Quoting Marieseda

To accept mortality is the price that we pay to be human. Life can be difficult, frustrating, painful and we know there is a death sentence at the end, but to live life to the fullest carries its own peculiar glory. A life full of laughter and love is something that should be sought after and cherished.

Read Marieseda's blog and loved what she posted so I'm quoting it here.

Absolutely Mundane

This morning I had difficulty getting out of bed. I don’t know why since I slept earlier than usual. I guess I must’ve been more tired that I thought.

I’m ecstatic about today’s temp being above 0 degrees! Yey yey yey! Pardon me folks, I am a HUGE fan of warmth and a step to warmer weather just makes me go berzerk! It certainly is a step towards the right direction! LOL

Looks like it will be a busy week for me at work. I really don’t mind except that tomorrow I’m training a client I don’t like very much. Eck! But work is work and we cannot always choose the people we have to deal with (suck it in Karen… you’ll survive).

Tito just sent me an Ad about a job opening at this software company and I think I’m going to go check it out. It seems like an interesting opportunity and it would be pretty awesome if I got in (Very. Very. Slim. Chance. but a chance just as well right?).

I noticed I haven’t been eating properly at all and have started to lose weight 2 lbs at a time. Not that I should complain but last time I checked, I was 91 lbs. A big gust of wind could do me damage. I shouldn’t be alarmed because I’m a tiny person anyway. But still, you’ll never know when that big gust of wind will come.

And why is my internet so sloooowwww??

Guy in a tan jacket please let me not see you

I’m sure there is a person you hate seeing in the morning. I have a few. Not because they did something wrong to me. In fact, I don’t know them at all. So why do I hate seeing these people? Because if I see them in the morning on my way to work, it means I’m running late. There’s the guy in a tan jacket with red stripes on the side who wears glasses and then there’s these 2 older women who are always scrambling for seats in the bus (these two can actually be a bit annoying sometimes, they push!) and if I see the guy who lives across the hall from me, it means it’s already 7:25am and I gotta run because it means I’m mostly likely going to miss the bus I want to catch.

Anyhow, I can’t believe Mr. Pres’ plane had problems so instead of him being on the plane off to who-knows-where, he’s here in the office. Major bummer. I was already so pleased when I came in this morning and found out he had already left for the airport. So much for him leaving.

Never Say Never

I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying, “Never say never…”. I never used to pay attention to it until I actually looked back at my life and realized I actually end up doing the stuff I told myself I’d never do. Very weird but true.

The guys I said I would never date (not that there was anything wrong with them… I just didn’t think it was possible) I actually ended up seeing, dating or being in a relationship with. The situations I told myself I’d never get myself into, I’ve actually found myself in and the stuff I told myself I’d never forget, I can’t even recall. It’s pretty scary and I am resolving to never say never… and here we go again. LOL

Not that I have a lot of regrets… I don’t. I just thought it was weird and funny at the same time.

Beautiful

Was reading Marieseda's blog and came across this quote that I thought was absolutely beautiful. (Marieseda, I hope you don't mind me re-posting)

"Your whole life leads you back Home, back to me. Therefore, bless every event, every person, every moment, for each is sacred. Even if you disagree with that event, even if you dislike that person, even if you are not enjoying that moment, all are sacred (...) and there is nothing more sacred than Knowing, and then Experiencing, what Life has to tell us about our Selves."

Home With God
Neale Donald Walsch

These Are My Wishes For You

May you find serenity and tranquility
in a world you may not always understand.

May the pain you have known
and the conflict you have experienced
give you the strength to walk through life
facing each new situation with courage and optimism.

Always know that there are those
whose love and understanding will always be there,
even when you feel most alone.

May a kind word,
a reassuring touch,
and a warm smile
be yours every day of your life,
and may you give these gifts
as well as receive them.

May the teachings of those you admire
become part of you,
so that you may call upon them.

