jessie, the most photographed mutt

meet JESSIE, the most photographed mutt this side of marikina. jessie's mother is a poodle mix; his father, a terrier mix. his vet thought he looked like a japanese spitz as a puppy. now he’s looking more like a husky. it doesn’t matter really. to me (and my mom, jessie’s “official owner”), jessie is the most lovable mutt in the world.


jessie obediently stays in his huge cell during the day when we have to leave the house for work. he can run around the house at night when we’re home. and run around the house he goes, covering every corner as if trying to make up for all the lying around the whole day in his cell. sometimes during weekends, when mama doesn’t mind cleaning up his heavy shedding, he’d be allowed inside the whole day.

just one call of jessie’s name and he would sprint towards you, hoping to get a good dose of petting under his ears or in his belly. just a hint of playfulness and he’ll match it with his moves. if you have the slightest feeling of boredom or depression, you can count on jessie to rub some bubbly energy on you.

we realized how much we deeply love this mutt when he got sick – so sick he almost died. it was new year’s eve and jessie was not in his usual naughty self. he wouldn’t eat all day and would even vomit what small amount of food we made him eat. the next day, the first of january 2006, he moved bowels of stinky blood. he was obviously in a lot of pain and couldn’t even stand up and walk. his eyes showed a pitiful sadness, filled with pain. we immediately brought him to the nearest veterinary hospital.

it was a bad case of parvo virus, an infection that recently killed several dogs according to the vet. jessie was so weak he didn’t even budge at the needles poking in his veins. none were the typical snarls at every stranger. my mother and i were all choked up as we tried to sweet talk jessie into getting well.

mama was loaded with guilt for initially teasing jessie that lying still and staying quiet was much better behavior to his usual mischief. and i was not any less guilty. i didn’t insist on getting that third shot of vaccine. if he died (a real possibility at the time) i would’ve cried a bucket of tears.

thankfully, jessie was back home after a week. he is as energetic now as he was when we first got him. and he’s finally had that last vaccine.

on the 4th of july, jessie will turn ONE, and I’m turning 28. guess who’ll have a bigger birthday bash?! a way advanced happy birthday to you jessie, and many many more photos to come!

paris bennett eliminated

yup, just found out from rickey.org.

my top idols

early in the competition, i've selected my top idol favorites: taylor, paris, chris and katherine (yes, in that order). and there they are -- in the top 5 with elliot on his way home (i think).

now, i'm switching sides. my votes are on katherine and chris. (unfortunately, my votes don't count.)



photos from rickey.org

a kkb-worthy jersey

finally! natuloy din ang sportsfest sa office namin.

finally! i get to design our jersey. yey!

for so long, i've had to wear manly jerseys,

what with our basketball players thinking that

a women's volleyball team deserves jerseys

as nba-ish as theirs. no thanks.

now, this is what i call a jersey worth every peso of our k-k-b!

credits to the Mizuno Hurricane Jersey and the Women's World Grand Prix Volleyball logo

bumabawi

i'm usually a very talkative person and i'm pretty confident with what i have to say. writing is not too difficult a task for me either.

but blogging?!

i've never had a journal before and no one ever really gave me much praise for my creative writing skills.

nope, i didn't get that supposedly normal dose of "writer's block" and yes, there has to be a better excuse for this nonsensical babble...

ang lagay eh, bumabawi lang ako para naman magkalaman 'tong blog na 'to.

if you think that a blogger must have a better excuse for a long absence, i'll have to refer you to kulotology.blogspot.com

The Lost Gospel

this i gotta see...


judas iscariot just might turn out to be a martyr, a hero -- an almost ridiculous abnegation to the long believed "fact" that judas betrayed jesus for a few silver coins. a definite must-see for all orthodox preachers, blind faithfuls, even agnostics and atheists.

The Gospel of Judas gives a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, offering new insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Unlike the accounts in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in which Judas is portrayed as a reviled traitor, this newly discovered Gospel portrays Judas as acting at Jesus' request when he hands Jesus over to the authorities.

The Gospel of Judas is an exclusive, two-hour global television event that traces the incredible story of one of the most important finds in biblical archaeology.

Visit National Geographic's official Gospel of Judas site for detailed accounts of the discovery of the papyrus codex, information on the conservation of the document, and an illustrated, interactive history of early christianity.

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Watch it on Monday, April 10, 10PM (Manila) on NGC. Or click the photo to visit the NGC website dedicated on this global television event.

training photos

as promised, here are the photo layouts that i did using Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10 (with a little help from MS Picture Manager). Click here to view the album.

it's still because of you

She had the song of Kelly Clarkson in her head -- while eating breakfast, in the shower, on her way to work. It was a last song syndrome, triggered by a tv show from the previous night. She liked the song since she first heard it on the radio. She particularly likes the way kelly clarkson did it.

The tune was humming in her head again as she starts the day's work. And it crept back as she walked out of her office building. She sang the chorus silently to herself, "because of you i never stray too far from the sidewalk."

Suddenly, the song had words for her. The words had meaning and it was piercing in her heart… It wasn’t just a tune humming in her head anymore. It’s now a thud in her chest. It's not just a song about a girl -- some stranger whose disappointments echo erupting fears and pains. It was now her song.

