and other positively sinfull delicacies from home. I tore open the chocnut and popped it into my mouth and savored the goodness of rich creamy peanut-butter flavored milk chocolate. I then reached for a flat tops, and then another and then another.... "I'm eating chocolates again!" I said out loud and reached for another, "I don't care!!!" Myra (the person I share an office with) suddenly burst out laughing and I soon joined in the laughter realizing what I just did.

How like you to make your love my hideaway and
How like you to make my troubles slide away and
How like you to make me want to play forever
Here behind your door

I am feeling strangely fine today albeit the circumstances of my life hasn't changed much. Work load is still piled up as high as a mountain. There are people to call, people to visit, kids to play with, presents to buy, wrap, and mail, forms to fill out, taxes to file, codes to complete, bios to start, bios to finish, boards to monitor and clean up, websites to update, websites to build, bills to pay, specs to be researched and written, books to read, and the list goes on.

Ah, the list! Well, it helps to make a list of the things I have to do. If I can see them in black and white, it makes it easier to decide which ones need attacking first and which ones to put in the back burner.

I used to be a list freak but lately (actually since I moved to Seattle), making a list has become as tedious as all the work I had to get accomplished. But if I have to get productive again soon, I need my list back!

Minute I got some space and time I
Wanted to get me back in the crowd
Minute I got some peace you found me
Trying to make my way to the loud
What a clown...

It worked!

----
Song lyrics are from Semisonic's DND from the album Feeling Strangely Fine. I do feel fine today. And I do want to cross out as many items from the list as soon as possible so it's closing time!

Too Much Sometimes Means Nothing!

2005-02-07T15:28:00.000-08:00

I feel this overwhelming need to write but I also feel like I have nothing to write about. Actually, there are lots of things I want to write about. In fact, there are so many of them that I don't know which one to write about first or even where or how to begin.

*Sigh*

Sometimes the overwhelming need or want to get too much done does becoming paralizing. And I am feeling very overwhelmed by things that are happening in my life lately. It's a little confusing sometimes and I can't help but feel skeptical about some of them for various reasons. Some seem too easy that I don't feel challenged by such activities that I just don't do them at all. Some things, on the other hand, seem too complex that it scares the hell out of me to try and fail. So I get nothing done.

It's a stage. I know because It happens sporadically.

And I'm in that stage right now but I just hate it! It seems to drag on and on and I just can't wait until I can snap the heck out of it and be productive again!

*Sigh*

-----
I was getting tired of the dull blue color (it's not even my favorite color) so I changed it. Now this is more refreshing!

Rock on!

2005-02-03T17:16:00.000-08:00

After 10 years of consistently producing the best original Filipino music, Rivermaya is not only the greatest rock band in the land, they're also among the most respected musicians in the Philippines. Time and time again, they've proven their worth and their talents as musicians and song writers. They've earned their place in the music industry by consistently producing and releasing the highest quality music. Even in the midst of personality changes, royalty battle with their label, the increasing piracy, and the temporary decline of OPM bands in the late 90's, Rivermaya kept the flame burning. They made more great music that people loved and related to. They hung in there when everybody else was giving up on OPM music (even when some of the members of the band gave up on them). They fought to keep the band and the music alive. They fought to keep the industry alive.

CONGRATULATIONS to RIVERMAYA for a well deserved win on the MTV ASIA MUSIC AWARDS!

You rock!
You rule!

OPM Guilty Pleasure (sssh secret natin to ha!)

2005-01-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that rock music has always been my preference, even with OPMs. Perhaps about 70% of over 97 OPM CDs in my collection are of rock bands, with Rivermaya leading the count.

But what surprises most people about my OPM CD collection is the extensive collection of cheesy pop, blues, R&B, ballad, folk, music in my collection including, but not limited to, Ariel Rivera, Gary Valenciano, Celeste Legaspi, Joey Ayala, Grace Nono, Odette Quesada, Apo Hiking Society, Jose Marie Chan, Regine Velasquez, Marco Sison, Vehnee Saturno, Janet Basco, Sheryl Cruz (believe it or not, I have her songs in at least 2 collection CDs), Gino Padilla, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Champoy, just to name a few. I do not have each artists CD but I have several collection albums that have the mentioned artists most popular singles.

