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May 03 Still Alive and KickingHey everyone out there! Your favorite Cyberdork is still alive and kicking. Reason why I havent logged in any blog entries lately is for several reasons lately.
First is because ive been really busy. Busy with studies, assignments, and etc. You know...life in general.
Second reason is due to being busy I completely forgot about updating this site.
Thrid, when I do remember to update, I become lazy to do so. Partially due to being tired and part due to being just plain lazy.
Rest easy that yours truly will post a new blog soon containing dteails of my life these past fet months. Nothing exciting to report really. LOL.
Well this is all for now. Take it easy.
Peace and Chicken grease!
March 18 Tomorrow I run the MarathonGreetings All!
Tomorrow is the big day. The day I run the 26.2 mile Los Angeles Marathon. I hope I do well. Weeks and months of training will all boil down to tomorrows events. I just hope that all goes well. So far, I am able to run around 5 miles per hour. That includes short pauses in order to walk and to recarb and rehydrate myself. Since I can accomplish aroun five miles an hours I think I will finish around 5 or 5 and a half hours time.
Why am I running this marathon? well for two reasons really. First is to run for Vocations awareness and the need out there to pray for more priests, nuns, and religious brothers in order to serve God and his Church. The second reason is just so I can say to myself that I have accomplished such a thing and made it to the finish line. In a way our lives are like one long marathon. Sometimes we takes turns and detours but we are all heading towards one finish line. We also head there together. The question then arises, how have we ran the race.
Well I guess this is all for now, please pray for me as I keep all of you in my thoughts, especially tomorrow.
PEACE TO ALL. March 08 It Dosen't seem like my Birthday, but it is.Hey everyone! Its a nice sunny day here in good old Southern California. Nice day for a Birthday. Yup, thats right, today is my Birthday. You good old friend the Cyberdork is 24 today. Eeek! I'm Old! LOL.
Although its my b-day, it dosent seems like a birthday. I mean sure I went to mass but thats routine. Not many people apart from my mom and cousin wished me happy b-day. Some did in passing but thats just about it. I mean you know, usually people thorw huge parties and make it a big deal to celebrate their b-day. But I always keep my birthday simple and quiet. Just the way I like it. I'm planning to drive down to the beach later on today and spend even more alone time. Perhaps watch the sun set. Ahh so ideal. Nice a relaxing.
I'm not much of a partier, now anymore anyway. Back on the old days when I was younger I would go clubbing like mad and get pissed drunk. But that was then. Now just a nice quiet birthday will do. I promised my mom and cousin to go home this evening. They're cooking Pancit (Filipino Noodles) and Adobo (Filipino Chicken) for me. Yum Plus thay said they got my favorite type of make. Mago Cake from the Red Ribbon bake shop (A Filipino Bakery). Yay for me! Me thinks that will be the highlight of my day. I love Mango cake.
Before I go, in breaking with tradition I just wana tel everyone my wishes for my b-day:
-Travel More
-Good health and prosperity and long life to all I love (Firends and Family)
-To do well in my studies
-World Peace (duh! of course!)
-Belssings for the poor and the sick and comfort to the dying
-To be a better servant to God and to my fellow humans
-And Finally: to be the best Dork ever!
Well there ya have it. Hope all my wishes come true. Take care everyone and until next time!
CHEERS!
March 06 Lent Has BegunGreetings to all!
As you can see, I have changed the background of my webpage as well as placed a new picture of Jesus weeping in the Garden of Gethsemine. Now, many of you might say my page looks a bit depressing. Its not ment to be. It is ment to reflect the holy season that the Church has now entered into. That season is the Holy Season of Lent. It began with ashWednesday and will end on the eve of Good Friday and culminate with the Holy Tridiuum or the Holiest 3 days of the year in which we commemorate Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.
Lent is a time of fasting and abstenance (not easting red meat, pork, poultry, and expensive seafood). It is a time of sacrifice and self-denial. It is a time of purification. Now you may ask yourselves, why do Catholics do this? Well, its not only to commemorate and prepare ourselves to celebrate the great mistery of our faith. This is also a time when we practice self-denial in order to be in solidarity with those who do not have much, those who are poor, sick, dying, the disadvantaged and those cast out from our society because of who they are.
In this time of Lent we are called to enter into a time if intense prayer and reflection. Just as the first monks and even Jesus himself entered the desert to reflect and pray, let us do the same by entering into an inner desert within our souls. This time of prayer should hopefully draw us closer to our God and help us to decern and follow his will. This time of prayer and reflection should also allow us to reflect on our own mortality. What have we done to contribute to the good of society in our short lifetime? If God would call us tojudgement this very day or night, would we be ready to be accountable for our actions?
Let us make use of this Holy season of Lent seriously and a spirit of prayer, reflection, solidarity with the less fortunate and in a spirit of repentance. For the non-Catholics our there, invite to this holy practice of self-dicipline and solidarity with others, thereby growing in a deeper knowledge of yourself and of others. February 23 Our most Holy Father Benedict XVI elevate 15 men to the Sacred College of CardinalsHey Everyone! I hope all is well.
