Quote Of The Day.

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.“

- Henry David Thoreau 

Aaand another mental bulb lights up my head…

The Superlatives.

I was cleaning up my mailbox (which contained 4,331 documents that time) at work today when I stumbled upon an old e-mail from a business partner of ours in Mumbai, India.

I thought this note was so full of spirit and it sort of inspired me to focus more on the simple, yet valuable things in life again.

I just can’t help but share:

♦♦♦

The most destructive habit…………………………………..Worry
The greatest Joy…………………………………………………..Giving
The greatest loss…………………………………………………Loss of self-respect

The most satisfying work………………………………………Helping others
The ugliest personality trait………………………………….Selfishness
The most endangered species………………………………Dedicated leaders

Our greatest natural resource………………………………..Our youth
The greatest “shot in the arm”……………………………….Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome…………………………Fear

The most effective sleeping pill……………………………….Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease…………………………..Excuses
The most powerful force in life………………………………..Love

The most dangerous pariah…………………………………….A gossiper
The world’s most incredible computer…………………….The brain
The worst thing to be without…………………………………Hope

The deadliest weapon………………………………………………The tongue
The two most power-filled words……………………………”I Can”
The greatest asset……………………………………………………Faith

The most worthless emotion……………………………………Self-pity
The most beautiful attire…………………………………………SMILE!
The most prized possession……………………………………. Integrity

The most powerful channel of communication…………Prayer
The most contagious spirit………………………………………Enthusiasm

I Do Love Mondays!

Yes boys and girls, this week, I love Mondays! My alarm went off on 5:30 this morning although I could swear I have set it for 6:30 last night. But still, an unusual inner bliss swept over me this morning. No full moon blues here. (Must be a sucrose overdose from yesterday’s sunday-candy-orgy).

Work was easy today. Too easy that it almost bored me. Umm… well, it actually did. But pleasant thoughts of my upcoming trips kept me busy enough.

There are three things I look forward to this week:

1. Prison Break, which actually airs aujourd’hui – oui oui oui!
2. Tomorrow’s rehearsal of the Muses
3. Payday on Friday!

Aside from that, this week’s schedule is quite sedate. Which gives me more time to woolgather, rest, and catch up on the 10+ films I’ve gathered and never have watched so far. So I’ll be taking it easy this week.

Quote Of The Day.

“Passion is the key to freedom.”

- Daniel Aminati

It All Comes Full Circle.

Recalling the sim card issue I had in Manavgat, I made it a point to hone my Turkish a bit everyday. Who would have thought that this will be a blessing for me in the end?

I handed in my suitcase at the check-in counter of the Antalya International Airport with my heart pounding. I knew I exceeded my baggage limit of 20 kgs as I barely managed to lift it up to the ramp. I was quivering as I watched the scale. The Revelation: 31 KGS. What the… I knew I brought in way too much weight, but 31 kgs???

The check-in clerk was not pleased and neither was I. I had to pay 4 Euros for every excess kilo. Considering their 3-kg tolerance which was up to 23 kg, that will make 32 Euros fine for me. As luck would have it, I didn’t have any cash left handy. So I had to run back all the way down to the last hall which was a few hundred meters away to look for an ATM that worked.

I got some cash and ran back to the counter again. The clerk was now examining my papers and snappily asked how long I stayed in Turkey. I replied in Turkish, and you should have seen the look on her face. The metamorphosis of a grumpy bitchy broad to a friendly warm lady was truly a sight for the gods. How amusing! She discussed the matter with her colleague, who in turn asked me the same question, so I pulled the trick again. They then decided that it was ok to carry around 30 kgs when you stayed in Turkey for 2 weeks. They granted the 3-kg-tolerance once more, so my fine came to zero.

All the tongue twisting moments of practicing my pronunciation just sooo payed off. 32 Euros, to be exact.

Looking Back.

2007 has been quite a momentous and enlightening year with all its usual ups, downs, and plateaus. Encountering severance from someone who practically used to be the center of my life left me… empty. It’s like trying to fill that hole with all sorts of waddings, yet the pit seemed bottomless. I tried to patch it to at least cover the hole. But really, sewing has never been one of my assets. Still, this hole was yearning to be filled.

