My Bell Lyre and Me Reunited!

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A little tired and sleepy, I reached for my little red notebook and the hymnal. And then, I began jotting down the F A C E and Every Good Boy Does Fine notes of a favorite hymn. (At last, I was already doing what I have decided to do countless days ago.) A few minutes later, I was already playing the hymn "In My Heart There Rings a Melody" on my bell lyre. Some notes were off-key and I got a little irritated by it. Soon enough I finally got to enjoy the music even with little off-key notes on the side.

I still remember the time when Pa and I bought my bell lyre almost two decades ago. I used to play it when I was in elementary, especially in the third grade. Good thing, it was still with me till now and got to play it again after so many years.

I actually planned to refresh my bell lyre skills long time ago. Procrastination and mood swings didn't keep out of my way, that's why. Anyway, now I am happy that I finally did it! I just hope that I could do it more often and play various hymns on my bell lyre by heart.

Shoot Me! (25 of 52)

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SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

Shoot Me! It's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And, just jump in now with 1 of 52. You can do it! - Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans.

Wanna link your own Shoot Me post? Oh, please do! Just type and add your link to MckLinkly (just below Carin's post) and then visit other Shoot Me posts from our fellow bloggers by clicking their names in the list. Make sure to leave some love, too! Comments! Comments! Comments! Who doesn't love comments? \(^^)/

What Have We Found?

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My gal friends and I saw something out-of-the-ordinary on the 6th floor...

For more WORDLESSNESS, click here. ^^,

My Thoughts On Venus Raj's Answer in Miss Universe

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I got the chance to watch Miss Universe 2010 live on TV this morning and I found myself clapping as the Philippine representative Venus Raj got included in Top 5!




And then, my most awaited moment has come -- the Q&A portion. Sad to say, Venus seemed rattled and wasn't able to give the best nor at least a good answer. Honestly speaking, it felt like she threw away her chance of winning the crown.

Anyway, it wasn't easy to be in her shoes. Minding all the tension and expectations, she must really be so nervous that time.

Yes, I was let down by her answer to William Baldwin's question. But I really am still proud of her MAJOR achievement for placing the 4th Runner-up in this year's most prestigious beauty pageant!

To read more of what others have to say about this, drop by Ms. Joyce's blog -- a beauty queen herself.




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Klotski

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is a game to play when I am bored and do not have enough time to read books or do other things during free time at work.

It is mind-bugging so it is fun!!!

To know more about this game and its various versions, click here.


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CATS

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I wish I could say, "I WATCHED THIS!!!"

To-do List (before I die)
# 7. watch LIVE one of Lea Salonga's musicals

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It's Me. Lexi. Remember Me?

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I don't know what gets into me whenever I wonder what it feels like to have amnesia. I don't know. I have been thinking about it since I was a kid. Thanks God I haven't bumped my head that hard yet for memories fly from me.

Then, I met Lexi. She somehow satisfied my curiosity. Imagining I was in her shoes, I can say that having amnesia was befuddling, bemusing and fascinating all at the same time. Well, fascinating because imagining you just woke up one day and your life is perfect. (Just what the cover of the book says.)

Of course, I would rather choose to regain my lost memories as I piece my life back together again. I wonder if Lexi regained hers eventually. Maybe yes. Maybe not.

I am really starting to like Sophie Kinsella. Remember Me? is another amusing light-reading book I got to read and enjoy. Why don't you flip its pages too? (^^,)


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Shoot Me! (24 of 52)

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On My Way Home

Shoot Me! It's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And, just jump in now with 1 of 52. You can do it! - Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans.

Wanna link your own Shoot Me post? Oh, please do! Just type and add your link to MckLinkly (just below Carin's post) and then visit other Shoot Me posts from our fellow bloggers by clicking their names in the list. Make sure to leave some love, too! Comments! Comments! Comments! Who doesn't love comments? \(^^)/

I Got a Whole New Bookshelf!!!

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Well, not in the house nor in my room actually. It's on my blog! Yeah! Better check it on the bottom right-most part of my page. Isn't it cool? I find it sooo cute! I first saw it in Sumthinblue's blog site. Upon clicking the link, I found myself in Shelfari -- an expedition of vuh-ree-uhs books you can think of -- no wonder it is called like that!




What attracted me most , aside from the look of a bookshelf on my blog, are the sections such as:

• books I plan to read
• books I'm reading now
• books I've read

It just makes me organized and feel excited. In other words, it helps me get back into the swing of things.


