Z is for Zzz...

Zzzz....

Life just became complicated. Friendship ruined? I don't know. I'm so confused right now. All because of one stupid question.

I honestly did not mean for things to happen. *sighs* Maybe... I was building that wall again, without me really knowing about it. Pushing people away so that no one can hurt me. I'd rather be alone than to have someone hurt me again.

But. Here I am.. hurting. How the heck did that happen?

I'm tired. I may be back. I may not be. I'm so tired at the moment. I need a break.

XXX

XXX?

Nah. I'm not posting any nude photos, talk nasty or something like that. I'm going to talk about my birthday. Haha! A birthday post on my "X post"? I know. I'm not making any sense. Just let me be. This is my my blog, anyway. *grins*

My birthday was June 2nd. A Saturday. My Facebook inbox was spammed by a lot of very wonderful messages from friends and family. That was the one time that I didn't complain about getting spammed. I'd really like to thank my little brothers CARLO and OTEP! I miss you both! Also JOSHUA for the very lovely message. I miss you too, kiddo. Say Hello to Mickey Mouse for me. Also, I received some birthday messages from my friends via phone and Twitter. I thank you all. Some of them came from unexpected people, especially, those I know on Twitter. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can stop raising that eyebrow now. It's quite easy to just type something and tweet away. But it's the thought that counts, right? And just thinking about those messages gave me chills. Good chills. Heh.

THIS.

See? I got a birthday tweet from GOKU. Haha! And those guys who mentioned Fawn? Well, I have a RP character named Fawn and those wonderful people are part of my RP family. And they're so precious. I feel so loved.

And one more thing? MARK. This guy made my birthday a lot special. He made me a birthday cake. And a podcast. And he sang, even though he said he wouldn't. And he spoke Filipino! Just a few words.. He said "Kumusta, maganda? Mahal kita." It means "Hello, beautiful. I love you." D'aaww. I giggled like a school girl. I love you, too. <3 Here's the birthday post he made for me. You could visit his blog and listen to his podcast. It's all about me. Come on. DO IT!

There! Does X mark the spot? No. It's the heart. <3

A Lion called Christian

In 1969, two young Australians Anthony Bourke and John Rendall visited Harrods in London and bought a young Lion cub on impulse. They brought him home to their flat and named him Christian.

Christian soon grew both in size and popularity, that the men's flat became too small for the him. So Anthony and John decided to relocate Christian to Africa to release and introduce him to the wild. Christian found his new home in Kora National park, Kenya. A year after, a reunion took place.. a beautiful experience way beyond words.

In 2006, a Californian student posted the clip of the reunion with Christian on YouTube and then became an internet sensation.

Short Story: The Window

The Window

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. "The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake", the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence... deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take the body away.. no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.


- Author unknown





Moral of the story:

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice It is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. We may not see, hear or own everything, but it is our choice to be happy. Life is indeed beautiful and there is much to rejoice about. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.




Source: Inspiring Stories

Otep's Gift

My world used to be so small. I turned down party invitations. I rarely went out. I didn't travel much. The farthest I've been to was Antique, which was only 40-50 kilometers away from my home. I didn't have Twitter or Facebook. My life was predictable.

This blog changed me. I found my adventurous side. I met some new faces, explored some new places and gained new friends.. Emphasis on the new friends. One of the greatest gifts of blogging is the gift of friendship.

I received this text message from a very good friend last year. I still have this in my inbox. This sweet Christmas greeting came from Otep, one of the sweetest and funniest guys I've met. He has the gift of wit and humor. He never fails to make me smile. I could hug this guy all day. ☺

Translation: Merry Christmas, Leah. You're one of the most beautiful gifts I've received this year. :-)

Awww.. As sweet as sugar. ☺

Ublog Memory Lane

The UBlog Iloilo Getaway. November 4-7, 2011. Good times.

I smiled and even laughed, as I took a stroll down memory lane.

*Slideshow direct link

The Land Before Time

As I was organizing my clothes in the cabinet, I found this big box on top. I got it down and opened it. It's full of video CDs I've collected from way back when, mostly animated films. I've forgotten all about it. I think it was during highschool (or gradeschool, maybe?) when I started collecting video CDs of my favorite movies. And looking inside the box, I felt a bit nostalgic. I checked the titles and picked one: The Land before Time. This, I gotta watch again.

