summer and blisters

when i was so much younger, everyone in our household had chicken pox; my two siblings, my cousins even my mom.  at the time i thought myself lucky that i did not catch the disease.  now, years and years after i finally caught the virus.  living alone in manila with nobody to even talk to, i felt it was the end of the world.

chicken pox, is a self limiting disease that is caused by a herpes virus.  thankfully it only strikes ones and usually after contacting it, one's body creates antibodies that it will be immune to another attack.  in cases, the blisters that appears stay for 2 weeks.  tsk tsk tsk

here are some tips for those who unfortunately will catch chicken pox which is very common this summer:

1.    the blisters will be very itchy, to take away the itch have an oatmeal bath.  put raw oatmeal inside socks and tie the ends.  soak it in your bath water for about 30 minutes, the water will become milky in appearance. use this in your bath and it will soothe the itchiness.

2.   to make sure you dont have scars, use an antiviral cream specifically formulated for chicken pox.  zovirax is a good choice.  since its very costly, use it on your face if your budget does not allow for you to use it all over.

3.   avoid foods that will worsen the blisters.  chicken, eggs and other food that would worsen rashes or allergies would worsen chicken pox itch as well.

4.   avoid strong breeze, since the virus is airborne direct air on your skin will give you more blisters.

5.   sleep and rest, sometimes when you feel aches which can be common take paracetamol.

6.   drink plenty of liquid.

7.   and importantly, do not scratch since it will scar.

hope these tips can help those who will catch the dreaded virus and now i can honestly say, I survived chicken pox..... yehey!

eh fries lang naman ang gusto ko eh...

CBCP pleased with pullout of fast food dating kids ad 

By Jocelyn Uy
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:14:00 04/12/2011

Filed Under: Churches (organisations), Children, Consumer Issues

MANILA, Philippines—The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines is pleased that a McDonald's ad showing two children wooing each other has heeded its call to stop airing at once.

The 30-second ad of the giant fast food chain has been pulled out since Tuesday night from airing on major television networks following appeals from some officials of the Catholic Church who said the ad conveyed a wrong message on relationships to viewers. ...(continued) http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20110412-330770/CBCP-pleased-with-pullout-of-fast-food-dating-kids-ad

Dyu think this is right? I suddenly remember the stories I learned in history. During the Spanish times, we were strangled by those people who instilled in us the fear of what is good and bad. Now centuries passed, and are we still under the shadow of their hold on us; what is right for us and what is wrong. 

Like the RH bill, don't they realize that we are but like them, we THINK too and are not just silent morons who wait for them to tell us what is right and what it is they think is wrong.  

That commercial was CUTE.  

It spoke to me of childhood innocence, of the naivete of the children as they realize that there is something out there in the way their parents love each other, how they need to give and show love.  Never in my wildest thoughts did I think about anything malicious about that commercial. What I thought was, those two kids are just symbols of the love that we need to have, the innocence that we need to use to view the world.

HUSH

when i say hush, i mean one of its synonyms and that is "quiet";  to shut you mouth and not utter a single word about what i am about to say.  so shhhhhh...

hush, hush is a novel written by becca fritzpatrick and deals with a girl and the absurdity of everything that started to happen when she first got to know a new lab partner.  things spiral towards an ending that is though exciting is somewhat cliche.

from the cover, we know it is a story of an angel or a fallen angel and that somewhere along the story we get to meet one or a few of these divine creature.

now after reading the book, let say this; and its going to be a little hard so brace yourself.

the books started like stephanie meyer's twilight; mysterious new student, school setting and a little creepy dash of something eerie thrown in the way.  after a little bit, it started to remind me of NANCY DREW, honestly it did.  Sleuthing girls, going off to find clues, looking into school records etc. etc.  Then right at end it becomes SCREAM.  Yes the movie!

now, for those who has not read the book, I'm not saying its a bad read. In fact, I enjoyed all 400+ pages of it.  What Im saying is, it just takes getting used to.  

all in all, though I might not have the nudge to read this book again well lets just say my curiosity was a little piqued to try my hand at the second book.

lets see if that PATCHes it up!

*HUSH HUSH is book 24

City of Fallen Angels

L’amor che move ill sole e l’altre stel e...

My will and my desire were turned
by love, the love that moves the sun and the other
stars... PARADISO (Dante)

Have you ever had that feeling of doom that you know will eventually happen but just keeps building up until you feel ready to explode?  When you are expecting something bad and you know it is not just a thought but is really about to happen and you cant do anything about it but wait for it to be there?  Well thats how I felt reading the newest installment of the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.

