Take You There

I have learned news this week about friends of friends dying. These guys are just about my age. One died of stab wounds. The other one didn’t wake up anymore after an operation which took off a tumor in his brain.

I feel sad especially for the people they left behind. Their young deaths reminds us that life is short, we ought to make the best with living so that when death comes, we are ready.

We felt a deep loss when my father died. It was shocking to know that my father will be lost forever in just a matter of seconds. My father died in the loving arms of my mother when he died instantly from a gunshot piercing his lungs and heart. It was fatal. My mother, a doctor, could not bring him back.

Whenever I hear people dying unexpectedly, I feel their family’s pain. It is hard really.

But then again, as yet our time is not up, we ought to make the best life stories ever told. Best I mean make it more meaningful by honing our talents and sharing them with the world, liiving life with an open heart making no room for regrets, hatred, anger and fear. Fulfillment comes when we love, forgive and trust.

These are the probably the things that my father would teach me through his death. Be not afraid to live coz the gift of life is just temporary.

To my dear father, Happy Birthday! We miss you!

Got inspired by this webpost which I found at plurk. The playlist that I have is kinda emo and common but it helped me get through those days.
This is definitely something I would hand over to my kids. Something that will help guide them about matters of life.

I found it hard to compress my playlist in just 100 songs. I still have in my mind the movie soundtracks back then in my younger years. Maybe I’ll make another set of 100. Lol!

Here it is folks:

1. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
2. The Beatles – Come Together
3. Audioslave – Like A Stone
4. Cardigans - Lovefool
5. Collective Soul – Run
6. Garbage - #1 Crush
7. Rivermaya - Sunday Driving
8. Aimme Mann – Wise Up
9. Sheryl Crow – Home
10. Dishwalla – Every Little Thing
11. Jack Johnson – Banana Pancakes
12. Jason Mraz – I’m Yours
13. Norah Jones – Sunrise
14. Texas – Put Your Arms Around Me
15. Paula Cole – Me
16. John Mayer – Love Song For No One
17. Eraserheads – Alapaap
18. Ogie Alcasid – Huwag Ka Lang Mawawala
19. Lani Misalucha – Tila
20. Aerosmith – I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing
21. Israel Kamakawiwo’ole - Over the Rainbow/What A Wonderful World
22. Pearl Jam – Last Kiss
23. Incubus- Drive /// Incubus - Dig
24. No Doubt – Don’t Speak
25. Extreme - More Than Words
26. Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
27. Side A - Forevermore
28. Ewan McGregor/Nicole Kidman – Come What May
29. True Faith – Perfect
30. Foo Fighters – Walking After You
31. Martin Nievera – Kahit Isang Saglit
32. Lenny Kravitz – It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over
33. The Corrs – Una Noche
34. Fiona Apple – Across The Universe
35. Switchfoot - Dare you to move
36. Imago – Sundo
37. U2 – One
38. U2 – Kite
39. Coldplay – Shiver
40. Lisa Loeb - Stay
41. Eraserheads – Fill Her
42. Sarah McLachlan – I Love You
43. Madonna – Frozen
44. Black Eyed Peas – Where is The Love
45. Mariah Carey – Music Box
46. Rachel Yamagata – I Wish You Love
47. Moby – Dream About Me
48. Iaxe - Ako’y Sa ‘Yo, Ika’y Sa ‘Kin
49. Elton John – I Want Love
50. Jars of Clay – Five Candles You Were There When I Needed You
51. Bruce Springsteen – Secret Garden
52. Dave Matthews Band – Up and Away
53. Spiral Staircase – More Today Than Yesterday
54. The Verve Pipe – The Freshman
55. Peaches and Herb – Reunited
56. Alana Davis – 32 Flavors
57. Dido – Thank You
58. Mary J. Blidge – No More Drama
59. Christina Aguilera – Beautiful
60. Macy Gray – I Try
61. Binocular – Deep
62. Kjwan - Lifeline
63. Fatima Rainey – Hey
64. Regine Velasquez – I’ll Never Say Goodbye
65. Jewel – Hands
66. Karen Carpenter – You
67. Seal – Love’s Divine
68. Elliot Yamin – A Song For You
69. Adele – Make You Feel My Love
70. Bic Runga – Sway
71. Barenaked Ladies – Call and Answer
72. Live – Selling The Drama
73. Sarah McLachlan – Sweet Surrender
74. The Turtles – Happy Together
75. Annie Lennox – Waiting in Vain
76. Creed – Higher
77. Diana Krall – The Look of Love
78. Sixpence None The Richer – Don’t Dream It’s Over
79. The Sundays – Summertime
80. Tori Amos – Strange Little Girl
81. Goo Goo Dolls – Black Balloon
82. Hootie & the Blowfish - Only Lonely
83. Matchbox 20 – If You’re Gone
84. Norah Jones – The Nearness of You
85. The Police – Every Breath You Take
86. Shawn Mullins – Lullabye
87. Tori Amos – Silent All These Years
88. D’ Sound – Tattooed On My Mind
89. Sergio Mendes – Hey Look At The Sun
90. Sade – By Your Side
91. Gloria Estefan – Words Get In The Way
92. Eric Clapton – Change The World
93. Depeche Mode – Somebody
94. Edwin McCain – I’ll Be
95. Semisonic – Secret Smile
96. Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time
97. Julia Fordham – Love Moves In Mysterious Ways
98. Aretha Franklin - Summertime
99. Simply Red – Holding Back The Years
100. Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine

I have a confession.
I have a confession to make.
Not a lot of people know this so I am letting the world know now.
I have UHL or SSD. Unilateral Hearing Loss or Single Sided Deafness.
So what?
I have been like this since before I stepped into college.
That’s already 2 years and a decade ago.
It still haunts me coz it left a ringing sound that never sleeps.
What could have caused this condition?
Well, I just lost my right ear after making my eardrums swollen to earplugs and loud music.
Then came vertigo.
Then depression. Then isolation.
I wasn’t normal all along. I pretended to be.
Til I found the courage to let other people know.
Now, I shall let everyone know.

I found this invitation from the website of my good friend and mentor, Ms. Violet. Since this event also happens to be my birth date, I am pledging to become one foster parent. Join me and let’s share God’s blessings to those who need it most.

=====

Dear Fellow Altruist,

Here is an invitation to brighten a child’s life this Christmas.

The Christmas Outreach is called “Kidzworld Brighten up a tree and share a day of joy”. The activity is on December 13, 2008 and the company sponsoring it hope to pair 500 orphans aged 3 to 10 years old from orphanages in Cavite & Metro Manila with at least one (1) foster parent each for them to bond with through the many games, activities prepared for them.

To be a foster parent all you have to do is to make a PhP150.00 contribution to cover the cost of snacks for the orphaned children and please bring a gift for your foster child and of course be there.  It’s not hard to find because its just beside SM City Dasmariñas, Cavite.

Registration starts at 12:30pm shortly after lunch. First in line will be the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. This early you can already be with your foster child. This will be followed by the program.

You may also choose to be sponsors by giving in cash or in kind. You can also invite your officemates. Do invite them this early because this time, it is really hoped that we can provide one warm body or foster parent for each of the 500 orphans.

Doctors and nurses from the Pediatrics Department of Makati Medical Center will be on hand to give free Medical Check-ups.  We hope to invite entertainers and artists to grace the event and make the outreach more exciting for the kids.

I will be happy to answer all your questions, please feel free to call us at 7212167 or 721 3509 loc 113 and look for me or Veron.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Armand Michael R. Eustaquio
www.kidzworld. com.ph
Tel No. (63 2) 721-2167
Mobile No.: 0922-888-7873
PS.  As a token of appreciation for your generosity our company will give you a free swim pass at KidzWorld which you can avail of anytime after the outreach.  Thank you and God Bless.

I’m so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m bringing my family again to Boracay this December. I was able to book 12 seats ABSOLUTELY F-R-E-E at Cebu Pacific’s Website.

THE E-TICKET!

Everyone is excited! Most of them are first-timers to Boracay. We have here three kids and two adults riding the plane for the first time. We are all looking forward for this happy trip.

Thanks too, Cebu Pacific!

