Update

Oh hello blog, how have you been? :)

I've been so busy with work and stuff that I didn't really have any free time to write let alone think about what to write. However, my work hours have been reduced so I'm back to blogging. Yay! :) Sadly, this also means less salary for me so I have been thinking about monetizing my blog. Hey, maybe I can actually make a decent living out of blogging. You'll never know, right?

My blog needs lots of updating so I'll be working on it starting today. I'm hoping I can get more followers and readers so that the monetizing thing can actually work. I'm still trying to figure that one out since I'm not exactly sure what to do or how to get started.

Other than that, I'm also thinking of doing some "projects" since that seems to be a trend in the blogging world these days. However, I can't seem to think of any "cool projects" to work with. If you do, drop them in my comment box. If they're do-able, well - I'd do them! Haha! :D

What else? I'll also be adding some pictures in my gallery tab. My previous pictures received some good reviews so I figured I'd add some more. :)

Also, SUMMER IS BACK! So, I'm really hoping I can get lots of articles, pictures, videos, movie reviews or song suggestions about my all-time favorite season, up here in my blog!

That's all for now. Cheers to all!! ^_^

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September Madness

It is the end of the first Ber Month and sadly I have written only five entries. I wanted to write more but unfortunately for me, September was absolutely hectic. So, I am writing this entry as an update and as tribute to September.

First of all, I am now officially 22 years old. So yeah, thanks for that, I guess. (Not exactly sure) I had a very peaceful birthday. There was no celebration and there were no food, my family weren't here, my boyfriend had school activities, I was flat broke... the list goes on and on and on... Haha!! :D

But I was happy and certain things happened that made up for my lousy birthday. One is that, I had so many birthday greetings. (Thank God for Facebook... hehe!) There were private messages, chat messages, wall postings, text messages and calls. It made me all fluffy inside. Awwww.. :) Next is that my Sister once again made it to the TOP TEN which is no lousy feat since she's attending SPED. I was able to receive presents, yay!! :)) Lastly, I have a new job. A regular one so once again - yay!! :))

September also gave way to a lot of activities, activities that I was able to attend. So, it gave me a chance to hang-out with friends and once again bond with family. I have been cooped up for far too long and I'm happy and glad that I'm once again back on my feet. There are still adjustments to be made and admittedly there are still a lot of screw ups but I'm positive, things will work out oh so fine. :)

I was right on when I said that September was a month to look forward to and now it has come to an end. So, here's to you oh so faithful month! Cheers! May next year be more fruitful! :D

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literature

When I wrote my last entry, I said I'll make another post about books. So, here I am making a new one and this time I'll be talking about literature. Yay! :)

I love books, ever since I was child. I'm not into deep reading though. I prefer light and uncomplicated books. So I guess most people would think that my list is shallow but what the hell, to each his own, people! Somebody stop me! Haha! :D

So let's start off with the award-winning ones. Everybody reads them, I actually think that award-winning books are pretty mainstream. Personally, I love 100 Years of Solitude, The Color Purple, and The Good Earth. Marquez's magical realism is genius, there's no other way to put it. I can't really describe it but the way it was written was just plain perfect. Walker's journal-ish book was out of the box and for me one of a kind. I haven't read anything like it, before or after. Buck for me deserves some praise, she isn't Chinese after all. So, kudos for the emotion.

Now for the Classics. I don't read that much classics, mainly because I don't fully understand most of them. Hehe... :) But I do love the following: Sherlock Holmes (the complete volume 1 and 2), To Kill a Mockingbird, The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Secret Garden and Little Prince. I read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when I was 13 and I found it very entertaining. It's like a sci-fi movie in paper. Nyahaha! :D Sherlock was surprisingly fun and light. It's fast-paced and perfect for the young at heart. It's hard not to like Little Prince and Mockingbird since almost everyone can relate to it. Even my 6-year old sister loves Little Prince.

As for series, I like Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables and Winnie the Pooh. Oh yeah, there's a series about Pooh's life and a big chunk of my childhood was spent reading them. When Christopher Robin went to school and left Pooh, I actually cried. I read about Anne's life from the day she was adopted to the day of her first love. It was fun and I was attached to the series. I was so attached I got depressed when I read the final chapter of the last book, it didn't help that it was filled with adult sentiments about her childhood. [sigh] Who hasn't read Narnia and Potter? It's filled with magic and adventure, for a kid like me, they're hard to resist. :)

For books that I can't quite label, I have the following: The Stories of Eva Luna and The Woman Who Walked Into Doors. I both love them and I cried while reading the two. The Stories of Eva Luna was the first book I read by Allende and Roddy Doyle's novel was such an eye opener and at the same time depressing. o_o Oh and yeah, I also like An Interview with the Vampire. Rice's description towards blood is so romantic it made me nauseous. (meaning, it was THAT good)

For pocketbooks, I'm a big fan of Nancy Drew!! Yes, I think I've read about a hundred of them. Hehe... I can honestly say I read all Nancy Drew books from IBAM when I was in grade school. Until now I still read them whenever I get the chance.

