OK. Here I go again with my ramblings. I must admit that over the years that I have spent here in the US, I have become a sports fan. Not just any sports fan but a Philadelphia Sports fan. If you are into sports, you probably know what kind of reputation the fans have here. And it’s not only for one sport, if it’s there, we’ll bring it. Former Philadelphia Out Fielder Jay Johnstone once said that “when the games are rained out, Phillies fans go to the airport to boo bad landings.”

Take baseball for example, the Philadelphia Phillies dismal 2nd place wildcard finish against the Florida Marlins was heart breaking but then the Marlins went on to win the World Series beating the Cubs and the Yankees among others. On the other hand, I don’t really want to talk about this … The Philadelphia Eagles, I really thought it was our time to get to the Superbowl such a heart breaker when we lost against the Panthers, who in my opinion did an awesome job in the Superbowl but lost to the Patriots. Hockey season is still on and we have always been a Playoff contender. Our only concern is that for some reason everytime we go against New Jersey, we always seem to choke. It’s about time we show those Devils how to fly.

It’s been over 40 years since Philadelphia won a championship in Football, over 30 years since we held the Stanley Cup, and around 20 years or so since we won an NBA title.

It’s about time we get one. If we don’t, we can always boo bad landings at the Philly International.

Go Phillies! Go Flyers! Go Eagles! Go Sixers!

OK. I’ve been putting off blogging for a while and for quite sometime I really can’t pinpoint the exact reason why I have lost the penchant for blogging. It’s not like I’ve had a very boring life in the past few months.

Let’s see, last November, on the last day of my client, I popped a tire while driving off Rt. 42, I had the tire replaced and I even got it for free … not just for free but I even got some cash back.

December was a crazy month. I popped the fuel pump of my car and totally blew my engine so I had to have that replaced for a whopping amount of 1200+ dollars … There goes my laptop fund. Not just that but I had to run back and forth the car shop three times because these idiots (sorry to say this but I’m even being conservative in this namecalling) from PepBoys at Turnersville, NJ didn’t do things right. Finally, I brought the car to the Saturn of Turnersville and my car is still up and running until now. Moral of the story … Manny don’t Moe Jack!!! (he he he, I thought of that all on my own)

On the bright side, marchesa and I celebrated our one year anniversary of “dating” ha ha ha! I really had a great time. We went to the Moshulu and had dinner. But before that, we had the chance just to walk around and enjoy the sights of the river. We had a few pictures taken, exchanged gifts … she gave me a seiko kinetic … how cool is that?!? I know how much she sacrificed just to get me that gift. Thanks mahal.

I got my car back on the 24th of December, so that was a pretty nifty christmas gift for me, considering that I’ve been driving a rental for $9.99/day. God is really good. I just worry too much.

I spent christmas with the family … err, the Fabila’s. I really had a great time … eating and fellowshipping … and eating some more. I also learned how to ski over the holidays (thanks to Freddie).

Marchesa got accepted in William Paterson University and even got maximum credits. For me, that was the greatest christmas gift ever. An answered prayer just at the right time. God is really good!

January came and prospects for a new client has dwindled. The promised job for me in Delaware vanished like smoke. Well, it was wishful thinking from the get go but these recruiters can be so charismatic they can be used car salesmen if they wanted. I did do a few helpful things around the office (carrying water, mopping the floor … psyche!), I was able to set-up a clearquest database and was able to integrate it with the other rational components. What they weren’t able to do in a year, I kinda figured it out in a month or so.

February was a scary month … I mean literally. I was originally planning to propose to marchesa on 12/16 but there were too many complications. I finally got my act together and talked to my parents, talked to her parents then bought the ring. I have to give kudos to Sam and Stephanie for giving me tons of advice. I saw at that point that God was really moving things so that I could accomplish this one thing. Feb. 14 came and I have been so scared out of my wits. I didn’t really want to give it away by giving her hints that I was going to propose … yeah I did gave away some but she just didn’t believe me until the last few minutes.

she said yes.

March came and still no client. Looks like the horizons are as clear as mud. In this day and age, as a consultant in the bench, or beach as we call it, once you get out of a client, you chances of getting fired is directly proportional to the length of your stay on the beach … of course there is a normalizing wage coeffecient which is again inversely proportional to your gross annual pay … yada … yada. A ray of hope came when I got a call from one of my buddies from a former client, he said I’m coming back to work on the 3rd.

