From the monthly archives: January 2007
Well this week has certainly been more stressful, but a lot more interesting than the usual. Why it’s interesting? I’d rather not divulge. Haha. :P But it was nice getting to meet more people and realizing that I can be friends with some people at work and finally starting to get out of my shell and start making hirits to people in the office. In a totally non-offensive way of course; just for fun. And it’s nice being able to feel normal again. As normal as I would be.
Anyway, I have a very important lesson taught to me this week. It’s not work related, for a change. :) It’s actually quite nice to be able to see how things I usually get sad about is something that would teach me a new lesson.
So let’s talk about crushes. Okay, I saw your ears (or eyes?) perk up! This should be interesting. :)
And suddenly, there’s so much work to do!
I don’t know if I should be happy…but it’s got me feeling…productive. And I like that feeling.
Hey, maybe that’s what I am supposed to do. Be productive. It doesn’t matter what field it may be…as long as I am productive, I am happy. Or at least, fulfilled.
Sooo…as for the job woes? I’m hanging on. Hanging by a moment, actually. I’m standing here until You make me move. I believe this is where You want me to be. Help me to trust You with all my heart, Lord.
Time to go home! I have a packed weekend, and the next few weeks are going to be packed as well, so I’d really appreciate some prayers. :) Thank you!
Now it’s time to go! I promise to write more once I get the time. I really do!
Oh, and don’t forget the Blog Parteeh! See you there on Saturday!
That is exactly what I feel. Hanging by a moment.
And here’s a song.
HANGING BY A MOMENT
LifehouseDesperate for changing
Starving for truth
I’m closer to where I started
Chasing after YouI’m falling even more in love with You
Letting go of all I’ve held onto
I’m standing here until You make me move
I’m hanging by a moment here with YouForgetting all I’m lacking
Completely incomplete
I’ll take Your invitation
You take all of meNow.. I’m falling even more in love with You
Letting go of all I’ve held onto
I’m standing here until You make me move
I’m hanging by a moment here with YouI’m living for the only thing I know
I’m running and not quite sure where to go
I don’t know what I’m diving into
Just hanging by a moment here with YouThere’s nothing else to lose,
Nothing else to find
There is nothing in the world that can change my mind
There is nothing else
There is nothing else..Desperate for changing
Starving for truth
Closer where I started
Chasing after YouI’m falling even more in love with You
Letting go of all I’ve held onto
I’m standing here until You make me move
I’m hanging by a moment here with YouI’m living for the only thing I know
I’m running and not quite sure where to go
I don’t know what I’m diving into
Just hanging by a moment here with YouJust hanging by a moment
Hanging by a moment..
Hanging by a moment…
Hanging by a moment here with You.
That song speaks it all for me now. Keep me hanging Lord, if this is what it takes to get me closer to You.
Rating: 
Ever felt like the last item left on the clearance rack?
As a successful patent attorney, Ashley Stockingdale has all the makings of a perfect catch — the looks, the brains, even a convertible. ut at 31, she’s beginning to wonder if she’s been passed over for good.
Deciding to adopt a new attitude, Ashley suddenly becomes the romantic interest of three men within a matter of days. While her heart enjoys turning the tables on the dating game, the rest of her previously predictable world is being turned upside down. Is it more than Ashley can handle? Or is it exactly what she wants?”
Ever since I read Dreaming in Black and White, I’ve always wanted to read more Christian chicklit. I’ve heard a lot of good reviews for this book, and so when Marvs headed over to the US, I jumped on the chance to get this book from him. :D
What’s fun about What a Girl Wants
Storywise, the novel is a fun read. It can seem a bit exaggerated at how things turned out the way it was for Ashley, and you’d find yourself siding with her at how unfair life became for her. As with her dating life, one of the guys who dates her seem to be the perfect one, with all his manners and good looks, although at the end, she chooses someone she had been noticing before. It felt a bit anticlimatic for me since I like the other guy already. But then, that’s why there’s a sequel. ;)
Anyway, the novel is fun: a lot like Shopaholic, but a bit less shallow. :D And because it talks about singlehood and finding the perfect guy, it becomes an even more appropriate read for singletons like me. ;)
Rating:
Jay Jarvis just moved East.
His dating life’s gone south.
What else is a guy to do but go fishing?
