"When I first started, everything seemed curious and full of wonder..."

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1281

"When I first started, everything seemed curious and full of wonder..."


"He wrote short stories and poems while still in grad school..."


"People only remember him for his non-academic work."

"I promised I'd never sing of love... If it does not exist."

The Only Exception
by Paramore
Lyrics: http://www.directlyrics.com.com/paramore-the-only-exception-lyrics.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J7J_IWUhls


When I was younger
I saw my daddy cry
And curse at the wind
He broke his own heart
And I watched
As he tried to reassemble it

And my momma swore that
She would never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love
If it does not exist

But darling,
You are the only exception...

Maybe I know somewhere
Deep in my soul
That love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways
To make it alone
Keep a straight face

And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable distance
And up until now
I had sworn to myself that I'm
Content with loneliness

Because none of it was ever worth the risk

Well,
You are the only exception...

I've got a tight grip on reality
But I can't let go of what's in front of me here
I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream

Oh...

You are the only exception...

And I'm on my way to believing you

"I promised I'd never sing of love... If it does not exist."

And... she's back. :)

The VOTE that's worth it.

[2011-03-16 Note: This is one of my posts about the 2010 Philippine elections, and particularly about my personal choices for president and vice president. This blog is about God, which supposedly transcends politics; but such political choices are extensions of my God-given wisdom and principles and my privilege (and responsibility) of choosing our next leader. By the way, they didn't win... but my votes are heard and counted.]




from my friend Rex Sayson:

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to share a reflection I've been going through some time now about "wasted votes". Is there really such a thing?

Which vote is a wasted vote? The one used to give the best candidate a fighting chance, or the one used to let a supposed front-runner's backers control the outcome with unscientific surveys? Having generated the largest business portfolio for my previous company using market research, it really bothers me that the methodologies behind the various election surveys seem so loose that the results are practically useless except for whatever agendas those who paid for the surveys may have.

For example, if Noynoy A is really the front-runner, how come most people I speak with are supporting Gordon?

Obviously since I'm not a Villar-ionaire I can't do a proper survey myself at this point, but it's very worrying - look at the financial crisis caused by believing too much in credit ratings paid for by the companies being rated themselves - how much misery has been caused by this ill-placed compianza? Should we peg our faith in getting the leaders we deserve on unscientific surveys, or should we peg our faith on finding the best fit candidate for our country's needs?

What would you like our country to have achieved 6 years from now? How do we measure the achievements we would like our people to have accomplished in 6 years, 12 years, 24 years, and what kind of proven accomplishments let us know which candidates are the best choice?

I am sure different voters will have different criteria, and different results, but I hope you'd help spread the word to let the best candidate win, and not necessarily the ones pre-selected by paid-for survey companies. Personally, I'm impressed with this platform and the values, qualifications and experience behind it - http://bit.ly/cABGn9

Just to share, where I'm from, I can go jogging at night, there's a functioning public library, LTO transactions take 15 minutes, public school students have international-standard classrooms, and it doesn't even need to collect the same taxes as Makati. Do we want to just survive in our country, or really live?

I believe our people will make the right choice if we just remind ourselves to stay focused on what this election is about - our future, our dreams, and our loved ones.

May the best candidate win.

What do you think? Please spread the word to everyone you care about also.

Cheers :)

My status for April 24, 2010 =)

Suddenly... Mental block gone. Organized flow of ideas. Ease of expression. What took days (weeks? months? years?)... now, just like that. Nakapag-FB/email/TV/chores/mall/service/play-with-dogs pa yan. (And I think I know why :) ) Thank You GOD! ^_^

Dear Future Husband (or, True Love for My True Love)

Dear Future Husband,

I was supposed to list down things that you did or are doing that hurt me, but

"Love does not keep a record of wrongs."

I was supposed to tell you what I want, so you can take note, but

"Love does not insist on its own way."

I wanted to tell you, if you do X, or if you don't do Y, then I'm gone, but

"Love never ends."

I hate the fact that I'm drawing you to myself... like I'm the one courting you. I don't like it... because I'm a woman? Or is it my pride?

(You can probably guess what's coming next...)

"Love does not envy nor boast,
it is not arrogant nor rude."

It was so easy for me to just hook up with someone else instead... somebody who conveniently showed up in the midst of the chaos. But I would be doing so out of spite, out of pain, and of course, self-love.

"Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing."

(Ironically, it's that same self-love that kept me from doing it. I love you, I love myself, and I even respect and love him too much as a friend to go through a false relationship.)

"Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things."

Thanks to our all-powerful Father, I can do this. It sometimes feels like I can't, or I don't want to, but

"The only way to truly live is to truly love."

(I don't know if that last line is explicitly written in the Bible, but that does kind of sum up The Book. But that line, I got from movies and TV.)

Remembering my ego once again, here's another movie line:

"There's no room for pride in love."

