Living Inside My Head

Have a blessed Easter everyone! 

Summer is now here. And today's weather was very hot, with temperatures soaring up to 30 degrees Celsius. While it wasn't the hottest ever recorded, the day was still stifling hot and dry, with no clouds and wind. It's very difficult to move around - even the slightest activity can greatly reduce one's energy. I drink more water than usual, and my appetite is poor. Clearly, summer-time and summer-heat are the most daunting experience in a year for me, and I really hate this season although food is more abundant than ever, with all kinds of fruits and vegetables available in the market today. In addition, I'm not in my productive moments in this season. Honestly, I still prefer the rainy days. :)

"People change. Some for the better, others for the worst."

Dad's birthday + trip in Subic Bay + baby-sitter for my 1-year-old nephew + Internet surfing + Sim-ming for days = tired! All I need now is a good night's sleep. Whew! 

Today is my father's 55th birthday. Yeah, he's getting old. Haha. We'll have a birthday luncheon tomorrow and our relatives are coming. We're expecting more or less 30 people coming tomorrow. Wow. I bet it'll be a tiring day. But that's ok. ;-)

 I went to a bookstore that sells second-hand books today and was happy to find a rather interesting book - Queen Eleanor: Independent Spirit of the Medieval World . It is a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most powerful, influential and remarkable women of the Middle Ages. I don't know much about this lady, but after browsing through the first few pages of the book, Eleanor already come up as an interesting figure, and I'm pretty sure that I will enjoy this book thoroughly. The book is highly readable, not complicated and not too detailed, which is an advantage for me since this is the first time that I will reading a biography of Queen Eleanor. I'm going to start reading this book tonight.

I've been spending my free time playing Sims 2. I've been doing so for the past few days, and I love it. Sims 2 is my all-time favorite PC game. We got all its expansions but we can only have one extension installed in our PC at a time because of the size of the memory and the hard drive. I really enjoy this game a lot.

This an extract from the letter of Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark referring to the recent death of her mother Queen Sophie of Greece, and the pain of losing one's both parents. This greatly reminds of someone who also had to experience this kind of ordeal. "The loss of our beloved Mother...was almost more than one could bear & heal, only time can ease the pains. Having lost both our beloved parents life doesn't seem worth living any more & one misses them everyday more. The only consolation is that at least they are happier on the other side without all the trials & difficulties of this hard life."

I have been itching to buy this book, but I'm refraining myself from doing so because I'm planning to purchase this before my birthday as a birthday present for myself. Hahaha! At $13, I think it's very reasonable since every page of this book is a sure feast for the eyes. Hope I can keep myself from clicking that order button until June.  

Nineteenth-century writers, artists, readers, and theater-goes were fascinated by stories of death and mourning—especially of a young and beautiful woman. Famous poet and essayist, Edgard Allan Poe, was also fascinated with this, in fact, almost all of his poems have this topic. He asserted that  "The death of a beautiful woman, is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world." Death of Elaine by Thomas Hovenden, 1882. There has been a long-standing philosophical problem of how tragic representations of suffering and death, especially of a beautiful woman, can arouse aesthetic pleasure and fascination. But why does this hold so much appeal and fascination to people? Death is often given the role of providing a sense of closure in written narratives and theatrical performances, for it is an act of greater finality and completeness than any other. As a writer quoted, "Death is the sanction of everything which the storyteller can tell. The death of

I took this picture of our 6 year-old half-Labrador, half-local dog, Tootsie. She is such a cute big dog and is so adorable and good-tempered. But she could be lazy most of the time and grouchy especially to strangers. Generally, she is civil to people she doesn't know, and if the person is a friend, family or acquaintance of ours, Tootsie can be indifferent. 

This is an enchanting portrait (and one of my favorites) of the beautiful Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia , a granddaughter of Britain's Queen Victoria. Elizabeth or "Ella", as she was affectionately called, was married to Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich of Russia, a younger son of Tsar Alexander II. The belle of the Russian court, Ella was photographed here in all her splendor when she was in her early 30s - at the height of her beauty - wearing the Russian Court Dress made of silver. She was also wearing a kokoshnik or a traditional Russian headdress, adorned with emeralds, diamonds and pearls, and a necklace of big emeralds and diamonds. She was such a lovely sight to behold!

My whole day was spent today with my cousin. We hanged out together in two malls in Quezon City. We went window shopping/shopping, went to the three different bookstores and had food-trip, which was very enjoyable. We were on our feet almost the whole day that's why my feet are aching now. But I had a great time with her. I haven't had such bonding time with her for four months and I missed her and our chit-chat together. My cousin was like an older sister to me. She is all kindness and understanding, and she is one of those few people who never let her judgment of other people fail her. She has such a heart of gold.