joielicious… bloodythoughts…

this is so funny, promise!

Bingham Canyon Mine, Utah
Depth: 1,500 feet
Width: 2.5 miles
(Can be seen by the naked eye from outer space)

Mirny, Russia
Depth: 500 meters
Width: 1.5 kilometers

Kimberly Mine, South Africa
Depth: 240 meters

Deep Blue Hole, Belize
Depth: 412 feet

Money Pit, Philippines
Depth: Unfathomable

Also known as…

La Greta’s Vajayjay
(Oiled & Olayed)

the first quarter of 2008 has just ended. wow, cliche na kung cliche, but see how time flies.  grabeh.  napapa-emote na naman tuloy ako.
hehehe. seriously though, in passing such milestones, i am usually
inspired to stop and reflect a while. sabi nga ni manong socrates “an
unexamined life is not worth living.” i’ve taken this to heart,
sometimes too much, that i tend to mull things over every so often —
sometimes too much, that my friends ding me for over-analyzing things.
(those who are faulted the same way, over-analytical folks, please
raise your hands! he-he-he!)

there are three things that i always do in such milestones. first, i think of all the things i am thankful for, and given the chance, i actually thank those people worthy of the appreciation. second, i ponder upon the things i  did wrong, and given the chance, i actually apologize to those people who i’ve offended. third and lastly, i think of the things i can improve or do more of;
and this time, I try to encourage myself to really strive to be better,
and to do more of the good things i did that have made the lives of
people around me even just a bit better.

so in such milestones, I say, gracias! (THANK YOU!), perdon! (I’M SORRY!), and mas! (MORE!) — gracias, perdon, mas!

ECONOMICS OF THE WORLD IN SIMPLE TERMS

really. 

Picked this up from maria.

how much is your 3 pesos worth?

this
month, your three pesos can make a big difference in an indigenous
child’s life. from february 7 to August 7, 2008, three pesos from every
single receipt at powerbooks trinoma will go to cartwheel foundation’s pre-school programs for indigenous filipino children!

long
distances, rivers and streams, narrow paths and makeshift
bridges—indigenous children must face these challenges just to go to
school. for very young children, going under these conditions is
practically impossible.

cartwheel foundation works in remote
areas of the philippines to help make it possible for indigenous
children to go to school. and YOU can lend a hand! just make a purchase
at powerbooks trinoma. powerbooks trinoma and cartwheel foundation are
giving you a chance to see how far 3 pesos can go, and how much it is
worth to an indigenous child.

as you enjoy your powerbooks trinoma purchases, we hope your enjoyment will be tripled—knowing that
your 3-peso contribution will go a long way to helping an indigenous
child go to school!

—–
i got that from
my email earlier. i might as well post it and let’s hope all you
booklovers out there (at least here in the philippines, particularly
those in the metro) help out. besides, what better way to check out the
new mall than to visit (and buy) books from powerbooks! every three
pesos count! may i suggest that you separate your purchases an item at
a time (if it’s ok) to maximize on the Php 3.00 that goes to the pre-school program of the foundation.

i am not affiliated with
the foundation in any way. professionally, that is. but i’m friends
with some people connected with it. and i make it a point to help if i can. posting this is the most i can do. or probably buying a book in trinoma within the period provided. other than that i’m just hopeful
that foundations such as cartwheel don’t disappear on the face of the
planet for lack of funding when other, not-so-important organizations
get gazillions of pesos (or even dollars) that somehow go to waste. there i go again with the judging.

i am not affiliated in any
way also with the bookstore however. i wish i am. gosh, all those
books! maybe i could apply as a book manager.
hahaha!

like what i said in my year-end reflection last year,
it has been my regular practice to go back and reflect on past events,
always in search of lessons i could learn from such happenings. i am
again sharing with you some year-end thoughts, 3 things i will try to
keep in mind as we enter 2008 — (1) something that i want to sustain
and continue; (2) something i want to improve on and extend; and
lastly, (3) something new i want to explore and emerge in my life. as i
share these, i also wish that you likewise spend some year-end
reflection time — may we all live a happy and meaningful life!