After finishing my chore, I sat down to watch the movie. It's a prehistoric adventure of five little dinosaur friends, Littlefoot, Cera, Spike, Ducky and Petrie. I have 9 movies, out of the complete 13. Of course, I started with the first one. I've seen this movie may times and it gave me some good laughs. But it also moved me to tears, especially when Littlefoot's mother died and the "If We Hold On Together" theme song started to play. Aww, darn that song..

Have you seen these movies? They're not just cartoons.. They are animated tales of friendship, loyalty and love. The first movie is definitely a tearjerker. As of this writing, I'm done watching the first two movies. Going to watch the rest later. Ta-ta!

A Dog's Story

Four years has passed since my dog Fall, died. I thought I'm already over his death. I thought I was already okay with him gone. Apparently, I wasn't.

This afternoon, I saw a short video clip on Facebook. It's about a dog. His person was killed in the middle of the street. And the dog never left his side. He watched over him as the police secured the place. He just lay there, never leaving his person's side. It touched my heart. Loyal friends, dogs are. And I thought of Fall.  (Click here to read about Fall's story.)

July 18, 2008. Fall got sick. 6 days after, he died.
This is the last picture I took of him. My happy dog, Fall.

The memory of Fall, fighting for his life, brought tears to my eyes. I was there, and I never left his side. I remember that last few minutes, when he looked at me and licked my nose.. as if saying "I love you. Don't worry. Everything will be fine." For a brief moment, I understood him.

He died in my arms. July 24, 2008. And I miss him terribly.

Guest Post: Goodbyes

Goodbyes

At some point in our lives, we have to say goodbye to people we love. It's hard, especially when you spent countless hours sitting in a packed classroom with them! Yes, I'm talking about leaving high school.

During exams, all we wanted was for it to end. We wanted to run out of the study room and do anything but sit huddled together with friends, books scattered all over the desks. Believe it or not, I actually miss those times. Even though we had the pressure of an upcoming exam, meeting up early to 'study' gave us a good excuse to spend more time together. It's funny how the same people who were so desperate to be over with high school are now missing it so much.

Whether it be to high school friends, or just anyone who means something to you, we've all had to say goodbye some point in our lives. Sometimes it's to people we won't be seeing for a few months and at other times, to people who we'll most likely never come across again. Some goodbyes happen overtime, and some are so sudden that you really wonder how time flew by so fast. No matter what, it's just one of those unavoidable aspects of life.

My high school ended last year, but most of my close friends are still around, some have even joined the same college as me. But now the time has come, we are already finishing our A'levels and though we try to avoid it, we know in the back of our heads that it is time to say goodbye. Sure, we might see each other a few times a year, but it won't be the same after we head off our own ways for university.

I've been thinking about this and I know it's going to be tough. I hate change. I try to tell myself that sometimes it's for the better. That we have to say goodbye to some people, so that we can say hello to others. They say change is the only constant in life, and I'm starting to believe that. Looking back, my life was so different last year than it is now. And this tells me that next year, my life will be completely changed from what it is. It's scary to think about these things, because you never know what to expect in your future. Sometimes it's good not to know, because that's what life is about, learning to deal with everything thrown your way.

We have to accept that things change, we can't help it. People come and go out of our lives. We fall in and out of love. We build friendships which sometimes fall apart. We have good days and bad ones. It's life. Sometimes it will hurt you and other times it will make you laugh. But its how you learn from those changes that make you who you are.

So where is the good in goodbye? I think saying goodbye to people is what reminds you not to take anyone or anything for granted. And it's good if you're saying it to someone who has hurt you before, it shows that you're letting go of the past. In my case, I have to make sure that I try my best to remain in contact with my friends, no matter how far away they may be from me. Because these are the people who I've shared some of the best times of my life with. Knowing that I have to say goodbye to them makes me appreciate their existence so much more!

- PurpleMist

...................................................

"Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?"- Richard Bach

About the Blogger:

Hi, I'm PurpleMist. Why the weird name? Because I like 'purple' and 'mist' just makes me sound mysterious. I think. Anyways, I'm a 17-year-old wannabe writer who is in a love and hate relationship with my novel. Mostly hate because its always on my mind and distracts me from everything else. I also like to read, and sometimes I write book reviews, but usually i'm too lazy to do that. I love quotes which I can relate to and I also draw or doodle, especially in classes with boring lecturers. I'm just about to finish college and I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life. But i'll figure it out, eventually.

I blog about whatever is on my mind and I love to do it. Oh, and as my blog name suggests, I'm a complete insomniac :)

Blog: Insomnia Strikes

Happy Days!

I am back!

So.. how are you all doin'?

Whew! I did a lot of things in the past few days... went to different places, met some people.. spent a lot of dough, as well. Haha! But I enjoyed my adventures. Those experiences were priceless. Yeah it was very tiring. It was kinda extravagant. But hey.. ♪♫ forget about the price tag ♫. Hihi. I had fun.. I had fun. That's what truly matters.

First off.. there was this DAVAO trip. It was my first time to visit Davao. I have relatives and friends who live there, and they were very much happy to have me visit this wonderful place. My cousins welcomed me into their humble home. I felt great. We ate dinner together, danced, sang and talked about life.. about everything, over coffee.

The next few days, my blogger friends (Anciro, Cj, Chamz and Unnie) took some time off to meet me and to show me around. Ah, such beautiful people. I thought that they were snobs. Turns out I was wrong. To you four, thank you so much for the wonderful time. I had tons of fun.

After Davao, where to.. Home? Nah! It was time to conquer Manila.

I was really hesitant to go to Manila because of the Typhoon Mina. Yep, it was raining hard while I was sitting gloomily inside the airport's waiting area. To tell you the truth, I have this fear of flying. But one could never really defeat one's demons when he doesn't face it. So face it, I did. But of course, I turned pale, my knuckles turned white when the plane began to shake.. HARD. Arg! Made it out in one piece. Oh goodie!

With the typhoon threatening to dampen my enthusiasm.. with the fatigue slowly creeping up on me.. Why go to Manila? One reason.. I REALLY want to meet-up with some friends. These are my blogger friends. And they are all beautiful.

Joshua, Mhel, Carlo, Erik, Berl, me and Bino

We went to an amusement park and decided to be kids again. We tried everything.. from the silly bumper cars to the heart-stopping EKstreme ride. I didn't ride that one. Haha! I know that I have to face that certain demon.. but that day wasn't the perfect time. Nah-ah! We rode on the Ferris Wheel (Wheel of Fate) and saw the vastness of the amusement park. It was an amazing view from the top, almost magical. It was raining so we bought some raincoats. We looked silly, I tell yah. Haha! We were like little kids who were stranded in the rain, but still enjoyed getting wet. Harhar! Look at us.

Joshua, Mhel, Bino and Jay
Erik, Carlo, me and Xander

Woot! Jumpshots!

Words weren't really enough to describe what I feel. The day ended, I was dead tired. I was really sleepy. I was broke. Hahaha. Really broke. But was it worth it? Oh yeah.

So here I am. Still kinda tired after all of my recent adventures. But it would be a shame NOT to blog about it because it truly was an experience worth sharing and remembering.

The Enchanted Kingdom..
Where the magic stays with you.

Oh, and before I forget.. Have you noticed anything new in my blog? Anything at all? I am actually smiling while I'm writing this article. Hehe. I can't contain my excitement. I didn't expect to have this.. but it's here! Right now! Haha.. This friend of mine gave me a gift.. my very own domain. That is soooo COOL! Oh, happy day! Thank you so much, Bino! You're simply the best! Mwah! Cyberhug!

Arvin "Bino" Bautista

I don't know how to end this post. Some big smiles would do, I think. Hihi. ☺☺☺☺☺

Guest Post: TRUST

Today's the day! Today, I'm having a guest post. My first ever. Yay me!

This post is all about TRUST. To some, TRUST is just that - a word. As time passes by, it seems to have lost its true meaning. Taken aside and completely forgotten. But to some people who still values this "verb", it is as important as LOVE. Trust is not something that you give.. it is something that should be earned. You see, the funny thing about trust is that it takes years to build but it only takes a mere second to destroy.

