• @amourchaleur People who've been in the job longer have a way of making newbies feel like this. After some time, I'm sure you will shine! in reply to amourchaleur #
• @amourchaleur Whatever it is, don't let it get you down :) in reply to amourchaleur #
• Hello again, #Fail Whale. Wanna join me for dinner? #
• I love Bendita! The girl has guts XD #Agua Bendita #
• @obakesan They've all gone abroad. in reply to obakesan #
• I love Peter Facinelli (aka Dr. Carlisle Cullen of The #Twilight Saga) – http://exm.nr/dng9kA #
• A touching story on love, marriage and intimacy – http://bit.ly/9FUfuA #
• Men love being taken care of. If you don't wanna take care of him, don't get into a relationship. #unwrittenrule #
• #Popstars are amusing and entertaining but ultimately immaterial and irrelevant to day-to-day basic existence. #
• #becauseofgaga I totally re-appreciated the rationale behind glam rock and flamboyant concert couture, reliving KISS & Madonna days. #
• Good night, world. Let's see who pulls another #publicity stunt tomorrow! #
• #Paris Hilton arrested. Yet again. It has become a vicious cycle of drugs, jail, rehab, false promises of reform, wild parties & back. #
• #Restoring Honor to the Philippines would be an even tougher job for PNoy with the hostage crisis. Good thing Venus Raj gave a head start. #
• #wakeupjustin still trending! How long has he been asleep? Perhaps he should just stay that way to make the world of tweens a better place. #
• RT @KishorCariappa: "Arabs can’t get over Hotmail." Not only Arabs, but a good number of Middle East residents as a whole. #
• #happybirthdaymj We miss you. Your music and dance will live forever. #
• After my afternoon shower, I suddenly feel sleepy as hell. #
• My #septemberwish is to gain the ground that I've long since wanted. #
• Darn! Had #Venus Raj said the answer she shared in "The Buzz" during the pageant, she would have won, hands down! #
• My #septemberwish is to have "Rosalka" finish the fuck up. It ruins my TV viewing downtime, totally. #
• 4 Phil govt sites hacked this weekend *cackles* – http://hagonoybulacan.gov.ph, http://bulacan.gov.ph, http://pia.gov.ph & http://pnp.gov.ph #
• Bloody idiot Philippine govt webmasters. Used to work with them. They're all assholes who didn't know shit about online security. SSL what? #
• PNoy ate Chinese food at Emerald resto while Mendoza shot his hostages to death. I don't give crap if that place was his "command center." #
• All the good webmasters wouldn't work for the Philippine government. They would set up freelance businesses or go abroad. #
• #Justin Bieber as Danny & #Miley Cyrus as Sandy of "Grease"? Heaven help us, has the Apocalypse come? – http://bit.ly/acGhNM #
• If Nora Aunor can't sing, why'd she stage her Australia concert? She's desperate for money. It's the end of an era. Long live the #Superstar #
• #myschool is currently Uni of San Agustin (http://usa.edu.ph). I am completing a Master's Degree in Public Admin. Yeah, older than I look. #
• #somewhereintheworld impressionable tweens are taking over Twitter with ridiculous TTs. Someone should move them all to a "Twieber" service. #
• #Magkaribal "Babalikan ako ng Ate Anna!" Holy crap! Will Gelai and her dad be reunited at last? #
• Note to Filipino maids in the Middle East: There are Filipinas working here who are NOT – I repeat, NOT – housemaids. #
• #littleknownfactaboutme I have worked as a close-in bodyguard in the past. #
• #FaceBook down! Finally, people could get back to reality. Too many pretentious idiots running around trying to sound smart & look sexy. #
• @A1iTaMiMi Thanks :-D I hate getting typecasted. In my line of work, I beat loads of people of different nationalities to be where I am. in reply to A1iTaMiMi #
• #ifihadapennyforeverytime people thought I was still in high school during the past 12 months, I could retire before I'm 30. #