Flabbergasted is a story of a twenty-something year old stockbroker who just moved to Greenville, South Carolina. Jay is not a serious Christian; in fact, he calls his religion “workaholic”, and it wasn’t until his real estate agent told him that in Greenville, the in thing are churches, not bars. So Jay drives to the North Hills Presbyterian Church, fully intending to meet females but he didn’t expect Ecuador missionary Allie Kyle to catch his eye. In order to get to know Allie, he volunteers to help out in their singles beach trip. There he meets his new best friend Steve, righteous-man-with-big-words Stanley, married surfer dude Ransom, The Numericals, Allie’s lime-green loving best friend Darcy (and her lime green Sherbet) and of course, Allie. Jay’s landing into the church feels so casual, and yet, “God had him at the collar” and was leading him into places he never would have imagined he would be.
Flabbergasted is a lad lit, a sub-genre of chick lit for men, where a twenty-something semi-successful man is the narrator. Reviews of this book are mixed; some of them really like this while some don’t. I fall in the former.
The novel, true to its nature, is very light and funny. The dialogues kept me laughing and giggling to myself while reading it and the characters are indeed so wacky but at the same time so real. I like how clean it is, with hardly any mention of sex or male enhancement or anything in that nature. The story is real enough in the sense that some people join religious groups to scope out some chicks or some boys, and while it’s not right, the novel shows that even with these kinds of intentions, God makes use of them to get us closer to Him.
Writing wise, some parts of the story are kind of hard to connect with each other, especially when the story suddenly turns into another part of Jay’s life. Some chapters are kind of skippable too, but they make up the story quite nicely. I think we will all see ourselves in Jay Jarvis as he eventually sees himself and what God wants for him. The ending is a bit obvious, but Jay’s realizations wraps it up really good.
It’s a good book, perfect for some light afternoon reading. :D
“…I really just wanted to stay tight — tight to the south of God, right there in his shadow. Because outside of God’s shadow, I was just a gaudy plastic float filled with stubborn air, drifting off like a blind Jonah in search of Plan B, manipulating circumstances and wondering why I kept waking up in my very own Tarshish. But in God’s shadow I had been dazzled by the detour, amazed at the fraternity, and flabbergasted by the depth that comes from simplicity, from serving in a village that was shabby, green, and pulsing with life.”
- Jay Jarvis, p. 326
To those who really know me, you know I’m not much of a bar/disco/party type of person. I don’t really like going to Eastwood and dancing at parties because (1) loud music makes my head hurt; (2) going to bars means there’s alcohol and (3) I just feel awkward dancing surrounded by a bunch of strangers. Oh yeah and (4) I’m a morning person, not a night owl.
But this year, 2007, is the year where I promised to be a social butterfly. Or, okay, at least be a bit more sociable than I was before. :P And with this new resolve, let me plug about the first (and biggest) party parteeh (don’t you just want to say that out loud?) of the year!
BLOG PARTEEH! 2007: The largest Philippine blogger meet-up ever!
When: January 27, 2007 (Saturday), 2:00pm to 8:00pm
Where:
6th floor (Poolside Area)
Classica Tower 2 Condominium
HV Dela Costa St., Salcedo Village,
Makati City 1200
This event is sponsored by: Sheero Media Solutions, MyJournal Philippines, FeedText, Inc., Migs Paraz, A Bugged Life, The Blog Herald, b5media blog network, About My Recovery, Pinoy.Tech.Blog, Enthropia, Inc., Krispy Kreme Philippines, GMA New Media, Awesome Philippines, Codamon.com, Boracay.com.ph, Recipes.com.ph, WebMaster.com.ph, Bouncing Red Ball, Bo Sanchez, Microwarehouse Inc.
BlogParteeh07 Donors:
Marc Javellana, Bubba Gump, e-YellowPages, Adobe User Group – Philippines, Weddings @ Work, Google Philippines, Hinge Inquirer Publications
Fun people, food, blog talks, friends and goodies to bring home! This is THE eyeball of all eyeballs. :P If you’re an active Filipino blogger, then you should not miss this event! Want to join the party? Then read up about it here! For more information and updates about the party, check out the official Blog Parteeh! ’07 blog. :)
Come and join the fun! And help me to become more sociable. ;) Right. Haha. See you there! :)
Oh, and before I forget! tinamats [at] gmail [dot] com. :P
As I was on my way home last night, I realized something.
