eggs murphy, anyone?

Hubby and I woke up later than usual.  We slept late after quality time of talking about our plans, and the result: a late wake up call.  We rushed with the normal morning routine - took the dogs out, feed the herd, breakfast, washed and suit up, then hurried for work. 

Along the way, I noticed a neighbor's orchids with egg shells covering their tips.  I have seen this before in many Filipino gardens.  The egg shells have this magical power that transcends the cholesterol-binge contents it has.  They are normally used as organic fertilizer to help the plant grow healthier (or so they say.  Let me leave that part for the plant to react on).  I was trying to find a picture that could help describe what I saw to go along with the post, but I only found this.  Maybe the frog needs some growing to do as well?  I don't want to be around when it does — I'm afraid of FROGS!!!

I tried to race to work, but I got stuck at the last end of a funeral chain ( I didn't have the heart to cut through the chain), a traffic jam, and an accident.  At the parking lot, I took the last spot and had to run from the lot to the time-in machine - 8:37 am. The machine said, REPORT TO ADMIN. 

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Psyched!!!

I was psyched.  I was hopping the blogosphere, when I saw familiar faces.  DASHERS!!!! Yooohoooo!!!!  Okay, so She didn't really tell the gory details of our college life.  I guess, back then, blogging isn't a cheap hobby.  It was still rock age of dial ups and web pages coded in HTML.  I remember Cher made one - we had to scan our graduation pics and toddlers' photos.  Where is that one Cher, btw? 

If you ask these guys what they think of me, they'd probably say SILENT.  (or maybe they wouldn't? hehehe).  All I know is that I am the newbie in their group, and they welcomed me.  Fun times?  Oh many… Although when we were at the Uni, it wasn't a night out at the bar.  Night outs would be those camping at the bedroom after building crooked homes, or staring at the stars at the top of the resort where my sis celebrated her debut only to be sneezing the next morn.  Remember "Booba"? Hahaha.  I will never forget a 2 hr movie, with the rice-bowl mix where we ended up laughing like crazy.

If there's one thing that I missed so much - friendship.  I guess, right now I'm making up with the make friends and spend time with friends stuff.  These people (these three gorgeous beach bums down here), Cindz, Mama Edda - are those friends whom u can call real friends.  Okay, I haven't really been that social with them.  I don't know who's She and Prell's latest boylets, Cher's career fantasies, or Cindz' lovelife for the matter.  And where the hell is Mama Edda keeping herself?  The last I saw them was graduation? For some, before graduation even.  But I will never forget fun times spent with friends worth keeping.

Dashers frolicking in Galera 2k5: Dunkin Xis Cher, Charmed She & Babelicious Prell

enjoyed the view, and now i’m ready!

May 18: You've worked hard to get here, so why not take time to experience it for a while? Too many people climb up the mountain only to turn around and climb up one another one — but not you!  Today, tak ein the view of where you are, and spend a little time reflecting on how you got here.  The effort will mean more if you actively appreciate it. 

A time off.  It was just what I needed. It was one of the reasons why I agreed to go with my family to Boracay.  Honestly, it was such a very good break considering that I just came back from a successful workshop from Singapore, and was looking forward a pending change in my life. I have been working almost non-stop since I started 9.11.2001.  I barely took a break except those times that I was required by the doctor to rest.  Work was my life, my soul.  People wonder how I can work from 8am to 8pm the following day, straight.  I can.  For me, work isn't work - I enjoy working that much.

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Where is the Farts Engineering Department?

I believe that companies ought to screen people who communicate directly to external parties.  These people should be able to make the company proud - impress people. 

When I went to Singapore last time, I was with a Thai colleague who asked how come Filipinos are good in English.  Compared to the some countries in Asia, Filipinos are known to be able to converse in English as if it were our native tongue.  I told him that perhaps it is because it is our second language.  Unlike Thai, Japanese or Chinese, the Tagalog dialect have limited vocabulary.  There is no direct translation of the term Computer in Tagalog.  I remember, during the FILIRET course in college, we were taught the new Filipino - Computer is called Kompyuter.  Our alphabet is adapted from the English alphabet as well.  I don't know the real legit reason for our being good in English, but this is just from my own pov.  It's easy to recognize English words, coming from a background with similar characters.

Going back, one of the things that companies should screen is the English competency.  I think it's fine that we have different intonations and pronounciations.  But working in a multinational company with people from different countries coming to visit, don't you jus tthink that it's proper that the person who can be heard across the plant can pronounce clearly and correctly?

A few minutes ago, the voice announced that visitors from another company would arrive today for a business meeting. 

"Good morning.  We are pleased to announced that very important guests, Mr. A1, Frocurement department, and Mr. A2, Farts Engineering Department, will visit our manufacturing area today at 9am.  Flese welcome them with your warm greetings, and maintain 5S in your work areas, maintaining good quality in our froducts and our service will promote a good imfression in their visit.  Thank you and have a nice day."

