Seven Year Itch

My blog turned seven yesterday. Unfortunately, I was in a workshop somewhere in Oton with no mobile signal and no hope for internet wi-fi. But I did get sentimental about my blog turning seven for a whole four minutes. We started singing videoke. Without wi-fi, there's no point of living life in your laptop when you have real people to live life with. So I decided to celebrate my blog's birthday by singing Dianne Reeve's Better Days with a drunk but very appreciative audience :D Life has soo much to offer outside the four sides of my monitor. And it what feeds the writing. I belted out song after song, with duets, solos and and an all-girl group. Without a drop of alcohol. And turned in at two in the morning. Who says you can't get high with life?

I was thinking of writing about the  seven-year itch since this relationship with blogger would've started 1st grade by now. But there is really no point because there's is nooooo itch.

For sentimental reasons, I'm enjoying Andrea Bocelli's Con Te Partiro (With You I Will Leave) as I write this.I searched for the English lyrics, played the song and read the English translation that went with it.  I change the LEAVE word of the lyrics with LIVE. Much more meaningful to me that way.

Sheesh!  Try playing it on surround, dim lights and alone - and see if you heart doesn't threaten to explode by it's sheer power.



Sigh. Is it the song or me getting old?

Harry Potter for grown-ups

I watched my last Harry Potter movie last night on 3D.  I had to do overtime work and left the office about seven pm when I met up with a friend. Unfortunately all we could catch was the nine o'clock show and it was expensively 3D. But I said that to give allegiance to the last of the series, we should not mind the expense. After all, I was a Harry Potter fan for almost thirteen years. Very little people knew about Harry then. And the world didn't seem normal ever since :D

I started reading Harry Potter in 1997. A very good friend, Gjean insisted I read the book,The Sorcerer's Stone. She had to borrow it from a cousin who bought it in London because nobody heard about J.K. Rowling at that time. It was aimed to be a children's book but I loved it. I bought a copy and gave it to my nephew to encourage him to read. My friend and I started following Harry after that, even after she moved to Canada. When she came to visit me a few years later, she even bought me a hard-bound copy of the sixth book.

I went to a lot of trouble just looking for those books every time they come out. I don't usually buy the books I read - because they are all quite expensive. Most of the time I just borrow them from generous friends with some begging and bribing.

There was a time I had to beg a friend, RP, to let me borrow his since there was a long line of borrowers in a single Harry Potter book back home. So he sent the very thick hard-bound (the Goblet of Fire I think it was) from Manila to Iloilo by mail so I could read it. That was sooo nice of him :D

My other friend, Ethel, a lawyer, who buys these books a lot, gives me first dibs because I was the one who introduced her to Harry Potter. Borrowing the Harry Potter books alone was an adventure. I read the Deathly Hallows with an e-book copy in a tiny PDA. No wonder I have very thick prescription glasses now.

The first Harry Potter movie didn't come out until 2001 - ten years ago. Daniel Radcliffe was a tiny boy back then. Look at him now.

Anyway, I have to work today. It's a Saturday but that's ok now that I've seen Harry Potter. I would not recommend you watching it if you're not a fan. You will need a lot of catching up to do. The movie is for fans and it did some justice although I still do wish it would go on and on.



I feel separation anxiety. They are all so grown-up now. Sigh. And so am I. Lol.

Beautiful

Been experiencing several allergy attacks. It's driving me crazy. Can't think right if I'm itching. Will post a more noteworthy note later.

Watched two great movies during the weekend. The first was a French film called "I Loved You So Long". I like the subtlety and quiet of European films - makes emotion so much more intense for some reason. And I love the simplicity of the ending. It stars Kristin Scott Thomas who displayed a powerful performance. Must see.

The other one was also European - Romanian but more disturbing. It was called "Four months, Three Weeks and Two Days" - all about a girl helping her friend get an abortion. The plot was simple but the emotional load - a bit heavy. But I liked it because I kept thinking about it even after it was over.

My friends and I got ourselves a theme song "because we were that girl too". It's called "Beautiful Flower" by India Arie. Check it out.

Couch Potato

So I've been spending my nights on the long black couch, laptop balanced on my stomach, coffee on the side table and TV on mute. I wait for Pinoy Biggest Loser which airs at ten during weekdays and pass the time reading blogs, experimenting codes and looking at pics of half-naked men. That last part was not intentional. There just happens to be half-naked men on some of the blogs I read because they're promoting albums that seem to require them to be half-naked. Not that I mind. Lol,

Anyway, Friday night and here I am again. A friend texted and invited me for a drink but I didn't feel like dressing up so I ignored the text. Our friend Glen gave us free tickets to the Sarah Geronimo-Martin Nievera Concert but we gave it away. It just feels right to stay home tonight and watch Robin Padilla move on screen without a voice. It just feels right to be typing here with my re-formatted laptop and not worry about anything else. No talk. Minimum movement. Visually full.

Ahm show about to start. Maybe will talk to you later. Or maybe Monday when I start this whole thing all over again after the weekend break.

To Teach Is To Learn Is to Lead

I've been attending a seminar on designing templates for websites, specifically Joomla because that's what the unit uses as CMS. I don't know Joomla but I was tasked to document the process because documentation is part of the training too. So they started with basic html and css - something I've been doing for a couple of years now and I know those codes like the back of my hand. So I was asked to assist the Australian Volunteer Chris to go around and help those who can't quite catch up. I kinda like looking for wrong syntax in codes and teaching the participants what went wrong with their code. And I like it when their eyes shine when they finally figure out how to make it work. I like seminars like this. But at a short time, Chris can only teach so much. We will have to figure out the rest for ourselves. It all boils down to how much do you really want to learn to improve yourself. Sort of like losing weight, how much do you really want it?

There's a pararam maxim I came across another training that says:

He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him.
He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep. Wake him.
He who knows not, and knows he knows not, is simple. Teach him.
He who knows, and knows he knows is wise. Follow him.

I have very little patience for fools. The rest just needs to be led. Which would probably bring me to a topic on leadership, something I've wanted to blog about for a long time but I can't seem to finish the post.

The thing is ... I have such high respect for leaders who know how to bring people to follow them without force or intimidation. Ghandi and Mother Theresa use quite means: prayer and peace. Kennedy did it with powerful words that inspire. General Richard Winters did it with strategy and great example.

There is a big difference between a manager and a leader. I got this from research:

A manager deals with status-quo; a leader deals with change.
A manager work in the system; a leader works on the system.
A manager reacts;  a leader creates opportunities.
A manager controls risk;  a leader seeks opportunities.
A manager enforces organizational rules;  a leader changes organizational rules.
A manager seek and the follow direction;  a leader provides a vision to believe in and strategic alignment.
A manager control people by pushing them in the right direction; a leader motivates people by satisfying basic human needs.
A manager coordinates effort; a leader inspires achievement and energizes people.
A manager provides instructions;  a leader coaches followers, create self-leaders and empowers them.

That's why people have very little respect for managers and  have high regard for leaders. Me, I want to follow great leaders. With the rest, I just have to grudgingly obey. LOL.