the one with the dentist's chair

i read somewhere that the most successful people in life are those that regularly (if not gladly) visit their dentists. this doesn't mean that if you have shiny, white teeth you are guaranteed to have a life that is equally shiny and splendid :) what that simply means is that, people who visit their dentist are those that know how to recognize and acknowledge their problems and seek help when necessary, which in the adult world is usually the case by the way, whether the problem is as simple as a toothache or tooth cavity :)

i avoid going to the dentist as much as i can... i don't hate the experience all that much but i dont really enjoy sitting on the dentist's chair and have someone pull my cheeks up and down in order to exercise or examine my mouth. i do not like the taste of clinic water or the smell of surgical gloves and im pretty sure im not alone in feeling this way.

however, in my case going to the dentist as soon as possible is necessary and can no longer be delayed because unfortunately, i am one of those people that have this thing called TMJ Syndrome, the symptoms of which are not really deadly but also far from pretty. basically, what TMJ does is prevent blood from flowing in my brain because the largest artery from the heart passes through that portion below our ears connecting the jaw and skull. when blood can't get into your brain you know that you will have all sorts of problems. to me, these are the symptoms: nausea, back and shoulder and neck pains, blurriness of eyesight, massive headache if i lack sleep, insomnia and difficulty speaking, chewing, yawning.

for the past few days, i have been seeing the effects of TMJ on me and so i avoid opening my mouth for long periods of time (to talk or sing and do all sorts of things)... you cannot really cure TMJ, there is no surgical treatment for it... but you can cure the symptoms by trying to develop muscle tissues between the skull and the jaw. this is why i have my splint, to prevent the jaw and the skull from rubbing against each other and to allow my body to build those muscle tissues. but im sure by now whatever muscle tissues i have been able to "grow" in the past have been ripped apart and torn down by all the chewing and talking and yawning i have been doing for the past months. by now, my splint has been worn out so much and is no longer functioning as it should. i badly need to have my splint adjusted... i need to think and feel and clearly again. never mind the smell of clinic water and of surgical gloves and the pain of dentists pulling my face up and down for oral therapy... i would gladly sit on a dentist's chair right now than on any other chair in the world.

the one with the super villain character

sometimes motherly...most of the time a deceiving vixen... yikes, scary! anyway, to take the test, click here. let me know who you are!

a song six years too late

for the one who will always be close enough... how did you know my heart was missing a heartbeat without a song? upon hearing this, i felt transported back to the time when you were here with me and my hand would always find yours and your steps would always somehow oddly and yet fortunately, lead to me... back to the days and nights when it seemed all like a dream... at least to me... each time haunting and foolish and difficult to escape... back to that bittersweet spot from where you tried not to say goodbye and i tried to be brave... back to that same spot which the waves of time has somehow managed to wash away... but never quite did...

Ocean Size Love
by Leigh Nash

I know what I'm doing may be dumb
I know I should not be staring at the sun
But the thought of you leads me to temptation
It's the same whatever side you're on
Separated we are delicate and small
And the space between, needs our attention
I see you right in front of me, as close as you can get
And I pray that you won't leave, this daydream yet

And it might seem much too far, to get back to where you are
But it's close enough, with an ocean size love
So if you can't reach out to me, send a sign across the sea
And I'll pick it up, with an ocean size love

I don't have to worry any more
If I really need you I'll go to the shore
And the thought of you there is my protection
I see you right in front of me, a vision in my head
And I know this is as real, as a daydream gets

And it might seem much too far, to get back to where you are
But it's close enough, with an ocean size love
So if you can't reach out to me, send a sign across the sea
And I'll pick it up, with an ocean size love

You make no sound, but I can hear you in the wind
I can see this never ends, like the sea, like you for me

And it's close enough, with an ocean size love
So if you can't reach out to me, send a sign across the sea
And I'll pick it up, with an ocean size love
And it might seem much too far, to get back to where you are
But it's close enough, with an ocean size love
So if you can't reach out to me, send a sign across the sea
And I'll pick it up, with an ocean size love

...now it all seems much too far but at the same time, close enough...

wat-evah!

sobrang cute ng batang ito, pramis! salamat aj for sharing this to me :) what if turuan ko yung mga kids sa sunday school ng wat-evah? hehe... baka matanggal ako sa ministry ng 'di oras!

new blog things

hi guys! i've added two new widgets to my blog. one is the "create a simpson character" widget which you see above and the other is the "the brain knows something about you..." widget which you can find below the blog posts. both are keeping me from doing what im supposed to do right now (review the issues resolved by my team) because both are so much fun! i just played with the "brain" and it pointed out something very true for me after a few tries: You often misplace things. Haha! hope you try them out and let me know what you guys think!

by the way, ill try to post my simpson character one of these days. right now, i cant seem to find the right nose to fit my face :)

the one without a song

i hate waking up on mornings and find out there's no more coffee in my supplies. what i have each morning is far from the coffee that i would really prefer (ill talk about this in another post soon) but i would like a cup each morning just the same. but anyway, what i hate even more is waking up on mornings to find out there's nothing in my iPod playlist i would want to listen to. not a song i can relate to or a song i want to sing to. i have no idea why or how or when i became like this, but i have to have a theme song everyday. i know how corny this may sound, but when i can't find that particular song, i feel very dull and gray and i just know my day will be so much less than great and far less than fantastic.

it was like that this morning. i was shuffling my songs in my iPod and went through each one by one, but didn't find my song. i hate to sound dramatic and corny at the same time, but yes i went through my day, songless. and so today, nothing particularly bad or disappointing or discouraging happened, but nothing extraordinarily fantastic or happy or encouraging came along either.

im not saying i am not thankful for today... i still am, for so many things. but i just want to be able to say, that i hate songless days and i wish i have less than more of it in the coming days.

