GO GO GO FOR TWENTY-TWELVE!

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill.
When the funds are low and the debt are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
rest if you must but don't you quit.

Success is failure turned inside out,
the silver line of the clouds of doubt.
And now you never can tell how close you are;
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick in the fight when you're hardest hit.
IT'S WHEN THINGS GO WRONG THAT YOU MUSTN'T QUIT.

Let's all ring up year-round positivity as we say hello to a new set of 12 months and bid 2011 goodbye!
HAPPY NEW YEAR WORLD!!!

MY TWO-WEEK ONE-ENTRY-PER-DAY CHALLENGE IS...

Nah, I don't even want to say the word; let's just use the less harsh description "unaccomplished." My excuses? I mean, my reasons? Er, if you have read the post that serves as this "personal grail's" introduction, you'll know the answers yourself.

Still and all, I feel quite relieved with the fact that I was able to blog for consecutive days (*be positive, be positive* ringing in my head). Remembering how I fretted about what to write next after just posting my second entry makes me laugh at myself now. Pathetic me.

And so, to cap this one off, let me have this space to thank my ever-supportive follower and ever-staunch taga-comment (raise your hand, you know who you are, haha).

(This one's too short, sorry. Prepping up for the New Year celebration. Happy New Year!)

DAY 14: SEASON'S GREETINGS!

There has been only one Christmas - the rest are anniversaries. -- W. J. Cameron

May we all have a joyous Christmas! Have fun everyone!

DAY 13: HAIKU NO. 9

JUST DO IT!
You have things to do,
oftentimes you think you can't.
When will you do them?

DAY 9: MY FAVORITE QUOTES FROM THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH

I know I would never be able to come across this great and enormously influential (personally speaking) novel if it were not because of a dear friend who was generous enough to send me an ebook version of The Phantom Tollbooth earlier this year (indeed, thank you, Cath!). Curiously, I was made into one of its lucky readers and fans exactly half a century after the book was first published. See, it is never too late to discover wonderful things.

For me, The Phantom Tollbooth is all about appreciation of the world around us and knowing what really matters in life. Anyone would surely love and enjoy the allegories and the jokes peppered throughout the novel. Also, following the story of Milo and his trusted friend Tock as they make a tour from Doldrums to the Forest of Sight to the Valley of Sound and up to the Castle in the Air, meeting new friends and valuable experiences along the way, is like traveling to one's own enlightenment. This is truly a must-read for children of all ages.

I don't have a thorough review of the book. But what I have below is a list of my favorite The Phantom Tollbooth quotes.


"What you can do is often simply a matter of what you will do." -- Princess of Pure Reason

"So many things are possible as long as you don't know they're impossible." -- King Azaz, Mathemagician

"Think of all the trouble it saves ... If you only do the easy and useless jobs, you'll never have to worry about the important ones which are so difficult. You just won't have the time. For there's always something to do to keep you from what you really should be doing...." -- Trivium, on being a monster of habit.

"You must never feel badly about doing mistakes... as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons." -- Princess of Pure Reason

"...But it's not just learning things that's important. It's learning what to do with what you learn and learning why you learn things at all that matters." -- Princess of Sweet Rhyme

"Whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way. Why, when a housefly flaps his wings, a breeze goes around the world; when a speck of dust falls to the ground, the entire planet weighs a little more; and when you stomp your foot, the earth moves slightly off its course. Whenever you laugh, gladness spreads like ripples in a pond; and whenever you're sad, no one anywhere can be really happy. And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer. And remember also that many places you would like to see are just off the map and many things you want to know are just out of sight or a little beyond your reach. But someday you'll reach them all, for what you learn today, for no reason at all, will help you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow." -- Princess of Sweet Rhyme

"...There's a lot to see everywhere, if only you keep your eyes open." -- Alec Bings

"A sound which is not heard disappears forever and is not to be found again." -- writer, one of the marchers at the Valley of Sound

"A slavish concern for the composition of words is the sign of a bankrupt intellect." -- Humbug

"While it is wrong to use too few (words), it is often far worse to use too many." -- Faintly Macabre

"You see the way you see things depends a great deal on where you look at them from." -- Alec Bings

"Being lost is never a matter of not knowing where you are; it is a matter of not knowing where you aren't." -- Alec Bings


(Image from here)

DAY 8: ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS...