These past days, I've been feasting on Agot Isidro's Loving You and Beginning Today, Dina Bonevie's Bakit Ba Ganyan, VST and Company's Awitin Mo At Isasayaw Ko, Kuh Ledesma's Till I Met You and I Think I'm In Love, Regine Velasquez's Tuwing Umuulan, Passage's You Won't See Me Crying, Ariel Rivera's A Smile In Your Heart, Gary Valenciano's Until Then, and more of these.

Hmn, I can see someone squirming! Huuuuu---whaaaaaattt?!?!?!

Ssssh, secret natin to ha!

Going Back To Their Roots

2005-01-26T13:50:00.000-08:00

Introvoys was one of my favorite Filipino bands of the late 80's and early 90's. Their music was refreshingly different. It was light and easy and very relaxing. Nothing heavy nor deeply emotional. Even when sometimes, they have songs that send messages about specific issues in our society, such as White Roses about the 1989 Coup d'etat, Kapayapaan, Calling All Nations, and Huwag Kang Tamad among others, they always maintained that easy groove that made listening to their music a lightly relaxing experience.

The band went on hiatus for a few years and in late 2004, they recorded a few songs in the hopes of reuniting the band and coming up with a new album. They are about to release a single over their website (http://www.introvoysonline.tk) and hopefully a full-lenght album soon.

The new single entitled "Desire," of which I have been priviledged to hear even before edits were finalized, is a song that reminds me so much of Introvoys from way back years ago. I'm glad the band decided to go back to their roots rather than to jump into the new angsty-american alternative rock bandwagon that's obviously the "in" thing these days. While I love alternative rock, I could sure use some refreshing tune from back in the older days.

Here's the best of 2005 and the coming years to Introvoys!

Sisters Are For Keeps

2005-01-13T13:46:00.000-08:00

For five years, Thea had been our one and only baby in the family. We pampered her, spoiled her with love (not with material things; we made sure she didn't get everything she wanted even when we could afford it), and she was the center of everybody's world --her parents' (my brother and sister-in-law), my parents', Divine's parents', my older brother's, and mine!

Just 6 days after Thea's fifth birthday, her baby sister, Theyenne Odette Caily, was born, 6 weeks premature and very, very tiny. She was put in an incubator and phototherapy for days and was kept at the hospital for nearly three weeks. Afterwards, she had to undergo a series of tests both in Baguio (St. Louis Hospital) and in Manila (Phil General Hospital) to determine if there were other complications.

I didn't get to see her or hold her at that time because I was in Seattle. I only saw pictures and relied on stories from my Mom and Divz, my sister-in-law.

Now, 6 months older, Theyenne is fully recovered, bigger (even way too big for a 6-month old, she looked like a 9-month old baby), and healthier. She loves to eat anything (unlike Thea who's very choosy). Of course we have to watch what we feed her; we wouldn't want her to be developing an allergy which might cause asthma. She's also very naughty and sensitive. She only drinks breastmilk from her Mom. She doesn't like breastmilk, or any milk for that matter, in a bottle. She'd rather drink water or breastmilk from a glass or a cup. All this when she's only under 6 months old.

Thea was ever excited at the coming of the new baby. Unsure whether it was going to be a boy or girl, Thea more often referred to the baby in her mom's tummy as her baby brother rather than sister but when baby came out and it was a girl, Thea never changed her mind about the new baby.

I love the way Thea loves and protects her sister and the way she always wants Theyenne with her all the time. When her grandmother (Divz's mom) jokingly told Thea that she would like to bring Theyenne home for just one night, Thea said no firmly and said that her sister should always be with her.

I love the way Thea plays with her little sister in the morning before leaving for school. Early morning in bed, she talks to Theyenne and sometimes sings to her her favorite songs.

I love the way Thea tries everything she could to help her lola and lolo calm down her baby sister when Theyenne is throwing one of her infamous tantrums. Thea would clap, jump, and dance around her "ading" hoping to entertain her and make her stop crying and screaming.

I love the way Thea laughs and makes fun of the cute little things her "ading" does like sucking at her fingers, screaming out loud, crying out loud, making faces, laughing, doing little baby noises, even the way her sister eats (with food all over her face), and drinks from a cup.

I love the way Thea laughs (and imitates) at her little sister's funny face when she's yawning or crying.

I love the way Thea looks after her little sister while her mom prepares her bath. They sit together on the sofa, Thea's arms around Theyenne cradling her.

I love the way Thea cradles, hugs, and kisses her little sister as Theyenne sits on her lap and the way she puts her arms around her and hugs her tight and showers her with kisses. Just like all of us, she just couldn't get enough of her baby sister.

