Yup, that's about it.

:-) Learn, people! :-D 

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, It's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?) :p

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.?Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer. :-D

So, how am I holding up? I think I’m feeling really good now. During the Holy Week, I had a lot of time to think about things that have been bugging my mind since godknowswhen. Things that I’ve always hated to think about. Things that could instigate a major warfare if the cover hanging over them is lifted.  

Whoever said that there are things better left unsaid is a fucking genius.

Leaving things unwritten, on the other hand, is another issue. So keep your hands off my journal. XD

Last Wednesday night, I felt like I was having the worst nightmare right before my very eyes. I didn't even expect such "tragedy" could happen to me at that time, when I just had one of the most wonderful times I've ever had with my two closest friends.

With the most unfortunate incident possible, fate proved once again that good times are always evanescent. When you thought you just had the best time in the world, what happens next would be a total low blow as you suddenly feel like everything just closes in on you and monsters just popping out from nowhere and started spoiling your party.

Whoever stole my precious stuff last Wednesday, I hope you rot in hell.

♣ I have short attention span. Sometimes, I find it hard to grasp everything that people confide in me because after some time, my thoughts would instantaneously roam around godknowswhat in the middle of the conversation. And when my attention returns back to earth, I have already forgotten most of the information relayed to me. Unfortunately, I also experience SAS even during my work-related interviews. So, thank God for voice recorders!:-D

♣ I cringe at every little gross detail. My brain is somehow closely connected to my stomach more tightly than normal people because I easily get queasy whenever people describe the grossest possible scenarios. My imagination gets triggered immediately at the first mention of nasty and dreadful things. Like when I’m having vanilla ice cream and someone would jokingly tells me it looks like sperm melting, I’d freak out and would lose my appetite right then and there. Albeit I have a stronger hold of my nauseous state now than before, it still bothers me to even delve on the grossiest stuff without even looking at it. 
 

♣ My conscience always wins me over. Whenever I get annoyed or furious at someone close to me, or even at random people, it’s always short-lived. And I always, always feel guilty for saying mean things to them even if they deserved it. Whether I meant to hurt anyone or not in the process, I always feel like blaming myself. Maybe Stephen Covey is right. Our reactions to what people do to us are what really hurt us, eventually forcing us to make stupid mistakes and to say the stupidest things (sans innocence as an excuse.) To add insult to injury, my conscience always takes its course in different circumstances and that makes me more vulnerable than anyone. My conscience has always been my worst enemy. I’m not saying I’m altogether a wonderful person. I am just always defeated by guilt.   

♣ I am a grammar freak. I am not saying I am perfect at it. Actually, I’m far from perfect. No ones write the most perfect articles. That’s why there’s such a thing as rewriting over and over again. However, I am quite touchy with other people’s grammar or lack thereof. Sometimes, I can restrain myself from correcting people’s wrong grammar for fear of offending them in the open. But sometimes, I couldn’t help it. It seriously gives me a headache. But to be fair, I also do the same thing with myself. Although not noticeably of course, hello! Self-incrimination? :-D But I couldn’t sleep on it. And I would taunt myself so many times for being stupid in saying things without thinking first. (And believe me, most of the time, it’s not just because of grammar.)

♣ I have the same prayers said every night. With random additions depending on my needs and reasons for apologies and gratitude, I always pray for the same people (and dogs) who mean the world to me. Actually, without trying to sound like a saint here, if I ever forget someone in my prayers, it’s just me. Maybe it’s just the weird thought, no matter how self-involved it sounds, that I’m included in someone else’s prayers anyway.

Since I'm quite new in Tabs, I would just tag everyone. lol

I thought at first that it was just like any other event that we usually go to, where you can easily dismiss because it's just your ordinary bunch of people who yearn for publicity because they have enough money to last a lifetime. And maybe two lifetimes.

But Monday's event had pretty amazing guests who are surely living their lives with a dollar sign printed on their foreheads. And with chaching! coming out of their mouths when they speak.

I think I still have a hangover. Maybe it's the amazing pool that doesn't overflow that did this.

The fact that it was my first time to see some of these people, the who's who in society, made me feel different. It's neither good nor bad. Just different. I was especially starstrucked with Ms. Viviene Tan because she's so beautiful and so nice. No lesbian tendencies there. Just pure, non-malicious female admiration. :p

Vicky Belo was equally nice but a little weird. She thought we were close because I looked familiar daw. Must be one of her operations gone haywire. LOL And yeah, Tessa Prieto's "breast shots" bit was crazy.

By the way, Ben Chan still owes me an interview. But I can offer him a deal he can't refuse. He can make up for his sudden disappearance that night with a modeling contract. After all, I don't mind sharing the spotlight with Kristine Hermosa.

:-D

Right now, however, I'm just all for the simplicities.

2006 had been really tough but truly enlightening for me. I have learned so many things about myself and about the people that I'm with. Slowly, I've come to terms with who I am and who I want to be. I'm not there yet but I know it won't be for long. :)

Last year, I had been more honest with myself and with the people around me. I have essentially drowned my inhibitions so that I could finally let everything that prevents me from embracing the truth to take a hike and cut me some well-deserved slack. I believe that I have matured in a lot of ways. Not the kind that could make me stand and live on my own, of course. Just the right amount of maturity to know that I won't take crap from anyone else again.

Certainly, my heart is overwhelming with gratitude to Him. I know I am not the most religious, the most spiritual and the most righteous person in the world. I don't go to mass regularly and I can't even remember the last time I took the homily seriously. But I can say that I am faithful. Faithful enough to know that God accepts people like me, who may think differently than His Church, who may not act like how the Holy Scriptures say, who may do things without proper regard to Jesus' teachings, but who will never ever defy God and will never ever deny His greatness.

Last year, I was humbled. Life indeed was never easy. Fortunately and unfortunately, I had to learn it the hard way. Life took its toll on me. But instead of running away with so much bitterness and remorse, I wholeheartedly accepted all the consequences of my actions. I braved every storm despite my being weak in the knees. I took all the beatings despite the fresh wounds. I did all of this because I know, I am strong enough to hang on.

I believe that 2006 made me wiser in a million ways. It taught me who and what matters in life. Through all of life's slaps and kicks, I still emerge unscathed. All because God shielded me to take all the pain.

 So 2007, bring it on! :)

Where it all began

I think we all need, at one point in our lives, that sought-for long break. Not really the kind that takes several months because you might get used to it and never regain your senses again. Just a few more days off from the usual things that you do will suffice. Nothing that springs from a tedious routine or your everyday stagnant phase. That way, you can gather yourself up and prepare yourself well on your responsibilities to other people and to the people you cherish.

I miss my friends. :( All of them. I wish we can still hang out like before. But I guess this is just how it should supposed to go. We need to have some distance from each other anyway because friendships that can surpass all the tests of time emerge wonderfully woven by experience.

Malapit na ang Pasko. Di pa rin ako masyadong nakakaipon. :-( Gusto ko ng bagong cellphone. Wah.

Quote for the day: Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are.

Buti nalang.

So I finally got serious with Tabulas. *applause* At first, this was really just to play along and mess around with my two friends (who are cheesy lovers. Lol) who were longtime Tabbers. (We all have the right to coin something, no matter how stupid it sounds. Hehe) But now, I decided to join their bandwagon just because at this moment, two existing blogs actually make sense to me. :p

For my first entry, I would like to share a random thought that I wrote while I was waiting for two incredibly dull women for a photo shoot.

Sometimes, it takes just an ounce of courage and hope to move mountains and a gazillion tons of understanding to realize that you can’t move them all.