No doubt she's a female, with a lot of F's to spare. The voice spoke the same statement twice.  Thank you, Ms. Voice, whoever you are.  You just made quite an impression.  Who ever Mr. A2 is, I am sure that I would not be applying for his department.  Do they wear gas masks in the Farts Engineering Department?

finding my place — for now

I am not actually sure how to write this down, or if I really should.  But today seems to be the perfect time for closure.  I've been saying a lot of things lately, related to this term - CLOSURE. 

My earlier work-rants last March, I have reviewed the list of opportunities that I have passed on.  All my life, I have lived a life without regrets, or so I say.  I wanted a life that I can look back on, smile and say that everything's fine.  But it has not made me immune from situations that I am forced to make a stand in what I believe to be more important.  There are bridges over troubled water that I have to cross. 

Earlier today, I started to write the real story from where I see it, when the page was accidentally refreshed.  Gone was the 4 paragraphs that I was pouring on for the past hour in one flash.  I am not sure if it was a sign for me to re-think on what I was doing.  Until now that I am typing this up, I am still a bit unsure of what I would really be writing. Well, here goes nothing…

Do you believe that each a person's action, no matter how alone he is in the world, would have a chained reaction even to those he is not connected with?  I do.  It's like waves in the sea.  It cascades until it reaches the shore.  I'm not sure where the shore is.  I guess, it all depends.  Maybe, one touch can move from continent to another.  I believe that this is because, no man is an island. A man drops a banana peeling on the street and continued on, but that banana peeling can actually be part of the fertilizer put into a farmer's plant.  Yeah, that long, and that's how wild my imagination is. (Don't ask me what happened to the man. I am morbid. )

There are things in life that happens that I have no control over - they just do.  I have this notion of what would happen based on one scenario, but there is no actual proof that they would.  I am not a fortune teller.  When I was supposed to go already, and then something came up the next minute, I don't blame that something.  I manage the change.  SOMETHING may not consider what he has came up with could do to me, nevertheless, I don't dwell on that.  Life has a lot to offer me more than just that situation.

Newton's third law of motion, the Law of Reciprocal Actions states that "Whenever one body exerts force upon a second body, the second body exerts an equal and opposite force upon the first body."  Well Mr. Newton, let's take that into another mischarmed's skeptical law.

"Whenever something happens that demands your action, you respond with a step towards something that you can never calculate the full extent of impact.  A dip in a clear water casts ripples that can extend towards shores you never knew of."

To those who make decisions without surveying the waters: Have a care to how much your waves can affect the other sailboats on the unknown shores.  To those hit by the unexpected waves: Never cast anchors on sand.  When waves come in, you'll be thrown into its mercy.  Do not blame the ship who launched into the ocean.  Look at the sun, and bask in its glory.  There are plenty more shores where yours is set to shine. 

I am still on this shore, waiting for the time when my ship will set its sail.  I did had my heart set to sail out to places where my dreams are, but I guess, this is not the right time.  Another ship has taken its sail, and I am forced to simply marvel at its splendor.  Maybe some day, I will reach that horizon, too — another time, another place.

Another Meaning of my Name

I was hopping from one place to another when I saw this site where names can be explained - the meaning of a name.  I wasn't able to remember the site though, as I save the meaning of my name in a text file.  I wish I could get back to it, though.

