celebrating beautiful women’s month

Below is a poem Audrey Hepburn wrote when asked to share her ‘beauty tips’. It was read at her funeral years later.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived,
reclaimed and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand,
you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands;
one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

*from an email forwarded to me by a friend. Share this amongst your friends to empower other women you know.

Tagged: 10 things about myself

I got tagged by Chi. Here are my ten:

1. I was a varsity at my volleyball team during elementary school. We competed in various athletic divisions, like DCUPS (Davao City Unified Private Schools) and DCAA (Davao City Athletic Association). When I attended high school, I had to quit to focus on my academics. But I still pursued playing volleyball as a hobby though.

2. I’m a geek when it comes to geography. In fact, I know all the capital cities for all 50 States in the US.:D

3. I like kids. Katrina pointed it out to me once saying I sound so “maternal”. Truth is, I’d rather be around cuddly kids than take care of a pet.

4. I have a foot fetish. I could not go an entire week without foot spa or scrub. I’m obsessed with clean feet and getting rid of dead skin. (laughs out loud)

5. My major pet peeve is having my foot stepped on.

6. I love chocolate so much it deserve a number on this list.

7. Random things I couldn’t live without: lip balm, cellphone, basketball, internet, Survivor!

8. People always have my age mistaken. Good thing is, they think I’m younger. As the middle child of 3 siblings, family friends often mistake me as the youngest one.

9. I go by multiple names. Abby – for friends and acquaintances; Bianca – often used by people who I meet for the first time; Abs – for closest friends and barkada; Bea – my nick at home; Bia (short for Bianca) – my other nick, often used by family members, titos and titas; Bing – for Ed’s parents; Gail – a name used only by two people: my dear friend (and former officemate) Joan and friend Melanie from grade school.

10. I love traveling! Here are some of the places I’d like to travel to at least once in my life: Mayan Ruins in Guatemala, Palau (our dream honeymoon), Vatican (or anywhere in Italy, Ed and I already have a map!), New Zealand (to bungee jump, or probably live there! ), Ireland (the Emerald Isle, no this is where I should reside. lol), Edinburgh in Scottland, and every single one of the US’ 50 States.

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The Rules:

*Each blogger should start with ten random facts/habits about themselves.
*Bloggers that are tagged need to write on their own blog about their ten things and post these rules.
*At the end of your blog, you need to choose ten people to get tagged and list their names.

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Seriously though, if you like doing this, then proceed at your own risk. hehe

Mandela Moment

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th US President was over and done with. And yet, people cannot stop discussing about it. In fact, it set a new record in terms of the largest television audience, breaking Ronald Reagan’s inauguration record set way back in 1981. Days before and after the inauguration took place, it felt like overly hyped but it was for some good reasons.

Obama’s win on the US presidency was dubbed by many as US’ own version of “Mandela Moment”. Obama’s visions not just for his country but for the rest of the world going through global financial crisis is a breath of fresh air. Listening to excerpts of his inauguration speech the other day, I couldn’t help but cringe. Although idealistic to a certain extent, every word that came out of Obama’s mouth reiterated hope for everyone of us. Obama is just too articulate and clever that I figuratively hang on to every word he said.

Obama was the kind of leader America wanted (and needed) for a while. He isn’t the type to employ bully tactics, but rather embraced and encouraged us all to move forward. With a hazy future that awaits in 2009, especially in the economic aspects, having a leader that would make us believe (in ourselves and the leaders who run our respective countries) is something that we could all take comfort in.

how do i write my blog?

Here’s another one of those blog analyzers I found over the net. Try yours. It’s fun to learn some insights into how your blog is created.

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ENTP – The Visionaries

“The charming and trend savvy type. They are especially attuned to the big picture and anticipate trends. They often have sophisticated language skills and come across as witty and social. At the end of the day, however, they are pragmatic decision makers and have a good analytical abilitity.