Remember, those whose lives you have touched
and who have touched yours
are always a part of you,
even if the encounters were less than you would have wished.
It is the content of the encounter
that is more important than its form.

May you not become too concerned with material matters,
but instead place immeasurable value
on the goodness in your heart.
Find time in each day to see beauty and love
in the world around you.

Realize that what you feel you lack in one regard
you may be more than compensated for in another.
What you feel you lack in the present
may become one of your strengths in the future.
May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.
Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength
to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent
on another's judgment of your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved.

These Are My Wishes For You
Sandra Sturtz Hauss

Snow Storm

Snow storm today and again it felt like climbing Mount Everest to get to work. The last snow storm I remember was during my first winter in Canada…that was about 2 years ago… and that time, I couldn’t even make it to the subway station due to the absence of much-needed buses. Taking a cab to work was out of the question since I couldn’t even get a cab company on the phone. Cab lines were jammed and it was just darn hopeless so I decided to stay in the comfort of my home (ok, more like my grandma’s house). Anyhow, today wasn’t as bad. Like I told Steve this morning, getting to work today was going to be difficult but not impossible. Mum, dad and my two brothers were sleeping having decided not to go out today. Good ol’, stubborn me was determined to go to work because I would’ve felt really bad if I’m the only one not in the office today. So off I went… layers and all. It took me almost 2 hours to get to work and I was freezing! Thankfully, Steve took the time to pick me up at Glencairn or else I would still be there, waiting for the bus that who knows when will come.

It’s such a dreary day… but there are lots of things to be grateful for… such as Tacos for lunch! Yum!

Homesick?

Monday and I’m feeling a little depressed. I don’t even know why…

I was browsing a friend’s page and saw an old picture taken of us back in ’04 (ok, so it isn’t that old but still…). It’s one of those days when all I want to do is go back to the Phils even for the afternoon and just lie down in my parents’ old bedroom or in my grandma’s couch in QC. Recently, so many are asking me when I’m planning to go back home to visit and all I can say is, “I don’t know yet… no concrete plans as of now.” I remember when I first came to Canada, I promised myself I would visit home every year… It’s been 3 years since I moved and I still have no clue when I’m going to be able to visit.

Maybe I’m feeling a little homesick and that’s probably why I feel down today…

Pondering...

There is really nothing you must be and there is nothing you must do. There is really nothing you must have and there is nothing you must know. There is really nothing you must become. However, it helps to understand that fire burns, and when it rains, the earth gets wet. -Zen saying

Got this quote while browsing another person's blog... I don't know why but it struck me and now I can't get it out of my head...

Dammit, why does it have to be so cold?!

Did I tell you how cold it has been these past couple of weeks? If not, let me stress it again… IT IS TOO DAMN COLD!!

I really am trying not to complain too much about it since this winter has actually been pretty good, delaying the cold temperatures as far as January. But maaannn, going out these past few days – going to work, going anywhere pretty much, is painful. As I write this, I am sitting in front of my computer with my cardigan zipped all the way up. I don’t know if it’s just me, or does the office seem cold today? I know for a fact that standing in the bus stop this morning was horrible even if I was only waiting for 15mins.

I know what you’re thinking… here I am once again, complaining. Complaining about the cold weather… I cannot be blamed for it though, I did grow up in a very warm country where the temperature pretty much stayed the same all year round and it was only a question of whether it was raining or not. Oh how much I miss that…

Heard in the news the other day that Spring is coming earlier this year… let’s be optimistic shall we and hope it is true.

I'll go check it out

I have to say no one looks at a piece of hardware like technicians do. You bring in a new server into the room and their eyes turn into big saucers and they just have to check it out. Off comes the housing and in come their hands, checking every drive, every wire and then comes the “ooohss and aaahhsss”. Can’t say I blame them because I’m the same way. I. can. Be. Such. A. Geek.