I love the way Thea shows off her little sister to people. The proud "ate" goes around telling people, "This is my little sister. She's still little but she's growing up! She's still a baby and she is small but she is big."

I like the way Thea goes "Aaahhmm...Aaaahhhmm..." to her sister while her mom feeds Theyenne.

I love the way Thea shares everything with her little sister from toys, to the clothes she's outgrown, to compliments. When I ask, "Who's beautiful," she not only raises her hands but runs to her sister to raise her little sister's hands too!

I love the way Thea makes fun of us (me, my mom, and Tital Ligaya, Divz' mom) and the way she immitates the way we talk (to her sister, mostly). When Theyenne starts crying my mom would say, "Hay na, darling! Hay-na, hay-na, darling!" When Divz' mom comes over she usually greets my parents with, "Good morning, Abalayan," and when Theyenne starts sucking at her fingers, I'd say, "Don't eat your fingers, Darling." I was almost rolling on the floor laughing out loud when I first heard Thea imitating the way we speak, our accents, diction, and pronounciation. She could make a career out of this!

I love the way she misses her little sister when Theyenne goes to school with her mom (don't ask! :p ). When Thea comes home from school in the afternoon, she usually takes a nap from 4 PM until 6 PM. One afternoon when her little was out, she felt lonely and told me how she misses her little sister.

And lastly (for now anyway), I love the way Thea is not at all jealous of her little sister. She adores Theyenne, loves her, loves to help take care of her, and protects her every way she can. She doesn't mind at all when people pay attention to Theyenne (I think sometimes she's even relieved that the attention is not on her).

I never had a sister and I always wondered what it was like to have one. I'm glad Thea and Theyenne have each other. Thea sure makes a great big sister. And Theyenne seems to love her "ate" just as much. You should see how calm and cheerful Theyenne's big round face looks like when her ate hugs her and showers her kisses and the way Theyenne cradles her ate's head on her cute little hands.

Truly, these sisters are for keeps and will be forever true!

-----
Thea named her baby sister. She had two dolls which she named Tyron (the boy doll) and Theyenne (the girl doll). When her mom was pregnant, Thea said said that she wanted her baby brother/sister named after her toys. And her wish was granted!

Thea never had tantrums when she was a baby. She was the easiest and the most
behave baby in the world! She only cried when something hurt or when she was
sick. She didn't even cry when she was hungry. She just makes weird noises and
goes quiet again when she starts eating.

Theyenne looks very much like her "ate." Perhaps the only difference is that
she's bigger (more like rounder).

Pusoy-2 Club

2004-11-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

It used to be either Tong-its or Pusoy-2. Lately it has been only pusoy-2 and when they start playing, they just can't stop. The "last" game is actually the 3rd or 4th, or 5th to the last and the one who always says, "this hand is a guaranteed winner," usually loses (guess who? :p) and the one who's on the losing streak is usually the one who says, "last game. I'll definitely win this one." But he loses and so it's not the last game.... But these guys only play for fun --not just the fun of playing poker but more than anything, the fun of making fun of each other! Yes, they play poker for fun and while at it, they poke on each other for fun! No quarters, no bucks, just the pure anadulterated pleasure of being able to play cards. You could hear the laughter from a mile away and when you look at their faces, they're truly enjoying themselves ---- even when they're losing and even if the only thing they get when they win is the fact that they don't have to shuffle and deal the cards for the next round.

The Pusoy-2 Club regulars are Au, Marvs, Noel, Cat, and Rob. Obet is an avid spectator and cheerleader. Last Saturday night, GM and our guest from PI, Rommel provided the background music (don't ask!). The rest of us are substitute/alternate players for anyone who needs to take a bathroom brake or got hungry. The game can't stop so alternates should be on the stand-by anytime. The alternates are Ronald, Christine, Roland, Chris M., and of course, ME Myself and I!

Of course, I get to have the extra pleasure of poking fun at the club and its members through this blog...hehehe!

So, are we bored or are we bored?!?!?!

How's my day going to be?

2004-10-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

I flip the book and choose the answer on the left page.

"Just your imagination?"
Of course it's your imagination!
The world is your imagination.
Have you forgotten?

