I love the Sesame Street Google Doodles!

I've been checking Google first thing in the morning to see if there is a new google doodle. Still waiting for Kermit...

2009 Pyromusical Competition in the Philippines

Dubbed as the first in the Philippines because previous years' competitions were without music. Secondly, it will be land-based firing, so you can expect low-level fireworks this time! La Mancha, the organizer of this event, did a 13-minute teaser during the last Pyrolympics for this.

I am sure, like the other Pyrolympics, this Musical Pyrolympics is worth watching.

Here are the schedules:

November 14, 2009
South Korea and United States of America

November 21, 2009
Germany and China

November 28, 2009
Japan and Australia

December 05, 2009
Canada and Italy

December 12, 2009
Hightlights from the Participants and Philippines

Bring the kids and watch this spectacular event!

Venue:
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. near MC Home Depot and Bonifacio High Street. Tickets will be available this October!

Lake Caliraya

Had the chance to shoot at Caliraya Lake last month. I have been hearing a lot about this place but this is the first time i was finally able to see the place for myself.

It is a man-made lake situated in the towns of Lumban, Cavinti and Kalayaan, Laguna.


We rode a speed boat and were transported to the other side of the lake. It is a sanctuary owned by Mr. Peter Wallace. I was surprised to see so many animals in the small island. Not to mention many places calling for some photo ops.






We also had the chance to shoot at the Japanese Garden...

For the first time, i had the chance to try Infrared Photography. This is where i got burned! Because to maximize the full effect of the IR, shooting time must be between 10am - 3pm. I was shooting from 12nn to 2pm. Dehydrated, burned, soaked with sweat - but i still nudged myself to learn how this IR works. Here is the result:

The next day, we visited the Kalayaan Twin Falls. We arrived at 6am, purposely early to avoid the early swimmers.

Last stop is an old tower at the entrance of Lagos del Sol. It appears ordinary, i almost did not notice it the first time we passed but when we came back during sunset, it exposed its beauty under the orange/blue-tinged sky.

It was a very tiring shoot. But very worth it.

Monasterio De Tarlac

Situated on top of a mountain is the Monasterio De Tarlac. It houses the relic of the True Cross of Jesus.




The spacious property offers a panoramic view of Tarlac. The noticeable silence in the place is a sure welcome from the noisy city.

There are two sets of the Stations of the Cross. One is for the less agile and the other is for those who are ready to go up and down the hills under the searing heat of the sun.

I love the peace and serenity the place gives. Up there, it is easier to be "holy" and "follow" Jesus' steps. But reality has to take over and I eventually need to go down to the real world.

The relic of the true cross is exposed only twice a year. On January 30 and on September 14, the feast of the Holy Cross. A mass is being offered at 10:30am every Saturday and Sunday.

How to go there:

Take the NLEX, exit at St. Ines, Mabalacat, Pampanga. Just follow the road going to Tarlac. At Brgy. San Sebastian, look for Hon Kee Tea House (right side) and turn left. At the end of the 36-kilometer scenic road is Brgy. Lubigan where the Monasterio is located. Various signages are posted along the way.

When you thought i wasn't looking

Just thought of sharing this. A message every adult should read because children are watching us and doing as we do, not as we say.

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my
first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately
wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a
stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind
to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my
favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little
things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a
prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always
talk to, and I le arned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a
meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I
learned that we all have to help take care of each
other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of
your time and money to help people who had nothing,
and I learned that those who have something should
give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care
of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have
to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you
handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't
feel good, and I learned that I would have to be
responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come
from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things
hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of
life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and
wanted to say,'Thanks for all the things I saw when
you thought I wasn't looking.'

In Memory of Amiel Alcantara

Any death is tragedy in itself, but the death of a child is tragedy multiplied by the hundreds.

Julian Carlo Miguel (Amiel) Alcantara, a 10 year old student of the Ateneo de Manila University got fatally hit by a van on the afternoon of February 24.

