From the monthly archives: February 2007
I seem to be using all kinds of bakla language recently (no offense to anyone). Chuvaness, eklavu, churva...I blame it on the radio show my brother and I sometimes listen to, as well as some SFC people who got me into this. :P Haha.
Today is a pretty boring day in the office, mostly because the big bosses are in the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. So us underlings are left here, doing…well, our usual jobs. But it’s relatively light as compared to having them around. :P When the cats are away, the mice will play? Not entirely. ;)
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, and yes, I just have to stress those words. It’s going to be my 20th Valentine’s Day as a single (I count from the day I was born), and I am curious as to how things will be tomorrow. Since I’m pretty much busy with work (plus the fact that I’m single), I’m not into any Valentine’s hoopla as much as the next person. Although I am planning to wear red tomorrow just to be in the “spirit of the season”. You know. ;)
…
Come on, it’s no fun being bitter! No more black, let’s wear red!
Haha, seriously, I’m not trying to psych myself up for tomorrow so I won’t have to deal with whatever bitterness or whatever (redundant!) that might be tomorrow. I won’t act all bubbly by saying I am not even a bit envious of the people going on dates tomorrow, or pretending that I don’t really want to receive any gift tomorrow…but I won’t also keep on wishing that because I’d only feel sad. Am I making sense? It makes sense to me. :P
Tomorrow there will be more Valentine’s churva in the office — dating stuff by votes, hearts games, love bingo and whatnot. I’m curious. :P Although I kind of miss being able to watch all those serenading sessions in school. The thrill of someone knocking at your classroom door, asking permission to serenade someone, and every girl in the class is holding their breath wishing that it would be for them but also wishing that it’s not because it’s embarrassing. Haha. Sadly, I never experienced that. ;) But it’s okay. My time will come.
Of course, the serenading won’t be in school anymore…sooo…
I will go home in twenty minutes! But we have a vendor here and I think I am supposed to wait for him to go? Pleaaaaase go already! Haha I want to go home early to work on some site stuff, for this project my friends and I are launching tomorrow. Plus some birthday greetings and other freelance stuff I should have worked on today but I didn’t. Thank God for free time.
More churva and eklavu tomorrow (now I’m sure that didn’t make sense).
Oh, and I want a new layout already. Hmm.
Rating: 
With the Holy Land in turmoil, seven-year-old Jesus and his family leave Egypt for the dangerous road home to Jerusalem. As they travel, the boy tries to unlock the secret of his birth and comprehend his terrifying power to work miracles. Anne Rice’s dazzling, kaleidoscopic novel, based on the gospels and the most respected New Testament scholarship, summons up the voice, the presence, and the words of Jesus, allowing hi to tell his own story as he struggles to grasp the holy purpose of his life.
Reading this book reminds me of one Brian Littrell song, Wish:
For just a moment, I wish I could have been there
To see Your first step, hear Your very first word
Tell me, did You ever fall and scrape Your knee?
Did You know that Your wounds would one day heal the world?
For just one moment I wish I could have seen You growing
Learn in the ways of a carpenter’s son
Just a little boy, gazing at the stars
Did You remember creating everyone?
If You pass by, would I see the Child or the King?
Would I have known?
It’s funny that I got this book around Christmas, which should have been the perfect book to read then. But during that time, I was reading A Lineage of Grace by Francine Rivers, and Mary’s story there was more perfect for Christmas since it talks about Christ’s birth. This book focuses more on Jesus’ childhood, the year where he was seven almost eight.
How I wish that is true. The title, I mean.
This week has got to be the laziest week I’ve ever had. I knew something wasn’t right when I woke up last Tuesday and realized, I don’t have anything to do today.
Now that thought, my dear friends, in the middle of the work week is dangerous. At least for me, that is. I was initially happy to be in petiks mode again after weeks of being buried in work. I was happily blogging, reading blogs, surfing and doing non-work related stuff (bad, I know) — basically doing what I used to do before — but come afternoon, I was bored out of my wits. I still didn’t want to do anything job-related, but I wanted to do something useful go home.
