no! november

I love mornings like this - the kind that promises a cold day. And cold days are the best days to drive to work. When the temperature outside is exactly the same as the air conditioning inside.

Wrapped in the black and white coat that was a big splurge at the time I bought it in Japan, I eased into traffic and listened closely to my enclosed cozy world. And I wonder who I am in all these. Am I the little fall of rain that tries to wet the windshield? Am I the wiper that persists to clean them off? Am I the little tin ball that keeps on hitting the cup holder? Or am I Bach's Minuet that plays so softly, highlighting the flute once in a while?

I think I am all these. And most of all, I want to be that - the enveloping gray that as it hits the concrete in the morning light it's almost white. I embrace November.

a morning

One of these days, if I have the luxury for it, I shall go and photograph people going about their life on a regular day. I wonder, if there's a giant invisible camera out there, what point in my morning would it capture:

Hear the incorrectly-set alarm go off. Kick the sheets because the alarm went off. Attempt going back to sleep. Sleep walk to the family room. Cross to the girls' bedroom and caress their hair and faces. Check my accounts in Flickr, Twitter, Blogspot, Geni and Facebook. Prepare a photo for posting in Flickr. Check my Inbox in Yahoo and Hotmail. Peek at Gmail. Play the GAMES! Try to move the red little weights. Disregard the dumbbells. Go back to bed. Stand up since can't sleep. Go to the garden. Say hi to Coal, the black Lab. Visit the vegetable patch. Convince the vegetables to grow well. Supervise the breakfast menu. Think of new little house projects to give to the carpenter. Turn on the control for hot water. Check the wardrobe. Realize there is nothing to wear! Drive away the girls from the television room. Ready the hamper of soiled clothes. Convince Nika and Gela to go to the table. Call Mike three times. Eat breakfast. Mix my Ovaltine drink. Try to forget taking my vitamins. Take my vitamins. Prepare for office. Drive to work. Start the day of a regular girl.

And I remember. Nobody ever wanted to be called regular.

the first sentences

Out of the hundreds of books available in a bookstore, I admit I get attracted first to the one with the most intriguing title. And then the cover design helps. Then add the testimonies on the first and last flaps of the book.

But if I should salute the authors that I had read, I believe I shall do it on the account of their first sentences. I know that the first sentence is a delicate dish that each writer takes the most care in cooking, spicing up, garnishing and serving out. The first sentence must be interesting, significant, witty, and touching enough to let the reader decide that this must be a good read.

I'd like to go back to some of the books I have in the family room shelves and pick a few first sentences that caught my attention. At the end of this collection I shall poke some of my buddies and ask them to collect their own favorite intros as well.

"It may be that I am growing old in this world and have used up more than my share of allotted words and eager audiences."
- The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans

"In the last days of Narnia, far up to the west beyond Lantern Waste and close beside the great waterfall, there lived an Ape."
- The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

"Manhattan, island of glittering dreams, slept in the predawn darkness."
- The First Wives Club by Olivia Goldsmith

"It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love."
- Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"Money talks, but you may think that the conversation of a little old ten-dollar bill in New York would be nothing more than a whisper."
- The Tale of a Tainted Tenner by O. Henry

"The jury was ready."
- The Appeal by John Grisham

"By human standards it could not possibly have been artificial: It was the size of a world."
- Contact by Carl Sagan

"I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975."
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

photo warrior of the week

When did you start with photography?
I was already interested since I was in university. But my husband bought me a camera last September 2008 and it has been 392 Flickr shots ago.

Is photography your hobby or employment?
It’s a hobby. Nobody ever paid me yet for my photos!

Your equipment?
Canon EOS 1000D Canon 100mm
Canon EFS 17-85mm Canon 70-300mm
Canon 50mm Canon 10-22mm

Have you ever used a film camera?
Yes a Nikon film camera way back in university – capturing school snapshots for the yearbook.

What do you prefer – film or digital – why?
Most have gone digital already so I think I would prefer that. Easier, faster and more economical. And with photo editing available, shooting with digital gives you a full range of opportunities.

What do you usally make with your photos when uploaded to your computer?
My photos start as raw files. So the best one gets picked. Processed. Then uploaded to Flickr.

Are you making a lot of reprints of your photos?
No. But I did a black and white series in Flickr and out of that collection, I printed some and placed them in frames and displayed them in my area in the family corporation’s office. You would not think it’s the space of the Finance Manager!