Here is what happened:

According to initial reports, Amiel and his older brother were dismissed from school at past 3pm. The boys were already in their car when Amiel got hungry and so he and his yaya decided to go to the Ateneo grade school canteen to buy something.

Meanwhile, inside a gray hi-ace van, a 30something mom had instructed her driver to go and get her young son. She said she would just take care of moving the vehicle if need be.

One mom (whose son is the classmate of Amiel) was right there and witnessed the horrible, horrible accident. When the driver went out of the van, he left it idling. The cars in front of the van moved already, a big gap was left in front of the van, so the cars behind the van began blowing their horns to make the van move. The mom went down to move the van. That's when she accidentally stepped on the gas, instead of the brakes, rear-ending the car in front of her, which in turn, hit the car in front of it. The impact was strong, but that wasn't when Amiel was hit.

The mom, in her panic, then reversed very quickly. She didn't see Amiel and his yaya who were on their way from the canteen, crossing behind her van, looking for their own car. That's when she hit the boy and the yaya. She didn't even realize that she had hit two people, she kept going in reverse, even if the other drivers and bystanders were screaming for her to stop. They had to extricate poor Amiel from under the van. The mom who witnessed all these has asked her driver to help carry him. When she saw Amiel, she knew at once that he was gone. She saw his things scattered on the ground, even the hotdog he was eating right before the accident.

My prayer goes to the family of Amiel, to his parents, his yaya and especially to his brother. My prayer also goes to the driver of the van and her family. Numerous reports are on the loose about her indifferent attitude towards the accident, about how a cellphone was involved, about the insensitive way she responded to inquiries, but before the official reports are out, let us not add to her burdens. She has suffered enough.

Grasping at reality amidst this surreal event, I realized it could actually be anybody at the shoes of anyone involved in the accident, at anytime.

Schedule of Masses (Makati and Ortigas District)

This list might be of help for those on the look-out for a Eucharistic mass especially this coming Lenten season. To be sure, try to check first and let us know of any changes so we can also update the list.


MAKATI BUSINESS DISTRICT MASS SCHEDULES

Asian Institute of Management
Paseo de Roxas
Monday - Friday - 1230PM
First Friday, Saturday - 6:00PM
Sunday - 9:30AM

Ateneo Law School
Rockwell Center
Monday - Friday - 12:15PM, 6:00PM
Saturday - 5:15PM

25F Ayala Tower 1
Ayala Avenue
Monday to Friday, 11:30 AM to 12:00 NN

Bank of Commerce
Ayala Avenue
Wednesday, Friday - 12:15PM

Builder's Centre
Ground Floor
Salcedo St., Legaspi Village
Monday - Friday - 12:00NN

88 Corporate Center
Suite 905 (subject to change)
Sedeno St. corner Valero St.
First Friday: 12:15 PM
(Ash Wednesday Mass is also normally celebrated)

Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)
Sen Gil Puyat Avenue
Monday - Friday: 12:00 NN

Eastern Telecoms Plaza Penthouse
Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue
Monday - Friday - 12:00NN

Equitable PCIBank (now Banco de Oro)
Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel
Makati Avenue
Monday - Friday - 7:45AM, 12:15PM, 5:30PM

Greenbelt Park
Monday - Friday - 7:30AM, 12:15PM 5:45PM, 7:00PM
Saturday - 12:15PM, 4:30PM, 6:00PM
Sunday - 7:15AM, 9:00AM, 10:30AM, 1200NN,
3:00PM, 4:30PM, 6:00PM, 730PM

Glorietta Ayala Center
Wednesday, Saturday - 5:00PM
Sunday - 10:30AM

Makati Medical Center
9th floor Chapel or Ledesma Hall
Monday - Sunday - 7:30AM, 12:00NN, 4:00PM

Metrobank Plaza
Penthouse Annex Building
Sen Gil Puyat Avenue
Monday - Friday - 7:45 AM

