@ARTicLEE

@ARTicLEE 2 October 2022

Starting the month right. New goals, new beginnings. Let's learn from our past and bring forward the important lessons to help us navigate through this new month. It's a lovely day so far here in this part of the world. Such a good sign! Whatever your plans are for this day, this week and the coming days and months, wishing you all the best!

@ARTicLEE 1 October 2022

All about songs In this prompt by Micontingsabit, the prompt was to list 10 songs that I currently listen to. However, I will only be sharing five for now. https://read.cash/@Micontingsabit/dark-084e475a I have shared in a previous post about Paolo Nutini. Now, I am sharing Dimash. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Psjws97FoA I have a wide range of songs that I listen to. It can range from pop to country to alternative and even opera. Dimash has one of the best voices out there if not the only one with such a range, creativity and total vocal acrobatics. If you haven't heard about him yet, be ready to be blown away. This particularly song that I have shared with you is timely and relevant. It is about war and suffering. It tells about following so-called leaders blindly. Do not be fooled by promises. Do not be afraid of power. We have the wisdom to choose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCtEe-zsCtQ I have come across Dean Lewis when I have watched an episode in Australia's The Voice. Waves was sang by two contestants during the battle round. The song was meant to be sang by the two contestants. I then searched for the original singer and I was hooked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkZm_V6XATM Dean Lewis' latest How Do I Say Goodbye is dedicated to his dad. It's about a song for a person you love that you are afraid to lose. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUtkE-jdaI4 Here's another Paolo Nutini. I find this totally different from the songs that I have heard of him but still I like the positive vibe on this one. I also have the thought from the song which echoes what I always say, "Be the light." If you are in a dark place and you can't see the light, be the light. Harness that hope and courage within you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2CIAKVTOrc This is relatable. We all have that moment when we feel all alone. We feel like giving up. That's when we need someone to talk to, to hold our hand and comfort us and that things will be okay. We don't have to be alone in our struggles. Find that person who can you trust. Have you watched Top Gun: Maverick? How was it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaCHGqyD45E This has that powerful and motivational feel to it. I like songs like this. This has a One Republic feel to it. I like the choir merging with Calum's voice in this, rising above it all. We are not perfect. We fall and commit mistakes but it's how we get up from that situation, stronger and better person that matters most. We have to believe in others and encourage them that they can do it. It's not always about wins. It's about how we grown to be so much more. I have to end up here and maybe continue this prompt next time. See how random that was? Today, I have written a post in Hive about power up day, powering up the minimum of 10 Hive again. Power up day happens every first of the month. I still couldn't shake the laziness holding me from getting on board the Hive train full speed. Anyway, let's start this month right.

