Manigong Bagong Taon

It’s amazing how easily time sweeps by, or how swiftly we slip through it, whichever holds true.

I haven’t recovered from a half-baked case of flu.  Some days I wake up coughing and nursing a cold.  Other days, I seem to be perfectly fine if not for the creepy-scary-low-tranvestite-ish voice.  Workin' too many a party!…and losing precious sleep, apart from stressful and endless card-swiping for last minute presents while battling my way through the winter chill.  Something else I have yet to recover from is the inexplicable how-did-it-end-up-like-this holiday mess!  Our bedroom aka “studio within a house” is jam-packed with gift bags, empty boxes, piles of clean unfolded laundry that I pulled out from the dryer many days ago, party clothes we tried on but ditched anyway for the old reliable garb, things dropped in reckless abandon, and some other stuff that still have to be classified by the Library of Congress. By the way, have you seen our floor? Where is it? Yesterday, I went to work without my cell because I misplaced it under the pile of the unknown.  And I couldn’t freaking ring it with the house phone because first of, I misplaced it too! And even if I found it, it would have been dead anyway after sitting out in the dark unhooked to the charger down the hall.  I know there still aren’t any excuses for the lag, but if you’re nursing an indecisive flu, while waking up early to work you’re arse off until 4:30 pm, and then coming home to change and off again to tango the social engagements on nylons and stilettos, you’ll be wedged into this situation where coming home at midnight, or past that, is actually the highlight of your day, that is, if you can stay up long enough to enjoy it without slipping into helpless stupor. Aldred started helping me clean up yesterday and as I have discovered later on, it was not because of Divine intervention.  He just badly needed the remote control.

The holidays are almost over, though last year’s memories are still fresh.  I’m grateful that it’s just the physical mess that I have to wrestle with come saturday morning.  Despite the season turning my humble dwelling up-side-down, I’m happy.  There has been nothing startling that moved my earth lately (and hopefully there's nothing else like that to come).  Knock on wood, thank you very much! It has been pretty steady.   I have grown to assimilate and adapt through the months, to me not as gracefully as I wanted it, but I’ve done so anyway. Stress doesn’t get to me as much as it used to. Nothing really has changed out there.  The environment is still busy and chaotic, but with lots of practice, I’m a happy cruiser at this point. That means, better adjusted sails; less cave times = more time to give; a calm mind = more self to give; a healthy spirit = more happiness to share; and a peaceful heart = more love to give.

Cheers to a great 2008 ahead! Have a happy, healthy, peaceful and abundant one, everyone!

Happy A!

HAPPY FOURTH ANNIVERSARY, MAHAL! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. I LOVE YOU!!!HERE'S OUR WEDDING DAY POEM...AGAIN.

I carried a picture of you,

eversince

I was young and believed in fairy tales.   

 

 

I carried a picture of you,

as I learned more about the world.

    

 

 

I carried

a picture of you,

 

 

through all the times love let me down.

I carried a picture of you,  

through all the times I thought I would never meet you in this life.

  I carried a picture of you

not in my pocket, but in my heart.

  I didn't know what you would look like...

but I knew what it would feel like,

to finally know you

and be with you.

 

So loved... 

safe and protected...

respected and accepted.

Like I'd finally found HOME.

Wondrous!

  Hubby and I are in love! ………with Paul Potts.

             My half hour commute to work and half hour back everyday have been laced with classical notes lately.  Suffice it to say, recent days have been spent being awed, admiring and short of venerating this amateur-well-not-completely-untutored-but-yes-still-amateur tenor’s voice. You ought to hear his rendition of Nessun Dorma, Contepartiro, and my personal favorite, Caruso (“THE” one that makes the hair at the back of my neck stand ----there always has to be that one song!!!)

             Eversince my hubby’s buddy at work showed him Paul Potts’ YouTube clip from Britain’s Got Talent  (Thank you, Barry!), Aldred has undergone a 180 degree conversion, akin to the religious kind.  He, who is a big follower of deafening and angry music and he, who is a loyal advocate of noise, all of a sudden is quick to shush me out while Paul Potts belts out songs once given justice only by the likes of

Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti, and lately the ever gorgeous Andrea Bocelli, Russel Watson, Josh Groban and IL DIVO…and oh did I mention the sex appeal that came with the packages!

