These Days

Richard and I registered at Comelec Dasmarinas yesterday.  We are now eligible to vote in next year’s election.  I’m happy. :)  I wasn’t able to vote in the last presidential elections because of a business trip.  I hope there will be no hindrances this time. The process is really simple: Present a valid ID. Validation of previous registration to receive the appropriate form.   New registrants are automatically given a form. Submit form for precinct assignment. Computerized fingerprinting, signature and photo capture. Although it looks pretty simple, it still took us around 1.5 hours to finish the whole process.   Step #2, validation, took a while because they had to write registrants’ details in a paper first, wait for the sheet to be filled up, take the sheet to the 2nd floor for validation.  They then shout out the names (no mic, no queue) to distribute the forms. Once the forms are accomplished and submitted, the address gets ...

Anne Rice is the prominent author of the popular vampire novels in the 90s.  I read a few of those books back in college and as far as I can remember, she was really gifted at creating places, people and storylines that are fantastic yet believable. Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt is a major departure from the theme and voice of the vampire novels but it nonetheless presents another reason why Anne Rice is an excellent writer.  I read her notes on the book and she explained how she came to write this book - from her Catholic upbringing, to leaving the church, and then going back to the faith.  She is an ardent researcher and pored through manuscripts, books, and scholarly works on the life of Jesus Christ.  Her basis for this story is really the New Testament. A bold decision that Anne Rice made is to write this story in the first voice, that is, that of Jesus.  It is fiction but for those of us who need more accessible material regarding first century, then this ...

The Millionaire Next Door made waves when it was published as the revolutionary book based on the lives of millionaires.  It is based on 20 years of research by Thomas Stanley and William Danko.  The concepts I remember most from this book are: UAW vs. PAW.  Or underaccumulators of wealth vs. prodigious accumulators of wealth.  It doesn't matter how much you earn, you can be a PAW relative to that income. The PAW formula for net worth: Multiply gross annual income by age and divide by 10. Wealth building, at least for most of the millionaires in the book, is a slow and long process. Your offense is the process of earning income.  Defense is being frugal.  Millionaires drive second-hand cars and don't necessarily live in expensive neighborhoods. Most people who look wealthy are probably not. One significant takeaway, for me, is how to raise kids such that they will be financially independent and secure about their own ability to...

This is another book which has been in my shelf, unread for years.  I bought this on the strength of the Oprah's Book Club logo on the cover.  Yeah, at one point I was reading a lot of the books recommended by Oprah.  The reason I finally got around to reading this is that I am trying to get rid of clutter, including books that I are not worth reading again.  And the only way to know is to read them! :) I felt depressed reading this story and was happy that the very last few pages ended on a hopeful note.  Why suffer through it?  Because I felt connected to the characters, Ellen Grier in particular, and want to know what circumstances influenced the people who were the bane of her existence.  This is not an easy, happy story at all.  But again, Ellen decided to take her life and that of her two kids in a different direction.  And you are free to create the positive ending that she deserves. Vinegar Hill is where James, Ellen husband, grew up....

Surprisingly easy to read, unlike how I remembered The Lord of the Rings the first time I picked it up.  By easy, I mean it doesn't require intense concentration and you can easily pick up where you left off.  A good thing because I was reading this in between game breaks of the US Open women's finals.  Amazon lists this in the 9-12 yo reading level so that explains it.:) The Hobbit is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings and is the story of Bilbo Baggins as he helps a troop of dwarves reclaim their treasure and territory from the dragon Smaug.  The object of their adventure is a long way from The Hill where Bilbo lives and on the way they encounter friendly beings and evil creatures alike.  I haven't read anything of this genre for a long time and so it was a refreshing change.  I enjoyed this book immensely.  Just the right appetizer for The Lord of the Rings, which I plan to read after I go through 2 other books I'm currently reading. Can an...