The Biggest Adventure

Just because something feels right doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right.  But if something is wrong, it’s going to just feel plain wrong.

For the love of my life, my friend, my partner, Mona:

Did you know?

Without you
Each step that I take
feels like a thousand miles
Not one morsel, no single drop,
can hold its taste or flavor

Without you
The golden rays of sunlight
eclipsed in cloudless rain
The vibrant colors of the world
Dulled by sheer misery

Without you
Each flower that blooms
drops to the ground, trampled
It’s beauty wasted, forgotten
watched by an unseeing eye

Without you
Every day that passes
is a struggle of faith
To fill the emptiness inside
An endless pit of darkness

Without you
The smile is just a farce
A hollow shell devoid of substance
Did you know?

This was a poem I wrote for my fiancee about a year after we first met. I’m not quite as good a poet as Shelley or Keats, but this poem was something written from the heart.

Not for the Beauty of Your Laugh and Smile

I love you not for the beauty of your laugh and smile
though i must say your beauty overcomes me
Not for the sound of your voice or gentle whisper
music to my ears, though they may be
Not for lofty words or silly things
though you make me think and laugh

I love you not for the way your kisses stop my heart
nor the feel of your hands on mine
Not for the way your head rests right
into the hollow of my shoulders
Not for the way you hold me close
reminder of an angel’s touch

I love you not for your graceful walk
nor the way you move towards me
Not for the laughs and times we shared
treasured memories they may be
Not for the times you’ve saved me from
a darkness far beyond me

I love you not for the laughter nor the tears
though we have been through a lot
but I will always be by your side
to hold your hands and walk with you

I love you not for any single reason
or any of those things
I love you for all of them and more
I love you just because you’re you

How does a stew made out of pork blood sound? Not too good? Think again!

TwistedHalo

If you have ever visited or lived in the Philippines, you probably are aware (or were made aware by some naughty Filipino friends) of a dish called dinuguan. Dinuguan, derived from the root word dugo (meaning blood in Filipino), is a stew made mainly out of pig’s blood and innards.

Ever since I was young, dinuguan has been served at approximately half the parties I attended. It was a popular accompaniment to white rice, pansit (noodles) and puto (rice cakes).

Until my high school years though, I never partook of the dinuguan being served at parties. Knowing what it was made of made me ignore the aroma everytime a hot pot of dinuguan was opened. Perhaps my relatively non-traditional upbringing played a part too. We didn’t partake of much offal in the family, so perhaps, it’s one reason I avoided dinuguan and other delicacies made out of animal innards.

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Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit sluggish and out of touch with reality. I need to get back in working form and sprucing up this site is one way to do it.

I’ll probably be pulling the site offline for a couple of hours a day this weekend to work on some stuff I’ve been putting off for a while now. Here are some things to look forward to:

1. New look - I’m actually reluctant to let go of this current layout since I’ve put so much work into setting it up. However, I feel it’s just not right (too dark) for the kind of content I want on the site. I’m looking at some nice Wordpress themes right now and will probably take one to begin with. I’ll use it temporarily while working on creating my own custom theme.
2. Current adventure updates - This was what the site should have been about. I will be listing (slowly) all of my significant ventures and updating them regularly.
3. Collaborative writing - My upcoming wedding next year is one thing I’m looking forward to. Preparing a wedding is an adventure all by itself! My significant other (Luv yah!) will be helping me to document this undertaking for all my readers. Look out for this and probably a few other articles/series I write with other authors.
4. Other people’s adventures - I’m planning on doing a series documenting other people’s adventures as well. After all, it’s not only my life that’s an adventure. Everybody has his/her own story. This will probably be a weekly listing of other adventures I found interesting.
5. New categorization hierarchy - The current categories hierarchy is a bit too confusing and vague. I want to try to clear it up a little.

This is probably a lot to squeeze into one weekend so I’m not going to force the issue. I’m going to take this one step at a time and hope for the best. Oh, and don’t worry, the site is going to be up most of the time and I’m not going to remove any of your favorite articles.