sHeNzEe's wOrLd: April 2008

My Top 10 Romantic Movies (so far)

>> Wednesday, April 30

Directed by: James Cameron

Produced by: Jon Landau, James Cameron

Written by: James Cameron

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Frances Fisher, Victor Garber, Kathy Bates, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Danny Nucc

9. A Walk In The Clouds

Directed by: Alfonso Arau

Produced by: Gil Netter, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

Written by: Robert Mark Kamen, Mark Miller, Harvey Weitzman

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Anthony Quinn, Giancarlo Giannini

8. City of Angels

Directed by: Brad Silberling

Produced by: Charles Roven, Dawn Steel, Charles Newirth

Written by: Wim Wenders, Peter Handke, Richard Reitinger, Dana Stevens

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan, Andre Braugher, Dennis Franz, Colm Feore, Kim Murphy

7. Sweet November

Directed by: Pat O'Connor

Produced by: Elliott Kastner, Steven Reuther, Deborah Stoff, Erwin Stoff

Written by: Paul Yurick, Kurt Voelker

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron, Jason Isaacs, Greg Germann, Liam Aiken, Michael Rosenbaum

6. A Walk To Remember

Directed by: Adam Shankman

Produced by: Denise Di Novi, Hunt Lowry

Written by: Nicholas Sparks (novel), Karen Janszen (screenplay)

Starring: Shane West, Mandy Moore, Peter Coyote, Daryl Hannah

5. Casablanca

Directed by: Michael Curtiz

Produced by: Hal B. Wallis

Written by: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt

4. At First of Sight

Directed by: Irwin Winkler

Produced by: Rob Cowan, Irwin Winkler

Written by: Oliver Sacks (essay), Steve Levitt (screenplay)

Starring: Mira Sorvino, Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, Steven Weber

3. Gone With The Wind

Directed by: Victor Fleming

Produced by: David O. Selznick

Written by: Margaret Mitchell (novel), Sidney Howard (screenplay)

Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel

2. The Notebook

Directed by: Nick Cassavetes

Produced by: Lynn Harris, Mark Johnson

Written by: Nicholas Sparks (novel), Jan Sardi, Jeremy Leven

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands, James Marsden, Joan Allen, Sam Shepard, David Thornton

1. Somewhere In Time

Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc

Produced by: Stephen Deutsch, Ray Stark

Written by: Richard Matheson

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer, Teresa Wright, Bill Erwin

These are my top ten so far... what's your all time favorite romantic movie?

on a night such as this…

>> Tuesday, April 29

On a night such as this…
when the thunder roars in the heavens
when the rain pours down like my tears tonight
and only the cold wind caresses my face

On a night such as this…
when the emptiness of my room sickens me
and the emptiness of my heart kills me
bringing back those unwanted memories

On a night such as this…
when cold silence embraces me
the frantic beating of my heart
and my painful cries could only be heard

I’m losing everything… everything I could keep
There’s no reason left for me to live
Not even those dreams of our very first kiss
on a night such as this…

My world is in chaos
From that very moment you went away
Everything is amiss
on a night such as this…

Questions race in my head
As I lay here in my bed
Tell me how can I find all the answers
on a night such as this…

rainy days

>> Monday, April 28

Two more weeks and I'll see you again...

sniff.. sniff...

(note to reader: don't mind me.. I'm just down today..)

Pursuit of Happ(y)ness

>> Friday, April 25

So I finally watched The Pursuit of Happyness (a movie about Chris Gardner’s struggles in trying to survive in this world) last night and it made me think how blessed I am to have a good home, a family, and all my basic needs fulfilled. I used to want all these (somewhat useless?) things in life, taking for granted what I already have.

Human beings are just plain insatiable. When we finally have what we think would make us happy, we look for something else that would make us even happier. We struggle everyday, taking two or three jobs at a time so we could buy the things we need and the things we want just to “survive”. Our quest for ultimate happiness is endless. There are days when we know what we need, what we want, while there are days when we are just lost, confused, and somewhat clueless to what we are after. We dream big dreams only to wake up in a reality so different from what we always want it to be.