1. Although the name creates the urge to be reliable and responsible, we emphasize that it causes an emotional intensity that is hard to control.  I guess, that emotional intensity is the reason why I needed a maintenance check at inner Mandaluyong area to make sure I'm within the regulatory boundaries .   
2. A scattered emotional nature that causes a restless intensity that defies relaxation.  I guess that's one reason why I could never relax?
3. This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success as well as cause health weaknesses in the nervous system, worry, and mental tension. As for the second one, yes, I am definitely happy, contented (or I make myself feel content) and succesful (according to my own measure). 
4. Your name makes you very idealistic and generous, with the strong desire to uplift humanity leading you into situations where you can express your desire to serve others. All hail the missionary charity worker, who would lift humanity from its rotting morality and depressed state. Mischarmed is going to save the day!!!
5. Your name has given you a responsible, expressive, inspirational, and friendly personality.  Yeah, i like forever friends…Expressive is an understatement. Hahaha.
6. You want to assume responsibilities and to look after people however, you can become too involved in other people's problems and tend to worry.  Maternal instinct? Oh please. But yeah, I have the knack of worrying others' worries.
7. Expression comes naturally to you and you are rarely at loss for words; in fact, you have to put forth effort at times to curb an over-active tongue.  Told u that expressive is an understatement.  But yes, I admit that I tend to speak more than what I think I should.  When put on a spot, I express myself straigh out - what you see (hear) is what you get.  If I don't like you, I don't really, and that's it. That effort - I guess it's coming with age. hehe.
8. Your name gives you a natural desire to express along artistic and musical lines. That explains the power that make me last an overnight gig just singing my tonsils out in the videoke. Hahaha
9. Self-confidence has made it easy for you to meet people and you are well-liked for your spontaneous, happy ways.  I think for this aspect, I have changed over the years.  Coming from the days when I was way over the obese scale, I am not really that outgoing.  Most friends from those eras would never know me to be all-smiling, cheerful.  I may not be that dramatic then, but I never tend to put an extra foot forward in making new friends.  Now, for the past years I've been out of school, it's a totally different world.  Nobody can tell I am in introvert. I wonder why…
10. You desire a settled home and family life, and are expressive and attentive to your loved ones. Oh-yeah… When I love, lucky one can never see the end of it.
11. You sincerely like people and do not often experience loneliness; your work and home-life are filled with association. Doesn't actually mean that I have no politics at work or at home.  It simply means, in my skeptical view, I can adapt. Adaptability to the environment is the basic key to survival.
12. Your name creates a restless, creative nature that takes you into many ventures, but does not allow you to see things through to a satisfactory completion.  Reckless, eh?  But creative, hmm. I'm thinking more on the satisfactory completion — did I resign before the project is finished? Is that a sign?
13. Yours is a versatile, musical, artistic, but independent nature and you must have the freedom to express your creative ideas and abilities to be happy.  Oh, musicality and artistry is really in my bloodstream. Freedom!!! Creativity!!!! OMG!!! Where are yoU!?!? (artistic enough? hahaha)
14. An urge for independence causes dissatisfaction and frustration in close relationships and you find the "ties that bind" restricting.  I admit to this peeve.
15. The qualities of this name would find a more constructive outlet in work that involves high-pressure selling or promotional activities, possibly in community affairs, for it contains a positive, driving power.  Ok, so… what am I doing here? Oh… HIGH-PRESSURE!

Hmmm.  Is that so? No wonder. 

For Nanay @ mother’s day

I remember being fond of poems and stories since I was in grade school.  There are some pieces that I can still remember from the heart (or I think it was mostly because I ended up memorizing them for the oral recitation exam).  For today, there is one I would like to put here because this has been on the childish cards we used to make for you, but now, we're on a different era. It's time to post this on the blog, and let everyone know how much we appreciate you.

*~*~*

A mother's hands are busy
A mother's hands are strong
A mother's hands are clever
At fixing what goes wrong

….

*~*~*

This is just the first stanza, I honestly cannot remember the rest of the lines.  If anyone there could, just send it to me so I can update it.  I think it's a 3-stanza poem that my sister used for one speech contest or something. But the main point is this, nanay, thank you from all of your spoiled bratinellas and brat.   More often than not, we fail to recognize just how much we appreciate your being around, nagging us, making sure we eat properly, we get well from being sick, etc. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, NANAY!

Summer’s End

Sunsets.  Beaches.  Ocean.  Rain.  I love the rainy weather.  Not just because I've been really pissed off with the hot summer breath.  There's just something with the rain that calls to me, makes me feel that I am part of it.

I actually drove from home to work in the storm.  Trees were uprooted and fell on the road, the wind was blowing like crazy.  I was scared that a tree or branch may fell to the car!  Trees fell thru gates, and glass doors shattered due to the wind.  But, hey, I got to post this, so that means, I survived. 

The pictures aren't much to see, but I wanted to capture something from what a friend calls as the official summer end.  Another phase of life just ended, and another one has just began.

C&R: For Every Woman…

by Nancy R. Smith
Copyright (c) 1973

1. For every woman who is tired of acting weak when she knows she is strong,
   there is a man who is tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable.
2. For every woman who is tired of acting dumb,
   there is a man who is burdened with the constant expectation of "knowing everything."
3. For every woman who is tired of being called "an emotional female,"
   there is a man who is denied the right to weep and to be gentle.
4. For every woman is called unfeminine when she competes,
   there is a man for whom competition is the only way to prove his masculinity.
5. For every woman who is tired of being a sex object,
   there is a man who must worry about his potency.
6. For every woman who feels "tied down" by her children,
   there is a man who is denied the full pleasures of shared parenthood.
7. For every woman who is denied meaningful employment or equal pay,
   there is a man who must bear full financial responsibility for another human being.
8. For every woman who was not taught the intricacies of an automobile,
   there is a man who was not taught the satisfactions of cooking.
9. For every woman who takes a step toward her own liberation,
   there is a man who finds the way to freedom has been made a little easier.

