End of the Year Newsletter 2008

I really was not looking forward to 2008 in the beginning of the new year for reasons that may read morbid.

Both Bill's and my parents are all octogenarians and were undergoing some health issues in 2007.

I have friends who also have some major health issues.

Our eldest dog, Besi, in July 2007, was given a few weeks/months to live due to being diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy.

So, as you can imagine, we were dead scared that 2008 had the potential to be a very sad year.

Unfortunately, we did lose Bill's stepdad, Roy, to bladder cancer early in the year and

an uncle of mine to heart failure and our goddog, Jack to pancreatitis, late in the year.

Fortunately, we still have his mom, Mabel, and both my parents alive and healthy.
Now, they all are stable and doing very well.

Besi, miraculously, with medication, exercise, and lots of love, is somehow better than ever and acts like a 12 1/2-year old puppy. Birdie turned 10, but still acts like a puppy. We also found a new puppy Maltese (who got lost during the L.A. earthquake), Sachi, for my niece to adopt. This year marked 10 years since we lost Koko in that tragic drowning accident.

This year also marked the start of my last year as a 30-something, and Bill had his big birthday. We celebrated 13 years of togetherness.

We decided to postpone our decision to get married or not until the end result of the elections.
As a 2-year old U.S. citizen, I was very excited to vote for the first time in my life.

The election result was bittersweet. We cried with tears of joy & hope with Obama's win and

cried with tears of sadness & disbelief with the passing of Prop 8.

Since 2007, I had already saved all my vacation days mainly for a trip back to my homeland, the Philippines, towards the end of the year 2008. We were planning to have a family reunion for X'mas back home to also celebrate my Mom's 80th birthday and my parents' 60th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, for various reasons, the family had to postpone all plans.

So at the last minute, I planned our main big vaca-sean this year to Ecuador and Peru. I mainly pushed for these destinations, since I gathered that their respective tourism boards were looking into limiting tourist access to the world wonders, the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu by the end of 2009. We had a blast! We also made some domestic trips to Chicago, Monterey, San Francisco, New York, and San Diego.

With the crashing of the market/global economic crisis, Bill was extremely busy, since all his clients were naturally in a state of panic. My company unfortunately had to lay-off some people. I am grateful that I was not one of the unfortunate few.

Here's wishing that things will turn out okay and be better for all of us in the new year.

Happy New Year 2009!

Ended the year by going to the doctor to get my annual routine physical exam results and to find out what is up with this cold that I've been nursing for 11 days now. I received a clean bill of health (Whohoo!) and antibiotics for this cold. Being drugged up with codeine, I really didn't feel like partying like it was 1999 earlier in the day. But since we were entertaining friends visiting from Canada & Mexico, we felt compelled to go out and party. Ended up getting all split up from each other during the countdown...Sigh. Forgot to jump up and down so I could grow taller for the new year...Double Sigh. Then had to bribe the bouncer to get in the club without having to wait in line. I guess, "face value" has also gone down with the economy...Triple Sigh. The bouncer then did not card me to check if I was over 21 years old or not...Quadruple Sigh!...LOL

Happy New Year!

For Besi & Birdie's greetings, please click HERE.

Happy Holiday Greetings 2008-2009

From my family to yours,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon!
Feliz Navidad y un Próspero Año Nuevo!
Joyeux Noël et Une Bonne Année!

Make the Yuletide Gay!

Happy Hanukkah!
Happy Kwanzaa!
Happy Boxing Day!
Advanced Kung Hei Fat Choy!