@ARTicLEE 30 September 2022

End of September thoughts Here we go again. It's now the end of the month. Just a few hours more and we can now say Wake me up when September ends. As some of you know, one of our clients just left us because of retirement. I think "retire" should not be used to people. How about a better term for it like, I don't know, restage or repurpose? lol! Why should we have to get (re) tired again? English language can be funny sometimes. Anyway, when I have learned that he will be retiring, I felt like retiring as well. It's like that mindset wherein a few days before an upcoming vacation you are looking forward most, your mind and body are already in vacation mode. I don't know if you get that kind of feeling but that happens a lot to me. It's hard not to think about the client retiring because we are told about it every day or reminded of it every day. This client was passed on to us when I started working so it sort of became a part of me and now that he is leaving, a part of me goes with him too. Yeah, yeah. Too dramatic. Moving on. BlueFlipper posted interesting questions here and I'd like to answer two of those: *Goals I have achieved last month and goals I can definitively achieve*. https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/12-questions-to-help-you-to-find-clarity-in-life-f50cb53c I achieved not achieving much. How's that? This is my Hive Power-up Month report this September. As you can see, I didn't meet the goal of completing this. I haven't been that active in Hive. I hope next month I can get back to it. Despite that, I have been more active here in read. Although I have been unmotivated with other platforms, read is the one thing that kept me going. Thanks to you all for keeping me engaged! It's going to be one of the goals I will definitely achieve next month. I hope. It's really hard to keep promises but then again mindset is all it takes. Keep me inspired lol! Let's keep inspiring each other. TheGuy posted an interesting topic about read and the distribution of BCH. Check it out. https://read.cash/@TheGuy/the-affiliation-system-you-didnt-know-of-4d2eeeff I was browsing my Gcash app and noticed this. I don't know if this was mentioned before by my Filipino readers who are using Gcash. I tried browsing where can I make a suggestion regarding the consideration of adding BCH in that app. Gcash is one of the widely used apps here in the country and for them to delve into crypto and add that in their app is a wise decision indeed. I just hope they will be put enough security measures. This is another thing to look forward to. I haven't started the game that MomentswithMatti posted here. It's a game where you can earn Shib. In case you are interested with that, head on to her post and read all about it. https://read.cash/@Momentswithmatti/fishing-while-earning-shib-3c994684 Finally, who's up for a challenge? Head to this post by Coolmidwestguy and find out for yourself. Can you answer them all correctly? https://read.cash/@Coolmidwestguy/who-am-i-challenge-729c71fe

@ARTicLEE 29 September 2022

The second door on the right As a frustrated accountant, it's hard to find a decent job related to that. I'm not complaining though. I dislike math, nay, I abhor math! They say Asians are math geniuses. Whoever penned that idea haven't met all Asians. I am Asian but I am not good in math. Accountancy was the most appealing course at the time I enrolled that's why I took it. Never finished it though. It only took me two years before I decided to quit. It's not for me. Still, because of economic and financial crisis, I have to find a job fast. With no other skill set, the easiest way for me to find a job is related to accounting. Besides I have had some summer jobs from a well-known hotel that I have in my arsenal and that's what I used. It's the only thing I have to make me credible so I held on to it. I scoured printed advertisements as well as online for an undergrad with only two months of experience. It was not easy. I was at the point of giving up. I have to survive. It was during this lowest moment in my life that I saw an ad or what was left of it tacked on an electric pole in front of me. I was actually spacing out, focusing on nothing and everything. My eyes zoned in to a hole in a carpet of advertisements on this pole - WANTED: Accounting Assistant. The ad is old and yellowing. It has seen better times. The contact info was still readable thank goodness. No name. It just stated there to text the number. I fished out my phone and texted the number. It said text, not call. I find it odd but at the same time thankful because I only have enough balance on my phone for sending an SMS. Hey, I'm not that poor. Yet. After sending my message and intent to apply for the said job, I didn't think much about it. By now, I already gave up every hope and just let the universe do its wonders. The universe answered! Not right away but after three days. I felt like resurrected from the dead after three days. The message I received indicated the time, which was that same day, and the address to where I should go. I know the place. I have passed it a hundred times during my walks. I thought it was a residential, surrounded by trees. I didn't even know it was occupied. Every time I passed by it, it seems empty. I arrived for my said interview and was welcomed by a cheery high-pitched, formally dressed man, a bit older than me. I was more surprised how warm and welcoming the inside of the house was. The man who interviewed me introduced himself as the accountant. We went over the preliminaries and things were progressing really well. It seems the accountant likes me and I'm glad. He then said to have a final interview with the banker. I have to come back though after an hour or I can choose to wait. I told the accountant that I would rather come back. I then headed to a cafe nearby that I have been meaning to check. Told you I'm not that poor yet. I still have enough money to buy me a cup of coffee. Besides I need to celebrate. There's a small win right there. With only caffeine in my veins, I am pumped! I am ready for the final battle. Before I left the accountant, he informed me when I return to just let myself in, go straight to the second floor and head on to the second door on the right. He said he has lots of things to do so he apologized that he can't entertain me which was fine by me. Just knock first before letting yourself, he said. Easy enough so that's what I did. Enter - said the voice, deep and low voice, behind the second door on the right. I noticed right away that the room was dimly lit. Even when I opened the door, light was not enough. The light from the door ended before it even reached the table. There were some lamps on the walls but they were old and dusty. Sit and please close the door - the man said. Billows of smoke hang above the head of the man seated behind the desk. Behind him was the window with the curtains drawn and only a fraction of light was coming through. I thought right away that this is not what I wanted to sign up for. I was already on a flight mode. Step upon hesitant step, I approached the table and sat on the only chair I see. The man then switched a lamp beside him, still not enough light to illuminate the whole face. Piles and piles of paper were on the desk. Some as tall as I am when seated. The man was lost in them. I had to adjust my seat so I can see his face - I mean one of his eyes behind an eyeglass - among the towers of paper between us. The man didn't interview me further but rather discussed what my job would entail and that I will have to work for free for a month first as a "test." Whatever qualms I have were gone. Did he say free? I cut the man right away mid sentence. I'm sorry - I said - but I needed the money. You can at least pay me something for you are going to use me and I will be rendering you service. The man was silent for a minute. He then stood up and said - I think this meeting is over. I won't be needing your service. As he stood, I stood up too but the man tripped the lamp with his hand and the lamp fell on the floor illuminating fully his face. It was the accountant! I got the idea to write about this from Pichi's post. https://read.cash/@Pichi28/another-way-to-choose-a-q-326b15d1 In that post she posted a link of set of questions. Like her, I also did the fun game at the end of the list. You can check the list here. Scroll down to the bottom and you can see the game. https://www.thecareerbreaksite.com/blog/100-questions-to-ask-a-traveller I landed in question #45: Who would win in a fight: an accountant or a banker? My answer is none for either of them can win. One scenario is applicable to the other so I just came up the story above. Not true though.

