pictures from the archive 

the force is with me - - episode 1

here are some observations and details from readings about the star wars series.

i read somewhere that anakin was immaculately concieved (hehehe). watching episode 1 again yesterday, i heard anakin's mother talking that there was no father and how qui gon related to the jedi council that indeed the boy might have been conceived by the medicholreans well...

when the emperor touched the burnt anakin on the forehead he calmed down (ROTS) there were people saying that this was an act of compassion from the evil emperor but i don't think so... relating to obi-wan's touching luke (ANH) and qui gon touching jar-hjar (PM) i would think of it as the emperor using the force to ease anakin's pain

and i must express my remorse over what happened in revenge of the sith. it is really sad to see anakin succumb. he asked for master yoda's advice, and he did not listen. i do not know if master yoda did know what will come about. but had anakin followed his advice and not seek the cure for padme, he would have not himself choked her:-(

>>more to come

the kind clerk

i did see hope in the face of this one clerk. i saw that, in the midst of these people who seemingly are oblivious that they are in an emergency room, laughing, feasting on tsismis about the others who are working on patients, there are still people who go out of their way to make a patient, even though not suffering that much, comfortable.

the fear of pain may bring more suffering than pain itself. who wants to wait for their judgement hearing people giggling, not knowing what awaits them. it seems that the hospital system here in this country does not give a damn what the stamp RUSH means. what do you say is the difference of a laboratory exam result needed by the ER stamped with rush and that of an outpatient coming in for perhaps cough, a LOT, a whole damned lot, and it seems to me that both are processed in the same speed with the same priority. this saddens me. the way how they approach their obligations... finishing their conversation on the intercom about nba scores while an emergency room patient relative (me) waits for him to attend to him. this makes me really sad, this is the place where i am going to work in the near future and this is the kind of help we extend to people...

i do hope more people are fed with fire of the holy spirit to touch others the way how this one single clerk gave me hope. to trust that not everyone has become too miserable to care...

bolinao - - a series of photographs

what could be more soothing than lying on a bamboo raft looking at a half-moonlit sky, the moon, feeling the wonderful ocean breeze, hearing the giggling of your cousins and sibling and feeling the soft drizzle on you body... for me... nothing more (yet)

we were fetched early thursday by our hosts auntie lita and uncle alex and traveled on the new philippine pride: the north luzon expressway. the road's so smooth now you can drink an open cup of coffee without spilling it all over your crotch haha + at the pampanga-bulacan border we saw a wonderful phenomena 

we arrived at our destination after what seemed like traveling forever passing by several sea side towns and some centuries old churches. we were greeted by a sad-faced trillanes, sentinel to the beachfront property who understands only chavacano (this really made me grin) 

we unpacked and the elders prepared our meal while we rested i scanned the property, saw the cottage where ruffa gutierrez stayed during her filming of 'pinakamagandang babae sa balat ng lupa' i looked around the newly constructed beach house fronting the ocean.  

i can get used to this hahaha and what i really appreciated were the 1.5 foot thick barandillas of the azotea (i could lie anywhere!) 

we ate and the kids hit the beach afterwards while i waited eagerly for the sunset (this is the chance to practice again) and i think i did well enough to post it here ^_^ 

we ate dinner outside: ate ruth's barbecue and uncle alex's fishes were mmm just exquisite 

the next day after breakfast... 

we rode the caretaker's pickup to enchanted cave, a subterranean lake that was featured in tv a few weeks back. the water's temperature was divine and we dipped alone until a few annoying people disturbed us 

i photographed my second beautiful sunset and lied on the raft waiting for the evening meal... then it rained... then it poured... it rained like there was no tomorrow and this was of course a chance to sing and dance in the rain hahahahaha "you'll never know just how much i love you, you'll never know just how much i care, and if i try i still couldn't hide my love for you, you'll never know for haven't i told you so, a million or more times..." don't know why i chose that song well anyway we woke up the next morning and said our goodbyes and hit the road 

i thank our hosts uncle alex and auntie lita :-) for the wonderful time in bolinao 

digital fortress

i read my latest dan brown novel and i have been itching to make this review for the past few days i've been out of town.

the first thing i noticed : (with mr. brown's indulgence) "it is said that in death, all things become clear; Ensei Tankado now knew it was true. As he clutched his chest and fell to the ground in pain, he realized the horror of his mistake." someone died... AGAIN... as with all his novels mr brown seems to be following a well written formula and though i was disappointed at the onset, i tried to remember one of my favorite novels angels and demons and the similar the da vinci code, everything inside could be something i have not yet discovered about science... religion... the digital age.. well... there were things that i did not really know yes i'll give that to mr. brown but overall really, i am disappointed that mr. brown has not met my expectation. not after i have read his 'better' novels.

i thought for a moment why i would lean to angels and demons and the da vinci code... hmmm... is it because i am interested in religion? yet i am also really interested in the web, computers and the like... i surmised it must have not been me but the author... i ask you for your comments on how you rate this dan brown book so i may continue on evaluating my feelings...