The pursuit of our own happiness is just like going in circles. We begin by making our dreams, then we fight to achieve it, when we finally reach the top, we realize it’s just not what we want(need) or it’s not enough, it doesn’t make us happy. So we search again. We will never find true happiness if we cannot see what we already have right now. It’s what we do not have that makes us unhappy.

Let me share these quotes about happiness:

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” –Albert Schweitzer

“Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy -- because we will always want to have something else or something more.” – Brother David Steindl-Rast

“The basic thing is that everyone wants happiness, no one wants suffering. And happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors. If your own mental attitude is correct, even if you remain in a hostile atmosphere, you feel happy.” - Dalai Lama

“Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves.” - Helen Keller

Earth day

>> Tuesday, April 22

Let us celebrate earth day today!

Random facts about Philippines

>> Friday, April 18

1. Population as of August 2007 (according to the NSO) is 88.57M and a projected population of 90.4M for 2008.

So that would be an increase of 1.8M in just 1 year! With a yearly increase like that, 10 years from now the population would reach to 100M! Now where would we place those millions of people in these tiny islands of ours? No wonder we are having a shortage in rice(?). Why can’t we just admit it that we have a problem in population? The average daily family income is just enough to feed 2 or 3 persons, yet the average number of members of a Filipino family is around 5. So that would be twice the daily income can afford. I definitely suggest that we should start thinking about population control to alleviate social as well as environmental problems.

2.The number of registered vehicles as of 2007 is 5,530,052, with an average increase every year of about 4.5%.

And you’re telling me we have a problem called poverty?! With this gradual increase in prices of oil, people continue to buy motor vehicles. Some are looking for other alternatives for oil though. Why not use salt water as alternative for oil? Hehe It’s the most abundant resource today. Plain salt water... hehehheh

3.Students spend more money for their education than they will earn afterwards.

Well isn’t this ironic? The average tuition fee of private schools, like Silliman University, is about Php25,000-30,000 per semester (that’s about 3.5 months). Add all the other fees (college fees, fees for not being able to attend a convocation or what, etc.), projects, board and lodging, allowance, fieldtrips, school materials (notebooks, etc.), books required for classroom use, all the other expenses used while “trying” to get a “good” education, it will all add up to around Php50,000 (in just three and a half months?!). That’s more than twice an average Filipino worker earns for that duration. Heck! That is more than I was earning! Gawd! To make matters worse, one aspires of becoming a doctor who saves lives or an engineer who build dreams, only to enroll in a caregiver program so he/she could be employed abroad. It’s practicality, I know. What happened to those dreams of becoming a “someone”?

4.The highest number of persons arrested due to drug related incidents (as of 2005) is 33,150, and this was in 2003.

Does this mean that there are lesser drug users today? Or they are just becoming more cautious? :)

5. A total of 2,843,335 tourists from all over the world visit the Philippines.

Thought there are a lot of beautiful tourist spots here in the Philippines, most Filipinos do not (or cannot?) visit these places. Travelling takes a lot of time, not to mention money, and most Filipinos don’t have both.

*more random facts to be posted later.. :)

wats en a nem

pair it up with this...

hehehehe wla lang.... :)

Over You

>> Tuesday, April 8

- Chris Daughtry Lyrics

101 Things To Do This Summer

>> Friday, April 4

Here are some things we could do during summer (note: this is due to boredom, but some are pretty good ideas!)