This extended until Wednesday, even if I was slightly busy and today, I was sleepy half the day. Gah. I spent a lot of time subscribing to different feeds in my Google Reader, reading and laughing and pretending to be busy, but what I wanted to do was to sleep. I didn’t know if my boss noticed because he didn’t give me too much work (or maybe because I seemed busy). I felt a bit guilty too because I was not doing anything useful. Of course, I could blame the lethargy on something else, but I don’t want to talk about it here.
Anyway, when it was time for my last meeting earlier today, I was suddenly energized. Which is weird, because this is one project I was getting tired of working on, but now that I have something concrete to do there, I am suddenly all awake. Haha. Weird. Now I have a lot to do tomorrow, which is actually…fun. Haha. But I want this to be finished soon; like what Grethel said, career growth. :P
I promise to make it up next week.
Tuesday to Thursday felt so much like a Friday, it’s crazy. At least tomorrow’s Friday for real, and I actually have a gimmick! Yay! My backpack’s totally going to ruin my outfit tomorrow, but I have to work it out, I guess. Unless…I decide to change into the “gimmick” outfit tomorrow night. To those who know me really well, I know it sounds weird that I actually have a gimmick outfit. Me who never likes night outs. :P Hmmm. Oh well, it’s okay, I guess. :) Or I should just bring another top.
Naaaah. I have too much stuff to bring already.
Anyway, it’s time for me to go to bed, so Friday comes sooner. I’ll be sleeping over at Bea’s house tomorrow to catch up (finally!) after the YFC DLSU reunion/campus tour celebration. :D Good night everyone. :)
Ever since the Blog Parteeh, I noticed that my blog’s traffic increased. I blame it on meeting new people who are actually interested in reading other people’s blogs because they own one. I’ve been finding more motivation to blog and to find interesting things to blog about (I actually have a list of things to blog in my planner, so I won’t forget). It’s nice to be able to practice my writing and learn about new things through this.
Since I can’t possibly visit every blog every day, I decided to go ahead and use an RSS feed reader which I can access everywhere. I used to have Feed Reader installed in my laptop but I couldn’t install it in the office so I couldn’t exactly make use of it anymore. I decided to go web based, and among all feed readers I chose, it’s hello to Google Reader. :)
But I won’t be talking about Google Reader here because it’s pretty much straightforward (just like Gmail, only it’s for RSS) and I don’t want to bore you. Earlier today, I added some Google feed bundles and here are some of the interesting stuff I found (which is hereby christened: When Boredom Strikes :P):
- Intermittent Internet? Here’s
FiveSix Things To Do With a PC When You Have No Internet Connection. Interesting and quite useful. I should do those one of these days, even if my Internet’s normal. [Digg] - Did you know that more water is used in the production of a plastic bottle than the water it contains? Pablo Calculates the True Cost of Bottled Water. [Digg]
- February 14 is fast approaching, and by next week, we’d be seeing the color red all over…why is the color red so powerful anyway? Learn more about it by clicking on the link. [Digg]
- I want to do the same thing to my roof in the future. But maybe I’ll choose another cartoon character. Rainbow Brite? [Google Sightseeing]
- How about this? The World’s Smallest Parks. Mills End Park is kind of…well, small! How did they even classify this one as a park being that small? It’s like a small section of a sidewalk in our village. [Google Sightseeing]
- I love the Snickers chocolate bar, but since I live in a place where there is no Snickers commercial or Superbowl, I didn’t know about their controversial commercial being pulled off air. Interesting but IMHO the commercial’s kind of weak in terms of enticing the consumer. Or maybe it’s just me, since I’m not amused with these kinds of things. If you want to watch the commercial, just search for it yourself. :P
- This isn’t from Google Reader technically, but I read his post there first. :P So wait, it is from Google Reader. Anyway, Elber posted some interesting links in his Link Love post for February 6. As opposed to the other people I know, I’m not an 80′s kid since I was born late 80′s…most of my memories were in the 90′s, and Back to the Nineties is the perfect site for me to reminisce! Read about old TV Shows such as Full House (as in Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen), Sailormoon, Gimik, TGIS, old places such as Glico’s or even old bands and magazines such as BOP! There’s even something about Choki Choki! Come on, don’t tell me you don’t know that! :P My mom used to buy a box of that at Makro. :)
- Dropping by Apples‘ site one time (through Google Reader, yes) led me to this: Sunday Reflections. It’s a blog filled with reflections for every Sunday of the year. Inspiring stuff, makes you learn more about the Gospels and Filipino Catholic traditions.
