Bobis Corner

Religion: A Personal Perspective

2016-09-02T02:51:00.000+08:00

To start with, I would like everyone to know that this article is based on my personal point of view and is not written to discredit any religion and belief.

I can still remember my father's word of wisdom which he told me when I was a kid, he said "If you wont to have make friends, discuss current events. But if you wont to have enemies...talk about religion." I wasn't really able to understand it completely as a kid, but now I understand that one of the most controversial topic to discuss is "Religion".

I suppose you will agree with me when I say that majority of people tog around the world had embraced a religion or faith that the family they are born to are believed in. Some have chosen to join or accept a different religion as they grow older and had the mind to analyse which belief is more acceptable to bite or her, still some change the religion when they marry a person who belongs to a different faith and culture. And a small percentage may belong to those who have decided to change the, religion because they are discontented with the way their church authorities handle their members.

But regardless of what religion one may belong to, one thing is for sure, the teaching of all religions regardless of who they worship as God, (and I hope you will agree with me) is that "to love God and do good to others". And all religions also have a "Holy Book" (of which again are called by different names) wherein Gods commandments are stated for His people to follow. People of different faith do not agree who the Supreme Being really is, and of course. Atheists would say that there is no such thing. But since we are on the topic of religion, let's agree that there is a Supreme Being, a God that created everything and oversees every soul, as this is what is taught by all religion. Not only that, people who even worship the same God but of different religion disagree even in the name of God. Just thinking about this, I am longer wondering why there are different ways and practices even among those who believe in the same God.

at the beginning of this article, this writing is based on my personal perspective and since I was by to a Christian family, Roman Catholic to be exact, I would like to discuss the similarities and differences of my religion to other Christian religions and others as well. As Catholics, we believe the Jesus Christ is God, same with other Christian religions, except for others who prefer to call the Lord as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah". Some people may argue that it is an act of disrespect to call God by any other name.P this is already a controversy by itself, what more if we talk about the particular day which is assigned by God for people to worship him. These are just some of the things that makes people argue and make enemies among people who belong to different faiths.

Though I am a Catholic, there are some certain practices of the church which I do not agree with, one of which is praying to saints and having images inside the church. My personal take on this matter is, why pray to the saints if one can pray directly to God. Here in the Philippines, there are "Fiestas" or feast day that are celebrated all around the country , which are supposed to be the Feast day for a particular saint, but if we will look closely how these "Fiestas" are celebrated, only a small portion of the people pay tribute to the saint and attend masses Intended for them, most are busy in the preparation of food for the eating galore and drinking sprees which lasts the whole day, even two days if you count the "Bisperas' or the day before the feast.

Some Christian believers, will also argue that Sunday is not the day designated by God as the day for people to worship and give thanks to Him. At a point, the Christian Bible says that God had assigned the Sabbath on the Seventh day of the week, of which if we look at most of the calendars, the Seventh day is Saturday, not Sunday which is the first day of the week. (correct rne if I'm wrong). Another thing is that, it should be a "My" of worship, not just an hour or a couple of hours, of which many can't even afford to give the complete hour to God without being interrupted by talking to their seatmates glancing at their cellular phones and leaving God only in churches.

Here are just some questions that I keep asking myself over and over as I ponder over the topic of religion:

Would the All-Mighty God punish a person, who had followed well and did good deeds all his life in accordance to the teaching of the faith he or she was born to when were men acknowledges and even give awards to act of kindness done by their fellowmen?
Would All-Loving God, deny his or her soul eternal life after devoting his or her life for the service
to the sick and the needy simply because this person had called God with a different name, when we
acknowledge people when we are mistakenly called not by own names?Would the All-Merciful God deny mercy to people who followed His teaching and had been just and loving to his fellowmen because he or she belongs to a different faith, when mere mortals can even forgive people who had did them wrong.

Problems Again

2016-08-30T02:43:00.000+08:00

Definitely, all of us have often heard people complain about having problems. Some would even say it's endless as one problem comes after another, like a never-ending story. Of course we don't only hear about it, but have also experienced it from time to time and may even be experiencing it at this very moment.

As one saying goes, it is always calm before storm"and looking back in perspective, it is usually true if one should look at the times before they encounter a problem. Problems come to as when we least expect it and usually when we feel relaxed and comfortable in the way our lives are going, then all of the sudden "BOOM!" it says hello to us again with a very big grin that leaves us feeling helpless. People also say that "Life is like a wheel", there are times that we are on top, free from all the worries in the world and all of a sudden we find ourselves crushed at the bottom. It is during these times that we are down that we realize that no matter what we do, we can't always control the situations that we face in this day-to-day journey we call life.

I've heard some people say "life was a lot better when lean still a kid". Those were the times when all we had to worry are school-related problems such as, assignments, home works, projects, grades, etc. At some point, it may be true for most, but definitely not everyone would agree the problems that are faced by all kids are limited to these, it also varies depending on the situation they are in. There are some kids that even at this early stage of their lives have to worry about problems that involve day- to-day survival. What to eat for their next meals or even asking themselves if they will have any.... Are you getting the point now? If the problems you had to face during your childhood days were not that of the, latter, then consider yourself lucky, even very lucky, become for some people, they still face, problems even now as they already adults.

People who realize that to live this life we are in, we need to be ready, in fact always ready to face problems every day, are the ones who have better chances of passing these trials presented with flying colors. Whether we like it or not, we will always face problems that comes our way, of which most will even come when we least expect it, some of which may even have been created by our own selves. Regardless of the situation and the extent of difficulty of the problem, people react to these problems in various ways. Those who have a positive way of looking at them as simply trials and challenges that are meant to make them stronger will come out as winners, but those who think that it is the end of the world and that everything else is hopeless, are those who give up, even to the point of committing suicide in order to es., the hard realities of life.

Problems are part of living, that's a fact, it is just a matter of how we should face it. Problems are universal, there is not a single person in the world who have not faced a problem, even the baby in his mother's womb feels the problem of being helpless and confined that's why they kick and tumble inside their mother's belly. More often than not, people think that rich and successful people do not have problems, or even if they experience problems they have enough resources to be able to solve them, let me remind you however, that even though most of the problems we face may be financially related, not everything can be solved by having more money. Someone said that "consider yourself lucky, if your problem is only financial."

In closing, the most effective way in my perspective, is to trust in God during difficult times. The Bible says "Cast your burdens upon me, all you heavily laden, and I will give you rest." I am not even very religious, something that I am not proud of, but time and again, God had saw me through all the trials I've faced so far, He had come to in the form of people who were there to help during those times when everything else is hopeless. It doesn't mean that I do not face any problems now, I still do just like everyone else, as a matter of fact, i am faced with a very heavy burden as I am writing this article. My limited human mind can't even think of ways to solve it without the help of other people. 1 will give it up to the Lord, and let His will be done, this is the best way to solve a problem that seem to have no solution.

So when life, throws you a curve-ball, try Prayer and let God do His best. As the line of the song Blessings goes..." What if trials of this life, are Your mercies in disguise?".

