pure joy

i rarely post anything about gadgets in here. im not really the type who goes out of her way to know the greatest and latest in mobile phones or computers or game consoles or anything like that. my philosophy in buying things is that whatever allows me to do what i need to do, is easy to carry around or hold, is somewhat pretty and offers a few advancements should be okay.

my ipod is the old 512MB shuffle (bought last 2005, vintage almost) and my cellphone is the nokia 2600 which im beginning to despise because of its slow performance when it comes to loading my inbox and outbox. in any case, im not writing to complain about my cellphone... although i think i should... im actually here to tell you about the love of my life: my asus eee pc 1000H.

i only said its the love of my life because i spend so much time on it when im at home. it even sleeps beside me and i carry it with me, almost everywhere i go. it's perfect for my computing needs. at some point, when it was still somewhat acceptable to do so, it was serving as my office workstation.

i love it unconditionally and without complains... except when im working on something in photoshop in which i have to add layers upon layers of adjustments to modify the hue of the photo, render some lighting to it, adjust the color balance, the highlights, the curves, the shadows, edit this and that... that's when i start feeling the pain of not having the latest and the greatest.

earlier today we saw the asus world in megamall at the cyberzone area. i got really excited and thought i would bring my asus eee pc 1000H in there as soon as we get our bonus by the end of the month! i know the RAM doesn't cost that much (just P1400, really) but im broke, so everything for me is expensive, hehe!

i cant wait. just imagining myself and the realization of this plan gives me pure joy. sheer delight!

beautiful seed

last week i headed to "fully booked" in boni high street in order to find a new movie to add to my collection. i was thinking of buying either "wall-e" or "satc the movie", but when i saw the shelves and the many titles they have to offer, it became painful for me to decide which one to get.

i then began to notice the song that was playing within the record bar section. i initially thought that i might be hearing sarah mclachlan, but was not sure. i asked the person behind the counter who it was and he told me it was Corrinne May and handed me a copy of the "beautiful seed" album. i have seen that cover many times before. i remember carrying it around but never really got the chance to listen to the songs. without any further hesitation, i decided to proceed three floors down and bought the CD. i have no idea who she was really, but something inside tells me i have got to have the album.

it wasn't difficult to fall in love with the songs. they were beautifully sang and beautifully written. i could not agree more to what Corrinne May said in one of her interviews: the album is full of hope, full of optimistic joy. i even told JP who was driving the car, listening with me, that she sings as if there were tears of joy in her eyes.

here are my choice cuts:

"On the Side of Me"
I'm not the easiest person to love
I'm often the one who lets things go unresolved
Yet you choose to be
On the side of me

"Shelter"
I know you've been through rough times
Kicked around, thrown to the ground
But you've always been the strong one
So don't tell me that nobody gets you
'Cause I'm standing in your corner
Knocking at your door
You don't have to be alone

"Five Loaves & Two Fishes"
Take my five loaves and two fishes
Do with it as you will
I surrender
Take my fears and my inhibitions
All my burdens, my ambitions
You can use it all to feed them all

"My goal in writing a lot of these songs, was to make an album full of hope, full of optimistic joy. I think we often forget how the smallest, most seemingly insignificant things can have such beautiful possibilities. All it takes is one person to make a difference in this world. People like Mother Teresa, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. testify to this fact. But often, we are so afraid to try, to speak up, or to make a difference." -Corrinne May

i feel it's important that i share her music with you. you may listen to the sample songs in here. next time you're at a record bar, i do hope you'll look for her in one of the racks.