My Favorite Royals

I was in the mood to read and since historicals are all I can stomach right now, I have to steer clear of my novels to avoid temptation--I gave up historicals for Lent, that's why. But then I saw the Feb issue of OK! mag and since it's gonna be March in a few days, I decided to finish reading it. That's when I remembered that I've been meaning to blog about my most fave royals weeks ago--OK! Philippines featured real fairy tales of commoner women marrying into royalty.

Royalty is, of course, one of my favorite topics. I've no other choice since the women in my family are into it. But there were actually times in the past when my interest in the matter begun to wain. And then something interesting happens, say, a royal wedding covered live by international television. Not to mentioned that it is continually reinforced by those damn romance novels I can't seem to live without.

It's not the British royals that I'm so in like with for the past few years now. Admittedly, they're the most popular and the young princes are quite cute in their own way plus the fact that Princess Diana was everyone's favorite royal at home. But through the years I've gone through my British, Monegasque, and Spanish royalty phases. Duh! Like there really should be phases. But that's me.

But for a number of years now, I've been in love with the Norwegian royals. The love story of Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit is too good to be true that it's practically taken right out of my romance novels. I don't wanna create a muck on what their real love story is so try checking it out here and here. It's so unbelievable how human they really are. I mean, royalty has been, and is continually being viewed as, something altogther different with customs and traditions that cannot be breached. But with the advent of modern young royals taking commoners as their spouses, it has taken itself into a whole new direction for what's set in future. And the story of Haakon and Mette-Marit is a prime example of that. Imagine a single mother being swept off her feet by a crown prince--that doesn't happen in real life, only in mushy paperbacks. But it has heppened to them and their beautiful family is just a joy to look at. Fairy tales do come true.

And check this clip I stumbled on on YouTube especially since I don't wanna paste all the lovely pics I found on the couple. I'm more than ready to fall in love.

How about you? Do you have any favorites among the blue-blooded people of the world? How did they become to be your faves?

Feeder's Feeling The Moment

So y'all know that I'm crazy about, terminally gaga, absolutely bonkers about my man David Beckham. And it was thanks to him that I got to know this song.

Well, one of his fans actually. I frequently check YouTube for Becks' latest clips and the latest fan tribute videos. So I stumbled on this really good one and for the first time since I can remember, the background music actually took my notice while I was checking out this Becks vid.

God, how I love this song! This is surely one for the books. Feeder did one heck of a job putting this song together and I feel cheated for not knowing the track when it first came out at around the middle of last year. And it turned out to be part of the second volume of the OTH soundtrack, too--because I have not followed the show that much anymore so it definitely felt an oops moment. So, so cheated.

I love it even more when songs have "real" stories behind them--adds more character. And not just to romanticize it but because for all of us who have lost a loved one at one point or another in our lives, songs like this actually matter.

Oh, sheesh! I'm such a masochist--I always fall for this type of song and break heart just a little bit more.

But here it is anyway. And I'm still loving it.

The Sleeping Dictionary

I saw this ancient film (it came out in 2003 so why not?) on cable and liked it instantly. I was pretty intrigued by the title and the fact that I never heard of it in 2003. But obviously it was a direct-to-DVD film.

Sleeping dictionaries were, well, what their name suggested. It was the 1930s and the British was making headway in colonizing Sarawak in Malaysia. For the foreigners to be able to communicate with the locals and learn their customs right away, a "sleeping dictionary" was given in to their disposal. These were local women that could speak English. I'd say it was more convenient in more ways than the reasons I gave. Because the sleeping thing? That was added into the equation to hasten the learning process of the colonizers in learning the local stuff. Selima (Jessica Alba) was the sleeping dictionary given to John Truscott (Hugh Dancy). But English gentleman that he was John refused to touch the beautiful local who he later found out was half-British, a daughter of a Briton and his sleeping dictionary.

But Selima's constant presence in John's temporary jungle home only meant that he was gonna fall in love with her sooner or later. It happened sooner and then they were spending their nights together and talking about an impossible future together. Because the British does not allow marriage between one of their own and a sleeping dictionary.

Life only only became more difficult for the couple when it became clear that John's superior, Henry Bullard(Bob Hoskins), and his wife, Aggie, had other plans for the promising young man--they want him to marry their daughter Cecil (Emily Mortimer). But John adamantly refused and was only too willing to let the world know that he loved his sleeping dictionary and that he intended to marry her instead. That was where he went wrong because Selima's life was threatened if they pushed through with it. Faced with that, John left Sarawak and eventually married Cecil in London a year later.

And here's an Addison catch: I could not hate Cecil. She was in love with John already and was only too determined to have him fall in love with her knowing that he was already in love with someone on the other side of the world. And John honestly put enough into their marriage to make it wok. Then duty came a-calling and they had to go back to Sarawak. Cecil didn't pitch fits but was rather excited to work as a teacher in the local school. Thank God for that because I didn't want to start hating her then.

But when they got back to Sarawak, John got two surprises: Selima had married a young tribe warrior and had a son. But the kid had blue eyes and too much fair skin not to be John's kid. John still loved Selima but when he started spending time with her again it was to know his son. But Selima's husband read it the wrong way and attempted to slit John's throat one night. In so doing he bagged himself an execution.

It was amidst the trial for Selima's husband's crime that John learned that Henry was really Selima's father and that she was really Cecil's half-sister. And that Aggie had stayed in Srawak all these years not out of duty to her country or to her husband but to keep him from being with his sleeping dictionary, Selima's mother.