Life: A Personal Perspective

2016-08-06T19:47:00.001+08:00

What is Life? This is a very simple question, yet the answers can be numerous and varied based on a person's perspective, it may be defined in many complicated ways, especially the answer is to be based on a religious point of view, regardless of any particular religion or belief.

I came across a quote on the Internet the other day stating that "Life isn't just about working and paying bills". This I believe is what most grown-ups had to face in their daily grind, and this is not limited to those who already have their own family. Many seems to be caught up so much in finding and working hard to earn that mighty commodity people call as money. It might be understandable at a certain degree why those who have no money would like to have plenty of it in order to attain their dreams. But what is it with some people that even those who already have plenty of it and don't even know where to spend it, can't simply seem to get enough of it. If we look at life at this perspective, then it can't be all about being poor or super rich that really makes one life fulfilled because even those who seem to have every material things they need and want can't still be satisfied and still feel empty at some point in time.

Some would say that life is all about having a family. Having people who truly love and care for each other. But no matter how we look at it, there are no perfect families or relationships for that matter, since no one is born perfect, everyone have their own flaws and weaknesses as much as they have their strengths. Some say that living with other people and learning to love and accept them even through all these imperfections is what life is all about, after all as one great author once said...''To err is human, but to love is divine". But there are those who can still live their lives in a somewhat solitary state, then life can't really be all about relationships.

Now for the most controversial perspective, looking at life based on religions and beliefs. Since there are different religions as well as belief, and people are taught based on the beliefs and practices of the religion of the family they are born to, life to most people is all about obeying the laws that the All- mighty being had given to follow and keep in order to attain eternal salvation, of which Atheists would definitely doubt since different religions have different gods and have different ways of worshiping their gods as taught by their respective sacred books. Since this article is all about life, I will not deal with a specific religion but would rather look at it in a general view point based on what different religions teach.

I guess many will agree that all religions, regardless of their practices, teaches the same thing, that there is an All-mighty being who have no other intention except for people to do good to themselves and others in order to attain salvation. If we look at life at this perspective, then life is a journey that is to make oneself pleasing to the eyes of his creator by leading as an example of being good in order to influence others. I do believe that all people are good-natured, but because we are only humans, we react to different situations that make as act otherwise. And because of our human nature and frailty we also make mistakes even on our own even without being influenced by others. Through these mistakes that we learn, which will bring us to looking at life on another viewpoint.

In my personal viewpoint, based on what had been stated above, I would say that life is all about learning. The moment we were conceived, the learning process started. The moment we were born we start to learn from the different stimuli that are presented to us by our environment. We learn to know the difference between warm and cold, satisfied from hungry, love or neglected. As we journey on through life itself, we experience different emotions from which we learn a lot of things that even sadness, failure and hurt, teach us in a way to make us more stronger to face more challenges that are continuously coming our way like an unending test that only stops when life itself leaves our mortal bodies.

A lesson about life was taught by Alexander the Great as he waited for life to depart on his death bed.

He gave three last instructions what was to be done during his funeral. Even as he was dying, he wanted to share and teach people the three great lessons he learned in his lifetime. First, he asked for six of the best doctors in his court to carry his coffin. Second, his material earthly possessions are to be scattered along the way of his funeral. And the third instruction he gave was to let his lifeless arm with his open hand dangle beside his coffin during the funeral. These were the lessons from each of these instructions. First lesson: No one not even the best doctors can save a man's life when his time comes to depart this world. Second lesson: Every material possession we acquire in this life we leave behind as life itself leaves us. Lastly, He wanted people to see his empty hand dangle beside his coffin during his funeral to teach everyone this lesson: We came to this world empty handed and we will leave the same way.

Life is a continuing learning process, learn from everything and everyone, thank the people who caused you pain and made you suffer, since they too just like those who cared and loved you also taught you lessons that can't be learned any other way. Life is full and complete only when we have learned from the life we live.

Peculiar but Funny Ways of the Filipino People

2016-06-26T00:56:00.001+08:00

Have you ever tried leaving your home with the door closed? Obviously one would find it difficult to do unless one is a ghost or has the ability to pass through solid objects like what magicians do in their acts. Filipinos do this every time...not by transporting themselves through solid objects but by following instructions their old folks always tell them before leaving.

Before you get confused about things, let me first tell you about how old folks are very concern about the safety of everyone in the family including the belongings and their abode. We Filipinos however, would always try to cut short almost everything to make the sentence shorter, sometimes to the extent of making the meaning of the sentence illogical. Regardless, we still understand perfectly what was being said or being given as an instruction. Let's take this as an example. One would often be instructed "Isara mo ang pinto bago ka umalis", which when translated would mean "close the door before you leave"... If taken verbatim, no one will be able to leave their home if they close the door shut before they can even leave the premises. This is what I was talking about in my opening statement. Doors are shut closed after leaving not before leaving, yet that sentence had been passed on from one generation to another yet understood though the instruction is exactly the opposite.

Funny as it seems, but we Filipinos are also fond of answering questions with indirect responses, of which people from other cultures may find a bit disrespectful, yet to us, it is quite acceptable and also quite very normal. Take a person who is being asked "Kumain ka na ba? (Have you eaten already?) of which the most commonly given reply of those who have eaten already is "Busog pa 'ko.." (I'm still full..."), instead of being answered directly. Here's another very common one, when someone is asking how far they'll be travelling... "Gaano ba kalayo?" (How far is it?)...of which the common reply is "Mga isang oras lang." (Only about an hour.) while the question being asked is about the distance, which is supposed to be answered in terms of meters, kilometers or miles, it is most often than not, replied with a certain measure of time in terms of Hours and Minutes. This may have something to do with the way people in the old days count the time when travelling to a place since there were no markers to tell them how far they've gone already. Nowadays, even with the presence of road markers and kilometer posts, most people would still answer the same question in terms of time not the approximate distance, quite applicable until now due to the traffic problem we have, especially in Metro Manila, therefore time is used to measure the distance from one place to another. But no matter how funny or peculiar the ways of the Filipinos are, there are still a couple of things we Filipinos should be proud of, and must take every effort to keep this alive through the coming generations. We show respects to our elders and old people by Kissing their hands. This is done by holding the elderly's hand while bowing down to let it touch our forehead. We call it "Pagma-mano" or as some measure of time in terms of Hours and Minutes. This may have something to do with the way people in the old days count the time when travelling to a place since there were no markers to tell them how far they've gone already. Nowadays, even with the presence of road markers and kilometre posts, most people would still answer the same question in terms of time not the approximate distance, quite applicable until now due to the traffic problem we have, especially in Metro Manila, therefore time is used to measure the distance from one place to another.