For text/political books, I like Selected Works of Mao Tse Tsung Volume 1, Philippine Society and the Revolution, The Cartoon Guide to Genetics and that book about Jose Maria Sison's life, I can't remember the title. I like volume 1 because it's the lightest, literally and figuratively. It talks about the simplest issues and it's the thinnest out of the 5 volumes. (H says there's only 4 volumes but I have a 5th one, in hard bound so - *shrug*) PSR because well, I'm tibak. There's no other way to explain it. Joma's autobiography because I read it when I was skipping school and I was sort of happy that Joma got kicked out when he was in his 2nd year in high school.

When my Nanay got angry because of my absences, I would use Joma as a response right away - "Si Joma gani, galigoy man. He turned out alright!" I know, I know, pretty lame but you can't really blame me, blame puberty. Haha! :D The genetics book because it was hilarious! It was epic and I was very surprised to have enjoyed a science textbook.

What else? Ah, Filipino literature. I like Dekada 70 and MacArthur. I honestly believe Bob Ong deserves an award.

So, I guess that's about it. Listing every book I've ever read is impossible. I apologize if I didn't give much justice to the following literary pieces. I didn't want to sound like total douche by giving super deep insightful critiques. Besides, that was not the point of this whole entry. Lastly, I also read books by mainstream authors but I'm not a big fan of them so I didn't bother listing them here.

So, what do you guys think? Too shallow? Too deep? To bah... Let me know, drop your comments in my comment box! Thanks! :)

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Inspired by Snoopy.

I'm a fan of theater, always has been always will be. Broadway Musicals in New York of course are included. Someday if I have the money, I'll catch a show in New York and I'm going to brag about it here in my blog. Hehehe... :)

Anyway, if you guys are fellow theater fanatics you must be familiar with the musical, "You're a good man, Charlie Brown." It's quite famous and the most recent version starred Kristin Chenoweth. If you're not, that's okay. This entry isn't about theater anyway. This entry is about happiness and it will be based on a song sung in the Charlie Brown musical. For more information about the song, click here.

So, back to happiness. :) This is my own personal version, of course it would sound off if you start singing it but you get the picture.

Happiness is...

-a fridge full of food

-the smell of a new book's pages

-my boyfriend's corny jokes

-early mornings and golden afternoons

-rain exactly when you get in bed for sleep

-eating ice cream directly from the container

-cheese popcorn while watching a good movie

-my dogs all clean and playful

-ice cold coke to top a perfect meal

-friends and good conversations along with ice cold beer

-family get togethers

-riding a jeepney early in the afternoon without traffic and without hassles

-a song in a radio that perfectly matches your mood

-perfectly cooked rice

-sepia photographs

-grassy plains

-silence

-freebies

-a cheap, on sale, second hand book

-having a sister

-a choco web donut

-old antique stuff

-memory flashbacks

-sleeping besides the beach

-smiling without reason

-standing up for a cause

-love

-being alone once in a while (from the song)

or like in the song, happiness is everything and anything at all. :)

It's mushy, I know but I promised myself I'd stay positive. Look on the brighter side of life. Besides, I think it's quite fun. You get to smile while writing an entry.

So, what's your happiness? Let me know, drop 'em in my comment box! :)

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popcorn, mahjong and beer

I had a great weekend so, I wanted to brag este... blog about it. :)

Friday

Henden didn't have school last Friday so my weekend started early. :) Now, since we're both flat broke we spent most of the day at home watching two and a half men episodes and just hanging out. No biggie, nothing special but perfect nonetheless. [awwwwwww. barf.]

Anyway despite our perfect afternoon we got bored and later decided to watch a movie despite our financial set-up. I know, boredom makes you do insane things. I'm sorry mom! :p hehe...

However, I needed to check on my little sister first. So, before going to the mall we decided to stop by my aunt's place. It was drizzling but its been drizzling for days so, we didn't pay any attention to the rain. While walking I decided to take a short cut, one I am not familiar with. Well, big surprise - we got lost and since we're not known in that area the dogs weren't exactly friendly. This was a problem because, in order to figure out where we are, we needed to circle the place. The dogs won't let us. [bad dog!] To top it off, it rained BIG TIME. :D We got drenched, we got lost and we had fun.

We found my aunt's place, dried off, made sure my little sister is all set for the weekend and then we went to the mall.

We decided to watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice. We wanted to catch the last full show (lfs). Henden and I are fond of last full shows mainly because we usually watch movies on an impulse. Like last Friday.