@ARTicLEE 28 September 2022

We all have something to say I have been reading about these set of questions from others here. I felt that I have already answered these in my previous posts that's why I wasn't that interested but upon reading Ruffa's post earlier, it gave me the motivation to write mine too. She also posted there the link for the completed set of questions. Upon checking it, there were a lot! So for now, let's just answer some of them. https://read.cash/@Ruffa/i-never-thought-that-writing-could-be-this-much-fun-421dd631 Just like most of you, I too was a skeptic. I didn't trust myself right away when I was invited by bloghound to a platform before. That seemed like yesterday but it has been years and still I am here writing. What inspired you to start writing https://read.cash/@Ruffa/i-never-thought-that-writing-could-be-this-much-fun-421dd631#what-inspired-you-to-start-writing Additional source of income. The first blogging site that I have joined was lucrative. I have mentioned before that I have joined late in that site. I have learned that some of made that their full time job. Imagine earning at least USD100 or more a day in just a couple of hours. It was fun as well. I found a past time where I can make money out of it and it was easy doing so. Too easy to earn from that site but it was mismanaged that's why it didn't last long. I have been to other blogging sites that pay but nothing was as easy as that first one. In the process, I have to admit that money is still the main motivation for me to write and then the fun that comes with it. How long have you been writing? https://read.cash/@Ruffa/i-never-thought-that-writing-could-be-this-much-fun-421dd631#how-long-have-you-been-writing I think it was in 2014 when I joined a blogging site and until now I have been writing. I have been writing before that. I have journals before until it was replaced by blogging sites. When did you start writing? https://read.cash/@Ruffa/i-never-thought-that-writing-could-be-this-much-fun-421dd631#when-did-you-start-writing During elementary days. I think it was fourth grade that we were taught about essay writing. I remember we have writing books. We were given a topic to write and those were graded. I don't recall any topic from those days. Then there were letters when I got into high school and later on until it was replaced by email. What advice would you give a new writer, someone just starting out https://read.cash/@Ruffa/i-never-thought-that-writing-could-be-this-much-fun-421dd631#what-advice-would-you-give-a-new-writer-someone-just-starting-out Have fun. Write about what you know and what you are comfortable with. The only writing I have is through platforms like this. Being original and engagement will surely help you. Build your network and establish yourself. If you want to be a serious writer like writing a book and such, I'd rather leave that to the experts to tell you how to succeed. How do you handle writer’s block https://read.cash/@Ruffa/i-never-thought-that-writing-could-be-this-much-fun-421dd631#how-do-you-handle-writers-block Read. Watch a movie. Take photos. Go out. Eat. Travel. Love. Cry. In other words - experience. Write from what you have experienced. What made you like what you read? How did you feel about a movie? Why did you take photos? When did you go out with friends? Where? Most of all, find the motivation to write and not force it. If you are like me who doesn't want to miss out, then find a reason to write about. Let your mind wander and wonder. **What time of the day do you usually write?** It varies but recently, I have been comfortable writing before I go to sleep. It's the time that I have done with work and there is nothing else to do. **Describe a typical writing day.** A typical writing day is when the mood is right. It doesn't matter what kind of weather we are having as long as my mind is working and I don't feel pressured writing. Just like now, the words are easy to come by. **What is the most difficult part about writing for you?** How and what to write. Sometimes I find it difficult to talk about a topic or how to formulate my ideas and turn them into words. English is not my native language so I am still grasping for words. **Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say?** So far I haven't read a violent reaction or nasty comment but this is what I like about platforms like this because almost all if not everyone is benign. Unlike the toxicity in social media, we can share our ideas here and everyone is free to share their inputs and we do what with such positivity. With that, I thank you all for your continued support. There goes my share for today. It's now raining again. After a super typhoon left our country a few days ago, we now have another one. Karding is out but Luis is in. Praying for everyone's safety.

