You can Plurk.

"However self-indulgent they might be, there's an enduring importance to our romantic flights of fancy. We all need them, whether we're walking numbly through our lives, unaware of our desires, or we're on pins and needles, painfully aware of the contrast between our lives and our imaginations every second of the day.

The stories we tell each other, the hopelessly common little tales about laundry piling up and impending deadlines and planned vacations and recalcitrant contractors and petty squabbles with co-workers, never do justice to the richness of our internal lives. Even though we may only recognize some variation on survival mode in each other, even though we mouth trivialities and small talk, inside us there's a kaleidoscope of emotions, a million and one imaginative leaps to faraway places, along with looming questions and unfocused needs and bouts of nostalgia. We carry around three-ring circuses of hope and regret inside, with sad clowns and fat ladies and graceful trapeze artists soaring through the air, even if the rest of the world sees nothing but one lumpy, forlorn-looking tent."

Article found at the ever-inspiring Salon. The rest of the article is here.

"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea" --Isak Dinesen

Lost in the sea’s
unforgiving blue,
I seek you.
Before me
the day unscrolls
its naked scripture:
sun, vision’s burning field,
islands, faint presences
crumbling in the distance,
water, the fickle immensities
life is made
constant by.
And it strikes me
I love the sea
because it borders
this suffering world
and the next:
the soul, it is said,
travels in a boat
from a winding inland river,
homing clear-eyed
toward the ocean--
which is the bottomless
beyond.
And I know:
here, upon this beach,
wash the crushed remains
of what was once mortal:
bone and kelp,
driftwood and tentacle,
porous red coral--
keepsakes
life leaves behind
before
dissolving
back to brine.
I am home here, then,
whom the world
never loved,
and from its torn edges
I can almost see
it all end:
an onrushing tide,
a radiant sea-swell
sweeping away all appearance,
gentle eddies
whittling the self
till it is no longer
even sand.
I think of you
landlocked and lost
in another element--
your body.
The sea teaches me
love is a wish
not for safety
but for destruction.
I am not ashamed
to admit it:
I love you
the way water loves.
Which is to say
I wish the world
were through with you,
so you could return to me
ravaged, upon this shore:
a shell
held tight
inside my palm.

by J. Niel Garcia

Reposting this for a friend :)

Woke up today to the announcement of new iPods. All I have is a lowly shuffle (which is probably all I need) but with the new nano and iPod touch, I'm having another iWant phase. Apple is brillant when it comes to this, don't you think?

iPod nano now sports video capabilities and is priced at USD$149. The iPod touch, on the other hand, looks exactly like an iPhone but well, without the, uh, phone. It's going for $299. New colors to choose from too, though the colors seem a little bland for me. I suppose they're going for more classic choices.

Anyone thinking of getting the new iPods?

I love Cathy and this strip really struck a nerve... or more likely, a funny bone.

Click on the strip for a closer look.

"Which is worse, that life keeps passing me by or that it keeps sticking all over me?"

I love reading and with my literary appetite, I usually have 2-3 books on my night stand. But lately my book pile has started to tower. Blame it on work and television. Damn, why is it so easy to make excuses when it comes to reading? I should know better. So now, to sort of put on some pressure on me, I'm posting my book list. Now to weed through them one by one.

Clockwise from top left:

• How to Walk in High Heels by Camilla Morton
  
• The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco
  
• Foucault's Pendulum also by Umberto Eco
  
• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  
• The Grass Harp & A Tree of Night by Truman Capote
  
• What Should I Do with My Life by Po Bronson
• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
  

Some are new finds and others are re-reads. Oh, and notice how diverse my interests are. There's a rulebook for modern gal, some literary classics (or take offs), philosophical mysteries, and a little dabbling in psychology. So, additional book recommendations, anyone?

Now, here is an intersting love quote to chew on...

L'amour est un coussin douillet et une épée posée sur la gorge.
Love is a soft cushion and a sword against the throat. --Shan Sa

For the past 2 weekends I've been away from Metro Manila. Both were wonderful, wonderful weekends that deserve write-ups but I haven't had much time lately. Or rather, I've been spending time doing, well, less productive stuff.

I've always had itchy feet and travel really stimulates my senses. I always come back feeling renewed despite the long drive. Oh, and I have about 3 new travel destinations in mind... Itchy, itchy feet.

Got this from an email and I felt like sharing --with the frentic pace my life is currently in. I'm sure most of you can relate. Don't you just wish we'd all be able to adopt this kind of lifestyle/culture?

****

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company.

Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule. Globalized processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slowmovements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate,hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked meup at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold andsnowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe named Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%.

This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!".This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living. It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they knowbest how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will behere any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango. Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment.

As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to wastetime in this globalized world.

I think, I'll let the picture do the talking.

What do you guys think? Pretty cool shirt, no? Now if only if it was this easy...

While shopping for my toiletries, I found some Ivory soaps with lovely French quotes on simplifying life.

"Se compliquer la vie, c'est facile. Le genie, c'est de la simplicite."
(Complicating life is easy. The genius is in the simple things.)

"La liberte, c'est vivre dans la simplicite."
(If you want to be free, learn to live simply.)

Damn, why does everything sound so much better in French?

