Liv in a Life Well-Lived

People are used to looking at me as crazy because of my sensitivity to the supernatural and preternatural. I don't always assert my point because I have always believed people have their own right to believe in what they want to. The issue had always been: Skeptic: There are no ghosts. I've never seen, felt or even sensed one. The problem is, if you don't have the sensitivity, of course you won't sense it. If your mind is used to thinking in logical circles and neatly boxed-in ideas, you wouldn't even begin to imagine it. But sometimes, in certain overtly unnnatural ways, logical people do experience what we do. I've compiled some of the stories some of my friends / acquiantances relayed to me, usually because they wanted to know if I've gone through something similar. The Humming Girl Our admin assistant in my old department does not usually come in early. But that day, she was the first in our office and was quite happy with the prospect of going home earl...

I just want to post here the other winners of the Blogging Contest. I've read most of them, and they're really quite interesting: Grand Prize (trip for 2 to Kuala Lumpur) - Anitokid 1st Runner Up (Sanyo digital camera) - Anton Diaz Winners of a DVD Player Ganns Dean Butch Dado Annabelle Caloschoy Other Winners of the Nike Sunglasses Nikki Rowena Wendy Lei Myrna Co Dine Racoma Thanks again to Sm Hypermarket. :P -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Kainis. Gilda if you're reading this, pahamak ka. :p When you texted Ian about me blogging about him, I had to explain ad nauseaum. Oh well, my fault. I just really needed to psychoanalyze and ready myself before the tragedy strikes, y'know. Hindi naman siya nagalit, but it was a little embarassing. My face felt like a hot tamale. See you Friday. We'll dine, wine and then I'll maim you. Hehe. Just kidding. :P -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I had this dream last night. It felt weird. The setting was some beach paradise I don...

This, I found out today, is the summary of Hairspray the Movie. Oh, yeah, Tracy gets to dance on TV too which in turn led to the integration of colored people and white people in national broadcasting, I nearly forgot. I wouldn't gush about it, because that's like, pathetic. But I'll tell you this: (what the hell) I loved it. Some people would rather hang themselves from the rafters than watch a musical, but I loved it. I have to admit though as a fat girl myself that some parts were a teeny bitty unrealistic. I had to suspend disbelief numerous times, i.e.: 1. Zac Efron who plays the "Boy" noticed Nikki "Tracy" Blonsky when he saw her wiggling her hips in detention class. I mean, yeah, right. I could wiggle my hips and my nose to boot, fat lot that helped me. (no pun intended) 2. The story would have been more believable if Tracy was in love with the host of the dance show (Corny Collins played by James "I can Also shake my booty like a donkey on ...

Victory! For the first time in my life, I actually won a contest open to the public. Yep, my first bit of good news is this: I'm one of the winners of the recently concluded SM Hypermarket Blog Writing Contest! I won meself Nike sunglasses... not the trip to Kuala Lumpur or the digicam (that went to the esteemed Anton and Anitokid), but wahey! Nike is Nike and winning is winning. Check out the page where it's all made official: Winners of th SM Hypermarket Blog Writing Contest Congratulations to the othr winners too! Now, I just want to know how to claim it. Hmmm, would have to ask. I wonder if I won't look daft wearing my new sunglasses this stormy season? But who cares, right? I effing won it! Oh, wait, I am completely unprepared but I have a speech written here somewhere... First of all, I want to thank the Good Lord, and my parents, and my sister, and Aling Marie who was my first yaya, and then Manang Sally, Ms. Manuel my English teacher who taught me how to pronounce ...

When was the last time you came across a phrase about the mysteries of love which you can completely relate to? I ask because I reread the book The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman and there were a couple of lines there that really struck me. Here's the first one: "Being in love was like China: you knew it was there, and no doubt it was very interesting, and some people went there, but I never would. I'd spend all my life without ever going to China, but it wouldn't matter, because there was the rest of the world to visit... (but) I thought: I wan t to go to China." And on first being aware of love: " She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn't known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, she felt other doors opening deep in the darkness, and lights coming on." Me? I want to go to China and I want to find the house that would feel like home. If I could only be so lucky.

Anyhow, I have so many things to write about. My last post had been Tuesday after all. :p Wednesday: I went on-field for STEP-UP, meaning our program for poverty alleviation in the urban poor areas. It's been so long since I got my feet dirty; and disgusting as it was, it was also... dunno... empowering. Was that the word? It felt good to feel my feet firmly planted on the ground and to meet people again from all walks of life. It felt like a re-entry to the world. It felt like being re-born, actually. If I had camera, I would start by focusing on my muddy feet and then it will pan upwards to my face which is registering a look of sheer staisfaction and then to the cramped streets and makeshift houses, then finally to the faces of the people smiling amidst the squalor. Not aesthetically pleasing, but beautiful and very very real somehow. Thursday: I went to Tanauan, Batangas to assess the training needs of a barangay cooperative which a member company helped in the past. We found t...

I heard the song "Save Room" by John Legend while I was in the bus on my way to work. I smiled when I remembered that Bangyay, a good friend in Sagada, thanked me profusely for a cd I mixed for him and his brother. He said he loved all songs and "Save Room" by John Legend was one of his faves. And because of the traffic, I had nothing better to do so I chose to deconstruct the lyrics of the Legend song. It was only now I realized how apt it was for Bang to like that particular song since he is in the business of managing their family-ran tourist Inn. See here, the first few lines goes like this: Say that you'll stay a little Don't say bye bye tonight (standard innkeeper's prayer) Say you'll be mine just a little of bit of love Is worth a moment of your time knocking on your door just a little (room service?) so cold outside tonight (In Sagada? Like hell has frozen over) let's get the fire burning (the Inn lights a bonfire every night for guest...

Out of a whim, my sister and I perused our old photo albums looking for family pictures. I just noticed that most of my pictures back then showed that was a pain for me to smile. Ella confirmed by saying that I was really like that back then. She called me "serious." Hmmm... so I wasn't the ray of sunshine I thought I was all along then. :P I wonder what effected the change in me? One of my aunts told me that it was probably because I was pressured to perform well in my academics in grade school and high school. I did note that I got to be freer when I started in UP and it was like exhaling after a long long time of holding my breath. But could it also be because of my reading material? Back then, I was really into the classics where lives are always full of suffering and artistic ennui. Now, I read fantasy which lent me wings to soar on my imagination. Back then, mysteries were a pain in the neck, always needing to be understood. Now, mysteries are to be believed in and ...