• Glad to know #Facebook down. People should learn to read books, not waste their time posting on someone else's virtual wall for attention. #
• #somewhereintheworld I know there's someone who hoped to feel validated by posting hoe pictures of herself, only to find #FaceBook down! #
• @A1iTaMiMi I couldn't agree more! in reply to A1iTaMiMi #
• I wanna recreate Shaina Magdayao's "Bad Romance" number in today's "#Showtime," but with the Spartans of "300" as my lifting boyz! #
• Looking forward to #Priority Inbox. Would be quite useful, esp. if you regularly receive lots of email but some aren't quite *that* urgent. #
• #ifihadapennyforeverytime for every time someone asked me to correct their fuck-up, I'd be richer than anyone featured in Forbes magazine. #
• How can someone offer hosting with 10GB space & unmetered bandwidth for one US dollar a year? XD #
• #littleknownfactaboutme I have a collection of stuffed toys at home. Each has a name. My oldest is a doll named Cindy who's 24 years old. #
• I love you, XB GenSan. Your ballet training, as seen on "Rated K" made all the difference in the world! #
• RT @LaFilipina "#youahoeif you twitpic your goodies" – Oh, yes, I agree. I would add posting your goodies all over FaceBook. Disgusting! #
• #Kpop Night! Will "One Way" be there? I lurve them more than SuperJunior coz they speak very, very good English XD #
• Depressed to see a group on "#Showtime" claiming arnis skillz, only to see them make a half-hearted, lousy, fake attempt. #
• A good friend gave a bottle of Baileys as an advanced bday present. Feeling woozy from my on-the-rocks liquer fix before 8 PM! #
• I suddenly miss my baby. Sometimes it's the imperfections that make everything so perfect. #
• @hostnine Signed up for your shared plan for my fansite :-) in reply to hostnine #
• I love, love, love Ryan Bang of PBB Teen Clash 2010! He's in #Showtime & Banana Split. He should've won instead of James (where is he now?) #
• "No, I don't like looking at porn at all!" #liesguystell #
• #offensivecompliments "Have you lost weight? I can barely see your paunch anymore." #
• I am not looking forward to the weekend at all. Damn, I wish I wasn't here, but back at home where everything is simple & straightforward. #
• IMHO, #iPods & #iPads are overrated & overhyped. Never felt the need for either. Then again, I used a Mac once & hated the whole experience. #
• You sleep with him for sex and self-validation's sake. #thisrelationshipisover #
• Watching fitness instructors (yummylicious muscle men) in today's #Pilipinas Win na Win "Yaman ng Bayan" segment <3 <3 <3 #
• Of course, it goes without saying that I love, love, love yummylicious muscle men. I have an Incredible Hulk fetish, so sue me. #
• @OhWillMo Wow, congratulations! An awful lot of Tweets. I've been here since, like, 2007 but haven't reached my first 1,000! in reply to OhWillMo #
• Painted my nails a shiny blood-red for a birthday dinner. Haven't had painted nails in several weeks. Feels kinda strange. #
• Vice Ganda had a surprising, fun, totally entertaining dance number in today's #Showtime with XB GenSan. More, more, more! #
• RT @cindypepper: "Columbia vending machines now charge $1.75 for sodas." Whoa! That's a lot. Around here we pay around $0.50 for a can. #
• @Namecheap Because if he took the other leg off the ground he would fall on the ground. in reply to Namecheap #
• @Namecheap A sponge. in reply to Namecheap #
• @Namecheap "I am." in reply to Namecheap #
• All bodybuilders and fitness instructors in today's episode of "Panahon Ko 'To." The women look very unimpressive, though XD #
• Been feeling drunk for the past 3 hours or so. Epic fail. #
• #lessonlearned for today: Don't drink Bailey's for lunch. Of afternoon tea. #
• I love you, Philippine Islands Assassins! They "sampled" with Vice Ganda in today's "Showtime." Didn't expect to see them at all <3 <3 <3 #