I have this little dashboard widget, Today in History, which I love for the facts and trivia that I pick up from it daily. Sounds geeky, I know. Anyway, when I browse through it, most facts I read are birthdays of important people or about global/world events.

But today, February 4, the little tidbit I found was closer to home. Because on this day in 1899, Emilio Aguinaldo started the fight for independence against the Americans. Can't help but feel a wee pit patriotic. In this time of uncertainty, it feels good to be reminded of the greatness of the Filipino.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Woohoo!

As I'm writing this entry, I can feel the gentle cool breeze blow thru my open window and it's as if I'm falling into the lull of the night. I've always been a night person. I love the peace and quiet that it brings. It's at night when I do the bulk of my "creative" and even analytical work --I write, I draft my reports, I plan my next couple of days.

During the day, it's all about activity --usually in a flux of movement. But at night I'm allowed to sit still and be alone with my thoughts. I can think freely, without the usual distractions. And with the cool breeze of the night, there's a greater sense of comfort and security, enough of liberate my thoughts all the more.

Here's a little haiku --for the cool night breeze...

I sit still and I can write
Cool air flows through me
Frees my senses, thoughts, and self

Just got my MacBook and I'm lovin' it! The Mac OS is quite interesting but I'm still groping around trying to figure things out. Guess that's perfectly normal for a PC user for the past 10 years, right? I love Expose and the Dasboard widgets! The widgets put the fun back in using a computer. Expose makes navigating through my currently running programs much, much more manageable. So far, these are the only two programs that stand out from my microsoft experience. Though I'm sure, I'll discover a lot more. Afterall, I've had this MacBok for only 6 hours! Can't wait to learn more!

I seriously don't know what's gotten into me but lately I've been doing some serious thinking on food. And not just eating it, mind you (since I do that quite a lot). Now, it's about making it. Yep, cooking and baking have strangely found their way into my nomally Martha Stewart-averse mind.

For the more than 20-years of my existence, the only thing I really know how to cook is leche flan --a sweet Filipino custard-like dessert (which I've mastered that I can cook it with my eyes closed). But lately I've been hounded by thoughts of baking and cooking.

And after days of wildly poring over cookbooks, I decide to make an attempt on baking some good ol' apple pie. It seemed perfect for the holiday season afterall.

I was aiming for something easy since I lack the technical know-how on baking. Just a quick background, my 'formal' education in cooking ended in elementary (Home Economics if I remember the subject right) and in high school I opted for the Technology route rather than subject myself to 2 years of cooking & sewing. So, technically speaking, I was more likely to succeed in fixing an electric fan than to bake apple pie.

But surprisingly, the apple pie turned out quite damn good --especially considering I made it all from scratch (pie crust included!). It could've been a bit more moist but my family loved it. And that's what matters.

Then again, what do you expect from the people who consider you pretty? ;-P

Gotta thank my grandma (who bought the ingredients & insisted that a graham crust just wouldn't be right) and aunt (who lit the oven --which I'm strangely afraid of) for guiding me every step of the way. Here's to more baking! Ack!

Heart beating wildly...
Palms sweating...
Chest contricts... can barely breathe
Thoughts going around in circles
Decision hangs by a thread
Time is running out

As of this posting, there are only 4 days left before Christmas and I've barely done any Christmas shopping!! Aaaaaaack!!

There's a certain high you get from travelling. New sights, new experiences, new found friends... These are the ingredients of stepping out from one's comfort zone and experiencing life in a different light. When we leave our usual context and step out of our comfort zones, we're rewarded with experience that will be forever etched in our memories.

Here are some of mine (from my recent trip to Banaue-Sagada), in no particular order:
1) Meeting new friends and redsicovering old ones you take for granted
2) Rediscovering my muscles --as well as how painful they can get when pushed to their limit (I have Batad to thank for this!)
3) Talking with strangers give you a different perspective on life.
4) Riding on the roof of a jeepney and savoring the view from the top is such a rush. Woohoo!
5) Doing more physical activities give you an intense feeling of accomplishment.
6) Feeling the crisp, cool air on your face can rejuvinate your senses and clear your mind.
7) Appreciating nature upclose and realizing that photos, no matter how gorgeous, can never capture nature's real beauty
8) Trying local wines, such a tapey (rice wine) and bugnay (local berry wine from Sagada), as well as the local coffee and tea really warms the body and soul
9) Riding an "open" jeepney on a dirt road and not really minding being covered with dust because of the gorgeous scenery
10) Learning to play Poker using paper balls and losing badly
11) Getting some first-hand experience on climbing in a cave (and looking like Gollum from LOTR in the process)
12) Climbing and going through rice terraces. Woohoo! What a thrill!
13) Swimming in ice cold waters of Tappia Falls and Sumaging Caves
14) Discovering home-made yoghurt is a lot better than the commercial ones in the supermarket
15) Waking up at 5 in the morning (without much snoozing and complaining) and actually looking forward to a long day of adventure
16) Having your bus break down 3 times (once in front of a funeral home!) is a one-of-a-kind experience I'll never forget
17) Striking loony/silly poses make photos more memorable than perfectly composed ones

The rewards of getting out of that comfort zone definitely outweigh the (false) security! I can't wait for my travel!!