But no matter how funny or peculiar the ways of the Filipinos are, there are still a couple of things we Filipinos should be proud of, and must take every effort to keep this alive through the coming generations. We show respects to our elders and old people by Kissing their hands. This is done by holding the elderly's hand while bowing down to let it touch our forehead. We call it "Pagma-mano" or as some would call it "Mano Po". The last word "Po" in the term "Mano Po" is by itself a term which is used to show respect, it is the shorter version of the whole word "Opo" which may mean "Yes" but not simply an affirmation but a response with respect.

Funny Ways How Filipinos Give Names

2016-06-26T00:45:00.001+08:00

Filipinos take pride of being known as "Very Hospitable People", but aside from this, we Filipinos also take pride of our culture and heritage that had been pa
ssed on from one generation to the next. Most of our traits and how we react to different situations are usually influenced by how our old folks had brought us up. Let's try to look at some of them.

Since time in history, many Filipinos are fond of giving two or even more first names to their children. This is done by including the first names of the parents or the grand parents to the name they wish to give to their children. They do this as a way of honouring their folks, especially if they come from a generation of well-known families in their respective localities. These names when added to their middle names and surnames will surely give the poor kid quite a hard time when he starts practicing to write the first time he goes to school. Even when the child grows up to be an adult, the space provided in legal forms may not even be enough to accommodate his or her complete name. At least two Filipino showbiz personalities (a male comedian and a female singer) used "Long" as their first names in order to cut his very long first name to make it short. They always make a joke out of it during interviews and tell everyone to simply call them "Long" for short.

In contrast or maybe as a way of making up for these quite very long names, short nicknames are given to people who were baptized with these very long names (and even those who only hove one first names) in order to call them easily. This applies not only to kids but to everyone else as well, whether it be a friend, a classmate or a co-worker. Not only that short nicknames are given, most even go to the most obvious...take the case of giving a young lad a nickname "Boy", (which he is obviously one) of which many had grown up to be parents and grandparents and still being called as "Boy". Girls are often called as "Baby" and they carry it with them until they became grandmas and still being called as "Baby".

These nicknames also varies depending in which part of the country one was born or brought up. People in the Bicol region prefer to call young lads as "No" and even younger ones as "Nono". Girls on the other hand are called the opposite, which is "Ne" and the younger lasses as, you've guessed it..."Nene". While in the Visayas and Mindanao Regions, boys are often referred to as "Dong" or "Dodong" and girls are called as "Day" or "Inday". The repeating of syllables are not limited to these areas, many Filipinos have nicknames which are made up of the first syllable being repeated to make their nicknames complete. Our very Own National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal had a nickname of "peke" and Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino Ill is also known as "Noynoy". Denden, Lenten, Toto, Bebe, Maymay, Ann-arn and Love-love are just some of the other most commonly used nicknames all over the country.

No matter how peculiar or funny all of these may seem to people from other countries and cultures, these are trademarks of being born as a Filipino, something that every man, woman and children should be proud of if they consider themselves True Filipinos.

Why do I exist?

2012-11-21T09:00:00.000+08:00

Man’s intelligence is limited. The reason behind one’s existence isn’t declared at the very first breath one ever made, but by slowly taking a step in connecting with everything around: space, objects, events, fellow human beings and others.

In Biblical terms, the Scripture said, “Everything happens for a reason and a purpose under the Heavens”. It explains much about everything that is happening around us. Because of people’s different beliefs and experiences towards life, some may agree nor disagree with that phrase; but believing that the world is full of countless fictional and true to life stories, agreeing with an exact explanation of one’s existence would be completely impossible.

As far as I’m concerned, only God knows the main reason of my existence and I am not interested in knowing them ahead of time because my life wouldn’t be worth sharing then. Because He already had everything planned out, I don’t want to interfere with all of his plans. I want to leave everything work out as He planned, in His time and not mine.

However, as far as human intelligence can explain, my reason relates to the Scripture. Although the world is full of billions of people, I believe that everything I do makes a difference. As some people have said even the smallest particle is important, the reason of my existence may be helping an old woman carry her groceries up the jeepney, or to help bring an infamous book to the best selling charts, or in some ways I may be an inspiration to my friends and help them up... who knows! Both in big and little ways, the reason of my existence simply relates to God’s plans on everything around: to contribute on how things work out, not just for me, but also for my family and friends, and even to strangers.

Typhoon Washi (Sendong) wished a Merry Christmas?

2011-12-22T00:52:00.000+08:00

A week before Christmas Eve, when people were busy attending Christmas Parties, Midnight Christmas Sales and resting after a day's work, Typhoon Washi (local name, Sendong) destroyed the City of Golden Friendship, Cagayan de Oro City.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) have reported an incoming Signal #1 typhoon to hit the ground around 4:00 in the afternoon of December 16, Friday, after sending drizzles late morning.

Early evening of December 16th, the typhoon started blowing its powerful winds weakening the roots of big, old trees, tearing down billboards, and worst, throwing away roofs and even cars. Electricity went weak in the middle of the darkness causing power fluctuations and on-and-off electricity while the supply of water started to run out as the strong, heavy rain poured and the typhoon was at its peak.

Water level from rivers went higher causing them to overflow and destroy houses. A strong current of mud from mining sites ran down to the city river causing roof-levelled flood, destroying properties and livelihood, swallowing wooden houses and islets within the river area.

Many were found dead while some are still missing. Some survivors were found in another island of another region of the Philippines days after that fateful night while some were able to find higher grounds while during the climax of Washi's madness. There was a citizen who did her best to survive by holding tight at one of their coconut trees for four hours, while some families spent the night at the roof with all the strong winds and heavy rain waiting for rescue.

Citizens and Local Government officials questioned themselves how this tragedy could bring them a Merry Christmas when Churches and Evacuation Centers were filled with people affected by the typhoon. They lost the hope of being Merry when they know that a lot of families lost their properties and loved ones.

Truly, the typhoon Washi (Sendong) destroyed too much. It is currently known as the worst typhoon to have ever struck the city and the country for decades. Typhoon Ketsana (local name, Ondoy) may have also caused major destructions in Metro Manila in 2009, but compared to Ketsana whose death count was only 304, Washi's latest death count reached a thousand already, both claimed and unclaimed.

Looking at the bright side, it is still possible for the typhoon victims to have a Merry Christmas. Victims still have the right to have a joyful Christmas.

Christmas is all about HOPE. Whenever we face problems, no matter how big those are, we should never lose hope.

"But we face so many problems every year" as you may say. Always remember that Christmas happens every year also, to bring Hope.

Washi came to teach us the value of giving and sharing what we have. Washi came to teach us the value of contentment and thankfulness.

It has always been a part of our attitude to send gifts every Christmas just for the sake of giving. Washi came to remind us that Giving from the Heart is better than giving something just because it has been our tradition to give presents on Christmas. Companies and Schools have donated their Christmas Party budget, other countries donated money and goods, and people gave up their "exchange gifts" just to help the typhoon victims.

It has also been a part of our attitude to love material things. Washi came to remind us that Money Can't Buy Happiness. Washi came to remind us to be contented with what we have. Because of Washi's destruction, we wouldn't value what we have.