After reading the third book, City of Glass a few months back, I never really thought that there would be another book in the series.  In fact, I thought the ending was one of the best on any series or trilogies I have read.  The conflict was fixed, loose ends tied up, it was over and done with.  The end.  Then I read on the author's website (which I read from time to time much is my fascination on the characters within the Shadowhunter books) that there would be another book. I thought, hell, what now?  Will it eventually be one of those series that goes on and on without any ending whatsoever?  With complexities that will eventually devour everything into incomprehensible nonsense.  But still I waited for the fourth book.  And now I'm really glad I did.

City of Fallen Angels begins a few weeks after the third book ended.  And while the first conflict was resolved, this new book tells us that it was but the beginning of a whole new adventure and this time with more at stake than just the Shadowhunters. 

I thought with the third book, the end of the trilogy that i know everything there is to know about their world,,,only to find out that i have only touched the surface of something that is so deep that it would take the rest of the upcoming books to scratch it, probably more.

I also only just realized that though Simon was one of my liked characters in the first three books, it is only now in City of Fallen Angels that I become to realize that he is as real as Jace or Clary. Also, new characters are introduced with subtlety that you sort of grow into liking them bit by bit and not suddenly thrust into your presence.

In the end, this is a whole new different ball game.  A story of love, salvation, forgiveness, hate, and self sacrifice.  The feeling of the angst of someone in love but filled with the confusion of it all emanates from Jace like a throbbing presence, add to this the questions that plague Clary's mind creates a jumble of emotions clearly evident in young lovers feeling the enormity of the emotion in all its splendor.  The characters have  all grown up and has become more real with depths and emotions not entirely different from ours.

The antagonist, when finally revealed is someone/something you would expect but then again someone/something that you would never have thought in a million years (curious? read the book).

Reading through the pages, I realized the the way the novels were written makes them perfect to be transformed to films without much changes to the premise. as a script writer, the sequences of how it was written is perfect. I cant wait for the first movie.

All in all, read the book.  Immerse yourself once more to a world that might not be our own but shouts with the goodness that makes us who we are.

*City of Fallen Angels is book 23 of the 100 challenge

twenty two

lately, i have been on a reading rampage.  not only have i devoured several books in the last days but  have been to enraptured by them that i forgot to post them here.

here are the books i have finished from cover to cover to another cover to cover.

20. Krondor: Tear of the Gods by Raymond E. Feist
21. Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey
22. Dragons of a Fallen Sun of the Dragonlance Series

currently finishing up on City of Fallen Angels, Book Four of the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.  And this ill write a review about tomorrow!

love is for the living

Nobody ever gets to see what could have been.

Oftentimes, we strive to hang on to the memories of a loved one who dies.  If the ties in living has been too strong, we can barely let go of the person's existence that more often than now we will ourselves to believe that they are still with us.  But, even if we make ourselves believe, there will always come a time that we have to let go and learn to live the rest of our lives with only memories. 

i never really wanted to watch CHARLIE ST. CLOUD.  not for anything else but for the presence of zac efron.  i was not really a fan much was my irritation to his character in high school musical.  i was never into cloyingly sweet and teeny booper films with saccharine love themes.  


i knew it was a novel but still i was not attracted enough for me to be interested in watching.  much do i regret it now.


charlie st. cloud is a miracle of a movie.  not only are the shots a seemingly parade of stunning still shots but i truly admire the maturity that zac efron has given the character of charlie.  for sure, my bias on him has gone into the light with his prowess in this film.  

the film is a story of love, of brotherhood, of faith, of life, of death and the overwhelming power of belief and the lessons that we need to learn as we grow older and how we need to let go to be able to move forward.


*now, i think id like the book...

19

nineteen

the number does not describe my age but counts the number of books i have read so far this 2011.  This is in my quest for 100.  I recently finished the last two books, one the ending of a trilogy and the other the second book of one of Raymond E. Feist's numerous series.

the Amber Spyglass ends Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, a story of Lyra Belacroix, a young girl on the verse of adolescence as she moves from world to world in an adventure that will ultimately save the world.

this third book for me is the most thought provoking.  No wonder it was questioned by the Catholic church in some countries as a book not fit for young readers (as it rightfully is).  It presents the story of paradise lost in an entirely new vision.  Not only that, but it also questions the very basis of the catholic faith.

but remember that this is fiction and along with the premise and the superb writing of Pullman, I truly believe that this book is a must read.  Adventure, magic, suspense and the ultimate sacrifice that will always mean that good will always prevail.

lately, i have noticed that i have been reading a lot of Feist.  and with this title, the second in the Serpentwar Saga, i again realized why.  Raymond E. Feist presents young out of the way characters as the main personalities of his adventures.  what started with Pug and Tomas in the Riftwar Series, this story now has a different cast of characters in a setting that to me is almost more familiar than my own.

rise of a merchant prince is truly the story of Roo, an ambitious criminal turned soldier turned merchant as he rises from non-existence to that of being an important figure in Krondor, set of the story. with equal amount of wit, adventure, danger, and sexuality this is one novel that is truly Feisty (pun totally intended).