So instead let me focus on some very happy news.

Early last month, I bought Nooki, a Sony Cybershot DSC-H3 camera. To say that I’ve wanted this for a long time is an understatement–I’ve wanted to try my hand at photography ever since I first read Robert James Waller’s Bridges of Madison County, and I was just a high school sophomore then. I’ve never had the budget for a camera of my own, so I’ve had to make do with my Sony Ericsson K750i phonecam.

Thanks to my boyfriend and his mom, tita Love, I was able to get Nooki. And I’ve been a happy shutterbug ever since. Though i can’t say much about my skills in photography (or lack thereof), I can definitely say that I’m happy getting to know Nooki. Made me want to travel more, if I may add.

Also thanks to Ely, who has been housing this blog, for helping me set up SnapBites. As of this writing, it only has four pictures, and nothing at all spectacular. Comments and (constructive) criticisms are very much welcome–hey, a noob needs as much help as she could get, right? Right.

So, it’s yet another blessing for me. Didn’t I say that 2008 seems to be a good year for me?

There are people that you grow up with, and there are people that you grow with. And while everyone grows up with someone else, it’s not as easy to find people you can really grow with. And I grew with her. She understood the inexplicable (and terribly stupid) way I have of always taking the backseat in my past relationships, because she’s the same way. We share a love for kids, and we make decisions out of our emotions. We moaned about professors, and problems both petty and grave. We witnessed one another go through a slew of relationships both serious and not, in pursuit of someone we can share the thing we’ve always wanted–a whole and happy family.

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The problem with blogging is that you can never tell who exactly may be reading your thoughts. I’ve since come to learn that there are some things that are too trivial to be worth the bother–and there are just some things that are too deep, too special, too meaningful to share. And since my life has been full of semi-trivial and overly special, uh, life events lately, then where does that leave my blog? In a corner of the cyberworld rotting and developing its own mini-ecosystem, I suppose.

Anyway, let me just share a few things that I’ve been thinking of.

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JOBS
I have to confess that of the two jobs I decided to take, money has been a big factor. And that is not something I am ashamed of. When you have responsibilities apart from yourself, you cannot, unfortunately, thoroughly dismiss The Money Factor when taking jobs. But God has a way of teaching us things. I sometimes think that even though there are gazillions of people with different personalities, He knows each of us like the back of His hand. He knew I will never listen to lectures, and theories, and well-meaning yet tiring sermons. He knew that the only way I will learn is by experiencing it myself, and when I didn’t get it the first time, He sent another lesson-slash-experience. And now I know, satisfaction in a job is something that money (although I do not overlook its importance entirely) can’t buy.

WRITING
The only time I can remember myself actually liking being a (pseudo) journalist was during my internship with the Philippine Graphic. I liked my bosses and I was liked as well, and they helped me get my first byline. The Graphic newsroom was not as exciting (or torturous, depending on how you’ll look at it) as it would probably have been had I worked for news daily, but just the idea of being involved in producing in a respected news magazine was enough to keep me on my toes. I loved working there and that job is still a (distant) possibility.

But.. the rest of the time, I hated writing or worse, I was indifferent to it. I took up journalism for the simple reason that I suck worse than rotten eggs at Math, and I am rather good in English. Looking back, at the time I can’t imagine choosing anything else. Writing is something that comes to me as naturally as breathing, what with my nose consistently stuck in books for as long as I could remember. But writing is also tantamount to poverty, at least as far as I can see. And with someone who is not loaded with money in the first place, that requires major consideration.

But.. right now I really can’t imagine doing anything else. Nothing else so far has caused the kind of satisfaction that seeing a minimally-edited copy gives me. And thanks to our gorgeous and intellectually superior (ahem*raise*ahem) mentors, I learn things that my four-year course in journalism never taught me. Nothing else came close to the exhilaration that my first-ever published article gave, and I have finally accepted that I’m stuck with writing, and writing’s stuck with me.

TRUST
There are people you can trust with everything, there are people you can trust with some things, there are people you trust in the meantime, and there are people you can’t trust at all. I’ve been lucky to know at least one or two of these kinds of people, because I can now differentiate one from the other. I have a few of the first kind, and those are the people I keep close–literally and figuratively. The rest, I can more or less do without. I have learned that those people are just clutter, or sources of temporary fascination (it is always entertaining to watch these people). I don’t have to spend a lot of time trying to discern which type a person falls under. Often, I can tell with a single glance.

FORGIVENESS
There are people that you forgive because you must, there are people you forgive because you want to. Also, there are people you forgive because you need to.

But there are some people, contrary to what others might say, you have no obligation to even try.

Amélie is a whimsical, somewhat idyllic movie that frequently totters at the tip of fantasy, and pulls back at the very last second. The director’s (Jean-Pierre Jeunet) trademark quirky humor is prevalent all throughout the movie: the extreme camera angles and cuts, the talking pictures and portraits, and the lead character’s too-short haircut. The cinematography is exceptionally unique and bright: it has a lomo-esque quality that projects an illusion of an old, only-in-the-movies storybook setting. The script is sentimental without being cheesy, humorous with the faintest touch of romance. Every subplot is tightly sewn, the edges flawlessly sandpapered that it glides smoothly down your throat, and you won’t realize that it’s lodged itself in your heart.