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I have been a big fan of YouTube since the beginning of this year, largely due to my search for various performances of Pilipinas Got Talent favorites.

Yesterday, I finally cleaned up and restructured my YouTube page, where I will now post my personal videos as well as bookmark my favorite ones.

Here is the first video I uploaded, starring, of course, my well-loved Japanese Spitz Pikachu. This was shot sometime in 2007, before I went to Oman to seek my fortune.

Gah.

It is 2 AM in Oman right now and, yes, I am still wide awake. Blogging here, of course, and watching ASAP XV over TFC. Rawr!

I have been cooking “soul food” like mad for the past couple of days and feeding the people in my immediate surroundings, most especially my baby.

Savory-sweet chicken wings by Shi!

I’ve made nilagang baka (clear beef stew), sweet roasted chicken breasts and wings, potato salad, vegetarian spaghetti with garlic bread, and lemon-marinated fried chicken drumsticks.

I have been busy for the past couple of weeks moving, uploading and editing entries from various servers and hard disk files into these two online watering holes of yours truly: MadameShi.com and Brushy.org.

I completed these tasks about a few days ago and now both sites have been totally updated with all the content I have archived over the years. I am a dork, I know.

I am very pleased to announce that this blog has its own frequently updated Flickr and Twitter accounts. There are badges with my most recently uploaded photo as well as my five newest “tweets” prominently displayed right below the header of this blog.

Now, I will be able provide updates to my readers and visitors without posting an actual entry on the Web. This will be especially handy if I cannot access the Internet and/or my laptop immediately, but wish to share something nice, juicy and hot pronto.

Just one e-mail or text from my mobile phone – and, voila!, a new photo or Tweet for all to enjoy!

I made these three quizzes way back in 2002 and 2003, previously hosted in my various other domains and sites. The Lord of the Rings one was particularly popular and was responsible for making one of my domains gain a lot of hits as well as “blog authority.”

These web tests are now available again at my newly-reacquired domain, Xirculo.com, in the Quiz page: Which Lord of the Rings Elf Are You?, Which Fushigi Yuugi Seishi Are You? and Are You A Pervy Obi-Wan Kenobi Fancier?.

Below are my own results and what-not to the aforementioned quizzes:

I am Elrond, Lord of Rivendell. I chose Elvenkind over Humanity and was gifted with great wisdom. During the War of the Ring, I called a Council of the free peoples of Middle Earth and founded the Fellowship of the Ring, all the time wearing a tiara. In the movie, I’m played by Hugo Weaving.
|| Which Lord of the Rings Elf are you? @ Call Me Madame ||

Which Fushigi Yuugi Seishi are you? @ Call Me Madame

Hot, wet Jedi Master!
I am a pervy Obi-Wan Kenobi fancier, go me! Are you?
By Aviendah and Shi
Endorsed by Sen. Padme Amidala

This is in response to one of the more common questions that bloggers are prompted with:
What fictional character do you most identify with?

Ever since I read her story in Elektra: Root of Evil, I saw myself in the Marvel Comics character Elektra Natchios.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of commonalities, in no particular order:

1. We are the only female child of our parents. (In my case, I am the only child.)

2. We are both interested and knowledgeable in martial arts and weaponry.

3. We like working alone.

4. We use intensive physical training as a means of stress relief.

5. We like to fight and get paid for it. Sometimes, we do it for free, too.

6. We both specialize in short-bladed weapons.

7. We wear primary colors as our trademark fight costume.

8. We like our men to be as good a fighter as we are, hopefully even better.

9. We have obsessive-compulsive tendencies.

10. We had really good masters who trained us.

11. We use our mental powers to keep ourselves alive.

12. Our reputations often precede us.

13. We have many enemies and precious few friends.

14. We have a violent nature that only discipline through years of rigorous training can keep in check.

15. Finally, we have a lingering, undeniable dark side, no matter how hard we try to suppress it.

Although I Tweeted about this a few days ago, I wasn’t able to blog right away about meeting Oman’s football hero, Ali Abdullah Harib Al Habsi.

Because of his stellar performance as the Oman National Team’s goalkeeper in last year’s Gulf Cup, he has since then earned the nickname “The Great Wall of Oman.” Professionally, he is currently playing in the Premier League for the Bolton Wanderers as a goalie.

I personally got to “meet and greet” the football superstar last Tuesday, 22 June 2010. I had my photo taken with him, of course, and was able to get an autographed picture of him as well. I was also able to get a candid photo of the Omani hero, who came clad in a simple white dishdasha.

Football Royalty! Me with Ali Al Habsi. He was such a gentleman.

An autographed picture of the Omani football hero. He signed this in person, right in front of yours truly.

A candid photo of Ali Al Habsi, seated, side view.

My impression of Ali Al Habsi? He is down-to-earth, humble and soft-spoken. He didn’t have a slew of bodyguards and personal assistants floating around him, unlike other famous people, although paparazzi couldn’t be kept away.

Try saying the title of this post really fast, at least five times. Yes, witness the birth of a Muscat tongue twister.

Cyclone Phet was first announced to be heading towards Oman last Wednesday, 2nd June, early in the day. There were whispers all around that this was going to be another Gonu. Fear was palpable in the air.

On Thursday, strong winds and significantly lower temperatures could be felt in Muscat. The skies were cloudy. A few drizzles here and there took place all over the capital city. Winds picked up speed early in the evening.

