These Days

After writing the post about the Apples , I got motivated to cleanup the music files in the home computer so I can update my iPod playlist.  I spent a good part of the morning yesterday renaming (artist - title format) , tagging, classifying and deleting.  I felt a sense of accomplishment because this is one nagging task that I have postponed for too long.  Plus, I've gotten bored with the old playlist so it's good to have a fresh one. I used to be more devoted to music as a hobby, as evidenced by: I recorded songs on the radio using cassette tapes and painstakingly transcribed the lyrics into my lyrics notebook.  Obviously, this was pre-Google age. Photo credit Bought Smash songhits practically every week in high school.  Most of the songs would be the same but there are new ones and some artist features.  I should have kept the one from when Kurt Cobain died. In college, I decided I wanted to learn the guitar so I went to Lyric in SM North Eds...

June 16. Out and about.  We were out and about on this day (airport, church, mall) but this is the only photo I took.  I actually forgot to check the challenge until late at night. June 17. In your bag June 18. Something we don't know about you.  Old glasses. June 19. Imperfect. June 20. Fave photo you've ever taken. Just one of my favorites. June 21. Where you slept June 22. From a high angle June 23. Movement June 24. On your mind. Menu planning and grocery list.  This is how I do it! June 25. Something cute. Neil's fleece baby blanket that I brought to the office on this day because it was too cold. June 26. Where you shop.   http://www.ebay.ph/ June 27. Bathroom.  Flipped sprinkler. June 28. On the shelf. Superman guarding the DVDs. June 29. Soft June 30. A friend

Richard's birthday gift for me.=) We have been checking this out for weeks now - testing the unit in the store, comparing prices, etc.  Finally took the plunge last Sunday.  Rich said it was his birthday gift for me.  All the while, I thought it would be family-owned but he said it was mine.  Whee! I will share, of course!=) Looking through the archives, it was in 2008 when Rich also gifted me with an Apple - an iPod Nano.  I'm still using it. The very first Apple gadget we owned was the first generation iPod shuffle, which was from Rich's boss but I used it most of the time.  It got lost. :(  In 2010, I got a 3rd gen shuffle from a conference which I gave to my sister Dets. When it comes to technology, we're late adapters.  While most people have switched to iPhones and android devices, we've stuck to Nokia.  I recently changed my company phone to a Blackberry but only because the 2-year term is up.  If it were up ...

Papang's birthday was last Saturday, June 23.  We had a full day which started with an early morning visit to the Salcedo Market , one of my favorite places in Makati.  Papang bought mushrooms from the same vendor as last year.  I like coming here because there's a playground (which was being renovated) and many interesting things to show Neil like fruits, vegetables, and live animals such as crabs and fish. We leisurely made the rounds at the market, bought a few things and ate breakfast which consisted of grilled bangus, itlog na maalat, takoyaki balls, fresh lumpia and taho. Afterwards, we drove to the AirPhil ticket office near Greenbelt to buy the tickets for Papang and Mom.  They were leaving the following day. In the afternoon, we attended church service at VCF then walked around Bonifacio High Street .  Papang has been to this area when it was still a military fort. Neil likes getting close to the pets in BGC. We...

My birthday this year fell on a Monday and I took the day off.  We took Neil to class in the morning.  We invited Papang and Mommy to come with us so they can also see the school and observe the first few minutes of activities with his teachers and classmates. After class, we proceeded to Makati Med for Neil's ENT appointment.  We were done about lunch time but I had to take care of the paperwork for Intellicare at another building and that took longer.  So far, the day has been about errands. Rich said his mama, auntie and brother were coming for dinner so we were preparing in the afternoon while Rich was at work.  Early evening, reception called and Marie was at the lobby.  Marie is our friend from Intel.  That's when I figured out that it was going to be different guests coming that night.  Rich cooked up a surprise dinner with friends.  Strange Facebook behavior from previous days explained.=)  Richard arrived with Caloy and th...

Richard and I watched Rock of Ages last Saturday at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater in RCBC.  I first knew about it from Atlantis' Facebook page.  It's the same company that produced Next to Normal, which we saw last year for Richard's birthday . The first reason why I wanted to see this was Mig Ayesa who's playing Stacee Jaxx.  I watched the reality talent search Rock Star: INXS back in 2005 and he was one of the more notable contestants.  As they started introducing the other cast members, I felt even more compelled to see it. Mig Ayesa was good and there's no doubt he can sing but there were moments when it looked like he was lip-synching, which threw me off.  It was probably just the view from the loge or just me.  Anyway, I was really impressed by Vina Morales, Nyoy Volante and the rest of the Filipino cast.  This is Vina's first venture into theater and I think she was great.  Her and Nyoy's big voices carried really well and they had g...

There is something to be said for collective recommendations like bestsellers list.  I found this title on such list at Fully Booked, read a few pages and decided to buy it.  I was intrigued by the theme of the book which is memory, specifically, how the author started as a journalist covering the US Memory Championships and ended up as a contender in the finals of the same competition one year later. It claims that with proper training, one's memory can be improved to be at par with the top mental athletes of the world.  Memory training has become an esoteric discipline because we practically do not need to remember a lot these days.  Information is very easy to retrieve from electronic devices and what not.  You just need basic search terms and the Google provides the information you need and more. Photo from Rainy Day Books I have to admit I rely on external memory a lot.  I can recall birthdays of my very close family members but outside of tha...

Here's part 1 for June.  I have been posting these pictures in FB as well. June 1. Morning June 2. Empty June 3. On your plate June 4. Close-up June 5. Sign June 6. Hat June 7. Drink. I drew a face on the bottom of my mug.=) June 8. 6 o'clock. View from the office building. June 9. Your view today. At the hospital waiting for doctor. June 10. Best bit of your weekend. An overdue haircut. June 11. Door. Bathroom door June 12. From a low angle June 13. Art. Clay balls c/o Neil and yaya.=) June 14. Time. New phone.=) June 15. Yellow. Yellow Cab pizza.