What is your favorite object of photography?
Nothing in particular. But if I have my way, my daughters, Annika and Angela. I could just be taking photos of them. But they’re real impatient.

What does inspire you?
A sunrise or a sunset. The music or the poem I hear when I see a photo I make. And most of all, my husband Mike. He does terrific work with his photographs!

Do you have another artistic hobby?
I keep a blog in case I want to write. But I have skipped it for the past months. I've already used my Flickr photo stream to express what I feel.

What would you like to show or say with your photography?
That the ordinary can be beautiful. I promised my mother I won’t take ugly pictures. I can let others do that.

Some tricks and tips?
Sometimes the photo speaks to you. Sometimes you first have to breathe life into it before it gets to talk. So do whatever you want to do. There are no rules. And don’t go around copying other people’s styles. I've made it a point to avoid it. It will just scare - discourage - anger - drag you down and dry you up.

Your photography dream that has not been fulfilled yet?
Doing a bit of photo journalism. Or getting commissioned to do a thematic coffee table book.

Is there something more you would like to tell us?
I do not shoot a photograph. I make it. And I think all photographers, in a way, are artists. So I hate it if people ask me if I use photo enhancement softwares or not. This is the product I want you to see. So you are most welcome to enjoy this work. No questions.

click here to go to the feature and to leave your comments:
Photo Warrior of the Week

landing on front page

Mike said that my photo will be included in Flickr Explore. I didn't believe him then - but it really did. And I only learned about it being in Explore when I got informed that it landed on the Explore Front Page too. What a very pleasing thing to happen to one's work!



What is Explore Front Page?
Explore is a Flickr feature which discovers and showcases some of the most awesome photos on Flickr. Explore Front Page is a common phrase used by Flickr users to indicate the home page of Explore.

What does it mean to have photo(s) on the Front Page?
A score of people use Explore to find new photos on Flickr everyday. When a photo is on the Front Page, it is exposed to a huge audience of photo enthusiasts around the world. So, being on Explore Front Page is like being featured on the front page of a popular newspaper - your work gets noticed, people add you as their contact etc. You become famous overnight :)

What is FP?
FP is an alias for Explore Front Page. It's commonly used in photo descriptions, comments and tags by Flickr users.

What is Archivr?
Archivr is a third party application that tracks the photos displayed on Front Page. Using Archivr's search feature, users can find out if or how many of their photos have been on Front Page.


To view the photo here: The Life I Know

a new beginning

USAID Philippines is implementing a 4-year policy reform project, aptly named LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH or LINC-EG. With the aim to effectively assist local stakeholders, particularly in Mindanao in their respective efforts to increase investments, expand business activities, create more jobs and alleviate poverty, a Mindanao Field Office has been established here in Cagayan de Oro City.

As we explore potential partnerships with the staunch movers for Mindanao, we are seeking your presence and participation during the

LAUNCH OF LINC-EG FIELD OFFICE
August 20 2009 Thursday 8:30am
Door #7 JSJ Townhouse, Molawan Street, Patag, Cagayan de Oro City.

We are also pleased to invite you to witness a forging of partnership between the LINC-EG Project and the Cagayan de Oro City Government and prospected partner organizations as we all seek to streamline Business Permitting and Licensing (BP&L) in the city.

HANDSHAKE CEREMONY BETWEEN THE LINC-EG PROJECT
AND THE PROPONENTS OF THE CITY BP&L STREAMLINING PROJECT
August 20 Thursday 10:30am
Dynasty Court Hotel, Tiano Street, Cagayan de Oro City.

A Press Conference will immediately follow to enable us to define and showcase to the public the LINC-EG Project and the emerging cooperation with the local stakeholders.

i am mary magdalene

Once, some few years back, somebody commented that with the way I carry myself, the way I go headlong into what I do and the attention I am getting from people (yes, especially from the opposite sex) - if I were in the Bible I would be Mary Magdalene.

If that comment was warranted, it's not for me to say.  But Mary Magdalene.

That she was a bad woman is the misconception that I grew up with. Maybe because the statues in churches depicting her are garbed with a red long dress adorned with jewels, with long curly red hair and sometimes even wearing a pair of gaudy dangling earrings which must be donated by a well-meaning lady of the parish. This of course is a major contradiction to the gentle blue-and-white gowned statues of Mary, Mother of God.