Last night, I went about my usual routine of turning on the heater in my bedroom at 9 PM and then going back to the living room to watch TV and surf the internet a little. At 12:30, I turned off the heater and went to sleep. The heat that built up during the last 3-1/2 hours was usually enough to last me all night. Last night was an exemption. I woke up around 4 AM and I was freezing. I only wore an oversized t-shirt and jogging pants to bed and I only had a quilt for a blanket. My body was shaking from the cold and I could feel my nose beginning to get stuffy. Too lazy to get up and turn on the heater, I just tagged at the thick comforter that I always leave beside my bed in case it gets too cold, like tonight, and pulled it over my quilt to keep me warm for the rest of the night.

I had a really hard time going back to sleep after waking up like that during the wee hours of the night. I probably stayed awake for another couple of hours and only started to doze off again by 6 AM. Needless to say, I woke up late---very late----quarter to 10!!! I jumped out of bed, went straight to the shower, got dressed, drank a power drink, tossed my laptop bag over my shoulder, and held the doorknob ready to leave when I remembered the book.

I fished for it out of my bag, asked the question and got my answer. I smiled! I decided it's going to be a great day.

I slowly opened the door...

Not fair!

2004-10-14T13:01:00.000-07:00

If you will practice being fictional for a while,
you will understand that fictional characters
are sometimes more real than people with bodies
and heartbeats...

That's not fair! Here I am living, breathing, actually feeling and sensing the world and the people around me and yet something made up is more real than me? Not fair!

But when you come to think of it, fictional characters do have a better life than most of us can dream. Really! Think about it. They have all the adventures, all the dramas, all the fun, and all the excitement! The best (or worst?!) part is that they go through situations that encompasses all these experiences in one short period of time. It's not even the rest of their lives. Just one time or just a short part of their lives! Ha! Not fair!

How does one practice being a fictional character for a while? I don't think the suggestion above meant for us go and daydream about being Perry Mason or Miss Marple for a while. I think by "practicing being fictional for a while" means to actually practice living a life like that of fictional characters. I can imagine someone out there saying..."but the circumstances that bring about the adventure, the drama, and the comedy in a fictional character's life are intentionally brought upon by the author of the story. So for us, who can intentionally bring about adventure, drama, and comedy into our lives to make it more exciting and alive than they "usually" are? Who can be our authors? I'll say let's do it ourselves. Let's all be the authors of our own lives so that we may practice being fictional for a while if not for the rest of our lives. Every single one of our own experiences can be adventurous, or dramatic, or even funny. Or, maybe all three at the same time! It's all up to us to make something of what life brings.

I met someone once, years ago, who said he messed up his life big time by being so reckless and sometimes thoughtless. He lost a lot of valuable friendships and relationships. He's hurt some of the people he loved and hurt himself in the process too. I asked if he regretted it all. He said that the only ones he regrets are the good friends he'd lost for good. He didn't regret getting hurt. He didn't regret getting bummed. He didn't regret having gone through bad experiences because it's when it hurt most that he felt more alive and real. When everything was all happy and blissful, it didn't feel quite so real. It felt like a fantasy that will fade all too soon.

I think the reason many people are unhappy is because they want everything to be perfect all the time. People avoid confrontation, anger, problems or anything negative. We avoid bad experiences because they hurt and it sucks to hurt. Big time! We're too afraid of the pain that we avoid anything that can cause pain, even if it means losing out on a potentially good experience.

It can get exhausting to try to be perfect all the time. Sometimes it's okay to not be so perfect. Burn your breakfast. Spill coffee on the carpet (or on your car seat! NOT! *dagger look*). Make the wrong turn. Get take out. Eat street food. If you're a parent, go away for the weekend and let your kids trash your house! (NOT! :D); also if you're a parent don't be afraid to set bounderies with your kids. Even if they think they hate you for doing that to them, when they're older and know better, I'm sure they'll thank you for it. Don't be afraid to confront a friend when you feel they did something that hurt you. One favorite is what fictional Chloe (from Smallville) once told Lana Lang--"the bedroom floor can be your closet too."

Driving up to the mountains and you lose your signal lights?! It's an opportunity to practice your hand signals! Got a flat? It's an opportunity learn to fix a tire, lady! My point is, don't worry too much about it! It's part of the adventure and it can be fun if you look at it from a different perspective...

As for me, I'm going to go and eat my burnt french toast. At least I tried!