Update: My bookshelf was used to be on the bottom right-most part of my page. That was before I got a three-column footer in my blog.

Pinoy Taste

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I like cooking but not all my recipes are a success, though. Most of them come out bland or too watery. Anyway, the food is still edible. ^^,

Practice. That is what I need. I am happy that I got more chances recently to cook various foods for the family since my eldest sister has to go to work on weekdays.

• Sarciadong Bangus
• Sinigang
• Nilaga
• Tinola
• Tokwa't Pechay
• Giniling
• Adobo
• Pesang Tilapia
• Afritada
• Chopseuy

These are some of the dishes I have prepared in the past few weeks and I am still looking forward for more.

And it seems that more dishes will indeed be added to my list since I found a helping hand from a Pinoy food enthusiast in the form of Panlasang Pinoy!

click image to see the site

I find this site really helpful since it gives easy-to-follow instructions via outlined procedures and videos.

Now, I can't wait to roll up my sleeves, put my apron on and cook! Hehe.



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My Favorite Park Bench

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I am really captivated by Mamoru Suzuki's simple yet colorful and lively illustrations of different people from all walks of life spending their leisure time at a park. Fumiko Takeshita's charming story makes the story click not only to young readers but to grown-ups as well.

Every time I go to our local library, I find myself always looking for this book and borrowing it. I just cannot feel tired from reading such classic children's story telling about a typical day in a park from dawn till dusk mingled with sorts of characrers -- from toddlers to the aged, the housewives and the office workers, the bunch of friends and the loners, the passers by and the gardener.

In much simpler words: gorgeous and charming. It is something I read always with a sigh.

Shoot Me! (23 of 52)

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Killing Time in the
Middle of Traffic Jam

I don't know this man neither he knows me. We were inside a passenger jeepney. This what happens when you are caught in a traffic jam. I'm sure he wasn't looking in my camera but it seems otherwise, right? ^^,

Shoot Me! It's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And, just jump in now with 1 of 52. You can do it! - Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans.

Wanna link your own Shoot Me post? Oh, please do! Just type and add your link to MckLinkly (just below Carin's post) and then visit other Shoot Me posts from our fellow bloggers by clicking their names in the list. Make sure to leave some love, too! Comments! Comments! Comments! Who doesn't love comments? \(^^)/

The Giving Tree (and the Selfish Boy?)

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I have no idea that this book had actually generated controversy until I read more about it in Wikipedia.

I was impressed the first time I read it and I can say that I was also touched. Well, I think it was because of the tree being sacrificial to the boy it loved so much.

I hope that you would also or got the chance to read Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree.

So, is it really just a one-sided relationship after all?

(click the image to visit Shel's official site)

As Ben Jackson, a professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University puts it:

Is this a sad tale? Well, it is sad in the same way that life is depressing. We are all needy, and, if we are lucky and any good, we grow old using others and getting used up. Tears fall in our lives like leaves from a tree. Our finitude is not something to be regretted or despised, however; it is what makes giving (and receiving) possible. The more you blame the boy, the more you have to fault human existence. The more you blame the tree, the more you have to fault the very idea of parenting. Should the tree's giving be contingent on the boy's gratitude? If it were, if fathers and mothers waited on reciprocity before caring for their young, then we would all be doomed.

-- Wikipedia (The Giving Tree)

When Women Do Not Speak

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I rarely send text messages nowadays. So instead of having ample forwarded messages gone to waste, I've decided to share them here. ^^,

The loud voice of a man really
shocks and threatens a woman...

but...

the silence of a woman
tremendously shakes
the consciousness of a man.

Look Who Was Sleeping At Church!

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It's Betchay! ^^,

Claymore: Half-Human, Half-Monster

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Absolutely not a girlie kind of manga.

Guts-eating monsters, bloodshed, limbs being chopped to pieces -- I wouldn't be interested reading about such things.

Until I was introduced to Claymore.




A friend had told me that she has been doing manga reviews aside from her blog. As I got the chance to drop by her blogsite, I also decided to read some of her manga reviews. And that was when it all started.

I may say that Issa's comprehensive review on Claymore has urged me to try reading the manga myself. (By the way, Claymore was the first ever manga I read online.) Since then, I've been hooked.