I don’t hate my job. I don’t even dislike it.
Well, that’s good.
However…
I don’t love it either.
Maybe I like it. But it’s not something I really like (see the emphasis). It’s like when you have a friend that you don’t hate or dislike…but you like that person but not like like. You get what I mean?
So why am I still here if I don’t love it?
Like I said, it’s not that I hate it. I’m doing pretty okay here actually, and I’m learning a lot. I’m making friends (I think). I’m being exposed to the industry (somewhat, but it’s kind of a different industry, actually)! I’m learning how to be professional! But…it doesn’t give me a thrill. Whenever people ask me how I’m doing with my job, I always say, “I’m learning a lot,” never “I love it!” Call it limbo. Somewhere in between.
I don’t feel the excitement you get in doing something you know you love. Like the feeling of a photographer when he sees his photos developed/printed, or when a writer gets hit by a new idea or sees his creation published, or heck, even when a shopper learns about an upcoming sale! That feeling, the feeling in your gut that no matter how difficult the task ahead may seem, it’s okay because you know that you’d love every step you’d be taking on the way and the victory is sweet because you know you loved it.
I think the word here is passion.
I think…that my staying here is influenced by the fact that I like the idea of being able to work. I like the idea of earning my own money and being busy. Of being able to do something productive with my time.
But what if that wears off?
I want to do what Anberlin sings in Time & Confusion: It’s not about the money we make / it’s about the passions that we ache for / what makes your heart beat faster? / tell me now what does your body long after? I want to do something I’m passionate about. Something that makes my heart beat faster whenever I think of it. Something that would make me look forward to waking up every Monday because I know I’m going to enjoy my day.
I wonder if maybe I’m not giving my current job a chance. I mean, I’ve only been there for four months…which is obviously very small amount of time. What do I know about the corporate world in four months? What if I’m feeling this only because of all the not-so-good things I heard, or because I find myself unknowingly comparing myself to other people? What if I’m allowing myself to be influenced, when in the first place I shouldn’t even listen to them? I feel like if I do a career move anytime soon, in anytime less than a year or two years, I am a quitter. And I am definitely not that.
But how do you qualify what quitting is? When can you say when one person is a quitter or not? What if you decide to follow your passion, and in following that you had to change careers in a short span of time, is that quitting?
What will I do now? Am You opening up doors of opportunity here, Lord, or am I thinking highly about myself? Should I go or take my time and see how things unfold before I make a move? (Well the answer to this question is obvious.)
Lord, I need help? Am I acting on my own here or is this really You behind everything I’m hearing and seeing?
Hay, why is growing up so complicated? *sigh*
On another note, because I want to be some sort of “Fairy Godmother” today, I’d make someone‘s wish come true. I’d like to plug Riz‘s pet project, Ituloy Angsulong. You go girl!
Off I go to finish reading The Martyr’s Song by Ted Dekker and cry. :P Oh, I’m crying because of the book okay? :)
Good night! :)
I’m supposed to upgrade my WordPress tonight but I don’t have time because I got home late and I want to sleep at 10:30 pm tonight, for a change. I’ve been trying to, really, but I always end up getting to bed at 11:30, which would make me have a hard time waking up and wish not to go to the gym, but I have to go to the gym.
And speaking of which, I have to pay for the gym within this month. The thing is, I have to pay 2,000 because my brother is also with me there and he already gave me his share of 1,000 but I spent it at Doulos. Now, I could wait for my next salary BUT I have to pay for February on January 27…but wait, we already paid for January…so that could last until the end of the month! Right? I hope so! Haha. That way, I could wait for the next salary and pay for the gym…that’s at the end of the month…that’s on…a Wednesday. Good. :)
It’s the first salary of the year and already I’m running low on funds. NOT GOOD. I need to save up for the next few days so my balance in my account wouldn’t go below 1K. Gah. That’s why I really am putting myself on a book ban/fast until June, so as I won’t have to spend anything on books. Until June. Why June? Because it’s OMF sale at June again. :P
I have two more minutes to this post and I still have to put the tags. Tomorrow’s another looooong day at work, and I have so many reports to finish and meetings to plan. Remind me next time to talk about passions, as in passions in life, and more on work and whatnot.
