Stop over

It's raining here.
But Davao is not near.
I'm driving now.
Oh I see a cow!

Handcrafted

I am amazed I can do these photo enhancements with a click of the mouse. Photofunia.com. What a great find!

Eagle Eye

We made it to the last full show of Eagle Eye last night at NCCC.

It has the same plot as I Robot. What I am intrigued: Can the current technology really track my every move?

Not a complete waste of time but I wasn't thrilled. I agree with Variety, "The picture's first 35 minutes sizzle until a Byzantine plot nudges the story toward near-parody in the final act." And with this one, "Good, manic fun plus a heavy dose of political intrigue adding up to two hours of clamorous, mind-numbing nonsense." Hahaha.

We saw the trailer for Nights in Rodanthe. We will not miss this one. I just hope I will like the changes they made to the movie version.

Whispers of the wind

I feel like I'm with the poet on this walk. I, too, would like to hear the whispers of the wind!

My Paradise
by Kate

As I walk through the forest I can hear the trees
Using the winds to whisper to one another
I feel like if I listen hard enough
I can understand what they are saying
I strain my ears to listen to its words
But the meaning of their words are just out my reach
I listen to the winds rustling the leaves
As if it was some sort of music
When I realize I can also hear a brook
I scan my surrondings until I find it
Hidden behind a patch of trees
There is a small sandy beach
It is covered with rocks, a log, and raccoon tracks
I see rocks of all colors scattered across the bottom
They create this cornicopia of color
It fascinates me for minutes, then hours
And time becomes a past memory as I fade away into it all
Sometime later I snap out of my mesmerized state
I gather my things and ready to leave my secret paradise
As I whisper one last goodbye I swear I hear the wind whisper it back.

Contruction

I passed by an apartment being built today, and this word just popped-out of my mind: contruction.

When our house was being built, I heard "contruction" often loosely used by the workers.

"Pila ka na ka tuig nagtrabaho sa construction, Manong."

"Dugay nako nagtrabaho sa contruction, sir."

Being an O.C. in a lot of things -- spelling, grammar, overnight basura, chairs and tables with eneven legs, and others -- wonderfully keeps me on a steady state of imbalance. So when I first heard "contruction", I had to strain my ears to listen to the conversations, thinking I might have missed hearing the S somewhere. The Sssss were, sadly, always absent.

Another time, I was talking to a contractor friend, and he said he needed to get IDs for his workers for a contruction he was doing at a plush subdivision. I nearly hissed when I heard him say it.

Contruction: the filipino workers' contribution to the English language.

Worlds apart

I had lunch at Adelfas, in Matanao. I was served a big portion of paksiw na buntot ng bariles. After seing the bulge in my stomach, the tindera thought I could devour anything. Hahaha. I proved her wrong! I was already full, but a big, tasty chunk of the bariles was still left.

I noticed a small girl watching Wowowee, and holding the peanuts and chicharon she was selling. I told her to sit down, and, when I learned she didn't have lunch yet, I ordered a cup of rice for her and got her a glass of water. The girl is 11 years old and not in school. Her mother is dead and her father sells chicharon too.

She is as old as Althea but they are living entirely different worlds: My pamangkin downloads songs from the internet to copy into her mp3 player, uploads photos of her classmates (at Stella) into her friendster account, and excitedly waits for Highschool Musical, the Movie to be showned at SM. This kid, on the other hand, wonders if the man facing her now and giving her free lunch, will also buy some of the five-peso-per-pack peanuts she is selling -- so that her two younger sisters at home could have a decent meal.

I felt sad for the girl's plight. But I believe, no matter the circumstance, her future is still unwritten; and it's up to her to fill the pages of her life with whatever stories she desires.

I am glad of the huge portion of bariles served to me. I'm sure, had I been given just enough, I wouldn't have thought of giving anybody a free lunch.

As I left Adelfas, this thought, which I heard from Tony Robbins, crossed my mind: When you give love, it immediately comes back to you. I get what he meant, and it's just so true. Love is the only thing where I immediately get back, the moment I give it.

The warmth, kindness, and love I felt, as I watched the kid silently eat her meal, profoundly strengthened my commitment to help those who have less in life than me. Death is inevitable for all of us, the material things we accumulate on earth will simply vanish. Therefore, Wayne Dyer said, the purpose of life MUST be to GIVE what we accumulate.

Illusions

Just read (or reread, not sure) Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. What a waste of time! Sorry Mr. Richard Bach. After Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, all your other books, including A Bridge Across Forever, were dull and meaningless to me. It did not give me the emotional and spiritual high that Seagull once did -- when I was still in college.

My younger self might have read some portions of the book because the first few chapters seems vaguely familiar, but boring as it is, I might have dosed off after the first few pages.

But most of the quotes from the Messiah's Handbook (in Illusions) are profound:

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.

Imagine the universe beautiful and just and perfect.

You're always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.

Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a false messiah.

Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.

The simplest questions are the most profound.
Where were you born?
Where is your home?
Where are you going?
What are you doing?

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.

There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.

You are never given a wish without being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.

Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.

In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.

DBP Floor Plan

This is DBP's floor plan, Althea's version. We brought Atet to DBP to witness the bank's fire drill day. She drew this floor plan in less than 3 minutes, I think.

