Tag Archives: 30 days

Big, Fun and Scary Things, In His Steps, Thought-Provoking

Going Home

Day 5Just earlier, I came from my future sister-in-law’s mom’s funeral. That’s…the second funeral I’ve been to this year, if I am not mistaken. But it’s not the first death I’ve heard of for this year; it seems as if 2009 is full of deaths of so many people, both famous and not.

I know, I know, how morbid.

But then, think of it. It’s not just in 2009. It’s impossible for a year to pass by without anyone passing. Death is a natural part of life. Everyone goes, and it’s not something we can deny ourselves of. Someday, all of us will leave this earth and go back home. To our real home. With God.

I’ve been trying to come to terms with death, to stop myself from fearing it. I keep on trying to remind myself that this life on earth is just a transition to eternity, that this is just a drop in the ocean of forever. I keep on trying to tell myself that I shouldn’t hold on to so many material things, or worry about any other trivial things, because this isn’t home.

It’s hard. More often than not, I get caught up with so many shallow things that I forget why I am here in the first place, and where my real home is. But days like these, or times when I hear about people passing, leaving their earthly lives…I am reminded of just that.

I find a lot of wisdom in this little image I found at icanread about life and death, and I think it’s just timely. I hope you find some in it, too.

Don't waste another second
Don't waste another second

Have a blessed Saturday night. :)

5/30.

Big, Fun and Scary Things

57 Days till Literary Abandon

Day 4I was supposed to make a post about slowing down, about the weekend (long weekend ahoy!), but then I developed a sudden case of ADD, and suddenly I was thinking of something totally different from what I originally was thinking, and I’m suddenly all hyped up and excited and nervous because there’s so little time left and there’s so many things to do…and…this is such a long sentence, are you tired of reading it yet?

Okay. Calm down, Tina. *breathe*

Did you know that the first paragraph contains 82 words?

ANYWAY. Focus, Tina. Focus.

So what’s making me all giddy and nervous and rushed and all that all of a sudden?

One word: NaNoWriMo.

Or, four words, to make it longer: National Novel Writing Month.

And as of today, there’s only 57 days left before NaNoWriMo 2009!

nano_09_blk_participant_120x240.png

Suffice to say I’m suddenly all hyped up about this year’s NaNoWriMo. It’s my sixth year joining (and my fifth year to win), and Look at the cool 2009 badge there. I’ve also been getting emails from the NaNoWriMo headquarters, and I’ve been seeing their preparations for this year…and who wouldn’t be excited???

I’m doubly psyched this year because it’s the 5th year of NaNoWriMo Philippines, and I want this year to be slightly bigger than last year’s. Last year’s results were already extraordinary, but this year, I want it to be better. Like, you know, have 100 winners for the region, or something. I don’t know if I can start planning bigger events this year, but I’m hoping to be able to have memorable events for this year, enough to make the newbies return and do the craziness again come 2010. :)

The entire thing is making me panic just slightly, though. So many things to do, so little time! I love being a Municipal Liaison, but sometimes I wonder if I can do everything on my own, you know?

I know I can’t. So I better send out an email soon to ask for support, both moral and financial. And start enlisting people who might want to help for events, start making graphics, start making…so many things! See who’s excited/nervous/rushed?

(It may just be the brownie I ate earlier, soooo….)

Here are some spoilers of the things running inside my head for events/things/stuff for NaNoWriMo Philippines for 2009 (none of them confirmed yet, some are just ideas):