Well, in an interesting way I like being Mary Magdalene. I think that with the various theories and discussions regarding her so-called secrets and the debates on her character assassination in the holy book, I would like to think that if indeed I were in those times, I would work and study hard as Mary Magdalene did so she will be one of the learned disciples, compared to those who didn't have a whit of what they were actually doing as they follow this man who claimed to save the nations.

Oh yes. The demons and the sin worthy of wearing the scarlet letter. Well she was healed by no less than Christ himself and if ever the reputation was true, she was the most famous of all those who were repentant. Not bad enough.

Now that I am a grown woman, I would want to pay my respects to Mary Magdalene. She anointed Jesus. She was at the foot of the cross as he was dying, which is much to say since the male apostles were nowhere to be seen because of fear. And the best gift of all, which others fail to see as the most important part in the Bible because of blinding prejudice - she was the one who tended Jesus in the tomb and in so doing, was the first person to discover that Jesus has resurrected. He appeared to her first! Top that!

More importantly, to all the women like me who love their careers, Mary Magdalene's major work started where Jesus' had ended. She rounded up the followers during their lowest point and it was her word - and I bet she had the best of public speaking skills and the strongest convincing powers - that made them realize and accept that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead as he has promised and that they need to continue to spread his message.

Yes, the lady has a very colorful curriculum vitae. I don't mind being her at all. A girl like that.

Saint Mary Magdalene, pray for us.
Feast Day: July 22

crazy at the farm

I have been absent from blogging and there's only one reason for that. I have taken to Farm Town hook, line and sinker. Yes I know, I miss hours of sleep just to tend to the grapes that shall become ready for harvest in four hour intervals.


I don't mind asking in the marketplace for work. If it works, then be it.
I made a worksheet for all crops to identify which are most profitable.
I cried when a whole harvest of forgotten potatoes went to waste.
I try to harmonize trees to be laden with fruits for a one-time harvest.

Yes I'm working for that mansion. And when I finally get to Level 34, I shall put down the hoe and stop plowing and planting. I shall convert the property into a national park, and just let the trees bring in the income. So I'd appreciate it if you could send in tree gifts!

Esta Menina is Mrs. Boss of Arcadia and she lives in Blue Gables.
I must wear this button: "Don't laugh but I'm famous in Farm Town".

the name of mendoza

Mendoza

Spanish Origin

Noble surnames, such as Mendoza, evoke images of the ancient homeland of the Spanish people. The original bearer of the name Mendoza, which is a local surname, once lived, held land, or was born in the beautiful region of Spain. The Mendoza family originally lived in the place named Mendoza, which is the province of Alava. This place-name was originally derived from the Basque word mendi, which means mountain and otz, which means cold.

Spelling variations of this family name include: Mendoza, de Mendoza, Mendozo, Mendosa, de Mendosa, Mendoso and many more.

First found in Castile, an important Christian kingdom of medieval Spain.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Among the early travellers to the New World was Antonio de Mendoza, the first Viceroy of New Spain (1535). He founded a university and established a printing press. He died in Lima, Peru in 1552. Also of note was Alfonso de Mendoza, who accompanied Hernn Corts to Mexico. He later voyaged to Peru, and in 1548 he founded the city of La Paz, Bolivia. Perhaps the most famous family member to reach the New World was Pedro de Mendoza, courtier to King Carlos V, Knight of the Orders of Alcntara and Santiago. In 1534 he set out for the Ro de la Plata region, where two years later he founded the city of Buenos Aires. At least four other family members held important military or administrative offices during the early years of conquest and discovery. Other early migrants to the New World bearing this surname included Cristbal de Mendoza, who sailed to America in 1511.

Coat of Arms

A red shield with five silver leaves.

the name of pulido

Pulido

Spanish Origin

The Pulido surname comes from the Spanish word "pulido" meaning "polished," "neat" or "handsome;" as such, this surname is thought to have evolved from a nickname.

Spelling variations of this family name include: Pulida, Pulido, Polido and others.

First found in the mountains of Burgos, in Northern Spain. The City of Burgos was the capital of the kingdom of Castile in the 11th century.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Francisco Polido, who settled in Guatemala in 1538; Maria Pulida, who arrived in New Spain in 1594; Juan Pulido, who came to Peru in 1565; Alonso Martin Pulido, who came to Ecuador in 1577.

Coat of Arms

A red shield with a gold lion rampant, within a gold border, charged with eight serpent heads.

this mother's day

When I came home in the rain,
my brother asked, "Why didn't you take an umbrella?"