I hope by the time you’re done with this, you’re not bored anymore. :P Aaaah, this was fun! I’m going to make this link post a regular. :P
Oh yeah, and I now have an answer to this question I posted before. :) I’ll reveal what I chose in the next few days, when I get and pay for the unit. :D Yay yay! But for now, bed time! Thursday tomorrow, yay! It’s almost Friday!
Good night! :)
My Utmost for His Highest
Anyway, from time to time, I’d be sharing some of the reflections that can be found in this book in this blog because the messages I got there are just too valuable not to share. :) They’re the kind of things you read that you want to highlight all over because hit you straight on. In common language, swak na swak. :P And here’s today’s reflection, which definitely hits the spot.
ARE YOU READY TO BE OFFERED?
“I am already being poured out as a drink offering.” 2 Timothy 4:6 (R. V. Marg.)
“I am ready to be offered.” It is a transaction of will, not of sentiment. Tell God you are ready to be offered; then let the consequences be what they may, there is no strand of complaint now, no matter what God chooses. God puts you through the crisis in private, no one person can help an other. Externally the life may be the same; the difference is in will. Go through the crisis in will, then when it comes externally there will be no thought of the cost. If you do not transact in will with God along this line, you will end in awakening sympathy for yourself.
“Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.” The altar means fire – burning and purification and insulation for one purpose only, the destruction of every affinity that God has not started and of every attachment that is not an attachment in God. You do not destroy it, God does; you bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar; and see that you do not give way to self-pity when the fire begins. After this way of fire, there is nothing that oppresses or depresses. When the crisis arises, you realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What is your way of fire?
Tell God you are ready to be offered, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be.
* February 6, 2007 reflection from My Utmost for His Highest, emphasis mine.
This particular reflection reminds me of God.com by Alexander Langteoux, and Elijah’s sacrifice on Mt. Carmel (more to this on another post). This reflection obviously does not give a picture of a happy kind of faith, where one gets what he/she asks for in prayer. At first, our spiritual life would start like that, until God tells you it’s time to mature. And that’s where the struggle, the confusion and the sacrifices come in.
I think this is what most people avoid in their spiritual life, the one that comes after the initial wonder of discovering who God is. After a period of “bliss”, God brings our faith into a deeper level. This is the time when God asks one to do two things that I think are the hardest things to do: to let go and to trust. You may say that it’s easy to do that, like the way you let go of a top that doesn’t fit you anymore or the way you trust a friend by telling him a secret. But what if you have to let go of someone you loved for a long time because the relationship isn’t working out? Would you be able to let go? Or what if you had to tell your friend something about your past that you are so ashamed of, one that could potentially destroy your friendship? Would you be able to trust your friend even if he urges you to do so?
For the past few weeks, I’ve been learning that faith is hardly comfortable at all. It’s easy to tell God that you have faith in Him but to really put it into action is hard. To let go of yourself and to trust in Him fully is never comfortable. We tend to think that when we put our lives in God’s hands, our lives would become easier and it would be smooth sailing all the way. But it’s not. One of the major things we have to learn about believing in God is that it requires sacrifices. Although God loves just just the way we are, if we really want to follow Him, it would require sacrifice on our part. We cannot follow Him and our selfish desires at the same time. As we grow in our faith, we have to let go of our other baggages and learn to trust in Him. We have to let go of our former selves and trust that God is in control, that He won’t let anything harm us.
