Kite Runner

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Literature & Fiction
Author:	Khaled Hosseini

Certainly one of the most amazing stories of loyalty, love, sacrifice, betrayal, and redemption I've ever read... of friendship, brotherhood, family, and culture. I didn't even get to a quarter of the book before I started crying. And you just can't stop because even if you know its fiction, you also know that it could very well happen in real life. Very well written, you can actually imagine the kites flying overhead. Definitely a must read.

Here is a link to a synopsis of the book (please copy and paste): http://www.khaledhosseini.com/hosseini-books-kiterunner.html

2 AM

No, this is not a version of Anna Nalick's song Breathe, there is no guy or any guy-related heartbreak. I'm actually just taking a breather before I have to start writing a convincingly serious one-pager that I have to submit tomorrow. (Yes, so you can stop reading now.) Anyway, how soon my future career starts depends on this one page. That's how serious it is. But of course, as usual, my mind works only when I'm hours away from deadline.. so here I am. Killing more time, writing before writing. Which means this paper is really a big thing since I only post blogs when big things happen. ha!

My arsenal is complete for tonight's late night... a cup of brewed coffee (no sugar), a night light, broadband connection, and earphones, in case I suddenly have the urge to listen to music (which is very rare when I'm writing). But who knows if some movie I'm downloading suddenly finishes downloading... an hour or two would be a good break! ;-P

Incidentally my coffee is in a new white cup that has the word "coffee" printed all over it, along with real-looking coffee beans, and a picture of a coffeemaker and... guess what?... a cup of coffee. Imagine that? Whoever thought up the print on this cup wanted to make sure you only use it for coffee, nothing else. One of these days I'm gonna use it and try having some coffee without actual coffee in it, and see if I get the same satisfaction.

For those of you who actually got to this part, sorry to have wasted your time on my ramblings. You're a good friend. ;-) See you soon!

Boracay '07 (June 11-15, 2007)

I tried staying away from this over-crowded tourist destination as long as I could... but one day I just couldn't help it anymore and decided to see for myself what all the fuss was about. ;P I'm not hurrying to go back or anything like that, but it certainly is a BEAUTIFUL, beautiful island paradise.

One day model

http://mountainpinesfarm.com/map.html
when you have a photographer friend, you never know when you may be asked to pose for last-minute shots!

Three Cups of Tea

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Nonfiction
Author:	Greg Mortenson

5-star rating for the sheer wonder of Greg Mortenson's story and what he did (and is still doing!) to help the people in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan! This is a must-read for those who are looking for proof that ordinary people CAN help change the world! ...and for those, like me, who need to be reminded time and again...this is why I'm keeping this book on my shelf. ;p

Visit the website at: http://www.threecupsoftea.com/

Snorkeling @ Duka (Sept 13, 2008)

That's me ready to swim off and greet my underwater friends. Thanks Angelo for the great photography! :)

I always grab the chance to go snorkeling -- the underwater life is a colorful reminder that amazing treasures are hidden just below the surface... and most of the time, we just really need to take risks and jump! :)

A Dream Come True... and then some

Finally composing a blog entry... and nothing but this wonderful dream come true has inspired me to finally share a story. :)

My 'baby' sister won our local beauty pageant... oh, hey... let me say that again: TOOTSIE is Ms. Kagay-an 2008! Wooooooooohhooooooooo! You can't imagine how much more shouting I did during the coronation night... yes, me, shouting. I know, I'm not the type. But then again its not everyday your little sister (who isn't so little by the way) is suddenly up on stage with more than a thousand people watching her, besting 14 other candidates! And what makes me prouder is that she didn't do this with her saccharine smile and grace -- she used her brains!! Which just proves all over again that those of us who have the power of logical thought have an edge over the mindless Barbie dolls walking the earth. (No, I'm not mad, he he.)

She does give me fresh hope in humanity --- that people like her, who DREAM of joining beauty pageants, who eat pineapples for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner for a month, who says "no , thank you" to yummy pizza --- well, that they can exist to be that seemingly vain and yet not be. Not really.

Having a crown on her head... it was her dream. And she went for it.

And no, I'm not gonna stop there and leave you with that fairy tale ending... the reality is so much better!! Along with that absolutely fake crown came an amazingly cute but extraordinarily functional notebook -- HP no less, 8.9" display, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB hard disk... need I say more, I mean you do realize she got this for FREE!!!! And a trip to the US/Turkey, a 21" TV, some money, a lot of other giveaways and did I mention a notebook???  The one she got for free? Damn! Why didn't I ever think of that???

What else can I say? You've made me so proud my dearest little sister, and you've inspired me to go after my own dreams. Thank you.