My sister advised, "Why didn't you wait till the rain stopped?"

Father angrily warned, "You will realize only after you get a cold!"

But Mother, while drying my hair, said, "Stupid rain! Couldn't it wait, till my child gets home?"

Now that's a MOM!

when females fight

The simple title is very graphic. But let me explain.

Females like me are done with the ritual of looking up through lashes and whispering behind fans with other lady friends. As a matter of fact, I don't like sharing stories with so-called girlfriends. And I don't like going into the powder room with other ladies. At all.

Hugh Jackman can lasso and Christian Bale can scream. But us females - we have a whole lot of other things in our own world. And it's not a totally friendly world at all.

DROP THE SHOP

Start with the boutique. You come in and you set your sights on a fetching red number hanging on an unassuming rod. You pick it up and you to try it on. As you go inside the fitting room, two women will be staring at you and the dress.  It's as if like, what am I thinking?

When you emerge from the cramped space and you are returning the dress, another woman will snatch it from you and try it on herself. And if you end up buying it, another female will ask for that same blouse from the sales assistant.

And the mirrors in those boutiques! They are very cruel if they happen to be a big one by the wall. Never stand before a mirror! Or else you'll only end up either scrutinized by the bombshell at your left, or sneered at by the heavyweight at your right.

GET FIT FOR GYM? OR GYM TO GET FIT?

I used to spend two nights in a week dancing in the sports center nearest the house. But the gym has closed those dance sessions, so I proposed to a former acquaintance that we pursue our dance nights at the gym located in the commercial district instead. She voted no immediately.

She told me that the other women in that facility will gauge you by the brand of shoes or dance apparel you wear or the bottled water you drink or the gym bag you lug around. Heaven forbid if they categorize you by the sweat you manage to muster, not because of the exercise but because of the self-consciousness you try to hide.

And again! The gym mirrors! They are the most unforgiving of all! They could almost see your soul in there!

Whenever I go to salons for a hair trim, I often pick the corner seats to avoid the dames who feel like divas entering the place. You'd know them when you smell them, because you can sniff them the moment the door would open six meters away from you. Then they would drop their signature bags on the cozy chairs as they ask for their regular hair color.

WEAR YOUR PEARLS TO THE GROCER

Whenever I go to the grocery, I try to memorize the items I need to get and pick them as fast as possible. You don't want to reach out to your box of cereals with your chipped nails, while the woman beside you contemplate on the benefits of green tea and black tea and advises you that your preference for strawberry flavor is very juvenile.

Oh yes. It's played in a subtle fashion. But it's actually a bitch versus bitch world out there. Men no longer have the monopoly of complaining that it's such a competition and the next guy is out for your neck.

DRIVING LIKE A GIRL

So let's bring the animosity to the highway. Driving comfortably in my 60km per hour speed, I look down upon female drivers who cannot decide on which lane to take. Following a car one day, I thought it was high time I play my own battle and I honked.

She was swerving left and right at the merciful speed of 30, and cannot even keep an intersection open! When the lights were green, she stopped to let people cross the street and the red light caught us. I honked again in desperation.

Then I maneuvered my SUV beside her car and I looked at her the way my first grade teacher had looked at me when I couldn't spell the word "happy". If looks could kill. Then I tossed my hair at her and I put on my big sunglasses.

Ah, I fight too. Without claws for the meantime.

featuring a day's life

Just a few preliminary attempts of the photographers of OPS.

the fuss with chicken

Why are chickens afraid of the day after Thursday?
Because it's Fried Day.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I still have to see them race.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
This chicken was like any other chicken. When it was still a very young chick it was full of ambitions and it was enthusiastic and this chick's parents were so proud you see. And while growing up the chick was with a dozen other siblings in that brood. And the chick knew it must be different and do something different. So this chick went to grade school and had a great time. Its favorite of all in the campus grounds was this swing. The chick would swing and make all the plans it wanted to do when it was already a fully-grown chicken. The chick grew healthy of mind and heart and when it reached high school it also suffered all the angst related with that age, see. When the chick enrolled in university it was sure it will enroll in Engineering. Upon graduating the five-year course, the chick, now a chicken, knew it isn't contented with that so it also pursued a course in Laws. The world will always have one more place for a lawyer, not matter how many the jokes they came up about lawyers. When finally the chicken accepted that it must live the rest of its life with the rooster of its dreams, the chicken finally realized that it must cross the road because the rooster is on the other side. And so the chicken did.

reasons, seasons, lifetimes

I am not for forwarding emails. But Coco somehow in a way tagged me and challenged me to spread the material below. For what, I don't know. It's all in the dare I guess. So here goes.