  • Mascot making contest! We need a mascot, seriously. :) But I must figure out what prizes to give here. Any suggestions? Donations are also very welcome. :P
  • Revamp Pinoywrimos.com. Yeah, the website needs a revamp. Let’s see if I can get my design skills cracking again. Unless someone else can offer a design for free?
  • More “media” coverage. Nothing like full-blown TV/radio stuff, but you know, just more popularity. Seriously, we need more exposure for these wonderful novelists! A blog tour, perhaps?
  • Kick-off party! Yes, another one! I’m thinking of hitting CBTL again, since it’s a writer favorite, but I wonder if we will fit! Last year we conquered the back half of CBTL in Galleria, and I’m expecting more people this year!
  • Ate/Kuya program. NaNoWriMo as a whole has an unofficial mentoring program, so we’ll be launching a localized one. :D More details to follow!
  • More pep talks from known writers. Yeah, I know most of the Wrimos are getting tired of my words in the emails. So…I say we find more writers and inspiring people to write pep talks, right?
  • Plot Emergency Devices! I don’t think I can come up with a survival kit this year (sorry, my pockets aren’t that deep), but there will be more plot emergency devices this year to help you with those tricky plot holes. ;)
  • Write-Ins! We loved the write-ins last year, really. :D We’ll be having a mid-month write-in, as well as mini-write ins for other people who want to write together in certain areas. :)
  • Word wars! I know a lot of people who got to 50k because of the word wars, so we’ll definitely keep this going.
  • TGIO! I’m still hoping for a TGIO as grand as last year’s, but if not, we can always make do…right? A dinner/pizza day should be good too.
  • PinoyWrimo Awards. More awards? Of course!

So many things happening, so little time! At least, I feel like it. Gosh, I hope there’s enough time to plan all this into fruition. :)

Wow, what a big word. Fruition.

Anyway, if you want to help us on any part of NaNoWriMo 2009, you’re very welcome! And it will be very, very appreciated! The Pinoywrimos will thank you, and who knows, your contribution might just be one of the things that push them to 50,000 words and eventually, a published novel. That’s like, awesome points. ;)

But seriously, if you want to help, drop me a line. Or leave a comment, then I’ll email you. :)

OMG 57 DAYS LEFT!!! Excuse me while I panic spazz a bit more.

If you’re joining NaNoWriMo 2009, leave a comment so we can spazz together. If you’re thinking about joining, well, leave a comment too, so I can convince you to join! Let’s get the NaNoWriMo fever going! :)

…And did I mention that I have no plot yet?

4/30.

Big, Fun and Scary Things, Dear Diary

Brutally Honest

Day 3Back when LIVEtheLIFE magazine was still alive, Ganns told me that one of the things he liked about my blog was it’s honesty. He called my blog brutally honest, if I remember correctly. Apparently, I write things as I see they are. Okay, maybe not always, as I was never the one to give an opinion on current events and politics (unless they’re really striking or if I really and actually care — more to that on another post), but if I am pissed, or stressed or sad or broken-hearted even, I’m sure to post it in my blog.

I did a rehaul of my blog back in June 2006, so all those entries are removed online. Plus, I lost the archives of my 2003-2006 entries during The Great Ginger Crash of 2007, so I can’t give you specific examples. Ever since I did the rehaul, I tried to stop posting really short one-liner entries because I feel like it’s a waste of blog space and I felt like I should be posting something meaningful. You know?

Somewhere along the way, I lost it. I don’t know what I lost, exactly, but I know I stopped posting as much as I did. I remember being able to find something to post about at least once or twice a week, even when I have to do some sponsored posts. Then, I started posting only book reviews, which was okay, but then some people told me I post too many book reviews and not enough about me. After all, this is a personal blog, right?

I don’t know why I stopped. I mean, I liked writing about my day. I liked writing about life, faith and everything else in between, but somewhere along the way, I lost it. I don’t know how I lost the creative juices to write here. Sometimes writing an entry here feels forced, and absolutely boring that I just stop writing. Sometimes I feel like I don’t make any sense, and that I’m writing this out to an empty audience because who wants to read someone who rambles on and on and on, you know?

So what happened? Maybe it’s because of all the problogging hoopla that I tried to get into a couple of years back? Maybe it’s because I know a lot of people in real life reading my blog? (Then again, what should I expect? It’s on the Internet, duh.) Maybe it’s because I feel like people don’t care about what happens to my day (and yes, I know people still don’t), but it’s not like I make this an actual diary, and write about every.single.detail. of my day. What happened to posts about God, my prayer time, my job and even my love life (or lack there of)?