iPostcards from Survivor X'mas

For the past few years, we've hosted Christmas gatherings for both sides of the family living in California. This year was different. With Bill's mom now in a retirement home and not fit to travel down from Oregon, and with my sister & niece celebrating with my siblings in the east coast, we were left not knowing what to do. It was our first year that we didn't go out to buy our live X'mas tree. We entertained experiencing X'mas in Hawaii, the Caribbean, or with friends in Paris. But we then felt guilty about parting with our "girls", Besi & Birdie, so soon after our trip to South America. So, we decided to go on a road trip and take them skiing. But at the last minute, we got an invitation from a friend to go up to her home in Tehachapi. As soon as we arrived, it started snowing. Yehey! It was the "girls"' first white X'mas. The guests were composed of Americans, Scottish, English, Brazilians, and a Filipino. Talk about conversations filled with different accents.
Just as we were getting ready for dinner, the power went out. With the outage, that meant no gas for the stove, no hot water, no heat to keep us warm, no phone line, no cell phone signal, no Internet connection. We were snowed in - no way out! Dinner was delicious, albeit cold, and in a way romantic, with the candle light and fireplace as our only source of light & heat. It was actually very nice and refreshing. Kinda like Jesus' first night in a manger...LOL.
Then all of a sudden a family argument developed right in front of us in the dark between our Brazilian host and her spoiled 31-year old son. I've always found Portuguese to be a very sexy sounding language. Not this time. I guess the holidays wouldn't be complete without any family drama. Ayayyay...LOL


or please click HERE for a bigger slideshow of the album.
If you prefer to view the thumbnails, please click on the link below:
iPostcards from Survivor X’mas 2008

Todo Azul's "Santa Baby" - Tribute to Eartha Kitt

My niece, Czarina and her band, Todo Azul, performed their rendition of "Santa Baby" at Molly Malones, exactly a week before the sultry diva died at the age of 81 on Christmas Day. Spooky...tehnahnahtehnahnah...The Twilight Zone.

Happy Hanukkah 2008!

Our friends, the Boroditskys invited us, once again,
to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah.
It was a lovely festive affair at their beautiful home.

Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends!
If there was such a thing as a Filipino Jew,
this is how he may look like...LOL

Jack & Me

We feel very sad.
Jack, our Black Labrador goddog, passed away today.
We treated him like our very own third dog.
If our Besi, as a pup, was rambunctious like Marley,
Jack, on the other hand, was like Beau.
He was a very good dog all throughout his 12 1/2 year life.
Please click on the title or HERE to be directed to the posting.

iPostcards from Venice Canals Holiday Boat Parade 2008

or please click HERE for a bigger slideshow of the album.
If you prefer to view the thumbnails, please click on the link below:
iPostcards from Venice Canals Holiday Boat Parade 2008

iPostcards from Ecuador & Peru

Posting is under construction. Please check back again.

***

We're back!
Had a fabulous time!
It was an eye-opening trip of a lifetime!
Please click on the following destinations to be directed to the specific posting:
Will share ipostcards/travelogue/pictures soon.
Ecuador
Peru

Out on my vaca-SEAN/SABA-tical NOV08

I will be out of town on my

vaca-SEAN/SABA-tical
in Ecuador and Peru
from 15NOV08-29NOV08.
In case of emergency,

please contact my manager/agent/publicist.

Prop 8 - The Musical

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Marriage is a Question of Love

Bittersweet. It is the only way to describe how those who voted "No on Prop" and at the same time voted for Barack Obama felt, after the results were all in during last week’s historic U.S. election. We cried with tears of joy & hope with Obama's winning and cried with tears of sadness & disbelief with the passing of Proposition 8 (52% to 48%). Ironically, at a time where we voted for the first African American President, the exit polls reflected that Black voters came out in favor of the proposition, more than any other voting group, by a 70/30 margin. As many as 90% of Black voters supported Obama and the Democrats. A large majority of them also voted "Yes on Prop 8". Once again, organized religion was the key influencer that drove many of them to vote the way they did.
I remain dumbfounded and speechless to this day. I was very touched as I watched Keith Olbermann voice out his opinion on this matter on the Special Comment portion of his program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Allow me to let this straight intelligent beautiful human being speak more eloquently for me, my partner, and my friends. Please view the video below...you might learn a thing or two and perhaps be enlightened.

Frank - R.I.P. - Left Behind

Frank, the wonderful husband of my Mom's youngest sister, had a heart attack last month. We were allowed access to see his unconscious body in the ICU at the hospital 2-hours away. He was able to hang in there until he passed away on All Soul's day. We went to the wake yesterday. I helped my Aunt fix his tie. It's been a long time since I've touched the cold skin of a loved-one who had gone before us. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the funeral services today. After my sister shared what my aunt was feeling inside, this sad song which seemed to convey her exact sentiments played in my head:

Rest in Peace, Uncle Frank.