Now, my first guest post is from a blogger/Twitter friend. I'm very thankful that he sad YES to my request. Haha. His name is Habib (better known to his friends as Akoni) .. And here is what he has to say.

According to Manong Wiki-wiki eh-eh Pedia-eh-yeah, trust is reliance on another person or entity. Just as love, you have to work hard to earn it. What I am trying to say is that, trust doesn't grow overnight. It isn't like a mushroom that emerges from unattended soil and grows on trees almost everywhere. It's not something that you can just buy from a store. It has to be earned.

Let me begin by defining TRUST. To trust means to be vulnerable. It means to be able to rely on someone, having confident expectations that your being vulnerable would not be taken advantage of. It also means to expect things from other people.. simply to rely on other people on what they will do and on what will occur next. If we can surround ourselves with people we trust, then we can create a safe present and an even better future.

Rebirth 2011

This is a new year... a new beginning. For me, it feels like it is time to have some changes. Time to be a new person. With this new year, it feels like destiny has offered me the perfect opportunity for some changes to take place.. a perfect opportunity to be reborn.

2010 was a good year. It wasn't that great a year for me, but it surely is a year I won't forget. I received plenty of blessings and I really am very thankful. Love came unto me, bolts of realizations hit me, family bonded, friendships renewed. There's just so much to be thankful for... family, friends, loved ones.. Nothing really extraordinary happened in the year 2010, but it really was a good year for me.

December, it seemed, was a pretty busy month. I did a lot of things.. with family and friends. I had some quality bonding with my high school friends, went out for a swim my family, celebrated Christmas and welcomed the New Year with a bunch of kids in my neighborhood. It was all good. I won't go into specific details. Here are just some snapshots of my December moments.

December 23, 2010

San Joaquin Plaza

High school friends

Neighborhood kids, friends and family 

December 25

Sayomac Residence

Christmas Party

December 26, 2010

Basang-basa Coral Beach, San Joaquin, Iloilo

December 19, 2010

Annex - Smallville, Iloilo City

High school friends

And now, a new year begins.

Looking back, I'm not sure if I did accomplish my 2010 resolution. I deemed to get slim, I'm still fat. Hmp! I aimed to have two bank accounts (one for business and the other, personal) both overflowing with dough, I only have one bank account, barely reaching half my money goal. Pathetic! I wanted to go places, travel with friends or family, or by myself, but the farthest place I've been to was Antique. Lame! I wanted to start a family, here I am and still single. Bummer!

But hey, I'm not a total loser. Get this! Granted, I didn't save mucho dinero last year, but looking at the bright side, at least I DID save some. I haven't slimmed down, still I lost a few pounds. Haha! I'm just being optimistic with things. Looking at that silver lining for every dark cloud, you know..

So what now? A New Year's Resolution list? So cliche.. but then again, there's no harm in making one.

• The first on my list. Learn to relax and try to let go of things. I always try to rationalize things. Why this? Why that? Always looking for answers. I tend to think too much. Maybe I should try letting loose, for a change. You know, like understanding the idea that things happen because they're bound to happen. I've got to learn to let things go. Relax. Chill.

• Second. Learn to stop making excuses and love your work. I am very "tamad". It basically means, I need proper motivation to do something. And by "proper", I mean enough bribe and benefits. Maybe I should start doing things, not just because of what I can gain from doing it, but because I simply have to and should do it. Don't get me wrong.. It is only correct that I do something because there's so much in store for me.. a pot full of gold at the end of the rainbow. But just doing something because I have to and then LOVING it, I can see that it offers greater satisfaction. Bottomline, stop being materialistic and "tamad".

• Third. Learn discipline. I keep failing at this. But I'll try to do better. 'Nuff said.

• Fourth. Slim down. This goes hand in hand with the third. I simply can't control myself when it comes to food. I love food. Who doesn't, right? I really find it very difficult to say NO whenever I see some mouth-watering dish on the table. Maybe I should start wearing a red ribbon on my right pinkie, just to remind myself not to eat too much. LOL. Or better yet, maybe I should slap myself everytime an urge to eat strikes. Hehe. That would surely work. Nah, I think the best way is just to learn focus and discipline. Easier said than done.. But hey, it's worth a shot.

