We must accept our reality as vastly as we possibly can; everything, even the unprecedented, must be possible within it. This is in the end the only kind of courage that is required of us: the courage to face the strangest, most unusual, most inexplicable experiences that can meet us.

We have no reason to harbor any mistrust against our world, for it is not against us. If it has terrors, they are our terrors; if it has abysses, these abysses belong to us; if there are dangers, we must try to love them. And if only we arrange our life in accordance with the principle which tells us that we must always trust in the difficult, then what now appears to us as the most alien will become our most intimate and trusted experience. How could we forget those ancient myths that stand at the beginning of all races, the myths about dragons that at the last moment are transformed into princesses? Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.

From Letters to a Young Poet (letter 8 )

In the spirit of seeing the beauty in every thing. Here’s one for optimism.

Having said that, I’ve added a new playlist in the Music section just because my sisters suddenly had this downloading frenzy of old musicals over the weekend. I, being the one who introduced them (at least I’d like to think so) to that wonderful, wonderful world, couldn’t help but get caught up despite my seeming nonchalance.

We had our ears focused on a local production, The Little Mermaid. I was able to watch it at the Meralco Theater about four(?) years ago, and it’s that sudden rush of nostalgia that had me listening to the songs all over again and frantically searching for the Hans Christian Andersen classic. [I think musical adaptations of literature are the best kind. You get to enjoy the story twice over.]

This is not the usual Disney story of happy ever after. In brief, the mermaid becomes old enough to swim to the surface, and saw her first human (she fell in love with the prince); the prince fell to the waters, the mermaid saved him and brought him ashore before hiding; a beautiful princess found the prince, the prince and the princess fell in love; the mermaid gave up her voice in exchange for a pair of legs (her contract with the witch requires her to make the prince love her; otherwise, she’ll die); the prince met the mermaid, unaware that it was she who saved his life, but he had nothing but brotherly love for her; sympathetic to her fate, her mermaid friends made a bargain with the witch to allow her to return to the sea – but for that to happen she would have to kill the prince; unable to do this, the mermaid sacrificed her life by falling back to the sea and turning into foam.

Well, the musical had a lighter ending than the book. Here, the mermaid acquired a soul for her sacrifice. In the book, she had to wait 300 years. Her eternal destiny lies in the power of mankind’s children – once dead, the mermaid becomes a daughter of the air, who enters the house of men unseen. For every good child she finds, her probation is shortened; for every naughty/wicked child, a day is added to her time of trial. Heavy stuff, whew!

What I appreciated most about the musical is the fact that the entire production was written by and for Filipino artists. Beautiful music. I hope they’re still doing reruns.

Fairmont Tamarack is a joint venture development between Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf’s Agassi Graf Development and Bayview Financial, L.P.’s Real Estate Investment Group. The first 125 pre-construction units were released last month, selling out in fewer than seven hours.
Read the story here. 

http://www.fairmonttamarack.com/

Terms were not disclosed but the deal was closed at an estimated $5 million by the guys who also published a biography of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Details here. 

Now, this isn’t a movie review. But, hell yeah, I recommend Music & Lyrics to anyone who’s looking for a nice, simple comedy that lightly touches on matters of the heart.

The carrier song, so to speak, of the soundtrack is a three-minute song Way Back into Love. It’s the song the two characters labored on for most of the movie. Music by Alex Fletcher (Hugh). Lyrics by Sophie Fisher (Drew). Get the drift? And did I mention they fell in love? Oh, well.

Hugh Grant is showing signs of age and Drew Barrymore is as cute as her E.T. days. By that i mean they have little chemistry, but not entirely unbelievable. I love the way Hugh Grant delivers his lines. My friend Onyxx describes it as “dry humor.” I call it my kind of comedy. Oh, I do love the Brits! (Was he supposed to be an American here?)

I’ve dreamt about writing songs. Watching this film reminded me of that. They made it look easy; now if only I can do melodies, too. Or maybe I can find my own Alex Fletcher. I’ll be his plant lady.

“I’ve been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I’ve been searching but I just don’t see the signs
I know that it’s out there
There’s got to be something for my soul somewhere”

If I have the choice and resources, I’d like to make myself useful for a greater majority, too. Not in any way political, but much like in the manner of people like Andre Agassi.  He’s been blessed with a lot and is now sharing them with underpriviledged children in his hometown of Las Vegas. He opened there a charter school, The Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, in 2001 in an at-risk neighborhood.

The first senior class will graduate in 2009.

Here’s the link to the news story.

 I’ve created this one in hope of venturing to problogging, which may not be possible with the wordpress platform.  I don’t know yet if it will work out, but you’ll hear from me if I’ll get lucky.

I, for one, cannot wait for it. Like to pre-order? Vamos!

Steffi Graf is best known as one of the greatest female tennis player of all time, a natural athlete whose powerful forehand and playing versatility kept her atop the Women’s Tennis Association rankings for a record-setting 377 weeks.

But Graf is fast becoming known for her work as a parent – she and husband André Agassi have two small children – and as a passionate advocate for children’s welfare. She founded and heads “Children for Tomorrow” a non-profit foundation helping children traumatized by war or other crises.

Now, she has announced her support for the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) global cancer prevention campaign “Today’s Children, Tomorrow’s World.”

“As a parent and as someone who cares deeply about children and their future, I know that what we teach children now will shape their health – their lives – and will shape the world for decades to come. There is nothing more important that we can give children today than knowledge that will protect them tomorrow,” says Graf, mother of a 5-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.

“This (cancer prevention) campaign is about bringing awareness to things that seem so basic, but really are so important for the health of any child, anywhere,” says Graf, whose foundation helps children strive to recover from traumas in their young lives.

“Teaching children now ways to protect themselves from cancer throughout their lives is such a simple yet such a wonderfully life-affirming lesson for us to give as parents and as leaders,” she adds.

Source:  http://voices.uicc.org/: