From a friend and co-worker:
Where there is great love there is always miracles."
It takes great love and courage to excavate buried dreams. Today is the day set aside for love, a perfect occasion for going within and glancing back with affection and understanding at your real life journey so far.
Once we were going to set the world on fire. Remember? Today we all have our share of ashes, along with memory of a few bright sparks, to show for our efforts. Over the years we've buried many a precious dream under layers of soot and rubble. Layers of naivete, good intentions, relinquishment, bitter failures, detours, disappointments, rejections, wrong choices, bad timing, bungled efforts, stupid mistakes, unforeseen circumstances, whims of fate and missed opportunities. It's no wonder that we'll need courage to retrace our steps. But "courage is the price that Life extracts for granting peace," the pilot Amelia Earhart reminds us.
A wise women once advised me not to be a " would-be if-i-could-be or could-be-if-I-would-be. Just be." And while I have learned that dreams need doing as much as they need being, I have learned that being always comes first.
Today is a day for being. Be with those you love, be kind to yourself. Be quiet and call forth the dream you buried long ago. The ember is still glowing in your soul. See it in your mind, hold it tenderly in your heart. "The dream was always running ahead of one," Anais Nin confessed. "To catch up, to live for a moment in union with it, that was the miracle."
Bollywood goes Hollywood! So happy that Slumdog Millionaire won this year's Oscar for Best Picture. During these bleak economic times, we need a little feel-good movie like this.
I thought Hugh Jackman did a terrific job hosting, singing, dancing, cracking jokes and just being his handsome self.
Not a fan of the 5 presenters paying tribute to each nominee in the major acting categories. That just made the show even longer. And it was so Hollywood, so self-indulgent. The nominees would of course disagree. They were all moved to tears by what was being said about them.
Touching speeches by Dustin Lance Black, Kate Winslet (finally an Oscar winner!) and Sean Penn. And we all knew Heath Ledger was going to win, and his family finally came to personally receive the award. At other awards shows, other people have been accepting the award. The Ledger family wasn't going to miss Oscar night, that's for sure. And it was great that Penelope Cruz won. Hugh Jackman told Oprah that when Penelope got offstage, she just melted and cried. Her gown was fabulous.
Some weird moments, like when Jen Aniston was presenting and the camera would cut to Brangelina. Awkward much?! And I love Bill Maher but he probably shouldn't have made those comments about religion. But hey, it's a free country, and what bigger soapbox than Oscar night. Also crazy that The Dark Knight's Chris Nolan wasn't nominated for Best Director, when his movie got all those nominations. Ron Howard could have been left off the list, but Hollywood loves Opie/Richie Cunningham.
Loved the musical numbers, though I'm not too sure about that Baz Luhrmann number. But that's probably because I don't like the High School Musical kids or Beyonce.
I used to get nervous about crossing bridges. But living in New York, you have to go through a lot of bridges. My favorite one is the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge, which I've walked twice. Next on my list is the George Washington Bridge, just because it always looked so sturdy. Since last year, it's taken on more significance. I could see it and the Hudson River from my hospital room, and when I walked the halls of NY Presbyterian before and after surgery. I found it comforting.
So to the man who lent his name to this span, Happy Birthday Mr. President!
St. Therese of the Child Jesus is one of the awesomest saints ever! Not even one day after finishing my novena, I got this floral bouquet via email from my friend Anna. St. Therese has even gone high-tech, using the internet to shower us with roses. Thank you so much Little Flower!
Pray. Believe. Thank.
My friends got tired of inviting me to Facebook so Pinky signed me up. Got this wonderful email from a long-lost gay guy pal. He always made me laugh so hard when we were co-interns.
"Lani!!!!! Miss na kita!!! Serious! Hindi ko ma-take.... truly.... atchaka... walang biro I was just talking about you with somebody ... I think it was my sister last weekend...Musta nah???? Saang lupalop ka na napadpad..."
A gay male friend of mine sent this to me, just in time for V-Day. It's from a Philippine game show, where one of the contestants outed himself and his significant other on national television. The Philippines is a conservative, mostly Catholic country, and to see something as politically incorrect as this on TV is huge. Who says only heteros are capable of a truly loving and nurturing relationship?
I actually used to like Pops Fernandez, the Philippines' Concert Queen (although her singing voice isn't really all that). She is articulate and something of a fashion icon. See how natural and beautiful she is in the first photo? (which I nicked from this blog) My sister Cecile sent me the after photo. Apparently, Angelina Jolie lips are all the rage in the Philippine Islands.
Haneh, just because it's a fad doesn't mean it's for everyone.
I was looking up side effects of my anti-seizure meds, and look what I found: Keppra rage! I wonder if this is the reason why I'm easily annoyed or irritated by some conversations and certain people. Unless they're just REALLY REALLY ANNOYING! Plus, I'm always dreaming about screaming at my father or the MalTitas. Last night I dreamt I flew off the handle when I gave my younger niece clothes to wear, and she didn't like them. Said apparel disappeared, and I was attacking her for that.
Does this mean I can blame the drug for any of my malfunction?
- Why can't a spelunker be someone who's a bad speller? It would make things so much easier.
- Regis Philbin mistakenly said stA-Rods today instead of steroids when talking about Alex Rodriguez's admission of doping. It works though.
- President Obama won his fight to keep his Barack-berry.
- My friend Pinky is a Murney-ac.
- 60 Minutes brought together the crew of US Airways Flight 1549 and some passengers and their families. One guy had a T-shirt that said "Sully is my co-pilot".
- OctoMom (and OctoGrandma)
- Recessionista
Elephant seals are named after you. Meet Stelephant Colbert. There's also a smaller male named Jon Sealwart. The seals even have their own Facebook pages.
Stephen Colbert called his namesake "a hideous monster" at last night's telecast.
What a winter! Even the manatees are cold! Here they are pictured huddling together for warmth in Florida's Blue Springs State Park.
I almost fell off my seat when I heard President Obama say "I screwed up." regarding Tom Daschle's nomination for secretary of health and human services. When has a president, much less a US President, ever owned up to making a mistake, especially while still in office?
He has run into many problems with his Cabinet nominees and naysayers like to say that this only shows his inexperience. Let's give the man a break. I hope he keeps trying to change Washington. So far, all his actions as chief shows that he is an honorable man who's trying to do the right thing.
I heart this man more and more.
I wish I was somewhere else right now. Darn this recession. And the long cold snowy icy winter.
The Czech Republic was a completely different travel experience, but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.
My goal is to walk on every continent.
Don't ask me where I want to go for my birthday dinner/celebration for my recovery if you don't really want me to decide. I already told you I'd rather have lunch (instead of dinner because lately I've been going to bed at 10:30 PM) at some simple restaurant. I am not a food snob. I'd be perfectly happy having a meal in Chinatown. And yet you insist on having dinner at some fancy schmancy place. What's the point of asking for my input if you're going to pooh-pooh it anyway?
Maybe you guys go and I stay home. I celebrate life everyday anyway.
