A series of music videos of Josh Groban, with the following songs, listed below.  Actually, I don't know some of the songs, but with Josh Groban's singing voice, who cares?

1.  Vincent
2.  February Song
3.  Alejate
4.  You Raise Me Up
5.  The Star Spangled Banner
6.  To Where You Are
7.  You Are Loved
8.  ---
9.  ---
10. Remember
11. Broken Vow
12. Canto Alla Vita
 
It's the Holy Week.  For most people, it means a long holiday, time to hit the road and go out of town for a relaxing vacation.  But for me, I will just stay home with my family.  Rest.  Read a book.  Do some soul searching.  It would be nice to do so while listening to this music.

 
Picture
My youngest daughter Andy, who's 9 years old, is such a huge fan of Taylor Swift.  I am so glad because from what I have been reading on her, this girl is a good role model for kids.  And I'm also glad because Andy used to be a tomboy telling me before that she's "half-boy, half-girl", but now, she's looking up to Taylor.  Andy is also into Lady Gaga, who I find uhm.. rather weird.  But that's ok, it just may be a phase.  Lately, Andy is watching the musical series "Glee" over and over again.  Singing along with it.  And with the correct lyrics. 

I'm playing Taylor Swift's White Horse now.  Nice message.

White Horse Lyrics

Say you're sorry
That face of an angel comes out
Just when you need it to
As I pace back and forth all this time
'Cause
I honestly believed in you
Holdin' on,
The days drag on
Stupid girl
I should've known, I should've known

That I'm not a princess
This ain't a fairytale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet
Lead her up the stairwell
This ain't Hollywood,
This is a small town
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down
Now its too late for you and your White Horse,
To come around.

Maybe I was naïve,
Got lost in your eyes
I never really had a chance.
My mistake I didnt know to be in love
you had to fight to have the upper hand.
I had so many dreams about you and me
Happy endings;
Now I know

I'm not a princess
This ain't a fairytale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet
Lead her up the stairwell
This ain't Hollywood,
This is a small town
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down.
Now its too late for you and your White Horse,
To come around.

And there you are on your knees
Begging for forgiveness,
Begging for me
Just like I always wanted,
But I'm so sorry

Cause Im not your princess
This aint a fairytale
Im gonna find someone, Some day
Who might actually treat me well.
This is a big world,
That was a small town
There in my rearview mirror,
Disappearing now.
And it's too late for you and your White Horse,
Now its too late for you and your White Horse
To catch me now.

Oh whoa whoa whoa-oh
Try and catch me now
Whoa-Oh
It's too late
To catch me now.
 
Picture
It's supposed to be the more trusted one of our cars.  It's supposed to be healthier, for chrissakes, it's just 3 years old!  But just 2 weeks ago, while driving along the highway, it suddenly won't accelerate fast enough.  I was in a cruising speed of 100kph and in a matter of seconds, the speedometer was slowly going down to 60... then 40.  Good thing I was still able to reach home.

My husband took it to Toyota repair shop and 10 days passed and they still didn't know what's wrong with it.  Then a while ago Toyota called my husband and told him they would have to change the catalytic converter -- to the tune of 60,000 pesos!

I don't get it.  Catalytic converters are just below 20thousand pesos, what's so special with their cat converters anyway?  I smell somehing fishy here.  We talked to an officemate whose brother is from Toyota so I hope he can help us with this.  Otherwise, we just might ask for a second opinion, from people not from Toyota.

If worse comes to worst, my family vacation budget is on the line.

Help.

 
I have read a lot about Susan Boyle and her stint with Britain's Got Talent.  Frankly speaking, I was quite impressed by what she achieved and of course, impressed by her talent, that is, based from what I read.  So I was fortunate to stumble upon this video of hers, showing her first audition.  And yes, I was awed.  Soothing voice.  Good song choice.  Nice rendition.  I was moved by this song that now I want to listen to the Les Miserables playlist.  "On My Own" is top of the list to search.