• Fifth. Save more. I admit, I'm not thrifty. Wait.. I am very kuripot.. but when it comes to personal pleasure and benefits, I tend to splurge. All out. Yep, it's perfectly okay to treat yourself once a month. Problem is, I do that every week. LOL. Pfft.. I know. I'm not getting any younger. I have to save more dough. More money on my bank account. Check.

• Sixth. Get married? Nah.. I'm not really sure if I wanna get married this year. I have a very rocky relationship with a douchebag, as of the moment. I'd say it's already a losing battle. I'm thinking of breaking up with him. I think he's cheating on me. Hmm.

• Seventh. Travel more. I'd really like to travel more. 2010 gave me an all-time low opportunity to travel. The place I've traveled to, farthest away from home was Antique.. and it's only 50-60 kilometers away. So hopefully, this year.. I could go out and travel more. If fate allows, maybe I could go to Manila this January. I also have plans of going to Bacolod and Davao. Plans, but I hope they'd come in contact with "becoming real" and "coming true". I guess this one goes hand in hand with my number 5. If I can save more, maybe I can travel a lot more. Seems possible, right?

• Eight. Write honest posts and gain more blog acquaintances. Some bloggers write to impress. And I admit, in the past year, I did write to impress. But then, after a few months of blogging, I felt like there's no use making an incredible posts, whilst no one will be able to understand. Some of my posts have been purely superficial and shallow. My readers didn't feel me, and it's kinda frustrating. Also, I've noticed that some bloggers, they tend to form groups. And it's quite hard to join one. It's like being back in high school, you don't know where you'd fit in. You'd try to join clubs and groups, in order to feel some sort of security or whatever. The only way to be IN is to fit in. Now, I'm realizing that I really don't need to join groups to have readers. Of course, that's a big plus. But as long as I write honest posts, readers could totally relate to what I'm saying/writing about and they'd totally want to go back for more. That's why I want to explore the blog world more. I won't limit myself to just a limited number of readers. I honestly want to have readers who are residing, halfway across the globe from me. There are thousands, maybe millions of bloggers all around the world. And I'm quite sure that there is someone out there, who'd notice me, and understand or relate to my posts on a personal level. So maybe, I should learn to write from the heart more and gain friends, in return.

Hm.. So that's about it. Here is my 2011 Resolution list. As I've said, I'm not sure if I can do all these, especially with the fourth resolution. But I'm being optimistic.

2010 was a good year. I hope 2011 would be better. ☺

A Birthday Reunion

*This post is in Filipino.

Matagal-tagal rin bago ako nakapag bonding with my college friends.. I've never seen them for almost 5 years. We kept in touch thru text and facebook, pero iba pa rin kasi kapag peys-to-peys. Kaya excited rin akong makapunta sa birthday party ng anak ng isang kaibigan noong college. I kept saying, "This is gonna be good."

August 29, 2010. The day started out real fine. I woke up at about 7:00 in the morning. The plan was, we'd all meet up sa Andok's Place, malapit lang sa Jaro plaza, then diretso na sa birthday venue at 12:00 noon. Tamang-tama lang sa chibug. So.. I woke up at 7. Actually, gusto ko pa sanang matulog. Ang ganda ng panaginip ko. Pero ang kulit ng pamangkin kong si Sophia.. nambubwisit nangungulit na, ang aga-aga pa eh. She kept on tugging at my hair and mumbling some incomprehensible words like "abbluhu..hablu..huh? chatudlubahum.." Ano raw, baby? Hehe.. Ang cute ng pamangkin ko. Parang ako. Hahaha!

So yun nga. I woke up, had my breakfast, watched TV, checked my blog, took a bath and got ready for the party. Umalis ako ng house at about 11:30. Wala pa akong enough pera sa wallet kasi di ako nakapag widraw ng datung last night. Out of service ang ATM machine na malapit sa apartment. Eh ayokong pumunta ulit dun kasi baka out of service pa, at tinatamad na akong maghanap pa ng ibang machines, so nanghiram na lang ako ng pera kay sis-in-law. Hehehe. Hiram po, hindi hingi.