MY WORD FOR THE YEAR 2021

A long time ago, my maternal grandfather used to talk about the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. In so many words, he had described it as horrible three years. He was a newly-graduate Agricultural engineer then. And being educated, the Japanese officers forced him to teach school instead, where he eventually met my aboriginal grandmother. So, good things sometimes emerge from horrible times. While most people want to count off those three years of suffering, my grandfather cannot and will not because of love.

Why share this story? Well, we all experienced the Year 2020. Horrible things happened, and although we wanted to count them off, we can’t. Our frontline heroes deserve to be remembered and honored. We continue to thank those who provide us with relief from depression and worries each day. For me, it’s Twitter, friends, and family, and books. A colleague, who lives alone, brings in coffee for us on days we have to come for work. He said that still seeing us face to face allows him to hope despite the mask and the 6-feet gap. And I have to say that we’ve now perfected smiling with our eyes. Also, I was relieved that my students like my playlist during tests. Thanks, Tones and I, for Dance Monkey!

Don’t get me wrong, my fears are still here, but I have hope as my shield. For 2021, I have resolved to soldier on despite the odds. Overcome. Yes, I believe it is a fitting word for me this year. And that’s what I hope for everyone as well.

By the way, The Page Walker turned eight (8) this year, another reason to be thankful. And I am grateful for my readers, for the publishers, publicists, and authors who collaborated with me all these times. Godspeed!

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STAND!

  

Hello, 2020

A New Year and a new decade have come. Most people have made their list of resolutions by now, but it's certainly not too late to join the bandwagon if you haven’t yet. I for one am not fond of making a list of resolutions every year. I choose my yearly word instead. And this year is…
                 Stand!

I am contemplating on the things I should be standing in still and those things I may have failed to stand for and if I do have regrets about them. Regret is such an inauspicious word to start the year, so I might have to skip that part and move on.

As always, I stand for kindness. Let us be kinder to ourselves and others. Flex the effort to be kind, even in mourning or victory; to be firm in being kind before anything else. I stand for family and friendship. Let us be more generous in giving them the gift of time. Take the time to laugh and listen and the time to share. I stand for peace. Not the quiet kind, but the one that resonates. The kind of peace that heals gaps, multiplies charity, holds the light up, and flames hospitality. We can all be couch potatoes for our serials and dramas, but we have to stand for something firmer at the end of the day. The adage "If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything." is quite accurate on that. 

And, speaking of moving on, The Page Walker is in its 7th year today. Yay! Thank you for staying with me. I appreciate all the visits, comments, and emails I receive. I also acknowledge every author, publicist, and publisher whom I have worked with and trusted me with their books. Here’s hoping for more books and collaborations this year.

Godspeed, everyone!

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THIS IS NEW

Hello. It’s been a while since my last entry and that got me thinking if any of you are still out there. 😅*crossing fingers The last few weeks had been very busy and, as you may know, moving into another country (another continent, really) is never easy. As of now, it’s acquainting with the new house, the new bed, the climate, and a timeline for me. The most challenging, right now, is getting acquainted with the new church. Will I ever be acquainted? That is. I’ve always believed in the fact that to belong to a church I need to have a purpose. So, let’s see if I can identify my purpose here.

Did I say I was busy? Well, I’ve been busy touring around Alberta, Canada. Believe me, it’s not a posh endeavor. Don’t get me wrong, the places we’ve been are absolutely interesting and wonderful, but the drive was long and, well, long. Good thing we have Cindy Lauper to accompany us most of the time. 🎵 I drove all night to get to you.🎶

My hubby, being adorable as he’d always been, drove me to browse around CrossIron Mills Outlets Mall. I unashamedly bought boots, clothes, and food. Go ahead, judge me for being a girl.😜 But, even though, there’s an Indigo outlet, I didn’t get any book. I was busy looking at what book people picked up, instead.

There was this one morning when we drove to see the beautiful frozen Lake Louise, which is absolutely pristine, but freakishly cold too. Hubby said that we should go back in the summer, and we really should. We also went to see the Banff Park Museum, which was very educational and startling. Although, it’s a place I’m sure my daughter would never enter by choice, because of the huge taxidermy collection. She’s an animal person, you see. They have some really interesting shops in that town. Plenty of people, too. The line at Starbucks was ridiculous, I tell you, but it gave me enough time to observe people. I’ve been spending a lot of time observing people lately, hmmm.