The victims of the typhoon remind us that we have a lot of things to be thankful for: food, water, clothing, shelter and loved ones. The volunteers and donors on the other hand remind us that the best gift we could ever give is something From the Heart.

Despite the destruction, we have countless reasons to shout:

"GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME; AND ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD"

Just yesterday, a rainbow shined over the destroyed city. And to normal people, the rainbow would only be a rainbow because of some scientific and weather reasons; but as to Christians, the rainbow served as God's covenant. Similar to the story of Noah's Ark, God said:

"I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth."

- Genesis 9:11-13

More photos inside

Mud vs Salt Water at the City Delta

Before and After

Photos by Facebook

2011's Farewell and Christmas Present: The Red Moon

2011-12-11T20:49:00.001+08:00

Total Lunar Eclipses happen
only once in a blue moon

The year 2011 may have caused a couple of happiness and sadness to everyone. Joy and pain overflowed as dreams have been achieved. However, before saying goodbye, 2011 continues to send us more love by giving us last night's one of a kind experience: The Red Moon.

Asian stargazers as well as members of the growing population of the cyberworld kept an eye on the Red Moon and its feeds. Facebookers have frequently posted statuses and pictures of the moon's progress in turning red while the twitterverse have created the worldwide trend of #LunarEclipse and The Red Moon.

Total Lunar Eclipses happen only once in a blue moon... or shall I say, Red Moon? Total Lunar Eclipses happen when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon and the Earth's shadow falls on the moon making it look bloody, bloody red.

One of 2011's early farewell (and holiday) present all started with the appearance of the beautiful, perfect-shaped full moon when twilight came. As the night went deep, the moon was the star of the night since it was all covered with a very dark background full of shining stars that every person would love to witness. Two hours before midnight, the earth's shadow slowly fell on the moon, making it look dark and reddish. But as the night went on, the moon went back to its normal form til dawn.

Aside from the holidays, another event we'll be keeping an eye before the end of this year will be the Geminids Meteor Shower which will be seen after midnight of December 14 and 15. Meteors, or commonly known as falling stars, will be falling from the sky to radiate the constellation Gemini (The Twins) and can be seen at an average rate of forty meters per hour.

View more photos of the Lunar Eclipse inside...

The earth's shadow covering the half of the moon

Earth's shadow turns moon's color to red

The Red Moon

2011's Farewell and Christmas Present: The Red Moon

Paint With Me

2011-06-12T09:00:00.004+08:00

Ever wondered what it feels to hold a paintbrush in front of a canvas with a set of paints beside you? Ever wondered what it feels locking a paintbrush at the side of your ear or jabbing the opposite side of the paintbrush on your tied locks?

Similar to crayons, colored pencils and pastels, painting is way of playing with colors. With the use of the different sizes and styles of various paintbrushes, tissues or cottons, sponge(s), palettes, and too much patience, painting is a little more complicated than using the basic coloring materials.

There are different kinds of painting mediums in art. The most common mediums are the following:

A famous oil painting
by Leonardo da Vinci

Oil Paints

Oil paints are the most expensive type of paint and are bound with a medium of drying oil. Linseed Oil is one of the most common type of oil used in oil painting which is also responsible in giving the "glossy" effect. Fat Over Lean is the basic rule in oil painting which has to do with the amount of oil mixed in every layer. One of the disadvantages of oil painting are: cleaning of brushes (believe me, it's very very hard); and your work cannot be framed with glass since the oil will stick to the glass and may destroy your artwork.

Acrylic Paints

Acrylic paints are easier to use between oil and watercolor. Similar to watercolor, acrylic paints are thinned by water but are fast in drying and errors are easily erased with the use of a towel or tissue.

There is no place for mistakes
in watercolor

Watercolor paints

Watercolor is the least expensive type of paint but requires so much patience and knowledge; Water is bound to be the medium and is also responsible for making a paint lighter. Painting in this medium requires painting the lightest tones first then to the dark ones. Once you create a mistake in water color, the only way in correcting it is putting a darker color on top, or it will forever be that way.

Whatever medium is used, an artist should paint to impress himself not others. Similar to musicians who write songs about the way they feel, an artist (painters) also paints in order to release what the words they cannot say. As to what the famous phrase said, A picture paints a thousand words, an artist paints to release the feelings that cannot be converted to words.

I have formulated the Six General Ways To Paint, which may be applied in whatever medium you use, and those are the following:

Prepare your materials - Make sure that all your materials are within reach. You wouldn't want to search for Payne's Gray when you're in the middle of needing it, right?

For a beginner, it is
recommended to start
painting with the
basic shapes.

Choose and study your subject - You should decide what to paint. It may be a portrait, seascape, landscape or an abstract painting of whatever you want. It's up to you!
Draft your canvas - With the use of a pencil, identify and lightly sketch the different shapes you need to paint on. Try shading a little of pencil shades on where the shadow should be or where the darkest tones are.
Start painting - Never forget the rules of your medium (Watercolor: lightest to darkest, Acrylic: Farthest to nearest, Oil: Thinnest to thickest) and use the different tricks you have learned.
Finishing Touches - Add the details but never overdo stuff for it may only lead in two ways: a.) make it better or b.) make it look disturbing.

Clean up - Never forget to clean your painting area. Hang your painting on a wall to make it dry and start cleaning the mess on your workplace and be sure your brushes are well-cleaned, ready for the next use.

Are you ready to paint? Check out the different and Original watercolor paintings inside with some mistakes that may prove that painting with watercolor has No room for a single mistake.

The Lord's Prayer
Spotted the mistake? The color is blue.

The Lighthouse
Reflection Mistake

The Lover's View
This mistake is a little easier to fix since the cloud's reflection is darker
than the sea color.

By:
Ethel Grace Bobis

Love Is Equivalent to Time

2011-05-31T04:02:00.013+08:00

Ever wondered why time is precious whenever we love? Ever sacrificed big things just for the value of love? Have you ever skipped your biggest job interview just to meet your loved one(s)?

Love is the answer.

Love is powerful. It can bring the gods to their knees. [1] It is the most powerful motivator in the world; It spurs mortals to greatness. The noblest and bravest acts are done for love [2]

A short story explains why love is needed by time. An island was inhabited by all feelings and emotions. To name a few, Happiness, Sorrow, Knowledge, Love, and all others. One day, it was announced that the island will sink too soon, therefore, the inhabitants should construct their best boats. All did except Love.

Love asked each of the inhabitants if he could join them in their best boats. Richness couldn't let him in because there were too much gold, silver, money and all other treasures aboard; Sadness couldn't let Love in because he wants to be alone; Vanity couldn't let Love in because he is too wet and dirty to be part of his boat; Happiness didn't hear Love's little favor for she is full of happiness. All feelings and emotions didn't allow Love in their best boats for many reasons.

All except one: Time. Why? Because only time is capable of understanding the value of love.