People started panicking around sundown, when practically everyone ran off to the nearest grocery store or foodstuff shop to stock up on essential provisions. Bread was on top of the list, it seems, as Muscat Bakery in my neighborhood had to produce their loaves and rotis triple time and seal these up in jumbo plastic packages for mass consumption.

Oman’s National Disaster Committee sent out advisories to residents via SMS, through the various telecommunication providers. The messages, in Arabic and English, advised people to exercise extreme caution and stay away from wadis (dry river beds) and the sea coast. Contact information of search and rescue services was likewise given.

Rainfall finally came at 11:00 PM, first in trickling drops, then steadily streaming showers. Heavier and thicker rains came at 1:00 AM Friday, 4th June, which lasted throughout the early morning hours.

Flood waters started rising then, quickly filling up the local wadis and spilling onto residential/commercial districts and access roads. Qurum, Ruwi and Azaiba were among the major districts to get flooded over.

Here are pictures of the Darsait and Ruwi areas around noontime Friday, taken by Oman-based blogger and journalist Kishor Cariappa. These roads are major thoroughfares, now overflowing with water.

Noora Al Meer has also shared two pictures of large streams of water rushing down the mountains surrounding Al Khuwair district. Since Muscat has very poor drainage systems, the water will simply spread itself over the cityscape and await for merciful evaporation once the sun comes up.

Here is a photo and a video of rain water completely filling up the wadi beside Qurum CCC and Sabco Center. The overflow will go directly into the surrounding business establishments, which have just recovered construction and profit-wise from Gonu.

Phet has already caused several fatalities in the Sultanate. As of today, 12 lives are reported to have been taken in the fury of the cyclone, consisting of nine Omanis and three expatriates. A few people have also gone missing in the wadis.

I woke up to a comparatively dry and sunny Saturday, a far cry from yesterday’s dark and wet weather. The only obvious sign of yesterday’s natural debacle was the floodwater spread out all over Muscat. The government has declared June 5th as a public holiday, saving most of us the trouble of fighting our way through the post-cyclone muck.

There are rumors circulating in the Internet that Phet is poised to deliver a second blow to the Sultanate. However, the cyclone seems to be headed towards Pakistan and is predicted to hit the Karachi area.

“I just want you to know. I would never hurt him. I love him.”
“I know. I also know it can only bring him unhappiness.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because part of him is a man.”

I was browsing through the TV Shows category of The Fanlistings Network while waiting for WinZip to download when I came across the approved FL for the 1987 television series Beauty and the Beast.

The show was aired on Philippine television when I was still very young, but I can recall clearly that the story had a modern spin on the fairy tale.

The series starred Linda Hamilton as Catherine Chandler (Beauty) and Ron Perlman as Vincent (The Beast). It had a modern-day, urban backdrop.

Catherine was pretty much an ordinary working girl based in New York City. One day, she was beaten and left for dead in Central Park, where she was found and rescued by Vincent, a magnificent and noble man-beast.

Their extraordinary love story then began, a meeting of two vastly different worlds – Catherine’s glittering city apartments and law firms and Vincent’s mysterious underground dwellings and its outcast inhabitants.

Beauty and the Beast was a deliciously dark yet romantic show, with a beautiful soundtrack entitled Of Love and Hope that features heart-wrenching love songs and the hoarse, sexy voice of Ron Perlman reading poetry.

In the Philippines, I could occasionally hear the show’s theme song, The First Time I Loved Forever, still being played on the radio, most often during the wee morning hours.

The First Time I Loved Forever
Lyrics by Melanie Safka

The first time I loved forever
Was when you whispered my name
And I knew at once you loved me
For the me of who I am

The first time I loved forever
I cast all else aside
And I bid my heart to follow
Be there no more need to hide

And if wishes and dreams are merely for children
And if love’s a tale for fools
I’ll live the dream with you

For all my life and forever
There’s a truth I’ll always know
When my world divides and shatters
Your love is where I’ll go

This is an e-mail that went the rounds of lots of virtual mailboxes. I got such a great laugh out of it when I first got the message in my inbox some time ago.

I am feeling a bit disillusioned with my home country, so I might as well share the reality and get a chuckle out of it.

Well, I shall not give away the punchline or anything. But be sure to look at ALL the cars, from beginning to end – in THAT order!

A side note: I took the liberty of editing the pictures and putting the captions on them, but these images are all copyright their respective owners. Just did a bit of tweaking for the sake of fun.