PhilamLife Tower
Paseo de Roxas
9th Floor
Monday - Friday 12:15PM

Prudential Bank
3F Ayala Avenue
Wednesday - 12:00NN

4F RCBC Plaza
Ayala Avenue cor. Buendia
Monday - Friday - 12:00 NN to 1:00 PM


ORTIGAS BUSINESS DISTRICT MASS SCHEDULES

Chateau Verde Condo
Lobby
Valle Verde 1
First Friday Masses - 6:00PM
Sunday - 11:00AM

EDSA Shrine
Monday - Saturday - 6:30AM, 12:15NN, 5:30PM, 7:00PM
Sunday - 8:00AM, 9:30AM, 11:00AM, 12:15NN
3:00PM, 4:30PM, 6:00PM, 7:30PM

Meralco Chapel
Meralco Compound
Meralco Avenue
Monday - Friday - 7:00AM, 12:00NN

RFM Auditorium
RFM Corporate Center
Pioneer cor. Sheridan Sts., Mandaluyong City
Monday - Friday - 12:00 NN

SM Megamall
Julia Vargas Avenue
Monday - Friday - 1215, 6PM
Saturday - 5:00PM, 7:00PM
Sunday - 9, 11AM, 1230, 2PM, 330PM, 5PM, 630PM

Stella Orientis Chapel
University of Asia and the Pacific
Josemaria Escriva Drive, Ortigas Center
Monday - Friday - 7:45AM, 12:05PM
Saturday - 12:05PM

Tektite Chapel
West Tower
Emerald Avenue
Monday - Friday - 12:15PM, 5:30PM

Thanks to the The MabutingBalita.net Team for compiling the schedules

My Funeral Planner

I once attended a program some years ago and at the end there was a raffle draw. One of the grand prizes is a memorial plan. The audience laughed, especially when the host said the winner has to claim the non-transferrable prize within a year :)

The deadline given is of course laughable, but the idea of having a memorial plan or to be more large-scale, a funeral planner, is not.

We always say that death comes like a thief in the night, we don't know the time nor the day when the Lord will say our time on earth is up. When that time comes, being ready spiritually is winning 3/4 of the battle. But the other 1/4 is being ready with all the other necessary stuff emanating from death.

Fr. Larry Tan from Don Bosco is the author of the booklet My Homebound Planner. It has some To Do lists and also has lots of practical guides on one's funeral (no matter how morbid a thought it can be). There is a part where one can prepare his living will and a list of personal documents as well as legal, financial and educational-related documents. "My Last Will" is a page where one can put into words all the sentiments he/she feels. "My Loose ends" page contains the lists of one's debts, collectibles, borrowed items and things others borrowed. A page is even reserved for one's letter to the Lord.

I bought the booklet from Fr. Larry when he said mass at the office a few months ago. My father saw the booklet in my room a few days after and as soon as he read the title, he quickly gave me a call and inquired about it, admitting he found the booklet disconcerting. After assuring him that I'm not dying yet, he finally conceded that being prepared also in that aspect is practical.

I remember when my mother died almost 10 years ago. Im convinced she was ready both spiritually and otherwise. She knew that when she dies, we will look for her memorial plan and wise as she is, she also put there a letter to us with all the detailed instructions for her funeral, she even included the phone number of the funeral parlor and the name of the person we will contact.

Honestly, I found it overwhelming to fill out the booklet. There were some questions I am not prepared to be asked. But if it is hard for me, how much more it will be for my family who will be left behind.

So casting those morbid and overwhelming thoughts aside, I know I should start filling it out soon...

The Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord

SM Megamall has opened this week its new and spacious chapel, the Chapel of the Eucharistic Lord. Dubbed as a megachapel by Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, the new chapel can sit up to 1,000 people, has a Crying Room for the bawling babies and has a cellphone blocker that will surely avoid the instances where a cellphone will sound off at the middle of a mass.

The old, smaller chapel will now be an Adoration Chapel which is open during mall hours for those who want to spend some quiet moments with the Lord.

The new chapel is located at the 5th floor of SM Megamall's Mega Atrium area. It's chaplain is Fr. Joe Yu.