It is with great joy that I announce that our most beloved Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI announced on Feb. 22 the elevation of 15 men to the ranks of the Sacred College of Cardinals. To anyone who does not know what the College of Cardinals is, it is that body which gathers together to advise our most Holy Father on matters regarding the Church. They also help him in Governing the Church acting as Bishops and Archbishops of Dioceases around the world or as heads of various departments at the Vatican. Many time the College of Cardinals has been known as princes of the Church. But since royal usage is so outdated in modern times, is is more correc to refer to these few chosen men as the Senate of the Church. Even Pope Benedict XVI himself called them the Senate of the Church.
Most importantly thought the College of Cardinals gather together at the death of a Pope to elect his successor. All cardinals under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in the Papal Conv=clave as it is called. This was clearly demonstrated when our most beloved Pope John Paull II (God rest his soul) passed on.
One thing I am particularly proud of is the elevation of Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales of the Archdiocese of Manila, Philippines as a Cardinal. Also important was the elevation of Bisop Zen of Hong Kong as a Cardinal. this is important because Bishop Zen has been a vocal critic of how the Chinese Communist government has persecuted Holy Mother Church in mainland China. Chinese Catholics have been beaten and horribly tortured by communist authorities for many years. His elevation has been seen as a visible sign from our Holy Father that he wishes to see our Chinese Catholic brothers and sister free to practice their faith.
The new Cardinals (12 of them under 80) will be elevated to this rank on March 24 which is rare because Consistories (meeting of the worlds cardinals) usually does not happen during Lent but the Pope can do what he wants I guess. LOL.
Finally the names below are those of the 15 that have been elevated to the Sacred College of Cardinals:
- Archbishop William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
- Archbishop Franc Rode C.M., prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
- Archbishop Agostino Vallini, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
- Archbishop Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino of Caracas, Venezuela.
- Archbishop Gaudencio B. Rosales of Manila, Philippines.
- Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, France.
- Archbishop Antonio Canizares Llovera of Toledo, Spain.
- Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul, Korea.
- Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley O.F.M. Cap., of Boston, U.S.A.
- Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Poland.
- Archbishop Carlo Caffarra of Bologna, Italy.
- Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun S.D.B. of Hong Kong, China
The Pope then announced that he had also decided to elevate to the dignity of cardinal "three prelates over the age of 80, in consideration of the service they have rendered to the Church with exemplary faithfulness and admirable dedication." They are:
- Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls.
- Archbishop Peter Poreku Dery, emeritus of Tamale, Ghana.
- Fr. Albert Vanhoye S.J., formerly rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute and secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
Congratulations to these most worthy men! February 14 The Valentines Day RantUnhappy V-day to all!
God I hate this day. I mean the weather was nice and all. Perfect for lovers here in Southern Cali. YUCK! So yeah its close to the end on V-Day and I guess people are out to dinner or to see a show or whatever the hell couples do. But for me it was just another day. I worked my friggin butt of to finsih up some assignments due today. Also I have had a spliting headache all friggin day. To add insult to injury, I accedentaly slammed the door to my room on my finger. Its a long story. So yeah its been a bad day. I hate this day. Its so fake. Ok well. So yeah. Today is Valentines Day. Its suppossed to be a holiday where love is expressed. But think of it, if you truly love someone, wouldn't you want to express it to that person all the days of the year? Why have a special holiday for it? Besides over the years Valentines Day has shifted from being a religious and honest expression of love to a superficial, utilitarian expression of love. No a days its whatever you can get out of a person is what determines love. If you can get either sex, money, power, status, or looks then you love the person. If all of that is lacking or gone all of a sudden, then they're kicked to the damn curb! Now I ask you this, what the hell kind of love is that? Honestly if people want to celebrate the time of love turthfully and hoestly and for what it was originally ment for, they should be going out there and helping out the homeless, taking care of those in need. Why not show love to those who don't see love on a daily basis? Like the poor, people in the nursing homes. They don't get much love. If people want to really celebrate the day of SAINT Valentine then do something a saint would do. Reach beyond yourself and touch the heart and mind of another person. Even if you don't know them. Do that instead of trying to get laid (in other words, instead of trying to have sex).I bet people would become better for it. IN OTHER WORDS, DROP THE SUPERFICIAL ATTITUDE OF LOVE THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE. Embrace something greater than yourself. Maybe even visit someone who dosen't have a Valentine. You know it hurts them not to be able to celebrate this day like the others do. Finally. the following is an excerpt from a website I found a while ago. Its an Anti-Valentines Day site created by a dude names Elson trinidad. I though what he had to say about V-Day is right on the button. So tell me what you think about it. E-mail me at johnjohn03@hotmail.com with any comments you might have. Till Next post everybody. Bye!