THE BEST POLICE CARS IN THE WORLD

After my month-and-a-half vacation in my native country, Philippines, earlier this year, I returned to Oman on 25th March. I left a humid, sweltering country, rife with brown-outs, and returned to a hot and dry Middle East, smack dab in the beginning of the summer season.

No complaints there, though – sacrifice comes with the territory of being an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW). I was back in circulation on 27th March and have been at work since then.

The Philippine National Elections took place last May 10th. I take no shame in saying that I did not register for Overseas Absentee Voting at the Philippine Embassy here in Oman. Thus, I was not able to cast my vote.

I do not regret my decision to boycott the elections. I honestly like none of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. A few of the senatoriables I found massively amusing and entertaining, but none of them really deserved my vote. In the local arena, in my native city, I found the candidates to be either traditional politicians (trapos, a local term for dish rags) or severely elitist.

In the end, I could not find the energy to haul my arse to the crumbling villa that housed our embassy, even though it is literally across the street from my office.

Honestly, the only person who deserved my vote of late was Rica Paras of Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up. I diligently cast my save votes for her a few times when she was in danger of being evicted from the Big Brother House.

This is the first blog entry I have written from my hometown in the Philippines since October 2007, when I moved to Oman. As such, this is the first time I have come back to my native land.

It has been quite a long time now, more than two eventful years, yet it feels like I first stepped onto the international flight away from home only yesterday. So much has changed yet it all feels strangely the same.

People have aged and grown, come and gone. Places have been built and destroyed, beautified and left to the mercy of time and decay. Money ebbs and flows, most of it moving away from our grasp so quickly as prices have all gone up. There are little victories and small defeats, glorious milestones and ugly consequences.

I am sure the above will still apply when I come back home again in later years.

When I arrived home, one of the first things I noticed was the addition of a small wooden plaque to the wall. These words were inscribed on the plaque:

Winners or Losers

The winner is always a part of the answer
The loser is always a part of the problem

The winner always has a program
The loser always has an excuse

The winner says, “Let me do it for you.”
The loser says, “That’s not my job.”

The winner sees an answer for every problem
The loser sees a problem in every answer

The winner says, “It may be difficult but it’s possible.”
The loser says, “It may be possible but it’s too difficult.”

On a final note: Happy, happy, happy birthday to my grandmother!

A very, very Happy New Year to everyone!

Let us all welcome 2010, the start of the new decade and the year of The Metal Tiger. Rawr!

I spent New Year’s Eve and the wee morning hours of 1st January 2010 at Jetz Grill in Qurum, where I won lots of prizes from various fun games. In fact, I still say that my partner and I are the undisputed champions of the Apple Dance Competition, hands down!

Before having the masarap buffet dinner of classic Filipino fiesta treats, I dropped by Ruwi for a bit of shopping. There were a lot of stores with year-end sales and I got excellent bargains, particularly with (fake) Lacoste sports shirts.

I found this colorful and cute Pokemon Pikachu watch in one of the timepiece shops near Al Fair Ruwi. I got a discounted price for this when I bought a pink Snoopy watch along with it. Of course, I now wear my Pika-watch everywhere. Be very envious!

Pika! Pika! Pika! My first ever Pokemon watch, can you believe it?

All together now: Pika! Pika!

It has really been a while, but what the hey! I’m just pleased that I got the time to post here before the end of the year.

I would like to share this amusing, highly entertaining video that I first saw on ABS-CBN‘s daily gag show, Banana Split. Nearly half of the music video, which was originally posted on the omnipotent YouTube site, was shared on the aforementioned show’s Balitang Siksik segment.

Without further ado, here are the Transformers XD dancing the Wonder Girls’ worldwide hit, Nobody:

If the above video does not work on your browser, please follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jywQLnUnMG0

Enjoy! (I’m sure you all will.)

These past few days, I have been thinking about relationships. Particularly those borne of romantic love.

I realized mainly two things:

1. The true value of a person to you is measured by how much you miss them when they are not with you

Sometimes we get irritated and yell at our loved ones, or perhaps wish they would stop bugging us about trivial things – such as television shows, laundry, food for dinner.

But then we feel empty when they are not around, as if a part of ourselves had wandered off, lost. Only then can we feel the void that only the loved one can actually fill.

2. The true value of a relationship can only be totally appreciated upon looking at the relationships of others

We oftentimes forget to stop for just a minute and thank God that we are still together, that we still love someone very much and that someone loves us the same way, perhaps even more.