Diary of a 39-year-old first-time voter

I am a bit embarrassed and yet at the same time very proud to admit that this is my first time to vote in my life. From the time I was eligible to vote at age 18 and left my beautiful homeland, the Philippines, at age 25, I failed to vote on only one Presidential Election. My memory as to why I did not vote during that election where Fidel V. Ramos won the Philippine presidency has completely abandoned the inner recesses of my brain. The succeeding 11 years marked my journey of being a citizen living away from his motherland and my struggle of trying to belong to the land I now called home. Exactly two years ago, I finally became a U.S. citizen, and since then I have been looking forward to this day when I finally get to exercise my right to vote.
I set my alarm to go off unusually very early today and was planning to be there when the polls opened at 7AM. Bill convinced me to wait after 9AM, when most likely most of those who have to drive to work would have already voted and left. I was very anxious to go and worried that there might be a very long line and would have to eventually call in late for work, but I gave in to trusting his experience. He was right. Damn! I was in and out of there in 10 minutes. Woohoo! I am very excited to be part of this historic U.S. elections.

"really" putting country first and
hoping for the change we can believe in

no question about it

Voting "NO" on Prop 8

voting for equality and against discrimination

casting my ballot

I am optimistic that we will be celebrating tonight!

This could be the future, had I not voted:

One day more! - Les MisBarack

One Day More!


Do You Hear the People Sing?

Spring Awakening in the Fall

Each time I was in New York City within the past 2 years, I would always try to get tickets to the Broadway musical, "Spring Awakening", but it was always sold out. So I got excited when I found out they were coming to the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. The Sunday before the most historical U.S. elections, we went and finally saw "Spring Awakening", the 2007 Tony winner for Best Musical. It is the "Rent" and "Hair" of today's generation.
We really enjoyed the show and immediately recommended it to all our "cultured" friends (lol). (In fact, we went to see it again before the tour ended.)
The edgy themes of coming of age, sexuality, and suicide surely brought me back to the days when I was undergoing puberty, living away from home, in an all exclusive boys school, studying Latin in preparation for the priesthood, under the strict guidance of my religious superiors... :)

Happy Halloween 2008!

Please click on the title or HERE for Birdie's costume.

Please Vote "NO" on Prop 8

I believe in love and marriage. Since I was six years old, I have participated in several weddings in different capacities. I have played the role of ring-bearer, altar boy, best man, prayer leader, lector, wedding singer/choir, witness, event planner, consultant to the designer, music organizer, photographer, and (had I never left the seminary) most likely would have also played officiating priest on more than one occasion. I always felt it was an honor to be part of one of the happiest days of several couples' lives, regardless if it was out of love (for friends & family) or was being paid for it. I used to wonder if I would ever experience that same kind of joy of being able to marry the one that I love.
Alas, last May 15th, a landmark event in history, the California Supreme Court overturned a state law that allowed only opposite-sex couples to marry. Bill and I were excited but cautious, and decided not to immediately take advantage of this, since it still does not cover federal benefits.
Then Proposition 8, an initiative measure to Eliminate Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry, was added by an out of town special interest group to the California General Election Ballot. I worried that if we got married and "Yes on Proposition 8" was passed after the elections, then we would only end up heart-broken.

I still am not sure if we will get married or not, but I am doing this not for me, but for those who have already gotten married and are/may be planning to do so in the future.
For those in my life who use their faith as their only moral compass, I implore you to think about the fundamental rights of those "happy" people (known or unbeknownst to you) who in some way, shape, or form played a role in making your wedding day one of the most memorable days of your life (like your brother, cousin, friend, hairdresser, make-up artist, wedding gown designer, stripper, event planner, choreographer, caterer, waiter, videographer, driver, honeymoon travel agent, best man, and yes, even perhaps your priest.)
Fellow Californians, regardless of how you feel about marriage, it is not fair to treat people differently under the law, so on November 4th, Election Day, aside from voting for the right person to lead our nation, please consider voting "No on Proposition 8", vote for love, equality, and not for discrimination.
If you disagree with me, speak now or forever hold your peace, so I can, therefore, save on wedding invitations, if ever. :-)

I've compiled some of the best videos on this subject matter:
For all videos by http://www.noonprop8.com, please click HERE.

