Jaded

So it's a little crazy for me this week. So many things to do and read. I have to come up with a marketing campaign, prepare for a seminar, come up with graphic designs (I don't do them; I just conceptualize how they're supposed to look and the artist and I have good chemistry) and write tons of papers! Plus, there are essays I need to grade. So that's me studying my seminar materials and trying to grade essay papers all at the same time. When I get bored reading my students' essays I study my seminar notes. That way you don't waste time staring into space wondering why on earth your student wrote what he/she wrote and expect you to NOT GIVE him/her a big fat F for his/her gobbledygook. Doing two things at the same time also makes it less boring. Haha! And yes, I try to stay away from the computer while studying and making the grades; but apparently here I am again. So just a short update. I have to get back to that other table like NOW.

BC Bloggers 4 Now Open!

I have been waiting for this to open again and finally it's here! BC Bloggers 4 is now open. So if you're new to blogging and is finding it hard to gain links to your blog;  tired of exchanging links one blog at a time; and looking for friends in the blogosphere, then you absolutely have to join this batch. Here's how:

1. Make a blog post about BC Bloggers 4 to help spread the word. Invite your blog friends everywhere!

2. Put the BC Bloggers badge in your sidebar. The code can be found here.

3. Make a page dedicated to BC Bloggers where you intend to post the links. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the navigation bar or at the sidebar as long as it is linked in the homepage.

4. Once done with 1,2, and 3, fill up the application form.

 

Pretty simple, huh? So join us now!

White Lady

This happened on our way home. We usually take leisure drives before heading home and this is what we saw:

It was a bit of a shocker especially with the effect of the moon and all. We consoled ourselves saying it was probably just another human who decided to take a stroll in the middle of the street at midnight (yes, we go home that late!), wearing an all-white flowy gown. Who does that? What was creepy though is that we did pass by her and got a little close but I don't think I remember seeing a face.

Ryan told me it was probably a white lady. A White Lady is a type of female ghost purported to appear in many rural areas, and who is supposed to have died or suffered trauma in life. This is the Philippines' version of White Lady according to Wikipedia:

White Ladies are popular ghost story topics in the Philippines. Along with other Philippine mythological creatures and ghostly beings like the Manananggal, Tiyanak, Kapre and Wak-Wak, White Ladies are often used as subjects that tend to convey horror and mystery usually aimed at young children for storytelling purposes. Sightings of white ladies are common among folk from around the country, and usually every town and barrio has its own "White Lady" story to tell.

The most prominent one is the White Lady of Balete Drive, in Quezon City. It is said that it is a ghost who appears as a long-haired woman in a white dress. According to legend, she was raped and killed by Japanese soldiers during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II. Most of the stories that have come out about her were told by taxi drivers doing the graveyard shift. In other instances it is said that when solitary people drive by Balete Drive in the wee hours of the morning, they tend to see the face of a woman in white in the rear view mirror for a split second before the apparition disappears. Some accidents on this road are blamed on the White Lady.

Another story tells about a taxi crossing the dreaded Balete Drive and a very beautiful woman was asking for a ride. The taxi driver looks behind and the woman looks like her face was full of blood and bruises. The taxi driver escaped from the taxi from fear.

Many sources have declared this legend was actually manufactured by a reporter in the 1950s, and also possibly a combination of multiple stories from the area

 Okay so I'm going to end it here because it is seriously creeping me out.

You Are for Me by Kari Jobe

This song really spoke to me when I first heard it. In times of weakness and great sadness, I remind myself of God's promise that tells me whatever I am going through He is for me because He planned to prosper me and give me hope and a future. His plans are perfect and pleasing and I ought to trust that.

The chorus says:

I know that You are for me
I know that You are for me
I know that You will never forsake me in my weakness
I know that You have come down
Even if to write upon my heart
To remind me who You are

So amidst despair and feelings of emptiness, I remind myself who He is. He has defeated death and conquered the world. He gave His own life for me even when I am unworthy, even if I've constantly rejected His love; just so I can live in freedom from my own shamefulness. I love because He loved me first.

So to my bestfriend, if you ever get to read this, I dedicate this post to you. Run into His arms. His love does not run dry; His touch restores life. And He is for you, as He is for me. I love you with the love of Christ.