Well then. I hope there'll come a time when you love me more than I love you. It doesn't look that way now, but "Love hopes for all things," right?


:)


And... there's something else.

"Love rejoices with the truth."

"Love never ends. As for prophecies and knowledge, they will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."

The truth is, I'm sorry for the hurt my *message* caused you. I thought it was good news! (The "you shall not die" part at least.) I had no idea it would be so misunderstood. "God's Word always accomplishes the purpose for which it was sent." We had to grow up, whether we wanted to or not.

I want to encourage you every day! =)

(How come I suddenly care what other people think? Or what my image would be? I shouldn't right? How come I'm hiding here, in my public private corner?)

It doesn't, it shouldn't, matter what other people think about me. Because I know how God sees me. =) Perhaps the ultimate end of this season is to show you how God and I see you. =)

Back then I prophesied and I knew in part; now I see and know fully. It's a hard road pala :) But I shouldn't be surprised! And indeed I have been fully known. =) And I wouldn't have it any other way. =)

Forrest Gump asked a seemingly simple question that's actually been debated by great thinkers for millennia --- do we have "destiny", or is life like "a box of chocolates" where "you'll never know what you're gonna get"?

Forrest concludes, "I think it's both; I think both are happening at the same time."

Interestingly, Forrest's own momma, who uttered the box-of-chocolates adage, saw things a little differently. While she still held that she didn't know what life would bring, she believed in destiny after all. To paraphrase,

"I didn't know it,
but I was destined to be yours."

To conclude, here's something from another good book:

"I don't want sunbursts and marble halls. I just want YOU. You see I'm quite as shameless as [my friend] about it. Sunbursts and marble halls may be all very well, but there is more `scope for imagination' without them. And as for the waiting, that doesn't matter. We'll just be happy, waiting and working for each other -- and dreaming. Oh, dreams will be very sweet now."

And that's that. I hope you get to read this. :)

Why Gordon-Bayani?

[2011-03-16 Note: This is one of my posts about the 2010 Philippine elections, and particularly about my personal choices for president and vice president. This blog is about God, which supposedly transcends politics; but such political choices are extensions of my God-given wisdom and principles and my privilege (and responsibility) of choosing our next leader. By the way, they didn't win... but my votes are heard and counted.]

You can only discover a man’s true character and worth by seeing what he does in extreme adversities.

Dick Gordon. He faced the sin and filth of Olongapo squarely and turned it into a model city. Pinatubo erupted and the Americans left the Subic Naval base, depriving his city of a means to make a living. He turned Subic into the country’s first Freeport. He turned Philippine tourism around at a time when it was the most difficult to convince foreigners to visit the country because of SARS, because of rebellion and terrorism. He turned around the Philippine National Red Cross, making it capable of responding to all sorts of disasters all over the country. As senator, he did the impossible — he pushed for the passage of a law that would end wholesale electoral fraud — RA9369 or the Amended Automated Election Law.

Pictures and text from http://manilareview.wordpress.com and http://facebook.com

Let's join the Three-Day National Fasting and Prayer for the Philippines

Intercessors for the Philippines
In cooperation with the Body of Christ in the Philippines

The Three-Day National
Fasting and Prayer Assembly

G U I D E L I N E S

The Three-Day National Fasting and Prayer Assembly (TDNFPA) is a three-day solemn assembly marked by fasting and prayer based on Joel 2:15-17. It will focus on: seeking the face of God and turning back to Him; knowing what God wants us as His people to be; and crying (confessing and repenting) for the sins that the Filipino people has committed during the past 490 years, since the Christianity and the cross was planted in Philippine soil.

Please go to http://www.ifphilippines.net/ifp/3dnfpa.php for the complete details.

God bless the Philippines! Mabuhay tayong lahat.

"She who has been forgiven much loves much." - Jesus :)

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little. (Luke 7:47, NIV)

She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal. (Luke 7:47, The Message)

"In a perfect world, I'll vote for them."

[2011-03-16 Note: This is one of my posts about the 2010 Philippine elections, and particularly about my personal choices for president and vice president. This blog is about God, which supposedly transcends politics; but such political choices are extensions of my God-given wisdom and principles and my privilege (and responsibility) of choosing our next leader. By the way, they didn't win... but my votes are heard and counted.]



"In a perfect world, I'll vote for them."

The world ain't perfect; ALL THE MORE reason to vote for GORDON-BAYANI, May 2010.

