there's this e-mail that's going around about the supposed house in the US of a presidential candidate.  the first time i received said e-mail, it seemed uncannily familiar.

the e-mail began with the following text:

Imagine who would have such taste and live in such opulence?


An American Billionaire?


A Saudi Prince?


Louis XIV of France?


Savour the pictures then scroll to the bottom of the page to see who owns this Work of Art.



i was thinking i've seen those pics before.

i searched my mails and true enough, i found an e-mail with the exact same pictures sent to me on september 6, 2008.  subject line that time was 'Opulence? PLEASE PASS ON TO THE WORLD!'  the e-mail circulating this time has the subject line, 'Who owns a house like this??'

the september 2008 e-mail ended with:

This Mansion is in Harare and belongs to:


The President of Zimbabwe  -  Robert Mugabe -


While his people starve, and die because of no medical help....


and we are asked to help his people over and over again...


he and his family live like this.......


his GREED kills his people.....


Send this to everyone you know,


they can send it to everyone they know,


soon the world will know what this man is doing to his people.



the current e-mail (with the exact same house and pictures) ends with:

This Mansion is in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA and belongs to:


(Name of Presidential Candidate)  PHILIPPINES


While Filipinos starve, and die because of abject poverty ....


and while (Name of Presidential Candidate) brags that he had poor beginnings


and he had helped his poor countrymen over and over again...


but look now.. he and his family live like this.......his GREED kills his poverty stricken fellow Filipinos.


PLEASE send this to everyone you know.


They can send it to everyone they know.


Soon Filipinos around the world will know


what this man is doing


to the people he wishes to serve if elected President.



hmmm... when i told my dad earlier (before i searched and found among my mails the september 2008 version) about my memories of the same house but different owner pics, he said something about black propaganda, election campaigns, etc.  then he kidded, maybe (Presidential Candidate) has bought the house from the african owner.  we shared a chuckle that time.

just now before posting this blog i checked the web and found more about the said house.  i'd like to state here that i am not for the presidential candidate in question.  but i'd also like to say that if you have time maybe you could do some check yourself, not in the interest of any presidential candidate but in the interest of truth.

mad

there is this someone i haven't seen in ages.  we were not at all friends before but last year, we sort of, if i may say so, became friends, long-distance friends.

now i don't understand this guy, for someone so far away, he keeps on getting mad at me.  ugh!  and when he gets mad, he'd go and post on my facebook wall.  eh?!

me, you piss me off, i'd vent on MY wall (no names) or send you a message.  this guy, i piss him off and he'd vent on my wall.  what's worse, i'm trying to live my own life here and yet i keep on pissing him off!  i don't understand!

i've actually been keeping my distance from him for quite a while now.  he keeps on checking me out online and then he gets mad.  aaaarrrrggghhh!!!

trusted

i told him i've been good.  he said he knows i am good.  he added he does not worry about that anymore.  hey...

it used to be this guy would think i'd falter at every turn.  it seems by now he has realized i do keep to the straight and narrow.

he trusts me now.  i am so happy... : )

for my eyes only

someone was asking me about this guy who is very visible on my (facebook) wall... oh, hahaha... nothing to worry about...

i like to say, the sweetest things, the most treasured ones, are not public, they're private...

the ones on the wall are safe... it's the one in my heart he should look out for...

gift custodian

i attended a wedding this afternoon.  as it is with weddings, certain lines again went tugging at my heart.  oh, well...

anyway, the priest was saying that spouses are a gift from God.  and years from now, if God pulls you aside to ask what you've done to the gift that He gave, what do you think would you say?  did you love and take care of the gift that He gave?

hmmm... me, i'd say i tried to but the gift was too busy to receive and to notice whatever it was i was giving.  the spouse, i think, would say, he planned to when he retired but the gift was not able to wait out the timetable that he set.

sad...

punctuality

we had our model employee awards this morning.  among the awardees was one of my staff.  congratulations, ruel!!!  : )

anyway, i found it interesting that when reasons were cited as to why this employee was chosen over this other exemplary contender, attendance not just once cropped up.  hmmm...  it called to mind one of my favorites:  the first step to winning is simply showing up...  maybe we could modify that a bit and add on time...  ; )

grace kelly

haha... i got this in e-mail... you're supposed to forward it to all your friends with your star's name in the subject line... well, i'm blogging it instead...


my result is interesting:  grace kelly...  the description brought to mind a guy's observation just a couple of weeks back about the way i supposedly come across in my facebook posts and friendster blogs, i.e., a hopeless romantic.  hmmm... well, i guess i can't dispute that.  yup, i am a hopeless romantic, an unapologetic romantic.  i think there's nothing wrong with it.  all i need to find (sooo hard) is someone who's like that, too, and then we'll be perfectly fine... 


here's the quiz:


Ladies Only ... Which Movie Star Are You? This is kind of fun!