----------------
P.S. The quote was from Donald Shimoda's Messiah's Handbook by Richard Bach. This story wasn't particularly inspired by any experiences of today but the signal lights story happened to us when we went up Mt. Rainier two weekends ago. Hadn't gotten a flat yet. Looking forward to that! (NOT!!! Knock on wood!).
- The friend and I haven't seen each other or talked to each other in two years. We just lost touch. Gotten too busy with our own separate lives, I guess.
- When the toast got burnt, the smoke alarm went off. I panicked and fanned it furiously to stop the beeping.
- I hadn't realized how much fun the little things can be too...sometimes! *Sigh*

Sacred Love

2004-10-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

The ultimate rock star (for me, at least), Sting took his Sacred Love concert tour to Seattle, WA at the White River Amphitheater last Friday October 8th, 2004 and I witnessed it! This was my very first Sting concert and certainly won't be the last if I had anything to do with it! LOL!

Annie Lennox opened for Sting with a string of hits from her albums of late and ended her act with a rendition of a couple of old-time favorites, Sweet Dreams from her Eurythmics days and Why. It was pretty amazing how her voice hadn't changed one bit. If I closed my eyes and just listened, I could still see a young Annie Lennox singing the same song in her much much younger 80's locks and dress code. That's not to say she doesn't look good now that she's older. She looked fabolous in tight-fitting jeans and dark tank top. Maybe a little too thin but she looked great nonetheless.

When it came time for Sting, the crowd was all fired up from Annie Lenox's performance. He came onstage wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and a jacket over it. He opened with a fiery rendering of Send Your Love. Then he took off his jacket and the crowd went loud and wild for more! Before the concert started, in the car on the way to White River, I kept wishing and wishing hard he'd sing two of my all time favorite Police songs and sure enough after the second song, Sting began to strum the old familiar chords of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. I screamed, applauded and started dancing and singing along with the crowd.

Though I've tried before to tell her
Of the feelings I have for her in my heart
Every time that I come near her
I just lose my nerve
As I've done from the start

Most of the songs that Sting sung were from the Sacred Love album, his latest release. But the classic Sting songs are the ones the crowd responded most to including Englishman in New York where the crowd screamed "Be yourself no matter what they say". Annie Lennox joined Sting for the song We'll Be Together. One of his backup singers sang Whenever I Say Your Name with him and that has got to be the best, most energetic performance of the night, sans Mary J. Blige! Among my other favorite performances were Fields of God, Fragile, and of course the medly of another Police classic Roxanne with my second wish come true, King Of Pain. Sting leaves the stage after a most ardent and breath-taking performance of Every Breath You Take.

Oh, can't you see
You belong to me?
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take
Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake, every claim you stake
I'll be watching you

I'll be watching you...

October kiss...

2004-10-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

To all of you who visit my blog regularly, here's to yah,

MWAAAAH!!!

*bear hugs*

It's gorgeous outside. Freaking cold, but it's beautiful out there with all the colors of the fall. I wish you could see it too (to those who are in PI).

That's the only thing I don't like about the change in the weather. During the summer, sunrise was at 5 AM and sunset was at 10 PM. Since fall set in, sunrise has been at past 6 AM and sunset is now as early as 6:30 PM. Winter will be even weirder with the sun setting as early as 4 PM. But that's not for another 2-1/2 months so for now let's just enjoy the beautiful colors outside!

And that's just what we did this weekend. My friends and I went up to Mt. Rainier (the highest peak in WA) to see the gorgeous fall settings against the snow-capped mountain. I'll post some of them here just as soon as I get them converted (the pics are in raw format) to jpg.

Have a great week, all!
And have a great October, too!

Questions and Intentions...

2004-09-28T11:17:00.000-07:00
I believe...
that tragedy is the revealer of true love...
that comedy opened my eyes to the reality that life is just an illusion...
and that drama is a constant reminder that I am a human being...

260303
Sometimes, so many things happen in our lives and they happen too fast for us to take it all in and savor the moment. Sometimes, nothing exciting ever happens and we think our lives are boring. Sometimes, some things happen but we're too busy to notice. Life just passed us by and we didn't even know it. How did I get here, you ask? Whatever happened during the last so and so years of my life? How come I'm still here when everybody else has moved on?

So many questions. Not one single answer. Or at least, not the kind of answer you want to hear.

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Things happen for a reason, or do they? Could it be that things just happen by chance for no reason at all and it's up to us to make something out of it? Like, if life gives you lemon, make lemonade? When life gave you the lemon, was there a predefined reason that you must make a lemonade out of it or was that up to you?

