Word Watch

Here’s alist of new words to familiar myself with. They are from the most recent book I read (i. e. Eldest by Christopher Paolini). I do have a habit of writing down words that are new to me when I read. When I encounter an unfamiliar word, I stop, go to the computer and do a thesaurus check. It helps me understand the book better. Of course, there were times that I am on bed reading and it helps to have a thesaurus nearby.

These are heavy words, not something I use everyday nor will I ever use for everyday conversation. Maybe when I start to write a book, it would come handy. In any rate, they are worth remembering just in case I would need them soeday.

Here is the list:

Iridescent - shimmering
Warrens – burrow, den, lair
Chops – jaw, mouth
Taciturn – aloof, cold
Quagmire – marsh, swamp, bog
Trepidation – fear, anxiety, unease
Welt – swelling, ridge, mark
Ameliorated – improved
Acuity – insight, perception
Arcane- mysterious
Fetter – tie
Contrition – repentance
Cunning – wise
Succinct – concise, to the point
Depredation – damage, devastation
Visceral – instinctive, primitive

The word I like most is… Depredation!! I guess I will start using this more

Obsessions Over… is it?

Finally… my obsession over ROME2 and Eldest is over…. Or are they?? Maybe they were just put on hold until a sequel comes out. As far as I am concerned the story was never concluded. The main thing I despise about interesting stories is that they never end…hehe.

ROME 2 ended with Octavian winning the war with Anthony and Cleopatra (after the war, they both killed themselves), Titus Pullo lost his wife and unborn son, and finally took his son (with Cleopatra) and hid him from Octavian (who wants to kill the kid believing the boy is Ceasars son), and Veronus died. That’s about it but history says there’s more after that so I’ll be waiting for Season 3.

As for the Eldest book (a sequel to Eragon)… a lot happened. Mostly about Eragon’s training with the Elves. The revelation of another Rider (an Elf in the name of Oromis) and a red dragon (name I cannot pronounce but it’s spelled Gealdr) kept hidden by the elves, which became Eragon and Saphiras mentor. Eragons cousin Roran had his own battle with Galbatorix armies. In the end, the Varden won the battle between Galbatroix Army but another new Rider appeared in the name of Murtagh and his dragon Thorn and that he seemed to have greater power than Eragon. To complicate matters, Eragon found out that Murtagh is his brother and his Father is a follower of Galbatorix. There’s more to happen and it would be on the third book entitled ‘Inheritance’. *shucks* I’ve got to stop reading books that leave people hanging! If this book is to be made to a movie, I’d like to see how they would create the Elves’ forest. It would probably be very beautiful.

Now that I'm done with these fixations, I am compelled to move on to another. Afterall, the cure for any obsession is to get another one. :)

Such A Telenovela….Rome is!

*yawn* With much regret, I’m totally drowsy today and its only 9AM. As if I had some drinking session last night minus the hang over.. he he. I slept late again!!! I’m down to 7th episode of Rome2. One more episode and I’m done with the whole season!

I can’t help it. I’m totally addicted to this movie. It’s like a telenovela back home where you can’t wait to find what will happen next. I guess if I’m watching it in broadcast, the schedule limits my viewing time. But I have the DVDs!!! I completely control my viewing time. Mostly before starting the movie, I promised myself only one episode a night. After the first episode, I will try to convince myself that one more won’t hurt. I give in (who else am I to argue with???). After the second episode…. It took great effort to pry myself out of the couch. Only when my conscience started to say…’you must think of your children… you must think of your meetings tomorrow…’ then I finally let go. I saw two episodes last night and went to bet 12 midnight. When in bed, I couldn’t sleep. All the scenes from the movie are flashing over and over in my mind. It’s like my mind has absorbed too much and is too hyper to shut down. It took me another hour before I finally was able to sleep. That’s the torment I have to endure (it’s alright, I’m guilty on all counts!)

So far…it’s a brilliant movie (my standard). It’s as good as season 1. I am a person so easy to please. As long as my attention is caught through out the movie, then I will consider the movie good. The movie exhibits mature matters; I would not recommend it at all to children. It made me feel hate, love, excitement. It made me cry and laugh. Definitely went through a roller coaster of emotions.