Ever wonder which movie star you are most like?


Well, a team of researchers got together and analyzed the personalities of movie stars.


The gathered info has been incorporated into this quiz.


There are only 10 questions so it doesn't take long.


Number your paper from 1 to 10, then answer each question with the choice that most describes you at this point in your life, and then add up the points that correspond with your answers.


Don' t look ahead or you will ruin the fun!


1. Which describes your perfect date?
a) Candlelight dinner for two
b) Amusement Park
c) Roller blading in the park
d) Rock Concert
e) Have dinner & see a movie
f) Dinner at home with a loved one


2. What is your favorite type of music?
a) Rock and Roll
b) Alternative
c) Soft Rock
d) Classical
e) Christian
f) Jazz


3. What is your favorite type of movie?
a) Comedy
b) Horror
c) Musical
d) Romance
e) Documentary
f) Mystery


4. Which of the following jobs would you choose if you were given only these choices?
a) Waiter/Waitress
b) Sports Player
c) Teacher
d) Policeman
e) Bartender
f) Business person


5. Which would you rather do if you had an hour to waste?
a) Work out
b) Make out
c) Watch TV
d) Listen to the radio
e) Sleep
f) Read


6. Of the following colors, which do you like best?
a) Yellow
b) White
c) Sky blue
d) Teal
e) Gold
f) Red


7. Which one of the following would you like to eat right now?
a) Ice cream
b) Pizza
c) Sushi
d) Pasta
e) Salad
f) Lobster Tail


8. Which is your favorite holiday?
a) Halloween
b) Christmas
c) New Year's
d) Valentine's Day
e) Thanksgiving
f) Fourth of July


9 If you could go to any of the following places, which would it be?
a) Reno
b) Spain
c) Las Vegas
d) Hawaii
e) Hollywood
f) British Columbia


10. Of the following, who would you rather spend time with?
a) Someone who is smart
b) Someone with good looks
c) Someone who is a party animal
d) Someone who has fun all the time
e) Someone who is very emotional
f) Someone who is fun to be with


Now total up your points on each question:


  1. a - 4; b - 2; c - 5; d - 1; e - 3; f - 6
  2. a - 2; b - 1; c - 4; d - 5; e - 3; f - 6
  3. a - 2; b - 1; c - 3; d - 4;e - 5; f - 6
  4. a - 4; b - 5; c - 3; d - 2; e - 1; f - 6
  5. a - 5; b - 4; c - 2; d - 1; e - 3; f - 6
  6. a - 1; b - 5; c - 3; d - 2; e - 4; f - 6
  7. a - 3; b - 2; c - 1; d - 4; e - 5; f - 6
  8. a - 1; b - 3; c - 2; d - 4; e - 5; f  - 6
  9. a - 4; b - 5; c - 1; d - 4; e - 3; f - 6
10. a - 5; b - 2; c - 1; d - 3; e - 4; f - 6


NOW. Take your total and find out which Movie Star you are:


10 - 17 points:  You are MADONNA.
You are wild and crazy and you know it. You know how to have fun, but you may take it to extremes. You know what you are doing though, and are much in control of your own life . People don't always see things your way, but that doesn't mean that you should do away with your beliefs. Try to remember that your wild spirit can lead to hurting yourself  and others.


18 - 26 points:  You are DORIS DAY.
You are fun, friendly, and popular! You are a real crowd pleaser. You have probably been out on the town your share of times, yet you come home with the values that your mother taught you. Marriage and children are very important to you, but only after you have fun. Don't let the people you please influence you to stray.


27 - 34 points:  You are DEBBIE REYNOLDS.
You are cute, and everyone loves you. You are a best friend that no one takes the chance of losing. You never hurt feelings and seldom have your own feelings hurt. Life is a breeze. You are witty, and calm most of the time. Just keep clear of back stabbers, and you are worry-free.


35 - 42 points:  You are GRACE KELLY.
You are a lover. Romance, flowers, and wine are all you need to enjoy yourself. You are serious about all commitments and are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday, and never forget a Birthday. Don't let your passion for romance get confused with the real thing.


43 - 50 points:  You are KATHARINE HEPBURN.
You are smart, a real thinker. Every situation is approached with a plan. You are very healthy in mind and body. You don't take crap from anyone. You have only a couple of individuals that you consider 'real friends.' You teach strong family values. Keep your feet planted in them, but don't overlook a bad situation when it does happen.


51 - 60 points:  You are ELIZABETH TAYLOR.
Everyone is in awe of you. You know what you want and how to get it. You have more friends than you know what to do with. Your word is your bond. Everyone knows when you say something it is money in the bank. You attract the opposite sex. Your intelligence overwhelms most. Your memory is the next thing to photographic. Everyone admires you because you are so considerate and lovable. You know how to enjoy life and treat people right.


