these are a few of my favorite things

yours may be raindrops, rosies, or whiskers on kittens. but here's a list of things that make me happy, in no particular order:

1. watching sunsets. i make it a point to go to work extra early (like mga 530pm) to watch the sun set from the 28th floor of my building. words cannot explain. pramis.

2. listening to the ipod, especially if i'm walking. it feels like i'm starring in my own movie and i'm listening to my own soundtrack.

3. watching sunsets while listening to classical music. best song to listen to? kanon in D. you can find it here.

4. our laptop, mommy's christmas gift to teena and me. it's more than i can ever ask for.  actually, natapunan ko nga siya ng pineapple juice last tuesday night... pero MIRACULOUSLY! NAAYOS SIYA!!!!! like BACK TO NORMAL that weekend! ANG GALING NI GOD!!! ahahahaha pinagpray ko talaga siya, AS IN! THANK YOU LORD! :) i will be MORE MORE MORE CAREFUL this time!

5. fireworks. i have always loved fireworks! maybe cos new year's is one of my favorite holidays and it coincidentally is my mom's birthday. anyway, i remember nung birthday ko (by the way i never got to wrote the long birthday post na... hahaha), and i was about to sleep. so sinasara ko yung mga bintana just in case umulan. i parted my curtain and saw FIREWORKS out my window, at eleven pm of june 6 2007.

and this really really good feeling literally welled up in my heart right then and there. and i knew there was this really goofy end-to-end ear-to-ear smile on my face. and suddenly my eyes got wet. and i was so THANKFUL that day. like God knew that it was the BEST way to end my birthday.

6. writing materials, especially notebooks and freshly sharpened pencils. there is nothing like pouring your thoughts out using pencil and paper.

7. hanging out in bookstores. i can stay in powerbooks/bestsellers/fully booked/a different bookstore/wherever na may seat for HOURS. bestsellers is my favorite pa rin.

8. waking up after ten or so hours of sleep. because i have a wonderfully wacky schedule, i value sleep. i really do.

9. DVD's of tv series. teena just bought heroes, csi: new york, and the third season of HOUSE! yaaaay! finally i have something to watch on lazy afternoons!

hmmm...eto na lang muna. i'll be adding more as soon as more ideas pop up

what's in a name

yesterday i went to the ENLI building in fort bonifacio for the EN07 auditions. performers and production staff were needed for this july's world conference, and as usual, i was excited as all heck.

after a short wait i was interviewed by darlene, one of the directors. upon introducing myself she laughingly informed me that there was a volunteer who had the same name as mine, only spelled with a C.

of course, that got me really intrigued!  it's not every day that i meet someone with the same--or at least similar--name as mine. growing up i've always been associated with either the nail polish or the soap, which of course i royally hated to bits!

i even hated my name for so many reasons: aside from the previous, it was too uncommon, and too short. i remember asking my mom to have my name changed to "kim." mom laughed at me and told me that "kim" was a name for goats (i apologize to the kims who might read this. it was my mom's way of, you know, convincing me otherwise). unfortunately, my then four-year-old mind refused to accept that!

of course i learned to live with, and LOVE my name. daddy once told me that "karess" was a variation of the greek "karis," which meant graceful (click here). also, i learned to love its uniqueness and shortness. the one-of-a-kindness got to me, especially when signing up for log-in names. i didn't need to think too hard about what to use, hahaha!  

i lived with the jokes, too. ever wondered why my name is so long on your multiply contact list?