The whole situation forced me to betake myself to a quest; a quest with an unknown destination. Which turned out to be everything but fruitful, as it’s really hard to quest for something when you don’t even know where to start – let alone what you are looking for in the first place. I tried to find some orientation by formulating the real issue I had as accurate as I could: “I want to move on with my life, and fill the hole as I go.”

The search for my quest’s destination was so obvious, but I was caught up in other major life-boggling issues for kids my age that I failed to see the woods for the trees. My new quest’s destination is:

Me.

So I started new hobbies, had a new passion, went on great trips, met new people, made new friends, widened my horizons, grew up a bit more. 2007 was not that bad after all. Come to think of it, if I never had this heart-breaking experience in the first quarter of 2007, I would have never got into doing all the other refreshing stuff.

I also found out that this hole that keeps on haunting me was actually the new chapter of my life’s book in disguise. It’s now ready to do some major rocking. No wonder its bottomless. For as Mr. S. Tyler once said: “Life’s a journey, not a destination.”

You live, you learn. Funny how some childhood hits first start to make sense as you grow older.

As of the present, I’m starting to get ready for tonight’s party. Food, music, dance, wine, cocktails, and eye candies are some of tonight’s agenda.

Let’s end the year with a big “Thank you!” and welcome the new one with a warm hug.

Bring it on, 2008. I’m ready.

Dernier.

The backstage stir was still there, but I could feel a strong sense of confidence in the air as well. I swear it whispered in my ear: “You guys will rock”. Well then. Whatever you say, Stage Fairy.

Tonight was the dernier, the last full show. As much as I fought back tears during the last scene (which I always did backstage since the premiere, mind you), this time I was not able to hold back two liters of teardrops. Luckily, one fellow actress got teary-eyed as well – so what the heck – I rode with it. I wasn’t quite sure if we lamented (just a tiny little bit) the end of our show, or our leading actor’s death (he died every night since the premiere, and he died the last time tonight).

About 9 hours, 17 cigs, 5 jumbo-party pizzas (from which I had 2 whopping slices of), and many many drinks and fits of laughter later, the daylight marked the beginning of a new day. Then we headed home.

 

 

Because all good things must come to an end.

 

 

 

A Thing is Only as Good as its Worst Opposite.

I never thought that a 17-hour-day could be so strenuous and satisfying likewise. There were lots of work to do the whole day, and I wasn’t able to leave on time. So I practically rushed out of the office, ran back home and got ready for tonight’s show. Uh, yeah, I was starving too, I forgot to eat, could you imagine?

Well, no time for that now. Just a few minutes left to check my postbox (the real one in the post office), refuel, get new supplies of my mint cigs and something handy to chow down on my way to the theater. I decided to have an energy drink instead (Did I hear someone advocate “Don’t Drink and Drive”?). Then I was ready to go.

An hour later I was very pleased to come across a long lane of free parking space right in front of the theater. No fights, no struggles, and no wacky maneuvers for a parking lot today. Not to mention the chorus of horns fellow drivers around me give to every parking attempts I make. As luck would have it, there were no other cars driving around the parking space at that moment either. I guess I just must have missed the rush hour (yeah, I was THAT late).

The whole process was routinized meanwhile, so everything went very businesslike. The show was great and we had a blast. After that, we all grabbed a quick snack (which was my breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner for that day) downtown. The crew went on to the next hang-out spot to have a few drinks; I decided to drive back home (don’t drink and drive, remember?). I was beat and strained, I had to rest.

Today’s list of the things that made me happy:

1. I finally got the tickets for my next trip this winter
2. Hassle-free parking today
3. It’s Friday! And I could finally enjoy a nice, long sleep
4. Today’s local paper wrote a play review. I was even featured in one line.
5. My nephew came to see our play and brought company (i.e. extra ticket $ale$ – yes!). It was after the show when everyone gathers around and the actors collect get their kudos when I first spotted him among the crowd (he actually spotted me first). I didn’t know he was coming, (I actually didn’t know that anyone would come at all) which made this surprise even more rewarding. Oooh, I loved him for that. I promised to stop by from now on whenever I’m around doing rehearsals and such.

I was so tired that I slept on my notebook while typing my blog. Hence, the Friday’s entry posted on a cold, gray, and wintry Saturday morning. But I’m lucky my flat is comfy and warm.

You just really learn to value things when you get to know their opposites too.