...not you. It is neither world peace (but I do want it year-round). Nor to spend the Day with my father (still, I'd forever be a nice kid just to have this). What I want is not that complicated yet more attainable, but requires me to fork out top dollar for. What I would love to have this Christmas is...


an iPhone 4s!!! The black one!

LOL.

(Image from here)

DAY 7: MINKY CHRISTMAS

First off, I want you all to meet our beloved two-year-old pet cat, Minky!


Yes, he may be annoying at times, but in most days he is a source of our joy at home. He loves to eat junk foods and ALWAYS makes sure he'd also have a share of what snacks we're eating. And so you have to tear them open as silently as you can if you don't want to share it with him. Damot!

Aside from sitting by the window, Minky loves sleeping, too. I guess I have to be glad about this as my cousin once told me that it means cats are happy with their owners if you can see them sleeping most of the time. What makes it all the more endearing, though, is that we would often see him catnapping under our mini Christmas tree since we set it up last month. He probably is happy too about it for this is our first time having such at home. I tried snapping a photo of him while he was asleep, but he sensed it and acted as if he was smitten by the tree.


Cute!

DAY 6: HAIKU NO. 8

THE MATTRESS LOVER

Can't get up; I like
the warmth beneath these covers.
I still want to sleep.

DAY 5: 'PLAY FOR GOOD'

I first learned about this newest Facebook game, WeTopia, from Ellen Degeneres on her show last week. I immediately got interested not only because it is an online game but also because it is more than just an online game. I mean, you can have fun while playing the game but at the same time you do something good in the real world. And so I thought to myself,"Why not translate the 'enthusiasm' I once had for CityVille to this one? I'm sure the fun will be twice over."

But as much as I wanted to get myself into this game that very moment, I opted to put it off. And I think I made the right decision for, according to what I've read online, the WeTopia website crashed after thousands of Ellen's fans (most probably) raided the site. Oh my!

I finally tried playing it last night though. I went directly to the website but, of course it is an FB game, so I had to log in to my account. I don't know if it was just because of my internet connection, but it took me forever waiting for the game to load.


Then, I felt my heart skip a beat when the screen finally went--


Just a few seconds into the game (which I forgot to print screen this time), I realized that it highly resembles CityVille (I don't know if they have the same creators though). Just like on CV, your goal here too is to grow your community by building establishments and residences, among many others. In accomplishing this, you will build up joy and from this "joy" you have gleaned, you'll be able to fund programs that help children particularly in Haiti (read: advertisements+FB credits by some players=WeTopia profits/2=monetary donations to nonprofit orgs).

Unfortunately, I did not get to play it that long. It took me four times building just my house as I was repeatedly told to refresh the page. I just settled to give it another try next time.

If you happen to be curious about WeTopia, visit the site here.

DAY 4: KARAOKE FUN TIME

I totally enjoy singing Karaoke songs and belting out my favorites, mostly comprised of those I know my amateurish singing can bear.

Testament to this, going to a KTV is usually a must-do whenever me and my friends go out for get-togethers; it somehow feels incomplete when we fail to do so.

It also serves as one of the key events during our family gatherings, where you can expect an aunt or an uncle telling you, "Oh, mag-praktis ka nang mabuti at nang maisali ka namin sa amateur singing contest sa barangay."

I've been missing doing it lately though, as we don't have a videoke microphone at home, friends are quite busy for get-togethers, and the next family gathering I can most probably attend is our New Year celebration.

There's no use being sad, I know. Because for now I just make do with YouTube's Karaoke videos. What I've posted below are just five of the songs I've made a mental note of, just in case. He he.











Oh, and I just want to say thanks to those who have uploaded these videos!*highfive*

DAY 3: THAT KIND OF LOVE IS...

I may have read all of the four books in the series and have watched the four previous movies that resulted from the franchise (AND may be looking forward to the second part of the latest one), but I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF A TWILIGHT SAGA FAN (I do have my own reasons). Yet, I couldn't help but say "WOW" when I first saw this Twilight fanart on this awesome website. And so I thought of sharing it here.



Amazing, huh?