They enjoy work that lets them use their cleverness, great communication skills and knack for new exciting ventures. They have to look out not to become quitters, since they easily get bored when the creative exciting start-up phase is over.”

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By the way, here’s a picture to indicate which muscles or sides of my brain were functioning when I wrote my blog, probably including this one.

Have time to spare? Try the Typealyzer here.

the art of make-up

Cosmetics is an art. It was an art that I, however, was unable to embrace until recently. Way back in college days, I disliked the idea of wearing make-up. To begin with, I found it uncomfortable while I also lived the idea that “simpler is better.”

When I graduated however, things changed. I was encouraged to wear make-up so I would look my age. Aside from being petite, my features made me look like I am 16, as my mom would often point out. Wearing make-up (because I never did give in to my mom’s persistence that I wear more corporate-looking outfits) seemed like the most suitable alternative so I would look like my chronological age.

Like all forms of art, you have to be precise with the amount of make-up you wear though. You cannot overdo it, or else you could end up looking older or worse, trashy. It entails just the right amount of shading and combination of colors, something of which I enjoy working to achieve. I would often go in to cosmetic stores and leave with a few pesos off my wallet and a bag of cosmetic products. It’s my guilty pleasure, and most certainly one of the ways to pampering myself.

I hope I am not perceived as being kikay though, as Ed once teased me about. The thing is, it is more functional than aesthetic. If it is able to enhance one’s looks, then I could take that. Especially when it makes you feel good about yourself and helps you become more confident. Hopefully, we’ve also gotten past the stage wherein the use of cosmetics is associated with trying to become the object of male gaze.

Parallelism: Inanimate Objects and People

Here I am, worrying to death about whether I’d make the article quota for today and yet still having the time to squeeze in a blog. A week ago, I went through files on my computer and I found an essay I wrote for one of my classes in college (I could not even remember which one) regarding Russell Baker’s essay, The Plot Against the People.

I am amazed by the semblance of how most people and inanimate objects behave. According to Baker, inanimate objects can be broken down into three major categories: those that break down, those that get lost, and those that don’t work. Furthermore, he claims that “the goal of all inanimate objects is to resist man and ultimately to defeat him…”

Those that break down.

Like inanimate objects, people can often times be a challenge and, to say the least, a test of patience. While it is common knowledge that our individual level of capacity and understanding vary, they tend to break down at times most inconvenient to you. When life seems to be going smooth for you, they always manages to find ways to tick you. Unlike inanimate objects, you cannot recharge, fix, or tweak these people; they need to do that for themselves. And that’s the start of your doom.

Those that get lost.

As much as inanimate objects develop a sound technique for concealing from human’s view when they are needed, some people have also managed to perfect this very same technique. They find themselves in peculiar places just to hide from your view. And the worst part of all is, (which is the exact opposite) they meddle with your affairs even when the person concerned does not ask for his or her opinion.

Those that don’t work.

I have to agree with Baker that out of all three categories, these people (and inanimate objects) are the most curious of all. It would be stupid to say that they don’t work at all because we are all equipped with “something”. However, they are ridiculously inconsistent. One time, they work perfectly and with such precision. Other times these people wait for an outside prompt, such as having someone to push their button on or off, instead of executing their own actions. They never seem to have the initiative to work as they were designed for. And the worst thing is, they achieve high status although they have been known to achieve nothing.

Lessons on Blogging

On a previous post, I have cited a few notes on how to write a readable blog entry. This time, here are some pointers to remember if you wish to avoid being the recipient of not-so-friendly feedbacks:

* NEVER write hanging posts without proper context clues, especially those with sarcastic undertones.

* NEVER underestimate the capacity of your readers to read between the lines. On the other hand, do not make it so subtle either so as to lead to further confusion on the reader’s part. Their miniature brain cells might find the information overwhelming.

* REFRAIN from naming names. The guessing game makes your blog a lot more interesting (and an increased traffic to boot ).