The Law of the Garbage Truck

by David J. Pollay

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you're the Terminator, for an instant you're probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly he/she can get back her focus on what's important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!'

And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.'

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they'll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.
You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You'll be happy you did.

So this was it: The 'Law of the Garbage Truck.' I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home, on the streets? It was that day I said, 'I'm not going to do it anymore.' I began to see garbage trucks. I see the load they're carrying. I see them coming to drop it off. And like my Taxi Driver, I don't make it a personal thing; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting. Good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. Teachers and parents know that they have to be fully present and at their best for the people they care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here's my bet. You'll be happier.

So.. Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance , TAKE IT! If it changes your life , LET IT!

Thanks, Lorie for forwarding this!

the one where things fall apart

things around me seem to be falling apart or get broken these days, or that they simply stop working. usually literally although sometimes also figuratively. so here's what happened:

• the first thing to fall apart was my health. i have mentioned this in my previous post so i will not explain further. good thing i have been getting a lot of sleep lately so my health has improved a lot and the black spots in my legs are almost gone. according to my self-diagnosis, it is indeed anemia or low-blood (again, from lack of sleep and poor nutrition). now, im getting better and taking better care of myself.


• next to fall apart was my cellphone. from my hand or the tray i was carrying, my cellphone slipped and dropped on the floor twice one Sunday night causing the housing (particularly, the covering for the screen) to break and well, fall apart. for a few days, i kept using my phone in that condition, until i was able to find a replacement for it. from metallic pink, my cellphone housing is now dark blue. by the way, cellphone housings cost P40 pesos in pateros. it's only P25 in guadalupe.


• another thing that got broken lately was my cellphone charger. one of the two pins that you plug into the outlet fell apart. it's still broken up to now, and i haven't replaced it because i am still able to use the charger as long as i fasten that pin back in place before plugging it in. it works, pero hassle.


• last wednesday afternoon, it flooded in my studio as the hose supplying water to my kitchen faucet fell apart. i don't know what i did or what i didn't do to cause that, but it was ugly. i hesitated to do anything at first until my carpet was beginning to get soaked. i couldn't easily put a basin or pail under my sink because there wasn't enough room for the pail and my basin had other things in it. when i saw that my carpet was getting wet, i started looked for other things i could use and remembered that i have plastic containers stacked on top of each other that temporarily serve as my drawers. i quickly removed the clothes from one of the containers then placed that under my sink to temporarily keep the water from flooding my entire house. water was coming out of the broken hose fast so i had to find another solution. i docked under the sink again to see if there was some way i could stop the water. vulca seal came into my mind, after all there was a hardware right outside our gate. after further inspection, i saw that there's a knob controlling the supply of water to the kitchen sink. nothing happened when i turned that knob to the right. since i was already getting dizzy (from all the docking and the stooping down), i stood up then sat and rested for a little bit. later on, i docked under the sink again then turned the same knob the other way around -- this time, the water stopped! thank God! so this means, ive managed to stop the water from flooding my house but i have also stopped water from coming into my kitchen. good thing i never really liked washing dishes so i can live through this easily until the plumber comes dropping by! dapat kahapon pa, but i waited for him in vain. hopefully within the week dumating na sya.


• so after the kitchen sink disaster, the next thing to fall apart was my iPod earphones! it had been falling apart for quite sometime now, but i kept using it. one morning, i couldn't hear any sound at all. the next day, i visited the power mac center at greenbelt then bought new earphones. it was a sennheiser that had volume controls and a casing. the price was twice than what i thought it would be, pero so far, im happy :)
  
  

my new earphones, only mine is white

• the other night, sunday, i think, i got home and went into the bathroom. i clicked on the switch to turn on the light and nothing happened. i clicked again. nothing. thinking that the bulb could be busted, i replaced it with the lightbulb from the kitchen. getting the bulb from the kitchen ceiling was a difficult feat and i've managed to do that by standing on the back of the sofa and stretching one arm to the wall and another arm to the ceiling. im such a plastic woman! so after managing to replace the bulb in the bathroom with the bulb from the kitchen (which i know to be working), i clicked on the switch again and waited. clicked, then waited. still, nothing happened. oh well, i guess i would have to call the electrician soon. first the plumber. and now, the electrician. good thing, the house is still under warranty so everything that needs fixing will be fixed without any cost from me. but still...


• ah! and then lastly, just this morning, as i was trying to boil water for my morning coffee -- i found out that my electric kettle was not working! after all the things that have been falling apart lately, im still actually shocked and disappointed to learn this. but i was no longer hesitant to do anything but instead, my instict told me to investigate! yeba! i had to see first if it was the kettle or related to the already-known-fact that there's a problem with electrical wiring in my house. i then tested to see if other appliances (electric stove in this case) would work if i plug them in the same socket i was plugging the kettle into. the stove did work so it must not be the socket. good thing! i plugged the kettle in a different socket and when that didn't work again, i had to hypothesize that the problem lies with the kettle! seeing that the kettle had an outlet converter attached to it, i removed the converter, plugged the electric fan into it then plugged it into an outlet. ayun, ayaw nga! i got a different converter, plugged the kettle into that new one and my kettle worked at last! things would have ended pretty nicely if i also had a 3-in-1 coffee with me, pero after boiling water, i discovered that i have also ran out of coffee! haha! sayang!