hopefulness

i’d like to sustain and continue my practice of having a “beauty
bias” — that is, always looking at the brighter side of things. i’d
like to grow old with lots of good memories. by always seeking to see
the good perspective, i help myself in becoming more encouraging and
loving. it reminds me too that there’s always something good to look
forward to in life, it gives me an optimism that energizes, a
hopefulness that soothes the soul, preparing it to experience more and
to give more.

mindfulness

in the coming year, i will try to practice more “mindful living.”
mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present
moment. it is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every
moment of daily life. to be mindful is to be truly alive and present
with those around you and with what you are doing. we bring our body
and mind into harmony while doing the most mundane of things, like
talking to a friend, walking my dog, cleaning my room, etc.

purposefulness

living a life larger than just for one’s self is a notable
inspiration i got while doing my year-end reflection. i read somewhere,
an advise from a successful corporate man, “when inspiration strikes,
act.” thus i would like to take this inspiration, this opportunity to
act and push myself forward, even against my own comfort. in the past
days, i’ve been thinking that to really concretize some actions to make
this purposefulness a reality, i have to identify certain things that I
need to sacrifice — because, indeed, sacrifice is the touchstone of
love. HAPPY NEW YEAR MY DEAR FRIENDSTERS.

i know i’ve been remiss in my blogging (and bloghopping) when i seem to
have missed out on the many raging controversies in "philippine
blogosphere" — God, how i hate
that term. it must be the strange weather we’re having lately, but
everybody seems particularly irritated. and some for good reason. there’s, of course, gibbs ranting about the growing cliques and their sense of entitlement
in the local blogging world (which made me think: i’ve been blogging
since last year, not on a daily basis though, and I kinda miss the innocence . today, it’s
all about awards this, and googleads that, it all makes your head
spin.) but there’s something else I have missed out on…

this is vile malu fernandez and her matapobre mouth, probably the most hated woman in philippine blogging today. (in her friendster account,
she describes herself as a "super bitch but with a heart of gold ….
hahaha sometimes i’m not what i seem to be oooh thats a double edged
sword…") she writes a social column in people asia magazine,
and thinks she has the wit of libby gelman-wexler when in all actuality
she has the talent and the dimness of a paris hilton on a bad day. and
she looks like a runaway lechon dressed up in fake designer clothes to boot. what she has done is approach tim yap notoriety of pa-sosyal viciousness without even the whiff of flair tim has. see the offending instance via tingog.com here and here, and see the debate in manolo’s blog here,
and countless other blogs too many to even begin to consider and link. better yet,i’m posting the pages of the notorious article below (click
to enlarge):

read
her article and feel your blood pressure rise. but what really riled me
up — and prompted me to post this — is her devil-may-care response to
the blogging barrage:

as itype this, I’d like you
to know that it’s not about whining, complaining and bitching but just
stating the facts. just recently, i wrote a funny article in my
magazine column and my friends thought it was hilarious. it was
humorous and quite tongue-in-cheek, or at least i thought so, until the
magazine got a few e-mails from people who didn’t get the meaning of my
acerbic wit. the bottom line was just that i had offended the reader’s
socioeconomic background. if any of these people actually read anything thicker then a magazine they would find it very funny. most people don’t get the fact that they need bitches like me to shake
up their world, otherwise their lives would be boring and mediocre. i
obviously write for the a certain target audience and if what i write
offends you, just stop reading.

well, dear, i’ve read books thicker than triple your waistline, and i know what is satiric and what is ironic and what is acerbic and what is tongue-in-cheek. you’re neither all of these. your silly article is still nothing more
to most cultured people than a moronic attempt at column-writing by a
bored social climber who is trying to assuage her insecurity because no
amount of reading french women don’t get fat can ever get her to lose the love handles on her face.

i say cat is right: fire her. she is a waste of ink and paper.

what a pot roast.

[note: the viciousness above should be taken as something like giving her a dose of her own medicine. she needs it, man.]

it’s in his eyes that i see if the words i hear from his mouth actually came from the heart.

it’s in his eyes that i see if that magical moment of our togetherness can wonderfully

stretch to years of growing old together.

it’s in his eyes that i see, as i pierce it with my own gaze in the rapture of pleasure,

that the unity of our flesh is indeed a unity of our souls.