I still stand by my previous character choice…it’s Titus Pullo to the end! Hopefully he doesn’t die in the end. That would make me very sad.

The character I hate most? Hmmm… I can’t really say hate, they were all driven by greed, power and lust, and these molds their character. I can say Atia is the most vile of all the characters. She is selfish, heartless and exceedingly shrewd. Atia is niece of Julius Ceasar, mother of Octavia and lover of Anthony.

I guess I’ll have to continue talking about this until I see the last episode. Suspense, suspense….

Book of the Moment

After the Harry Potter Book 7, I am so eager to read again. This time, my son picked a book for me. It's a sequel to 'Eragon'. We've also seen the movie Eragon so even though i have not read the book, i have an idea of the story. This sequel is entitled 'Eldest".

Here's the synopsis from Powells.com:

Darkness falls...despair abounds...evil reigns...
Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesmera, land of the elves, for further training in the skills of the Dragon Rider: magic and swordsmanship. Soon he is on the journey of a lifetime, his eyes open to awe-inspring new places and people, his days filled with fresh adventure. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and nothing is what it seems. Before long, Eragon doesn't know whom he can trust.

Meanwhile, his cousin Roran must fight a new battle — one that might put Eragon in even graver danger.

Will the king's dark hand strangle all resistance? Eragon may not escape with even his life...

The reviews are not bad either. It's worth trying. I am particularly interested on how it will turn out in the end. In books, I am particularly drawn to fiction and fantasy. These kind of theme has the capacity to bring me to places that are completely different from reality. A new world of wonder and mystery, almost magical. I guess it's my way of escaping the rutineness of reality.

I will be able to post my own review after i've finished reading. Meanwhile....hold on to your horses! :)

My Thinking Corner

This is my thinking corner at work. Excuse the clutter. I've been very busy to the nth this week! Which is the same as last week. My assistant have been calling in sick lately and having no one else to do her job, I am compelled to do double work. She was able to come to work a day only for this week. Last week, she was only able to come to work for two days. I am concerned for her health but i am feeling all stressed up with all the work piling up. To make things worst, my boss is also on vacation. This is one big conspiracy!! :)

I have been putting in two hours of extra work everyday. That totals 11 hours a day of work. I can feel the heat and it's burning me down. It's not enough too! Two hours a day is only 22% of her 9 hours a day work. The thought of backlogs stressing me out.

He he...all this work and i still manage to blog. I do this on my breaks (I'm entitled to two breaks of 15 minutes and 30 minutes of lunch break). I consider writing my blog a breather. Come to think of it, i seldom take my two breaks. It's either I'm caught in a meeting or I'm in an adrenalin rush to finish something. What can I say? I'm a natural workaholic. :)

My Babies Arrived!

That was quick! It only took amazon.ca exactly 7 days to deliver my babies!! :). And they're exactly what i wanted. I've been dreaming of completing the Harry Potter books for my library (kuno) and i wanted them to be all Adult Editions. I already have the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Then these two, The Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hollows. I have the Order of Phoenix but it's not adult Edition. Maybe next month i will be able to order the rest.

I've already read all of these. It's just that I enjoyed them too much that I'd like them to be available whenever I want to re read the stories. And since I will be keeping them for a long time, it would be nice if they are in one theme (i.e. all adult editions). The book 1 and 2 are now on sale in amazon.ca for $15 each. It's not too bad, I'll probably have the complete set in no time.

What happened to the ones i bought and read? Well, i sent them back home. I'm sure my nieces and nephews will enjoy them too. They were not so shabby anyway, still in very good condition.

Hay, such good books... really worth keeping.

*yawn* .. Surviving the First Day of School .. Manic! Arghh!!

