madlibs

i never knew that a word game madlibs ever existed until yesterday afternoon, january 26, 2008. my friend rachelle and i went to onstage greenbelt to watch the stage play version of "tuesdays with morrie". while inside the taxi cab on the way to greenbelt she handed me the other christmas gift she has for me but has forgotten a couple of times to give since last december. so right after the play when she went to the restroom i hastily ripped the wrapping to open the gift, and there it was madlibs. i opened its pages and i instantly know it was going to be fun. when i got home last night i tried the first set of games alone and later today i tried the second set of games with my sister. it is very fun and funny.

this game has been around since the 1950s created by leonard stern and roger price and published by price stern sloan, an imprint of penguin group, cofounded by roger price and leonard stern. i had to google about madlibs to learn more. i was pleasantly surprised why until only yesterday was i introduced into this very addicting and entertaining game. it should be more popular like sudoko. i have rachelle to thank for my new source of amusement.

best buy

i read about belle de jour planner from the shopcrazy website. i'm not into planners, i either rely on my phone or my good memory to remind me of my things to do. when the reminders tend to pile up especially when it's work related i either just write in an ordinary notebook or go high tech with a pda. belle de jour power planner has made me a convert to good old pen paper way of writing down and planning my days.

every night i would sit on the edge of my bed, i would think about my things to do, just personal ones and i would write it down, also i would tick off the things that i have done during the day. every time i take this very tiny moment of my day, i feel accomplished. that moment i tick off one errand or reminder in my belle de jour planner i am reminded that my day wasn't wasted and every time i write for tomorrow i am reminded that i am alive to have those plans and that i have hope to accomplish and to move forward with my life.

sometimes it's not the grandest things that are life changing, in my belle de jour planner's case it's the fabulous girlie little thing that has become life changing. this planner has everything that a woman needs for a planner in its pages. from life dreams, goal planner, vacation planner, birthday list, menstrual tracker, budget and finance list, credit card expense tracker, and coupons for more shopping. also in between months there are interesting articles that discusses interesting tips and trivia. as part of my gratitude to those who thought of coming out with this planner i have emailed more than a couple of times, posted my admiration in the girtalk message boards, and of course gabbed about it to my girlfriends. as early as now i am declaring it is my best buy of 2008.

belle de jour- directly translated as nice of day or beauty of the day according to an online translation.
-the french name for day lily, a flower that blooms only on daytime according to wikipedia
-a 1967 movie starring catherine deneuve based on the 1928 novel by joseph kessel, information also from wikipedia

everyone should be praying this

there is one prayer that i found among the stack of things that my sister has accumulated in our shared room. i am guessing that it was one of those prayers that our "lola madre" has given her in one of our visits to the convent of the rvm sisters at n. domingo. this prayer has gotten me through the best and the worst days of my life this past year. i pray this almost everyday not just to feel but to learn humility, gratitude, patience, and grace.


learning christ
Teach ME, my Lord, to be sweet and gentle
In all the events of life--
in disappointment, in the thoughtlessness of others,
in the insincerity of those I trusted,
in the unfaithfulness of those on whom I relied.

Let me put aside, to think of the happiness of others,
to hide my little pains and heartaches,
so that I may be the only one to suffer from them.


Teach me to profit by the suffering that comes across my path.
Let me so use it that may mellow me not harden nor embitter me;
that it may make me patient, not irritable,
that it may make me broad in my forgiveness,
not narrow, haughty and overbearing.

May no be less good for having come within my influence. No one less pure, less true, less kind, less noble for having been a fellow-traveler in our journey toward ETERNAL LIFE.

As I go my rounds from one distraction to another, let me whisper from time to time a word of love to Thee. May my life be lived in the supernatural, full of power for good, and strong in its purpose of sanctity.

what i got?

last saturday i finally received leir's christmas gift for me. while i still haven't sent my gift for her because i think i might just wait for her to come home to manila. i knew what she was giving me since we talked about it on yahoo messenger. yet i still can't contain my excitement when liza, the maid at her parent's condo, handed the gifts to me. to me it still felt like christmas at about 3 weeks after the holidays. i have to say a big thank you to leirs for thinking of what to give me and making me so happy when receiving it. i think she read my blog on gift giving and thought very hard of how she perceives me and thought of me in general and connected it to something that's for sale.

so here's what i got:

1.

i enjoyed greg behrendt's first book tremendously, i called it my bible on dating and although i am not going thru a break-up, leirs used the idea of me being a booklover and loving greg behrendt. this one was really well thought of and it shows that she does read my blog since i recently posted a blog regarding this book.