Somehow this reminds me of how I still struggle with my prayer time ever since I got a new job two years ago (!), how having somewhat of a good life makes you stop doing the things that helped you through the hard times even if you need to do it. Okay, I don’t really need to blog as much as I need to pray, but you get hte point.

I miss being brutally honest. I miss being able to make this blog some kind of sounding board. I miss being able to write stuff that hopefully makes other people think, or inspires them in some way, or makes them laugh.

It’s not that I would bare my soul to the world all over again — oh yeah, I’ve learned not to do that the hard way — but there’s got to be something I can write. I do consider myself a writer, right?

Who said personal blogging is easy?

This is one of the reasons why I’m all for trying out the 30-day blog challenge, because, as Riz said, it’s going to force me to write something, anything. And I know it’s not always fun, and most of the time it’s going to be like pulling teeth…but if there’s one thing I learned from the past five years I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo, sometimes a little challenge is all you need to get those words out.

I don’t know if I can be as brutally honest as I was before, but here’s to trying. :)

3/30.

Big, Fun and Scary Things, Dear Diary

Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.

day2I didn’t have enough sleep today. I got home yesterday this morning at one, because my brother had to go through Commonwealth Avenue traffic at midnight. Imagine that.

A lot of people envy my work schedule. I have been going to work on midshift ever since February, and it’s been a permanent thing ever since I transitioned into the new process. I was actually more than ready to go to night shift, if only for the bigger shift allowance (yes, that’s the only perk I could see in that work schedule), but I was blessed enough to be told that it wasn’t necessary for us to go on night shift. Thank God.

There’s a lot of perks on being in the mid shift, namely:

  • I don’t have to wake up really early to go to work. Although I kind of miss the early-morning silence in the office when I used to get to work before 8am (oh those were the days), I’m happy that I don’t have to compete with rush hour traffic, plus I get to squeeze in some more sleep in the morning. :D
  • I also have time to do things in the morning before going to work. My weekday gym schedule has always been in the mornings, so I get to do all my exercises before my work day really starts. It’s so easy to be lazy to go to the gym after work, IMO, especially when you have to commute home. Plus, it helps me to be energized for the rest of the day, which is really good. :)
  • The thing I hated the most about the night shift is that I keep on crossing two days in one shift. I start my shift, say, at 9:00pm on a Monday and I end my day at 6:00am on a Tuesday. When I go to bed, my body is already thinking it’s Tuesday, so when I wake up, it starts to assume that it’s already Wednesday. Talk about screwed up body clock. On midshift, I still go home by midnight, which is like the normal bed time for me, so there’s really no difference.
  • There’s something really sad about going home when the morning sun has risen. Maybe I’m really just a morning person?
  • I also get to avoid rush hour on the way home. :)

Although honestly, midshift can also take its toll on me. Like the past few weeks for instance. It’s hard to promise myself a good night’s sleep every night when the stress lasts until midnight at work, and then you have an early appointment the next day. In these situations, I end up compromising my sleep, because I need to be up early the next day. It’s not so different than back in college when I always end up sleeping late even if I have an 8:00am class the next day, but losing sleep for more than two days is bad enough for me. Yeah, this is me, someone who can’t pull consecutive all-nighters. :P

I miss those days when I can actually get in a completely restful 12-hour sleep (although I honestly think that any sleep that lasts for more than 10 hours is already in excess. It’s just me, probably). Don’t you?

Oh, and did you know? Not having enough sleep is a sure-fire way to not build muscles. It doesn’t exactly make a person gain weight, but it makes you lose muscles, which in turn makes you weaker. Some people may seem to lose weight like they’re on the best slimming pill when they’re not getting enough sleep, but it’s not the healthy kind of weight loss. You’re losing muscles, honey, and you need those more than you need the fats. Yes, I learned that in the gym. :P

So there is truth in what our parents have been telling us when we were kids: we all need our sleep! Right now I’m battling sleep while I work, but the up side is that I only need to stay here for two and a half hours. Whew. I can’t wait to go home and hit the sack.

2/30.