Is she going to be an architect or an engineer someday? Hard to predict really. She says, when she grows up, she will help her Mama manage the laundry service store. I keep on convincing her to be a nurse; and tells her she will go to places she only sees at the internet. I don't think I'm getting to her though. Not yet.

olympic torch? sword?

balancing act

Dwarf Lanzones

I planted a dwarf lanzones tree at the right side of our front lawn. It's near the dining area so, I hope, it will provide some cool shades when we're dining during hot days. I bought it for P280 at a fair for farm products in Pigcauayan. Manong, the seller, showed me a picture of a grown tree: it's as tall as our fence, with a single trunk, and enough leaves to cover the area on that side of our lawn; and when I saw the lanzones fruits dotting all over its branches, I was convinced this is the tree for me, even though, Manong suggested indian trees offer better shades. (I bought two indian trees, too, for P100 each)

Uncle Roland haven't heard of a dwarf lanzones tree; he says it might have been grafted from a smaller tree. (Grafting? did I hear him right?)

Gem says it will invite ants and other insects, but she just let me be when I got the shovel and started making a small hole at the lawn to plant the tree.

It will be two years before it will bear any sweet, juicy fruit. In the meantime, one kilo for P30 at Bankerohan will help ease the long wait.

blake, dash, alto in the background

1 dwarf lanzones, two indian trees

Make me an instrument

I am receiving a lot of private messages for "Here I am Lord" video. This one, from RoseofMercy, touched me deeply.

To: januarysdawn
From: roseofmercy
Subject: Here I am lord
Date: Jul 30, 2008

I have been trying to find my way back to my faith after a serious illness during which my faith dissappeared; any way I just watched your very beautiful video of here I am Lord which really touched something inside of me. I cant begin to work out how you make something like that. The main reason for this email is could you please tell me who is singing the hymn. Thank you.

roseofmercy

My response:

The singer is John Michael Talbot. I made this as an invocation for one of our meetings.

Sadly, my faith in Him is weak still.

But I''m just amazed that this prayer crossed the globe and touched a lot of people, including you, and expressed their thanks.

Maybe, He really puts us in outrageous personal trials to make us realize how strong and powerful we can be, and that our potential, despite serious setbacks, is truly unlimited.

And sometimes, He uses random individuals, even those with weak faith in Him, to remind the world of His caring presence.

I guess my journey begins now. And I should be the one thanking you.

Every word tell

Timeless advice:

"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell." - Elements of Style 4th edition


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Lechon Paksiw at Babista

I tasted the best lechon paksiw ever. Sabroso! It was cooked by one of my Babista boarding house-mates.

I was having oatmeal for dinner. Oatmeal with lechon paksiw! What a tragic combination. :-)

I got the ingredients, and I will prepare it for the Saturday dinner at home.

War and peace, we will be here.

Free coffee at Babista. (mornings only)

Cola free

It has been twelve days without drinking any cola products! A milestone, indeed. (hehehe)

This was a weeklong experiment only: to test my resolve in denying my taste bud's desire for Coca Cola. The craving to drink was strong in the first few days especially after devouring a lechon or adobong pusit. (Yeah, I know, lechon falls next) :-) But, after being cola free for a full week, the craving diminished.

Now I am aiming for a full month, and hoping for another milestone when November three comes.

Bird Kingdom

Birds are everywhere at the house -- at the windows, at the small nipa hut at the front lawn, at the lone coconut tree at the back; I even found one dead in the garage -- Dash must have been really annoyed.

This one, which sat at the top of the fence, left hastily when I took this shot.













Their favorite resting place: the windows!













Here: bathroom window.














Because their chirping always brightens my day, cleaning their occasional droppings, especially at the windows, is forgivable.


Early Bird

Oh, if you're a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If you're a bird, be an early early bird-
But if you're a worm, sleep late.

by Shel Silverstein

Message in a bottle

Just finished watching Message in a Bottle at surfthechannel.com. I can't believe we missed it at the big screen. Gem said we didn't watch it because I hate Kevin Costner. :)

I bought the book, Message in a Bottle, last year but finally read it just this morning -- which prompted me to search for the movie. I wonder why it took me all this time to read this is N. Sparks's creation.

The movie version is more poignant, even more haunting than the book. Usually it's the other way around.

I particularly love these lines: "... I already had what everyone is searching for and few ever find, the one person in the world who I was born to love forever ... no wind or trouble, or even a little death can knock down this house.... The prayer is that everyone in the world can know this kind of love..." I like to believe I have found this kind of certainty.

To all the ships at sea
and all the ports of call,

to my family
and to all friends and strangers:

This is a message and a prayer.

The message is that my travels taught me a great truth.

I already had what everyone is searching for and few ever find,

the one person in the world who I was born to love forever.

A person like me of the Outer banks and the blue Atlantic mystery.

A person rich in simple treasures,

self-made,

self-taught.

a harbor where I am forever home,

and no wind or trouble,

or even a little death can knock down this house.

The prayer is that everyone in the world

can know this kind of love and be healed by it.

If my prayer is heard, then there will be an erasing of all guilt,

and all regret, and an end to all anger.

Please God, Amen

- Catherine

Raining in Kabakan

I was on my way back to Davao yesterday. It was raining heavily in Kabakan.

I love it when it rains. I opened the car window just to feel and smell the rain touching the cement roads, the palay fields, the world. It's refreshing and cleansing.

The rain seem to wash away all the dirt inside this soul.

The third beginning

My first blog was created more than two years ago. But I forgot its log in ID and password. Darn. Now that blog is floating aimlessly in cyberspace. (http://januarysdawn.blogspot.com/)

My second one was made about a year ago, at first, to put all those wonderful tidbits I am finding from the net --- videos, music, stories, photos and others. But it slowly evolved into a personal journal and became a private blog, sealed from the outside world and supposedly for my eyes only until, of course, Gem started peeking at it. However, a lot written there were not so private after all.

Hence, this third attempt! Starting today, entries in my private blog, which are not too personal to shout to the world, will also be posted here.

We are on different journeys, you and I. Sometimes we make brief stops and marvel at others as they go on with their travels. You are making that momentary stop now and briefly intersected with my journey. So cheers to you fellow traveler.