From a group of independent citizens using sarcasm as a tool
to deliver their message:

Procreation:


Icky:


From a very smart young man named Dan Brown:

Last Dance as a 30-something

She has never admitted it, but my youngest sister, Sari's wish for her 14th birthday (aside from getting big boobs) was to have another brother. So God decided to truly bless her by sending me to this world a day before her birthday.

10 years ago, a week before both our birthdays (29th for me and 43rd for her), we had a family reunion in the Philippines to celebrate our parents' 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary. During the reception, all of their children and grandchildren rendered a song or dance number for the couple. Since the theme for telling their love story was "dance of the past five decades", Sari and I decided to represent the 70's (the decade of my childhood) with a disco swing dance number to the music of Donna Summer's "Last Dance", as our present to our parents.
If you wish to see what possibly could have been the inspiration for "Dancing with the Stars",
please click on the video below:
(Note to the judges/critics: This was choreographed and rehearsed in only one hour the day prior to the festivities and I had to be very careful since she wasn't wearing any panties...LOL)


By coincidence, exactly 10 years later, the only big show in town was An Evening with Donna Summer at the Hollywood Bowl. So my sister and I decided to celebrate our birthdays (39th for me and 53rd for her) by watching the disco queen perform live. Our poor respective partners, Bill and Richard, both disco haters, had to sit through the whole ordeal...LOL. Donna's finale song was naturally, "Last Dance". We had a blast!

When I said I wanted a bike for my birthday...

... this is not what I meant...LOL

@ the launch of
Indian Motorcycle Apparel Collection at Fred Segal:

Evite

Sean on a 2009 Indian Chief motorcycle

Sean modeling an Indian motorcycle jacket & helmet

My new grand nephew

Sachi with his Grand Uncle Sean

For the full story behind finding Sachi and more pics,
please click on the title or HERE to be directed to the posting.

Bill’s Surprise Big "New" 40th Birthday Party

Please click HERE for posting on
Bill’s Surprise Big "New" 40th Birthday Party.

Lucky 13

More often than not, instead of saying or exchanging, "I love you!"'s,
we usually jokingly say to each other, "You're so lucky!".
After thirteen years of togetherness,
the number 13 does feel like a lucky number.

Out of Whack with Crack

Two Sundays ago, while driving north on the 405 Fwy, an unidentified flying object hit my windshield, right above the windshield wiper on the driver side, leaving a quarter-sized spider-web-like crack. "F+_)(*&^%$#@K!". The next day, a bird dropped a big wad of poop around the same area. Bill on impulse ran the windshield wipers and soapy water dispenser. Right before our eyes, I saw a crack line expanding away from both sides and ended at a dollar bill length. Double F+_)(*&^%$#@K! The change of temperature and water caused this. Had it not expanded beyond the original crack, I would have been able to have it fixed with some sort of resin via some repair service that comes to the house. Now that it has expanded, I have no choice but to replace the whole windshield. So pissed.

Sean Saba for President

Here's my answer to Paris Hilton's ad for President:

If video does not load properly, please click on title or HERE.

In case you haven't seen Paris Hilton's response to the McCain Ad,
click HERE.

Earthquake rattles Los Angeles, California!

FYI: In case you are concerned for us here in L.A., We’re OK!
Still feeling a bit frazzled, though.
My dogs, Besi & Birdie, started acting very strange prior to my realization.
Their talking ball started rolling and talking upstairs.
That’s how I was first alerted that something unusual was happening.
Stupid me, when I realized what was happening,
I ran upstairs to the rooftop
to look and see if there was a tsunami coming,
instead of running outside the house.
Scary jolting 20 seconds or so of rolling and shaking.
I better put some clothes on, in case of an aftershock. LOL
Goes to show how unprepared I am for the big one.
No noticeable damage to the house,
but unfortunately, it is built on sand! Yikes!