DAY 2: I WISH I HAD THE FLAIR FOR FOOD WRITING

Among many other things that I want to become, to be a food writer has found an unassuming spot at number 9, flanked by “to be a preschool teacher” and “to be an interior designer.”

Though obviously not deemed a priority pursuit, I still think of how I should write a food review often – refined yet informative – whenever a mouth-watering dish is in front of me. However, what always comes next is the sight of me groping for the right adjectives to use, besides the ever-handy tasty and delicious.



This is why I just opted to abandon my attempt at writing a food article about my and my chum Joja's (yun oh, sikat ka sa blog ko) gastronomic delight at Fez, a Moroccan resto, in Serendra sometime last year. Just in case you're wondering about the photos above, the first one is of Fez's Grilled Steak Sandwich (if I remember its name correctly) and the other one is of Papadum Crisps for our appetizer. And yes, they were indeed "tasty" and "delicious." Ha ha.

DAY 1: THE WANNABE POETIC ME

I'm glad that I went over my belongings the other day as I encountered things that really brightened up my mood. One of these was a notebook bearing some of the poems I've written over the years. They're not that many, by the way, but I still take pride in these written-in-verse outputs of mine, even though no one gets to read most of them -- especially my love poems -- but me.

I do remember having composed simple poems for other people, as a thank-you memento kumbaga (I bet my best friend remembers this as well). And though I can hardly recall the exact words I had penned, what I can still see clearly in my head is the smile on the faces of those who were lucky enough (whaaaat?!!!) to have received a poem from me. And thinking about it now, to be able to make someone happy because of your poem is a far better reward than getting a positive critical response. Yet for me, the latter form of appreciation is by all means valuable, which therefore leads me to share with you this poem -- written five or six years ago -- that got these remarks from my Retorika professor:

"Iba ang iyong istilo. Gusto ko (Your style is different. I liked it)."

SI TULA
Sinubukan kong gumawa ng tula,
Isang akdang may sukat at tugma;
Laman ng isip at puso mo ika nga,
'Di pala madali sa simula.

Unti-unti'y nagkaroon ng titik,
Blankong papel sa letra'y naging hitik.
"Maganda 'to," ang aking pakiwari,
Subalit natigilan nang sandali.

Maya-maya, idlip ako'y niyaya.
Teka nga at ito'y pagbigyan muna;
Tulang hinahabi balikan mamaya,
Pagkagising ito'y tatapusin na.

Nguni't tila nasarapan ata.
Hayu't tula'y nakalimutan pa nga.
"Paano na ngayon 'yan?" aniya,
ng tulang asam ay mabuo s'ya.

"Aba, malay ko!" ang biglang sagot ko,
Paano ba nama'y natutulog ako.
Maghanap ka na lang ng magtutuloy sa'yo;
Ang tanong... sino ang tatapos nito?!

Yay!

MY TWO-WEEK ONE-ENTRY-PER-DAY CHALLENGE

Yes, you read it right! I'm setting out a challenge for myself: post an entry everyday for the next fortnight. Why? It is basically to provide an opportunity for myself to do one thing I think I cannot do -- have a blog EVERYDAY or at least FOR DAYS IN A ROW. I know you may think this one's a no-brainer, but believe me bloggers don't always have something "bloggable" to say (or probably it's just me). Another thing is, daily online presence is quite not easy to chalk up (again, especially in my case).

Now, why two weeks? At first I was thinking of one week but I figured seven days is pretty short for a challenge of this sort. On the other hand, to have it for more than 14 days may be hard to carry out. So, two weeks seems just favorable.

A challenge, of course, is not without its own set of rules. So for this one, I have these:
* Official start is tomorrow and ending is on Christmas Day!
* Each entry should be written ON THE SAME DAY it is published.
* Poems, though, need not be composed on the day they are published.
* Blogs previously saved as "drafts" or "scheduled" published within the set two-week duration of this challenge are not to be included in the required 14 entries.

And now that it's all set, what I have to do to make this one a success is to definitely have the right set of mind and make that morsel of enthusiasm I had when I came up with this somewhat ridiculous personal project extend until the 14th day. Hopefully, that teeny-weeny piece of eagerness will grow enormously as the days progress and stay with me even though this challenge is through.