And for now, this is "I Dreamed A Dream", from Les Miserables.
Lyrics:

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

Sad, isn't it.


 
 
Imelda Marcos at her prime.
From DavidByrne.com :

 At some point as first lady, Imelda began to feel that she could help Philippine interests by charming world leaders into seeing things her way. “Handbag diplomacy” she called it — as she liked to imply that to solve a problem, she could bypass President Marcos and just grab a handbag and hop on a plane with some of her assistants. It sometimes worked! There was, for example, an Islamic-backed insurgency rising in the south of the Philippine archipelago, and she thought that a leader in that part of the world, Qaddafi in this case, might help pull the plug on that support if he saw things her way. Apparently he did — the funding stopped and the insurrection lost momentum, and she later described him as a pushover, a mama’s boy.
 
Picture
Click to enlarge
It's summer!  The kids are off in school now.  I don't have to worry about going home early to check on their homeworks.  No more late night reviewing.  Now I can watch tv or read a book or solve sudokus 'til the wee hours.  But then... it is kind of boring.

How I wish I could take a vacation SOMEWHERE.
 
I have always been a fan of the Freestyle band.  Love the voice of the lead singer.
Half Crazy
Freestyle

'know I haven't slept a week at all
since you've been gone
and my eyes are kinda tired
from crying all night long

know i've never been too good at cooking
just for one
it's so lonely here without you baby
come back home

coz i'm half crazy
feelin' sorry for myself
half crazy
worried you'd find someone else to love

know life hasn't been much fun at all
since you've been gone
and my eyes being to feel
each time I hear a song

i spent every minute asking myself
what went wrong
can't we try to talk it over baby
come back home

coz I'm half crazy
i'm feelin' sorry for myself
half crazy
worried you'd find someone else to love

but baby there is no one else
half crazy
for everything you saying
half crazy
no one else could love you like i do

so i'm half crazy
feelin' sorry for myself
half crazy
i'm worried you'd find someone else to love
but baby there is no one else

half crazy
for everything you saying
half crazy
no one else could love you
and no one else could ever be

half crazy
feeling sorry for myself
and I'm worried you'll find someone else
half crazy
feeling sorry for myself to love baby
 
Picture
It's the last stretch of the kids' school year 2009-2010.  I don't know whether I should be glad because I wouldn't worry about tutoring them at night anymore, and the fact that they cannot ask for school allowance every single day.  But then I have to think of activities for them to keep them busy, like swimming/basketball/art lessons.  And when they stay at home, they need to be fed every now and then!  Now I'm thinking it's more expensive to keep them at home.

It's also their final exams week so I have to go home early and tutor Andy and Migs.  And help Alexa with her Trig.  It's gonna be hell week for sure.

I remember when I was in college, during the Physics exam, I was totally clueless on how to solve the problem.  So I scribbled all the formulas I knew, then wrote down,
"Sorry sir, I can't figure out the solution.  Care for some points?"

The professor wrote back, "Sure.  1 point."

So I didn't end up with a zero exam.

Well, what I did back then was not as funny as these:
 
Someday you're gonna realize
One day you'll see this through my eyes
By then i won't even be there
I'll be happy somewhere
Even if i can't

I know
You don't really see my worth
You think you're the last guy on earth
Well I've got news for you
I know I'm not that strong
But it won't take long
Won't take long

Chorus

Coz someday, someone's gonna love me
The way, i wanted you to need me
Someday, someone's gonna take your place
One day I'll forget about you
You'll see, i won't even miss you
Someday, someday

But now
I know you can't tell
I'm down, and I'm not doin' anyway
But one day these tears
They will all run dry
I won't have to cry
Sweet goodbye

Chorus

Coz someday, someone's gonna love me
The way, i wanted you to need me
Someday, someone's gonna take your place
One day I'll forget about you
You'll see, i won't even miss you
Someday, I know someone's gonna be there...
Someday...