@ARTicLEE 27 September 2022

Tuesday thoughts I mentioned in my other blog that I started another 30-day writing challenge from Micontingsabit. You can read her article about that here. https://read.cash/@Micontingsabit/dark-084e475a **Words** We all know that words can be a powerful thing. It can make you or hurt more than physical pain. Verbal abuse. Praise and comfort. Even a simple "hi" can mean a lot. Two letters, one word. I guess in a way I am thankful that my memory retention and recall is not that good. It helps because I don't let words get to my head. Or if someone said something bad about me, I might be offended but just temporary. That goes to say that I can't remember what others have told about me. Good or bad. I can't recall. I don't hold a grudge and I reciprocate compliments. **The second question is about pet peeves. It asks about three.** Abusing people, animals and the environment and getting away with it. Abusing power and authority. You don't earn respect that way but rather fear and hate. I don't like liars. Not the prank kind but those that lie so they can take advantage of others. In other words, manipulative. They play with your emotions. People who are entitled and disregard others. We should be more considerate. I don't like loud noises. It may be okay for a few hours but daily and constant noise is not okay. Anything excessive is not okay. **What gets me down** This prompt was taken from another post and this is from BlueFlipper. You can read about that here. I have already answered the first question so let's get on with the rest. https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/12-questions-to-help-you-to-find-clarity-in-life-f50cb53c *Being in a wrong crowd.* I don't like crowds and to be among a group of people you don't like is not my thing. I am for comfort. I can party all night but it has to be with people I am comfortable with. Socializing drains me out. I'd rather be behind a book or here in read or watching movies - anything just doing my own thing. *Doing nothing and being busy.* Either of this two is tiring. Being unproductive and bored or too busy. We should find balance. Whenever I have too much sleep, that actually makes me tired even more and sleepy even more. Likewise, toxic days is draining. *Getting stuck in traffic. Waiting in line.* Need I say more? **I want to learn freediving.** For someone who doesn't know how to swim and has fear of the deep, yet loves going to beach, freediving has that kind of appeal. Those who dive make it look easy. It surely is a different world down there. That's about it for now. My coffee is boiling so it's time to drink a cup before going to bed. I was hoping I could visit more of you here but my internet is acting up again. It's been a good day so far. Looking forward to new changes in my work soon. I have mentioned before that one of our clients will be retiring. The initial plan was reshuffling meaning I will be transferred to another group. Today, however, we were informed that we will be taking over the clients of another group. So it's going to be a new learning, another adjustment for us soon.