Provided By MetroLyrics

Not all wounds heal. But life does move on and there is hope. She prayed hard. Harder than she’s prayed in years. She likes to pray sometimes. It gives her hope. It’s a pat on the back, saying that things will get better. And she talks back, “what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

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click here to listen to kelly clarkson's because of you at artistdirect.com

a challenge to go back to school

lately i've been daydreaming about going back to school. i imagine all the interesting reading materials, all the enlightening lectures that could only now satisfy my deep hunger to learn learn learn.

i look back at my academic endeavors in college with quite a bit of shame... while i'm glad i learned a good deal of epistemology from dr. perez, i still have to thank january for making the class interesting and therefore bearable. although i was inspired by the lectures of dr. de castro on ethics and dr. fernando on the philosophy of law, how i wish i paid more attention to prof. vera cruz and atty. valdez. i appreciated having painfully understood david hume's theory of knowledge and i took delight in discovering socrates through plato's apologia. but i can only wish i tried harder to understand wittgenstein, sartre, karl popper, russel, etc. i enjoyed absorbing the possibilities of philosophy for children and i took pride in having more or less mastered philosophy of religion and ethics. but i regret not having the guts to take dr. lee's and prof. de villa's classes.

not that i didn't appreciate a good education back then. i tried to get a diploma in industrial relations. but hearing all the jargon and incomprehensible discussion from my classmates (who all happened to be HR practitioners!) made me feel so out of my league. trying for a master's degree in philosophy was likewise a futile attempt.

now it's diferent. yeah, i can get educated anywhere -- i'm the perennial student, i learn something new everyday by just clicking my internet explorer. but its not enough. i want more.

i wanna propose policy changes in my workplace and improve our human resource management system. i can see the need for major changes but i'm not sure where to start. i want to be competitive and be able to market my skills in developing and improving companies and organizations. i want to have the chance to work with the best HR practitioners. i want to do more. (naks, parang commercial ng centrum complete!)

that diploma in industrial relations would've been the key. i couldn't handle it 5 years ago, not with my fresh-out-of-college ignorance. now i know i can. armed with over 4 years of experience in human resource development, i'm pretty sure i have the discipline, the background, the motivation, the will to complete a master's degree at the School of Labor and Industrial Relations (SOLAIR). it's gonna be financially challenging. but if i can make room for even six or nine units, it would be well worth the effort and the money.

first things first. i need to talk to the college secretary or any solair official if i need to retake the entrance exam or if i'll just need to submit some requirements to be readmitted.

as beatrix kiddo (uma thurman) said at the back of buck's pussy wagon in kill bill: wiggle your big toe, ynseng.

singular thoughts

i've been meaning to post about my tone-toneladang ideas. but right now they're still ideas in my head. for now, these will have to do...

i'm wearing the yellow uniform today. that means it's a thursday. funny how the colors of my uniform tell me what day it is, rather than me determining what color to wear based on what day it is. i just know that the first workday of the week -- the morning after the lazy sunday -- i have to wear orange. the next day it's green, which means it must be tuesday. then blue. then yellow. then wash day. it's the one day of the work week that i can stare at my closet and decide what to wear. much as i hate these reflectorized colors, i'm a bit glad that i don't have to freak over what to wear everyday.

congratulations to me and hubby! we just experienced our first appliance purchase! a kolin .75hp aircon. summer na kasi. sobrang init! although i initially felt like i was rushed into deciding whether to buy the aircon, i truly am proud of our purchase. hubby checked the prices of 2nd hand aircons advertised at the buy&sell newspaper. he also asked a few who have some sort of expertise -- my older brother who diligently did his own research prior to the purchase of his aircon and kuya joey (his bro-in-law's brother). he also checked prices in a couple of appliance centers. when we got to western p.tuazon, we were surprised to see steep prices. but the 6 months 0% interest was worth it. malamig na ulit ang mga gabi ng tag-araw. yey!

i'm in an internet cafe near our subdivision in marikina. the P25/hr is fine. they're using mozilla firefox. that's fine too. but may layout looks funny. the marquees in my subtitles look funny. does that have anything to do with the firefox? ...and these keyboard is killing me! printed letters are taped in the keypad (probably coz the letters are faded) and i sometimes need to press hard or press twice ...and the pointer (arrow) keeps moving to the left! (grrr!) i'm really not complaining. as long as the connection is fast and i can access my flash disk, i should be fine. i just have to double double check for typo errors...

paris bennett gave me goosebumps last night. i love the song "fever" and her version was a great diversion to madonna's or kylie minogue's or victoria's. and doesn't chris sound like the vocalist of live? i would love to hear him sing live's dolphin's cry!

love will lead us, alright / love will lead us, she will lead us / can you hear the dolphin's cry? / see the road rise up to meet us / it's in the air we breathe tonight / love will lead us, she will lead us / life is like a shooting star / it don't matter who you are / if you only run for cover, it's just a waste of time / we are lost 'til we are found / this phoenix rises up from the ground / and all these wars are over

i'm pretty sure none of my favorites will be among the bottom 3! can't wait to see the eliminations tonight!!!