Big, Fun and Scary Things, Entertaining Angels

Lovable Oddballs

day1One thing I forgot to mention on my gushing rave review about Pixar’s Up was the new short animated film that played before the movie: Partly Cloudy. In case you didn’t catch it, here’s a video:

[youtube]O0JdaUiPmQU[/youtube]

In case that doesn’t load for you, or if you’re too lazy to watch (gasp! Don’t be!), here’s the story of Partly Cloudy (skip this part if you don’t want to read).  It’s about cloud people who creates babies, puppies, kittens and all kinds of nice and sweet baby stuff and the storks who deliver them. Out of all the cloud people, there’s a darker cloud named Gus, who creates the babies who are, well, less lovable. Like a baby crocodile, or a baby bighorn sheep, or a baby porcupine (thanks, Wikipedia). His delivery stork, Peck, gets stuck with all the deliveries and grows wary with every delivery, and seems envious with his fellow stork who gets to deliver the cuddly and safe babies. When Gus creates a baby shark, Peck flies away to another cloud, as if to leave Gus behind. Gus throws a fit, but then Peck returns with protective gear, proving that he won’t be abandoning Gus.

To be honest, this part of the short film almost made me cry. There was something so lovable about Gus, about how proud he was with every baby he makes. The way his eyes lights up with excitement with every baby, the way he seems to be genuinely happy in creating the little oddballs that other people would think is harmful or icky or scary.

And there’s also the way he hugs Peck, how his eyes widen with concern everytime Peck returns and looks distraught. I guess Gus must have known that he’s giving Peck a hard time with the deliveries, but he still can’t stop making the little oddballs he makes because that’s what he’s supposed to do.

I think it’s sweet. Peck’s return was the clincher in the short, like he’s saying, “I’m not leaving you, buddy.” Which he probably is, if he could speak. And even if what Gus handed him next still managed to hurt him, he was still there to stick by Gus, no matter what.

Ah, to have someone (or some people) who will stick by you, regardless of whatever odd things you do. If you have at least one person in your life like that, well, you’re very blessed. :)

Okay, someone’s being a bit too mushy, I think. It’s probably the hormones speaking now. :P But we could all learn a lot from Gus and Peck up there. :)

1/30.

Big, Fun and Scary Things, Dear Diary, Updates

Hello September

Am I the only one who’s kind of bewildered that it’s September already? That we are down to the last four months of 2009? And that we’re already doing a Christmas countdown (only in the Philippines, my friends :p)?

It’s September! SEPTEMBER!!!

Yes, I’m slightly bewildered. A part of me feels like this year is ending way too fast, and I haven’t even gotten any of my bearings yet, but another part of me is kind of amazed at how many things had happened in the past eight months, and I know there’s just a lot more that will happen in the remaining four. Plus, the last two months of the year has always been exciting for me: NaNoWriMo and Christmas, yay!

So what’s so special about this September? Honestly, Septembers are slow months for me. Nothing much happening, except for my brother’s birthday. For the past two years, my September has always been months when things happen. Like me joining the workforce. Or, the Switchfoot concert. Or the first WordCamp Philippines. Or going back to Cebu after seven years. Y’know, those kinds of stuff. What does this September have for me?

Honestly, nothing.

So, I thought, Hey, let’s do something for this September. Something (sort of) new and challenging.

Hello, September. Hello 30-day Blogging Challenge.

Yeah, I was inspired by her and her, and I thought, hey why not? I’ve been complaining of a personal blogging drought, anyway. I figured, since September is probably the last month in 2009 where I won’t be as busy (compared to October, November and December, that is), plus September has 30 days, so it’s just right! Right?

Plus, this should be easier than writing a piece of fiction everyday (which I failed miserably…but hey, I’m updating it every now and then!), right?

I wish I could think of a theme like Riz did, but for now, I’ll have to call it the default until I could think of a better name.

So. 30 days. I can do this. Will you join me? :)

Tonight we fly (thanks icanread.tumblr.com)
Tonight we fly (thanks icanread.tumblr.com)

Hello September. Hello 30 days. Bring it on. :)