A night with friends and the Lady Supreme

For the second time around, my friend Tom invited me to our friend, Nelson Lee's Annual Hollywood Bowl Party, where a bunch of friends of friends of friends (x 21) get together for a picnic prior to one of the hottest shows of the summer at the Hollywood Bowl. This is Nelson's 21st time to organize the event. Last year's party and show was South Pacific with Reba McEntire & Brian Stokes Mitchell. This year's show was Diana Ross: Lady Supreme. I have not seen her in person since Bill and I served as one of the several extras in her "I Will Survive!" revival with RuPaul video shoot shot in location at West Hollywood. (If you watch closely, you will surely see me wiggling on top of Bill's shoulders ... LOL).

Unfortunately, Bill was in Washington D.C. for a conference, so he could not join me to go to this gathering. Since it was a diva night, I invited some of my friends who I knew would surely enjoy the show.

or please click HERE for a bigger slideshow of the album.
If you prefer to view the thumbnails, please click on the link below:
21st Annual Hollywood Bowl Party & Diana Ross Night

HOME

My Grandaunt Iris' 95th Birthday

I was very young when I lost my maternal grandparents. In fact, two of my earliest memories were of their respective funerals.
Five years ago, I had the opportunity to meet the only surviving sibling/sister of my maternal grandfather, my grandaunt Iris Zabat-Simon.
So when her 95th birthday came, I was excited to drive down (along with my sister, niece, and aunt) to San Diego, CA to have a reunion with my mother's side of the family, the Zabats, and celebrate my Lola's birthday.

For more pics of the celebration, please feel free to click HERE.

iPostcards from San Diego, CA

Please click HERE or on the title to be directed to the posting.

Happy 4th of July 2008!

Friends usually ask if we are having a BBQ party for this specific holiday, since we have a strategic view of the fireworks at the marina. I felt exhausted from the trip to NYC, so we decided to just chill. We hung out with our friends, Pat & Michele, at their place in the Venice Canals, and then headed back home to watch the fireworks.

or please click HERE for a bigger slideshow.
If you prefer to view the thumbnails, please click on the link below:
4th of July 2008

Happy 80th Birthday Mom!

iPostcards from New York, NY - Summer 2008

Please click HERE or on the title to be directed to the posting.

iPostcards from San Francisco, CA

Please click HERE or on the title to be directed to the posting.

iPostcards from Monterey Peninsula, CA

Please click HERE or on the title to be directed to the posting.

Sean and the City

As far as I can remember, some of my wholesome fantasies involved being (in no particular order) ... a superhero, a Broadway/rock star, a male supermodel, an animal trainer, or a host of some travel show.
So for the past few years, every time I travel, I started filming myself acting as if I was Anderson Cooper or Matt Lauer reporting from some remote exotic location for CNN, National Geographic, or the Travel Channel.
When LXTV, a local L.A. Lifestyle TV show, recently announced that they were having a contest searching for a new host, I thought to myself, "Hey, I can do that!". After checking their website,
I saw that 95% of all the contestants who submitted entries already had past or have current professional experience hosting a TV show.
On the last day of the contest, I decided not to be intimidated and still come up with my very own audition video, albeit that it is, admittedly, very amateurish. Had I had the help of some of my friends, who are now accomplished film/commercial directors, fashion/costume designers, make-up artist, etc., I may have been able to present a more professional looking piece. But all I had with me was my trusty camera and Quik Pod. I managed to submit my video 11 minutes to go till the midnight deadline. What I didn't take into account is the time it would take to completely upload. So waahhh ... F+_)(*&^%$#@! ... I missed the cut-off! Even if I didn't have a chance against the pros, it still would have been nice to have been considered.
Since I already came up with a finished product, I might as well share it with you, my family and friends. I hope you like it.

LXTV hosting reel/audition video:
"Why should I be the new host of LXTV? Well, I found myself reporting about various places in this world, but never reported about my hometown. I may not have the professional background and/or back-up of a production crew like the other contestants,
I'm just a local guy who loves everything about Los Angeles!
Well, not exactly everything." ... (see ending of video).

For more pics/videos of my vaca-sean/saba-tical, please click HERE.