If there’s one thing you need to know, good hardware is an investment. I always believe in the saying you get what you pay for. Don’t go cheap if you intend to make full use of it or else you’ll end up spending even more money in the end. I’d gladly spend a few extra bucks for something I know will really benefit me and make my life so much easier.

You can blame my dad and my brother JR for the influence. Sure I can be quite a geek sometimes but I’m nothing like my dad who actually purchases PC magazines and checks out the latest gizmos and what-nots out there. And because my dad knows I have very little patience for such magazines/articles, he has taken up the responsibility of keeping me informed simply by casually mentioning it during Sunday breakfast, dinner and in between wacthing TV shows. Of course, when he mentions something, it usually means he wants to buy it. Not always the case, but almost always happens. For example, we’ll be watching TV and all of a sudden he’ll say something like, “oh I saw this Logitech mouse on a website and (insert all features of such a mouse here)…” and shortly followed by, “I was thinking of checking it out at Future Shop or Best Buy and see how much it costs…” and my favorite line of all, “It’s perfect for you with your laptop… you want to get it…?” so you see, he wants it but gets me to want it too and then pay for it. Funny huh? The sad thing is, I almost always agree with him. Hey, it takes a lot to impress my dad when it comes to tech stuff so if he’s impressed, I’m impressed. Of course, since I am well aware of my dad’s tendency to go a wee bit overboard with gadgets and electronics, I have a practiced speech, “really? Ok, I’ll go check it out and see if I can afford it right now…” This answer is guaranteed to please him. LOL.

Dad wants me to get Windows VISTA. So you know what I said?

“Ok, I’ll go check it out and see if I can afford it.”

Dad smiles. –grin-

Catching up on posting

I. Am. Hungry. I haven’t since this morning and I’m super starving and I need to eat…right about now. LOL.

I’ve been slacking off on posting and I keep telling myself I’m going to do a better job at this. It’s already the 2nd week of Feb and what do I have to show for it? A single post talking about nothing in particular except for me complaining about how bored I am. Sad, I know.

Getting to work this morning was a pain. I left home at about 7:30 and the bus took forever to get there. There were already so many people in the bus stop and thankfully enough, when the bus came, it was pretty empty so every one of us could fit. Because the bus was delayed, I got to Kennedy a little late which of course resulted in me getting to Glencairn 2 minutes later than usual. This means I missed the 8:34am bus that I normally take to work. The next bus is 20mins later. It was freezing! I was standing there, waiting, and the bus that was supposed to get there at 8:54am was 10 minutes late. That means I did not wait for 20 mins… instead, I waited for half an hour! You try standing in the bus stop for half an hour in negative temperatures with a bit of windchill and see what it feels like. My toes were numb and they started to hurt real bad. If I had known the bus would be late, I would’ve taken a cab instead. After all, what’s $7 compared to 30mins of waiting time in the freezing cold right? Arggghhh!

Anyhow, it’s Steve’s birthday today! Happy Birthday Stevie!! If there’s anyone in this world that deserves the best life can offer, it certainly is you. Anyone who knows you will agree with me.

Boredom is a killer

Today is the slowest day. Ever. I literally went to work knowing that I have absolutely nothing to do all day but pretend to be working. It’s just one of those really slow days when you’ve done everything you’re supposed to do and everyone else seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth. In short, I. am. Bored. Big time.

There must be something seriously wrong. I complain when I’m too busy and complain when I’m too damn bored.

So here’s what I’ve been doing since this morning:

• Arrive at work 5mins late. Not my fault. The bus took forever!
• Got coffee and hung out in the sales pit for an hour.
• Went back to my office, checked my e-mails, answered a few and spoke to my boss for a bit.
• Got up, walked up to the lobby and hung out with H.
• Pizza arrived. Had lunch with H and talked for awhile.
• Went back to my desk to check wether new e-mails had come. None.
• Boss wants nothing. So I’ve got nothing to do.
• Got up, went to the lobby and bugged H some more. T arrived so I lost H to T.
• Went to the tech area and watched a few funny videos with M and S.
• Got tired of videos. Went online, surfed a bit and played Zuma.
• Got tired of Zuma. Looked for Fred the cat and bugged him for a bit.
• Fred the cat is annoyed and sleepy. Left Fred the cat.
• Now back at my desk, attempting to post.