People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it, it is real, but only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.

Photo: "This Time and Tide" by This Girl

when the heart is full

January 4 1997
Sunday

It's a Sunday afternoon...
and as the post-Christmas sun blazes outside,
I sit on our bed
and contemplate on how blessed I am...
with my husband sleeping at my left...
and my baby daughter in her crib at my right...
perhaps nothing, almost nothing,
could get better than this.

As they both sleep,
I offer a silent prayer of praise and thanksgiving
to the Lord who made all this possible.

- a little note I found when cleaning out some old boxes

fly, mama fely, fly

“The closest bonds we will ever know are the bonds of grief. The deepest community is one of sorrow.” We are sad, yes indeed. But even in this time of sorrow, my family is grateful. And gratitude is a higher tribute than grief.

We are gathered this beautiful morning for Felicitas Tabil Mendoza. Each one of us is here because somehow, in one way or another, she has touched our lives. And to us her family, she was and will always be a beloved wife, mother and grandmother. We are so proud of her being our mother. And we ask ourselves - How did we get so lucky?

Mom's beginnings were modest. It all started 69 years ago, in a small barrio called Macabayao, Misamis Occidental. Born to Crisanta and Marcos Tabil, she was named Felicitas, meaning happiness in Spanish. My mother belonged to a brood of seven children, and she was the second to the youngest.

Mom and her sisters, Aunt Lising and Aunt Baby, were so very close that they were like triplets of different ages. Sharing everything sisters share and loving each other so completely, their bond remained throughout life and it has never been broken, much more now that they have all passed away.

Papa met my mom in her office, where she worked as the pretty and efficient secretary of a person who would later be one of Cagayan de Oro's mayors. On January 7, forty-two years ago, my mom and dad got married. While growing up and now that I am a married man myself, Mama and Papa showed me a kind of love that is unconditional and the eternal type that poets write about and regular folks hope to attain someday. Once my mom had focused on the family business, she was always where Papa is, and it was a relationship of love, work and fun and supporting each other. It was a joint apostolate for the “Let There Be Light” Community and the God the Father Community for them.

What Mom offered to her family and friends is a love so earnest and unending that absolutely nothing could shake its tenacity or endurance. I know that even if Mom didn't like something that we did, it meant nothing compared to how much she loved us. She was the center of our home, and she was a pillar for her relatives and close friends. The power of that love overcame any kind of adversity, thus letting us know we mattered more than everything and anything else.

I can especially remember my sister Magi and I struggling in our early grades, and Mom helped us with constant patience until we understood Math, English, and eventually everything else; I don't know what I would have done without her quiet and graceful intelligence.

Even during my teens and early 20's life, my friends were always welcome in the house and they knew it. My mother would make us snacks and we'd hang out watching TV, playing basketball, or listening to records. Mom's love for us extended to our friends and then eventually to when in-laws came into the family.

Mom always opened that umbrella of love for them; and Papa Jun, Mama Precy, Hans and Helen were never considered anything but part of the family, and it was well reciprocated. Her love for my wife, Heidi was so seamless and Mom loved her as if she was her own daughter. When we had Annika and Angela, Mom was thrilled to become a grandma, and she cherished that role very much and she doted on Nika and Gela and marveled at everything that they did.

Mom had been sickly, but she was completely unafraid, often radiant with happiness, beaming at all the people she loved. At whatever state her heart was in, she used every last bit of her strength so we could be together and be with her just a bit longer.

There is much more I could talk about Mom, but none of it would be enough to capture her amazing zest for life and immense capacity to love. She was struck with thyroid problem that weakened her heart and she was a diabetic. Increasingly weakened by the disease, Mom never let that stop her from loving us, cooking or overseeing meals for our Sunday lunch and dinner, being a part of the planning sessions for our family business, or giving us that smile when we needed it.

We all know how much pain she endured, but we also are buoyed by the spirit of her love and faith in us despite the odds against her. She was there for us whenever we needed to talk, to get a hug, or to just be together. Whenever we had a problem, Magi and I knew Mom would listen and give us the best advice. Now we feel a great void with her gone, but I know she can still be there for us if we shut our eyes and remember that she is with us always.

