The Story Teller

Archive for March, 2011

I was talking to a friend last night. He is mad about his former employer and seems to be finding a way to get even. I tried to pacify him and asked him what really happened.

It seems as if his former employer did not remit his social security contributions for 5 months. Well, that really sounds bad. I found out that he was under an employment agency for almost half a year, and that his salary was being deducted a certain amount for SS contribution. Late last week, he tried to check from the SS office and he was outraged when he learned that no contribution was made during the time that he was employed there.

Well, this is not the first time I heard about this kind of thing and this is really sad. You see, we work hard and impart some of our earnings to social security hoping that someday we are going to enjoy our social security benefits. I hope something could be done about this..

This…

and this…

and this…

… are paintings by the former mass murderer and dictator ADOLF HITLER.

I just couldn’t believe that such impossibly cruel creature was able to create such beautiful works of art.

‘The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.’

Source: brainyquote.com, artsytime.com

Once there was a farmer who owns a beautiful mare. All his neighbors keep on telling him how lucky he is to have such a beautiful mare, to this the farmer only answered ‘That’s the way it is.’

But one day, the mare ran away and the farmer was sad. The neighbors went to him and told him they were sorry for his losing the mare. To this, the farmer only answered ‘That’s the way it is.’

After  a few days, the beautiful mare came back. With her was a handsome wild stallion. The neighbors were awed. They told the farmer he is so lucky to have the mare back and to acquire such a handsome stallion. To this the farmer only said ‘That’s the way it is.’

But one day as the farmer’s son was trying to ride the wild stallion, the horse threw him off. He fell on the ground and broke his leg. The farmer was sad and the neighbors told him they were sorry for the tragedy. To this the farmer only answered ‘That’s the way it is.’

Then, a war broke. Every boy in the village was enlisted except for the farmer’s son. After the war, no one was able to come back. All of the young lads died in the war and all that’s left in the village was the farmer’s lame son. The neighbors told the farmer how lucky he is to still have his son alive. To this the farmer only answered.. ‘That’s the way it is.’

‘Truly, blessing turns to disaster and disaster turns to blessing; the changes have no end, nor the mystery can be fathomed.’

Adapted from The Taoist Farmer

Image Source: connect.in.com

I am a music lover and my choice of music is varied. Aside from classics, I am into love songs. But very few songs make me emotional and one of these is Sa Ugoy ng Duyan. When my kids were still babies, I used to sing it to them..

SA UGOY NG DUYAN

Music by Lucio San Pedro
Lyrics by Levi Celerio

Sana’y di magmaliw ang dati kong araw
Nang munti pang bata sa piling ni Nanay
Nais kong maulit ang awit ni Inang mahal
Awit ng pag-ibig habang ako’y nasa duyan

Sana’y di magmaliw ang dati kong araw
Nang munti pang bata sa piling ni Nanay
Nais kong maulit ang awit ni Inang mahal
Awit ng pag-ibig ako’y nasa duyan

Sa aking pagtulog na labis ang himbing
Ang bantay ko’y tala
Ang tanod ko’y bituin
Sa piling ni Nanay
Langit ang buhay
Puso kong may dusa
Sabik sa ugoy ng duyan mo Inay
Sana narito ka Inay

Sana’y di magmaliw ang dati kong araw
Nang munti pang bata sa piling ni Nanay
Nais kong maulit ang awit ni Inang mahal
Awit ng pag-ibig hang ako’y nasa duyan

An entry for

Question on her trial: Do you know if you are in the grace of God?

“If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? “

Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) was born on Jan. 6, 1412, in Domremy, Champagne, France.  She was described as an extremely religious girl and that at the age of almost 13, she was said to have visions with accompanying voices which she claimed to be that of the Lord giving her Divine instructions. Among these instructions was ‘to drive the English out of France and bring the Dauphin, Charles VII to Reims for his coronation.’

So, at 17, she was given control of the French army which led to the liberation of other French towns from the English and eventually the coronation of Charles VII. She was, however, captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English. Since her family was poor, she was not ransomed, nor did Charles VII offered to ransom her.

The English put her on trial for witchcraft. She was burned at a stake before about 10,000 people. It was said that she was burned twice to make sure that she did not escape. Another story claimed that though her body was burned and turned to ashes, her heart remained intact and full of blood. Her ashes were cast into Seine. That was May 30, 1421, she was only 19 years old.

On 1452, however, a retrial was authorized by Pope Callixtus III  and on July 7th, 1456, Joan of Arc was declared innocent. In 1909 she was beatified and in 1920 she was canonized as a Saint.

Joan of Arc is the patron saint of France.

Source: biographyonline.net, buzzle.com, maidjoan.tripod.com

Once there was a cruel king. He got anything he wanted by force. His words were law and his laws were absolute that whoever displeases him was severely punished. He was so mean that his subjects were afraid of him. They pray to God every night to spare them from the wrath of their king.

Then one day, the king had a change of heart. He declared that he would rule his people with love and compassion. And he did. He became a great ruler and his people loved him. One day, one of his ministers asked him how he changed. The king thought for a while and answered..

