Power interrupted

The 30-minute brownouts everyday did not last long. Instead, they stretched to an hour that didn't have a definite schedule. Brownouts are never fun, especially when they happen right when I'm in the middle of working on something on the computer and realized I wasn't able to save everything.

I decided to think of the outage as a daily version of Earth Hour to make the experience more meaningful and less cumbersome. It would help though if these rotating brownouts have definite schedules so we can be prepared and turn off the appliances before the outage strikes. Maybe that part of me that wishes strongly is heavily influenced by my grandmother who told us that sudden power interruptions is bad for some appliances. But regardless if my grandmother's assumptions are true or not, I still think that it would be a whole lot better if we know when to expect these daily power interruptions.

A friend said that the cynical part of herself thinks that the daily outage is social conditioning, that brownouts will occur during the elections. It's not a stretch why some people think that because the timing is really suspect and the conditions are such that never before that a national election depend more on electricity than it does now. The automation has seen to that. This would be one of those scenarios that would be better proven wrong.

On another note, the moon was so beautiful the other day. I was able to appreciate it during another brownout-induced darkness. Sometimes we do need the darkness to appreciate the faintest light.

(Photo from here)

Whatever that was

“There was a time when I thought you were the love of my life. Things change.” ~ from Grey’s Anatomy

My version of that would be - “There was a time when there was something that slipped through my layers of self-preservation. By the time I wanted to know whatever that was, it was gone. Things change. But I still wonder.”

Today is one of those days that I’m backreading that story in my head. Maybe someday it will all make sense to me.

Funny how something that didn’t play out, played well while it lasted.

A dog's tale

I watched the remake of Hachiko's story and I can't remember the last time I cried that much for what seems like more than half of the movie. And I wasn't even prepared for it, no boxes of tissues to wipe the tears that took me a while to notice. There's just no going around the heartwarming yet heartbreaking tale of a very loyal dog and a doting master.

I think it's quite fitting to watch this during a love month. Perhaps true love waits and lingers even as a form of ending has come and gone. And a beautiful love between two people can touch lives regardless of how silent and simple it appears to be.

Defying gravity

Giant

The Celebrate Humanity campaign is still my most favorite series of Olympic ads ever. I'm looking forward to following whatever news I can of the upcoming Winter Games.



Celebrate Humanity - Giant (Winter)

To be a giant.
This has forever been our passion, this desire to be a giant
Not to stand on one’s shoulders or to have one for a friend.
For these may be fortunate things.
But to be one.
Giants step over barriers that seem never ending.
They conquer mountains that appear insurmountable.
Giants rise above fear.
Triumph over pain.
Push themselves and inspire others.
To be a Giant.
To do Giant things.
To take Giant steps.
To move the world forward.

Cool runnings

"They came out of nowhere. They were the underdogs. No one thought they could win. And…they didn’t. But the world sure loved them for trying. Here’s to the Jamaican Bobsled Team."

I believe, I can

Your Best Trait is Confidence

You are the type of person who just goes for it. Whether you win or lose, you're always happiest when you at least tried. You are fearless when it comes to failure. You have learned that the key to life is just showing up, so you're always there bright and early. While you are always doing your best, you have had to let go of what others think of you. You define your own success. You may disappoint yourself or look stupid sometimes, but you always hold your head high. You know that tomorrow will give you another opportunity to try again.

What's Your Best Trait?

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes and 3 Stupid Ones

Thinking out loud

Things I didn't know before today: 1) platelet concentrates are not so easy to come by, depending on which part of the country you’re looking, 2) they can be bought from Phil. Red Cross but there has to be a replacement donor

Things I DO know: 1) I like talking to competent and nice people on the phone, which PRC has &, 2) Dengue really sucks.

I hope my cousin’s bf gets well soon.

I hear you

There’s something to be said about a man who goes straight to the point to try and get what he wants. I think guilelessness is not only refreshing but speaks of respect to another person’s intellect and capacity to see through lies.

To hear for the first time from someone I’ve known for a long time now, and one who rarely resorts to flattery to get what he wants, that he noticed a certain hint of bravery and fearlessness in me really made my day. I’m a woman after all. Flattery, in whatever form sometimes does its work.

The emotional piece of me

I’m a walking emotional piece. If you’re like me and you’ve been repeatedly told that you’re too emotional, chances are you’d begin to hate either the word or yourself for being one.

I cry too much for my own good. My tears well up and flow like rampaging rivers the moment my heart is touched by nature, inspiring acts of selflessness, insightful conversations, meaningful songs, beautiful lines delivered by wise men in movies and books, and so much more. I just feel too much that I sometimes find myself wishing I don’t.

Who wants to be labeled as emotional in situations when you want to be perceived as capable? My experiences taught me being emotional is almost always never a good thing. I also believe it mostly had something to do with how I manage my emotions.

Being emotional for me is like a gunpowder keg I carry around on my backpack that leaves me vulnerable. It’s like walking around with something that with one wrong move would blow me up to pieces.

If there’s something I find ironic with this character imprint it’s the stony way I handle the worst crises. I’ve been through the most difficult situations imaginable without shedding a single tear. I can suffer physical blows from martial arts training, row even with my hands and fingers chafed with blisters, finish long distance runs even if my knees and feet are screaming with pain, running on empty to finish something just because quitting is not an option, and more unbelievably harsh conditions I can remember.

I cry for what’s often perceived to be the most mundane reasons. I feel too much for people who don’t even know I do. Maybe I care too much for my own good. Or maybe, being emotional is my salvation. It’s a constant reminder that there are things I care about for me to feel something. I sometimes think that my strength to unflinchingly endure the worst needs the emotional part of me to better understand the things I otherwise wouldn’t grasp.

Vanilla twilight in the waking hours of dawn

Drenched in vanilla twilight in the waking hours of dawn…somewhat appropriate for a vivid dream that convinced me there is no such thing as fading away. There’s only that constant swinging between the shadows and silence of the heart and the spotlight of the mind.

Failure and Imagination

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

"Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared."(Read full text of speech here)

>> I love her way of weaving the light & heavy into one (or more) sticky message(s).