It may sound easy as I write it and you read it, but actually trying to live that out is, well, hard. I’m still struggling with this, and just as when I thought all my selfish parts have been “burned”, as Oswald Chambers said, I find out there’s more. The more you truly believe in Him, the more you — the selfish, conceited and nasty you — are destroyed to make room for the new person He is making you to be. This is the fire that comes to our lives once we decide to truly follow Him, the fire that burns not us, but the selfishness that lives within us.
I know this sounds all negative and all, but look at the last line of the reflection: Tell God you are ready to be offered, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be. Think of your deepest, greatest and most wished-for dream, the one that makes you sigh and say, “Someday.” Think of your sincerest hopes, the ones where you say, “I promise to be good if only this would happen to me/if only I could get this.” Now think of that, and think of what you will do when you fulfill those dreams, those hopes. Think of the joy you felt on Christmas morning as a kid, and multiply that a thousand fold. That is just a taste of what God has in store for you, for me, for us. The pain that you and I experienced, am experiencing and will experience as the fire refines us is nothing compared to what He has in store for us after.
Letting go. Trust. Sacrifice. JOY. Are you ready to be offered?
Have a nice day, everyone. :)
So yesterday I was supposed to renew my Smart line (the 24-month retention thing) and get a new phone, a Nokia 6233. After all the thinking I did the last time, plus your comments, and after playing with Miguel‘s phone last Friday, I decided to go for the said phone. So off my mom and I to Smart Wireless Center in Sta. Lucia Grand Mall. I stupidly forgot the list I got from Robinson’s Galleria with the list of phones for the 24-month retention thing (I brought the new connection list), so we asked for another one…
…and there was no Nokia 6233 in the list. :(
Now I noticed some discrepancies from the list I brought to the list given to me, mainly on the dates. The one I got from Galleria last Monday was as of December 28, whilst the one my mom and I got was dated December 13. And since I wasn’t in the mood to ask about it, my mom and I decided to wait, because they said there’d be new handsets coming next month.
I was kind of sulking inside because I couldn’t get a new phone that day (my mom and I already set a perfect payment plan for the both of us, wherein we both win. The phone was Php5,800, and I would only pay Php800 for the entire thing, since my mom owes me Php10,000). I was texting my brother who was on his way to the mall to eat dinner with us when he said: Mag-high-end ka nalang kasi ‘tol (“Get a high-end phone instead, sis”). I told him the “high end phones” on the list doesn’t appeal to me; besides I don’t think the N-series is good since I’ve heard a lot of complaints about them. He then told me that the N-series is okay, they just happen to be big.
While my mom was paying for some of her decorative rocks at the cashier, I wandered out the department store and went to the nearby cellphone store to see the phones there. And then I saw the Nokia N73.
Before you think I’m such a doofus for not knowing about this phone while working in a telecommunications company, I’d like to say that yes, I know this phone. Thing is, I’m not good with remembering high-end ones because I usally don’t look at them. Main philosophy in this: if you can’t afford it, don’t look at it. So I don’t. I know it’s a great phone (it’s one of the first ones I’ve heard being raved about here in the office), but I know it’s out of my league so I don’t look at it.
Anyway, I saw the N73, and told my brother about it, who told me it’s a great phone and I should get that instead of the 6233. Now I must say it’s really tempting, especially now that I think I can afford it (with a few months of payment to my mother dear, of course). I like how the N73 looks — it’s not as bulky as the other phones from the N-Series, plus the camera looks great and there are so many nifty things to do with the phone…but is it worth it?
…It’s the first time I’ll be splurging on something this expensive for myself (P17,700 if I get it with the 24 month retention thing).
…It’ll be my first high-end phone ever. As in really high-end.
…Think of all the nifty things I could do with the camera and the other apps inside the phone!
…But people say the N series is slow.
…And I like the 6233. I like how it’s small, not snatcher friendly…and it’s affordable! I won’t have to pay anything else after buying it except for the P800 I have to shell out.
…But the N73 looks soooo nice. And…
Hmmm.