: )

not forgettable

i was on the phone and the caller asked whether i wanted pancit canton.

i said, 'yup, why?'

he said they had noodles cooked at the office and will be having some in a short while.

i (presumptuously, hehe) told him, 'eh?!  you're too far.  i can't really join.  i do have an unforgettable story about canton though...'

he asked what it was.

so i told him.

i was in this meeting a looooong time ago
and one of the attendees ordered noodles.
when the order arrived, the guy told me,
'i ordered canton because you said before you prefer it over bijon.'

whaaat???!!!  i was soooo touched.
the last and only other time we were together in a meeting
was soooooooo long ago, as in, at least a year ago.
he remembered my preference?!  whoa!

the guy on the other end went, 'that's really how it is.  those who meet you will not easily forget you...'

huh?!  aaaw... sweet... : )

bang on!

last week, i sent out what to me was just a simple and harmless e-mail.  guess what, the reply i got was just so totally unexpected!  the recipient went ballistic on something off-tangent.  whoa!  what line of thought was he following here?  what dictionary has he been consulting?  what on earth did he read between the lines?  there was nothing between the lines!  the sentences were straightforward; the words, at least to me, were simple.

anyway, i was pretty happy that time, nothing could really dampen my joy, so i sent out a solicitous reply.  i even apologized if my e-mail did not come across the way i intended it to.

well, following morning, i see a reply to my reply which seemed to me a step toward steering the topic to what i originally was discussing.  hmmm... so maybe the guy re-read my e-mail and sort of realized he earlier went seething at something i did not raise at all?  with some bit of stretching, he tried to pull together a response that wouldn't be as off-kilter as his previous e-mail.

but then BIG mistake.  he went on to say that next time i should put myself in his shoes.  whaaaaaaaat????!!!!  i've been doing that for the longest time!!!  i've been bending over backward, rolling over forward, practically falling all over myself trying to accommodate his short-term, missing-the-forest-for-the-trees-way.  bending the rules, if ever, is supposed to be just a contingency measure, right?  well, to this guy, it is a going-in position.  aaarrrgggghhhh!!!

i've given him concessions big-time.  unprecedented.  uncharacteristic.  and now it seems he does not realize this at all?!  grrrrrrrr!  it was my turn to fire off an angry e-mail.  i peppered it with statements, not at all irrelevant, which if he asked me to substantiate i could very well do.  and boy, if i did, he definitely would not be happy.

that was the end of the exchange, i think.  i did not anymore receive any mail.  at least, not yet?

and then this morning, we both had to attend this meeting.  ok, discuss this, discuss that.  suddenly, one of the attendees used exactly the same word i used in my e-mail.  uh-oh!  this guy in his non-sequitur reply to me truncated that word, took it out of context and so negatively appropriated it for himself.  and hear this, all these negative aspersions he cast on himself he so audaciously attributed to me.  eh?!  i wasn't even referring to him when i used that word.  and the word he bandied about was not even the exact word i used.  oh, well.  i cautioned the attendee not to use the word.  she persisted.  the word is fine, actually.  but i had to tell her it could be misinterpreted.  she wouldn't be stopped.  hahaha.  i was hilariously horrified wondering what the guy must have felt hearing that word so objectively used in my presence.  

things did not stop there.  two attendees started slamming and complaining about practices and shortcuts this guy himself has similarly been resorting to.  my, my, my.  so bang on!  there i was, putting in my two cents worth to this and that statement or complaint and the guy could not really join in lest he be put in the awkward position of having to pan something he himself has been doing.  ahahaha!

through all this, i could not help but wonder whether the guy was squirming in his seat.  moreover, i was wondering whether he thinks i shared our unpleasant exchange with the other attendees.  no, i did not.  and that makes what just transpired sweet poetic justice for me ...  ; )

on the other foot

i like to say, i'm on my (facebook) wall  ->  the only thing you're sure about is that the post is from me... whether it's for or about you is something you can only speculate about.

sometimes people think my post or blog is about them when it is not.  other times they think it's not about them but it is.

what amuses me (irks, sometimes, haha) is when people insist that a post or blog is about them when i have already said that it is not.  hello!  the world does not revolve around you.  there are other entities here...

now, however, there is this post.  really nice and sweet but sad.  it's my turn to wonder whether it is for me...

one-way

i was on the phone with someone and we were talking about this other guy.

he goes:  'what do you want him to write there?'

me:  "i love you!"

caller:  'you'll be problematic if he does that...'

me:  'huh?!  why?  i'd be very happy actually...'

caller:  'you'd be thinking about so many people...'

me:  'eh?!  i don't intend to say i love you, too, hello!  i just want to savor the statement...'

caller:  'what if he doesn't let up?'

me:  'i can handle it...'

i'm sure.

my name

i was at a conference this afternoon and when it was my turn to speak, i started out by introducing myself.