I would like to commend the efforts of the Sy Family particularly Mrs. Sy for putting up Philippine's largest chapel in a shopping mall. SM is the first shopping mall to hold regular masses when in 1985, SM North Edsa started its first mass. Families since then have started their Sunday get-togethers with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

Photos courtesy of Bro. Mon Velasquez

Parallel Railroad Tracks

This is quoting Rick Warren, author of the famous book, "Purpose Driven Life"

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your
problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, 'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

The Big Binondo Wok

Having just made an exploration a month earlier of Binondo in my photography class, I was as excited to do another Binondo tour but this time with Ivan ManDy's The Big Binondo Wok.

I was immediately impressed by Ivan's dedication to share his knowledge of Binondo to the Filipinos. Garbed in a chinese costume and with a Philippine flag on stick held up high over his head, he is like the pied piper of Hamelin as we followed him along the streets of Binondo.

After a brief introduction of Binondo and chinatown, we first stopped at a Chinese slipper store, the New Le Sempatica Commercial and Ivan told us how feet binding was observed in China during the earlier years. I learned that men of those days prefer women with smaller feet, thus the women then were willing to go through excruciating pain just to prevent their feet from growing. How? By tying their feet with bandage dipped in herbs and medicines. The bandage was tightened every day until the feet grow so small to be just the size of a closed fist.


Ouch.

Our next stop was the Eng Bee Tin Mezzanine Fire Fighters Cafe. We were served with Kiampong Rice, Fish Ball soup and Iced coffee. The kiampong rice tastes so good i could have asked for a second serving if I didn't restrain myself. The fish ball soup has fish balls that were not made of flour. The iced coffee was great too.




Next stop was a Chinese Drugstore, Ban Shiong Thai. There we were shown with a couple of dried geckos tied together. Ivan said the chinese use this like a tea bag - dipped in a kettle and the water to be drank afterwards. Known to cure asthma, colds and flu. Bubble in my head says I'd rather be sick than drink that!

Ivan then led us in a very inconspicuous restaurant that only has 5 tables, the 5th one being a freezer top. But dare not underestimate this humble place because they do have the best dumplings in the area. It's my favorite pitstop. The dumplings were made right before our eyes, thus the freshness cannot be doubted.

By the way, we can eat all the food we can on this Big Binondo Wok. We just need to request for a refill and more food will be brought to the table.

After satisfying ourselves with all the dumplings we could take, we next moved to the Santo Cristo de Logos Shrine. This is where Christianity meets the Chinese culture. Instead of candles, incense were lit. And the after saying a small prayer, the faithfuls get these wooden chips and toss them like a dice. Whatever is the result would determine the answer to their prayer: a yes, a no or question irrelevant.

Another foodstop is the store that sells brown eggs. Ivan gave each one of us a brown egg and prodded us to open it and take a bite. After everyone took a bite, he told us that we just tasted a snake's egg! Yuck!

But actually, those were just tea-marinated eggs. The eggs were made to stay in the mixture for 3 days to give them a brown color and a yummier taste.

A few steps away, Ivan took a plastic canister from one of the vendors and gave each one of us this orange stuff and he asked us to taste it. He made us think what the taste reminded us of. I immediately thought of Hawflakes, that childhood food papa loves to bring to us as pasalubong. Ivan told us the orange stuff is actually Chinese Hawthorn, and this is where Hawflakes were made from.

Our last stop is this Lumpia Restaurant, the New Po-Heng Lumpia House.

I have always loved the chinese lumpia being sold at the Big Little Store along Gilmore Avenue. But this one tastes notches better! The peanuty sauce is not too sweet for my taste. And the vegetables used were fresh and crunchy to the bite. The best chinese lumpia for me! I thought I cannot eat it all because of my full stomach but I did eventually.



I had fun in this Binondo Wok. Though my feet ached, my tummy was happy. =)

I've Fallen..

..not in love - but in a deep excavation.

This morning, on my way to the office, I did not notice a very deep digging on the road and before I had the chance to step on the breaks, my two front wheels already fell into it. I heard a loud thud, metal-to-cement kind of sound and I knew I was in deep trouble, literally. It was also raining that time. Good thing some good samaritans came over to offer assistance. One manong took the lead and requested more helping hands from the surrounding area because the initial 6 pairs of strong arms fail to bring Simon out of the hole. Simon by the way is the name of my green, kermity car. At the end, it took 9 men to bring us out of the hole. Miraculously, there was not even a single dent on the fender.