These were some random thoughts and questions from over a year ago and to this day, I'm still wondering the same things and still asking the same questions.

----
I am tired from work. I can't wait to go Home!

May The Force Be With You

2004-09-27T15:54:00.000-07:00
With the release of the new star wars DVD and on the exploration of the cosmic energy theory, here's a crazy idea: Intention is not a state-of-mind, a thought process, or even strong feeling or desire. Rather, it's a "FORCE" abundant in the universe waiting to be called, invoked, and used to achieve one's goals or simply, to get what one wants (from D.W. Dyer's new book, the Power of Intention; this is not an exact quote from the book).

Richard Bach's book, Out Of My Mind: The Discovery of Saunders-Vixen, had almost the same idea but presented differently. Bach's book is a fictional story about a pilot who found himself discovering solutions to some of the problems of his Piper Club airplane in the form of a vision of a woman who gave him the solution to each problem as if the woman was tutoring him. I read this book so many years ago and I hadn't read it again even for this article. But the biggest lesson I learned from the book which stuck to mind was that actually, nothing is invented. Every solution, every learning, every knowledge, every technology, has always existed in the universe awaiting to be discovered.

Bach's idea coupled with Dyer's may mean that by "intending" it, anyone of us can be the discoverer of things yet to be discovered like a car that runs completely on electrity without any need for gas, a space ship that can travel to the farthest planet in earth-years rather than in light-years, those star wars droids (maybe I can have my own R2D2 **wink**), a podracer maybe? How about some complex food mixtures or suplements that prevent or slow down aging? I bet, even if those foods taste disgusting, they'd be selling like hotcakes! HAHA!

How about this, "It is my intention to attract one million dollars! May the force bring it to me!" I'll let you know if it works.

Hehe...
May the force be with you!
(waves hand)

Here Comes The Sun

2004-09-21T10:57:00.001-07:00

The sun is up!
After 9 days of continuous downpour, the sun decided to show up again today. Thank God! I love the rain but it gets really gloomy when it's all you see for days. You begin to long for the sky to clear up and for the sun to come out and warm the air outside so you can go out for walk, take in a breath of fresh air, and take pleasure in watching the beautiful trees and the changing colors of their leaves as the fall season makes a grand entrance.
It's a great day today! The sky is clear and the air is warmer (although it's still cold out there at 66 deg F, at least it's not 49 deg F). Outside, the colors of the trees are beginning to change. I see a lot of bright purple, yellow, orange, and red leaves all around. What a breathtaking view! And even though it's gotten really cold outside, it's still a great time to go out for a walk and feel the warmth of the sun against my face.
This will be my second fall season in Seattle. Last year, when I didn't have a car yet, I walked to work everyday so I was able to really enjoy and take in all the beauty that was all around me. This year, I already have a car so I don't really have to walk during these very cold months anymore. But I don't think I can resist the stunning sight that gives so much pleasure to the mind and the senses. Such beauty that only comes from nature needs to be savored, experienced, and lived!
When I saw that the sun was out this morning, I decided to leave my car at home and walk to work. It was a glorious 10-minute walk; a great way to start a great day!

Farmaid 2004

2004-09-20T14:03:00.000-07:00
I was greatly moved by the Farmaid 2004 concert at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, WA which I attended last Satuday with some friends. Founded 20 years ago by a group of American musicians, including Willie Nelson and Niel Young, Farmaid's aim is to help American Families keep their farms by raising enough money every year to help support the family farms. Proceeds of the Farmaid concert are used to operate the Farmaid hotlines (1-800-FARM-AID) that provide immediate help to family-owned farms in crisis. It also provides financial assisstance for families to keep their farm going.

The concert is not only conducted for entertainment and for fund-raising purposes, it is also used as venue for creating awareness on the problems facing family-owned farms accross the United States and Canada. It's also a campaign to support family farmers by encouraging people to buy food from family farms instead of from large, corporate food manufacturers. In a way, it's also a campaign against corporate greed! But some people will argue that corporate food manufacturers are but an inevitable sign of progress.

So, is this concert then, a campaign against progress? Ah, the million-dollar question!