The day is going by so slow. Too bad, nobody else is posting so got nothing to read. Thank God for the iPod. Atleast I’ve got some music.

Complicated

It seems I’ve been neglecting my beloved page here. So sorry, just been really busy and sometimes I feel like everything’s happening around me and with me in it at the same time. You know that feeling? It’s like when you’re walking in the middle of a busy sidewalk and although you’re moving like everyone else, you still feel like there are so many things going on around you at the same time that it almost feels overwhelming and confusing.

I am amazed at how life can get so complicated in a glimpse of an eye. I’m not even going to elaborate on this. It just is.

One heck of an experience

Life is

simple yet complicated
amazing
ridiculous
wonderful
painful
exciting
hard

... truth be told, life is just hard to describe in a single word. There's no knowing what tomorrow may bring, no guarantees, full of risks and just plain unpredictable. Sometimes I find myself thinking about it and I gotta tell you, there are moments when you just sit and marvel at how truly painful and amazing everything is at the same time.

The Fam

I hung out tonight with a very cool colleague and had a blast. It just so happens it's one of those nights when the BF and I enjoy our own sets of "friendlies" from our respective work places and then tell each other what happened afterwards. The sweet BF has gone to bed so I'm left with no course but to go online and write about it instead. Perhaps I will tell him tomorrow instead.

Anyhow, I just realized that when I feel comfortable talking to someone, I actually tend to talk about my family a lot. And when I mean a lot, I mean a lot! I am one of those people, extremely happy to be around the parents and the siblings. I love 'em so much! I think my family are among the sweetest people on Earth. Just now when I got home, JR knocked on my bedroom door, gave me a hug and asked me how my day was. This is my 21 year old brother we are talking about here people. How many of you can say that about your brothers? See?

A lot of people tell me that moving out teaches you a lot about being responsible and all. I believe them. I really do. Eventhough the idea of not having to report to anyone is pretty nice, I really, really love coming home everyday to my parents and my brothers. Surprising, but I love having brothers that bug me every now and then. I love barging in on them when they're in the bathroom because I know they don't like it. I love sitting down for dinner with them and telling each other about our day, exchanging stories and just talking.

I'm very blessed to have a wonderful, loving family and very blessed to have them with me so I am going to enjoy every bit of it while I can.

Great songs, Great Album

Ok, I have to say this and I'm only going to say this once...

I love Stacie Orrico's new album entitled Beautiful Awakening!

Whew! There I said it.

If you knew me, you would know I hardly say I love a certain album. Most of the time I find I only really like a few songs out of the normal 11-15 songs in the entire disk. To narrow it down even further for you, I normally just like 3-5 songs. So, if I find that the number of songs I like is significantly more than the ones I don't like, the said album will get a compliment from me.

What the...?!

Last weekend, my sweet BF and I were walking down his street going to the bus stop. We were trying to walk as fast as we could, it being cold outside and all. He was mostly the one walking fast and I was helplessly trying to catch up. Suddenly, sweet BF stops, turns to me and smiles. I smile back, still walking towards him and expecting him to continue walking once I got closer. So, I get there and by this time we're just standing there at the sidewalk with me giving him a puzzled look.

"Why? What's up?" I innocently asked.

"Look", he said, pointing to something on the ground.

"What the hell...?" I replied, looking at what looks to me like a pair of used condoms. "Is that what I think it is?" I asked.

Laughter. "Yep, condoms." he replies, still laughing.

"Are you sure? Why would they be here? That doesn't make any sense!" replied I, still gazing at them while conjuring all possibly scenarios as to why these condoms would be lying there in plain sight in the middle of the sidewalk.