1. Make a scrapbook of everything you do this summer (nah! I'm too lazy to do scrapbooks)
2. Have a picnic (yah! i like this one)
3. Write a letter (now who am I writing to?)
4. Visit another country (hell yeh! if I have truckloads of cash)
5. Go to a ballgame (ahmmm???)
6. Get a job (hehehehe)
7. Become a photographer (I kinda like this one)
8. Make dinner for your family (I'm always making dinner for my family, even lunch too.. and I enjoy it!)
9. Compare a book to a movie (kapoy! heheh)
10. Write a poem (oooohhhhh me writy a poo-wem..)
11. Learn about fireworks (now why would I want to learn about that?)
12. Bake some cookies (fooodieee!! slurp slurp!)
13. Take a boat ride (hmmm to where? this is kinda romantic.. dontya tink?)
14. Sketch a picture of your house from the outside (hahahhaha like me?! draw something?!)
15. Go to camp (dats for kids! hmph...)
16. Visit a farm (E-I-E-I-O..and on his farm he had some...)
17. Take a walk and record the sounds (dis is good... :) so relaxing...)
18. Make your own soccer camp (I dont even know how to play soccer! hesh..)
19. Keep a journal on what you do during summer (hmmmm....)
20. Cut up an old greeting card and make a puzzle (now why would I cut up a greeting card?! I save those kind of stuff... hehe)
21. Start a band (oh yah! rah rah rah rah sis bomba!)
22. Make a new kind of sandwich (heheh I do like these ideas that involve food..)
23. Blow up balloons, put notes inside and hand them out to friends (nah.. too expensive)
24. Go backpacking (yah! who likes to go with me?!)
25. Go outside and find 10 different kinds of flowers (ahhmmm gumamela, santan, bulak sa acacia.. heheh)
26. Create a web site (I dont really know how to do that.. that's Lurch's thing.. heheh)
27. Go camping (where? any ideas?)
28. Invent a new dance (shesh! would someone really follow my lead? hehe)
29. Help with house and yard work (ok! ok! if its not too hot outside.. oki?!)
30. Visit the zoo (the only zoo here is good old li'l Silliman Miniforest..also called CENTROP)
31. Learn a foreign language (yah, I always like to learn Latin or Aramaic)
32. Make an obstacle course in your backyard (yah, for my two doggies!)
33. Make a treasure hunt (kinsay ganahan mu apil? isang tiil!!!)
34. Read a story to someone (basi makatulog ra niya siya... or is that the plan? hehe)
35. Have a winter theme party (hey! this is cool..)
36. Recycle bottles and donate the money to a local charity (this is good)
37. Clean up a nature trail (this is good too! who would like to help?)
38. Build a tree house (nah! dont know how to build stuff.. maybe someone I know.. hehe)
39. Create a new world (woah!)
40. Set up a lemonade stand (hahahha hutdon ra nako inom ako baligya.. )
41. Learn or teach a new sport (I'm really not a sporty person.. really..)
42. Attend a concert (wala mn concert dire karon.. )
43. Have a family game night (heheh I'd like to see this one happen)
44. Make a movie (hehe)
45. Make a collage (kapoy.. hehe)
46. Make a terrarium (I'm busy with my two doggies..)
47. Go canoeing (this is fun!)
48. Discover a new author or book series (I'm collecting works of Barbara Michaels for some time now..)
49. Go to a museum (heheh cge ra ko adto museum.. sa Silliman Hall. You should go too! It was recently reopened)
50. Make a fire plan (yah, definitely! For safety measures!)
51. Make up a bubble solution and have a contest (hehe I remember blowing bubbles from the 3rd floor of the SC building..that was fun!)
52. Find a new friend (this is not too hard)
53. Plant something (I tried planting something once, it just died. Poor plant.)
54. Visit a tourist spot near your home (hehe cge ra!)
55. Host a yard sale (Will somebody actually buy my old stuff?! hehe)
56. Build a sandcastle (yey! A day at the beach sound soooooo goooood!)
57. Donate some of the toys and clothes you no longer use (Hey this is a good idea!)
58. Research your family tree (I'm really not good at this. But my father knows a lot about our family. Maybe I could ask for his help)
59. Fly a kite (with all these big acacia trees, I don't think I can..)
60. Invent your own board game (what is it with this inventing stuff???)