Happy 110th Independence Day, Philippines!

For the 110th Philippine Independence Day, a friend asked a bunch of his friends to submit a video greeting to promote one of
Ayala Foundation, USA's flagship projects, GILAS.
Gilas means ability in Filipino. GILAS also stands for
Gearing up Internet Literacy and Access for Students.


Happy 110th Independence Day, Philippines!

Go Lakers! - There Can Only Be One

I was never good at playing basketball.
When my parents chose the lot, among the first ten on the grasslands of our new village, in which to build our family home, my mother made sure that our house would be built right across the basketball and tennis courts.
So all the summers of my growing up years were filled with noises coming from park.
Being one of the smallest boys was no excuse. A lot of my friends who were just as small were very good at the sport. (Yes, in spite of the fact that it would be hard to find a Filipino over 6-feet tall, basketball is the number one sport in the Philippines.)
I really didn't follow the PBA, the Philippines version of the NBA, which usually had a lot of "imports" (mostly Americans who weren't good enough for the NBA). Being gay had nothing to do with my disinterest in the sport. The stereotype does not hold true. There are a lot of "us" who are athletic and are into sports. At that time, I couldn't understand people who absolutely had no athletic bone in their body and were fanatics of all the happenings within the league.
Today, I may not be a fanatic like Jack Nicholson, but I mainly follow the NBA whenever the Lakers are doing well. Being neighbors with Coach Phil Jackson and owners, the Buss family has nothing to do with my support.
I'm so excited that our home team is in the finals! Once again after 21 years, the Lakers-Celtics rivalry is back.
Go Lakers! Beat Boston!

There Can Only Be One: Kobe and KG


There Can Only Be One: Magic and Bird

Traffic on the freeway - Don't drive, fly!

We've flown on small planes before, but mainly abroad.
The last time we experienced flying on a small plane in the U.S.
was when we flew over the Grand Canyon.
The pilot was so cool that he broke all rules
and flew lower than what regular rules & regulations would allow.
It was an awesome way to see this majestic place!
So when our friends Patrick & Michele invited us to fly
from Santa Monica to Santa Barbara for lunch,
we immediately jumped on the opportunity.
Who needs to deal with the traffic on the freeways
when you can fly?... LOL.
We flew up and down the gorgeous Pacific coast,
flying low enough to almost see some celebrities
getting rid of their tan lines out on their oceanfront Malibu mansions.
It was such a beautiful day and
a fabulous way to see our hometown from a different perspective.
Thanks Patrick & Michele!
Next time, I want to fly over the Hollywood sign.








Flying from Santa Monica to Santa Barbara for lunch

Koko - In Memoriam

Please click on the title or HERE for the posting.

Sean of a Beach and his Bitches

Please click HERE for our day at the beach.

Pride & Groom - Party A & Party B

Today is a landmark event in history!
California ban on same-sex marriage was struck down by the California Supreme Court!
Yehey! I already gave up on this ever happening.
Especially happy for all that believe in equality and that it happened in the state in which I live.
Not that Bill and I will immediately jump on it ...
we've only been together for almost 13 years ... LOL.
We've already filled out most of the necessary precautionary paper work to protect each other, so we never felt the need to file for domestic partnership or get civil unionized.
Not sure if we will take advantage of this next step and be part of history.
Unfortunately, current federal law prohibits the federal government from recognizing marriages of same-sex couples. This means that even if we got married, we currently will not have any of the rights, benefits, or protections that federal law gives to married heterosexual couples, such as the ability to file joint federal income taxes or receive federal spousal benefits through social security or other federal programs as a surviving spouse. Being excluded from these federal protections, and often state protections as well, is a serious hardship and can cause significant legal problems.
Perhaps we will just wait for that magic day when it becomes national and includes federal.