@ARTicLEE 26 September 2022

Last Request I can't remember when was the first time I have heard about Paolo Nutini but it was a video shared by someone in social media and glad that I clicked. I kind of trusted his choices of songs anyway for it was through him that I got to like Mumford & Sons. This is the official vide of the song of Paolo Nutini called Last Request. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkA4xcIAvuw Although I like this video, I do like him singing it live. It seems every time he sings this live it is a different version from this video. This song is about longing for something that we can't bring back - a relationship with someone we hold dear and love. Maybe there was a falling out but there we can't just forget the good times, the great moments and that is what we want to happen again even for one final time. It could also be as grim as a dead loved one that we can't bring back to life. Regret and hoping. What I like about Paolo Nutini is his voice. He is a story teller, someone who sings poems, heartbreak, desire, love, pain, hope, life. There is that rawness in voice, the cracks, the raspiness, the growl. That's why I find his live videos to be more appealing because he brings out the raw emotions of the song. His voice, music and songs have that haunting feeling, it brings out memories whether good or bad but then the way his voice cuts through those memories has that soothing effect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGBDXR3EPjE "That smile that I've lost, well I've found somehow" is a line in this song called Autumn that is like a ray of hope out of the sadness. This song may sound depressing but it makes me smile because of the way he sings it and it's comforting. This is one of the songs that I would listen to when I feel down or anytime that I feel like listening to it because it gives me that hope. It reminds me of wonderful memories about some dear and that makes me smile. We can't deny that we will all leave this earth. It's inevitable. However, death is just a beginning. It could be the end for someone or something yet it opens a new chapter in your life. How do you want to write it? Surely full of hope. There is always something to look forward to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaecIn0iLfU Here's a little happier tune for you. I'm sure you can relate to having brand new shoes. That gives you a different feeling, right? Remember when we are kids and we like to show off our new kicks or any stuff that is new. I don't buy shoes that often. I am someone who will wear out my shoes before buying new ones. What I can get from the song is that not literally shoes. When he sings about shoes, it is about masks actually like how do you want to face the day? Even if you are feeling not so great, you know, one of those days that are down, but putting out a mask of positivity, having a bright attitude, a great demeanor, that will surely get you through the day. How we let our emotions or situations we are in rule out life can either make or break us. We can't be happy all the time. It's okay not to be okay but we should not wallow in it. Pick up yourself, put on your brand new shoes and make your day a little better. Paolo Nutini is one of the underrated artists out there but glad that I have come across his songs. How about you? Who do you listen to that you want others to know about?

@ARTicLEE 25 September 2022

Ten things are not enough There are so many things in life that can make us happy. It can be from small things to significant ones and that depends on one's perception. Remember the saying one man's trash and another one's treasure. **Availability** This can be for myself, with others or with God. It is fulfilling when I have done some work or commune with God or spent some a moment with friends and family. Time spent with our loved ones, with things that matter to us is essential and that makes us happy. Also, this is one of the things that we can't have back. Yes, we can make up in different ways at another time but it's never the same than having it done when we had the chance before. That's why make the most of your time. **Apps** In this age and time, technology has far advanced compared to 10 or even 5 years ago. Every day new inventions, new discoveries. Even in a thing as small as a phone have lots of functions and uses and there are different applications that you can install as much as your phone's capacity can. I like the apps that I can use for entertainment aside from the other purposes of the phone. This is just one of the apps that I have installed. I have mentioned about Sweatcoin every now and then. The Sweat wallet is now live although not fully functioning yet. We can now stake Sweats though Right now, 1 Sweat is equal to USD0.03 as of this writing according to nomics. You can use Sweatcoin app to mint 1 Sweat. Sweatcoin is an app that measures your movement. To mint 1 Sweat you needed 1,043 steps. https://nomics.com/markets/sweat-sweatcoin/usd-united-states-dollar **Abilities** Simple thing as the ability to read and write makes me grateful. Writing and comprehension are also needed in platforms like this. I wouldn't be here in read if I don't have these abilities. We all have different abilities and talents. We should not take those for granted. Accept that we are capable up to a certain point and we have limits. We can do a lot of things as much as what we can do and willing to do. **Abnormality** In relation to the above, we are all unique in our own way. By now, we should have learned that there is no such thing as being "normal." We are built differently. Your abilities differ from mine. We may have same abilities but one is superior than the other. However, what one can, others cannot. And that's normal. We are abnormally normal in a sense. Be you. Be different. **Appreciation** To be truly happy, one must learn to be grateful. To do that, learn to appreciate the good things in life. Cliche as it may sound but that is true. How can you be grateful if you don't appreciate what you have? This reminds me of @Olasquare's post about Blessings. Pause for a minute and look around you or reflect on your day. What can you appreciate? https://read.cash/@Olasquare/the-blessing-162e7462 **Actions** How you act has an impact upon yourself and to others. Be mindful of that. Doesn't it make you feel happy or good inside in general if you extend help to others willingly without asking for something in return? Also, be kind to yourself too. Let us act upon the good things in life. Happiness starts within and sharing it intensifies that. **Abstinence** One of the things that most of us lack is restraint. Just because you can do one thing it doesn't mean you just have to. Think of the consequences of your actions not just the immediate ones but the long-term effect. While I do like to eat a lot, food in general, I have to abstain from doing so because of the consequences. I like that I am in control with my spending as well for I can use whatever I can save for better purpose. **Acceptance** Do you resign to fate or faith? Accepting things as they are can be helpful especially mentally. This is one of the steps of letting go. We have to embrace things in life just as they are and trust that things will be better for surely they will. We can't always be at the bottom. Control what you can control and be more appreciative. **Absence** This reminds me of the song Let Her Go. One line says "Only miss the sun when it starts to snow." Sometimes it's not about wanting more. We can't have it all. The lack of something make us look forward to it. A common example is weather/season/climate. We can't always have rain/cold/heat all the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBumgq5yVrA **Angels** You, my angels! You make me happy. This is my appreciation of you all. Without you, being here in read is no fun at all. I'm grateful for continually supporting me. Thanks to @Micontingsabit for this prompt and to @Pichi28 for the idea of Alphabet prompt :D https://read.cash/@Micontingsabit/dark-084e475a https://read.cash/@Pichi28/self-prompt-the-alphabet-a-bf059432

@ARTicLEE 24 September 2022

Finally, sunset! Not that I haven't had experienced sunset but after weeks of rain, gloom, wet and cold, to see the sunset once again is a welcome. You may familiar with this place for I have posted this several time already. This is a view from a friend's cafe. The lead image I used is taken from here as well. I was trying the trick of using a phone as a mirror, to hopefully create that water illusion. I have yet to keep practicing with that for I can't figure out the way to do it. It was not actually our plan to go there. We went to another cafe before this. It was our first time to go there. However, we were not satisfied. It's not a bad place or great one either. It's just okay. The view is nice there too. We just had coffee and pancakes. Our plan was to check out the cafe and then go to the grocery close to that place. Because our cravings were not satisfied, I then messaged our friend that we will go to their place and so we went. Glad that we did. We did not plan to stay long for we were not well dressed. It was colder there. However, the sunset made us stay. For months, their cafe was closed because there were renovations that needed to be done. I'm not sure I liked what they did to the place though but let's see how things turn out in the future. When it was announced in her page that they are open for business, we have been planning to go but because of the weather, we didn't go right away. Everything happens for a reason and at the right time. I think that is what this day has reminded me once again. Going with the flow works for me most of the time rather than going against it for that stresses me. Find something that you have to be grateful for. These are the things that I like to practice as much as possible. They added on their menu pancit - stir fried noodles with vegetables and meat. It was our first time to order that. I was wondering why it took longer than expected for that to arrive only to realize it was for a big serving good for at least five people lol! We didn't read the menu properly. We just saw the photos and ordered right away. We just ate what we can and took home what's left. There were other food that we ordered that we couldn't finish and brought home the rest as well. It has been three hours since we got home and now I'm eating some of the leftovers lol! Come and join me :) From the cafe, we then headed to the nearest grocery to buy some stuff. It seems every visit to the grocery store, we bring home less and less spending the same amount of money. Inflation can be felt and it seems to happen every day. I think the take away I can get from that is that I still can purchase things. I hope this weekend is treating you well.

@ARTicLEE 23 September 2022

Start and end each day with a positive note Sometimes we don't know what to write but there are also times that you are filled so many ideas you don't know where to start. I saw a 30-day writing challenge again and that gave me an idea what to write. I was planning on merging that with another challenge but then I can't come up with the right way to do it so I had to abandon that idea for now. Getting on with random stuff again here. I mentioned yesterday about the book I was reading called The Lost Symbol. I haven't been back to it again though. Another thing mentioned there was a brief history of one of the character's son. This character is the leader of the Masons. He had wealth and power. He also had a son who has all the money in the world thanks to his family's wealth. His father was hoping for him to be the next leader of the Masons. However, that was not the case. To become a leader, one must be of integrity but the son had taken another path because he had involved himself with bad influences. All he cared for is his inheritance and doesn't want to be involved with his family anymore. In the end, he met an unfortunate fate. I was reminded of this when I saw my hybrid aloe vera plant. From this to this So what happened was I decided to place this outside where it will get enough rain and sunshine - what plants need in general. The reason I did that is to save me trouble in watering it and placing it under the sun. That's why I thought it would be nice to just leave it outside. Why I thought it worked because the other plants I left outside thrived better than when I had them indoors. I thought wrong. Now I know better. Just like the son in the story above, my plant was given too much as well. What I thought was good for it would end up to be it's doom. Without proper care and balance, we will fail and die. Too much or lack thereof can end in a bad result. Another subject that was mentioned in the book was about our thoughts having power more than we know. It's like a collective consciousness that the more people think about one thing, then it will happen. I mentioned this to my partner and joked about the reason why our government is failing because although there are a lot who are for the government, there are more who are against it, wishing for it to fail. If what the book said is true, then we are doomed to fail. We preach about positivity. I think that should be our collective thought. We should all think of BCH pumping to the moon and maybe it will happen lol! Leaving you now on a positive note with this rose. This photo together with the lead image was posted here. https://steemit.com/hive-145157/@leeart/my-entry-to-contest-or-color-palette-or-pink-flowers

