Friday night music...

...just because it's been a while, and it's been utterly dull.
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by PAM

I was watching the replay of "The Voice Season 11" blind audition while finalizing my slides for my Lecture the following day - yep, Saturday!  This usually works for me because, just like the judges at The Voice, I don't need to pay attention to the TV screen, I just need to listen to the voices of those auditioning.  I sometimes glanced at the TV screen when something extremely interesting came up... especially, when the banters of the four judges became extremely hilarious... which, in this Season, is almost everytime an artist is being interviewed.  The outrageously indomitable Miley Cyrus just kept bringing out the funniest side of Adam Levine and Blake Shelton - extremely enjoyable!  And, Alicia Keys is just wonderful... it's too hard not to love her - the great artist that she is, and that adorable, sincere and warm personality that shines through when she speaks... more so when she sings.  Aaaw!   

But I digress... so I was (not really)watching The Voice when something played - a background music for a new series on Star World channel.  It made me snap my head to attention as it was a tune and tempo that I'd recognize in two seconds, a song that I love... back in the days.  I gotta say, I still love it now.  It was "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors...

"Said if you want to call me baby, just go ahead now.

And if you want to tell me maybe, just go ahead now.

And if you wanted to buy me flowers, just go ahead now.

And if you like to talk for hours, just go ahead now..."

That is a rather catchy tempo right there... so enjoyable!  And that glib just-happy-who-cares lyrics is just very endearing.  After all these years, it's hard not to smile whenever I hear this song... and I gotta admit it's been a while since the last time I heard it.  That drum beat is just so recognizable... and that intro guitar alone is enough for one (at least 'this one') to want to just throw away whatever it is one is doing and just... dance without a care in the world.  Too good! :)

Guess what... why don't I pull out my Spin Doctors CD... and dance the night away?  Oooh, but I have a Lecture to prepare for tomorrow.  Arrgh, the (dull) life of a grown up... bummer!

Surely, I can be excused to listen to another song?  Yeah?  OK!  So what about this...

"Better things will come our way
No matter what they try to say you were always there for me
Someway
When the sun begins to shine
I hear the song from another time..."

Oh, boy, that is so good!  Ah, Sugar Ray, what a talent you are!  When I listen to you, "I just want to fly"! :)

Alright, I feel good... time to get back to (serious) work now.  My goodness, I am the worst sort of workaholic!  Please save me!  Make me (want to) enjoy life - I dare you! :)

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

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Saturday photo

You know you're an overworked workaholic...
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by PAM

Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day.

...and hopelessly and miserably so when...

1.  ...you "crashed" again merely four days after your most recent recovery from illness, just because you "sprinted" to make up for lost time even before hitting the ground.

2.  ...you can hardly move from all the agonizing physical pain, and your work remains paramount in your head rather than feeling better.

3.  ...your physical limitations frustrate you, and you feel guilty for not being on your "100%" and unable to deliver "100%".

4.  ...you're gritting your teeth from all the horrible pain from everywhere where pain could be felt, and all you could think about is how 'left out' you felt from all the exciting challenges at work because you are once again 'tied up' to sickbed to take them on.

5.  ...you can't sleep, but you're not counting the sheep jumping over the fence, but you're imagining the documents piling up on your desk, and the queue of the unsatisfied owners of the documents growing longer by the minute outside your office; and it makes you groan - more so than the pain that your illness is inflicting upon you.

6.  ...you can't keep your hands off of your laptop and your mobile phone and struggled to punch in something with the keys even when your eyes watered from scalding fever.

7.  ...you were convulsing from fever on your way home on Uber in the midst of heavy traffic, but all you can think about was the time you were losing, unable to work on a report that's due in seven days while stuck in traffic without your laptop.

8.  ...you can't stop apologizing to your students for being unable to come to work even when you knew you're liable to collapsing, and worse, throwing up all over them if you tried going to class.

9.  ...you have forgotten caring about your own health.

10.  ...you have forgotten caring about your own happiness.

Oh, well... 

Speaking of happiness, here's a little 'slice' of shallow happiness... but happiness nonetheless...

"Running at the speed of light

Wanted to protect myself and hide away...

I've found my ground

Now I can breathe."

Ah, younger days... but they do fade.  And what do you know... a new tapestry of colors appear from all the faded fabric of youth; and in this tapestry those beautiful grains of wisdom are woven, and the tapestry is never as beautiful... so beautiful it makes one happy. :)

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Photo:  I took this photo at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, on my way to General Santos City to attend a Fulbright conference.

Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

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And then...

...I crashed.
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by PAM

I actually did - from illness... and it's sad.  Sad because I'm unable to do the usual things that I do, and the Lord knows there's plenty of things that needed hard work, many of them urgent, many of them extremely important, many of them... a pain in the you-know-where! :)

Confined... to sick bed - again!

It makes me sad that I do 'welcome' being sick just because it gives me 'valid excuse' to take some rest.  Although, I'm not sure if lying down weakly and miserably from a terrible headache and awful fever that makes one's eyes water deserve a 'welcome'.  Then again, what choice do I have?  

O-kaaay, let me not answer that question lest I choose the right answer... because there is a right answer... a fair answer, a wise answer.

Then again, we do work hard... because it makes us happy to realize our dreams.  I do believe that anything that our minds can conjure is possible to achieve.  Anything that we can dream of, we can achieve - through hard work... and love - love for service.  And such service is 'invaluable' because... because 'love is free'.  Therefore, those who try to put value to a service that's inspired by something from the bottom of one's heart are mistaken.  There is nothing in this world worthy as a reward for such service.  

And when hard work pays off, it feels heavenly.  Therefore, watching this makes me happy, illness notwithstanding...

"And we're overwhelmed by it....

From the bottom of our hearts, this means the world for us.

And we don't care about next Sunday now."

Congrats, James Corden and everyone in the "Late Late Show with James Corden"!  

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

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Break! Break...

...it down, down, down!  And let the pressure down!
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by PAM

I'm really tired. I am.  I kid you not, I'm serious. I really wish that we had more days in a week, and that we had more than two days to call "weekend" because Saturday is still a work day for me... and then, it goes on and on until evening, too.  So, on Sundays... I'm just "dead", I can't even begin to describe how tired I feel. :(  And, you know what, when we can't describe how tired we feel, chances are we're on the verge of catastrophic 'mental break down' - and that is never good, it's beyond 'bad' in fact.

Therefore, I need to re-charge a bit... 'cause the last five weeks were EXTREMELY hard.  I worked like a 'madwoman' every single minute of my extended days - seriously!  Through it all, I kept chastising myself what a terrible and merciless brute I was to myself, whipping myself to labor like a slave horse 24/7 in those five looong weeks!  And I am done for.  I am completely exhausted that when I move one finger, it feels like lifting a 10-lb weight - it's just too hard, my tank is completely empty!  I'm on the verge... therefore, I must STOP!

So, yep, I need to 're-charge my batteries'!  I need something to remind me how beautiful life truly is... and not as bleak and dreary as the tiresomely boring schedule and work load I am so unfortunately stuck with at the moment.  I need help - quickly!  A shot of happy sunshine... some 'sugar rush', a rush of happiness! So, let me begin with this...

Graham Norton: "Guys, I know I'm paid to chat, but I think it's fair to just put

all the cards down, and we all stare (at) Henry for a while." (5:19 - 5:30)

Russell Crowe: "They pay you so well but they treat you like s**t." (14:15 - 14:20)

Hahaha... I expected to be wowed by the legendary Russell Crowe's wit and humor and the extremely talented Amy Adams' wit and humor, and be awed by Henry Cavill's wit, humor, and, ahem, absolute beauty... but I didn't expect to end up teary eyed from all the laughter. :) These guys were brilliant in this show's episode!  Graham Norton is just amazing, he is.  And, yes, I am only three years late, too! Graham looks a lot younger in this video than he does now... but better late than never! :)

But if you happen to be interested in the 'updated' version of the video above, click here.  Now, that is funny, too.  Henry Cavill is as beautiful as in the first one, but Ben Affleck did his best, and Amy Adams is funny without even trying.  So, it's all great! :)

And what is 're-charging batteries' if it doesn't include something from James Corden?  I say, it isn't truly re-charging batteries - seriously.  Therefore, here's the man whose show "The Late Late Show with James Corden" just won its first Emmy Awards: Outstanding Interactive Show and Outstanding Variety Special:

"Where's my jacket, guys? Where's my Danny Zuko?

I can't! I can't go on without my f***in jacket, guys! Where is iiit?" (1:11 - 1:25)

Hahaha... oh, gosh, don't you just love this man and the creators of this Show?  So creative, so hilarious, I tell ya!  Hahaha... but James Corden is not just funny, he's a warm big bear.

Alright, time for some snack.  Uh, what?  I'm 're-charging batteries' here, of course, it involves midnight snacks! ;)

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Video credits:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

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