Oh and I still owe a post about forgiveness too.
I’ll get around to it.
Okay, one minute! Good night. :)
Edit (011607, 11:03am): Instead of making a new entry, I’ve decided to just append the second one here. :D Space saver and it’s easier for me to go back. :) I’ll get this entry finished within the day, I promise!
Edit (011607, 7:18pm): Entry finished! :) Oh, and I’d like to warn you that this entry sounds a bit angry, but that’s just me venting. If ever you get offended by whatever I said, please contact me in private. I’d listen to you, but also remember that this is my blog and I am entitled to my own opinions. Thanks. :)
First off, congratulations to my friends Ryan and Arl who are now registered nurses! :) Congratulations to you two! And congrats to all those who passed the nursing board exams too. :)
Tonight, let’s talk about high school for a while. You know how in high school, there’s always this friendship/barkada drama? Like, there’s always some group against one group, one group against one person, one outcast member in the group, one person against one person, backstabbing one another in all its sad glory. Okay, not all high school friendships are like that, but you can’t deny the existence of all these high school drama. I should know, I’ve been part of it.
Most of my high school friendship drama happened during freshmen year, when everyone was trying to fit in. My problem at the start of the school year was that I don’t know who else is in my class. As far as I know, no one I was close with back in Grade 6 was also in the same section as I am in first year high school. Scary, especially when there are a lot of new students who want to fit in too.
Thank God I met some people who were nice, all because we liked to eat hash browns during recess. We eventually formed a group, and one of our favorite past times was to make fun of this other group of girls in class who write letters to each other everyday. As in every single school day.Take note, we are all classmates and we see each other everyday, yet they write to each other! With stationery and such! My friends and I joked that everytime they pass each other letters every morning, a tree gets cut down.
But because we’re such mature people then (yes, that’s sarcasm on mature), my friends and I eventually joined in with them. Weird, huh? But we did. And then they gave their group a name and we did too. We even formalized a membership by voting on the names we want our group to have. And we thought we were teh coolest, yo.
Okay, I finally got this layout up. It’s been sitting in my hard drive for too long, and it feels so good to be able to see something fresh in this domain. Now I can stop worrying about this. :D But if you find anything that looks out of whack, please do tell me. :D
Edit 011507, 6:06pm: The layout is centered on IE and the menu bar is quite spacey, plus there are some unaligned images within the content. On Opera it looks pretty much the same with Firefox…so I suggest you guys use Opera or Firefox! But don’t worry, I’ll fix this in IE. :D
My arms hurt. It feels the same way as when I lifted hollow blocks during this community service we had for FORMDEV back in college. And that was me lifting about fifty to seventy hollow blocks for the entire day. This was just because of lifting three bags of books from our MV Doulos trip yesterday.
Jomar, Chris, Happy and I were four happy bookworms who headed over to the MV Doulos book fair yesterday. When we got there, there was already a lot of people, and the bookshop was packed. It reminded me of some sort of an SM Megamall or Sta. Lucia East midnight madness sale. The place was hot, and you can barely move because you have to always adjust your book basket so as you won’t hit people as you walk. The words “Excuse me” will be a big requirement. ;)
BUT, even if it is hot and there are a lot of people…it was amazing. :) So many books, so many rare titles and really cheap prices! Books are priced by units, and the conversion is 1 unit = P1, so 100 units is P100. There were two “book areas”: the main book shop, where most of the titles are. Genres range from Christian Living and Inspiration (the biggest selection), Bibles, children’s books, atlas and references, cook books, art books and game books. There’s also a small section on CDs (mostly Contemporary Christian and some classics), tapes and little souvenirs such as pens and keychains which are available at the counter.
And then there’s this other area, which looks like a book sale since you have to look through the big carts to find a book you might like. There are also CDs and mugs available…but that’s not the best part. The books there are priced P50/novel! And they’re good condition novels too. The CDs are priced P50 for three CDs! Bargain, eh? The titles are quite old though, but if you’re a real book lover, you’d certainly get a couple or so of books there. I got seven. :P Haha.
