I love books.
Love them. I spend too much time reading actually. I used to make my parents angry because (a) they blamed my poor eyesight on reading too much, (b) Mama told me a girl should fill her days with chores and not her head with ideas, and (c) Papa said men are never attracted to smart girls. This is one time I'm glad I was such a disobedient daughter! Life has happened in such a way that I now know that (a) I'm myopic because of genetics and I do abuse my eyesight with too much TV--on my current gadget lust list is a
Slingbox--and, yes, too much reading, (b) Mama may have disapproved but her little girl's head of ideas made me a woman she was proud of, and (c) Papa was, thankfully, very wrong!
So since I'm discovering a lot of books because of my ongoing
Moleskine giveaway (deadline is tonight!), I just want to share my most cherished reads:
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, both by Lewis Carroll
- Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye
- Lord of the Rings trilogy and Silmarillion, all by J.R.R. Tolkien
- On Writing by Stephen King
- Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
- The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
- Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
- Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace
I have just finished reading
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and I am eager to read the next two books. It's made me extremely fascinated with parallel universes!
I've also enjoyed these over the past year:
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen,
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger,
The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox, the
Twilight series by Stephenie Mayer,
Watchmen by Alan Moore,
The Graveyard Story by Neil Gaiman and
Just After Sunset by Stephen King. Oh, and how can I forget
Vince's Life: Getting Over Andrea by Vince O. Teves!
I know I've read more than these listed (a lot of trashy novels--empty but fun all the same!) but I'll let you go now. I'm off to read
Makeup Manual by Bobbi Brown. I promised to give this book to my friend Mariel but I want to learn some beauty tricks from it first!
My friend Kat Dy is one of the fabulous women behind Belle de Jour, the daily planner specially created for Filipinas--it's packed with useful tips and discount coupons on top of the diary designed to make any girl efficient. I own one but I won't show it here because I write stuff on it that's a wee too personal!
A few weeks ago, Kat invited me to give a talk to the BDJ girls. The topic was how to earn money online. I've been earning a few hundred dollars regularly with my online endeavors and Kat thought I should share some of my online money-making secrets. So last Saturday, I squeezed myself into a blue dress and nervously gave my little talk.
I was nervous because of my dress! When you wear something you aren't comfortable in, your discomfort will most definitely show. And if you're about to step in front of a lot of people and talk to them, you want to focus on the talk and not on how your dress is pinching you everywhere! When my hubby saw my photos, he teased, "Ang lusog!" (How plump!") I wasn't offended--at a 111 lbs, I'm underweight, but when we met, I was a mere 90 lbs.--and swatted him playfully on the arm, but I'm glad I was talking about making money not giving diet pill reviews!
I want to say that BDJ girls are smart, good-looking and very friendly and warm! My nervousness melted away when I felt how welcoming (and forgiving!) they were of my fumbling about. I met so many fascinating women that day--entrepreneurs, housewives, wives, mommies who inspired me to do more, more, more! Thanks, BDJ girls! You made me feel better and so I had tons of fun!
