They kept referring to him as “the child”.
I wanted to scream at them that “hey, the child has a name!”
That beautiful child’s name is Luijoe.
But I did not yell at them because…
Who knows what your blog or blogging can bring you? When I started out my blog in February 24, 2006, the main goal was to promote my advocacy, grief support in the Philippines. Along the way, I met bloggers who generously shared their wisdom and other possibilities in blogging. The benefits of blogging indeed spread the word on my advocacy and brought me new friendships and adventure beyond my wildest imagination. I often say this “The rest is icing on the cake”. Blogging also started my career as an independent problogger and lately [tag]new media[/tag] publishing which works alongside being a problogger.
In a way, I can look at blogging as my part of my new life, this new normal that bereaved parents often seek. In recovery, I learned to live, to enjoy my life and handle situations as they come. What blessings! What joy to live in this new and exciting life. It’s one big adventure.
My adventure into new media publishing started with Jayvee when I introduced myself as having a special niche to be qualified for that Globe-Innove meet with Bloggers. Yes, how “thick skinned” I was. But in life, if you don’t ask, you won’t get an answer. Jayvee could have said “No, you’re not. You’re ….blah blah” but well, he invited me. The first PR practitioner to build buzz marketing through blogs is Blooey Singson when she convinced Krispy Kreme to give doughnuts to bloggers. But Amor Maclang of of GeiserMaclang raised the bar further by inviting bloggers to PR events alongside traditional media during the Wagyu Beef Fest at the Diamond Hotel. Was it Annalyn or Jayvee who told me that Amor’s PR events are always crowded because of the fantastic production ? Her PR events are more like a show. My idea of a PR event is that media watch a video presentation, clap, eat, and run. Not until I attended the Wagyu Beef Fest anyway.
I was not disappointed with a second and third invite from Amor. This time , it was for CLEAR Anti-Dandruff Shampoo Product Launch held yesterday at the Renaissance Hotel (formerly New World Hotel) and tonight’s Diamond Indulgence Privilege Card of Diamond Hotel . Both launches were fabulous. Amor (and GeiserMaclang staff) produced a launch party for CLEAR complemented with a sumptuous buffet lunch . Jayvee, Aileen, Sasha, Juned and Dine attended this glamorous affair. Another opportunity to be together again!
Can you tell the difference between these two photos? (Enlarge by clicking on the photos if you need to)
The production effort clearly shows the concept of the product features. “Feel the difference after being inside the bubble”
How nifty! It felt like a children’s party with all those surprises at stake.
Is it true that life has to be hard and difficult? The belief that life has to be hard and difficult is the belief that makes a martyr.
Using each problems that cross our paths to prove that life is hard and we are helpless is being a codependent. It’s the victim trap.
We do have power even in the most difficult times. The difficult times don’t prove that life is bad. They are part of the ups and downs of life and often work out for the best. Take a look at this example.
I am humbled by Belle’s Humble Beginnings. I have known a long time ago that she came from humble beginnings but details of which I only read in her latest entry. The lovely Belle is mother to two gifted and beautiful girls , one of which is a Payson Roundup’s Young Woman of the Year while the other daughter received a “Student of the Year” and the ““Most Improved Student of the Year” from Kiwanis. What pride and joy for this mother who experienced extreme hardships just to finish her high school?
Who would have thought that once upon a time Belle would wake up early in the morning to give me an early start for a three-kilometer walk to school or earned at an early age the art of ““supnit”, I learned to fish in the swamp using agahid (fish net), I learned to plant young rice plant in the muddy fields (such a back breaking job!), plant and harvest camote, make tiniklad (nipa shingles), harvest rice in the wee hours of the morning, and so on and so.
“Hmmm, so this is what sensual means…”. I could hear his voice .
okay fine …I didn’t torture my husband by blindfolding him as he ate his lunch. You see, we both underwent a sensual experience with eight utlimate mouth-watering dishes from Serye Restaurant.
One of my fondest memory of Luijoe are the wild flowers he gathered from the park . With eyes twinkling as he held out the flowers, he scrambled up to my lap , gave me a hug and smacked a wet kiss on my cheek while uttering I love you so very much, Mama. Today it’s my turn to get flowers for my boy because July 13 is his 14th birth anniversary. But who says there can’t be a birthday cake, birthday present, or a birthday party?