I have not even reached work and it seemed like my body is so tired its screaming for bed! This morning was all chaos. It’s the first day of school. My laid back days are over! To complicate matters…it’s my son’s first day in high school too. This time he has to wear uniform in school. Dress shirts, dress pants, tie, vest and dress shoes. Took me two hours to press and prepare those last night. But it sure looked good on him this morning. Taking picture came across my mind in a fleeting moment and got distracted by more pressing matters. My daughter who is going for grade six is competing with all the attention her Kuya is getting. She suddenly wants to wear her blouse that has a tie too. Now I have to do two ties!!! I have no idea who invented that kind of knot you have to do with ties, it’s darn complicated!!

Funny…I was doing my sons tie when our dog started acting up and jumping at me whining. What the heck… does he want something now?? Suddenly, it dawned on me that the dog thought I was attaching a leash on my son and that I’m taking my son for a walk.!!! He’s probably thinking (or barking) that..’hey! Your putting the leash on the wrong son!!!' Hehe. I then realized that he’s been watching all the commotions happening this early morning. And to think this is all new to him too. So, I hugged him and said go get your own leash and I’ll take care of you next. He is so happy to obliged.

Then I went to get those lunch boxes prepared. I teased my son one more time before he go if he’s sure he doesn’t need ME to come along to school with him. He said, ‘don’t ever think about it, I maybe scared but you coming with me will even make it worst!’. With that, I knew he’ll be fine.

I reached work a bit late. My daughter has requested to be dropped to school. It’s not a big deal at work, they knew that on the first day of school, some mommy’s will be late. But I wished I had taken this day off. That isn’t exactly what I want too because tons of work are waiting for me. Just that all these running around was complicated by the fact that I went to sleep so late last night. I can’t help it. I have to watch the next 2 episodes of ROME 2. Now, I’m suffering the consequences.

The two-hour meeting this morning was SHEER TORTURE!!! My golly!! And the coffee isn’t doing its job either (probably slept late too, hehe). I knew it! As if I learned from the first time (during the ROME 1). I should start praying for the afternoon meetings right now instead of eating lunch. And maybe double the coffee too.

*yawn* and this evening will start my twice a week Fitness program … *groan*

The Cost of Surgery

Did i just did a typo there? Do i mean 'cause' and not 'cost'? Well, it's not a mistake. I first thought of the word bribe but the game was bought after the surgery so it's not a bribe. As I think of it now, it's more like a payment.

Remember my post about my son having a surgery? And now he wants a game to compensate for the ordeal that he has gone through. I have no objection, a game is a very small compensation compared to what he has gone through. And because of all the guilt I feel inside, i can give him anything he wishes (as long as it would not bury us to debt).

Today we went to futureshop. It's been five days since his surgery and it's also the day he decided that he can face the outside world again. He's still swollen but he feels alot better. He picked his game (the one shown in the picture) and just like magic, the world is normal again.

I can't say much about the game, i have no idea and not the least interested. I'm sorry but i guess i just lost my patience in understanding such complicated games. All i know is that it cost around C$50.00.

Hmmm...can you imagine a surgery to cost $50.00?? His first surgery in the Phippines cost P25,000.00. That is in 1993 when he was born. Took me 2 years to pay off the loan i took. After paying the first one, he needed the second surgery right away before he learn to speak. So at two years old, he went for another surgery. That was 1995 and it cost us P30,000.00. Another loan that needs to be paid in two years. It was such a burden, emotionally, financially, mentally and physically. But we have to do it. Half the battle over... because it's not the last surgery.

We went to Canada. Here it is different. Very different than back home. When the government found that my son has a birth defect, they've registered him under a government program designed to help kids with such condition. He was asked to go to Sick Kids Hospital and be checked up from head to toe. To asses what ever medical treatment he needs. It went even to social needs. He has access to financial help for any surgery not covered by regular government medicare. Even orthodontics. His surgeries here, i didn't even paid a penny. We go the hospital, he was taken cared of and we go home. Whatever medicine he needs after surgery, my work drug insurance pays. No hassles, unlike back home, where, before they can let you in, they need to see if you have money. And before you can go home, they definitely still need to see and get your money. With my sons medical needs, i will still probably be paying loanuntil i'm burried six feet under.

Definitely... C$50.00 was all it cost me for his surgery. And that is the cost of his game.