A Different View of that February Curse Viewpoint, page 4, USC Daily Trojan, Friday, February 11, 1994. by Elson Trinidad Michael Bolton sang, "Love is a Wonderful Thing." I disagree. The J. Geils Band sang, "Love Stinks." I couldn't agree more. Love stinks, surely, but don't get me wrong - I am not preaching hate to the world. There are basically two kinds of love: There is the love associated with peace, respect and goodwill - usually referred to as "Brotherly Love," which is something the world definitely needs more of. Then there's the other kind of love - romantic love. Which is total crap. What is love? That question has been answered many times by poets, songwriters and lovers making utter fools of themselves, all of them usually coming up with such cliches as, "Love is a Rose." Blah. Love is a rose, all right. It's got thorns. If I were to answer that question (which I believe is intended to be merely rhetorical anyways), I would say: "Love is a luxury, not a necessity. Love is society's dangerous pressure, which ruins those who vainly try to comply with it. Love leeches you of your intelligence, rational abilities, creativity, time and money." So there. "Love is a luxury, not a necessity." Is love _really_ necessary? Does the Constitution mention it? Does one of the Ten Commandments say, "Thou Shalt Fall In Love?" No. Love is simply a luxury. Once can live a happy, healthy, productive life without falling in love. If Plato had fallen in love, for example, he would have never had the time to create his philosophies. "Love is society's dangerous pressure, which ruins those who vainly try to comply with it." Turn on the radio. What do you hear? A love song. Watch a movie. What do you see? A love scene. Perhaps, to escape the problem, you can take a walk. Sorry! there are lovers holding hands in the parks, sidewalks and shopping malls of the world. What happens every February? Ugh. We are bombarded with hearts, Cupids, flowers and candies. We feel the pressure of the marketing ploys of Valentine's Day (a so-called "holiday" with a strictly commercial purpose and no historical significance whatsoever, designed to suck your purse or wallet dry on overpriced gimmickry). Pressure indeed. So you have no one to love? Tsk, tsk. Society labels you a "loser" or an "outcast." That's just not fair. Love is certainly responsible for the problems of the world. Take overpopulation, for instance, Love leads to sex, and sex leads to babies. Too much leads to too much sex and too many babies. Perhaps the world's governments should take that into consideration. Without romantic love, there would be a dramatic decrease in the instances of date rape and spousal abuse. Not to mention a massive decline in AIDS cases. "Love is something that leeches you of yout intelligence, rational abilities, creativity, time and money." Love makes you dumb. That is not just opinion, that is fact. A study performed last fall at Tuebingen Univeristy in Germany dealt with electroencephalogram (EEG) readings of people with low IQs and high IQs. One of their findings revealed that some of the high IQ subjects showed brain- wave patterns of a "clearly reduced complexity," comparable with those in the low IQ group. The researchers questioned them and found out that they were genuinely and passionately in love. And how many times have couples neglected work or their studies just to spend time together? Far too often. Lovers are very un-creative people. They succumb to dullness and cliches. "I'll love you forever," a man would say to his woman. Bo-ring. What does that mean, "forever?" No one loves forever. People break up. And even if they marry, they get divorced. And even if they stay married, they die. Nothing lasts forever. I have lost count of all the times I wanted to hang out with a friend, only to hear, "Oh, sorry, I can't. I have to spend all day with my girlfriend." (My mind hears the sound of a whip cracking). And lovers are so intoxicated with each other that, for them, "Time seems to fly by so quickly." As for money: Hah. Love leaves you bankrupt. There are the necessities of life: food, clothing, bills, perhaps even rent and gas. But love upsets one's financial priorities. Lovers have to spend money on such things as presents, flowers, presents, cologne or perfume, presents, perhaps even birth control and, oh yeah, presents. And I didn't even mention how money disappears when people go out on dates! All of the above leaves one financially weak. It's no wonder that lovers have to end up living together. Face it, love is not such a wonderful thing now, is it? Happy Valentine's Day. February 13 The Cyberdork has been lazy lately.Hey all you party people out there! I'm back. Sorry for not posting up an entry for a couple of weeks. Yours truly the Cyberdork has been a bit on the lazy side lately. Arrggghhh! Being lazy is one of my weak points. Well I've just actually been lazy when it comes to posting something up on these blogs.
So, whats been goin on with me you ask? Not much really. Just continuing studies, and training for the LA marathon and the "Run for Vocations". Also spending time at home helping out in the office on the weekends. And of course there is the work I do in the parishes. Thats about it. Soo, umm yeah.
Tomorrow is Valentines Day or V-Day for short. I like to call it actually Singles Awareness Day. For all the single people out there, lets make V-Day Singles Awareness Day and make the world of "Couples" aware that we exist. Thats all I have to say about that.
So I guess this is all for now, don't forget to post a comment or e-mail me at johnjohn03@hotmail.com. Look foward to hearing from all of you.
Cheers! January 31 A New Laptop For The Cyber Dork!Hey everyone!
How goes things for all of you out there in cyberland? Hope all is well. As for me its the same ol same old. Studies during the weeksday and when I go home on the weekends I help out in the office . It actually getting busy right now over at the office since here in the United States its the Income Tax season. So you know I'm putting in those long hours. Anywho its ok.
Well in the main news, this past weekend I was finally able to buy a laptop! Yay for me! Had to save up a small fortune in order to get it, but I got it! I went to Besy Buy and bought it on Saturday. Its a Gateway 3400 Notebook. The following are the specs. or all the goodies that are part of my new laptop:
So as you know that the Cyberdork is a computer freak, you know that I will be spending my free time surfing the net wirelessly. Well, this is all for now I guess, I must "park my pen" here. As always, I welcome any comments. Please post something so I knowpeople are looking at this site. You can also e-mail me at johnjohn03@hotmail.com. CHEERS!
January 27 Manny Paquiao Wins The Fight! Paquiao Won For The Filipino People!Hey everyone! Sorry it took me a week to update you on the fight results. Well, here I go. If you didnt watch the Paquiao vs. Morales fight, or don't know about it. Please reado my previous entry to find out what i'm talking about. For the rest of you...well....Manny Paquiao (Pacman) the pride of the Filipino people won the match on the 10th round! He won on a technical knockout! When Paquiao entered the arena the crowd went wild. You could see in his eyes that he was out for blood! As I was watching the fight with my friends at the sportsbar, you can see the bar was packed with guys rooting for one side or the other. Just to make sure everyone knew who me and my friends were rooting for, I brought my giant Philippine flag with me. The hispanic guys who were rooting for morales kep on making fun of us saying the Paquiao was gonna loose. But after the 10th round they had nothing else to say and bowed their heads in defeat! Sweeet! Even in all the predictions, all the papers and the sports casters said that morales would win again. Boy were they wrong! Never ever underestimate the power of the Filipino will!
The following day I was reading the online news back from back home (The Philippines). They said the streets of all the major cities were deserted. People closed up their shops and either went home, to a friends house, or to a bar to watch the fight. It was even stated that the Churches rescheduled mass at either earlier or later times after the fight so the faithful and clergy can watch the fight. Prayers were offered for Paquiao. Heck he even had a Mass at his Las Vegas suite! When he won people wnet and celebrated peacefully by dancing in the streets and congratulating others. People were crying openinly. I wouldn't blame them. It is a matter of national pride ya know. Paquiao was fighting for the homeland! He even said so himself!
The best part about it is that when he went back home he was greeted with a hero's welcome. Although he was treated like a celebrity, he was very humble about it. A true Filipino from head to toe. He called for more national unity. He said the unity experienced by the country when they rooted for him should be further strengthened to unite the country and show the world what the Filipino is truly about. I doo agree with him.
In closing, CONGRATS PACMAN! YOU MADE YOUR COUNTRY AND YOUR COUNTRYMEN PROUD!
January 21 Stand Up and Fight for the Philippines!Grretings all. Just wanted to say Hi before I leave for the sports bar to join up with a couple of friends. The reason why I am goin there is to watch the Manny Paquiao vs. Morales fight. I'd rather pay five dollars at a sports bar and have a couple of beers with freinds than stay at home and watch it on Pay -Per-View for $45.00.
For those who know, the Paquiao vs. Morales fight is sure to be watched not only here in the US but back home in the Philippines and in Mexico. this involves national pride two champs from two countries fighting it out. It will be held in Las Vegas in the lragest venue they could find which is the University of Nevada Las Vegas arena. Heck! This is bigger that the Chavez vs. DeLa Hoya fight! Senetors and other politicians from both the Philippines and Mexico will be there. Even Madame President Arroyo (President of the Philippines) gave her best wishes. For those who do not know, this fight tonight is a rematch from the initial fight held in March of last year which Morales won by decision (booo!!!). Damn judges. I am hopeing it will be a knockout fight and that Paquiao will win. Its a matter of national pride dammit!
I swear if Paquiao had 20 second extra last time they fought he could have knocked out Morales. It was said that this morning before the fight a private mass was held in the suite where Paquiao was staying at in Las Vegas. Ahh what a good Catholic kid! LOL. I know I'll be praying that he wins. It will give filipinos worldwide another reason to be proud of their heritage. Apart from the food! LOL.
Well guess this is all for now. Hope everyone is dong well. Again please post a comment on this site or e-mail me at johnjohn03@hotmail.com. Cheers all.
Knock him out Paquiao! You can do it!
MABUHAY NG PILIPINAS!
 No Fear for Paquiao!
 Manny Paquiao with H.E. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
January 19 I know I know, Its Been A While!Greetings all you happy hapy blog readers of mine! Now I know what you guys are sayin. "Finally! He's still alive!" Yup yup. I'm alive. Sorry for the delay folks. I've been really busy with the holiday's and all. I also just came back from a long retreat that I took at the local Benedictine monastery up in the high desert area. It was really refreshing. Also, another reason why I havent updated anything is because I've been feeling kindda lazy when it comes to updating stuff online. I haven't even checked e-mail in a long time. LOL.
Soo...umm what else is going on you ask? Well, here the weather is great. Windy but great. the sun is out again. During new years and up until around a week ago we got some steady rain here. Thats about it. Now its really windy but nice. I've been wearing pullovers lately so thats cool as well. Hey I gotta break out the winter clothes from storage. He he he.
As for my holydays. It was great. Like I said in previous blog entries, I kept it simple this time. Christmas was spent going to midnight Mass at the cathedral over in downtown. I tell ya it was an overflow crowd of 5,000 people in standing room only! I wish it were that way every Sunday and not just on holidays. Christmas day was spentvolunteering giving food to the homeless. I even worked in Santa's Village helping pass out toys to needy kids. No I did not dress in an elfs costume. LOL. It was way too hot. It was aroun 80 degrees F/ 30 degrees C. New Year's eve was rainy though. Went to Mass again at the cathedral during New Years eve. obviously there wasn't many people since most people were getting drunk. LOL. Before that I cleadned the whole house with my mom to prep for the news years. I also went to Chinatown to buy some firecrackers. Now we don't pop firecrackers here in the States but who cares. Actually it was illegal to pop it outside of Independence Day (4th of July). LOL
Afterwards I just bummed around the house and the family business halping out as much as I can before the smester starts. Before classes began I went on retreat. The was nice. It was a semi-silent retreat. Imagine doing very little talking for one whole week. It was a little piece of heaven. For others though it might be hell on earth since they are so used to noise pollution. LOL
Anywho, I guess that is all for now. I've updated the blog and gave you gossip on whats been goin on with me. LOL. Again like always, comments are always appreciated. Please post one here or e-mail me a johnjohn03@hotmail.com
CHEERS ALL! January 01 A Special Message For The New YearGreetings to all who read this message:
It is my most sincere wish that all who read this message are in sound health in mind and body. For those of you that may have forgotten who I am, my name is Michael Honrales from Los Angeles, California. Many of you I have met through my travels in Asia this year or in my travels to Europe, also within this year. In a particular way many of you met me during World Youth Day held in Cologne, Germany. For the others, you may be collaborating with me in projects within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Yet others may be close friends of mine. Still others are e-mail pals from many parts of the world. Regardless of how I know you, I send you greetings.
The reason why I write this special message is to wish you and all of your loved ones, wherever you may be a most Happy and Blessed New Year. For many people, 2005 had been met with many hardships, challenges and heartache. For the world at large, 2005 has been a year in which we saw terrible natural disasters and the passing of wonderful people like His Holiness Pope John Paul II. Although 2005, might have been challenging, it was also filled with many great events, such as lives joined together in marriage, births of children and in the world at large, events such as Live 8, the promise of global debt reduction by the world’s 8 most powerful countries, and the election of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
I know that in my own personal life there have been many challenging events such as my mother’s two-month battle with a terrible blood infection in which I had to constantly care of her is among many other challenging events that I had to face. My life was also filled with many blessings, such as the Ordination of my cousin to the Priesthood, my travels to Asia and Europe this summer where I met many of you. No matter what challenges I went through I was able to grow stronger in who I am and in my faith. Those joyful events in my life also inspired me greatly as well. I can still recall the outpouring of love and life that I saw during World Youth Day among the over one million participants.
As we face the New Year, the Church (Catholic Church), has declared the first day of 2006 to be a World Day of Prayer for Peace. For it is only through love and an understanding of one another we can truly have peace. The Church in her infinite wisdom has asked us to pray for peace during the upcoming year. Let us great this New Year, in a spirit of hope for good things yet to come, not only for ourselves, but for loved ones and even for our enemies. We must also greet this New Year with a spirit of love, not only for those we love, but also for those we might now know and for those who we refuse to get to know.
Instead of setting New Years resolutions such as dieting, earning more money, or looking better, let us set New Year’s resolutions that are more radical and perhaps ever counter-cultural. Let us be resolved to step out of ourselves in order to serve those less fortunate. Let us resolve to give our time, talent, and treasure, at the service of God and others. Let us resolve to be selfless, giving, and loving towards all instead of following what our modern culture tell us to do, which is to act in a selfish manner taking everything for oneself and leaving nothing for others. Finally, let us be resolved to live more simple lives, freeing ourselves from desires of wealth and power.
In closing, I wish you again, many blessings, love and peace for the year to come. May you and you loved ones be filled with love always. May that love that you share with one another spread to all those you come in contact with.
Your Friend and Brother Always, Michael Honrales
December 21 Its going to be a warm week and a hot Christmas!!!Greetings all!
