Top 5 RR (Powerbooks)

Power books series 1/? : Top 5 RR

Feb 21, ’08 1:26 AM for everyone

Today was another very busy day for me. However the day turned bright since I was able to buy some books which I have been looking for some time – and best of all, they were discounted at the ongoing sale in some prominent bookstores here in Manila.I also got my hands on another journal.

What makes this journal also special is that it seems to be a journal about  books. While I canjot/scribble/sketch/paste whatever it is I would like to in this journal, I am also tickled pink about the idea of having a journal of reviews about books.Amongst its pages I can list down and explain what made a particular book or reading so dear to me..it is too bad though that some of the books I enjoyed very much before I cannot remember  the title or the author, nor can I even quote from the passages very reliably, but …ahh! I will always hold in my heart and mind the idea spawned in those books and which have guided me in my daily life and dealings with my fellow beings.As I smooth the pages of the journal and scrunch my shiny (albeit oily) nose against its pristine pages to sniff at the marvelous scent of paper, I notice that the entry on that once-clean page (now indelibly marked with a suspicious looking shiny spot) was asking me to list down the books I’d recommend to other people.

Hmm…now, that is a tall order!! There are so many books, and all of a different category and which I would recommend based on a particular target market…the task daunts me!

I am wondering now though, if I were to ask other people and limit them to just the top 5 books they would recommend, what the list would be? Say, even if we say its a series of books counting as one?

In my case (and with no lengthy explanation as of the moment since I am a drooping flower already at this time of night slash early morning), I would even forego the old favorites of The Bible or Koran or whatever other life-changing book that people might be scandalized to note that I have deliberately left out.

I would rather stick to a list of books wherein I can say that at this particular moment of writing, that I remember enjoying reading at one point or another – like a list I rattle off from the top of my head – it could be I did not have any lesson learned, or I just got eye-bags for my efforts (hey, don’t knock those off till you get ’em!).

In any order now –

Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien.

I was amazed and literally gawking at the brilliance of Tolkien’s mind in creating a seriously, and I mean seriously, complex story, and all because of his constructedlanguages!

I could never hope to achieve that brilliance, but I certainly can enjoy the fruits of his labors. Mythology has always been one of my “most-favoritest” subjects.

I count this as one entry since these books are really a continuation of the tale, and if one were to be really strict about it, one should not also forget The Hobbit.

The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupéry.

I can still recall how I came by this book and read this by accident. As a young girl who got tagged to go with my parents when they visited old friends (or they didn’t have any babysitter at that time) – as usual since I became bored with the long talk of grown-ups and drinking of alcoholic liquids, I drifted away from their little party.

I settled on my hosts’ sofa and saw this book under one of their tables. I finished it and brought home of of the rabbits they had as pets. A simple lesson, taught in a simple but moving tale: “On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur, l’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” Well, amongst other things as this book is packed chock-full of simple truths.

The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino.

When I read the chapter containing the God Memorandum, I cried. I felt  so … blessed .. so empowered….especially when I read that part about I having the power of choice…the power that God did not even gave to his angels. I can hold my head up high and stick a tongue out at the devils in this world.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu or Sun Tzu’s Military Strategy.

I heard of this before, but it was only when my then-officemate Roehl (the same Roehl whose family I stayed with in my first visit to Sanfo) brought it along when we tried setting up the computer systems in the Legaspi service center of the company we both worked for that I got to touch it and read a few passages.

Later on, I came across this again, and read through it before I entered business school. Who can forget – “All warfare is based on deception”? *shivers*  It is  funny how the contents of this book have been aptly applied to business and management. When I think of this book, I remember The Books of Five Rings and The 48 Laws of Power. I still like this best though.

 

 

 

Hawaii by James Michener.

 

One of our high school terror teachers loved James Michener’s works. Since that teacher was my class’ homeroom teacher as well as the one in charge of my fourth-year high school’s Library Club, of which I was a member – I was particularly challenged to choose this one for my book report which I was to present at one club meeting. I never thought I would be able to finish it, much less enjoy it, but surprisingly, I did.

I was half-petrified that I would be sliced and diced by that terror-teacher during my recital and analysis afterwards, however I don’t remember that part now. I include this in my choices if only to point out that once in a while it is good to take a holiday from caution and to try something you might be afraid of.

What about you? What would you recommend?

Next time I expound on – Books I bought but haven’t gotten around to reading.

Street-walker, from the adventure of a solitary kit

I used “kit” since this happened way back when I was still in my little kitty years. *coughs up a hairball*

My work at one of my previous companies involved regular weekly traveling around Visayas and Mindanao, loads of stress, weird working hours,  being more familiar to the night watchman and desk clerk at hotels and….. on one eyebrow-raising occasion,  being picked up as a prostitute on the dark streets of Davao City.