RANDOM THOUGHTS + MY PIGEONHOLED TRAVEL BLOG

For some strange reason, blogging ideas nowadays usually bull their way out of my head as I hear the sound of water gushing down the tap while I take a shower. That is, when I go about this “daily” (at least for us inhabitants of this tropical country) personal obligation, it is never without this “light bulb” moment: why not write about what you think or feel about blah blah and begin it this way blah blah. I take it quite seriously, mind you, though some of these ideas I put off or, worse, just forget about altogether.

But today is different. Immediately after getting dressed up, I grabbed a pen and started putting in black and white all these random thoughts I earlier had.

*A little over three months ago, I received well-meaning farewell and wish-you-luck messages – written and verbal – from officemates-slash-friends, and was oddly happy about it. I say “oddly” because it felt as if I was looking forward to that moment and there wasn’t a hint of loneliness in me. But now I tend to look back to that day and cannot help but feel sad. I admit I miss my former job and my work friends. And sometimes I do ask myself the inevitable “what if?”but beat back the thought immediately. I know, I know. I only have to put my trust in “the process” He has started for me and I should be moving along.

*I've been thinking of going back to Twitter. But I wonder if its virtual wings are still wide open for a wannabe tweep like me or, more correctly speaking, if I will find it fun this time. Rats, of course I have to make it fun this time! As they say, Twitter’s much better the second time around!

*It’s still a few months away from my birthday but I already have my 25th Bucket List entry: learn to speak a foreign language (not just English, ya know). And given that I can sing two Korean songs by now (*cough* *cough*), I’m thinking of enrolling in TESDA’s Korean Language Training program. Learn Korean free of charge?! Awesome!

*Speaking of My Bucket List, I’m glad that three were already crossed off it. Er, I still have so much time to accomplish the others, right? Ha ha. Kidding aside, there are times that I think of facing death, and it is oftentimes during these moments that I truly feel my existence, my worth, my strength, my God... I don't know, but I think it's some kind of a healthy spiritual and psychological exercise. Better try it to know what I mean.

*Lately, I've come to realize that reconnecting with old classmates and friends is great, for it helps you "reconnect" with your old self to better "unleash the new you."

*"And I wouldn't have it any other way." But that is not to say that I don't want to improve the look of my blog, have a nicer-looking and more suitable background or template for example. So last week, I looked for a website that offers free Blogger templates. In fact I found at least three that I liked but eventually opted to just stick to the original. I got so frustrated because no matter how much I tried, I kept on doing something wrong with the codes that my blog did not turn out the way it should. Good thing I had saved my original template's codes before pasting new ones and saving the changes. In times like this, I become more eager to learn more about HTMLs and not just rely on basic knowledge that says they begin and end with angle brackets.

THE WANDERING WONDERER, my travel blog I haven't got around to until now (*sigh*). My bad, I know. Actually it was supposed to be "the wanna-be traveler's blog" but I thought "The Wandering Wonderer" would sound way cooler. But what's the sense of having a cool-sounding blog title if the blog itself doesn't exist?! Okay, I better act NOW. Disiplinahin ang sarili.

A MONTH BEFORE CHRISTMAS DAY

Whenever I hear this OPM (Original Pilipino Music) song, I'm always reminded of my father, who has been working as an OFW (overseas Filipino worker) for as long as I can remember. We've been celebrating 19 Christmas Days in a row without him, and this year's will likely be the 20th. Well, that's life. Moving on, here are the lyrics of Jimmy Borja's Sana Ngayong Pasko, the first two stanzas of which sum up my "heartache" during this "joyful" season.

SANA NGAYONG PASKO
Pasko na naman
Nguni't wala ka pa
Hanggang kailan kaya
Ako maghihintay sa iyo

Bakit ba naman
Kailangang lumisan pa
Ang tanging hangad ko lang
Ay makapiling ka

[Chorus]
Sana ngayong Pasko
Ay maalala mo pa rin ako
Hinahanap-hanap pag-ibig mo
At kahit wala ka na
Nangangarap at umaasa pa rin ako
Muling makita ka
At makasama ka
Sa araw ng Pasko

Pasko na naman
Nguni't wala ka pa
Hanggang kailan kaya
Ako maghihintay sa iyo

Bakit ba naman
Kailangang lumisan pa
Ang tanging hangad ko lang
Ay makapiling ka

[Repeat Chorus 2x]

Sana ngayong Pasko…

I MISS ATASHIN CHI!

