Syempre hindi papatalo ang mga tao sa COVID. Kahit papano, based on my social media feed, masaya naman ang mga tao pagcecelebrate ng Pasko. Kami din nafeel namin ang holiday spirit lalo na nung December 24. First time namin maghanda para sa Noche Buena. Last Christmas kasi wala kaming pakana, nag-invite lang yung tito ko na mag-dinner sa kanila. Christmas of 2019 yung pinakamalungkot na Christmas sa buong buhay ko. Umiiyak ako. Pero kalimutan na natin yun. Everytime kasi maaalala ko yun, parang nagdi-dip ng konti yung mood ko. Naaalala ko kung gano ako kalungkot nung mga panahon na yun. Pero bumawi naman ngayong 2020 despite of the pandemic. Naitawid namin ang Pasko in high spirits.
You want to read a story about talking farm animals
Gusto mong mas maging mulat sa mga nangyayari sa ating lipunan
Gusto mong mabilang sa milyong milyong tao na nakabasa na ng librong ‘to
QUICK AND TAMAD SUMMARY
The farm animals had enough! Hindi na nila kayang i-tolerate ang pagpapalakad ng amo nila na si Mr. Jones. Kaya naman gumawa sila ng paraan para mapatalsik ang amo nila at sa wakas! The animals reign supreme! Pero ngayong nasa pamumuno na sila ni Snowball (white pig) at Napoleon (fierce-looking boar), ano ang magiging kapalaran ng mga farm animals? Mas naging mabuti nga ba or worse?
📷: Katie Troy
This book is about power and how it can potentially change anyone who acquire them. At kahit animals ang main characters dito, the message is clear and strong. The author intended for it to be a reflection of the events that happened during the Russian Revolution so it’s a political satire. Pero I think pwede din syang ma-apply in the workplace somehow.
You want an okay psychological thriller involving a married couple (don’t expect Gone Girl levels)
DON’T READ IF…
You’re a loving pet owner
You have low tolerance for torture
QUICK AND TAMAD SUMMARY
It’s about Jack and Grace na seen by their social circles as the perfect couple. Pero ang suspicious ng pagka-perfect nila kasi magtataka ka bakit walang sariling cellphone si Grace, nung hiningan sya ng e-mail address binigay nya yung e-mail address ni Jack, at laging hindi sumisipot si Grace sa lunch invites ng mga amiga nya and kung makakasipot man sya, kabuntot nya lagi si Jack. So medyo given na dito na si Jack yung psychopath. Kaya ang tagline nung book is, “The perfect marriage? Or the perfect lie?”
Nakakatawa yung comment ng former officemate ko dun sa birthday pics ko. Sabi ko kasi sa caption ‘Wala na sa kalendaryo’ tapos sabi ni Ate Milanie, nasa lotto pa daw. Hahaha. Feeling ko lumang joke na rin yon pero ngayon ko lang yun nadinig 😅
So ang saya ko kahapon, ang taas ng energy ko. Tapos excited nga akong magluto tapos pasayaw sayaw pa ko. Dumaan pa ulit kaming grocery store (Sobey’s) kasi naisipan kong bigyan ng ribs yung tito ko at yung kapitbahay namin na couple. Naghehesitate lang kasi ako nung una kasi nga baka hindi masarap. And at the same time nahiya din ako na walang bigay kasi yung tito ko laging nagdadala dito ng food. So yun bumili pa kami ng isang slab. Tapos pinick-up na ni Kenneth yung cake habang nagluluto ako.
It’s mah birthday! Actually kahapon ko pa talaga birthday kasi mas advance ang oras sa Pinas and since sa Pinas ako pinanganak, kahapon ko pa birthday. Pero anywayzzz. It’s mah birthday! Ang aga ko nagising. 6:30AM pa lang dito. Busy ako mamaya pagluluto ng baby back ribs. Di ako sure kung nabanggit ko na pero meron kaming birthday cook off ni Kenneth 😂 Sya ang nagluto nung birthday nya (Dec 1) tapos ako ngayon (Dec 15). Pero wala din naman kwenta kasi kami lang yung taste testers. Haha. For sure sasabihin nya na sa kanya yung mas masarap tapos ako syempre yung sakin. Bawal pa din kasi tumanggap ng bisita dahil pa rin sa COVID. Hanggang New Year na ata ganito.