2.

this is the very meaning of incorporating some of my essence. i love sex and the city, my favorite tv show ever for entertainment value and fashion insight that it has given to so many including me.

thank you leirs!

nothing

almost three weeks and nothing new posted. i saw vayie post, "update please!!!!!", on my message board. i was busy these past few weeks and i really don't have that much energy to post anything new and to think about what to post. i have some things that i wrote but i am too selfish to share or was it too shy to share, i can't even decide on my sentiment.

my movie marathons lately have made me lethargic. i am just mostly in awe of what i have been watching and i keep thinking how marvelous are the minds of those screenwriters to have been able to come up with those really great screenplays. i might in the next few weeks write my movie reviews.

maybe next week then...

holiday greetings

it seems like i am cramming; quite late to be posting this on christmas eve when everyone will be busy and won't probably have time to read this till after all the partying and euphoria of the holidays has died down. i have mailed greetings cards and have made my e-cards since last november but of course had them sent our 2 days ago and have even done sms greetings already but i wasn't able to do my blog greetings till now since i was away for a week. my little sister lei underwent surgery for apendectomy and removal of ovarian cyst. of course i have been de facto hospital caregiver. all i'm thankful for is that she's recovering quite well and we're home just in time for christmas

a must have

i learned about greg behrendt when i first saw him on the oprah winfrey show. yes, i am a big fan of miss winfrey and i don't think that's cheesy. i think the book that he co-wrote with liz tucillo, he's not just that into you, opened so many unanswered questions of women about relationships and ended so many anxieties as well. greg was at oprah's show to promote the book of course. i got a copy of the book at barnes and noble months after that, at the time in my life where i most needed some dose of reality. it quickly became my bible in handling my relationships with men and how to deal with men.

back in 2005 greg behrendt visited the philippines. unknown to me we were in the same flight from san francisco bound to manila. i only noticed that he was a very familiar looking guy right next to me with a very tiny entourage who seemed important. i couldn't pinpoint who he was at that time since philippine airline flights from the united states arrives in manila very early at around 5am. i guess i was still disoriented so i couldn't decide if he was ty pennington or someone else. i shrugged my shoulder unknowingly missing the other half of the writing genius behind my "men bible". later that day i had to find out who he was by being greeted by a huge poster at greenbelt with greg's photo and appearance announcement. so i missed my big chance, but leirs was so nice that she attended the meet and greet and bought another copy and had it signed for me as a late birthday gift.

recently while browsing at powerbooks i found greg's new book and just like the first one it was fascinating. i didn't get a copy for myself yet, but i did skimmed and scanned through the book and i think every girl should have one and well every one. we at some point in our lives will go through a difficult break-up and we all need help in one way or the other. a book can help apart from friends.

the issues after

the headlines today while still pertaining to the manila peninsula standoff last thursday has spawned another issue and is fast becoming more talked about than the real issue of the act that mr. trillanes committed. the unlawful arrest of media personnels that were inside the hotel who refused to leave so that they could get the best footages and at the forefront of unfolding events. while it is unlawful to arrest them as they are just doing their jobs but the truth is they really were in the way of police business. those media people are the biggest cry babies i've seen recently. it is annoying to hear their complaints when the truth is, it all boils down to the ratings war, to the best photo that could sell more papers, to the best interview, to the best footage that could bring more viewers which could translate to money for this big tv networks and newspaper publishers.

while it is alarming that those arrests could signal the start of stiffling press freedom and basically our freedom of speech but in the philippines the press people are just simply put it, monsters out to get every last bit of information they could squeeze. one example of that is what we see everyday news reporters carelessly crossing crime scenes and ignoring boundaries for them to give space to crime scene investigators, no wonder crime is so difficult to solve in this country. just like that the media people have impeded police business at last thursday's stunt of mr. trillanes. it's just annoying to hear them cry foul now when they have surely profited from what they have done and still is by headlining more of their complaints against their arrests.