Surigao City Weather

I used to hate the second half of the year. Even if our country is in the tropical region, our little city in the south had it bad during these times. June to December was always characterized by either typhoons or heavy downpours (without the wind). Flying debris have actually become a typical site here. Aside from that, it's difficult to get out of bed as it was almost always cold (for a tropical region I mean). And since some parts of the city had pour drainage systems, you can always expect them to be flooding. So before daily weather for Surigao City was a toss up between the following:

However, something's become really strange here. June has come and gone and there's not been a slightest drizzle. Not to mention we've had terrible power outages because the water level in the biggest hydroelectric plant in this area of the country has gone down to its critical level. Apparently, this is global warming touching base. So after its onset, weather patterns here have turned to this:

I used to sing the "rain rain go away" song before. But now I miss it terribly that I forgot what it sounds like, tastes like (ah yes!), smells like (oh the wet earth) and looks like (the cool little needles of water!). Rain, rain please come again before I lose all my weight simmering in the sun.

The Princess Bride

It was Ryan's birthday two days ago. We had a lovely dinner with the family at the restaurant called Spectacular View. (Pictures are yet to be uploaded because he has them.) The view wasn't really that spectacular. The entire place could really use a bit of ambiance and re-decorating, but we had a great dinner nonetheless. On the plus side, Ryan got two birthday cakes, both extremely delicious! One of them was an unexpected present from a special student who's extremely generous with everything. (Thanks, Madam!) So anyway, I thought the day ended with just that dinner and with us distributing the cake to the customers of LOLZ (the business we put up together -- an Internet Cafe), but no it didn't. See, Ryan's an unpredictable sweet guy who'd research, download and watch cheesy, romantic flicks with me. He also knows my "anti-social" nature and thus, has downloaded a ton of indie films for me (err... both of us) to enjoy. Guys are known to love the action-filled types of films but I'm not really into that. The more conversations there are in the movie, the more likely I'd watch it. And Ryan can actually sit through something that would put others to sleep. So we had another movie night and we watched The Princess Bride.

I feel like such a loser for discovering this wonderful gem of a movie only now when it was released way back in 1987 and has probably been shown in Cinemax a couple of times or something. Plus, it stars Mandy Patinkin in his best role ever. It prolly was one of the first feature films Robert Wright Penn has done too and she was so adorably pretty and innocent. Ah, the magic of true love and a beautiful narrative. I love it that the film was able to preserve the witty narrative style of the book where it was based from. And as the grandfather said, the movie has everything: comedy, romance, adventure, pirates, torture, sword fight, battle of wits, strength and steel; what's not to love? What's more, the screenplay is so clever it brings me to tears and makes me burst with happiness all at the same time. I love how each characters fit into their stereotypical role and how that played out so well for the film. Big LOLs for the Albino, the Miracle worker and his wife. Everyone has a story to tell and that darn, Prince Humperdinck is so easy to be disgusted upon. Vizzini is more lovable than he is.

One thing that's most memorable about the film is it's brilliant screenplay. The lines are forever etched in my memory. I even made a drawing for my most favorite one. I'm probably going to do series of drawings for this film just for the LOLz of it. There are a lot of them in the movie's facebook page. Even until now, the film has a fiercely loyal following and I just became part of the cult. Overall, this is such a charming film and no matter how much of a cynic you are, it somehow makes you believe that truly love really does conquer it all. The film is also one of the most faithful and tasteful transition from the written word to the silver screens. Comic book transitions to the big screen have disappointed me for so long (with the exception of Spiderman) and book to movie transitions suck big time (hello, Twilight and Nicholas Sparks based films -- not that I'm a fan but they become cornier in the movies).

So, I really thank Ryan for this one. It's his birthday and yet, he's the one who made me happy. I guess that's what true love is for me. ^_^

Stick Figures

I don't know how to draw but I love expressing myself through images. And this blog: Diary of a Fair Weather Diver inspired me to pursue the only art I know how to do -- stick figures! Check out all of her wonderful drawings and mini-comics. They're all really funny. Hehe! Anyway, please become a fan of or like the stick figure page over at facebook by clicking this. It's so cool to know how many people love stick figures the way I do. Yay! So here's my first art. It's about my blog, catching that sunshine in your cup! I was never really good at art but I love looking at them. I attempted drawing (seriously) at some point in my life but failed miserably. I guess you'll just have to make do of what you can draw. Did this in Adobe Photoshop though using my trusty Hello Kitty mouse. I know how to use Photoshop but I'm not an expert so I'll probably stick with something crude. Like this.