Well here I am, back in the grind … wishing for the sand.

published in 1954, this book noted the changing times in India after their independence from Britain’s colonization. mainly, this was a story of a woman who married into a low strata, a man of agriculture, who rented a piece of land to till. They eventually suffered great loss, in wealth, in family, and in health due to natural infertility of their land. they lived through the changing society of agriculture to industry, from agricultural town to insensitive city industry.

this book did only one thing for me, it taught me the importance of “hope”, because despite all misfortune, pain, and hardship, they wouldn’t have been able to endure anything and persevere if they didn’t have hope. hope strung their days together, and glued their strength in each other.

3.5 stars

this is told by first person, a Zimbabwean mother writing a letter to her daughter who is to study abroad in Harvard.

she tells her stories of people around her, each having specific lessons that will enrich and encourage her daughter while she is away from home. she realizes that her daughter is of a different thread than she is, because she is very isolated within her comfort, but through her stories, we see that her mother is of a stronger thread, because she has gained insight from the people around her…esp. the way she learns about life, freedom, love, family, and education…hopefully all passed down to her daughter. she retells stories from Zenzele’s grandmother, her rebellious sister who fights against colonization, people who left Zimbabwe, and her own struggles she’s endured.

it’s a story mainly about survival and hope…through love, through education, and through keeping one’s cultural integrity, because you were not born out of an isolated story, but born to continue history. good emotional book.

i recommend this book to a lot of older siblings or parents who want to impart wisdom to someone who is younger and is at the commencement of leaving for something new.

4.0 stars

wow. i am a fan of this book. i always recommend this book to all of my friends…at one point, i bought this book for all my suitemates, and there were lots of us living there…

the book succeeds because it conveys the universal importance of friendship. it’s highly imaginative, yet pertains to certain truths about the silliness of humanity sometimes, that we need it to be pointed out through the eyes of innocence.

it was a very emotional book for me, and i’m proud to say that i am not alone. one of the roomates i gave this to even cried as i did at one part of the book.

usually, this is recommended to children, but i believe they won’t fully comprehend its deepness, but it does serve to teach children the importance of imagination, and the priorities in life that are usually overlooked. so if you’re 10, 16, 25, or 50+ do read the book…it even has pictures!

5.0 stars

written in the neoclassic period, Moliere resonated the era’s sentiment of letting “reason be your guide.”

Moliere wrote this play as a critique to let people be aware and warned of the hypocrites of religion. Many people of his time felt that his play was heresy and rejected religion, but in fact rejected hypocrites and drew them out through this satiric play.

There were bland characters like Orgon, who had to ulitmately use reason to believe that Tartuffe was a hypocrite who was using him to get to his wife. Of course, in that recipe, there are two lovers- the daughter of Orgon who is forced to marry Tartuffe, only to be saved by her mother who pretends to seduce Tartuffe while Orgon hides underneath the table. Of course in the end, Tartuffe is figured out and reason permits his undoing. simple huh?

overall, it was was it was…just a play…it wasn’t anything too challenging.
2.0 stars

ok look.

i gave the book a 3 average because it’s deemed “the greatest american novel.” The sentiment is based on the heroic character of Huck Finn who obstinately rejects the norms of his society to comply with his own individual freedom in action and morals. It deconforms to organized religion, southern economic dependence to slavery, and even familial ties.

the story is symbolically saturated which makes me understand why the novel can be considered a graduate level book, because it has many layers through its imagery. the river itself being a symbol of freedom- both potentially good and bad, and the raft which serves as a common ground for Huck and Jim to be equal humans.

but in my opinion, which is also what i wrote my paper on, is that the second half of the book digresses in interest to complete the initial goal of the first half, and becomes just countless tedious moments of distractions for Huck, and probably the greatest annoyance towards the character Jim. We end up following Huck through his supposedly “adventures” when we fail in responsibility to concern ourselves with Jim- the one whose life is in ultimate jeopardy. Only in little instances do we see Jim’s face peek out from the marshes, and instead mainly see the heroic figures of Huck and Tom in the end.

my paper was on the irony of Twain’s character Tom, who he uses as the ridiculous hero, but i felt was just the obvious version of Huck as a hero. Huck was just like Tom, except he was more subtle in coming up and giving in to the distractions and forgetting the main clear direct objective in saving Jim. Twain lost the initial momentum and idea of heroism in Huck in the beginning, and ultimately turned him into the hero he mocked through Tom Sawyer.

ya…so i didn’t like the novel particularly.