spinnin' the black circle

i have been sick with the flu for the past 2 days (trust me to be sick on the first day of a long weekend). bed-ridden and gulping down insane amounts of orange juice have caused me to watch all my unwatched dvds. i am officially bored. so i decided to go on a soundtrip with my beloved ipod:

right in the middle of listening to owner of a lonely heart, i suddenly missed old sounds: sound of the record player scratching on the surface of a vinyl record, the "noise" and the "crunch" that only comes from old LPs.

i know i was born at a time when cassette tapes were all the rage, but with my dad's vast vinyl collection, i grew up listening to old LP records, cause for me and my dad, the vinyl has a certain charm, a personality.

so what's a sick girl to do when you're bored and longing to hear old sounds? i decided to raid my dad's music library and here's what i found:

there were hundreds of LPs but i was in the mood for these.

...coz my dad is a yes man.

...and mum is a rasta.

i listened to debussy way before edward and bella popularized it...

my bestfriend isla gave me this record: she bought it in a garage sale in ras tanura

my dad told me i used to dance and shake my booty to this record when i was a toddler

and i saved the best for last..

the 4 magicians

yes, i am ready to go...

...on a magical mystery tour...

i feel better already. :)

inside the purple door

i missed my childhood room. and since i badly needed a vacation, i decided to come home to my parent's house and hibernate inside my lalaland. my little piece off heaven. coz nothing bad ever happens in here.

so come on... step inside the purple door with me...

the gateway

my thinking corner, where all dreams are made

my shelves overflowing with books and magazines
(one day i will have my own private library where i can stow all these)

my guilty pleasures: rowling and kinsella

i have a thing for dolphins that's why i have a dolphin night light

oh, how i miss my beach bum days...

i love this mug so much that i'm scared to use it for my morning coffee

my trusty magic 8-ball that answered a lot of questions:
from dreams, to crushes to jobs (!)

i love stuff hanging from the ceiling

my dad's old night light from the 70's...

yes, i have a working disco ball in my room

i always wanted these curtains since i was little...

my antique dresser inherited from my grandma...

i have three closets to house all my girly-ness
(paint scratches courtesy of my dog, jet-ski)

1/8 of my shoe collection
(these are the ones i use on a lazy day)

my "media center" with all my unwatched dvds
(i intend to watch all of them today)

wind chimes to greet the summer breeze...

my grandmum always told me that happy bedsheets = happy dreams.
she gave me this floral bedsheet that reminds me of the wallpaper
inside quaint little parisian coffeeshops.

forgive me, but i will laze the whole day.

everything i needed to know about life i learned from lola

from lola i learned all the fun stuff:
how wrestling was the coolest sport in the world. when i was a kid, lola would always allow me and my brother deo to stay up late every wednesday night and watch wrestling with her. she would be screaming her head off as we watched our favorite wrestlers like bret "the hitman" hart beat up all the bad guys. she also took me to my first live wrestling show, manila mania, back in july '94. lola was the ultimate wrestling fan.

how reading comic books can get you into the habit of reading. lola gave me my first archie double digest back when i was 7 years old. being a voracious reader, she wanted to instill in me the habit of reading. and looking at my crammed bookshelf at home, i am glad to say she succeeded.

how dancing is the best form of self-expression. lola was an avid dancer, and when my parents first enrolled me in ballet class, she constantly pushed me to practice so i can improve, and didn't mind when i rearranged her living room furniture so that i'll have space to practice. she was the one who encouraged me to apply for a ballet scholarship, and was on my side when i tried to convince my dad to let me accept the scholarship. she was my personal cheerleader.

from lola i learned all the kikay stuff:

the importance of moisturizer. way before belo and botox, i would always watch lola religiously put pond's cold cream on her face every night. she always had supple, soft skin and i always thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

the importance of investing in good, quality shoes. those who read my old entries know that i got my shoe addiction from my lola. to this date, she has 150 pairs of shoes (i counted). she always dressed simply, but her shoes would always be kick-ass. peep-toe, embellished, stilettos... she had it all. and every shoe had its own story. from her wedding day pumps to the peep-toes she wore to have dinner with the president, she told me each and every story behind her marvelous collection. she was a shoe queen.

the wonders of mascara. when i was 12, lola gave me my very first mascara. she told me that i could forget the makeup, but i should never, ever leave home without mascara, because it could instantly open my eyes and brighten my face. hundreds of tubes later, i never forgot her advice.

from lola i learned the tough stuff:

to put myself first before any man. lola was a feminist, and she always taught me that i should always love myself and live my life for me. should i find a partner in life, she told me that i should not base my happiness solely on him. she always said: "nobody could make you happy but you."

to pursue my dreams. lola was a hairstylist and was proud of it. when i was little, she always told me stories on how she was the one who gave former ms. universe gloria diaz her first haircut, and how much she loved her career. she always told me to pursue my passions and always said: "do what you love, and never work a day in your life."

to forgive. lola was the strongest woman i know. there was a time when someone hurt her so bad, and yet i never saw her shed a tear. that is why i was surprised when i found out that she forgave the person who hurt her. when i asked her about it, she just smiled and said: "who am i not to forgive? no matter how grave the mistake, everyone deserves a second chance." she always saw the best in people.

before lola got sick, i used to have conversations with her about life and death. she told me that when she died, she wants to be buried in her oscar dela renta suit and her pearls, and at her funeral, she wants everyone to dress fashionably, as if "going to a party".

we said farewell to our shoe queen last saturday, january 17 at the heritage memorial park in taguig. following her request, we donned our best white outfits and i'm sure we made her proud:

channeling gossip girl: blair and chuck

carmela, sophia and apolonia

fider boys

batangas girls

la familia

if you believe,
you can make it much more than a dream,
when you believe you'll never die.

papa corks (the analog priest) said...

in times of death, we should be happy, because it is the beginning of eternal life.

papa bong (the techie priest) said...

death is not "parting"...it is a meeting, a meeting with God.

i imagine my lola is happy right now, proudly strutting the catwalks of heaven in her manolos.

meeko and me

my mum just texted that my 2-year old lhasa apso, meeko, just died. i felt like i was doused in cold water as soon as i read her message. i am still shaking from shock and grief. i never expected that i would enter this kind of depression from the death of a pet.
of my three dogs, meeko was the most behaved. he would prefer to just lie around and sleep all day, unlike his two poodle brothers who are hyperactive. that's why we nicknamed him "the catatonic dog". but even if he was lazy, meeko was also the sweetest. he was always the first one to greet me whenever i came home, and would always climb my lap for some serious cuddling. and whenever he knew that i was about to leave the house, he would sit on my foot as if to say: "don't go." he was one sweet chubby furball.

now that he died, i don't know how i will be able to move on. it feels like there's a big hole in my heart that will never be filled with another dog. coz' no other dog will step on my foot like he does. no other dog will lick my face like he does. no other dog will ever be like meeko.

i miss you already, meeko.

tommorrow's the future, tonight's the party!

as we bid "ta-ta!" to 2008 and say "bonjour!" to 2009,
let me say thank you to everyone who made my year a crazy one.

a year of discoveries...
of challenges...
laughter...
and love...
2008 was indeed a year for the books!

with every end, there's always a new beginning.
i am definitely looking forward for tomorrow.
let the party begin!