Reflections and A Bibliophile's Lament

Bought e-books of VC Andrews' well-loved stories. Books 1 and 2 of the Cutler series, Books 4 and 5 of the Logan series. IG seller personal_library has been my online source for e-books for two years. I even got the books I requested which were the Miss Peregrine series, Ender's Game by Orson Street Card and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series.

Made new friends on Twitter. Met a Pinoy who works as a part-time model in the United Kingdom. I asked him if he has Viber or LINE installed on his mobile phone and he said he doesn't. He only has, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Thought long and hard if I should still save my 7-year relationship with Julius. What am I hoping to save anyway? Do I still love him? I may have loved him but right now I can't see myself getting married to him.Not after I noticed a few things about him and his family.

If we get married, what kind of life will we both have? I want our kids to se their dad everyday and not just on his days off from work. Kung ako nga bihira ko siyang makita, paano pa mga magiging anak namin? Lord knows my patience has been pushed to its limits. Ako pa naman tuwing nauubos pasensya ko, naiirita ako agad at pinalalaki ko ang mga isyung di na dapat pinalalaki. Natatakot ang mga taong sangkot tuwing mangyari ito.

The only herbal medicine I take that somehow manages to control my bipolar disorder is GNC's St. John's Wort.

Dosage: two tabs a day (one at breakfast and one at dinner)

It is great help. I can sleep soundly and most nights I sleep dreamless. It clears my head and rids it of undesirable thoughts. My libido decreases as well! Do I need a sexual enhancer? Aren't those just for men?

We will meet this Saturday and try to work it out but there's no guarantee I'll stay if we can't agree on anything anymore. I can be his friend and I'd like for us to remain so.

“SOMETIMES AN UNCONTROLLABLE feeling of sadness grips us, he said. We recognize that the magic moment of the day has passed and that we’ve done nothing about it. Life begins to conceal its magic and its art.

We have to listen to the child we once were, the child who still exists inside us. That child understands magic moments. We can stifle its cries, but we cannot silence its voice.
The child we once were is still there. Blessed are the children, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
If we are not reborn—if we cannot learn to look at life with the innocence and the enthusiasm of childhood—it makes no sense to go on living.”

Excerpt From: Coelho, Paulo. “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept.” HarperCollins, 2009-10-13T05:00:00+00:00. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

Started to read this book three weeks ago. I didn't know it was a love story. My own love story is still in the process of completion. How it ends cannot easily be determined. I may be with someone now but how about by year's end? Who's to say the one you're with now remains to be the one you're destined to spend eternity with?

Just a few hours ago, I searched Facebook for my best male friend from high school. He's a single dad and I believe (based on what I know) his daughter has not seen him or lived with him since him and the mom parted ways. This man and I strained our friendship in 2009 and we haven't talked to nor met each other in four years. His FB profile says he only has 15 friends. The last update was Sept. 2013; meaning he hardly accesses his account.

I never forgot him. Dreaming of him has been my only comfort and guarantee that the man I was supposed to protect and love to the very end should be him and not Julius, my boyfriend for seven years running. The only offense my former male friend dealt me was to accuse me of ruining his relationship with his daughter's mother. Many things I can be but a third party isn't one of them. I didn't even know he had gotten someone pregnant until they posted photos of the baby's birth on their FB pages! Then here comes the mother of the irresponsible guy, messaging me on YM and accusing me of being her son's mistress. Who would believe her? People don't even think I'm beautiful enough to be a wife.

Truth be told I loved him. I did and never stopped. It amazes me how my gut can guess what I really feel and reminds me time and again who really holds my heart. It's not my lover. It's my soulmate. We were friends, argued and never gave the ruined friendship any closure. Am I hung up on him? Yes, I gotta admit that too. Missing him has got me in trouble with my boyfriend. He hasn't been jealous as he is with him with any other guy. Well, maybe he is this jealous of the owner of a bar we both frequent. It's because he knows I have history with them. I went to HS with a lot of handsome men. Men who are far more good-looking than my geeky boyfriend.