            Wondrous! It’s not about my better half’s cultural epiphany.  I’m talking about this ordinary guy who pulls off a really extra-ordinary thing! Paul Potts is the typical shy and insecure guy who, apart from not being blessed in the looks department, also leads a really ordinary life, perhaps even less.  He worked for Carphone Warehouse in UK as a cell phone salesman (though rumor has it that he was a Sales Manager).  Still!!! He is awesome. He draws you in as high and low operatic notes roll by. Jaw-dropping indeed.  He may not be technically superior to his predecessors and may not be able to please everybody especially those with well-trained ears, but when he sings, it’s enough to make tears fall, and make one’s hair stand --that, they say, is the hallmark of a good singer. From what I’ve heard, he is not at all well-off and could not even finish the music course that he has always aspired for. Maybe that’s why he rather unintentionally charms the audience despite the lack of the so-called “audio-video lock” in advertising lingo (voice=face).  We develop an emotional attachment and identification to his persona. There is a certain emotional quality in his performance that tugs at your heartstrings.  His story burrows deep into our hearts (almost painfully) as a
typical “underdog shines through” fairytale would. Why do we, humans, enjoy themes of vindication? Of the right outshining the wrong? Of the weak overcoming the strong? I don’t want to digress farther into a dissertation on the psychology and appeal of cinderella-like tales. All I want to say is that it is so damn true that there is always something beautiful and special in each of God’s creations. You just have to find it, give it a chance and let it shine through. Paul Potts is a prince charming in his own right.  I can hear God singing through his voice.  You’ve got to watch and hear him too!

         Wondrous! How truly wondrous!

------

LINKS: Weehee!!! Please click on each one if you love me:

1. AUDITION



2. SEMI-FINALS



3. FINALS



4. WINNING



5. CD: "One Chance" by Paul Potts






"Britain's Got Talent! God's Got a Miracle! A wonderful wonderful ONE!"

Trust the Fog

This one is for my “PENG YOU”, Eng, here in CA…you know who  you are…

            This morning, the thrilling married the sublime. I walked out of the house into dense fog. It’s one of those firsts for me. I couldn’t even see the neighbor’s house, nor the van that’s usually parked across the street.  I never had it this thick on the road by myself in my whole life! I was terrified, and thrilled at the same time.  I turned the headlights on, and off I drove.

           I don’t now where to begin describing how it was for me.  I couldn’t see anything except for about 5 feet of translucent view in front, and some faint flicker of traffic lights up ahead. I didn’t know where to stop, or if I should stop for pedestrians or cars.  All I knew was I had to keep on driving…trust my instincts and react based on experience, and tackle the road up ahead when I get there. Things were coming into view five feet at a time. True enough, I saw stoplights turning red, I saw figures wanting to cross, I saw headlights coming up on corners…appearing to me one at a time as I rolled by.  And I was able to deal with them.

            It occurred to me.  Isn’t this how life is sometimes? It’s not pure sunbeams and clear skies.  There are times when we have to deal with the fog not knowing where we are nor where we are heading. We just have to live through it, one day at a time, trust our instincts, apply learnings from past experiences, make the most out of it and just keep on doing what we do best. And if we nurture enough faith in our hearts, we keep going.  And we always find out that it always brings us somewhere anyway. Then life goes on.

            We have to trust the fog.  We have to trust what we see and not see five feet or even less ahead of us.  While it is important to see as far ahead as we can, there are times when we can’t and we just have to live with what is right under our nose, one step at a time.  Besides, it is at this time when we are within the shortest touching distance to God.  It is the time when we get to hold his hand for guidance and protection like a little child and we let him take us to where we are meant to be.  And we always end up being able to handle it.  It is the time when we hop into the passenger seat and let God take the wheel, at last.

            After all, as my co-worker has put it today, “It felt like this morning's drive was a walk in the clouds.”  Surely!