Its 5 days before Christmas. While the rest of the United States is suffering from cold, ice, snow, and rain, here in Southern California its nice and sunny. Today it was 75 degrees farenhieght/24 degrees celsius. It felst it was spring time. The only thing that one can tell that its suppossed to be cold out is the leaves on trees. They are barely starting to turn colors. It nice really. But you know what the irony of the warm weather today is? The irony is that today is suppossed to be the first day of winter! Even the northern part of California is in rain and snow. Wow, what a winter southern cali. is having. He he he. We are sooo lucky.
I also must mention that this morning I was watching the news when the weather man announced the weather for the week. He said as the week goes by it will get hotter. At least with regards to the southern part of California. It will be the hottest during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with temperatures around 85 degrees farenhieght / 30 degrees celsius. Humm...I think I might take my mom and cousin to the beach for a while during Christmas eve. LOL. To add to the nice weather, theres gonna be high waves. I might just very well go boggie boarding this week.
You know I have never experienced a "white Christmas" where there is snow all over. My Christmas holidays haveall been spent either here or back home in the Philippines where its also nice and tropical. So everytime me, my mom, cousin and friends hear that song "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" I cannot relate. Now don't get me wrong, I;ve experienced snow but you know what? It really dosen't appeal to me. I like my sunny and warm days of "winter".
Well I guess this is all for now. Like always, comments are always welcommed. Please e-mail me with your comments or suggestions to johnjohn03@hotmail.com or just post a comment on this site.
CHEERS ALL AND HAVE A MERRY AND BLEESSED CHRISTMAS!
 Heres a photo of Downtown Los Angeles during a typical winter December 19 Playing Musical Chairs at the Philippine ConsulateHello Everyone. Wow, another blog entry the next day! Amazing isint it? Well I just wanted to update you on some interesting things that happened today. To me it was funny. So Judge for yourself.
Today as I mentioned in yesterdays blog entry, I went to the Philippine consulate in downtown Los Angeles in order to renew my Philippine Passport (Ahh the beauty of dual citizenship). Well traffic to and from the consulate was pretty bad. When I got there drove in circles around the parking lot trying to find parking (which is hard in downtown LA). So, I finally got into the consulate on the 16th floor if the Nara Bank Building. I was shocked to see so many people waiting "in line" so to speak. Last time I was there there were very few people around. I guess Monday is a busy day for all of them.
So anyway, I proceeded to get in line at the passport renewal window with my renewal application and the passport fee. All of a sudden a lady tapped me in the shoulder and told me I hat to wait in line. I tolf her that was what I was doing. She said in tagalog "no, the line begins back there". She pointeed out 10 rows of chairs in wich people were moving slowly up to the windows. So I went to the back. I asled if there was a number that I should take and the answer that cam was to follow what the people were doing.
So what were the people doing you may ask? Everytime I person in the last chair in the front row went to one of the windows, the rest of the people would move in oder to sit to the chair next to them until it was their turn to go up. Heck, people didn't even stand up to move to the next chair. they just slid their butts to the next chair over. Adding to the interest of the moment, Filipino Christmas songs were playing in the background. It was a funny sight to see. I thought I was playing muscial chairs at the consulate.
Finally after close to an hour and a half playing musical chairs it was my turn to get up to the window. It took the lady only around 10 minutes to process m paperwork and for me to take mt oath of allegence. Then I was sent to another window to pay for the fee. Thank God I just had to stand in line and not play anymore musical chairs. You know for a consulate, its sad for me to say this, but their system of waiting that they have implemented sucks bigtime.
December 18 One Week Before Christmas!Greetings all! It me again with another blog entry that I know all of you love reading. Well,hope you love reading. Maybe? Yes? No? Maybe so?
At any rate, I am home for the holidays. For two and a half weeks. So, what am I going to do? I might just bother my mom and my cousin. I know they miss me being around so I'll bug them. He he he. Seriously though, I have a lot of work to do. Actually I did a lot of work already. I spent most of the weekend stuffing Christmas cards for our office, as I mentioned in my last entry. My hand are dry. Oh well. Part of the job.
I also caught up with some old friends this weekend. I had lunch yesterday with an old friend of mine that I havent seen in over a year. He's 36, and I found out yesterday that he's decerning a vocation to the priesthood. Good for him. He asked me questions about my experiences and I answered him honestly and told him my thoughts about the whole matter. It was a good lunch. By the way, for all you who want to know, we had Thai food. It was gooooood!
Tomorrow I have to go to the Philippine Consulate in downtown LA to renew my passport. Ahh yes, the beauty of dual citizenship. LOL. IF I survive the chaos I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.
Finally, Christmas is a week away! Yes! Celebration of Jesus' birth. Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season. Sounds clichè I know but its true. Me and my mom decided since it was basically the three of us, to keep things simple like we did last year. We might go for a couple of Masses for Simbang Gabi with the local Filipino community. For all you out there, Simbang Gabi is the tradition 9 day novena masses leading up to Christmas.