* ON the flipside, refrain from posting too general entries. After all, everyone’s got their own personal issues. You would not want the rest of the world conniving against you.

* TELL your friends not to post a comment on your blog entries. There’s a lot more venue for that offline.

* IF you can help it, never write a blog as a form of retraction. It will only fuel a series of retractions.

* NEVER use suggestive titles to your posts. It might just give them the wrong cue, despite lack of knowledge or understanding about the blog’s content.

still poetry

Love wasn’t supposed to be rational.

thoughts on “readers’ comments”

To those of you who regularly visit my site and is disappointed to find that I have failed to update recently – my apologies. There is no point stressing the fact that I have completely drowned myself with writing assignments that are, regardless of how challenging they are, have managed to squeeze all energy I have.

When I checked my blog’s dashboard this morning to see any new activity on my blog, I got this instead:

55 total posts since I created this WordPress blog back in April. I managed to attain 76 responses from my readers. Whoa! My readers’ comments have managed to outnumber my posts.

Come to think of it, it isn’t bad at all. If I can relate it to my previous blog posts concerning how I can drive more traffic into my site, it is a positive sign that lots of readers are not just scanning through my site. In fact, they come to my site to read and react. Again, the writer in me is coming out. A written piece will never achieve its purpose until it elicits reaction from the readers.

Catharsis, if I remember it correctly, is one of the main points stressed by Aristotle. If this may be one step closer to achieving that, then it would be a milestone for this blog.

snobbish is as snobbish does

Since I have signed up for several social media sites, I have been able to build networks that allow me to meet various people (and from various parts of the world). I find it really interesting, especially since I’ve been able to reconnect with old grade school and high school friends.

But I do have a few words to give out to those few, stubborn ones who keep sending me messages that I deem indecent or just plain old disrespectful to me as a woman. I do believe I am a generally nice person but these kinds of people…oh, I don’t want to finish this sentence.

Here are a list of things that I need to remind you of:

1. Social media sites (notably Facebook and MySpace) are not equal to dating sites.

2. If you are looking to find a date, then do not consider me because I am NOT on those sites for that purpose.

3. Never ask for my instant messenger ID. You won’t get it.

4. Don’t compliment my looks. I got enough of them from my boyfriend. (sticks tongue out)

5. When my status says “In A Relationship”, it means I am IN A RELATIONSHIP and none other than that.

walking contradiction

This thought just hit me. After posting my blog entry entitled “On Blog Hits” (which by the way, sounds really lazy like it was just a spur of the moment thing that I could not find a more decent title to name the post by), I started questioning myself about the basic idea that surrounds writing. Am I writing for the mere intent of being read? If that is the case, then I have defeated the initial and most important purpose of writing and that is the exploration of thoughts and ideas.

Pardon me for over-romanticizing this act but according to my studies in popular culture, that makes me more lenient towards writing for what is considered “popular” knowing that it is what will drive more traffic into my site. Now I am beginning to hamper myself with all cuss words I could think of, haha.

Was I becoming more comfortable sharing my thoughts just because it is the worldwide web, after all. The scenario here is very much different as compared to when I was writing back in college (blame my penchant for grammar, I think I am obsessive-compulsive when it comes to that). I usually would not share my writings, even to friends, in fear of being ridiculed for the way I write, or if I had misinterpreted any theories. I’d like to say I was my own worst critic, and even now that still holds true.

However, the atmosphere in the blogging world is a lot looser and so I had let loose too. Nobody cares about grammar, ideas, or theories, you can basically talk about day to day events. Maybe that is where my confidence about my writing built up. I’d like to believe that was a positive impact on my writing.

As for my targeted 1,000 blog hits, I have just realized it is very much achievable at this point. After that, maybe I can let go of the idea that nobody is reading me or that my writings aren’t that good enough (even for my own standards). I would gladly quit bothering about the view counts on my blog, I’d leave all that work to the computer. After all, I hate numbers.