*~*~*

These past hours/days are some of the rare moments I've missed after the recent trips and vacation — times where I don't have much to do (except to answer a few calls to which the problem identificaton proved to be more difficult than the resolution itself. it's also called as work) and have some time to lurk around, visit other sites, and think.  Yes, there are some remnants left here on top.  I happen to bounced on this article by Nancy R. Smith, and it strucked my fancy.

I am never the epitome of a woman. My sister (the sexy silhouette) is what I call a FEMALE being.  Aside from being a typical beautiful human being, she has this innate fashion sense of mixing and matching accesories and colors.  Maybe I am being too judgemental when I call her a typical female, thereby putting a circle over those who pamper themselves too much. I apologize.  That is not what I am driving at.

I have always been more comfortable in oversized shirts, jeans and sneakers with my hair neatly ties up for the most of my so-called life.  I am not into wearing my hair down, with frillies, or skirts for the matter.  High-heeled shoes never came into my closet until the time the college thesis demanded I get at least a 2" heeled shoes (I think I had some pumps used exclusively for social events).  I love hanging out with boys, getting dirty and sweaty (okay, stop those dirty thoughts!).  At a time I thought, "Maybe God made a mistake. I should have been a guy instead."

It seems like an every day battle to challenge the limitations of being a woman.  At least, that's how I majorly see it.  During my younger days, it seems to be a balanced equation except for some ocassional games that guys would really tend to win over girls.  As I grew older, it became more evident to me that being a woman seems to be at the losing end.  Girls had this monthly un-invited visitor.  They have this set of "treasures" that when too heavy becomes a burden rather than an asset, when too flat, would be called a failure.  Free restrooms are very hard to find.  And there's this non-existent-but-vivid line that says a girl is supposed to do this, act like this.  I guess, this is what society's image of a female being really is, and that's why more often than not, that's what is deemed accurate. I, just one of the supposed-female creatures, am supposed to live up to that image.

A friend just mentioned something about  having balance in this world - yin and yang, female and male.  I think that poem explained some of this balance, and society being not so accurate as I thought she should be.  Females are branded as "kikay", posh, delicate, fragile, and anything outrageous than those can merit the term "bitch"; as opposed to male being the strong type who must never shed a single tear otherwise be called a "fag".  To tell you the truth, the strongest man I saw was the one who cried to me without any insecurities.  He was hurt, in pain, and he shed his tears.  That didn't mean that he's a fag, nor did I see anything that earn my disrespect.  He actually earned my respect, trust, and love.

The line distinguishing men and women, from mischarmed's skeptical view is really overrated and highly-sensationalized.  Yes, physically they are different but not too far.  There are parts endowed to women as opposed to men, and vice-versa making it a perfect puzzle (don't make me explain what these are. I am trying to make it as figurative as possible ).  There are some men who really are stronger than most women, but there are some women stronger than some men.  It's a balance.  Men and women are equal in God's eyes, why can't it be the same from those who are created in His image?

I have never been society's biggest fan, and my common sense tells me, I shouldn't start just now.  Well, just because I am wearing a skirt, a frilly top and letting my hair down means I am about to turn into what society expects me to be.  Really.  This simply means I need to our laundry fast so that I can have my normal comfortable clothes back on.

a face lift

I finally made the switch. I found some time to scrap up and play around the pictures I took from the recent Boracay escapade, and made that header image up.  I had a hard time fitting the size though, coz I do not have any idea what size needs to fit on the place perfectly. (anyone out there has any idea?).  I appreciate your comments on this new face lift.  By the way, that sexy silhoutte isn't me. Hehe. Though I wish it was me. Whew… That's some picture puzzle I guess just using Paint.  I need to get some decent software.

mischarmed foolosophies

That was quite a long break I had. No work, no internet, no blogging (Oh, but I missed this!).  I forgot to put it though, but we went to Boracay.  I took a three-day leave at work, and headed down this island with my family (Hubby wasn't able to join though because he cannot take a breather from work). 

I have yet to post anything regarding that adventure, maybe I'd back-post them when I have time.

My last post talked about rehabilitating this blog-of-mine. I was thinking of making a coffee-theme as I was so inspired by the coffee-cup and being a caffeine-addict (I confessed. I really am a caffeine junkie).  Maybe… something like.. Caffeinated-emo stuff like that… Or Caffeinated foolosophies.  But when I went to the beach, saw captured some pix…. man… I want to put them in my blog!!! The beach.. the sunset… Yes, sir.. For a few days, i was officially a beach-bitch… (I am not posting anything yet about that adventure… Not yet!!!!).

Ergo, the decision needs to be made.  I am still MISCHARMED… a confessed caffeine-junkie who loves sunsets and beaches. Hmmm.  I guess, it all rambled of a mischarmed foolosophy.

Check out a pix i took (I need to get a decent camera), and I put a statement (my tag line) I created (based on my coffee cup) and so loved.  I wanted to put it up in the banner, but knowing me… I might get tired of it. I just want to share it with you.