Also, we are planning on going to midnight mass at the Cathedral in downtown LA. I always enjoyed Midnight mass at the Cathedral. So beautiful. About gifts, we decided to keep that simple too. Give each other gift cards! He he he. I'm getting my mom a gift certificate to a Shiatsu Massage Spa (Japanese Massage). She needs it. Don't tell her though! Shhh.... We also might feed the homeless on Christmas day. One good thing about Los Angeles on Christmas, it doesn't snow and its usually sunny, although a bit cold.
In the evening, we have been invited to several Christmas parties. We might go party hopping. LOL. When my dad was alive my folks used to throw nice parties every other year and give out presents to every person there. We usually had around 50 people in our house during those parties. So you know how crowded it can be. So this time peope are inviting us as a sort of payback I guess for us inviting them. Sweeet. I am deffinately going to the Filipino parties. Do some kareoke and eat eat eat! Which reminds me, I need to work out every day while I'm on break. LOL.
Well, I guess this is all for now. Again, as always, comments are always appreciated. Feel free to e-mail me or post a comment on this site. Take care everyone and have a great week.
GOD BLESS AND CHEERS!
December 16 I'm Free! I'm Free! With Finals That Is!Greetings to all those faithful blog readers out there! I'm Back with a new entry!
So after one week of hell on earth (Final Exams), I am free. Today I was able to go home for a two and a half week break. For the past week and a half or so I was busy typing up papers. One of my killer papers that I had to type up was for my ethics class. That was a 24 page paper that I did. I didnt mind the research and getting all the source documents together, what I hated was the actual typing up of the paper because that when you have to figure out which of the quotations to use as source documents. I am surprised I survived. He he he.
Now to give you a bit of how my schedule was like, basically I only had around 3 or 4 hours of sleep. I survived on coffee mostly. Had the small coffeemaker in my room brewing all night long. Woke up, did morning prayer, class, and final exams, then more work, study, and assignments. I didn't even have time to do my running and work out in the gym! So umm... yeah it was fun. I think during my two and a half week break I will compensate for all the lost sleep that I wasn't able to take. Ahh yes, sweet sleep. Amazing sleep, how sweet the sound! He he he. I might even go to the gym. If my laziness dosen't take over. He he he.
So what else am I going to do during my break? Well, I am going to help my mom out in the accounting office that we own. January is the beginning of the Tax Season here in the U.S. and I know 1,500. Clients will walk in and out of our door just to do their taxes. So when I come home on the weekends, I am going to help out in the office. Hey earn some extra bucks as well. He he he.
Well I guess this is all for now. Now that I am home my mom is making me stuff Christmas cards for all of our seasonal clients reminding them to do taxes and for all of our regular year round small business clients. Great, stuffing 2,000 Christmas cards. How Fun (Notice my Sarcasm)! Also I still have to do all of my personal Christmas Cards. By my estimate all my Christmas cards will arrive at their destination before New Years. He he he. Oh well.
As always, Comments are always appreciated. Please post a comment so I know people are reading this blog of mine and people are actually going to my site. Or you can e-mail me at johnjohn03@hotmail.com
CHEERS ALL! December 08 I hate needles!Ok Ok Ok!
This blog entry is a bit of a rant. I know it might not be enjoyable but I have to say whats on my mind. tomorrow when I go home for the weekend, I will have a late afternoon appointment for my annual physical with my doctor. First of all I hate physicals in general. They always poke you and prod you. Last time I had my physical I had to get hooked up on an EKG monitos and had to do all these tests.
If thats not bad enough they're gonna draw my blood! I hate needles! I mean I dont hate them with a passion but I still hate them none the less. I especially hate the part when it is being inserted into the arm and vein. You know the sight where it just puctures the skin. Dont even get me started on the feeling! I hate it. When my mom was sick for that one month and she had to have anti-biotics via an IV, I would always shy away when it came to that time where the nurse that to insert the needle. Afterwards it would be fine.
Now dont get me wrong I can stand pain. Beleive me I've been injured plenty of times before. But you know, theres something about needles that I hate. If I were to talk to a psychologist about this they would say it was due to a traumatic event when I was a child. You know what? they're right! I remember when I was about four years old and I had to get my general immunization and booster shoots done when I arrived here in the U.S. I remember like five shots were delivered on both my arms and my little bottom! I remember the pain. It hurt! So I guess thats why I hate needles. I am barely trying to get over seeing other people have needles inthem let alone have one poke me. Oh well. I know it will be a brief couple of minutes but I dread it. December 06 My Students to be Confirmed TonightGreetings all. Hope everyone is well. As for me here in sunny Los Angeles, California, I am doing great. Nice and warm outside. Its really sunny out and I'm appreciating every minute of it. I know in other parts of the country and other places in the world, everyone is freezing. Here, I'm doing well.