"good afternoon, i am cynthia (maiden name)..."


suddenly, the committee reacted, caught by the microphones, for all the roomful of people to hear, '(maiden name)?  you dropped the (married name)?'


eh?!  i rolled my eyes and re-introduced myself with my legal name:  first name, maiden surname, married surname.  ugh!


after my turn, i walked over to the secretariat and told them i think there is no need to include the change of name part in the transcription of the proceedings.


chuckles...

pleasant surprises

my workday started with a pleasant surprise this morning.  it put a smile on my face... and also in my heart   : )


then work, work, work which, as if to balance my joy, stretched my patience and tolerance close to breaking point.  aaaarrrggghhhh!!!


afternoon, i was on the phone when i saw my officemates let in two guys at the office.  i thought they were there just for the usual official business.  then when i put down the phone, i was told they were my visitors.


oh, ok.  what can i do for you?


they hand me a paper bag saying it was sent by (blank).


whaaaat???!!!  so totally unexpected!


my officemates squealed in delight  ->  they like the guy.  uhm... ah... uhm...


i check the contents and saw chocolates aplenty.    ooops...  hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... last month, i posted in facebook that i'm going to spurn suitors who will give me chocolates.  i've long been trying to cut down but it's sooo hard when there they are being handed to you and staring you so invitingly in the face  : }


anyway, i told my officemates to choose which ones they want, just leave three for me to give to my mom.  they made their choice and we partook of them.  yum!


'twas, on balance, a pretty good day today... : )


i know i'll be happy again tomorrow.  nope, not a surprise.  something i know beforehand.


♫  it's raining... ♥♥♥
alleluia!  ♪


; )

people notice

i received a text message last friday informing me of dance practice at the other building.  it was our group's turn at the flag ceremony presentations yesterday.

i was working on something long-overdue and so decided to skip dance practice and the presentation as well.  i was thinking there are so many others in the group anyway, no one would notice that i did not join.

monday as i watched the presentation from the grounds, my heart skipped a bit when i saw that they were dancing to 'nobody, nobody but you.' waaah!!!  i could have joined and would have loved to join that even without practice!  (ooops, sorry, modesty pushed aside big-time there, haha)  that tune reached waaaay beyond saturation point recently.  everybody was singing it.  everybody was dancing to it.

anyway, they changed the lyrics.  theme was accountability and the message was, YOU are accountable for your actions  ->  nobody, nobody but you.  hmmmm... nice...

at the grounds, one of the managers saw me and asked why i wasn't onstage (on the driveway, actually).  i said i wasn't able to attend practice.  i, in turn, asked why she, too, was on the grounds.  well, she, too, did not attend practice. a short while later, another manager walked by.  hey, so she skipped the dance, too.   goody-good.  at least i'm not the only one.

yesterday, even today, however, i've fielded quite a few questions as to why i was not part of the presentation.  (i've been joining the past dance presentations.)  my truthful and standard reply is that i wasn't able to attend practice.

i find it interesting that people noticed who were absent.  you have all these dancers in front of you and still you noticed that so-and-so was not around?  hmmmm... some people are observant.  we shouldn't bank on not being noticed, therefore.

mental block

i delivered something from a visiting batchmate to another batchmate this afternoon.  i haven't really been to the intended recipient's place so i stopped a few times to ask for directions.  frustrating.  people either do not know the street or would simply say, "it's over there."

i'd go, "how many blocks from here?"

they couldn't say.

i'd ask, "is it already near or still far?"

the one i asked earlier said it's already near.  the one i asked later said it's still far.

then hear this.  in one of my stops, i roll down my window and shout out to this guy asking where the street i was trying to locate was.  he crosses the street to approach me, starts to speak, then stops mid-sentence.  there was silence.  suddenly, he chuckles and goes, "naku, na-blangko ako!"  (ooops... i went blank!)

eh?!  we both laugh.  i thank him anyway then drive onward.

at the next stop, the people tell me that i've overshot my destination and i have to make a u-turn.

i turn back and ask one other guy along the way.  goody-good!  this one was able to give me concrete directions:  "go straight, not counting that corner, drive two blocks then turn right."  ok.

driving onward, i see this guy waving me to a stop.  i roll down my window and he tells me where the street i was looking for was.  oh!  so he is the guy who went blank earlier.  he recognized my car and has regained his memory, hahaha.  the street was already so near, imagine!

oh, well.  i was finally able to make the delivery.

one down, two to go.  second delivery is tentatively scheduled next week.  i've been to that place once, a long time ago.  i don't remember anymore.  this time, i'll download a map.