You know something good is going to happen ...

- when you wake up to guitar music of your fave songs playing from your nephew's bedroom.
- when the lcd light of your old cd player decided to illuminate itself after disappearing for the last nine years.
- Korean pop music on cd.
- when office mate forgives you for a boo boo you were responsible for.
- when you realize you have enough money to pay your bills for the month :)
- when you have warm Century tuna for breakfast.
- when only two projects are listed in bulletin board on a long weekend.
- when your anticipating a sibling reunion (all seven) at the end of the weekend.
- when niece shows up with your "Breaking Dawn" book that turned missing months ago.
- when wi-fi in laptop suddenly fixes itself and you can now blog in bed and write about the good things going to happen.
- when brother brings home episodes of CSI you haven't seen before.
- when you pray and find God laughing at you because he seems to think your funny.
- new shoes ;)

But then again, good things always happen. It's a matter of knowing where to look for it and having the right attitude.

I believe the world conspires to make me happy :)

Amen.

Moments

Just a quick reminder of why we need to live today and not dwell too much in the past or worry so much about the future. Saw this in Toni's blog.



I think it's brilliant. And touching.

Frontline

12:30 pm. – NOT MY USUAL DISCOURTEOUS SELF AT ALL! I’m at the front desk of a government building saying “Hello, Good afternoon.” to everyone coming my way. Why? Well, someone had this brilliant idea NOT to hire a front desk clerk for the Anti-red Tape Act Implementation which includes Frontline services such as this. Instead of hiring someone, they had assigned duty hours to employees to “man” the desk. (Um, I was told they were planning to get someone to do this job but I wonder why they can’t find anyone to volunteer – hmmmm – not really a question for Einstein is it?).

Each office sends a sacrificial lamb everyday to the front desk. Today, I’m the lamb – or should I say, goat – a more appropriate term for my disposition and outlook – hahaha.

I should not complain really. My duty is just for four hours. I’ve come prepared. I have a very thick folder of CSS notes I’ve been wanting to read, a notebook, and just to make sure I don’t go into coma because of boredom, I brought my laptop (I now see why God wanted me to buy a laptop. He knew I was going to do front desk duty – bwahaha).

1:23 pm. It’s bearable for now. I don’t know how long I can stand this but I’m at least going to try. I just hope I don’t meet any politicians today. Ironic for someone who works for the government, I know. But I just hate politicians. Can I say that again? I HATE POLITICIANS! There, that makes me feel so much better ;)

A group of UP students just came by. They said they were here to observe – what exactly – they didn’t say. Maybe it’s top secret? Ok, bear with me. I can’t concentrate on my reading and I don’t have wifi down here. So I’m going to make fun of people so as not to go crazy.

2:09 pm. Uh-oh. I’m bored. And thirsty. I should have brought something to drink. A woman asked for the Iloilo Midwife Association or IMAP. I don‘t know where it is but it’s definitely not in this building. Directed her to the Health Office – maybe they would know? Another asked for the Registry of Deeds. Duh! Pointed them out of the building and gave them directions. I was friendly and polite mind you. I keep telling you, in this desk, I am not myself. That’s hard work!

2:21 pm I’m dying here. There is a very good reason why I work in front of a computer and not in front of people. I have a huge respect for people behind this desk. But I absolutely have no patience for it.

2:55 pm. Relief. Asked someone from the office to send me cold water. Thirst gone. Also had my external hard drive delivered. Boredom relieved for a few more minutes. It’s a loooooong afternoon. Next time, I’ll think I’ll opt for morning duty.

3:30 pm. An hour and a half to go. Now I need to pee. LOL.

4:00 pm. One hour. It’s not so bad if you have something to do on your hands. I’ve been organizing my template files on my external hard disk and have created templates for my css and html with a wide variety of font stacks. People I know pass by and chat a bit. And go back to their original agenda. I haven’t been asked hard questions so it’s not so bad. I want some coffee right about now but I can wait another hour. I wonder if I need to stay here until the employees line up for time-out?

4.55pm. I can go. Pistachio nuts –the reward for the weary front desk clerk

Roxas Trip

Back to the daily grind :)

All shots taken with my trusty old Canon A400 Point and Shoot.

from Roxas

Basking in my own simple idea of comfort somewhere in Roxas City. Staying at the cozy Palace Central near the City Hall. They have wifi but unfortunately can't seem to connect using my laptop - it does that sometimes and I want to have that checked when I get back to Iloilo. Anyways, right now I'm using my companion's Rose's laptop. Needed to check emails and read on my favorite blogs - a daily dose of therapy. Now that's done, I'm off checking news on ... hahaha ... never mind. I'm about to hit my head with my phone for not being able to break the habit. But I miss miss miss (toot) terribly. Hay! Lea, hit me on the head will ya?!

A client just sent me ideas for her website and and another wanted me to make edits on labels. Sigh. I want to work on them right away but am stopping myself. I'm away from my PC and must not think of work for now. At least for a few more days.

Had dinner at the beach yesterday. Ate yummy shrimps and took pics of the sunset. I don't know where we're going today but I like Roxas City so far. Oh, except for the toilet on where we are having the seminar. They don't clean it as well as the inn where I'm staying. I'll make it a point to take a look around tomorrow. Tonight I just wanna catch up on my reading and play dead ... stay still like a cucumber. Hah!

ah! enough! bye for now.

My My My Minuet

Just like listening to this song. The above version is by Park Hyekyung (heard it first in one of the WGM episodes). The lyrics are REALLY CHEESSY! in English which is why I like the Korean version - I don't have to listen to the words but I understand what it means ;)

I love the Minuet. I have the "Master and Commander" version in my computer - the one where Russell Crow played the violin (was it a violin?). Wait, that wasn't the Minuet. That was the Prelude - LOL. Still. Don't you just love JSB? I think Bach should be a requirement in elementary school even though he might not be the one who composed it - :) I'm sure they will get to the songs he didn't compose eventually.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"A Lover's Concerto" is a pop song written by American songwriters, Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, and recorded in 1965 by The Toys. Their version of the song was a major hit in both the United States and the UK during 1965. It peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number two.

Critic Dave Thompson wrote, "Few records are this perfect. Riding across one of the most deceptively hook-laden melodies ever conceived ... 'A Lover’s Concerto' marks the apogee of the Girl Group sound." The song also had an unusual structure that blurred the differences between its verses and choruses.

Linzer and Randell based the melody on the familiar "Minuet in G major" from J.S. Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. One key difference is that the "Minuet in G major" is written in 3/4 time, whereas "A Lover's Concerto" is arranged in 4/4 time. (Although often attributed to Bach himself, the "Minuet in G major" is now believed to have been written by Christian Petzold. The Notebook, a gift from Bach to his second wife Anna, begins with works by Bach but also included many blank pages, onto which members of the family copied works that they liked to play; the famous minuets in G major and G minor are not in Bach's handwriting.)

If you need the lyrics, here's part of it in the video:

A Good Year

Sigh. A lot of tears falling today. Every time I see Kris Aquino cry on tv, I cry too. And I don't like Kris Aquino very much - LOL. Exasperating really but can't help it. My mom died of colon cancer too.

I bawled when the Apo and other singers sang "Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo". Feel ko gid ang pagka-Pinoy ko. I was 15 years old when Edsa I happened. I remember riding towards the Capitol with people rejoicing and streets covered with yellow confetti. I didn't know who Cory was then but I was just glad that Marcos was out :)

Maybe my sister is right. She said this year IS a good year to die. A lot of good people passed away this year. Death certainly changes things. But it doesn't stop life, does it?

Hope. There is always hope. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.