As you can see, I am faced with some sort of dilemma: Which phone, which phone? I don’t want to buy something I’d regret later. I tend to look at phones that will go the long run and will stand the abuse I give it. ;) If you see how my 6020 looks right now, you’d know what I mean.
So now, my dear friends from the blogosphere, I seek your help (wow, so formal!). Which phone do you think is better? :P I’m such an ignoramus with these things; it’s time I get educated with this too. But first…which phone?
Specs comparison is here, by the way.
Okay, I’m off to meet my friend Pinky at Starbucks. Goodbye Monday! :D
I realized lately that working in a telecommunications company wipes out the fun for me about anything related to mobile technology. For example, last Friday, I was holding SIM cards and cellphone load all day to prepare for this User Acceptance Testing I was conducting. A few months ago, I would’ve been really amazed at the amount of credits and SIM cards I was holding then…but at the end of the day last Friday, I was sick of it. Being the one who goes through the UAT of the promos we have, by the time the promo comes out in the market, I have no intention of taking advantage of anymore because I have used it a lot of times before it was released and I know every bug I’ve encountered that other people might see too.
Or like one of my officemates, who holds different kinds of cellphones everyday to test. She gets to see and hold and play with the latest Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola handsets, and she can tell you which phone is the best to suit your lifestyle. But when we talk, she tells me she’s tired of seeing all those phones because they’re all the same and there’s always something missing with the new unit. Being around new cellphones everday wiped out the amazement and wonder she used to get whenever a new unit comes out.
Hay, this is the work life, I guess.
I’ve made up my mind to go on gimmicks every weekend as this year started, and so far, I’ve been doing just so. Last year, I preferred staying at home during the weekends so I could rest, but I end up bumming around all day. For the past month, I’ve managed to go out every weekend and not be a party pooper. :P
I want to write a longer entry but my eyes are refusing to cooperate so I’ll just post about this, which I intended to post earlier today but didn’t because I had to fix all the test scripts for today’s UAT.
Anyway.
Deathly Hallows Release Date Announced
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be published on Saturday 21st July 2007 at 00:01 BST in the UK and at 00:01 in the USA. It will also be released at 00:01 BST on Saturday 21st July in other English speaking countries around the world.
[News from The Leaky Cauldron]
Now, to be completely honest, I don’t really buy Harry Potter books when they just came out. Starting with Book 5, I always happen to stumble upon an online copy/softcopy version of the book so I don’t buy the hardcover release, but still get to read it the same time everyone else does. I know, I know, that’s bad. But I’m just a student then! I couldn’t exactly afford the hardcover book and try to get in line for that early in the morning just to get a copy. I like Harry Potter, but I don’t like it that much.
But now that I’m working, I’m wondering if I should join in the Harry Potter mania fun and reserve a copy of the book early (even if I don’t really like owning hardbound books because they take up too much space) and join all the other Harry Potter fans in lining up at Powerbooks or Fully Booked or wherever the new book is going to be released first and be one of the first ones to get a copy. Somehow I think that sentence did not make sense somewhere. Hmm.
For a change, you know? Instead of letting myself get an online copy, I’ll go the legal and right way and get myself a copy of the book. That’s right, yes? And it’s the last time this is going to happen; I should let myself experience the entire I-must-get-that-new-Harry-Potter-book-first thing before it finally disappears.
Hmmm. Why not? And I’m out of book ban ((book ban – a self-imposed condition after buying 10 books during my last MV Doulos trip. Besides not having any money, I realized I need to at least tackle some of the books I bought there (as well as the books my dad brought home last Christmas and some books from the Book Fair last September that I haven’t even cracked open yet) before buying anything new. The self-imposed book ban is to last until June. Why June? OMF Bookstore goes on sale on June. :P)) by that time.
Anyone who would want to join me? We could line up together and wait for the book this coming July. And it’s a Saturday, so no work to get in the way. :P
Okay, bed time! I need to motivate myself to go to the gym tomorrow before meeting with Tuesday at lunch. Then GMT for Singles for Christ and home to work on this new site my friends and I are starting. Ahhh, yes, Saturday! How I love you! ♥ Good night world! :)
