Hazel Ceej

"They got second place in the sack race. I asked Maybelle to accompany him. They're getting ready for the mass dance now." That was my mother's SMS on February 17th.  I had forgotten that CJ was in Marbel for the Kiddie Fest, a children's activity organized by the Department of Education, participated in by both public and private school children. Reality poked me again:  I am doing long-distance parenting right now and have to live with bits and pieces of this arrangement until we snag a better option. Fortunately I can be grateful and happy for the presence of loved ones in my son's life while I am not physically around. Maybelle is my deceased cousin's youngest daughter. I took this photo of her and CJ goofing at home last summer. I am glad they get along well.  Thank you, Maybelle for being CJ's sack race partner. I imagine myself leaping about with a 7 year-old in a sack. My mind flies back to a parade of high heels and work suits in my apartment,...

Julie Andrews allegedly sang a parody of the Sound of Music tune My Favorite Things at an AARP benefit to commemorate her 69th birthday. I thought it was fun and interesting, even though there was no confirmation that Julie Andrews did sing it. Thus, 'allegedly' as About.com-Urban Legends put it. I was thirty-five then, and getting conscious of the fact that in five years my life would begin. I like believing in "life begins at forty." To mark my 40th birthday last year I did my own lyrics revision. And came up with this:  If you are not familiar with my blog: CJ is my son, Mozart is my fur kid (picture on sidebar), my mother is a soprano, and I am usually her piano accompanist. My father's second wife, RIP Father , was the chess; and my mother beat him in scrabble mercilessly. I grew up watching an uncle's ballroom dances and staring in wonder at his trophies. My pet peeve is internet/computer inaccessibility. I hate a runny nose with fervor and although ...

How often do you get to a cafe with part of its walls like this? To be honest I had no idea what was this. But I love literature, and I am always thrilled to spot references to it in places I do not expect them to be at. A bit of skimming tells me this is from a novel called Holes by Louis Sachar .  It won the 1998 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, and was adapted into a film in 2003. What adds to my delight is finding that in 1999 Holes won the Newbery Medal for "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." 'For Children .' As moms aren't we always on the lookout for media that we would consider sharing to our kids? This post is linked with Happiness is ... and Mommy Moments .

Have you ever written any fan-fiction? If yes, why and for which book(s)? If no, would you like to and for which books(s)? For that matter, do you ever READ fan-fiction?? No, I haven't and probably never will as I am no writer. But I'm not closing my doors either. Maybe when I'm old and sitting on a rickety rocking chair caressing a china cup of white tea, I will. Who knows... my muse just might poke me. I have Sarah Gray's Wuthering Bites , and Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride, Prejudice and Zombies on my bookshelf right now. I bought them and never read them. At least not yet. Maybe when I'm old and sitting on a .... Right after I finished writing my master's thesis, I devoured fan fiction for Harry Potter. There must have been too much remnant of scientific stuff in my life I felt so deprived of pop lit that much. Recently, I came across The Obituary of Charlotte Collins . It was an excellent travel back through time I almost forgot it was fiction. Just a sid...

It seems everyone has something to say about shoes. I do. Two years ago I wore the same pair of shoes while exploring Macau and Hong Kong, playing golf, traipsing the largest temple on earth and to the funeral of my Education chief, while dreaming of Cinderella's shoes. Mine must have self- transformation power to have been worn at entirely different occasions, and still got away ticktock gorgeous. Here's what others say - 1. I f the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot? - Gloria Steinem                                  A day after Mother's Day; went shopping in Siam Paragon 2. "Why are 'Messiahs' always represented as wearing sandals..? If you think about it, as a society we seem to use open toed sandals to convey the presence of an open mind. Why?: I have no idea, but the trend is definitely there to be seen. " / Nowhere near any temple; this is about to get inside Hard Rock 3. The wearer best knows where the shoe pinches. - Irish proverb / Pin...

A one and a half, early morning flight from Manila usually arrives in Gensan when the sun is blazing. Too hot. I understand why this flower has wilted. Looking at all these DSLR products everywhere tells me this shot is blurred. I am a little dissatisfied of it myself but I am keeping it for good reason. And that is because my son gave it to me at the airport. A friend passed through the same airport a couple of weeks ago. I was wondering if this was the same flower as the one my son gave me. It looks like a flowering tree. I never gave it any other notice beyond vaguely thinking it's pretty and that's that. But I guess now you would know why I think it is more than just pretty. This post is linked with Happiness is ... and Mommy Moments .

Top Gun glamor Tom Cruise. Not new. Einstein, Currie, Edison. Entrepreneurs and nobel laureates - believable enough as research links dyslexia with high cognition and creativity. When Cher acted in the Mask as a mom who could not read, I didn't know she was also dyslexic in real life. Names like Kiera Knightley, Andy Warhol and George Washington made me go 'they too?' Now some 13 other biggies: 1. John Lennon . It was his voice singing "you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one" I was hearing while traipsing the killing fields in Cambodia. 2. Nigel Kennedy .  ... all those violin music I have been fortunately subjected to lately 3. Leonardo da Vinci .  Just huge. 4. Pablo Picasso .  Portrait de la tante Pepa 5. Hans Christian Andersen.   Fairy tales are so alive in my world! 6. Agatha Christie . I wanna get my hands on The Body in the Library 7. Terry Goodkind, author of The Sword of Truth series. 8. F. Scott Fitzgerald . Hmnn... I have...