61. Use a compass or GPS to map your neighborhood (why don't I just go to google maps and print it! Oh wait! Dili diay siya makita sa google map!)
62. Build a time capsule (I already did this one... maybe I'll do another one)
63. Act in a play (I'm not really a good actor.. maybe when I have to wiggle my way out of something I did wrong.. heheh)
64. Throw a cultural heritage block party (heheh maybe this is too big for me)
65. Make a bird feeder (heheh my mischievous dogs would just probably destroy it.. hehehe)
66. Organize a bike safety clinic (I dont even own a bike. shesh!)
67. Spend time with your grandparents (I wish I could but my grandparents are gone.. :( )
68. Attend a first aid class (if I'm not too tired to get my lazy butt out of the house, maybe I will!)
69. Dig for fossils (dont wanna get my hands dirrty.. my two doggies are digging something in our backyard.. its getting deeper and wider..)
70. Write a song (I wish I know how.. kutob ra ko sa poems)
71. Tie-dye some t-shirts (maybe..one of these days)
72. Take a dog for a walk (make that take two dogs for a walk)
73. Have a paper airplane contest (nah! conserve paper man!)
74. Go without TV for a day (ahhm ahmm ahmm, is this really necessary??)
75. Sign up at your local library for their Summer Reading Program (I dont think our library has this one..?)
76. Learn some new outdoor games (dah oi! naa napd ning invent ug games...!! hmph!)
77. Make something from recyclables (yah! more trash! heheh my father would have my head..)
78. Share your favorite movie with a friend (movie marathon! go!)
79. Make home made ice cream (YEHEY!!! more foood!!!!)
80. Get a magazine subscription (nah!)
81. Jump on a trampoline (hehehehehhe)
82. Organize a scavenger hunt (I just read this horror book about scavenger hunts... dili sa ko.. hehhe)
83. Go swimming (honestly??? I dont know how to swim.. hehe)
84. Paint a portrait of your bestfriend (the best thing i can do is stick drawing... )
85. Start a collection (I already did! Books, movies, bags.. hehhe can I call that collection??)
86. Write a fairy tale (yah, and my heroine would be Princess Shenzee!!! hahahahhaha dili bagay!)
87. Travel in time (literally? hehe if only I have the power of Hiro Nakamura...)
88. Stargaze and track the moon phases (I like to stargaze..with.. heheh)
89. Learn how to sew (I think I know the basics of sewing.. I took HE back in high school..)
90. Visit a National Park (someday maybe..)
91. Roast marshmallows (ohhhh... gooodieee gooodieee!!! I'd like to dip them in chocolate tooo!!!!)
92. Rent a video of a ballet (nah! too boring!)
93. Watch the birds (basi mgka-stiff neck nya ko... are we talking about the same birds ryt? heheheheh *wink*)
94. Arrange a bouquet of flowers (heheh this is sweeett..and maybe I can do this for my mom's bday!)
95. Learn to blog (hahahha like where am I posting this?!)
96. Re-decorate your room (ok!)
97. Learn to play chess (I already know how.. not that good, but I know the basics..)
98. Adopt a pet (my parents would probably have my head if I adopt one more pet! hehehe)
99. Keep your brain going (yah! always man! always!)
100. Teach someone to use email (hahaha I know a person or two... *wink*)
101. Create your own holiday (hey this is probably the best idea ever! I'll name it Shenzee's day! no! not day, maybe Shenzee's week! or Sheenzee's month! or Shenzee's year! hahahhaha)

eeeetsss sooooo haaaaaaat

Wew! summer's definitely here.. to think it rained yesterday, I was hoping it would still be the same for a few more weeks. But there's no stopping Mr. Sun up there..

I already stuck my head inside the freezer, ate a bowl of ice cream, drank lots and lots of cold iced tea and water, it still feels so hot. If I can fit inside the fridge I would definitely stay there whole day. hehehe

Summer is here. I have to go find a way to cool myself down, maybe I'll go take a bath(again!) or something.

101st

>> Wednesday, April 2

ei this is my 101st post.. it has been a year now since i first started this blog (thanx to lurchie's constant coaxing)..hehe i never thought of myself as a blogger, mind you, but i came to enjoy this blogging thing.. :)

anywz, i gotta keep this post short, i still have a lot of cooking to do.. heheh til more and more posts...

mmmwaah!!