And then Cecil told John he was letting John go. Their relationship had nowhere to go seeing how John still loved his local beauty. She admitted that she could never make him love her as much as he loved her sister. And besides she suspected she was pregnant with his child and for her, that was enough. John helped Selima's husband escape from prison and would be running away with Selima and their son. But that was after Henry--and Cecil--finally acknowledged their relationship with Selima. (See why I liked Cecil's character so much?)

The story ended with John and his family living in a tribe that was outside the British control. Or at least somewhere they could stay safe and stop looking over their shoulders--especially since Aggie was determined not give John his happy ending.

The movie made for good TV although I still think that: what if Cecil was really pregnant? What would the kid think? Why did daddy leave and went with another family? But I think with the depth of John's character would not allow any children of his to grow without knowing him. And wasn't it on Grey's Anatomy where I heard that being with someone who can't love you back is far too lonelier than being alone? Although I wanna think that Cecil was able to find her happy ever after, too.

Unveiling The New Looks

Finally.

I was finally able to revamp the layouts for my other two blogs. Now I don't have to think about it for another few months. Sloth that I am. But I was glad to find these templates. It wasn't easy but it sure was a lot easier than if I did them myself from scratch. Hmm, I certainly need to study Mailyn's tutorials. That way I can come up with something green-ish whenever I feel like changing templates. But till then, all I can do is search the 'Net about the free ready-to-use ones.

Bookabulary looks like this now (yay! a fairy) ...


...while Songgeist looks like this (gotta love the man with the guitar.)

10 Weird Things About Me

It's a good thing I didn't do that thing about six weird things about moi. So I'm glad to do this instead. Although I have to admit that I had a tough time making this list. I already consider myself altogether weird so it was kinda difficult to pick out the weird weird from all the rest.

1) I don't like talking about myself but I do love blogging and there's no avoiding talking about me in this place so I'm doing the best not to be so 'shy' anymore.

2) I'm a list monster. Stuff like movies I've seen, new songs I've heard, and Manchester United and Real Madrid goals just to name a few. And there's no saving them somewhere in computer files. Nope. I need to write them all down.

3) I hate warm drinks even during cold weather. But I only drink cold water when there's no other choice.

4) I'm more prone to strike up a conversation with someone whom I have a lesser chance of seeing again.

5) As far back as I can remember, I dream the same dream every time I have a (high) fever--me lying down on the floor, too sick to get up as a giant rock rolls towards me. Not a fun dream at all.

6) That my favorite color is green but most of my stuff are blue. (Maybe I'm in denial. Watya think?)

7) Karaoke is not my thing. Oh, I don't mind people hearing me sing but, please, take the mic far, far away from me.

8) Not wanting to have kids of my own or even getting married when up until I was 20 all ever wanted to be the best homemaker there ever was.

9) I cry about a lot of things but rarely about my life.

10) That I managed to finish this list since I had half a mind to just do five and then link you up to my Five Truthful Thingamajiggies to come up with ten.

Aight. Now I'm supposed to tag ten people but it seems like everyone and everyone in their blogrolls have done this but if YOU haven't done this, feel free to let us know ten teeny weird things about ya.

Here's For My Ladies

I know I've said Hearts Day is way overrated but since I've had nothing to blog about for the past week or so, I'll use it as an excuse to post something here although I've been busy updating the template for my book blog--check out the new look here. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for it. I have a long way to go about CSS and stuff.

But this one's for the ladies who frequent here, regardless of how you feel about the opccassion. As one of my friends text messaged me earlier today:

My wish for us this Valentine's Day is that we will continue to endure the hardships of being attractive to men and the complexities of resisting them!

It's The Love Month!

So what if I've been loveless since my last lifetime? Well, not really. But it sure does feel like it. That doesn't stop me from feeling all the love this month. This post though is not for me to gush about it because I'm sure the entire blogosphere and the rest of the world will do it for me. Instead, I'm gonna post some love-worthy pics. If you've seen them, well, you just gotta have to look at them again.

(Always) First and (almost) foremost is David Beckham. Of course. I just totally adore this new shot of him as Sleeping Beauty's Prince Phillip. It's an Annie Leibovitz shot for her "Year of a Million Dreams" collection starring Disney movie characters and she did a good one of him again--I loved her Becks spread in the July 2004 issue of Vanity Fair. I have been humming "Someday My Prince Will Come" ever since I've seen this pic. I know it's the wrong film but it's apropos nonetheless.

Now, how about this? I'm pretty sure y'all have seen it since it created quite a stir when it first came out. But, blimey, the kid can make one heck of a photo, eh? I feel like such a degenerate when I think of his pictures (yes, there's more than one) as hot and/or sexy. It's hard to think of him as not Harry Potter but pictures like this help remind me that there is a Daniel Radcliffe behind the character. But, hot damn! What a beautiful bod behind those Hogwarts robes! Don't you think so?

And as if it's not sexy enough to put either of these two in frames, they had to add some sexy white horseflesh in them. Are they trying to kill us or what?

Before I end this post, lemme share to you this local advert for this year's Lovapalooza event. I think it's really kinda cool. Sponsors and organizers in 2003 only sought to set the world record in the most number of kissing couples in one area at one time (I think that's the parameter, but I'm not exactly sure). Not only did they succeed, they helped in creating a new tradition for the whole country. Now on its fourth year, Lovapalooza aims to strengthen it tradition with both the young and the young at heart.