We spent one Sunday afternoon walking around downtown Calgary –taking pictures and internalizing how to be tourists. This is followed by an even more interesting Monday, driving around looking into Calgary’s independent bookstores and chatting with their accommodating store clerks. I’m going to write a piece about that on a different post.

On our way to Saskatchewan, we drove first into Drumheller. Dinosaurs walk that town. We went to see the Tyrell Museum, Homestead Museum, and the Hoodoos. The whole trip was wonderful. I literally want to take pictures of every hump and rock formations. It’s a warm place, where the sun sets a couple of hours before midnight. And it was funny and cool walking around wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night.😎

Here’s the thing, moving continent, I also need to move my files and whatnot. So I’m doing my best to move my book reviews into one place, where there’s actually a working chronological order. Be forewarned that I’ll be posting pre-Blogger book reviews I wrote in Shelfari, Goodreads, and Tumblr. Hopefully, they will not bore you.  You let me know, okay?

Before I forgot, I’ve been to concerts and had drinks, of course. Thank you to all the wonderful people who provided our tickets. So, yeah, I just want you guys to know that I still have a nightlife, despite the cold, here in the new continent.

Sorry for not writing sooner. I’ll sit again to write something actually book related, promise.

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I Was Tagged

Sharing the Sunshine Blogger Challenge

Tin of Rabbitin tagged me to join the Sharing the Sunshine Blogger Challenge.

Here's how it goes:

• Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
• Share 11 random facts about yourself.
• Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
• List 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!
• Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. (You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.)

11 Facts You Might Not Know About Me

1. Avocado green is my favorite color.
2. Sautéed Ampalaya (bitter gourd) with egg is a favorite dish.
3. Perfume and Eau de parfum give me allergies.
4. My dog is my current bedmate.
5. I love walking under tree canopies.
6. Up until now, I don’t know our neighbors’ first names.
7. When I’m really angry and quiet, I imagine dicing people with a katana (so be very wary).
8. I've worked as a service crew for a food chain during college…
9.  ...which also helped me overcome most of my psychological introversion issues.
10.  I have no problem talking in groups or seminars, but I have difficulty approaching individuals.
11.  It took me 2 hours to finish this list. That’s how difficult it is for me to talk about myself.

Questions from Rabbitin

1. Which literary character/s would you invite to a tea party? Who would you rather opt out of your guest list?

It would be very interesting to sit and have tea with Thursday Next, and talk more about Jurisfiction. I’d rather not have tea with Rumpelstiltskin. Too complicated. You know what I mean? Nor Edward Cullen. Mind readers are such party poopers.

2. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
   

   Fly a dragon.

3. Pirates or Ninjas?
   

   Ninjas.

4. If you were to be rescued by The Avengers all at once, in whose biceps (ironclad or otherwise) would you rather cling to?
   

   Truth be told, I'll do anything to cling onto Loki, but since he is not among the choices I'll settle for Ironman.

5. Pick a mythical world that you'd most want to live in.
   

   Vendella. The setting for the Dragon Keeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul.

6. If you get invited to a costume party, who would you come as?
   

   Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast.

7. What is the best thing that happened to you last week?
   

   I attended the TFG-F2F25, The Ocean atthe End of the Lane, held at The Appraisery.

8. There is a zombie apocalypse and you are only allowed to stow one type of food inside your refuge bunker. What would that food be?
   

   Fruitcake. That goes great with coffee, because, of course, I am not going to be hauled in a bunker without coffee.

9. Blind spots? (things that you are partially open to trying but somehow haven't gotten around to it yet. It can be a genre, or a movie, or a tv show, or a book, or food, or a person, etc.) Soft spots? (things you can't resist and will most likely latch onto/consume like puppies, or cat memes, or Benedict Cumberbatch.)
   

   I am partial to exotic food. The last I tried was frog legs, but my hubby said that wasn't exotic enough. I might try something else in the future.

   
   

   I have too many soft spots, cute cow prints among them.

10. What is the craziest thing you have ever done?

Geesh, "fell in love", of course! LOL

11. What is your go-to happy song? sad song?
    

    Most of my happy songs are sad songs. Will you consider The Four Season by Antonio Vivaldi as a happy song? Or, Yiruma’s Love Me as sad song?

My Nominees are...

Angus of Book Rhapsody

Bennard of The Book Hooligan

Anna of A Tub of Jelly Beans

Cary of Logodiversity

Tricia of In Lesbians with Books

Meann of The Girl Who Reads

Like what Tin said, there's no pressure.  So, I've decided not to post 11 more questions from me.  I think, sharing 11 facts about yourself is a gift enough. Thanks!

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