Not done with this Coelho classic yet but I can tell it's tragic. Misery loves tragedy and company.

Sooner or Later, It All Comes Crashing Down

This was us during happier times. I keep asking myself how did I ever learn to love someone I am usually not attracted to. Geeks have always bored me with conversations that speak of politics, history or current affairs. I was the girl who would fall for the varsity player, the guy who can sing well and charm the panties off every woman who gets the pleasure of listening to him live, the K-pop celebrity who will always be worlds apart from me. Believe me when I tell you that the one I'm with has become the one I think I have to let go of.

I tried to ignore the signs telling me to leave him and not bear the burden this seven-year relationship has given me. To borrow a phrase from the movie, "Enchanted":

Everybody has problems. Everybody has bad times. Do we sacrifice all of the good times because of them? No.

However in my case the bad times far outweigh the good. I am the type of woman who expects a lot from a relationship. I still believe in chivalry and would be so delighted if it still exists today. The man I have been with has never ever brought me flowers. He has instead given me chocolates and stuffed toys; treating me like a high school girl who would squeal in delight at the very thought of receiving such gifts. Of course I accepted them but he also knows I have given some of the stuffed toys he gave me away. He took my koala bear Aussie & gave me a Brown LINE doll. Gave me practical stuff as presents for my birthday. No anniversary gifts, trips out of town or any overnight trip that only the two of us would take. It's not like my parents would approve anyway. They believe we might engage in something we'll both regret and they are sure we will regret it.

Yet there are couples involving younger women who are allowed by their parents to go on a weekend vacation to Palawan, Bohol or even abroad. They just advise their daughter to make sure the boyfriend has condoms or brings any form of contraception with him during the trip. That doesn't guarantee they won't have a grandchild waiting to arrive in nine months. The boyfriend shouldn't be responsible if the condom breaks. More often than not if a girl gets pregnant, she gets all the blame. The parents thinks she is lewd, aggressive and desperate for love and affection. Maybe I am like that sometimes but I won't go around making booty calls at every man who is willing. Oh, you don't think no one is willing to do so? Ha, there have been about five to ten guys in high school who wanted to take me out on a date. I dumped all of them mainly because I knew how the date will go. How can you not tell what the guy wants from you? If he keeps condoms in his wallet and lubricant in his vanity kit, you are in deep trouble.

Nothing turns out the way you expect them to. This seven-year relationship should be put to a halt until my man decides if he will finally muster the courage to do what he has to. 

What that is, I'll leave it to him to guess. 

Stormy Days Ahead... Is This Another "Ondoy" Waiting To Happen?

Typhoon Maring is still inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and is somewhere in Batanes. It was initially reported that it will leave the country by tomorrow but because Maring has strengthened the southwest monsoon, Filipinos have become victims of flash floods, landslides and many are also stranded on their way home from work.

My cousins, their partners, my aunt and my nieces' house is flooded until now. We don't have any recent updates on their plight. My friend @CooletShamii experienced flood inside their residence that is as high as a human adult! Lots of major roads were closed to light vehicles and only rubber boats and jet skis are able to pass and assist in emergency rescue operations.

@RescuePH and the @philredcross urge Filipinos to use the hashtag #rescueph to help them determine the locations and people who need immediate rescuing and emergency response.

Emergency numbers we all must save on our phones and keep posted on our refrigerator doors

Source: Burger King Philippines FB page

Various mall establishments and schools like Alabang Town Center and Assumption College San Lorenzo in San Lorenzo Village, Makati are now accepting donations of nonperishable food items, bottled water, personal hygiene items, clothes, pillows, cots and blankets. You may contact the ATC Concierge at telephone number (02) 842-2782 and Assumption San Lorenzo at (02) 817-0757.

Movie Review: "The Conjuring"

2013's most terrifying horror movie based on the true story of a malevolent case handled by Ed and Lorraine Warren in the '60s, known as two of the world's most renowned paranormal investigators.