Time is important. As what most of us said, time is gold. If time is only capable of understanding love, it means that valuing our loved ones is equivalent to time. We should give them our time. Besides the hectic schedule everyday, we should grab the opportunity to give them some of our time whenever we get that opportunity, not grabbing that opportunity for doing other things.

Loving is not giving time whenever nature tells us to give time; loving is giving and finding time no matter how busy we are.

Whenever we're with our family, or our loved ones, we should give them time everytime we get home from work or school. Give an hour of recreation before doing other important stuffs like working on your homework or planning the next big project for work or business.

We do not hold the future. We only know the past and we are working on our present. We should give time before it's not too late.

We would hate seeing our loved one(s) spending time with other people because we didn't give them our time. They would then think that it is better to be with someone else who lends them their time than you. Or maybe, we wouldn't want to give our time when they are about to die, leaving us in regret for spending too much on our seriousness in work, business or school, right?

Our seriousness is the food of our ego. It makes us dull, dry and forget what we have. It makes us feel that we are important, forgetting our loved ones and it makes us feel so self-centered.

It's never too late to change. Go get that time and spend it with your loved ones.

We must also remember: because we don't hold the future, we cannot take with us the wealth or knowledge that we earned from school, work or business if ever our time on earth ends. Value everything in life, including the small details that makes life beautiful, because we never know what we have until it's gone.

[1] The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan
[2] The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan

By:
Ethel Grace K. Bobis

Predictions: The End of the World

2011-03-16T11:06:00.004+08:00

There are many predictions about the end of time, including so-called hoax prophecies that are only based on man's own imagination.

Most people are afraid when the topic comes to the end of the world. They would prefer to read essays, researches and watch movies that speaks about it. But the point is, why worry?

Man's imagination has a HUGE gap on God's. The way man sees on the end of the world is different from how God tells in His Word. Although most warnings from the Bible are coming into reality, we can only conclude that those are just the signs, and it is not the end yet.

Based on the box office 2012 film which was released late 2009 and directed by Roland Emmerich, the world will end through natural disasters that will cause to put an end in life on earth, like earthquakes, tsunamis, and blowing of both active and inactive volcanoes. It somehow returns the old struggles of Noah and his family in creating an ark during the Bible times.

People have believed that the end of the world will be in December 21, 2012, which was based on the film's predictions. But to some, their complete proofs are based on the Mayan Calendar. The Mayan Calendar is a system of calendars created and used by the Mayan Civilization to track time, which was said to have started at least before the 5th century before Christ's execution and will end on December 21, 2012.

The astronomer Philip Plait has stated very clearly that the Mayan calendar does not end in 2012 at all, that it is like the odometer on your car, as each section of the odometer reaches 9 and then clicks over to 0, the next number to it starts a new cycle, so that when all the numbers again reach 0 all the way across the odometer - the last number will change from 1 to 2 and the new cycle starts all over again. [1]

It was said that in 1993, Christ would return to earth for a worldwide Communist dictatorship would be established.

Late 1990's, the people have also predicted the end of the world when the calendar marks January 2000 for the reason that the IT people of the world are planning to blow up the planet on 12/31/1999, 12:00 midnight. Some have also delivered the news that the world will end in the year 2000 because of an alien invasion. To some, they have said that God had given another man in this era that will make take the responsibilities of Noah and build another Ark and destroy earth's wildest and unclean people by sending another Great Flood.

In 1983, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Guru of the Rajneesh movement predicted massive destruction on earth, including natural disasters and man-made catastrophes. Floods larger than any since Noah, extreme earthquakes, very destructive volcano eruptions, nuclear wars etc. will be experienced. Tokyo, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Bombay will all disappear. [2]

There are a lot of predictions about the end of the world which were proved to be false over time. The only reason why people predict the end is to gain money by page views, box office hits and interviews because obviously, nobody doesn't want to be left behind in such issues. The end is only based on the greed and pride of man that gives him all the fortune, fame and power.

People have always wondered from every generation on what the Bible states on a disturbing question found in the book of Matthew 24:3, which states, What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Jesus answered by enumerating several warning signs.like massive religious deceptions, wars and conflicts between nations, famines, disease, and earthquakes. Jesus then added saying, "The sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The great trumpet will sound, and he will send out his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from one end of the world to the other."

The question is: Why do people worry regarding the end of the world? Why do people try to predict when the exact date and time the world is ending? Why do people expect the end of the world based on natural and man made disasters?

Mark 13:32 states that no one knows when the accurate day or hour the end of the world is, nor the second coming... not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

[1] ALL ABOUT 2012
[2] Pre-date Settlers

by:
Ethel Grace K. Bobis

The Hidden Love

2011-02-14T05:00:00.002+08:00

A cousin is a son or daughter of our parents’ siblings. Second cousins are the son or daughter of our parents’ cousins. They are our relatives from a common predecessor in the family whom we share a common blood with.

Cousins are made up of everything First’s in our life. They are our first priorities as well as our first shoulders to cry on. They are also the only people in our life who has the power to understand us fully as an individual. Not to mention, they are the people who can lend us some advice after a bad day.

Cousins are there as childhood friends. When we were young, we treated our cousins as Enemies based from different childish activities, especially when dealing with toys. We cursed them and wished they never existed. But not long after that childish problems we encountered with them, we considered them back as Friends, and took back all the inappropriate words we have thrown at them.

As we grew together, they are still our friends... until we got older and older, and until the day we'll have our last breath. Though there might be a little misunderstanding at times, we can now easily bare in mind the fact that there's something we have to cherish about the relationship we have with our cousins. They are the Love of Our Lives.

Love is the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. It is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. To some, love isn't just a virtue, but the basis for all being, just as they said, "God is love". Love may also be described as actions towards others or oneself based on compassion or as actions towards others based on affection. [1]

A love of a cousin is invisible but immeasurable. Our cousins are proud to be called our cousins. It is one of the unique blessings that came from above that made us a part of such wonderful family. The way we get excited when we see them can be one of the proofs of that love. It is then the perfect time for us to share our different thoughts and moments that happened in our lives while we were apart. It is the time of bonding, happiness, and laughter.

Cousins are our first friends – they are our first playmates. The time we spent with our cousins in our younger years will forever remain in our thoughts as memories that cannot be changed, erased nor forgotten. Even the way we argued with our cousins in our early years which made them our so-called “temporary enemies” can never destroy the unbreakable friendship we had made out of it… a friendship that lasts a lifetime, which is universally known as “best friends forever”. Though they may not be there at all times, but they will always be our best buds. Nobody will ever understand how insane our family is, other than our cousins.

Happy Valentine's Day to all my cousins out there! I have the BEST cousins in the entire universe! I love YOU and I will always will. ♥

1. Love - Wikipedia

By:
Ethel Grace K. Bobis

Valentine's Day: Love Messages

2011-02-14T00:00:00.067+08:00

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is a celebration held yearly on the same day, specifically on February 14. It is a celebration of love and affection. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting chocolates, flowers, sending greeting cards, and/or going out for a date.