Mom, I love you and miss you but your smile is burned into my heart and soul. Papa, Magi, Heidi, your grand daughters, Annika Michelle and Angela Marionne and the rest of your family and friends are all so fortunate to have had you in their lives and your impact on us and the strength of your love will never be forgotten.

The last days with Mom in the hospital taught me so many lessons and made me aware of so many things that to the last moment, I know that Mom is ever there, guiding me. And now, I truly believe that my mom is in a better place free from all her pain and struggles. I wish her peace and happiness until we will all meet again one day.

To all of you, our relatives, friends, acquaintances and partners - Thank you all for your comfort and support, we greatly appreciate it. It truly warms our hearts to know we have each other for Mama.

Mama, go with God. Fly, Mom, fly!

________________________________
Eulogy for Felicitas T. Mendoza
offered by Al Michael T. Mendoza
March 27 2009, Greenhills Memorial Park
Cagayan de Oro City

photos in explore

Flickr labs have been hard at work creating a way to show some of the most awesome content on Flickr. It is called interestingness.

Besides being a five syllable word suitable for tongue twisters, it is also an amazing new Flickr Feature.

There are lots of elements that make something 'interesting' (or not) on Flickr. Where the clickthroughs are coming from; who comments on it and when; who marks it as a favorite; its tags and many more things which are constantly changing. Interestingness changes over time, as more and more fantastic content and stories are added to Flickr.

Interestingness is what Flickr calls the criteria used for selecting which photos are shown in Explore. All photos are given an Interestingness "score" that can also be used to sort any image search on Flickr. The top 500 photos ranked by Interestingness are shown in Explore. Interestingness rankings are calculated automatically by a secret computer algorithm. The algorithm is often referred to by name as the Interestingness algorithm.

Although the algorithm is secret, Flickr has stated that many factors go into calculating Interestingness including: a photo's tags, how many groups the photo is in, views, favorites, where click-throughs are coming from, who comments on a photo and when, and more. The velocity of any of those components is a key factor. For example, getting 20 comments in an hour counts much higher than getting 20 comments in a week.

Here are my 21 photos that made it to Explore so far.

1. kiss me in the rain 2. when seeds fall to the ground 3. get well soon mama fely 4. reach for the light 5. mas azul que esto 6. this knotted preview 7. on my way to you 8. yellow for this valentine 9. day 12: limited prospects 10. day 05: banished light 11. alphabetic collection - W 12. alphabetic collection - U 13. alphabetic collection - I 14. all is said and done 15. alphabetic collection - C 16. colors of the season 17. happy birthday annika 18. the heart is resilient 19. one day i'll fly away 20. ablazed this way 21. or so it seems

time for smart blah blah

It's a long time I've read or heard something like this. Thank you, Mike Banos. Never realized that I crave some mind tickles. Prepare to leap when you face the sarchasm!


Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words.

1. Coffee (n), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (adj), impotent.
6. Negligent (adj), describes a condition in which you absent-mindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (v), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (n), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (n) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (n), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (n), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n), (back by popular demand) The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (n), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are this year's winners:

1. Bozone (n): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
3. Cashtration (n): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.
8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease.
9. Karmageddon (n): it’s like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
10. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.
12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
14. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
15. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.

"Heidi's Drive" Photo by Mike Mendoza

the early mornings

The idea came from Mike. He wants to avoid crowds of the "gathered faithful" on Sundays. And he wants to avoid priests with bad homilies who run a speech like a political rally.

But I laid down the rule that our family must get to church once a week. So as if inspired by an original intervention, he woke us up early one Saturday morning and we attended the Holy Mass in the Xavier University Chapel.

And thus began our very own family tradition. We all loved it. I love the idea of waking up and really seeing the morning and starting it with the family walking together to the chapel. The girls are also excited because Saturday mornings after the Mass mean a breakfast in any of the restaurants or hotels around the city that are awake to offer a meal.

And Mike gets his solemn Mass celebrated with a handful of people in a familiar chapel, in the campus of his boyhood, a priest who is from the not so young breed of beating-around-the-bush orators and also from the not so old breed of holier than thou clerics, and a quick straight-to-its-business liturgy since there are no out-of-tune choirs that disrupt the prayers with their songs.

