My Daily Serving of Chicken Soup

I love my daily serving of Chicken Soup. I have not regreting subscribing to the daily e-mail of single stories. Somedays, I wasn't able to open it but i can always go back and read. The stories are heart warming and there are times that it's just what i need to keep my feet on the ground or to get me dreaming with the clouds. I like the motto too. "Changing the world, one story at a time". Today, I was so touched by the story that i've decided to post something about it. The title is:

Mom’s Last Laugh
By Robin Lee Shope Submitted by Jane Etz

http://www.beliefnet.com/nllp/ChickenSoupSoul.aspx?date=10-09-2007&WT.mc_id=NL49

The story is protected by copyright so I don't think i can just copy the whole thing and paste. But you can view and read through the link i provided above. I like the story because its sweet and it's like a dream or a fairy tale. It has touched my 'hopeless romantic' side and i'm feeling abit giddy inside. :) Most of all, it has humor in it. Love and humor is such a good pair. When this pair presents themselves to me, i just melt... :)

*sigh*

Oppss… I Did It Again…. :)

Yup… old habits never die. I’m totally hopeless. I have started watching Desperate Housewives Season 3 last night. I only borrowed one DVD from Blockbuster. This one DVD has 4 episodes in it. I told myself I would watch this within the week until I borrow another one. But last night, after watching Heroes at 10 PM, I decided to see the 1st episode. I know I should stop but my weakness gave in. Not once, four times I gave in. I finished the whole 4 episodes in one night. I am so thankful I only borrowed one DVD.
So I slept 1 am with a very sorry ass. Hehe… I’m so bad. I have no excuse because whether I finish 1 or 4 episodes I’m still bitin! Anyway, as long as I’m not sleeping in front of my boss then I will treat it as a minor problem.

Like the movie ‘Rome’, I would not let my kids watch this. I watch this after my kids have gone to bed. But, it is not as bad as ‘Rome’. Desperate Housewives definitely has less nudity, less blood and less sexual content. I like this movie because of the humor content. Some situations are way exaggerated ( or I’m just living in a secluded world) that I can’t imagine being in their shoes. They are indeed extra ordinary housewives (should I say high class?). I like their houses though. Maybe I need to have that kind of house before I get into those kinds of situations. Anyway, I am content being an spectator, watching from a distance. I am always waiting for something embarrassing to come up only to find myself looking away because it makes me feel uncomfortable.

That is total entertainment.

P.S. Now about my title. I know I should not write anything controversial and that my title somehow gave an impression that I will be commenting on Britney Spears. I’m so sorry but at the moment, all I can say is: she needs to clean up her act or she’ll be singing that song over and over again.

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. :)