I don't believe so. Neither do the founders of Farmaid. As Neil Young himself said, progress is good only if it helps people improve their way of living. We do not have to pay for progress with people's lives, heritage, and culture. "It doesn't have to be that way," he said. And I agree. Whether it's happening here in the US or in my home country, the Philippines, or anywhere in the world! It doesn't have to be that way. With this in mind, I'd like to invite every concerned Filipino to help our own country preserve our heritage and our culture by visiting the following links:

Fund Drive to help save the Ifugao Rice Terraces:
http://www.inq7.net/reg/2004/jun/19/reg_3-1.htm

Philippines Faces an Uphill Battle to Save The Rice Terraces:
http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.2124.html

Check out these images of the magnificent Banawe Rice Terraces

Let's all do our share even if it's as little as helping creating awareness for what needs to be done. Please feel free to copy this message and forward it to your friends/families/anyone through email or any other means.

As for the concert itself, among the artists that performed were Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Marc Broussard, Trick Poney, Blue Merle, Kitty Jerry, Tegan and Sara, and Jerry Lee Lewis. As you can probably guess, the only reason I bought the tickets was because of Dave, Niel, and Willie. As it turned out, it was one of the most beautiful and touching concerts I've ever seen. I'll definitely watch it again next year even if Dave isn't performing.

Me, My Thoughts, and I!

2004-09-14T01:02:00.000-07:00
“Transformation is the ability and willingness to live beyond your form.”

Form = the physical me. The ‘bodily’ me along with all my physiological properties like my brown skin, black hair, red blood cells, bones, kidneys, and all the other visible parts of me. All these make up only 01% of my entire being.

Formless dimension of me = the bigger part of me. The real me that cannot be seen, heard, touched, or sensed by my form or other people’s forms. This part of me includes my thoughts, feelings, state of mind, and higher consciousness. This part makes up 99% of my entire being.

Whoooaaa, what?!

When I was younger I always thought there has to be more to life than what I was seeing or experiencing back then. In the same way, somehow in the back of my mind, I always thought there has got to be more to me than what other people around me or even I can see or sense with the five physical senses. I just wasn’t sure what to call it until I read Dr. Dyer’s book, You Will See It When You Believe It, seven years ago. He called it our “formless dimension.”

It’s an amazing discovery which still blows my mind to this day. Our “formless dimensions” didn’t seem as real as being able to see, taste, touch, hear, or smell. But what about the ability to dream, love, get hurt, be happy, be afraid, or be sad? These are not physical events even though they are sometimes manifested physically by crying, laughing or screaming. But they are very real. Perhaps even more real than any of the five physical senses. And I believe these "formless dimensions" make us real and alive more than do any of the five physical senses.

While our physical appearances aid in distinguishing us from one another, I believe that it’s our “formless dimension” that makes us truly unique beings who/that are different and separate not only from other human beings but also from all other creatures that walk this earth (or universe, maybe?). And since our formless dimension makes up the bigger part of our selves, isn’t only fitting to say that the best way to transform our lives (or ourselves?) is by transforming our thought process?

“You are a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul. You are not a human being having a spiritual experience, but rather a spiritual being having a human experience. “

This knowledge blows my mind because it seems so simple but it's so hard to comprehend let alone live up to. Or maybe it's not so hard to do if we've been trained to live our lives by and through our thoughts from birth rather than by and through our physical forms.

It seems in a way science did screw up our spirituality by insisting that only those that can be perceived by the five physical senses are real.

“I think, therefore I am!” Rene Descartes said it best!

Welcome to my blog

2004-09-13T17:04:00.000-07:00
Hi!

The weather is changing pretty fast out here in Seattle. Summer went by so fast and I didn't even notice that it's almost over. That's what happens when you live life the fast way like what my friends and I did during these past summer months. It was like there wasn't going to be any tomorrow. We were out most of the time, taking advantage of all the sunny days and weekends. We probably explored most of the the Pacific Northwest in 3 months flat! We've been to places even many Washingtonians who've lived here for years have never been to. It was fun while it lasted and now fall is beginning to reclaim the weather. Not too long from now, we'd be finding ourselves homebound for most of the following few months. Oh well, a good long rest will be very much welcome. It would be nice to recharge and get ready for next year's "lakwatsahan" again. But maybe next year we'd explore places outside the Pacific Northwest (except for the Gorge which is likely going to become an annual event! Wait for my Gorge story soon!).

I'm still trying to decide whether to post old writings from years and years ago which nobody has read before (or so I think) or post my most recent writings. But whatever I decide for my first entry, I hope I won't disappoint my readers!

Take care all and please do check back later.