trillanes, et.al

there was a time that i was in awe of the courage of trillanes and his magdalo band of soldiers. during the time of the oakwood mutiny i felt that what they were expressing was for a genuine cause, but what trillanes did together with his merry band of rebels last thursday, november 29 left such a big distaste to a lot of us filipinos.

by walking out of that makati trial court he showed a big contempt towards our justice system and our country as a whole. he isn't a mere liuetenant anymore but a democratically elected senator and he could have at least showed a little respect for everyone who helped him become a senator by being a good example of a law abiding citizen. mr. trillanes should have quietly dealt with his legal problems instead of stage another stunt that would put the country in a bad light again. it is really 3 steps backward for the whole country. it makes me want to pack my bags again and leave.

i sure didn't vote for mr. trillanes but i am guessing that for those who voted for him last may 2007 elections, he is one big disappointment. he sure seemed promising but he is just showing that he is erratic, arrogant, and impulsive. a very unbecoming officer and statesman out of him. i think this serves as a lesson in voting, the primary one is never to vote for another dumb celebrity on the highest office of the country after erap and never vote someone who has once attempted a coup d' etat, they'll always be in contempt towards our way of life just like trillanes and his predecessor gringo.

The List of My Favorite Books and Authors

I read a lot and through the years of reading I have chosen my favorite books by the criteria of whether it is worth reading over and over again. Of course it has to be well written, astonishing, universal in theme and transcending time in its subject, and the plot has to make me want more. So here is a list of the books that I have read, reread, and plan to reread. In the course of time this list will grow longer and I will take the time to add as I go reading more books.

Fiction:
1. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
2. That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx
3. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
4. White Oleander by Janet Fitch
5. What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg
6. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
7. A Time to Kill and Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
8. Three Junes by Julia Glass
9. We were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
10. Cane River by Lalita Tademy
11. The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan
12. The Green Mile by Stephen King
13. While I was Gone by Sue Miller
14. Oxygen by Andrew Miller
Classics:
1. Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
3. Christmas Carol, Nicholas Nickelby, and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
4. Winter of our Discontent, East of Eden, Red Pony, and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
5. A Farewell to Arms and Fiesta: The Sun also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
6. Siddharta by Herman Hesse
7. The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
8. Washington Square by Henry James
9. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
10. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Non-Fiction:
1. Angela’s Ashes and ‘Tis by Frank McCourt
2. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
3. Geisha, A Life by Mineko Iwasaki
4. Adrift by Steven Callahan
5. Girl Interrupted by Susana Kaysen
6. To War with Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly 1939-1945
7. A Monk Swimming by Malachy McCourt
8. Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden
9. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
10. The Kennedy Men by Laurence Leamer
11. Stolen Lives by Malika Oufkir
Children’s Literature:
1. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
2. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster
3. Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
4. The Watson’s go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
5. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
6. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
7. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
Chick Lit.:
1. In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
2. Le Divorce by Dianne Johnson
3. Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
4. I don’t know how she does it by Allison Pearson
Self-Help:
1. He’s not just that into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo
2. I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy meets Girl by Joshua Harris
3. Making Friends by Andrew Matthews
4. The Essential 55 by Ron Clark
5. Life Lessons Learned while Shopping by Amanda Ford

As for Filipino Lit. I love F. Sionil Jose. I haven't read any of his works that I didn't like. So far I have read Po-on, Tree, Mass, The Pretenders, My Brother, My Executioner, Gagamba, Ermita, and Viajero. All of these novels I absolutely was in awe of. There is one book by Nick Joaquin that I was able to read and it was a superb experience. It was a biography of Dr. Jose Rizal that Mr. Joaquin was commissioned to write during the centennial year of Philippine Independence. I was able to borrow a copy from James, a college classmate whose aunt, Laarni Enriquez got a copy from Malacanang Palace as a giveaway. From that book I know one of these days I am supposed to start reading more of Nick Joaquin's works.