Pero excited pa rin ako kasi simula nung dumating kaming Canada, ngayon lang kami nag-effort maghanda sa birthdays namin. Ang pinaka-excited ako is yung pagluluto ko ng baby back ribs. Yun yung main course. First time kong magluluto ng ganito kaya sana masarap. Sana masarap! Tapos ko na lutuin yung mga side dishes kahapon para hindi ako masyadong haggard ngayon. Tapos mamaya ipipick-up ni Kenneth yung ube macapuno cake dun sa bakeshop. Ngayon na lang ulit ako makakatikim nung masarap na cake na yon 😋
Okay magbabasa na muna ako. Normal morning routine. Pero baka hindi ko mapigilan i-check phone ko para makita kung sino nang mga bumati hehe. Ay, nag-advance celebration nga pala sila sa Pinas. Kakainggit yung handa ko pero hindi ako nakatikim huhu. Eto yung mga pics nila.
Amishuuuuu
Update: Nagbasa na ko ng mga bumati sakin. Kakatuwa yung mga nag-private message at nag-post sa wall ko ng throwback pic namin. Haha. May napansin pala ko na bagong pag-greet. Diba nauso dati yung HBD. Tapos ngayon merong MBTC. Kala ko kung ano. Para kasing MTRCB. Tapos after a few seconds na-gets ko na, ‘more birthdays to come pala’. Haha daming alam.
More than a year kong binabasa ‘tong libro na ‘to. Sa wakas makaka-move on na ko sa next book. May times kasi na nasa mood akong mag-hangout sa Westeros tapos pag na-distract ako, totally makakalimutan ko sya. Kasi iniisip ko rin na alam ko nanaman yung ibang mangyayari because of the series. Pero nananaig pa din yung curiousity ko kung anong difference nung books from the series kaya kahit nakakatamad minsan, gusto ko pa din tapusin. At alam ko rin na once magsimula ako ulit, sure naman na manunumbalik yung pagka-fanatic ko.
You want to be enlightened on the amount of unnecessary information you consume
You’re bothered with your short attention span
You want to appreciate reading more
This non-fiction book about the negative effects of television was published in 1985. It may seem irrelevant nowadays but not really. The reason why this book is still being read today is because it couldn’t be more relevant.
Unti unti nang nagiging masaya ulit ang December. Nabanggit ko noon na sinira ng Canada ang December, my favorite month of all time. Favorite month kasi nga, birthday month namin ni Kenneth tapos feel na feel mo sa paligid yung festive mood sa Pinas. Tapos eto din yung time na uuwi kami ng probinsya from Manila (kung san kami nagw-work noon) para mag-celebrate ng Pasko at New Year with family and friends. Kaya ang saya saya talaga ng December. Pero yun nga. Pagdating namin dito, parang ang bitin at ang pilit nung saya.
This book was recommended by one of our book club members (Thanks Pearl!). She learned that I have some interest in Stoicism and suggested this book to me. I had a hard time finding a simple definition of what Stoicism is but I think this one is helpful:
STOICISM • a philosophy that helps us direct our thoughts and actions in an unpredictable world. We don’t control and cannot rely on external events, but we can (to a certain extent) control our mind and choose our behavior.
Basically, the book is encouraging us to have some kind of philosophy when dealing with life. And since I don’t have any religion, I think it’s a good plan. Although I’ve always thought that I turned out pretty well without being religious. That I don’t need to have a religion to be a decent person. But having a philosophy, as the book suggested, seemed appealing to me; and personally, a better alternative than religion. And this specific philosophy that the author is advocating for is Stoicism.
The primary concern of philosophy should be the art of living: Just as wood is the medium of the carpenter and bronze is the medium of the sculptor, your life is the medium on which you practice the art of living.
Gleniz da Menace 