Really, it was just a matter of time that something like this would happen. But I thought it would be more in the lines of the hotel loiterers thinking I was engaged in some nefarious orgy-related activities and pointing me out to prospective sex-inclined or at least myopic males who did not know any better, rather than having it out in the open on the chilly streets of pre-dawn Davao.

What could you expect from the pattern I presented?

I was almost without fail, out of the hotel/inn/pension house by night and came back only in the wee hours of the morning, or maybe 2 days afterwards.{because the work I do has to be done during the time the branches were closed so that operations and sales would not be interrupted}

I was in the company of different men on different occasions and at different times. It could be we arrived together in a taxi or car or it could be we came from different flights and just caught up with each other in the hotel lobby. {because managers and other co-employees would either be visiting the branch or staying at the hotel during my trips}

I was a regular customer of the various hotels and sometimes placed a “Do Not Disturb” sign on my door during the early half of the day. {because I needed to catch up on lost sleep}

Still, I shake my head and ruffle my standing fur indignantly when I think back on it.

On a closer inspection, one could see that I was loaded down with various paraphernalia such as big boxes of servers or printers or tool-kits or on days when it was a rush trip – luggage which had clothes good for one week of travel. {I try to travel light but I got stuck once in Zamboanga for more than a week with just 2 days worth of clothes} 

One could see that I was dressed very casually in dust-covered jeans and wrinkled shirts and the obligatory rubber shoes and jacket. {if you are to travel around Visayas and Mindanao at anytime on any vehicle at a moment’s notice, the more comfortable clothes the better}

One could see that my hair was uncombed, my face was solemn and I had eye bags for accessories instead of necklaces and bracelets. {that is what you get when you are in IT}

Who in their right mind would think I was out looking for a romp in the hay? Or whatever surface available to do the horizontal tango?

Still, after all that is said and done, I really could only attribute it to the darkness – that and the undiscerning eye of the taxi driver and his customer. Either that or the guy was just plain horny that anybody would do.

It was before 4 am, and I had just finished ensuring that the server could be up and normal operations would go on that day for the employees. No doubt the security guard was eager to go back to snoring on the comfy sofa as after he closed the door and locked it, he disappeared quicker than I could walk towards the road. I crossed the street to wait for a passing taxi on the other side as that would be the direction of my hotel.

I waited and after a few minutes, I noticed that a taxi was parked on the side I had left, near the darkened corner of the neighboring bank. I waved languidly for the taxi to come over. I was tired, a bit hungry and travel-sore since I had just arrived the other day via a bus ride from General Santos City.  I had not even gotten out of my rumpled clothes I traveled in yet, since I just dumped my bag at the hotel and rushed to our office upon arrival less than 8 hours ago.

I hoisted my bag of tools, smoothed my hair and bent down to the taxi driver to ask if he could take me to XYZ—– hotel. Before I could even open my mouth –

My jaw dropped to the road when he propositioned me blatantly. It was 3 seconds before I could react to ask dazedly as to what he was talking about. I incoherently mumbled “Pwe…pwe-de? A…aaah-nong pwede… sa ano?!! kayo!!…”  {translation: Can? Can what…. On what?!! You two!!}

The last word was squealed in a high-pitched tone. I frantically looked around the area (darn, no other humans in sight!)  and tightened my fingers on my bag. I was mentally preparing myself to skewer the guy with either my screwdriver or soldering iron if I could just open my bag quickly enough. Then run as if all the hounds of hell were after me back to the branch and pound on the door. That plan flashed in my mind in the next half-second. Plan B was to scream..but unfortunately on that side of the road, it was only a mental hospital facility which was at my back and I didn’t think it would do any good at all.

The driver looked at my bugged-out eyes and my bared teeth. After a long second, he said “Never mind,” and made a u-turn to park again at where I had first seen him. If he had waited a few more seconds I’m sure saliva would have dropped from the side of my mouth the way it would from a rabid dog. Remember that this was the time that you hear all kinds of stories in Davao.

I still had adrenalin pumping in my veins two minutes after when I was comfortably ensconced in another taxi and on my way back to the hotel. The driver this time glanced at me sympathetically and made conforting noises when I blurted out in a series of fast sentences what had just happened. Upon arrival, I ordered room service and promptly fell asleep.

The next week, I was back in my Cebu home. I eagerly told my parents over dinner what had happened, complete with gestures and even acting it out for them.

There I was expecting my dear ole dad having his protective instincts come to the fore and to loudly lament on how his beloved, precious daughter was almost thrown into the jaws of a hormone-addled wolf if not for her quick wits and daring (glaring eyes are still daring), and to give me a sermon on how I was to be careful and to make sure I was in bed before 9 pm so I could be protected from the evils of the big, bad men.

What was my protective, conservative  let-me-shoot-that-guy dad’s reaction?

He laughed.

And he laughed some more.

My mom smiled sympathetically.

My jaw dropped to the floor…and it was a long time before I could pick it up.

Welcome to the mysterious world of …men!

–  Feb 13, ’08 4:29