What a year 2011 was!
Oh yes! What a year 2011 was indeed!
In 2010, I started to step an inch away from my comfort zone, and I honestly didn’t think that 2011 would get me even farther from it.
For starters, I was able to stand in front of people, yay! Bloggers, even.
In April, I delivered a talk on writer’s block in front of many bloggers, who knows a lot about the subject, in iBlog7. Yet, I managed to survive — in one piece!
While all the preparation for that talk was happening, a seed of a dream was growing within. It was a long-delayed quest to finally spread my wings. And in May of 2011, that dream became true. REFLECTION was a dream that took more than 20 years to happen, but it was worth the wait.
Tags: 2011, 2012, book launching, Dreams do come true, Event Center, Events, family, flying, great year, iBlog7, looking back, looking forward, Museo Ning Angeles, reflection, Roy, SM Clark, speaker, The Struggling Blogger, wings, writer's block
Our 2011 Family Christmas Party
And thank God I managed to pull through!
I am referring to our Christmas party – a party with four attendees including me as the emcee. It was our traditional family Christmas party which my three kids and I hold every Christmas Eve. We are now on our third year of doing this family tradition.
It was actually started back in 2001 (or 2002?) by my wife, and my three kids were so much smaller then. She was then the host and I would be joining in the games. And we continued to do it every year since then, until “she went home” with Our Creator in early 2008.
As part of keeping her memory alive with us, we continued with the tradition of holding our Christmas party with me now taking over the hosting chores. The first time in 2008, I was awkward with lots of pauses and dead ends in between. So in 2009, I made a program which made the flow of the party smoother, and was so much better in 2010.
Tags: Christmas eve, Christmas Party, Dela Cruz Family, family, family christmas party, games, Noche Buena, parlor games, Pinoy Henyo, tradition
Getting Ready for our Annual Family Christmas Party
Last Saturday night, my kids and I had a brief meeting after dinner for our annual family Christmas party. Yes, just in case it’s your first time here, even if there are only four of us, we regularly have our Christmas party every year.
This traditional family Christmas party is held every Christmas Eve, and mind you, this is not just a simple gathering over the dining table where we share a sumptuous Noche Buena to celebrate the birth of Baby Jesus. It is a full grown party, complete with programs and all – games, welcome remarks, exchange gifts, intermissions… the works. Yup! It’s a complete package.
Tags: celebration, Christmas, Christmas eve, culture, family christmas party, Filipino family, games, intermission, kris kringle, Noche Buena, parlor games, tradition, yuletide season
I could use a “feel-good” moment
Feeling under the weather for a couple of days, I was literally dragging my feet just to move on. Searching deep within for something to lift me up, but my search produces nil result… so the dragging continued.
I was not really expecting that the “lift-upper” could come from an unlikely place… from someone I don’t even know.
Yesterday, I was at the SM Clark to assist and watch my daughter Angel for the UN Day parade, where a program was held at the mall’s atrium after the parade.
It was rather an insignificant event really, as there were too many students participating in the parade from about four or five schools from the city. My daughter was just another face from the sea of crowds… and so was I.
Tags: Dreams do come true, feel-good, guest speaker, inspiration, inspire, motivation, Roy dela Cruz, SM Clark, UN Day parade, writer, writing
My Life is Nothing Out of The Ordinary
Honestly, I think my life is just as ordinary as any Juan dela Cruz out there. There is nothing extra-ordinary in it.
True, I have struggles. I’ve won some, lost most of them, and there are many times I can’t even make heads or tails. But that’s just how it is — life.
And all throughout the journey, I sang, I danced, I cursed, I shouted, I goofed… name it! Most probably, I did it too. Just like anyone else.
What am I pointing out?
I don’t know. Really beats me to think why the media would be so interested in my story, enough to merit a television docu-drama episode.
Did I say yes?
Tags: blog, Channel 5, drama, Gelli, Letters To Mama, My life, Real Confession, Roy, television, TV 5, TV show, TV5, Wendell
Who is smarter?
Sharing another story I received from my email… though it seems to be humorous, it’s actually something worth thinking about
Who is smarter?
A scientist and an artist were traveling in the same compartment on a train. They had never met before, so naturally there wasn’t much conversation between the two.
The artist was minding his own business, looking out the window at the beauty of the passing terrain. The scientist was very uptight, trying to think of things he didn’t know so he could try to figure them out.
Finally, the scientist was so bored that he said to the artist, “Hey, do you want to play a game?” The artist, being content with what he was doing, ignored him and continued looking out the window, humming quietly to himself.
This infuriated the scientist, who irritably asked again, “Hey, you, do you want to play a game? I’ll ask you a question, and if you get it wrong, you give me P50. Then, YOU ask ME a question, and if I can’t answer it, I’ll give YOU P50.”
The artist thought about this for a moment, but he decided against it, seeing that the scientist was obviously a very bright man. He politely turned down the scientist’s offer.
Tags: contest, email posts, humor, intellect, smart
Buying tickets online
These days, everything can be bought online. From gadgets, books, services and even theater and concert tickets. Yes, right at the comfort of your own home, lest the traffic and hassles of falling in line. You can scout for your favorite show to watch. I have heard about Book of Mormons, and although I have no idea what’s it’s all about, I am glad that The Book of Mormon Tickets are available online too… just in case curiosity gets the better of me.
Web hosting search
Like most bloggers, I started on free hosted blogs. It was fine really, blogging on under free hosting, but there is always that longing to see your name, or a special word with a dot com extension. That is why I also aimed to have my own hosted blog. But looking for a web hosting is not really easy. With many web hosting service provider out there, non-techies like me can easily get lost
Dreams do come true: My first talk
It was far from perfect, I know. But my first talk just went fine, nonetheless.
I goofed up on a few lines, but I do hope I was able to inspire young people to write. It was my first, though I offer no excuses.
It was a golden opportunity to make a difference… I just hope I did.
Just in case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, it’s the announcement of the winners of the inter-high school short story writing contest here in Angeles City, and I was the guest speaker.
And below, is the full excerpt of my speech, just in case some of the attendees found my voice inaudible or were just too anxious for the results to be revealed, or both… and all who wants to know what I said.
Tags: Combined Hearts High School Edition, guest speaker, poem, reflection, Roy dela Cruz, SM Clark, speech, Winners, writer, writing
My first talk as a writer
In less than a week, I will be having my first talk as a writer.
Yup, you read that right… I will be talking in front of many people, in a public place, about writing.
The date: August 26, 2011
The time: 6:00 p.m.
The place: SM City, Clark
The event: Awarding of winners of the First Inter-High School Short Story Writing Contest
The short story writing contest was a project of Light Crystal Publishing House who was also the publisher of my first book REFLECTION.
When they asked me if I could be the guest speaker in their awarding night, I said yes because I thought then that the venue would be one of the schools who participated in the contest.
Tags: Angeles City, guest speaker, Light Crystal Publishing, Roy dela Cruz, short story writing contest,