Tonight I have to drive all the way across the otherside of the Archdiocese to Long Beach. I will be going to attend the Confirmation of my adult Confirmation students. The Bishop that will be presiding and confirming is my boss, Bishop Aleaxander Salazar, the Auxiliary Bishop of the San Pedro Pastoral Region of the L.A. Archdiocese under which I serve. He asked me once again to be his Master of Ceramonies for the Mass but I had to decline because one of my students asked me to be his sponsor. Therefore I cannot take on two roles at one time. So instead of wearing a Cassock (black robe) and a roman clerical collar I will be wearing a dress shirt and tie! Good change for once. He he he.
Honestly though, I am very proud of my students. Although they are adults , and a lot of them older than I am, I still feel like a proud parent sending his kids off into the great world out there. Awwww...its true though. Thats how I feel. I have taught them as much as possible about the beauty of the Church in such a little time. Now its only up to them. My only prayer for them is that they treasure all that they have learned and honor and defend all that our faith holds.
The Sacrament of Confirmation is nothing to be taken lightly. Confirmation means that you recieve within you the gift of the Holy Spirit. With that gift comes responsability. It is a lifetime commitment to serve the Church and to love her. Its is a commiment to serve others, especially those who are in need. Through this wonderful Sacrament we are called by God to confrim our Baptismal promises and be the light of Chirst in a dark world.
I remember when I was 15 years old and I recieved Confrimation. As it was my turn to go up to the Bishop and get confirmed I told myself "I'm not going to cry! I'm not going to cry!" But, as the Bishop (Bishop Wilkerson, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles) anointed my head with holy oil forming the sign of the cross and as he pronounced the forumula of Confirmation, something inside me started to busrt open and I started crying. I admit it, it was a very joyful and amotional moment for me. I knew that now I was fully a part of something much more greater than myself. I now fully belonged to a 1.3billion strong family of faith, the Catholic Church. I hope that the experience that I had at 15 will be the same for at least some of them.
Well I guess this is all. Like always, comments are always welcommed. Please post your comments or e-mail to me at johnjohn02@hotmail.com
CHEERS ALL!
P.S. The Photos below are that of His Emminence Cardinal Roger Michael Mahony, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The second photo is that of Bishop Alexander Salazar, one of the six Auxiliary Bishops of Los Angles. He is in charge of the San Pedro Pastoral Region.
The pictures of the other Bishops can be found on the pictures section of my website.
December 01 Has Alanis Morissette gone soft?Greetings all from windy yet sunny Los Angeles, California. Yes everyone this is the first blog entry I am writing for the month of December in the year 2005. Yay! Yahoo! As you can tell from the title of this blog entry the thing that is on my mind is Alanis Morissette, you know that really cool edgy singer from the great white north (Canada)! Oh, and speaking of which, greetings to all of my Canadian friends and readers out here eh!
So to go on with my thoughts and how it came about. Earlier today I was studying for one of my Philiosophy classes. While studying I like to play some music. Therefore I decided to pop in my good old Alanis Morissette CD "Jagged Little Pill". Needless to say I am a big fan of hers. Her songs are full of angst, and raw emotion. The CD I especially like is the above mentioned album which was her debut CD. I memorize most of the songs that are in it. Its one of the older CD's I have in my collection.
Although I think good old Alanis is still a good singer I think she hast lost that edge that she used to have. I would even go so far as to say that she has gone a bit soft. Think about it. Her first CD won critical acclaim the world over with its emotional beats and its angst filled lyrics. Her second album "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" was good as well had had more of an ironic twist to it. Now Her third album "Under Rug Swet" in my opinion was more like a therapy session dome in music. It was ok but you can see I think that this was a transition point from that soulful angst that we knew to a more, well ...how would I describe it, a more crying out for help Alanis. A dealing with her issues Alanis. Finally her more recent one "So-Called Chaos" is obviously a CD where she has more of an accceptance of her life as a famous rock star and her expression of her new founf love in her personal life. So, dear friends a you can see there is that transition from HArdcore Angst to softness.
Now to all the hardcore Alania fans out there, I am not saying that she is not longer a famous and inspiritational singer. Indeed her songes have touched many of us. All I am saying is that to me I would like the old Alanis back with her long wavy hair and no make-up instead of the current Alanis that is prim and proper with short bobbed hair. Ahh well, alas she has found love, with that a change for the better on her part. But for the rest of us, a loss of the former Alanis we once knew.
So, this is all for now. Like always, comments and suggestions are always welcomed. Please post a comment or e-mail me a johnjohn03@hotmail.com.
Cheers everyone!
 November 30 New Funny Pictures PostedHey all, this is just going to be a short and sweet blog entry. I was surfing the net earlier today and I found these really funny pictures. I got a kick out of them. So I decided to post them. They are found in the pictures section. Tell me what you think. Feel free to post a comment of some sort or e-mail me. You should know my e-mail address by now.
CHEERS! |
I will now be abe to burn my own CD's and DVD's. Truly I say to all of you, the Cyber Dork has entered the 21st. Centry. Well kindda. LOL. 
The Cyber Dork's New Laptop!|
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