For more info, please click on:
CNN, Bloomberg, SFGate, Equality for All

Civil Union vs. Marriage

Some of my super-religious family members and "born-again" Christian friends, who are against the concept of same-sex marriage, because their faith pushes them to firmly believe that marriage is only a heterosexual right as opposed to a human right, would eventually try to sort of give in out of "love" for me, and say, "OK, I'm for a civil union but not for a marriage.". Why can't they see that what "we" are fighting for is not the right to march down the aisle of a Catholic Church, but for equality of civil/secular rights?
I find it hard to further engage in an intellectual discussion with them to demonstrate that civil unions look nice on paper, but don't work in the real world.
Political blog Blue Jersey recently launched the "Think Equal" media campaign to support marriage equality for all couples based on Apple’s “I’m a Mac / I’m a PC” ad campaign. The video ads and grassroots lobbying campaign focuses on the differences between civil unions and marriage.
If you have an open mind and would like to be educated, enlightened, and humored, please click on the following videos:

Think Equal


Check Equal


Barring Equal


Counsel Equal

Happy 10th Birthday Birdie!

Please click on the title or HERE to be directed to the posting.

The day I left my balls with the angels

I can't believe it's been 5 years,
since the day I thought we were going to die! ... LOL

"If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving is not for you!"

HOME

A-stigma-tism

Well after 4 years since having to wear glasses for the first time for being nearsighted,
I have been advised by my eye doctor that my nearsightedness has improved but unfortunately I now have astigmatism. F+_)(*&^%$#@K!
I get queasy just thinking about putting contact lenses in my eyes and still scared to death about Lasik, so I got myself a new pair of glasses.

Rock the Vote!

Now that I am a U.S. citizen of 18 years of age (and slightly older),
I am eligible to exercise my right to vote on this very crucial U.S. Presidential elections this coming November.
Unfortunately, I was not able to cast my vote during the California primary,
since I apparently had yet to register. Duh!
So in checking some things off from my New Year's To Do List ...
(It's already April!) ...
I finally got to register to vote!
In case you have not, click on the widget below and register today:

Happy Easter 2008!

at an Easter celebration at our friends' house
by the Venice Canals, CA

Finding Face

It took me awhile to join social networking sites, such as MySpace, Friendster, and Facebook; since I was under the impression that it was only frequented by the peers of my nieces and nephews (teenagers to twenty-somethings). I kept out of MySpace, since I was worried that I would be easy prey to online pedophiles ... LOL.
But two months ago, I decided to join Facebook to search out old friends. Boy, am I glad I did! I finally found old friends that I have failed looking for via Google. I was able to find long lost friends that I had last touched based with ... all the way from the time I left the Philippines 13 years ago, from college, from high school. I even found my best friend during my sophomore year in the seminary, who I last saw when the priests finally kicked me out of the seminary, since they concluded that I would just be wasting my good looks if I became a priest ... LOL. My image of him was that of a 14-year old, and thus did not immediately recognize him in his picture of a man close to hitting his 40s. It feels exhilirating to even think where and how to begin to catch up on all the years that have gone by. Or who knows, perhaps friends don't really give a F+_)(*&^%$#@! about what each other has been up to... We'll see ... just elated to see "old" faces (and by no means am I referring to the wrinkles) ... LOL.

Sleep Well Roy

Bill's father, John, unexpectedly died in 1987 from an aortic aneurysm, seven years before I met Bill, thus I never had the privilege of meeting him.
By the time Bill and I met 12 1/2 years ago, his mother, Mabe, had found a new love in a man named Roy. Roy proved to be a wonderful blessing to Mabe and Bill's family. The couple was happily married for the next 13 years.
Well, one of sad days that we've been anticipating and fearing, which was one of the reasons I was kind of unexcited about this year, unfortunately has finally come to pass. Roy, Bill's step dad, passed away shortly after noon today at age 85 from bladder cancer.
Last Christmas, you couldn't tell that he had been battling cancer for the past year and half. But by Valentine's he asked to go back home to their main house in Grants Pass, Oregon, instead of finishing the winter season in Palm Desert, CA, as Mabe and he usually do every year. It was Valentine's Day and as I whispered to his ear that I love him, I knew it was the last time I would see and touch him. His local doctors later checked him again and gave him a month to live. Sadly his time came earlier, but at least he is mo longer in pain.
May he rest in peace. Please lift him up in your prayers and include Mabe and Bill's family during this difficult period. To our dear friends who have offered their condolences, "Thank you very much." Your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated. :-(