Welcome 2023

My first post for this year.

True enough, mom and I slept through the changing year. Woke up at around 1am and it’s already 2023. Missed calls and messages from my brother and Nissa.

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I am sad that Pope Benedict XVI is gone. Long life at 95. I love his writings.

Come to think of it, I didn’t hear any firecracker last night. Our dog Noki has always been afraid of the noise. He stayed and slept under our dining table and only he went out when I opened the door to the dirty kitchen.

Grateful to the three priest friends who promised to include me in their masses and prayers. By Tuesday, Josef and I will go to the hospital for the CT Scan. Prayers please, thank you so much.

I ought to start with my journal writing today. Sometimes it is easier to type than to write. My fingers get stiff sometimes but I promised myself slow reading this year.

All the best for 2023.

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Reading Updates

I appreciate that I found the Goodreads app a few years ago. Based on my virtual library there, I have read around 1, 616 books. I’ve participated in their Goodread’s challenge the past six years. I am about 80% done with my challenge this year finishing 120 books so far out of 150 books I committed myself to read.

I just recently read The Tumor by John Grisham. A short take about malignant brain tumor, a far cry from the usual subjects he writes about. It is a fictional account of how a real, new medical technology could revolutionize the future of medicine by curing with sound – a focused ultrasound. I also found a new author in the person of Kathleen Grisson called Glory Over Everything, a historical book when Negros were sold as slaves in America. It’s an e-book that kept me glued. Though some fictions are historical, they are probably based on research about those earlier years.

Think about having wagons instead of cars as means of transportation. I have just started Water for Elephants, a popular book that I keep postponing to read.

There is a Goodreads page on Facebook and that’s where I find titles I am curious to read. Sometimes, there are many short reviews about one particular book that I have read before or some titles that I have seen for the first time.

Reading is such a wonderful hobby, it takes you to places you haven’t been to.

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662,919 Views And 3,288 Posts Later

I have clearly forgotten those lovely thoughts that I wrote years ago when I was just beginning to write posts at WordPress during my journey as a cancer patient and survivor. If I were to add all my blog posts at my four other sites, it might reach 700, 000 views and maybe 4,000 posts. That year-long journey triggered and inspired me to blog at WordPress. I was so happy reaching out to those with similar journey like I did.

Blogging has become a way of life just as reading does. I used to blog almost every day but over the years, posting one once or twice a week is now enough for me. Over the past two years during this pandemic, everything seemed to be at a stand still. I’ve only gone out five times from our subdivision. No visitors came over except Nissa’s family. Food and groceries were delivered. Even the Christmas gifts were ordered online. Hopefully, this pandemic will end soon.

Finally done with trimming the carabao grass with Josef’s help. We still need though to have the garden outside our perimeter wall cleaned. Our tree dogs sleep in the garage while Nikki, who has just given birth to three male pups is in a cage in our dirty kitchen. She is so protective of her litters.

The past few nights, I compared all the books I had on my tab with Goodreads. Good thing I have a virtual library there. I have read some of them the past few years. It’s funny, I used to write a brief review of the books I read before. I got lazy though since I started this year’s reading challenge. I am looking for more authors and books to read.

I don’t get to visit my friends’ blogs every day because I don’t visit WordPress that often. So sorry about that, will catch up soon.

By the way, it’s CHRISTMAS in nine days.

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My 96th Read

I am excited.

I just started reading it actually.

I just want to tell you that it’s a sort of “hello again, here I am finally touching the leaves of your story”.

Can you imagine  it was first published in 1939? A poignant coming-of-age novel set in a Welsh mining town, penned by Richard Llewellyn. It is his first novel. I saw copies of this book several years ago at the Humanities Section of the UST Main Library but I was never curious to read it. It is now a contemporary classic.

And yes, it is my 96th read in this year’s reading challenge.  Right after I posted it on my FB wall, two friends commented:

Read this during my high school/college days. Wonderful book. Seems I lost my copy though. Happy reading, Arlene – Dolly

This novel is so freakin beautiful and touching… truly made me cry – Fredda

If this won’t get you interested, I don’t know what will.

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