erratum + auntie lita

i was reading my last post and oh my dear God! it was awful! i really apologize for my grrrrrramatical garbage hehehe i often check everything before i publish it but the heat must've taken over me... but no excuse... i'll try better next time

btw... i already corrected them hehehe

we came back from a handaan in my auntie lita's house. of course it was good food (as always) and tsimisan among the mommies group. we were joined by our neighbor tita lita (yep...) because she wanted to see my auntie lita's newly done attic because she is planning on having her roof repaired and my mom suggested she take this opportunity to expand her space.

i am thinking myself of having our own attic since our roof was designed for it actually. i've been inside and there might be like 10 feet high space inside our ceiling because of the soaring roof lines my ninong designed. all we have to do is to modify a little bit, add dormers, insulation and furniture and i have more book space hehehe ^_^ well... magiipon na lang ako for my OWN space (nyak)

lz

tin-tin's blog + rearrangin' my shelves

i got to the task of REarranging my shelves at home and of course i did not finish... i ended up having the worst sneezing fits of my life... well i have yet to finish it.

i took on this task because of the unorganized fashion of my shelves, not that they are displeasing to the eyes but because they are not grouped according to their subject matter but by their time of arrival to the library. i finished arranging (i hope... if will not discover more books in the back shelves of their kin) the botany and microbiology section of the library. sigh... i hope i get finished before classes start.

btw...

i found tin's blog on friendster. you're welcome tin :-) it's a pleasure helping you professor

lz

last thought before i sleep

looking through my pictures this night + i realized one thing + sigh... + im gaining my weight back + weight i worked hard for to loose for how many months + mmm... i think i have to start to heat up my program again and as a tool i think ill make a weekly weight count here so i'll see my progress + ok mark today i am 155 lbs + i hope i'll achieve my IBW with the help of God :-)

This is for Robert... I know you wanna see the Muñoz Overpass... naalala ko when we passed by from Trisha's debut and I had my camera within my reach... sorry though for the blurriness nasa kotse kami and besides i think it added to the effect (diba!?). hindi ko alam kung naabutan mo ang 2nd jollibee sa muñoz (notice on the right side, left side kung anatomical position hehe) 24 hours yan kalaban ng mcdo... remember mcdo? perhaps we'll see each other in a mcdo near you sometime in the future... God bless us, and may God's Holy Spirit be always with us especially when we make decisions... magandang gabi sa lahat ^_^ 

at nakatikim din ako ng TURON! in fairness... masarap ang turon nila 

Sa wakas! natupad na ang pinapangarap ko :-) makatikim ng kape sa Manila Hotel... and the verdict... lasang kape ^_^  

with all there is - - why settle for just a piece of sky?

"where... where is it written what it is i'm meant to be?..." the opening lines of what became one of my most favorite songs (of course nothing tops somewhere over the rainbow - for me that is). the enchanting timbre of the strings and the flowing music carries you slowly upward towards the climax... "papa watch me fly!!!" a 13 seconds D3 note that leaves you thinking... was that looped? i bet she'd never able to manage do it live... (yet she did! before the release of the movie "yentl" she played the soundtrack for her friends for comment. they said "oh... i bet that was looped," :-) touched a heartstring, the voice started singing and finished "a piece of sky" live, all at the dinner table was mesmerized...)

this was my first REAL encounter of who became my most respected singer. i searched online who sung this song and its origins. i discovered. barbra joan streisand. hmmm i previously knew this singer via the single most popular pop (how redundant can you get!?) song she did - - i finally found someone (tell him wasn't made yet) and her constant political bickering. i started to research on her and how was she able to do that song. and soon i was realizing that wasn't even a taste.

i discovered a few more months later - - she was the first woman ever to achieve all four major awards - oscar, tony, grammy, emmy - and the first woman recognized by the directors guild of america as best director... for the same movie where the song i am talking about comes from. she is also the highest female record seller ever and in the last few years has upstaged a few more others to become the third highest overall just behind the beatles and his highness king elvis.

i am humbled by her achievements - - from a humble beginning in brooklyn wearing clothes from thrift shops working her way up - - bitch and all. and all the while being the insecure and stage frightened girl she always was.

the longest note she ever held officially is from an unreleased song "make our garden grow" (23 seconds) and if you listen closely you will notice that she had still more to let out if needed (btw, i have a recording of this). she was asked during her early years, "how are you able to do that?" "i hold a note as long as i want to." will power sets her apart. but not only will obviously brought millions if not billions on her doorstep riding the early waves of the money market when e-bay, amazon and other net corps were just starting. she was able to make her friend donna karan's $100,000 into $160M (if i remember correctly) in a month's period playing with the market 2 hours every morning.

a lot lot more can be said and told about this woman who i just totally admire for her achievements and i just cannot continue on just from memory. recently rediscovering one of her songs, she made me realize that "there are no mistakes... just lessons to be learned"

lz

Ave Maria

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum
benedicta tuae in mulier ibus.
Et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus.

Sancta Maria mater Dei, ora pro nobis
peccatoribius et in hora mortis nostrae.

Amen.

lz

thought you might want to recite the Hail Mary in latin sometimes :-)

my friend philip did me a great favor! he touched streisand's star for me! thanks philip!