All those times I was my usual cool self (though a bit nervous initially) because I knew I prayed the moment my wheels fell into the hole. God took me out of the hole, like His usual habit of taking me out from deep voids I encountered in my life.

Happy Birthday mama!

Back when papa was still working abroad and emails, webcams, chatting and skype were still inexistent, he and mama talk thru slow mails and voice tapes. These voice tapes of hers i still treasure until now because thru them I can listen to her once more as if she is just around. Because i truly miss her last night, I listened to her voice tapes again.

When I pressed the play button, it was in the part where she was saying to papa that she longs for someone to talk to and she was somehow glad that she can already share with me her problems. I was 11 then.

Now I am dying to tell her the same thing. How I wish she is around so I can have someone to share my problems with. She is the best listener in the whole wide world, my bestfriend, with a soothing voice and a calming presence. Whenever I feel too happy or too sad, I will call her from anywhere just to share with her anything. There were still no cellphones then. I still remember using the red public phones which use 3-25 centavo coins. We had many private jokes, shared lots of guffaws. Our bonding time is usually the moment before bedtime. And then she will tuck me to sleep after loving kisses and embraces were exchanged.




She would have been 62 today if she was still alive. We would have celebrated with a simpe get-together dinner at home, partaking her home-cooked meals. I would have gifted her with a simple gift together with a simple card. I would have kissed her tenderly and say I love you.

Happy birthday mama! Catch my long distance happy birthday kisses, ok?

System Restore

I have downloaded the movie Sicko in torrent but when it was time to watch it, my Windows Media Player only played the audio and not the video. So i ran Gspot to determine if i lack a codec to make it run. Apparently, I lack the codec FMP4. So I searched for a free download of this certain codec and when i found one I immediately installed it. When i played again the movie in WMP, i was so happy to see the opening credits rolling but it was upside down! One google search suggested that I just turn my monitor 180 degrees (hehe) but even if i do, the image was still flipped horizontally. When i searched again google to determine the cause of this problem, I learned that my pc lacks DivX 6 decoder and I should download it then it will turn everything right side up.


So i did.


Unfortunately, not only did i again revert to the audio-only-no-video scenario of Sicko but all my downloaded movies failed to play in WMP!


Baffled as to what to do next, I again searched google. And the immaculate next step: system restore.


So i did a system restore and I was brought back to my system settings 8 hours ago.


I played the movies I have downloaded and they played perfectly.

I played Sicko and expectedly, there is still again audio but no video.


I played Sicko in Nero Showtime and it worked. (sigh...)



But I was already not in the mood to watch Sicko so I just pondered on what had happened. And I suddenly wished there is a system restore in real life. Some kind of a button and you can, at any time, at my beck and call, push it and I will be transported back to a certain time in my life where happiness preceded sadness, health is wealth and sickness is just an idea, prevention will be taken instead of running around for a cure. A place in time where there were still no problems.


And when I have that power to system-restore my life, I will choose to go back to:

1. mama is still alive
2. papa is strong and he can still carry me and take me around
3. money is scarce but i have fewer responsibilities
4. we still have an ayi who cooks, do the market and cleans the CR for us
5. when I still haven't discovered credit cards
6. my biggest problem was the graded recitation in school the next day

But time has to fly and it carried away with it health, youth, existence and some other elements of my comfort zone. But it also carried with it experiences, growth, maturity and wisdom to sustain me in this trek called life.

Photo Hunt #18: Road

This was taken from a side road on my way to Sagada, Philippines.