Anyway, since we are short on cash we settled on buying popcorn for snacks instead of our usual, which is: pizzas + chocolates + donuts + chips and drinks. Pigging out while watching a movie is an absolute delight. Hahaha! :D

The movie was good and we both enjoyed it. We had fun and it felt good. We stopped by UP and bought chicken skin barbecues. We talked about the movie and walked for a little while, we discussed dinner, talked about the movie some more and, with popcorn cheese stained hands, we went home. That was the beginning of a great weekend.

Saturday

A small family get together was decided on Saturday. My aunt bought lechon (roasted pig) and my other aunt cooked ginata-an nga lukon (big shrimps with coconut milk). We all had lunch, we talked, we gossiped and we played mahjong! :D

Mahjong is a Chinese game and I don't know the English translation for it. Anyway, mahjong is always present during our family gatherings. Ask anyone, it's a guilty pleasure. We used to play until the wee hours. Some drink lots of coffee just to stay awake and play. You can say we are addicted. :)

We burned the afternoon playing mahjong. We ate snacks, drank coffee, talked about issues, gossiped about people and their lives, laughed and then laughed some more. They bought ice cold beer, perfect for early afternoon gossip. However, it started to rain really hard around 5 and we were forced to stop playing. Our garage roof was leaking and we were all starting to get wet. We watched the kids play under the rain and by 6:30 everyone was preparing to leave for home.

Nanay cooked home made lechon paksiw (from the leftover lechon) and after everyone had gone home we ate dinner. We tidied up the house, chatted about the day's events then went to sleep.

I won exactly 3 pesos and 75 centavos from playing mahjong. :) Not bad eh? Hahaha!

Sunday

We had visitors last Sunday - family that were not able to join last Saturday.

My day started out normal. I went about my day like I always do. Chores, Ilaya responsibilities, dog responsibilities and host (since we have visitors) responsibilities. Later more family arrived and they bought snacks. We pigged out on arroz caldo, siomai, siopao and ice cold coke.

It might sound boring to others but I like such weekends. It was relaxing. However, two things screwed up my Sunday, there was a black out (from 6am-5pm) and Henden went home to Miami. :(

We hung out at our backyard and as usual chatted about mundane things that amuse us. It was pretty laid back until the beer came.

We started drinking after dinner. The initial plan was to drink a bottle or two, catch up and then home for our visitors, sleep for us. Several empty beer bottles later we decided to drink some more because it was so much fun. Hehehe! :)

Nothing beats beer, family and good conversation. We talked about love, life, sex, the revolution, our hung ups and bitterness, our happiness. We discussed the need for psych sessions and which Psychiatrist is the cheapest in town. We talked about how we hated and love each other at the same time. We gossiped about comrades whom we secretly hate. [smirk] We talked about art, photography and our dreams. It was a night worth getting pissed drunk for.

At midnight we all decided to stop and get some sleep. Class starts early Monday morning and we all have parent-ish duties. Before going to bed, I made Henden a note saying how the night could have been perfect with him in it. I told him to wake me up before going to school because I want to kiss him good morning. I slept. :)

It rained that night. It rained hard.

Monday

I woke up, saw Henden at our room's door. I saw him read the note. I saw him smile, saw him galloped (yep, like a horse) to our bed. I was horrified, he was gleeful. He kissed me good morning, morning breath and all.

Weekends. Weekdays. Perfect. Sigh. ;p

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yellow butterflies

I am listening to Glee's album. They are singing U2's One.

There's a dead wasp on my floor.

Carpenters are building a new house on the lot next to ours.

My dogs are barking like crazy. They are both white and furry. Their names are Spice and Lucifer.

I will have a job interview tonight at 7pm. I will also take an online exam for another freelance writer job.

I hate my Barangay, the Videoke Bar next door is driving me nuts.

I want to eat cake, donuts, kamote cue, kalamayhati or anything with lots of sugar.

I hate and love our house at the same time. We have lots of rats and cockroaches at night.

My laptop's name is em-em. My laptop is gay and he/she hates me. I think my SMART Bro is high. My connection's been very erratic.

There's a pink alarm clock on my table.

I sleep with a jungle knife under my pillow. It was made by a Tumanduk (an indigenous group found here in Panay). It was a gift from my late aunt Toto Mary Gene. She gave it to me when I was in second grade. She said I will use it someday when I join ranks with the revolutionaries. I never did, life happened.

Jump, jump, jump!

I am scared of blood. I get dizzy and puke my ass out every time I see it. I can't swallow tablets or capsules (medicine). I know, I am odd.

I do not own furniture, not one. I will build a house someday.

I like to believe I'm smart and most of the time I feel as if I am.

I hate wet weather. My whole body itches if it rains, I think it's an allergy.

I love golden afternoons. I think it is the perfect time of the day. I love to read books during golden afternoons. I've been reading Marxism after Marx. It is not a fun book. I want to buy a Kiko Machine Komix, the red one.

I am craving for cheese popcorn. I suddenly remembered Pure, a friend from UP. Hahaha!! :D UP's bird is a parrot. I love UP.

I really should stop blogging and clean our trash can. Our helper is sick, she went out to get a massage. I want to get a massage too.

I dream't about songs last night. When I woke up I thought it's going to be a great day. I was right. Music is a mood lifter.

There's dog poop outside my window. Chores are piling up. Sigh.

I love my sister. She's gonna graduate valedictorian, at least I hope she will.

I miss Henden. Horror. I should sweep my room's floor.

I have 5 new underwears. Might not mean much to others but I'm happy.

I don't buy gadgets, I buy appliances. I don't buy clothes, I buy groceries. I don't go out on dates, I buy kitchen needs.

My dog Spice is not white anymore, he's brown.

Love, love, love. Henden and I have two necklaces with wooden clenched fists as pendants. It was a gift from Tita Angie and Tita Naty when they went to Baguio.

My corkboard is filled with Ilaya's drawings and bills.

I miss yellow butterflies. They used to be so common. Now, I haven't seen a single one for years. I will use yellow butterflies on my wedding.

Henden has a yellow screw driver too. Yellow, yellow, yellow, Kris Aquino. Pfffft. My aunt likes her. I think I do too. [angal?]

I should really buy a brush for em-em and those thingiemagigs to clean him/her. I should buy flea powder for my dogs. Crisis. Sigh.

Are you not entertained? Shark's Tale.

Blog. End. Random.

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Blood and what not.

This is basically a continuation of my previous entry. Yes, I am still sick. I still have a fever, ridiculous chills (and by ridiculous I mean seizure-ish chills), a sore throat (result of too much puking) and a splitting headache. Alas however, I have stopped vomiting and my hyper-acidity is under control.

I am taking Tylenol/Paracetamol whatever for my fever and headache, Strepsils for my throat and I am drinking lots and lots of fluids. I have eaten some food although Skyflakes (it's a cracker) is still my best friend.

I was seriously considering begging my aunt or dad for money so that I can have myself checked by a doctor. A real one and not some floozy in the internet. My mom came to the rescue, she will lend me some cash. [sigh] I really didn't want to beg money from either my aunt or my dad. Hehehe.. :D Since I am practical (my mom calls it being cheap but you know her, she exaggerates), we will call a family friend who is a doctor and ask her what lab works are needed. After getting the results then we'll decide which doctor to go to.

My mom wants to check with my cardiologist, I didn't want to. Her fees are expensive and she's going to tell us to have some blood work done anyway. So might as well do the blood work first. I know others (esp. the ones with medical experience) will think I'm being stupid but honestly, we don't have any money. [sigh]

I really want to take the proper meds, I want to get better ASAP. Specifically, before Sunday. I have a job interview at 6pm and I don't want my headache screwing it up.

P.S.

I really hope it's not Viral Meningitis.

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Body parts and what not.

Random conversations with my boyfriend when I was sick.

I figured that the subtitle above was perfect and I couldn't help but include it in today's entry. So yes dear reader, I was sick since last Tuesday. I had a splitting headache, a fever and hyper-acidity. Anyway, me and my boyfriend tried to look for a diagnosis from the internet. All you have to do is type in your symptoms and they'll give you a list of your possible illnesses. I know, pretty lame but hey I couldn't afford a real check-up so bite me!

The internet came up with two possible illnesses. Meningitis and Encephalitis. Creepy huh? At the end however, we settled for Viral Meningitis, that's how it is with this type of check-ups. You get to choose what kind of illness you've got. Pretty cool, huh? :D

Viral Meningitis is actually very mild. It's like a common cold except that the headache is an absolute hell. So, back to my original plan. Here are my random conversations with my boyfriend. You have to excuse me, I was in a lot of pain. :)

Me: Meningitis? I have meningitis? Great! Starting today I'm going to live in a bubble. The pain is not worth living the high life.

Boyfriend: You do live in a bubble. It's called your immune system.

Me: Apparently, it's not bubbly enough!!

Boyfriend: You know, the meninges is supposed to protect your brain from the virus.

Me: Well, I guess I have pretty dumb meninges. They got themselves infected. How are they gonna protect my brain now?

After puking for the nth time...

Me: Oh, you must be really glad.

Boyfriend: Why?

Me: To have smarter meninges and a bubblier immune system.

I know, I know, dumb story. But hey, despite the pain and my puke-stained pajamas, I thought I was extremely clever.

P.S.

A friend said Viral Meningitis is not mild. My mistake... It was the internet's fault. I swear I ain't that dumb... :D

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