Miss N is at it again.

Getting the pens and sending them to Miss N’s PO Box two years ago was a good experience. I don’t know why I didn’t write about it (the only additional mention of the project was in this post where I said I was going to ship out the pens), but it was a wonderful experience. Not sure why I didn’t send anything out last year or earlier this year. Bakit kaya?

But I am so glad that this Christmas, Miss N will be off to Bobon, Northern Samar to bring books to children.

Find out all about the project and how you can help at Nortehanon.

I hope you do more than check it out. Children’s books don’t cost a lot.

My little nephew is sick, read all about it – Get Well Soon, Amir!

Oh and by the way, my sidebar is wonky. I am truly sorry for all who have been trying to click through. Pray it gets fixed soon.

• Rock Rizal concert
• Manila International Book Fair (I even dreamt about walking between the aisles and checking each trade show booth and spending a fortune on new books!)
• Mercato Centrale
• UAAP Cheerdance Competition (Would have been nice to be in Araneta to witness it, but I did watch it live on TV)

The concert and the book fair were both held at the far MOA. Had the boyfriend been around on Friday afternoon, it would have been a possibility. But he was out on a road trip with his parents. Mercato would have been possible this morning, but I really wasn’t up to it. After all, that one happens every weekend.

And I don’t really mind missing out on those events. There was nowhere else I’d be than home, so I couldn’t miss out on these:

Amir is growing up so fast! He can stand now and he’s always up. He knows to reach out and ask to be carried. At nearly nine months he’s two front teeth are out. And he makes a lot of noise!

We’re just so glad that he’s still healthy, and maintains his happy disposition.

I love you Amir! And we loved having you home for the weekend!

Lemonade | Orange Soda | Sprite | Coke Float | Water

I wish I could say my drink was the last one, but I guess everyone would know who had the float eh? Water was for the boyfriend.

These were our drinks for our very late dinner at Johnny Rockets Eastwood, Friday last week. We stopped by for burgers and fries before seeing a movie. So if I had the float, and water was for the boyfriend, who had the other drinks?

We had a date with my three nieces! It was September 2nd and Chiki (middle) turned 17. Shanti (left) turned 17 a few days before that. Of course we couldn’t go and leave Dal out of the picture. I hadn’t been out with these girls in a loooooong time. Our last movie date was three years ago! OMG!

So what film did we see? We were supposed to see Zombadings, but ended with up Crazy, Stupid, Love. It was hilarious, even the boyfriend has to admit that he enjoyed watching. I drove the girls home way past their bedtime (3AM). I think we just might do it again too. Next time though, I’d stay away from Johnny Rockets – that meal burned a hole on my credit card!

It actually got all the funding it needs and more, but I still want to put in my pledge because I’d love to get a copy when it becomes available. I have 5 days to decide if I’m putting my money in this. 20 dollars would get me a signed softbound copy of the book plus 5 buttons. Shipping is estimated in December. Hmm..

I wonder how much the market price will be?  I’m a little strapped for cash at the moment, see. My Paypal funds are low because I haven’t been blogging as much as I should. Yeah, no shopping money. I just snooped around the project page and found the initial market price. It’s about the same, plus shipping which will potentially cost more than 5 dollars.

Back to Elephabet… So the artist makes these beautiful tiny sculptures of animals (elephants in particular for this project) in various themes. They’re so cute! I don’t know anyone locally who does these things. Each piece is one-of-a-kind.

The pre-sales/kickstarter packages have allow for certain pieces to be part of your pledge, but those are way beyond my budget. So I’m just eyeing the book itself. Hmm.

Artists like Bunny with a Toolbelt inspire me. We don’t all have to be corporate slaves, nor be stuck in Healthcare Aides Jobs nor labor all day under the heat of the sun (not that there’s anything wrong with these jobs). Some of us can do what we love and have fun while doing it. Oh okay, even corporate slaves can do that – they can actually have so much passion for their work that they happily rise each day and look forward to it. Bless them!

Haha. Just having one of those days.

This is my nephew Adam when he was still a tot. That’s the boyfriend holding him. 

Adam turned 11 years old on Saturday. That’s how long the boyfriend and I have been together, plus a few months. Wow.

My nephew didn’t recognize himself when we showed him the original photo. The boyfriend, on the other hand, didn’t want to acknowledge that this was him.

As a project, we’ll take another photo of them in this same pose. I’ll post it in The Newbie Photographer if and when it happens.

Of course I hadn’t intended it to be that way. If anything, I thought that allowing myself the freedom to live a different life would afford me more free time and resources to be involved in other child-focused advocacies. I was wrong.