At the background is the famous Rice Terraces.

more photohunters here

No more stomach aches - 1 week and counting

A week has passed and I have been free from stomach aches so far. Thank God, really. Those stomach aches are a nightmare. I guess the medicines helped. But I can also hold accountable the food I have avoided for the relief my stomach is enjoying now. For a week already, I have been more conscious of what I am eating. If that is the lesson I need to learn, I have to thank those stomach aches for showing me how eating carelessly can make me sick. I have been eating lots of greens and fruits, less meat if there is a choice, more of chicken and fish. Im sure I can live without coffee, softdrinks and alcohol. But I know I will miss chocolates anytime so I guess I can take a few just to satisfy the cravings.

Contest! Come Join!

I would like to congratulate Pearl on her own, new domain!

To celebrate, she is giving away these wonderful prizes:

• a one-year subsciption of Good Housekeeping magazine or $15.00 to be credited thru paypal for the international winners.
• 1,500 entrecard credits
• free one month 125x125 ads on her site
• 100 entrecard credits to the first 30 participants

To know more about this contest, check Pearl's Sharing My Thoughts.

Information Please

I want to share this story I read from my email today. Just shows how not to underestimate the impression you may make on others.

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was 'Information Please' and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone's number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy.

I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. 'Information, please,' I said into the mouthpiece just above my head.

A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. 'Information.''

'I hurt my finger...' I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience.

'Isn't your mother home?' came the question.

'Nobody's home but me,' I blubbered.

'Are you bleeding?' the voice asked.

'No,' I replied. 'I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.'

'Can you open the icebox?' she asked.

I said I could.

'Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger,' said the voice.

After that, I called 'Information Please' for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math.

She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called ''Information Please,' and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, 'Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?''

She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, 'Wayne, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in.''

Somehow I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone. 'Information Please,' I said.

'Information,' said the now familiar voice.


'How do I spell fix?' I asked.

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. 'Information Please' belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me.

Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle . I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, 'Information Please.''

Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well, 'Information.''

I hadn't planned this, but I heard myself saying, 'Could you please tell me how to spell fix?''

There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, 'I guess your finger must have healed by now.''

I laughed, 'So it's really you,' I said. 'I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?''

I wonder,' she said, 'if you know how much your call meant to me? I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls.''

I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.

'Please do', she said. 'Just ask for Sally.''

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, 'Information.''

I asked for Sally.

'Are you a friend?' she said.

'Yes, a very old friend,' I answered.

'I'm sorry to have to tell you this,' she said. 'Sally had been working part-time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago.''

Before I could hang up she said, 'Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne?' 'Yes.' I answered.

'Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you.'

The note said, 'Tell him there are other worlds to sing in.

He'll know what I mean.''

I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant.

shared by Paul Villard

photo courtesy of meagain625

Climate change could devastate Philippines

I read this terrible news today and it is quite alarming:

Climate change could have a devastating impact on the Philippines, leading to widespread destruction of the country's flora and fauna and flooding the capital Manila, a NASA scientist warned here Friday.

The continued melting of Arctic ice caps, brought on by climate change, could cause sea levels to rise by seven metres (23 feet), said National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) physicist Josefino Comiso.

He said the country's fish stocks would be depleted and many species of plant and animal life would die because of the change in ocean temperatures caused by climate change.

Comiso said the slow melting of the ice caps should be more than "just an item of curiosity" for Filipinos.

We can already feel the effect of the global warming in the Philippines. Hopefully something can be done before this unimaginable destruction befalls us. Josefino Comiso's info is credible enough since he is part of the United States Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore.

read the full story here

photo courtesy of BBC

Propagating Friendship Award

I love the blogs of these people and I'm glad to pass this award onto them! All they need to do is to leave the following message on their post when they pass the award on to their chosen eight bloggers.

They all are charmed with the blogs, where in the majority of its aims are to show the marvels and to do friendship; there are persons who are not interested when we give them a prize and then they help to cut these bows; do we want that they are cut or that they propagate? Then let's try to give more attention to them! So with this prize we must deliver it to 8 bloggers that in turn must make the same thing and put this text.

I would like to thank Pearl and Jelly Belly for this wonderful award. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!

Now, I am passing this on to...

Karen / Rachel / Scottzprincess / Bless /

Mariuca / Apple / Reenashwina /

Gwapasila