“Several years ago, as I was into one of my walks, I saw a fox being chased by a dog. The fox got away but was bitten in the leg by the dog and became lame. The dog, then, stopped the chase. But as it was running its way to town, a man threw a rock at it and it was hit in the leg and became lame just like the fox. The man, walking towards town met a stray horse. The horse kicked him and the man broke his leg. And just as the horse was walking away, it fell into a hole and broke its leg.

“That’s when I realized what I was doing to my people and I got afraid that it would be done to me as well.

“He who doeth evil will sooner or later be overtaken by evil.”

Adapted from ‘The Just King’ by Bid Pai

Image Source: colorkiddies.com

I think this is the easiest theme of a meme that I have joined, lol! If there is ONE particular song that I love, that would be ‘It Might Be You’ by Stephen Bishop.

Even now that I already found the right one for me, this song still gives me the romantic feeling I have always felt since I was in grade school. It was the theme song in the classic film ‘Tootsie’ starring Dustin Hoffman.

And every time I hear this song over the radio or the MP3, I always imagine myself walking on the beach at dawn. I don’t know why, that’s just the way I feel about this song. It has always been and will always be my favorite song of all time..

IT MIGHT BE YOU (Stephen Bishop)

Time, I’ve been passing time watching trains go by
All of my life
Lying on the sand watching seabirds fly
Wishing there could be someone
Waiting home for me

Something’s telling me it might be you
It’s telling me it might be you
All of my life

Looking back as lovers go walking past
All of my life
Wondering how they met and what makes it last
If I found the place would I recognize the face

Something’s telling me it might be you
It’s telling me it might be you
So many quiet walks to take
So many dreams to wake and there’s so much love to make

I think we�re gonna need some time
Maybe all we need is time
And it’s telling me it might be you
All of my life

I’ve been saving love songs and lullabies
And there’s so much more
No one’s ever heard before
Something’s telling me it might be you
Yeah, it’s telling me it must be you and
I’m feeling it’ll just be you
All of my life
It’s you, it’s you I’ve been waiting for all of my life
Maybe it’s you Maybe it’s you I’ve been waiting for all of my life.

An entry for

I was chatting with my friend last night and I felt that she is kind of sad. It has been 8 months since they moved to Canada and aside from the homesickness that I am sure she feels, I think the life there is very much different from the life she got used to here. You see, hers was a comfortable one, she was the head of a certain department at work, she got her own house, her own car, she even has a condo somewhere.

Just before she left, we met and slept over the condo and had fun just like we used to do when we were young. Since we had no idea when we are going to see each other again, we made each minute count.

Well, I know she’s going to be fine out there. She is one tough girl. She can even drive like a man, lol! As for me, well, I know nothing about cars, I can’t even tell a honda generator from a capacitor. What are those?

In a cool and very clean pond, there lived a frog who thought himself to be the smartest, most beautiful and biggest of all animals. He indeed was big, bigger than the other frogs around. So, it has been very easy for him to take advantage of the poor frogs.

He declared himself the master of that pond and anyone who claims otherwise would answer to him. Nobody did.

But one day, the pond was buzzing with excitement. And it was not long before the Big Proud Frog heard of what was going on. It seems that there was a new animal who came to their pond and that it was so big it covers the sky above them.

The Proud Frog was furious. It can’t be. He is the biggest frog and he is the master of this pond. He rushed to see the newcomer and saw an enormous carabao. It was so huge it covered the sky above the Proud Frog when he came under it. It was taking its fill of the clear water of their pond and was oblivious of being surrounded by several frogs including the Proud Frog.

The Proud Frog introduced himself as the master of the pond and very arrogantly shooed the carabao away as he doesn’t want to share the pond. But the huge animal didn’t seem to care, it just continued to drink and totally ignored the Proud Frog.

The Proud Frog was beginning to get embarrassed. Surely he was being defied by the newcomer and the other frogs are waiting for him to do something to send it away. So, he threatened the animal once again and started to drink big volumes of water. He gloated and got bigger, but the carabao wasn’t even bothered. He took another swill and got even bigger, and bigger and bigger and… PLOP!

The Proud Frog burst and was no more. The other frogs was shocked by what happened to the Proud Frog, but the carabao, having satisfied its thirst started to walk away..

Source: lancastercountyspeakersbureau.org

When I say ‘cool’ I mean that literally. You see, living in a tropical country can be uncomfortable sometimes. During the summer season, it’s gets hot, as in too hot for you to sleep. If you turn on the air conditioner, you get cool yes, but your blood will boil when you get your bill. So, for those people living frugally, like myself, I settle for the traditional electric fan.

In addition to that, instead of sleeping on the bed,  with thick and fluffy mattress, I prefer to sleep on the floor with a nice comforter. Now, that’s cool.. As long as you clean the floor thoroughly I think you wouldn’t have any problem.

It makes me wonder whether it will be the same if I have pergo flooring. Will it be just as cool as it is with just plain tiles? Hmmm…