Tautou’s performance is, without question, the movie’s most dazzling ingredient. She expresses much with such few words, revealing just enough of her character to make the viewer understand and know her. At the same time she stays mysterious that the viewer must keep waiting for her to fully come out. She successfully lures viewers inside her eccentric existence, a world of curious and often funny happenstance. Her haircut did not diminish her beauty; rather it highlighted her doe eyes and secretive little smile. Amélie is ultimately kindhearted, and with just the right amount of mischief to keep her character realistic.

Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain is a many-layered movie, a hodgepodge of touches of suspense, comedy, and romance—a formula guaranteed to make the viewer glued to his or her seat until the movie credits go up.

View trailer here.

A series of seminars aims at sharing basic information on the creative and technical aspects of Internet Marketing. The “Internet Marketing Bootcamp” will run for six consecutive weeks from January 26 to March 1, 2008. Each session will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at RCC Center, Shaw Boulevard, Pasig City.

Some of the country’s Internet Marketing luminaries from U.S. Auto Parts Philippines (USAP) will discuss the key concepts and strategies on this emerging field:

•  Michael Joseph Villar, USAP Affiliate Marketing Manager, will give a crash course on performance-based marketing, how companies and individuals can benefit from it, as well as the challenges confronting affiliate marketing.
• Email Marketing Manager Alvin Jimenez will present the email marketing campaigns and their relevance.
• Rico Sta. Cruz, USAP Creative Director, will discuss the essential principles in Web design and how to apply them to the Web.
• Copy Editing Supervisor Jennelyn Tabora will talk about online copywriting and its crucial role in attracting and building readership.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Project Managers Gabriel Libacao Jr. and Rhiza Sanchez will explain the basics of search engine marketing and how to convert visitors into sales and profits.
• Senior Web Analytics Specialist Maia Nuguid will discuss how Web analytics can help in assessing Internet marketing strategies.

Marc Hil Macalua, USAP Vice President for Marketing, will give the inspirational speech. Web Project Manager Elymar Apao will facilitate the Bootcamp sessions.

The Bootcamp is sponsored by the U.S. Auto Parts Network, the premier warehouse of auto replacement and performance part brands in the United States. One of the leading players in the Internet retailing industry, U.S. Auto Parts ranks among the top 100 online retailers in the United States in 2007.

The Bootcamp is open for all professional bloggers, Internet marketing enthusiasts, or anyone who has a background in Internet marketing. Interested persons may send their updated resumés at elymar@usautoparts.net or glibacao@mbsautomotive.com. Qualified applicants will be informed via a confirmation email.

Participants are encouraged to bring their resumes as a Job Fair will closely follow each seminar.

For further details, please visit the Internet Marketing Bootcamp site (http://www.usautoparts.com.ph/imb/), US Auto Parts Internet Marketing Bootcamp (http://www.usautoparts.com.ph/), US Auto Parts Official Website

(http://www.jobsdb.com/PH/EN/V6/JS/JobSearch/JobSearch.asp?PN=JobListing&pagename=adslist&searchtext=mbs). – US Auto Parts Job Listing

Contact Persons:

Elymar Apao

elymar@usautoparts.net

Gabriel Libacao Jr.

glibacao@mbsautomotive.com

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The first sentence of The Five People You Meet in Heaven grabs you by the neck, breathes into you and leaves you gasping and holding on until the novel’s very last word. It shows how nothing in life is an accident, how souls are interconnected, how lives–even those of strangers–intersect with yours. It takes you to a world where no one else quite imagined–a heaven that has many steps, a world where you get to “make sense of your yesterdays”–and what more of a heaven could you get than the opportunity to have peace, to understand why you lived the way you did, make amends, and learn to forgive?

Gripping, touching, and eloquent, the novel has gained plenty of praises and good reviews and has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide and is now the most successful hardcover first novel ever (via Albom.com).

“A powerful book” -Time Magazine
“Transcendent” -Atlanta Constitution
“A book with the genuine power to stir and comfort its readers” -The New York Times

On a more personal note: Simply put, I cried like a baby while reading the book. And thanks to Ronan, my secret Santa, who gave me the copy.

On an even more personal note: My heaven has changed. Now, it would be in a field in this old familiar place, where I used to spend my evenings with a certain dimpled boy, lying on the grass, talking about tomorrows, and waiting for stars to die.

Another year has gone by and I can’t believe I’ve been working for almost a couple of years now. It’s tiring to be an adult, and it’s pathetic that I still haven’t made that FULL transition from a kid to a full-pledged woman–hence, the frequent bouts of sickeningly existential Quarter Life Crises. It makes me feel old when I no longer receive gifts and moolah from fond aunts and uncles and ninongs and ninangs, instead I am now expected to give gifts and moolah to the, er, younger generation. And nothing makes me feel older than the fact that one of my cousins, whose diaper I used to change, is now big enough to carry me.

Years and years of failed attempts made me lack faith in resolutions, particularly the ones I made around the New Year. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to change and improve, the way that life is made in a circular manner–where everything is just a cycle–render resolutions, at least in my case, useless. And so instead of resolutions, I have created a list of goals, “baby steps” as we dubbed, that should serve as the star, or the light at the end of the tunnel, or whatever it is that people call them:
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Photo taken by Nan

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