Oh I've stopped being righteous about the reasons of the family and I've stopped being defensive about not really attending the Sunday Mass - but the schedule works for us - it brings us together - the time and the place give us the needed experience of the sacred and the holy - and we've actually looked forward to doing it every Saturday. I think those simple considerations matter most to me.

And I've started working on a little project to celebrate our Saturdays - with the permission of Fr. Nil Guillemette, the Jesuit presider of these Eucharistic celebrations, I am posting his homily reflections in a simple blog -

The Early Mornings

as a token of my appreciation and my own way of celebration of what it all means to me.


http://theearlymornings.blogspot.com/

gloomy days

Photo by Mike Mendoza

raining. pouring. persisting.

Mike and I shot the ominous black clouds hanging over Malasag Hill last January 2. We never had an inkling it would lead to torrential rains for days and for displacing families when the water level rose and flooded houses in some areas of the city.

Mike and I again went out into the night last January 10, watching and waiting for the moon, purported to be on its brightest and biggest that night. After two hours of wondering if the clouds covering it would give us a lucid window, the moon shone above our heads and Mike and I snapped our pictures. But only for a very few minutes, for clouds once again covered the moon as fast as it let us into an opportunity to click. We also didn't have an idea that this would lead into another series of heavy rain and strong winds all over the city and its environs!

Three days into the torrents and here is the Philippines:


Where are Mindanao and the Visayas islands? Incredible! For the first time in my twelve years in Cagayan de Oro, I am seeing powerful winds sway the branches of the mango trees in our garden and rattle the french windows from their hinges.

Hand in hand with blasting radio commentators are my mother's invitation for the family to spend the next few days in Davao City, where the rains are not as bad. Some friends losing their houses AND some friends working on relief operations to assist those affected by the disaster all around. Private sector organizations rounding up donations AND politicians trying to be visible for election points.

Students preparing for major examinations AND students glad to stay at home because of the rain. People scaring each other with calamity stories growing bigger by the minute AND communication companies enjoying the endless forwarding of messages all over the country. Worrying over the family pet getting wet in his doghouse from the rain shower AND dead farm animals floating along the town streets.

Thinking that the people behind the miserable drainage system of the city must be damned AND relieved that the non-locals who barraged into the city and set up settlements in areas beside rivers must finally decide to go back where they came from so the city will be cleaned. (I so totally avoid starting on those denuded forests AND irresponsibility of corporations.)

Finally - I worry that I just am not able to capture rain perfectly in my camera AND praying that this rain will grow silent soon so life will return to normal.

Image from Google Earth

theater by the harbor

Oh what a delight it is to know that one of my photos has been selected for inclusion in the newly released sixth edition of the Schmap Sydney Guide! Taken during my Australian trip last 2006, I never had any indication that a few years after, that shot will return to that country continent to grace one of its city guides.


Sydney Opera House Opera Theatre

Seating 1,547, this is home of the renowned Opera Australia and Australian Ballet. With an outstanding repertoire of both new and old, both companies stage several productions, running on consecutive night, around four times per year. The theater has a wooden ceiling, which enhances the acoustics. It has a proscenium stage and a screen above it onto which English subtitles can be projected for performances sung in their original language.


Here is that page:

www.schmap.com/sydney/entertainment_opera/p=38556/i=38556_21.jpg


This shot was taken during a walk with the city mayor of Cagayan de Oro and other local officials and business leaders when we went to Australia and New Zealand for a trade mission. It was one of those days when the sun was kind to tourists like us.

I entitled this photo "It Stands There."


Flickr Photo by This Girl

landing on the moon

I admit that I have been remiss of my blogging for a while. I was even afraid that like the past year, my zeal for doing this online journal has died too. But I think I am ready now to start 2009 with a little bit of good news.

A story came out in PC World online and one of my photos was featured.


Fantastic Flickr Photographers

Millions of photographs are posted on the photography site Flickr, but a small subset of them demonstrate a leap of technique and imagination. We showcase some of these interesting artists.

by Kathleen Cullen, PC World


The page where my photo above is featured is here:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/155808-12/fantastic_flickr_photographers.html

The photo, "Wish Someone Could", is my shot of a morning moon and a bird flying by, camera settings with the help of Mike. And for its post-processing, I used some of the free textures available in the Internet to create the picture I have imagined. As taking photos and processing them is a pleasure in itself, this opportunity to be noticed and invited into articles like this is indeed a feather in the cap.


Flickr Photo by This Girl