I think that I already established the fact of my 'shallowness' in happiness. Simple little things make me happy... the simpler, the bigger the happiness.
Six years ago, 2017, on the same day as today, June 27, I found this wonderfully heartwarming TV movie by Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. It is titled "Christmas with Holly", and it starred one of my fave Hallmark actors of all time, Sean Faris, who played the character of Mark Nagle, and that versatile actress, Eloise Mumford, who portrayed Maggie. The movie came out in 2012 as a 'Hallmark Hall of Fame' movie but I only got to discover it on YouTube in 2017 while recuperating from a terribly 'jealous of a flu'. For some reason, that seemingly simple TV movie had an incredible impact on me, and I began watching it every year on the same day that I found it on YouTube. I never talked about this favorite 'personal tradition' of mine though... until today.
Mark: "I didn't know anything about raising a kid.
She said you just start
by loving her.
The rest will follow."
It's amazing that, after six years, I still found the movie engaging, touching, beautiful... magical!
To me, that long-haired Sean Faris in the movie is still one of the prettiest men in the universe, from whichever angle you look at him... uhm, including his back. ðŸ¤ðŸ˜…😂 He also did well portraying Mark - the single guy who lived in Friday Harbor that became an instant Dad when his elder sister, Victoria, who was a single Mom was killed in a vehicular accident in Seattle. He had to stand in as parent for his orphaned niece because he was listed as legal guardian by his sister. I still think that the twin child actresses (well, child then, that is), Lucy and Josie Gallina, who played the role of six-year old Holly - Mark's niece, were superb. They conveyed so much emotion even without speaking a single word - amazing acting there! The same is true with the actors who played the role of Mark's brothers, Scott (Dana Watkins) and Alex (Daniel Eric Gold). It wasn't exactly that Hallmark 'formulaic' TV movie as it did have a wonderful story line that deviated a bit (or, a lot?) from the Hallmark 'cookie cutter' of movie production, and it's great. This is probably because it was based on the novel, "Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor" by Lisa Kleypas. It is the first book in the Friday Harbor four-book series of the New York Times bestseller author.
The movie counterpart had all the 'cuteness Hallmark armada': grown-up brothers who all lived in a huge dilapidated house by the water who bantered so comically on a daily basis because that was their way of preventing a deluge of love for each other lest they embarrass each other if they showed emotion; a beautifully vulnerable woman, Maggie, whose heartbreaks made her believe that she wasn't as amazing as she was... until a very good-looking guy with a heart of gold, Mark, came along to give her back her faith in herself by letting her show him how to find his own confidence in himself in raising this child who was thrown off by fate and was groping around, looking for true love to hold on to that only he can give; the cutest of all little girls who was so emotionally broken but spiritually whole because of true and unwavering love from his uncle; and a dog that knows what it wants and knows how to get it! Simple plot, simple scenes, no deep intellectual points to ponder, no pretentions... uhm, yeah... I know, I've mellowed... and I love it!
These days, it amazes me that one of my favorite BTS songs, "Magic Shop", which was partly produced by Jungkook, has an almost the same name as the toy shop owned by Maggie,
Magic Mirror Toy Shop. The new shop that Maggie built in Friday Harbor was pivotal in the story because that was where Holly found her inner strength to speak again after her Mom's death confused her so badly it afflicted her with temporary muteness. She just shut down, and only trusted her uncle Mark, and later, her two other uncles. When Mark and Holly met Maggie at the ferry, on their way to Friday Harbor from Holly's home in Seattle, Holly seemed to have opened up to Maggie. It was a slow process of gaining trust and giving trust between Maggie and Holly... until that day when Holly fully gave her trust to Maggie... and to life itself again. Holly spoke again, and her first word was her mother's name, 'Victoria'. The safe and magical environment that Maggie created in her toy shop that encouraged Holly to hold on to the love she was offered was quite similar to the 'magic shop' of BTS for their ARMY... and it's amazing!
Indeed, this is all that we need in life... nah, not magic. It's love. It is central to the story... love in many forms... but in whichever form, love's effect is the same - beauty and happiness in life - in all forms.
So, yeah... this is a sweet tradition that I intend to keep for the rest of my life.
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Video credit: Thanks, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, for the video and photos. Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.
Yep, 'stunning'. That is all that I'm gonna say to describe how I feel about this photo. The view certainly left me speechless, I just had to capture the moment from where I was standing... at Diamond Hotel Manila. I was there for a week - for work. And, this view gave me the most compelling reason to limit work strictly until 5:30 pm. I just had to watch this view unfold right before my eyes.
The Manila Bay sunset remains to be one of the most spectacular scenes one would ever find in this part of the world. Too beautiful for words! But the fact that it took me nearly two months to share this here indicates how work has once again taken over my life, and it's absolutely ridiculous! Nothing beautiful about that to be sure... and yet, these days, I feel I have no choice. But right now, this very moment, I just had to free myself from the bondage of work and reconnect with 'my soul'. And so, here I am. Ah, stunning!
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Photo credit: I own this photo. I took the shot and did the processing with very minimal color enhancement to remove the glare from the glass window. This may not be used for any other purpose.
For the first time, I experienced what it's like to preside over the Solemn Investiture of a Graduating Class as a 'top administrator' of the University that I have been serving since 1989. I presided over the Solemn Investiture of the Class of 2023 of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) where I teach! I recited the 'formula' in conferring a Bachelor's degree and shifted the tassel of the candidates' graduation cap. It was an incredible experience, and I am very grateful! 💛
As past immediate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, it was my role to present the candidates for graduation during the Commencement Exercises since 2013. The last time I did that was for the Class of 2019. Although I remain Dean of the Faculty until 2022 (but on Sabbatical Leave in AY 2021-2022), because of the pandemic, I did not get to do this for the Class of 2020 and Class of 2021. When I returned to the University in July 2022, I assumed a new assignment under the Office of the Rector of the University. Apparently, this qualified me to act on behalf of the University in granting the degrees of our Graduating Class during the Commencement Exercises.
In my 7-minute speech, I spoke about the Class of 2023 being "Bulletproof"... with inspiration from the most popular boy band in the world: BTS. 💜 It was an incredible opportunity... because how many ARMYs can express their admiration for BTS while passing a major milestone in their professional career? Perhaps, not so many. As such, I feel blessed... and I thank God for this incredible opportunity.
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Image credit: The photos in the collage belong to me, Tomasinoweb and a colleague at UST - thanks!