Behold my MV Doulos stash:
CDs (top to bottom in the picture):
- Rise
(Building 429). B429‘s second album, which is one of my favorites. :) It costs P500, which is pretty normal, but because it’s not available in the country, I just have to buy this. :D There’s a slight damage on the CD case, but the contents are still in good condition.
- Warren Barfield
(Warren Barfield). Mr. Barfield’s (swoon!) first album, which made us fall in love with him in the first place. :D One of my favorites, and this is a really rare gem. :)
- Say-So
(Say-so). This is what I call “leap of faith”. Jomar showed me this CD and told me it was old alternative Christian music, and because I need three CDs to make it P50, I decided to get this since I’m an alternative kind of girl. I still have to listen to this. :D
- Sunny Day
(John Cox). I know only of one John Cox song, Sanctuary, but because I know this artist, and this particular CD is cheap, I grabbed it. :D I’ve heard only the first few tracks but so far it sounds promising. :)
- Subscribe to the Vibe (Abundant). As most of you know, I’m not a party/club/bar person. I don’t really like dance/trance music because I can’t see its point. Happy urged me to buy this CD. I wondered how this CD would last with me, but when I played it last night, I actually liked it. :) That’s something new. :P I like what’s written inside the sleeve:
Abundant is a collective of people committed to providing safe spaces and places of cultural expression. The inspiration for this project has been to combine the 90′s sound of the underground dancefloor with the inspirational gospel voice of praise to God, who makes all things possible for those who believe.
Great stuff. :D
And the books:
- Girl Time: A Celebration of Chick Flicks, Bad Hair Days & and Good Friends
(Laura Jensen Walker). I wasn’t supposed to get this, but Happy pointed it, so I immediately dropped the other book and grabbed this. :D I love Laura Jensen Walker, and I’m halfway through the book already and I’m loving it. :) To my girl friends, we should do some stuff here soon!
- The Day I Was Crucified: As Told by Jesus Christ
(Gene Edwards). I saw this once in a website, and I was curious, but I couldn’t find it here. I found it at Doulos, and for P150 only. :D I grabbed it, and I’m planning to read this by the Holy Week, since it’s about Christ’s passion. I think this is going to be a major tear-jerker.
- The Martyr’s Song
(Ted Dekker). P100, hardcover and a free CD! I don’t usually buy hardcover, but this one is a thin one, and Happy told me this is a great book. :) Looking forward to reading this. :D
- Patience (Lori Copeland). A lighthearted romance, as said in the back of the book. This is one of my first Lori Copeland books, and it seems like a historical fiction too, and I hope it’s not boring. :)
- June (Lori Copeland). Same as above. :D
- Atonement Child
(Francine Rivers). I’ve seen this for P400 at OMF, and it’s only P50 at Doulos! Haha. From the reviews it seems good. :D
- Last Sin Eater
(Francine Rivers). Same as above. :)
- Scarlet Thread
(Francine Rivers). And again, same as above. :)
- Leota’s Garden
(Francine Rivers). Ditto.
- And the Shofar Blew
(Francine Rivers). The summary of this book reminds me of The Visitation by Frank Peretti, sans the supernatural part. Tuesday already read this and she said it’s good, so there. :)
Now you see why my arms hurt. I had to lug that around, plus my SVP package (free Didache, Gabay, Companion and Sabbath — anyone want?)…although I’d have to thank the boys for carrying my packages half the time. ;) After eating lunch at Gary’s, Chris and I tagged along with Jomar for the Blogger Parteeh ’07 steering committee meeting (more details in another post about the parteeh next time. And yes, it’s spelled like that). I met some of the “famous” people in the blogosphere (haha, link baiting galore here): Migz, Juned, Rico, Sasha, Carlo and Mr. Abe himself (I have been lurking around his blog for so long already! haha). Fun discussions, and I look forward to seeing them again. Around 5:30, we parted ways and went home.
Now I have no idea where to place all these books. My bookshelves are full, and now all these new books are sitting on my sofa bed, waiting to be covered with plastic and placed somewhere. Again: I need a bookshelf. But I don’t have a place to put it here in my room. :-s
My arm still hurts, and the day is almost ending so tomorrow’s back to work. I hope these muscle pains subside tomorrow because it’s gym time in the morning tomorrow with my brother.
And this post is too long already. I should get out of my room and watch TV with my mom. She promised me a pedicure today, yahoo! :) Off I go. :D