One step at a time :)

One Step At A Time
by Jordin Sparks


Hurry up and wait
So close, but so far away
Everything that you've always dreamed of
Close enough for you to taste
But you just can't touch

You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming

Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient, waiting
We live and we learn to take

One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen when it's supposed to happen
And we find the reasons why
One step at a time

You believe and you doubt
You're confused, you got it all figured out
Everything that you always wished for
Could be yours, should be yours, would be yours
If they only knew

You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming

Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient, waiting
We live and we learn to take

One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen when it's supposed to happen
And we find the reasons why
One step at a time

When you can't wait any longer
But there's no end in sight
When you need to find the strength
It's your faith that makes you stronger
The only way you get there
Is one step at a time

Take one step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen when it's supposed to happen
And we find the reasons why
One step at a time

One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen when it's supposed to happen
And we find the reasons why
One step at a time

Our lives are made in these small hours :)

Last night, I "met the Robinsons" again.
Thank You God, for leading me to the best life possible, in my past, my present, and my future.
Thank You for my destiny, for glimpses of my future,
and for the choices and actions that lead to this glorious tomorrow.
Thank You because we can afford to learn from the past yet keep moving forward;
for with You, each new day is better than the last.

(Thank You also for science fairs, notebooks of ideas, for magnificent failures, for big loving families... and for telling my future husband that I'm always right. :p )

http://torpin.blogia.com/upload/20070126141910-robinsosns.jpg

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
- Walt Disney

Little Wonders
by Rob Thomas
featured in the movie "Meet the Robinsons"
video here


Let it go
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don't you know
The hardest part is over
Let it in
Let your clarity define you
In the end
You will only just remember how it feels

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away,
But these small hours
These small hours
Still remain

Let it slide
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine,
Till you feel it all around you
And I don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by
It's the heart that really matters in the end

Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These small hours
Still remain

All of my regret
Will wash away somehow
But I cannot forget
the way I feel right now

In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Yeah, these twisted turns of fate
Time falls away
Yeah, but these small hours,
These small hours
Still remain

Yeah, oh they still remain
These little wonders
All these twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These little wonders
Still remain

"They're OK but they're not going to win."

[2011-03-16 Note: This is one of my posts about the 2010 Philippine elections, and particularly about my personal choices for president and vice president. This blog is about God, which supposedly transcends politics; but such political choices are extensions of my God-given wisdom and principles and my privilege (and responsibility) of choosing our next leader. By the way, they didn't win... but my votes are heard and counted.]



"They're OK but they're not going to win."

They're going to win if we vote for them. GORDON-BAYANI for May2010!

I will love you freely

(based on Hosea 14:4-9)

I will love you freely,

for my anger has turned from you.

I will be like the dew to you;
you shall blossom like the lily;

you shall take root like the trees of Lebanon;
your shoots shall spread out;

your beauty shall be like the olive,
and your fragrance like Lebanon.

You shall return and dwell beneath my shadow;

you shall flourish like the grain;
you shall blossom like the vine;

your fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

O Ephraim, what have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.

I am like an evergreen cypress;
from me comes your fruit.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the LORD are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.

Go your way, my Love

Go your way, my Love,
and I will go mine.

Sooner or later, anyway,
our paths will intertwine...

Again.

Forgive my impatience.
I was wholly weak this Holy Week
and even before, but now,

Fully risen :)

You have things to do
I understand
So do I
That's alright.

They say,
"You must come full circle to find the truth."
Indeed. It's been a crazy ride, but I realized
I didn't really change... except become stronger.

I'm not going anywhere, anywhere without you
So go your way, my Love
I'm already there with you.

are we living to the full?

"I have come to give life," Jesus proclaimed, "life to the full."

It's wrong that we should be only half alive... half of ourselves.
- Mary Jane Watson, Spider-Man 2

I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.


So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.


- Frodo and Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

thank You, o God :)

"I know Jesus is Love and that's all I need to know."
--- sung by Toni Gonzaga during today's Seven Last Words


Today is Good Friday. Over a billion Christians remember how Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, gave up His life, sinless, as payment for ours, sin-filled.... how He died, but rose again.

But allow me to be selfish. Jesus saved me. ME! I'm saved!

And all my problems, issues and fears dwindle to insignificance. I'm with the Victor of Life, the Winner over Death, after all.

God the Father gave me life; God the Son shows me how to live; God the Holy Spirit gives me the power to do it.

It's been more of a "Holy Month" than a "Holy Week" for me... Difficult, but not impossible. I have the perfect role model after all.

Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will."
(Mark 14:36)


And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.
(Luke 22:43)

Jesus acknowledged that His Father is Almighty... that His Father is sovereign... and He yielded to His Father's will. May we all do the same.

Time and again, I'm tempted to try to understand God, to guess how He thinks and to predict how He will act. But how many times do I need to "get" that I'm not God? Besides, if I cannot trust Him in the little that I do understand, then I cannot place my faith in Him at all.

Today, I thank God. For His victory over sin and death, for His example of humble obedient faith, and for how He is working in my life this very moment.

Thank You for giving me circumstances that lead me to --- finally --- trust in You and only You.

Thank You, O God, for sending angels that strengthen me.

Thank You for I am seeing the light of Easter dawn.

Thank You for this Holy Season. :)