Most romantic people prefer to be in a park gazing for stars until a shooting star passes by. To some, a rock concert is preferable. But majority prefers to go out for dinner, dressed nicely with a bouquet of roses in hand or a Valentine present wrapped with love.

Famous and Classic Valentine's Day Songs include My Valentine (Martina McBride), I Finally Found Someone (Bryan McAdams and Barbra Streisand), And I Love You So (McLean), Can You Feel The Love Tonight (Elton John), and More Than Words (Extreme) . These legendary love songs are often played in the radio for Valentine's Day. Lovers will then feel the Valentine's Day spirit and jot down the soft-sweet lyrics on a piece of paper or an expensive Valentine card.

Sending Valentine's Day cards became a tradition to many. To some, to send one of those cards doesn't only mean that you have to send it to your special someone, but also send one to their special and best friends, families across the miles or relatives.

Inside are some Valentine's Day Messages (I'll start with mine):

To the people I love (esp to my family and relatives), Happy Valentine's Day! Thank you for everything I cannot enumerate at this moment. I Love You so much, you just don't know it. To all my friends, you ROCK! :)

-Ethel Grace Bobis

Happy valentines day!!! Especially to all bloggers in the world!

-Azrael Coladilla

For my special someone: "I'd like you to know that you are my LOVE, my HEART, and my LIFE. I love you so much!"

-Kira Permunian

Happy Valentines to all in Blogger world

-Panch Dev Bhatta

Happy valentine's day to all. Have a healthy, happy and loving ♥. To EVERYONE HERE: "I LOVE YOU TOO" (they said, "i love you too" has a greater impact because everyone can get an "i love you" but not all gets an "i love you too..") There you go, no room for sadness. let's party!!

-Cissydette

Happy Valentine's to everyone :)

-NewsMeBack

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

-Jesus Christ[1]

[1] Jesus Christ: via Matthew 22:37-40

By:
Ethel Grace K. Bobis

Essay: What Is Your Stand About Jejemon Entering The Mainstream Language?

2011-01-26T19:57:00.007+08:00

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and self esteem.

As a well rounded and competent STI student, I believe that we have our own rights, especially the right to be heard and the right to listen. It all depends on us if we show our inner confidence and speak our minds towards any situations that we may encounter. No matter how the society stops us from sharing our thoughts in the form of discrimination, we have to bare in mind that we all have the right to be heard. We shouldn't allow discrimination to ruin our confidence, but we should treat those as barriers that stop us from reaching our goals --- where our destiny is. It is similar to giant waves that try their superlative force to enter your land territory by ruining your boundary guards. If a single drop of water reached your land, you should learn from the mistakes you have made that allowed that water to reach your territory, until you have fully stopped its entrace.

To insert in the subject, the former Philippine President who was famously known as The First Female President of the Philippines, Corazon Cojuanco Aquino, is one of the people I proudly look up to. Reasons regarding that matter are randomly based on her achievements as a President, especially on how she administers her leadership with deep humbleness. She had proven the world that a woman can do more than what men think a woman cannot. No leader nowadays are like her, not even her son who just followed her footsteps by receiving the title and by taking the oath as as the President of the country. Every leader's hubris nowadays are very dominant that even a human's naked eye can clearly see. During Cory's supremacy, it is an eye to the public that she treats each and every member of her team with respect. What is more astonishing during her reign as a President was the way she treated normal people who are not in her level with full respect, similar to the respect they had given her. She had given each citizen the right to speak their minds and talk about different events, as well as the right to be heard.

The power of language is extreme since it is a way to share thoughts and ideas, and to communicate. It even stopped the building of famous Tower of Babel that should have connected Heaven and Earth during the Bible times. We must bare in mind the importance of communicating by the language. It is essential to communicate to various people due to different events and activities that have happened in the past, something that is undergoing in the present, or something that the future holds for us.Therefore, if communication is important, language is also important because understanding the language is a must, especially if it is used by common people.

The number of languages grow in population as the days go by. Most are borrowed words from another language which people claim to own for theirselves. It is a crime to corrupt languages, like writing someone else's name incorrectly --- simple but powerful. That is one of the things people fail to understand. More and more languages are corrupted as the knowledge of technology expands through the multiplying users of the internet as well as the use of mobile phones and portable gadgets. More students have lost the power of an eye-to-eye communication due to text messages, instant messages, electronic mails and chats that keep them away from their studies due to being awake the entire night. More students tend to believe that corrupted language is more important than learning the correct structure and grammar of languages since they believe that following the trend is the key to good socialization. In return to all of these, the public have impossibly agreed to promote advertisements, soap operas, radio programs, and any form of entertainment that follows the practice of it with incorrect spellings and grammars, and a mixture of different languages.With these, more students will lose the quality of education by witnessing such examples from different sources.

With this kind of an environment, do you think it is suitable for learning? Do you think it is a convenient place for studying? Do you think that the population of educated people will grow?

With this, I would love to quote in the International Declaration of Human Rights that states, "The recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable acts of all the members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in this world. Whereas disregard and contempt of human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, the advent of a world where humans must have the right and the freedom to speak and to believe, and the from all fears, and want has proclaimed as the highest aspiration of common people. It is essential, if a man is not compelled to have recourse, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law"

Baring in mind the human rights, it is clearly obvious that once we respect each other's rights even in such little ways, we have helped our country by practicing justice and peace. If the human mind cannot understand such things that the human rights have stated, or even to the subject of respect itself, no one can ever practice self confidence. We must consider in mind and in act that self confidence is the key to the universe. It is the secret of finding oneself as well as building and creating one's own image as someone he wants to be. Everything around us is made by the power of confidence. Computers for example, are made by the confidence of the intellectual acts of Bill Gates; our favorite recreational website, Facebook, where we have the power to communicate to friends, was made by the competent mind of Mark Zuckerberg by being confident of it... not by luck or coincidence.

There is no secret or scientific formula of confidence and there is no such term as coincidence in the real world, especially in the educated mind. We have to consider that all is connected to all, everything to everything, and everywhere to everywhere. Since the world that we live in is thousands of years old, we know that there is only one common ancestor that shares the same knowledge as us. Someone who made us by his own image, and someone who believes in us. As long as we are happy and contented to what we are doing, no matter how hard it is to go through the walls of the society, we can let confidence serve as our guide to believe in ourselves for after the wake of everything, there is daylight waiting for us to witness its beauty.

By:
Ethel Grace K. Bobis

Photoshop requires Patience

2011-01-14T06:42:00.003+08:00

Photos nowadays are hard to tell if fake or not. It needs to be observed to the tiniest detail to choose which one is fake, and which one isn't.

If you're a Photoshop Geek, it is obvious that time is a big factor in creating unbelievable, stunning photos out of the ordinary camera captures. Photoshopped pictures are seen everywhere: magazines, tabloids, desktop wallpapers, advertisements and webpages!

Photoshop is similar to programming since there are tons of ways to come out of a single output. Let's say erasing an object can be used with the use of the eraser tool, stamp tool, brush tool, and with the use of layer masks!