What Your Name Means You entered: Artemia Melynn A. Limjap There are 20 letters in your name. Those 20 letters total to 86 There are 8 vowels and 12 consonants in your name. What your first name means: Greek Female Gift from Artemis. Your number is: 5 The characteristics of #5 are: Expansiveness, visionary, adventure, the constructive use of freedom. The expression or destiny for #5: The number 5 Expression endows with the wonderful characteristic of multi-talents and versatility. You can do so many things well. The tone of the number 5 is constructive freedom, and in your drive to attain this freedom, you will likely be the master of adaptability and change. You are good at presenting ideas and knowing how to approach people to get what you want. Naturally, this gives you an edge in any sort of selling game and spells easy success when it comes to working with people in most jobs. Your popularity may lead you toward some form of entertainment or amusement. Whatever you do, you are clever, analytical, and a very quick thinker. If there is too much of the 5 energy in your makeup, you may express some the negative attitudes of the number. Your restless and impatient attitude may keep you from staying with any project for too long. Sometimes you can be rather erratic and scatter yourself and your energies. You have a hard time keeping regular office hours and maintaining any sort of a routine. You tend to react strongly if you sense that your freedom of speech or action is being impaired or restricted in any way. As clever as you are, you may have a tendency to make the same mistakes over and over again because much of your response is glib reaction rather that thoughtful application. You are in a continuous state of flux brought by constantly changing interests. Your Soul Urge number is: 5 A Soul Urge number of 5 means: The 5 soul urge or motivation would like to follow a life of freedom, excitement, adventure and unexpected happening. The idea of travel and freedom to roam intrigues you. You are very much the adventurer at heart. Not particularly concerned about your future or about getting ahead, you can seem superficial and unmotivated. In a positive sense, the energies of the number 5 make you very adaptable and versatile. You have a natural resourcefulness and enthusiasm that may mark you as a progressive with a good mind and active imagination. You seem to have a natural inclination to be a pace-setter. You are attracted to the unusual and the fast paced. You may be overly restless and impatient at times. You may dislike the routine work that you are engaged in, and tend to jump from activity to activity, without ever finishing anything. You may have difficulty with responsibility. You don’t want to be tied down to a relationship, and it may be hard to commit to one person. Your Inner Dream number is: 9 An Inner Dream number of 9 means: You dream of being creative, intellectual, and universal; the selfless humanitarian. You understand the needy and what to help them. You would love to be a person people count on for support and advice.

I believe CJ is growing to be an artistic and imaginative and creative kid. She’s been scribbling with her crayons since this summer and always asking for paper where she could write her amazing artwork. She likes to draw too in her magnet board. She has something with dots and lines that however magulo they seem, it appears to be a great artistic job for a two year old like her.

Take a good look at these:

And these:

Do you know what these pictures are from my baby’s perspective?

She told me its "Pato", the duck character in the cartoon show, Pocoyo.
While working at my desk, she suddenly approached me saying, "Mommy, si Pato." Pointing at what she just created, a yellow PlayDoh container with a green cup turned upside down, her version of Pato. I was so amazed at my child that I instantly took a picture of her Pato.

By the way, here, take a look at the Pato kids see on TV.

Amazing!

Here’s to my friend Irene and all those hurting and nursing their broken hearts.

Opaline by Dishwalla

Summer 2007 is about to end in a few weeks time.
What I can say is it’s the best summer I had so far.

I’m just so terribly angered because of what happened to me this morning, around 11:30 am. My cellphone and my wallet was taken by a Bubble Gum Gang. I took a bus from Ayala on my way home when this guy told me that there is a bubble gum on my hair. I know there was something freaky going on already. What I was thinking was, how would a f[_](|< ||\| bubble gum get into my hair? Then, the guy on my left also pointed out the bubble gum on my hair. I was getting angry then and distracted and I believe that’s the time, the guy on my left took my wallet and cellphone. Nasigawan ko pa yung naglagay ng bubble gum sa buhok ko. Things happened so fast. They suddenly all went down the bus at Magallanes before the overpass. I only realized that my wallet and cellphone was taken when I checked my bag when we were at Evangelista St. They were good cause my bag didn’t have any slit. There I lost my wallet with my ATM, Jonjon’s credit card, SSS ID, Community Tax Certificate and my phone with lots of contact numbers on it.

Good thing, that wallet only has Php40.00 on it. They weren’t able to take my other purse having some thou bucks on it. Buti na lang hindi yun ang nakuha. And another one, I have a post paid phone line wherein I could have it cut and then activated afterwards.

But above anything else, I am thankful that nothing bad happened to me. I was able to get home whole.

When I got home, I immediately called the bank and Globe to have the ATM and cellphone cut.

Kaya ingat po tayo palagi. Don’t be easily distracted by falling coins or hankies or bubble gum on your hair.

These guys are able people naman. They are only on their 30s or late 20s. Kaya naman nilang magtrabaho pero they prefer to pawn their souls for some Php40 bucks and cellphones.

I cannot blame them for doing such to me but with excuses like "sa hirap ng buhay ngayon…", the act is never justified.

The only thing that we could do is be vigilant and let us not give them the chance to do us any harm.

In the end, it will still be the Higher Being who will be the judge.