Ode to Light

I'm experiencing a inevitable setback for a few weeks now.

I bought a few books this week to replenish my already dwindling reading list. I was about to start reading one of these books when suddenly someone took my picture. I knew someone did, there was a flash of light. One thought hit me: I HAVE STALKERS IN MY ROOM!!!

Then, it happened again, a flash of light. Then again, and again. Now I felt like my room turned into a dance floor with the flashing lights. These couldn't be stalkers unless they have ultra super fast but super small SLR cameras, which would be very impossible.

The culprit was none other than my reading light. I closed my book and went to sleep. Tomorrow I'll try to find out what's wrong with my light.

That was two weeks ago. My bedroom light had a busted florescent lamp - a 15 Watt lamp. It's still broken. 

When I asked my brother to buy a replacement lamp, he found out that they didn't sell any of those any more. They never ordered one of those for a long time. How convenient! Did I also mention that he tried all of the hardware stores in our vicinity (J.P. Rizal Street in Makati has more or less 10 hardware stores).

What's frustrating is that I could understand why. I received this bedroom reading lamp when I was still in high school. My parents discovered that I was slowly occupying the whole bookshelf with my own books and I was about to exhaust all the books in our school library, so they gave me a reading lamp they won from some promo. I couldn't remember the details. It was that long ago. All I know was that my complaint then was that staying on the lower deck of a double decker, you don't get enough light to read anything.

For the record, the lamp has been replaced less than 5 times in span of almost 9 years. It's that economical. I have used it to read more than a hundred books and has been a great help when I was writing those long articles we used to submit before our journalist teacher. It has seen a lot of action. In fact, it has the battle scars to prove it. It has a busted outlet where I used to plug in my charger. How it got busted was long forgotten.

I like that lamp. I hope to find a replacement lamp or I won't be able to read any book, which is really scary.

New Ear Tingling Addiction

"This city is shouting you down; a personal music player is a form of self defense. It creates a force field around you, shuts out the world that is trying to swallow you whole, and defines, however tenuously, a space that is yours." - Jessica Zafra, Twisted 8 1/2

I bought a music phone just in time before my MP4 player broke down. Yeah, the MP4 that used to have NES games broke down.

That was months ago. Since then, I have been relying on my phone to play music while walking to and from work or wherever. Aside from making it an excuse to join the deaf ministry (joke!), I somehow shared the same sentiments of Jessica Zafra. Hence, I walk around the city with music blaring in my ears.

I only played music despite the advice of a lot of friends to try audio books or audio sermons. I refused most of the time. I figured that my sleepy headed-ness would get the better of me once I listened to a person talking on the head set.

This week I tried to experiment. I loaded an audio sermon on my player and tried to listen to it on my way to work. Instead of falling asleep, I found myself more alert than ever. The sermon even disturbed my innermost thoughts. I was forced to pause the sermon midway because of work and I was left hanging. I was left with a lot of questions that I couldn't wait to hear the conclusion when I reach my break after 3 hours.

After that, I found myself deleting more than half of the songs on my playlist and replaced it with audio sermons and lectures. I was daily captivated by the likes of Ivor Myers, Allan and Nicole Parker, Karl Tsatalbasidis, among others. Their dynamic delivery of messages and great insight on a spirit filled living propelled me to load more sermons.

This is a brand new addiction. It's healthy and inspiring. So if you see me spacing out with a headset on my head, don't worry I'm just listening to a new insight.

I still have apprehensions with audio books though.

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Nonfiction
Author:	Robert Fulghum

This is really over due.

I was walking around a mall when I spotted this book in a bargain bookstore. It's pages somewhat old. However, I recall a faint memory of receiving an email message with this in the subject heading. I got curious especially when I read the first few pages. I bought the book even though I still had a long reading list.

Never did I regret my decision. It lead me to transcend from the novels to the essays.

The book is the the first of many by American minister and author Robert Fulghum. It's a book of essays on life and ironies of life. The title refers to the list of rules and guidelines taught to kindergarten students and how good it would be for the world if adults follow these simplistic set of rules.

However the book cover more than just those rules. It also features essays on life, death, birth, surprises, washing clothes and dishes among others. No joke, it really has an essay about washing clothes and dishes. There's even one featuring a mermaid.

What's fun about reading this book is it's style. The somewhat simple and and sometimes straight forward way of delivering the essays seem like talking to the readers. It wouldn't even feel like your reading a book, it's more like listening to a good teacher or a having a conversation with a friend.

Transition

“Daily, we redeem ourselves in unspoken rituals of renewal. Daily, we get up and go to work in the construction business of building and repairing and remodeling a life.” – Robert Fulghum, From Beginning to End.

I admit it is a nice concept. Daily, we do experience changes – renewals in our lives. We face challenges, problems, obstacles, tests, call it what you may. The concept is the same. We experience things that cause us to struggle and eventually surpass the struggle and emerge a new person. A purifying fiery trial... Read more.

Deaf Ministry Church Visitation and Outing

May 29, 2010. Lead the Sabbath School Feature and Divine Service Program at Baclaran Church. Also instructed the members about sign language.

May 29-30, 2010, Marina Resort, Laiya, San Juan, Batangas.
Members of the Deaf Ministry's first R and R.