I’d like to think that I still carry it in me, that in some way I am still an advocate for children’s rights. The recent issue of Willing Willie and the accusations of Child Abuse thrown against them has reawakened that spirit.

The issue has gone the rounds of social media sites for over a week. I have reserved my comment though my blood boils every time I read or hear about it. For awhile, I resisted viewing the video of the 6-year-old – being contented with the description of how he was in tears as he danced for the crowd. I could already see him in my mind, and I could hear Willie’s voice prodding him on and adding more drama to what already was a very sad scene.

I refuse to post the Youtube video of the kid on my blog, I will not even tweet you a link to it.

Call me OA (over-acting), but I sincerely believe that leaving that video online for all to see is just the same as telling the boy to keep on dancing his sexy macho dance. It’s no different from what Willie, the production team, the network, and even the audience, did to the little boy. We take a stand against child pornography right? Saying that mere possession and viewing illicit content is a violation of the child’s rights. Well I say the same about the boy’s video.

But I did watch it. I saw the 1-minute video that was shared on Twitter. It was enough for me to form an opinion. I do not wish to see it again, and I do not think others need to watch it.

* The boy was crying as soon as he started dancing. Whether he was crying out of fear of Bonel Balingit (a towering giant who happened to be at the show that day), or out of humiliation for what he was being asked to do – he should not have been made to continue, much less repeat the dance. He could have cried out of stage fright and not because he was ashamed, nonetheless, he should have been asked to stop. Does he really have to dance? All he needs to do is answer a question correctly in order to win a prize. Yes, he might have joined up and said that his talent was dancing, but if he changed his mind and was suddenly all too shy to do it in front of millions of people – then he shouldn’t have had to continue.

* Last night, the boy and his family appeared on the show. I refused to tune in and watch. Whether the family intends to file a complaint against the show is irrelevant. Protecting the child’s rights is a State duty. Violation of children’s rights, Child abuse, is a crime. Just because the parents don’t know better doesn’t right a wrong.

* I do not understand WW’s and TV5’s apology.  Neither do I accept it. There was no admission of wrongdoing. In fact, they have been trying to salvage the host and the show’s reputation. The timing of the awarding for their 7 millionaires and its feature in Paparazzi last weekend is very suspicious. TV5, and all other networks, should come up with very clear guidelines on children and minors appearing in their shows – whether as actors or show contestants.

Maybe we’re barking at the wrong tree. Willie has done other things that were met with public outrage and he has gone away with it. He earns 80,000USD a day doing Willing Willie (source: Cristy Fermin, Paparazzi 3/27/11). No doubt he feels that he is untouchable. Writing to TV5’s president is probably not going to work either – after all, Willie is currently the most bankable star in their roster. Would they risk losing him the way ABSCBN did by attempting to discipline him? I don’t think so.

But the advertisers should be different. It is their money funding the show. They should demand more from its hosts and from the network.

Dad and I picked up their small family at their home in San Benissa, Fairview at lunch time today. The couple went to the office for the afternoon but they’re on their way back already. They’ll head home for the night and tow Dad’s Corolla with them – it’s Diane’s now, they just bought it from Dad! Anyway, Amir will be back tomorrow morning while his parents run an errand.

I’ve snapped quite a few (okay, a LOT) photos of the baby, but I can’t find the cable just now so no sharing just yet. He’s been smiling a lot, and there’s been a lot of mini-laughs all afternoon. He’s been adorable!

Everyone’s just so happy to have him around – he’s had quite a few visitors today. If you’ve been around him, you’d know why.

So Amir is home. I guess this is his original home then? Haha. He has two homes – this one where grandma, grandpa and auntie live, and their own space at San Benissa.

Okay. I can’t resist it anymore. I have to share at least one photo. Here’s one from last month, as previously uploaded at The Newbie Photographer blog.

While driving to Fairview, we passed by a billboard for one of the newest developments in the area. I imagine it’s something like San Benissa, but they have a pool for the residents! I wonder if they’re in the same price point too? So I tried searching for photos of the development online but I got results for other interesting properties instead. Something that particularly caught my attention (and Esban’s too, because he was here while I was browsing) are these new homes in Utah. I liked the look and feel of those houses so I stared at the photos for awhile. I don’t think I could afford a house that big! To be near schools and shops, and then to be made out of renewable resources too – these look to be amazing homes!

I asked E which of the new home designs he liked best and if you do checkout the site, he picked the one on the left. Good choice. I prefer that design too, but maybe with the fire engine red paint job.