In creating, retouching and editing images in Photoshop, you have to invest much time as well as creativity. Time depends on how fast your creativity works, and of course, how big is your computer's video card and memory. If you want your picture to really be secretly photoshopped, it again requires time.

Here are examples of pictures. Some are photoshopped, some aren't.

Photoshopped

Real Photo

Photoshopped

Obviously Photoshopped

By:

Ethel Grace Bobis

Toy Story 3 Goof

2011-01-05T12:07:00.003+08:00

If you're a big Toy Story fan, then you may have seen the last movie, Toy Story 3 a hundred times.

Did you notice when Andy's mom tried to video tape Andy's growing up stage?

In one of the camcorder videos from the early scenes, Andy's mom is marking his height on frame of a door (probably Andy's door room). Mom used her left hand when marking with a pencil.

After a couple of scenes, when Andy's mom and Molly entered Andy's room, Mom asked Andy to clean and organize his stuffs in a box with the word College and Attic. Notice Mom writing with her right hand.

Incredible, isn't it? Even Film Makers create mistakes when making a film!

By:
Ethel Grace Bobis

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011!

2011-01-01T00:00:00.023+08:00

After celebrating Christmas, which we all know will always be in our hearts by giving love to everybody, we now welcome another year.

Most people from different countries celebrate New Year differently. Some celebrate it with enormous and colorful fireworks, which was mainly influenced by the Chinese. In Greece, they use a baby as a sign of rebirth paired with wine to honor the god of wine, Dionysus. Many parts of the United States celebrate it by having black-eyed peas and legumes since they considered it good luck. Netherlanders (Dutch) believe that eating donuts on New Year will also bring good luck, but in many countries, they collect ring-shaped chocolates and fruits after the shape of a usual coin, which means money.

The New Year is another day that marks the first day of our three hundred sixty five days. As they say, is a time for change, which then becomes a New Year's Resolution. It is a commitment to be a brand new person, to change all our negatives to positives throughout the year. It may be a change of a bad habit, a change of lifestyle,or a new taste of fashion, which takes effect on the start of the New Year.

To start your New Year, here are five songs for your playlist for New Year Resolutions (preferably teenagers):

1. Start of Something New - Vanessa Hudgens and Drew Seeley (High School Musical)

This could be the start of something new

It feels so right to be here with you

2. Brand New Day - Demi Lovato (Camp Rock 2)

Last year's old news I'm breaking out my six string and play it from my heart.

It's a brand new day! Don't you see me changing all my ways so completely.

3. Change - Taylor Swift (Fearless)

These things will change. Can you feel it now?

These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down.

4. Live Like There's No Tomorrow - Selena Gomez and the Scene (A Year Without Rain)

Live like there's no tomorrow cuz all we have is here right now

Love like it's all that we know, the only chance that we know.

Believe in what we feel inside, believe and it will never die

Don't ever let this life pass us by

5. Things will Never be the Same - Jonas Brothers (Jonas LA)

Your eyes keep our love that I wished I believed you

But it's easy to see that it's over, there's no one to blame

Things will never be the same

By:

Ethel Grace Bobis

Movies Coming on 2011

2010-12-26T17:11:00.094+08:00

After opening a bunch of presents yesterday, we all are looking forward to is the New Year where people try to formulate another set of New Year Resolutions to improve and live a happy life.

Before we welcome another year, below is a bunch of movies to watch for 2011.

Death Race 2

Fast Five (Fast and Furious 5)

Pirates of The Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides

Kung Fu Panda 2

Cars 2

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon

The Smurfs

Spy Kids 4: All the time in the world

Official Poster Coming Soon

Trailer Coming Soon

Three Musketeers

Trailer Coming Soon

Sherlock Holmes 2

Trailer Coming Soon

Other movies include Night at the Museum 3, Puss in Boots, Breaking Dawn, Rambo 5, Terminator 5, Hairspray 2, and a whole lot more!

Christmas Gift Suggestions

2010-12-21T13:45:00.128+08:00

Christmas has lost its meaning due to the growing population of believers of the Christmas icons, like as Santa Claus.

Children who are supposed to learn the value of Christmas are reminded to sleep early before Santa checks the Good or Bad List. They are into Santa Claus presents and Snowball fights with their neighbors.

So if you agree with me, here is a list of presents you should give to the different people important to you, whom you care and whom you don't.

To God: Love

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength
Deuteronomy 6:5

To your family: Time

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heave
Ecclesiastes 3:1

To your sweet heart: Faithfulness

What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?
Romans 3:3

To someone you hate: Understanding

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.
Psalms 34.15

To a friend: Gentleness

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
1 Timothy 6:11

To your enemy: Forgiveness

Though our hearts are filled with sins, you forgive them all
Psalm 65:3

To your Classmates/Students: Knowledge

I get my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe justice to my Maker.
Job 36:3

To someone you don't know: Kindness

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law
Galatians 5:22-23

To your wallet: Self Control

A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.
Proverbs 25:28

To the sick: Prayer

Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise.
James 5:13

To a child: Good Example

Study to show yourself approved to God
2 Timothy 2:15

To Everyone: Patience

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Psalm 86:15

To Self: Respect

Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
Philippians 4:11

So what are you waiting for? Give them all their gifts now!

By:
Ethel Grace Bobis

The Bible: The World's Best Selling Book of All Time

2010-12-18T13:44:00.003+08:00

Have you ever wondered why the Bible is the most searched and purchased book since published? Have you ever thought why this and that book didn't break The Bible's record in the yearly charts of Top Faves?

One of the reasons is because The Bible is a compilation of many books written by different humble servants or disciples of Christ. With a total of 66 books, with inspirational parables, and events, who will ever doubt to read it? Or is there a perfect reason why not read a book with good examples that relates to our personal life?

Compared to any other book, The Bible secretly gives us answers to our problems. If we read it and open our hearts and minds, we will surely find strength, hope and encouragement. It widens our faith and fills in the empty space that separates man and God.

"Why are there people who find the Bible hard to read?" if you may ask. The answer isn't because they don't know how to read, of course. For some reasons, they lack the capacity to accept new things; some may hate it because they're scared by a series of passages that relates to their way of life and is afraid of confrontation by a little holy book; while some are just too lazy to read a book with a very lame, plain black cover with no summary written at the back cover.

If you know someone who doesn't read The Bible, a very good book to share with is the Book of Proverbs, which is found in the Old Testament between Psalms and Ecclesiastes. It is one of the easy to understand books in the Bible based on its straightforward texts and direct to the point messages. It talks about wisdom against foolishness with much examples that we still can reflect in our daily life right these days.

Find someone whom you know hesitates to read The Bible. Share them the real beauty of the Book of All Books and it's Holiness by reading a Scripture or two. Show them that real beauty cannot be found from a book's cover but with what the book tells about. Show them why The Bible is definitely worthy to be called as The Best Selling Book of All Time.