"I don't know! Do you think they're used or was someone just playing with them and decided to leave them there?" He asked, still a bit amused.

"Ew. If they're, in fact, used, that's just wrong to leave them here. And if someone was playing with them... why the hell would they be playing with condoms in the first place?!" I replied, still trying to think of a possible explanation. I still had my doubts as to whether they were in fact what we thought they were. After all, condoms aren't something you see lying around in my country. In fact, I have yet to see someone buying a pack of condoms from the store... I'm sure the older lady standing beside you would've raised her eyebrows and looked you over.

So, we left them there and continued walking.

Really people, if you use one, throw it in the garbage afterwards! Like anyone wants to see that!!

Ew. SERIOUSLY!

Church Bells A' Ringing!

Nowadays, it seems everyone is either getting married or having a baby. I almost feel as if a memo was sent out and I somehow didn't get it. I am by no means bitter. In fact, I am extremely happy for them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm suprised by how fast time flies. Just yesterday we were still in college figuring what the hell we were going to do for our thesis. And now, they're busy planning for a wedding and some are having a baby. A BABY! Wow, I don't even know if I'm ready for one. I need to find a husband first!

Just the other day I was chatting with L and S and L told us that one of our classmates recently got married and is currently expecting a baby.

"Which came first?" S asked.

"I don't know. I didn't ask. I didn't think it was appropriate" L replied.

"Really huh? anu ba yan, huli nako sa balita" was all I could say.

Sure, I knew eventually we'll settle down and have families of our own. I just never expected it to be so soon. Ok, more like I didn't expect anything before the age of 25. I don't even know why I have an age in mind or why that age for that matter. It's just there.

I can't wait to see them, meet their husbands, hold their babies. It's weird and amazing at the same time. One minute you're sitting in class, learning programming 101 and every now and then imagining who's going to marry who and what your children will look like. And now? Now, we can actually see! Ain't that something?

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Karen

As ya'll know, I'm trying to think of a "catchy" tagline/description for my beloved page here and my brain just can't seem to produce anything that could be described as

original
artistic
funny

and so sad to say, I started to browse online and see if there's anything that would catch my eye and quite possibly inspire me to think of something.

It was then I remembered the Slogan Generator. It was something someone posted on Friendster awhile back and I thought I should take a look at it again. With Google's assistance (Google seems to be my friend these days), I was able to find it at Slogan Generator. for the fun of it, I entered my name and just kept on clicking on the Sloganize Button and found some really interesting combinations:

You like karen, karen likes you
Stop. Go. Karen
Gotta Lotta Karen
Give that man a karen
Karen comes to those who wait
Make Karen yours
Everything we do is driven by Karen
Reach out and touch Karen
The Best part of waking up is Karen in your cup
It takes tough man to make a tender Karen
Have a Karen and Smile
Bridge that gap with Karen
The Karen effect
When you've got Karen, flaunt it
Now with 50% more karen
Designed for Karen, engineered to last
The best Karen a man can get
With a Name like Karen, it has to be good
The Karen of a new generation
Men can't help acting on karen
Tonight, let it be Karen
Have you forgotten how good karen tastes?
So easy, no wonder Karen is #1
Mama Mia, that's one spicy karen
Karen - it does a body good
Strong and beautiful, just like karen
Just do karen
I'd like to buy the world a karen
Life's pretty straight without karen
The Loudest noise comes from the electric karen
Out of the strong came forth karen
Who would you have a karen with?
We're serious about karen
Great Karen, Great times
It's a Bit of Karen
It's the bright one, it's the right one, that's karen
Watch out! There's a karen about
A Karen a day helps you work, rest and play
Smart, beautiful, karen
Does she or doesn't she? Only karen knows for sure
No Karen, No Comment
I Scream, You Scream, We all scream for Karen
More than just a karen

LOL! Sorry guys, it seems the sloganizer adores me! LOL