First off, just so you know, Atashin Chi is an anime that tells about the day-to-day experiences of the Tachibana family, comprised of Mrs. Tachibana, Mr. Tachibana, Mikan, and Yuzuhiko. It had been shown on a local free-to-air TV channel sometime in 2008, if I remember it right, but after a handful of episodes, was pulled out from the early morning show lineup for some reason. I liked it simply because it was funny, I mean really funny. Back then, my mom would always find me vegging out in front of the TV during weekdays, having hearty laughs, and I upon seeing her would go, "Ma, kayo 'yun oh, si Mrs. Tachibana!" And she would say, "Sabi ko na nga ba. Kaya ka maagang gumising, panonoorin mo na naman yang si Atashin Chi Atashin Chi."


For me, Mrs. Tachibana was like "the star of the show." She merrily sings "ang bango bango ng mga rosas" while multitasking household chores, but always finds herself doing them clumsily. I can't pinpoint why, but she really reminds me of my mom, but that's aside from the fact that they are both on the plump side, ha ha. Nah, it just makes Mrs. Tachibana all the more likable and endearing in my eyes.

I absolutely miss watching this animated sitcom. YouTube, though, doesn't help for nary an episode can be viewed there. I have also tried visiting one or two anime websites, but how the heck could I understand it without the English subtitles?! I'm just putting my hopes up that a local TV network would have "tagalized" Atashin Chi episodes (new episodes would be great!) shown here again.

RULE NO. 2

SO LONG, YAHOO! MAIL UPDATES!

In a week's time, Yahoo! Mail Updates users -- including yours truly -- will be saying goodbye to the feature. Yahoo! Mail, however, did not provide an explanation as to why they wanted the Updates tab out. I surmise it's probably because posting status messages on Yahoo! Mail is not as popular as it is on "well-loved" Facebook, and the "share-it-on-Facebook-and-Twitter" option is likewise not well-received. It is also likely that Yahoo! Mail does not want to "compete" with Facebook in that aspect, given that a "tie-up" -- in the form of the 'Quick Reply' service, by which Facebook messages and notifications can be easily replied to -- between them exists. Or maybe, having a status message on Yahoo! Mail is deemed just the same as having one on Yahoo! Messenger and they don't like to be "redundant." Eh?! Well, these are just my two cents' worth. What I'm certain of is that it's going to be pretty odd not to see the Updates button on my Mail page anymore.

BOYS, GIRLS, AND THE APPLE TREE

(Image from here)

BLOGGING AND ME

I've been taken to reading numerous blogs lately, ranging from those about passion for art, love to travel, life in a foreign land, one's quest for his personal holy grail, no-nonsense political and social affairs in the country, living life to the fullest and whatnot. And while they, most of the time, provide for some sense of inspiration, they also do not fail in leading me to benchmark my own blog against them.

Don't get me wrong. Yes it may seem negative, but I believe otherwise. It allows me to come up with more sensible things to write about, let alone to blog more often, thinking that if I do so, my blog would be able to fare well on the cyberspace as these blogs I'm bowled over with do. But, is it really important that my blog should be at par with the ones bandied about on blogrolls, earning many comments on their entries? Interestingly enough, my brain answers me: So what if it's not?

For more than a year that I've been pouring my heart out on this blog, I can proudly say that this has to be a feather in my cap. Though bent on keeping my grammar in shipshape, groping for (hifalutin) words I deliberately take note of and trying to the best of my abilities to sound like a pro blogger, in the end it all boils down to these important things: that in the process I'm doing something imperative to my learning, that I'm doing something productive, that I'm doing something to somehow compensate for my lack of professional practice as a writer and not make my writing skills atrophy. Add to these the fulfillment of my goal to create "an outlet, though digital, of my blabs and raves, of what I feel and think about things, of those I never had the chance to express."

Realizing these makes me appreciate all the more what I can do because I DO THEM. I don't really need to think of who writes better than whom, who has richer vocabulary than whom and who attracts more traffic than whom. This is my output. This is my blog. This is my wide white wall. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

AGAIN, YOU CAN DO IT!

(Top image from here)