We need to look at the people who allow themselves to be hurt and abused inside and out because of love, and be grateful that what we have is good, healthy and honest. That someone sincerely takes care of us and only wants what is best for us.

Love is never perfect. It is always a work in progress.

And we must work hard at it, always.

I have been working as a freelance author and copywriter since I was, literally, a kid.

As a professional in this field, I always keep careful tabs on my published and unpublished works. That is why I have an online portfolio, hard copies of my articles where available, and, naturally, a running list of work to my credit.

It came as a great surprise when, while cleaning up old files off my laptop’s hard drive, I found 22 pages of unpublished poetry. Yes, folks, nearly two dozen poems just waiting to be part of a collection, over and above the ones already compiled.

Now, I can recall very clearly that I actually wrote them way, way back in 2002 at someone’s request, to be the chapter bookends of his autobiography. The manuscript was being edited then and I was given a copy to read and write “hard-hitting” poetry for.

However, the autobiography project was never realized as the author got distracted by other priorities of a highly political nature. In 2003, my working relationship ended with him and off I went to serve in other sectors.

I got to keep all my poems, though, which was fantastic.

A teaser-sample is definitely in order:

I journey on, dauntless
Not heeding
The threats and taunts
Never succumbing to weakness.

This is my destiny
The unyielding road
I traverse with no apologies
Now, then and evermore.

The Holy Month of Ramadan officially began last Saturday, 22nd August. Albeit a little belatedly, allow me to greet all my Muslim friends and readers: Ramadan Kareem!

Being a conservative Islamic country, Oman observes Ramadan pretty strictly. That is, no eating and drinking in public during the daylight hours. All restaurants and coffee shops are closed as well, and will only open during Iftar (the break-fast meal during sundown) and operate until the early morning hours. Even Christians and people of other non-Islam faiths are expected to respect and follow this “fasting” practice, at least publicly.

Dress code is also a bit stricter during the Holy Month. For both genders, the upper arm and the knees must be covered by clothing while in public places. No tank tops, minis and shorts. Of course, no plunging necklines.

Ramadan lasts for around 30 Gregorian calendar days and culminates with a few days of rejoicing, called Eid-al-Fitr. These days are normally declared non-working holidays for both the public and private sectors in Islamic countries.

Have a blessed Holy Month, everyone.

It is official.

At exactly 3.18 A.M., Philippine time (GMT+8), 1st August 2009, former Philippine president Corazon “Cory” Aquino was proclaimed to have passed away from a cardio-respiratory arrest. She was 76.

Cory was hospitalized several weeks ago due to the fast-advancing state of her colon cancer illness. She was first diagnosed of this last year, 24th May.

Her only son, Senator Noynoy Aquino, just made a statement over international television (through The Filipino Channel in this part of the world) that his mother has joined her Creator. The Aquino family asked for some time before they would face the world later today to answer pressing questions from the media at around 11:00 AM Philippine time.

Over the past few days, the only reports that trickled out of the Makati Medical Center was that Cory’s condition was “stable.” Nothing more specific was disclosed until very early this morning.

Rest in peace, Cory. You will finally be able to join Ninoy, our hero and your love, in Paradise.

HEAT

I feel my heart steaming towards you
I am wrought with the flames
     Of passion
     Consuming me
‘Til I am nothing more
     Than smoldering ash

I feel my body steaming towards you
I am drawn without resistance
     To your fiery seduction
     Burning deep into me
‘Til I am nothing more
     Than trembling desire

I feel my mind steaming towards you
I am controlled by this irresistible fascination
     And unrelenting obsession
     Taking over me
‘Til I am nothing more
     Than sheer madness

I feel my soul steaming towards you
I shall sweetly surrender
     All that I have
     And all that make me
‘Til I am nothing more
     Than your wasted possession

Hell’s bells!

I never realized this photo existed but, yes, it does. Gosh, I never expected to see this online, and in FaceBook of all places!

Anywho, my longtime friend, high school classmate and college schoolmate Ramon (now based in Dubai, OFWs r0x0rs!) recently uploaded this picture onto FB and tagged yours truly. Ramon is the one right in front wearing the very Miami Vice white jacket.

No need to point out where I am in the darned photo, naturalmente.

My dress was made from the softest blood-red velvet my seamstress could find in Iloilo City at that time. I designed this gown myself and it remains as one of the finest, well, finery I have ever worn.