In spite of somewhat obscene settings, it is indeed a page-turner. Its mind-bugging story made me stick to it. I have read those hundred plus episodes in no time and I am now still monitoring updates because I really wanna know how the story would end.




Better read Issa's review on this manga and have a glimpse of Clare's odyssey as a human turning Claymore.

Wait A Minute?

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Why does waiting have ever been invented? It really feels awful when you want to get something now and yet you couldn't. You just wait and wait and wait. When the waiting seems to be almost over, something would come up and you need to wait further again! Argh!

Two more months...Oh, God, patience...

Jesus on Twitter?

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Here's a more than funny cartoon by Joshua Harris ^^,

Shoot Me! (21 and 22 of 52)

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Just like what I've said in my previous Shoot, I would be needing to post two pictures this Thursday to make up to the weeks I missed. So far, here are what I've got. Meet the Disney princesses! ^^,



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Shoot Me! It's time to post a picture of YOU (yes, you) every Thursday with your child, your spouse, your friend, your dog, or even by yourself. Just get in the picture, you'll be glad you did! And, just jump in now with 1 of 52. You can do it! - Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans.

Wanna link your own Shoot Me post? Oh, please do! Just type and add your link to MckLinkly (just below Carin's post) and then visit other Shoot Me posts from our fellow bloggers by clicking their names in the list. Make sure to leave some love, too! Comments! Comments! Comments! Who doesn't love comments? \(^^)/

Saranggola and Romance

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Emotion is part of every human being as well as the mind. But, most of the time, the two are out of sync. I think everybody will agree to that.

A friend lent me her book entitled Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris. Out of the plentiful contents of the book, two particular articles became prominent and striking to me. One of them is the author's analogy about the relationship between romance and wisdom. Here it goes:

The Kite and the String

I like to think that the relationship between wisdom and romance is like the one between a string and a kite. Romantic love is the kite that catches the wind and tenaciously heads for the sky; wisdom is the string that tugs downward, holding it back. The tension in real, but healthy.

I suppose there are times when a kite feels tied down by the string. "If this bothersome string would just let go of me, I could fly really high," the kite might think. But that isn't true, is it? Without the string holding it in the face of the wind, the kite would quickly come crashing to the ground.

In the same way, romance without wisdom will soon take a nosedive. It becomes selfish, indulgent, and even idolatrous. Have you been in a relationship like this? Have you witnessed such a relationship in the life of a friend? What was it missing? The answer is wisdom.

It's not enough to simply have romantic feelings. Anyone can do that! Long-lasting romance needs practical, common-sense wisdom that knows when to let the wind of feelings carry us higher and when to pull back. When to express our emotions and when to keep quiet. When to open our hearts and when to rein them in.

That makes sense.

Because of Allergic Rhinitis

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I have heard it from Pastor Dan several times but it finally hit me just recently.

Even if you are already sick, you would still go to work.

Even if it is raining cats and dogs, you would still get up and head to work.

But, once you felt a mild headache, you would decide not to go to church any more.

Once you see the dark clouds forming, you would easily assume that it would soon rain heavily so you wouldn't go to the Sunday service at all.

How true!!!

I managed to bear my allergy a lot of times while at work. I was able to have classes over the phone while sneezing at the same time (mic on mute mode) more than once. But when the same allergic rhinitis hit me yesterday, I intentionally skipped Sunday School to give myself more time to sleep! I prayed, "Oh Lord, let me have more time to sleep. I am groggy from the medicine and all. Just only this time."

Well, I got His reply before the day ended.

What The Undomestic Goddess Impressed On Me

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Here are my favorite lines from one of Sophie Kinsella's books, Undomestic Goddess. Samantha, the protagonist, is talking with Iris in this scene.

A single tear rolls down my cheek and I wipe it away roughly. I’m not going to cry in front of Iris.

“I don’t know who I am.” I exhale, more calmly. “Or what my goal is... or where I’m headed in life. Or anything.”

My energy’s gone and I sink down on the dry grass. A few moments later Iris comes and squats down beside me.

“It doesn’t matter,” she says, her voice soft. “Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing all the answers. You don’t always have to know who you are. You don’t have to have the big picture, or know where you’re heading. Sometimes it’s enough just to know what you’re going to do next.”

For a while I let her words run through my head, like cool water on a headache.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to relax and have a chuckle at the same time. Undomestic Goddess is a light-reading book that would bring you along Samantha's incredulous life as a lawyer turned housekeeper.