Heart, Heart

Valentine Trivia

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'Valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his Jailor's daughter -- she visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

HISTORY OF CUPID and VALENTINE's DAY

Many wonder where did Cupid come from and why is he associated with Valentine's Day. Cupid has long played a role in the celebrations of love and lovers. He is known as a mischievous, winged child, whose arrows who would pierce the hearts of his victims causing them to fall deeply in love. In ancient Greece, he was known as Eros the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. To the Roman's he was Cupid, and his mother Venus. One legend tells the story of Cupid and the mortal maiden, Psyche. Venus was jealous of the beauty of Psyche and ordered Cupid to punish the mortal. But instead, Cupid fell deeply in love with her. He took her as his wife, but as a mortal, she was forbidden to look at him. Psyche was happy until her sisters convinced her to look at Cupid. Cupid punished her by departing. Their lovely castle and gardens vanished with him and Psyche found herself alone in an open field. As she wandered to find her love, she came upon the temple of Venus. Wishing to destroy her, the goddess of love gave Psyche a series of tasks, each harder and dangerous than the last. For her last task Psyche was given a little box and told to take it to the underworld. She was told to get some of the beauty of Proserpine, the wife of Pluto, and put it in the box. During her trip, she was given tips on avoiding the dangers of the realm of the dead. And also warned not to open the box. The temptation would overcome Psyche and she opened the box. But instead of finding beauty, she found deadly slumber. Cupid found her lifeless on the ground. He gathered the sleep from her body and put it back in the box. Cupid forgave her, as did Venus. The gods, moved by Psyche's love for Cupid made her a goddess.

HBD

I'm back from my two days off. Today's my niece's birthday I almost forgot because my dad gave her an early birthday treat last Saturday so I lost train of thought that today's her real birthday. 

We celebrated our niece's 12th birthday and had lunch at Barrio Fiesta. We accompanied her later to Odyssey to grab a copy of "My Chemical Romance" cd she said she doesn't want anything else, for some reason, I don't know why kids nowadays are very much into this "emo" stuff. We went ahead of everyone because twin sissy and I are both sleep and tired. 


Yesterday I bought my younger niece a Lilo Stitch stuffed toy from an ukay ukay store just a few blocks away from our house. I got myself a tote bag for my work headset whilst twin sissy got herself a pair of vintage shoes. We had a good night sleep. We kinda miss staying at our house in Antipolo it's been a long time since we spent the weekend with our family. We're back in Mandaluyong and back to work tonight as usual.

Mad About Dolls

I was checking out my Deviantart account when these Ball Jointed Dolls (BJDs) caught my attention. These dolls look so real it's like they have a soul. If I own pretty dolls like that I'll display it in a museum for everyone to see. They look expensive I bet they're hard to make so owning one costs a fortune. I guess my new addiction is looking at these dolls, my favorite doll maker in Deviantart is Oki-Oki but his friends have real nice dolls too so better check 'em out. I'll have one of these dolls someday. 

DIY Mobile Theme Maker

I used to download themes for my Nokia phone, but now I'm getting hooked on creating my own.


It was relatively easy since everything is provided for. What I do is just to look for a nice wallpaper, upload it, and see what interface will match my wallpaper. 


Since I can make my own mobile themes now I think I can make money out of it but I only grab wallpaper pictures from the Internet so I don't think it's fair to do that without giving credit to whoever owns it. My next project is creating blog skins hopefully I'll find real cool "do it yourself" or DIY templates that I can also share with others. 


You can download my DIY mobile themes at mobile9.com and see if you like it. 

A Nameless Soul

I was checking out GMA News Online when Howie Severino, a GMA News anchor's blog entitled "Death of A Cycling Companion" caught my attention. His blog talked about his bike ride conversation with activist/ex political detainee Ronald Sendrijas who's an heir of Francisco Dagohoy, the known hero from the province of Bohol. 

Howie recounts that when he met Ronald he had been released recently after spending time in prison for over two years for his rebel activities. Ronald was campaigning for a relative who was running for local office in his home town Inabanga, Bohol. He expressed his sentiments over activists nowadays that are just getting killed and put to jail unlike in the past they are honored with monuments. 

Howie wrote that Ronald was killed on his 35th birthday by an unidentified gunman on a motorcycle, another extrajudicial killing of activists. He was allegedly killed by an NPA.

After reading this, I asked myself what's happening to our country? There is indeed, a civil war that won't end.

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

R18, 1Hr45min
Musical, Thriller
Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter, Alan Rickman


Review By Shelley McDonald

There were a lot of things to be brought together in Tim Burton's adaptation of Sweeney Todd, not least of all his distinctive directorial mark. Based on the Stephen Sondheim musical about a young 18th-century barber, taken from his wife and child, by a corrupt judge, and sent to Australia for a crime he didn't commit.

With Burton at the helm, it's no surprise then that this is a gothic fantasy, set in a suitably grimy 18th century London.

Johnny Depp stars as Sweeney Todd the barber who returns after fifteen years to get revenge. Depp is singing for the first time and manages to find his voice and embody it with all the bitterness and bile that the character requires. Todd's accomplice is Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) also singing for the first time and though her voice is not strong, it seems fitting for a lonely widow, with a fetid pie shop and a tentative grip on reality. As Todd's old landlady, she has kept his beloved barber's blades. Todd's new business is murder, and it isn't long before he decides that anyone who comes to his chair deserves to have their throat cut. Mrs. Lovett sees it as a way to boost her flagging business. After all, times are tough and meat is expensive.


Running alongside the plot for revenge is a story of forbidden love between Todd's teenage daughter, in the care of the judge who wronged Todd, and a young man who knows the barber from the journey back to London and appeals to what is left of his good nature. Alan Rickman is superbly despicable as the self-serving judge aided by a perversely creepy Timothy Spall. Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen makes an enjoyable comedic cameo as an Italian barber, using a young boy to sell his miracle elixir. The boy adds yet another dimension to the plot and is an uneasy innocent in the care of murderous duo.

Much has been said. If you're into macabre and horror stuff I'm sure you'll love this movie. There are scenes that are a quite gross good thing it's a musical because without the singing it was a "bloody hell" experience. I love the gloomy filter and ghoulish make-up especially Mrs. Lovett's Victorian dresses. Sweeney Todd is a good one but if your not a goth musical fan and don't appreciate gross stuff, then this movie isn't for you. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. 

Chaikofi (Part II):

It's my sister's birthday today. I'm still on leave because we are supposedly going out to celebrate her special day but she attended her friend's wedding so twin sissy and I went out amongst ourselves and watched a movie. I guess I haven't had enough of pasta so after watching Sweeney Todd we head over to Chaikofi and had some of their Bavette Al Pomodoro. I also chill with one of their bestsellers Zonteas called Son of a Dutch. My sister craved for dessert we also had some cake I indulged on their newbie Oreo Cheesecake it tastes so good, it's sweet and light filling compared to the Chocolate Dome my sister ordered which is too chocolatey and sticky. I'm still on diet, am I?

Chaikofi Is Love

I accompanied my sister yesterday to buy a dress for her friend's wedding on Sunday. I'm so tired after that my feet hurt so bad when I got home. I went ahead of her because I can barely walk anymore she isn't done looking for a pair of shoes to match her dress. 



We had dinner at Chaikofi, I had this yummy Bavette Al Pesto. I also enjoyed one their chillers called Cheetah's Bluff whilst my sister had Spicy Beef Chai Rice and a Blushing Bride Zontea. 


I'll be on leave tomorrow, yay! On Sunday, my twin sissy and I are planning to watch a movie. Hopefully, I'll enjoy the long weekend. I think I'm going to love my schedule next month I've never had a Sat, Sun off in such a long time. Thank God my sisters are off on weekends maybe we can go shopping together or at least have a stroll in the mall or something. I'll just stay home for today and give my poor feet some rest.

Dental Check Up

I finally had a dental check-up earlier and this may sound gross but It's been a year or so since I had my teeth checked. Dentists say that dental check ups must be done every 6 months but I don't have time so it took me a year to visit a dentist. 

The taxi ride to get to the clinic gave me a headache earlier. The driver had me going around in circles he said he thought that Medical Plaza is the same as Medical City, OMG! I paid Php80 but didn't think about arguing anymore with the "lost in space" driver since I'm gonna be late for my dental appointment. 

At the dentist, my mouth was wide open for an hour it was such a pain in the jaw. I didn't have any problem on the light cure treatment part but the cleaning process was a bit uncomfortable. The electric toothbrush hurt at some point especially when getting to the hard to reach areas. I'm happy that my teeth look whiter and feels cleaner after, yay!

Pat On the Back

I was awarded a "pat on the back" certificate yesterday for getting a 4 out of 5 POSE or customer survey scores for the 1st week of January. I was engaged in a call when my friend from QA (quality assurance) asked me to strike a pose for his digital camera. I was taken aback I didn't know what the hell's going on. When the certificate was given to me I had no choice but to accept it although I was a little embarrassed. Before my shift ends I saw my picture on the email with the rest of the awardees. I guess I'm quite happy about it although I'll be happier if it was converted to cold cash hehe, just saying.

OT No More

It's a gloomy Saturday morning or I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed? It's raining outside for some reason. Our weather alert says that there's broken clouds and the temperature feels like 77 degrees farenheight... whatever. I cancelled my rest day overtime last night my boss told me that she was told by workforce that they can't guarantee if I can have a 5-hour ot so I changed my mind. I decided to stay home and just make the most of my last day of rest instead of going to work for 2 and a half hours. I'd rather render a 1-2 hour pre-shift ot this week. 

I cooked dinner for my sisters, surf the net, watched TV then went right back to bed. I got an email from human resource that I will finally receive my referral incentive this month at last after 2 invalid referrals I'm going to make money out of it. 

I have shift tonight, hopefully it's not another boring shift. 

Not So Happy New Year, Arrrrgh!

I spent new year's eve in the office as expected. I'm still not over it because I never had the chance to say goodbye to 2007 and welcome 2008. I was engaged in a call I wouldn't have known that it's 12 midnight already had I not heard from my officemates how amazing the fireworks are. 


I feel sorry for myself. This is the first time I spent New Year's day in the office and we're queueing the whole time for crying out loud. Calls flooded the center after 11PM. My real shift is 12:30AM but I was on an hour pre-shift overtime. The queue slowed down around 8AM. There's free food but I don't have the appetite I was just tired after my shift. The roads are empty on my way home since it's a holiday, it's a ghost town. My twin and I are supposedly celebrating New Year's Eve together and part of the plan is to have a little feast for ourselves but that didn't happen I feel so bad she was on leave but spent NY eve all by herself. Sucks to be me. 

Happy New Year anyway