Ed and Lorraine Warren worked together and helped each other solve various cases of paranormal activity, reported ghost sightings and also handled exorcisms. Lorraine's a clairvoyant (the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses,^[1][2] a form of extra-sensory perception) while Ed was the only non-ordained demonologist recognized by the Vatican.

The scary doll that no one is allowed to touch as it is believed to be possessed

Mrs. Perron investigating the commotion she heard in the basement

Notes:

1. Demons talked to Andrea Perron and her mom who can both sense the demons and hear them.

2. The Perron haunted house was the scene of a brutal murder.

3. Interviews were conducted as part of research for the movie.

4. The real estate agent who sold the Perrons their property prior to their move warned them not to close the lights at night. The agent must have had first-hand experience with the paraormal and has witnessed a demonic possession and sighting.

 The Perron Family

"The Conjuring" will be shown in Philippine theaters starting August 21. It is exclusively distributed by Warner Bros. Philippines and produced by New Line Cinema.

Vegetarians may have lower risk of heart disease: study | ABS-CBN News

Vegetarians may have lower risk of heart disease: study | ABS-CBN News

How would I begin? I've always been a carnivore. I have a pescetarian for a boyfriend so somehow, I've had dates wherein we ate at Bodhi, a vegetarian fastfood found in SM mall foodcourts. It helps that the mock meat doesn't taste at all like veggies.

At home, it took a while since I learned how to love veggies and eat them on a regular basis. Ampalaya would always be a vegetable I despise and avoid eating. You can give me carrots, zucchini, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, eggplant and kangkong but you cannot force me to eat okra, munggo and any other vegetable that's in the popular dish, pinakbet. If I don't like it, I definitely won't taste it and devour it.

Recently when I do research on how to keep the fat off or lose it gradually, studies similar to this UK study on vegetarianism always come up. It's all some ploy to get you to eat less of the stuff you like and eat more of the fiber-rich variety. Wheatgrass can detox your entire digestive tract with just 2 glasses daily. I remember losing 10 lbs. when I was still drinking wheatgrass capsules.  Yeah, it made me lose weight FAST!

Being an endomorph (that's my body type) means it's hard for me to lose weight. I found a diet that says you must start eating right for your body type. An endomorph must avoid carbs, eat legumes of different kinds daily, have 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, avoid sugary and fatty food plus drink more milk. Not an easy thing to do.

I still believe exercise and diet go hand in hand. Unless you've got money to burn on Belo treatments, this is really how you should go about your goal to becoming fit.

Movie Review: "The Amazing Spiderman"

Last Saturday, I got to watch "The Amazing Spiderman", the fourth movie starring masked crusader Peter Parker but this time, the role was portrayed by Andrew Garfield (Eduardo Saverin in "The Social Network"). He engages in battle with Dr. Curt Connors, his father's colleague who was experimenting on the possibility of cross species genetics. Dr. Curt Connors later on becomes Lizard Man in the film.

WARNING!!! MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD

At the start of the movie, we see Peter playing hide & seek. As he goes searching around their house, he enters his father's study and sees papers scattered all over the floor and the desk. His mom, Mary, leads him out of the study.

Fast forward to  when he discovers a leather case that belonged to his father Richard at the basement while his Uncle Ben was asking him to help fix the clogged pipes. He takes the case and brings it with him to his room and began to peruse through files that were highly classified.  Peter "Googles" his father's name and Dr. Curt Connors and finds numerous links to their experiments and learns the truth of his parents' reason for leaving him with Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

I had my doubts about this film but it turned out to be informative about Spiderman's origins and family background. The trilogy had us believing his first love was Mary Jane Watson but truth is, he met MJ through the introduction of aunt May in later issues of the comic the movie is based on. He also didn't go to HS with Harry Osborn, son and heir of Norman Osborn who owns Oscorp, the company Gwen and Dr. Curt Connors were associated with.

Revelations are made and the safety of New York City rests on Spiderman's webs.

"The Amazing Spiderman" is currently being shown in cinemas nationwide in 2D, 3D and selected IMAX cinemas.

Rating: 4.5/5