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!

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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!

Halloween 2007

It’s one of those days. It’s lunch time. I plugged my earphones in my ears and played Alicia Keys in my iPod.  Immediately, I am transported to our vacation house in the Philippines, on a similarly cool day—perhaps not as cold, and where I’ve listened to the same kind of music except that over there, I’m locked up in my room, laying down on my bed and crossing back and forth the border of sleep and wakefulness, tinikling-style and in blurry slow-mo.  Instantly, I’m in a physical vegetative state in the present moment. I’m cooped up in my cubicle, lazy and lethargic as if I was hooked up to an IV of fast-acting liquified MSG. Well, I just devoured a hefty serving of rice and sliced sausages that I sautéed in garlic and onion a la pinoy last night (don’t forget the 3 squirts of ketchup!), that explains. I’m writing this just to keep my brain hanging on to the last threads of consciousness.  I’m hecka bored. I want to go home and go under the sheets, stat!

        I was a devilette for Halloween yesterday aka daemon babe, daemon chick, daemoness, daemonette whatever! We have been dressed up since the morning at work.  (Why do we, grown ups, enjoy dressing up in costumes and play pretend? Boy isn’t mankind all still kids at heart?!?!?! *SMILE*) Last night was a trip I took my niece trick-or-treating around the block.  I remember last year I tried to fake it and did some trick-or-treating myself, while pregnant at 4 months, as a sort of transitional rite and goodbye kiss to kidless-free-spiritedness (is there such a word?) and hello to “with-a-child-but-still-free-spirited-mommyhood”, marking an ending and a beginning.  But somewhere farther down the journey, God embraced our baby in His loving arms, and I have nothing to rant about that.  But I’m done with that trick-or-treating scam to stash away candy for myself. Now I’m in for some chaperoning, in style –as I would always have it. Halloween aka All Hallow’s Eve is still my most favorite night of the year and I will keep dressing up for it for as long as I can!

         Hubby coaxed me at the very last minute into joining the pumpkin carving competition at his workplace and we decided to go for it. I have already finished my cat-spider-and-lil-pumpkin by the window design when he told me, and so I just decided to add his company logo at the back to add a little pizzazz and at least make it competition-worthy.  I had no other choice because I was stuck with only one pumpkin.  Well, we won! Fifty bucks for having fun, what do you say about that! I was surprised that we won (the judges chose my entry over a chef’s work). Some guys from Al’s work thought I had traced a template and my typical proud hubby said “No, my wife free-handed it! Hell yeah!”  But, it’s true.  I free-handed it, because I’m always lazy to do all those multiple steps that “gifted” people choose to skip. Get the drift? Joke!!! Hahaha. Well, creativity is my twin, and imagination is my evil twin. In fact, I think I have been under-utilizing my talents lately…dum-di-dum-di-dum (talent? what talent???) I don’t think there was anything grand about our pumpkin.  But it seems like the other contestants also entered just for the heck of it and I was lucky enough to have a more precise and patient hand. It was one of those simple gradeshool-level contests to begin with.  But oh boy, now that I know…I am soooo looking forward to next year’s competition. Woohoo!!! Watch out! The Monica Geller has awakened in me…(remember F.R.I.E.N.D.S?)

        The bottom line is, I did it in memory of our little angel Cody, who is now watching over Al and me.  Please say a prayer for our little one. One year since his passing, almost.

        I’m not sleepy anymore.