Death ended my child’s life but not his relationship with my family. Even if there is no birthday boy to celebrate his 14th birthday with, I know that a spritual bond exists between us. As I gaze at the lovely flowers I bought at the Market! Market!, I marvel at God’s creation on the beauty of life. It’s good to be alive and to have survived the past 7 years of this grief journey. True, my son might not be around but his memory lives in my heart. We can still celebrate his birth anniversary at home.
Photo Hunters theme this week is Shadow (s)
A few days ago, Lauren asked me “mom, were you invited to the Bloggers Breakfast at Portico 1771?” I checked my email and found the invite at my abandoned Yahoo email address. I thought it must have been Jayvee‘s idea. But no, he had no idea who invited us.
New media as a path to expand their online presence , perhaps? For many months now, PR agencies have been inviting bloggers to press events, parties, treating them to lunches, and sending them gifts and tokens.
My PR policy is a combination of Anton’s school of thought “for the awesome experiences which would include eating at a restaurant I can rave about or meeting awesome people. ” and Yuga’s third option of “full disclosure to your blog readers ”
A disclosure will at least serve as a warning to your readers if later on you make a positive review of their products/services, it was influenced in some manner.
I don’t go to all the events but a food trip is an adventure I don’t want to miss out.
Besides, how could I resist an opportunity to have breakfast with my husband and friends?
At the last minute, Lauren backed out because she couldn’t afford to miss work and scheduled it for Sunday. I was told to bring my other family members and a few blogger friends. Fortunately, my husband had a hearing in nearby Pasig City so a breakfast at Portico 1771 looked pretty inviting to him.
Hear Ye, All Ye bloggers.
We have a new look over at the Pinoy Moms Network (PMN) which officially launched its ezine format at 12 midnight . With the new look comes new content. As I write this entry, the section editors are still awake at this unholy hour tweaking their entries . This just shows how much labor of love went into this new endeavor. Connie is right in saying that “it’s even misleading to talk about how much blood, sweat and tears went into the transformation of PMN.”
Speaking of Pinoy Moms, I invited a few moms to a small intimate gathering as part of my mini 50th birthday celebration. Thanks Dine, Chats, Lisaflor and Jane for making it knowing you had family affairs to attend to.
What I love about hosting parties is that I am forced to cook and bake. Ever since the girls went to college, I have relegated the grocery and marketing to my dear husband and merely supervised the daily meals to the household help.
Oh what an adventure watching the Christina Aguilera concert at the Global City last night. My heart refused to calm down after the one and a half hour concert. I had to lie down in bed and relax a bit before sleeping. Those loud thumping amps are bad for my heart. Anyway, thanks to Jenny of Globe Broadband, she spared me some VIP tickets . M was supposed to watch it with a friend but backed out at the last minute . I didn’t want to waste two (2) 7,000 plus pesos ($152.00) worth of tickets so I called my sister , Belen who agreed to watch it with me. Jayvee found it funny. I wonder why! Can’t a 50 year old woman enjoy a concert?
So anyway, Abe and Brian , his younger brother along with Jenny and her fiancee also watched with us . The production numbers were impressive and fantastic. I can’t believe she’s pregnant as she pranced and cavorted on stage. Oh well, I ‘ve never been watching concerts of foreign artists so I can’t really compare. For a lack of a better description, let me point you to her interview about the concert:
As my fans know, I’m so into my visuals and making sure that the image that goes along with my music you know, definitely tells the story and kind of let’s my audience’s imagination run wild. It takes them out of their elements, whatever their day may consisted of, this is definitely a moment to just relax and enjoy a real show with all elements involved such as using your imagination. My dancers went into training to bring it, my albumâ€â€it is a double albumâ€â€and on disc two I’ve flirted and used different elements of the circusâ€â€an old vintage circus in my work and the dancers went into training. I’m so proud of themâ€â€learned how to stilt walk, swing overâ€â€what is it called now, kind of acrobatics swing, fire throwâ€â€there’s so many different circus elements that are involved in this show and it’s just super fun and the audience’s face whenever they see all of it, is just really, really fun. So, it’s a fun show. It’s really great. It’s one that you don’t want to miss.
I agree it was a fun fun show.
But what touched me about the concert was Christina’s Aguilera’s message about domestic violence. The pop star speaks out and penned a song “Oh Mother” about witnessing the abuse her mother suffered at the hands of her father.
Who could ever match the abundance of food, drinks, and gimmick at the Taste Asia Food Fest of SM Hypermarket , SM Mall of Asia ,? It was a huge success in terms of attendance, fun and food. I didn’t expect that all registrants would arrive. In fact, I forgot to sign up my daughter , Lauren .
Surprises galore awaited us at the party.