By:
Ethel Grace Bobis

Top Five Christmas Songs

2010-12-12T14:13:00.004+08:00

As the Christmas season is drawing closer every minute, we tend to hear famous Christmas music from any part of our surroundings. Some people hum Christmas melodies while walking down the streets while some famous celebrities sing the various Christmas music in the radio or any form of entertainment tools.

Christmas songs remind us that Christmas is definitely on the corner. Our spirits starts giggling as soon as we hear it anywhere (which also worries us on our Christmas plans). So here is the list of famous songs that we love to hear during this season:

Top Five Christmas Songs

Give Love on Christmas Day
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
We Wish you a Merry Christmas (Carol)
Jingle Bells (Carol)
May's Boy Child

Are two or three of the songs listed above part of your Christmas playlist?

By:
Ethel Grace K. Bobis

Give Love On Christmas Day: Perfect Presents for Our Loved Ones

2010-12-11T14:34:00.002+08:00

As Christmas is drawing nearer and nearer, people have tried to window shop for possible presents to wrap and display under the tree. Some may have doubts which present is perfect for a lovable Mom, or the sweetest Dad; and start formulating doubts because of today's crisis.

Never let the world get you down. Despite of today's hard times, let's not forget to grab something special for our loved ones.

Here are some possible things for you to grab your loved ones this Christmas:

1. Mom

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotional Stories for Mothers

101 Daily Devotions to Comfort, Encourage, and Inspire Mothers.

Throughout time, women have shared their joys and sorrows, thoughts and feelings, experiences and life lessons with one another. The tradition continues in this charming book filled with 101 stories on motherhood, faith, and comfort that affirm God's unconditional love and His wisdom. Women will find encouragement, solace, and strength in these personal stories and prayers by fellow moms about all aspects of motherhood, from its joys and blessings to challenges and tests of faith. This book will uplift, counsel, and reassure any woman of faith who needs a boost or reminder of God's ever-present love as she goes through the ups and downs of life and motherhood (Source: http://www.chickensoup.com/)

2. Dad

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad

101 Stories about Gratitude, Love, and Good Times.

This book gives fathers the pat on the back they deserve. Children of all ages share their heartfelt words of thanks and loving memories in this collection of 101 new stories. Personal accounts of learning from Dad's example and lasting lessons, special moments and memorable outings, encouragement and expectations will bring any father joy, inspiration, and laughs. Whether the reader is a new dad, a father to one or more, a father of teens, a father of grown children, or a grandfather, these heartwarming and humorous stories will resonate with him. He may even find that his kids did pay attention after all! Expect plenty of celebrity contributors! (Source: http://www.chickensoup.com/)

3. Brother

Guitar Case

Brothers love music. Grab him a guitar case to cover his beloved guitar. Another purpose of getting him a guitar case is to refrain his guitar from dust and scratches, and to make it presentable in times of performance.

4. Sister

Make Up Kit

Make sure that your sister doesn't miss a day in College without looking gorgeous!

5. Grandma/Grandpa

Personalized Oversized Metal Family Tree Sculpture

Showcase your roots and your growing family on this exquisite tree! It stands proudly on a metal base and features beautifully detailed branches and leaves. Insert family photos in the curved branches or use the 6 metal frames that are included. (Source: http://www.gifts.com/)

By:
Ethel Grace Bobis

Christmas Must Be Something More

2010-12-11T13:34:00.002+08:00

Christmas time can now be counted using our fingers.

For the past days, Christmas lanterns and wreaths, trees and balls are bought from store to store; the streets have started twinkling from red to yellow, blue to white; and for some places, winter started and kids in all ages started forming giant snowmen. But, in a few more days, cash and credit cards will start booming each and every store for Christmas presents.

People believe that Christmas is the perfect time and season for giving, as well as forgiving. But children believe that Christmas is the time when Santa Claus starts checking his list thrice and deliver awesome presents, and granting wishlists with the help of his famous red-nosed reindeer, Rudolf.

From the recent bird's eye view of Christmas based on everyone's various beliefs, we continue to forget the true value of Christmas. And no, it isn't about Christmas trees and mistletoes and Christmas socks. It is not about snowmen and Rudolf and Santa Claus either.

The importance of Christmas isn't superficial, if we all forgot. It is something Holy and Divine. It is something we all try to ignore most of the time. It is something we only remember during low and dark times. It is something which is on the last thing on our minds.

The importance of Christmas is Jesus Christ. He was born on Christmas day. Just as the song goes Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ was born on Christmas Day. We have to celebrate his birthday by forgiving those who made mistakes upon us. The reason why we have our complete family together on Christmas is to spend it together, and celebrate Christ's birth together.

Christmas is a time of happiness when everybody's here. It is the birthday of Jesus Christ.

By:
Ethel Grace K. Bobis

Billionaire vs Billionaire

2010-11-29T17:07:00.000+08:00

Starting off with a photo of these famous billionaires around the globe, can you try to name their invention and share a brief story on how they became who they are now?

If you are not having your doubts on the first one, the man in the left is Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft. Beside Bill Gates on the picture is the world's youngest billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.

Who would ever predict that dropped out students from Harvard University would end up being one of the world's richest man alive?

William Gates, famously known as Bill Gates, attended Harvard University. While staying in Harvard, he created the programming language known today as BASIC.

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, who's nickname is Zuck, also attended Harvard University to study Computer Science. He created Facemash in his College dorm with the help of his bestfriend.

So, any similarities from these two inventors, you might ask? Of course, yes, the two inventors have similarities (excluding a biographical movie which Zuck got it all covered, of course).

Bill Gates created the DOS and Windows platforms while Zuckerberg is on his way creating his first. Bill and Zuck have reportedly stolen ideas from others. They both have faced legal disputes and copyright issues on their early years of invention, like: Bill stole the ideas of Apple while Zuck stole the ideas of two of his friends from Harvard.

Aside from their brainiac-like profile, they both have been considered as jerks in relationships. They never were that sweet-profiled boyfriends anyone dreams to have. Zuck created Facemash after a break-up. Bill, before he got married, created his invention just to get laid to a woman. Call that sweet? But look what it brought them, nobody expected that their jerky profile will lead them to super fame!

What do you think does the future hold for these billionaires? As far as communication is concerned, will the world improve to be a better place to live? Will Zuck spend his time inventing new things with his early age? Will Bill continue to create imagination-based stuffs with until his 60's?

By: Ethel Grace Bobis

Blogging relaxation

2010-11-21T20:56:00.001+08:00

This is what happened after we had our convention last February 11, 2009, Everyone else is blogging!!! There was a topic presented about blogging and Hey! it is the fab of the month.

Well for this tech decade, we can do nothing but to follow what is in!. Blogging is In. It makes us talk about anything we feel for the moment. It practices our English grammar and it helps us think. In blogging, anything goes( that excludes the porno materials).

For me personaly, blogging makes me relaxed. After a heavy day's work, aside from watching the soap drama movies, blogging is a way of life right now.

By: Esther Bobis