@ARTicLEE 22 September 2022

Getting lost in The Lost Symbol It was a whole day of power interruption for us today. It started early too, a few minutes past 5:00 a.m. and was restored around 4:00 p.m. I did plan on going for a walk but the weather just didn't agree so what better way to spend the day but to read a book. Luckily, there is a book in my brother's room that he left. I mean a novel, a fiction by Dan Brown. There are other books about engineering but that is beyond my mental grasp lol! Have you read The Lost Symbol? If you are not familiar with Dan Brown, he is the author of The Da Vinci Code - a controversial take surrounding religion. I remember when the film came out, it was banned in some of the cinemas because of how controversial it is. Some felt like it is an attack to the Catholic Church. Then came Angels & Demons. It also touched on religion but more of The Illuminati. The Lost Symbol while it did touch on religion like the others, it is more about The Masons. >Freemasons are focused on building themselves as people of integrity, and membership provides the structure to help achieve that goal. Being a Freemason gives members a sense of purpose, supporting and guiding them on their journey through life. Source https://www.ugle.org.uk/discover-freemasonry/what-is-freemasonry A lot of controversy, secrecy and conspiracy are build around The Masons or Freemasons. One of which includes power and wealth. Dan Brown's novels are centered on power, wealth, conspiracy, adventure, a lot of detective work. Also, the hero is always involved with a woman, I mean he ends up working with a woman in solving puzzles and mystery. Because of the novels involve religion, it also involves history and the books I have mentioned above is heavily laden with history. In the book it mentioned about how we find other religion, culture/tradition to be absurd but when we look at our own practices the church we belong to, we are almost the same. It is also interesting to note that in the book it mentioned that we are discovering things or new ideas and theories but in reality it was already done in history we just forgot all about it so what is happening now is that we are just re-discovering them. Also, new ideas or studies would disprove previous studies making it confusing for us to know what is real or not. There is more than meets the eye as what was mentioned in the book. What we know may not be enough. Just because we have an opinion or belief about something, it does not mean it is the absolute truth disregarding the other beliefs or ideas. I am reminded again of what somebody said that goes "your experience is your truth." There are so many things to say about this book. It also tells about a man's pursuit of truth and to protect that truth because as humans, knowledge can be a dangerous thing if it is on the wrong hands. It could either destroy us which happens often because it is in the nature of human to use whatever knowledge we have to our advantage. We are greedy. We are hungry for power, for wealth, for whatever itch that we just want to scratch. We are insatiable. Anyway, that's just about it. I haven't finished the book yet. It does grip you as the story progressed that you don't want to put it down. There is that thrill of wanting to know what happened in the end. Good thing I am in the mood to read and my mind was conditioned to do so. Coffee in one hand and book in the other. When the power came back, we decided to go out for dinner. At first we thought the rain would not stop but good thing that it did. I noticed in my social media account that most of the my friends there are celebrating birthdays this month. I also saw one or two here in read. Happy birthday to all celebrants!

@ARTicLEE 21 September 2022

What, Who, How for Wednesday We are now in the middle of the week. How is your week so far? I have read some of your Wednesday posts. From what I have read so far, things are going okay. It may not be great but that's okay. We are surviving. We are hear. We are moving on. We all know that things don't always go the way we want it to be but we are the masters of our own ships and we are riding the wave, staying above it all. We have a lot on our plates but we are doing it. You are doing it. You're okay. Just breathe. Take one task at a time, one day at a time. I have seen this post by @BlueFlipper and I would like to take a spin on it. You can read it here Let us make a Fun, "Your Question and My Answers" https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec Let's begin! What would you do if you knew you could not fail? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#what-would-you-do-if-you-knew-you-could-not-fail Spreading goodness and kindness, peace and treasures, learn and making this world a better place, safe from crime, safe from hate - utopia! I'll go hunt for all the things that got out of Pandora's box and put them back in the box and seal them forever. Wouldn't it be amazing to free this world from suffering? Who thinks you're beautiful when you wake up in the morning? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#who-thinks-you039re-beautiful-when-you-wake-up-in-the-morning I have to copy what @Pichi28 said in her post - **ME!** We should love ourselves by appreciating what we have and who we are. At the end of the day, the words we say to ourselves are the words that matter. How are you? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#how-are-you Not that great but not that bad either. I'm somewhere in the middle but more of not that good. But it's okay. It's just one of those days where we have that down time but it's not something that we can bounce back from. How would you behave if you were the best in the world at what you do? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#how-would-you-behave-if-you-were-the-best-in-the-world-at-what-you-do I'll behave just the same. Humble and grounded. I'll make sure to share to others what I know and hope it will benefit them too. Are you finding your dream job or are you creating it? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#are-you-finding-your-dream-job-or-are-you-creating-it I am working on my dream job but it is at a point now that while it is comfortable and it's what I want, it's not that beneficial anymore. Maybe I should create one. Who knows? If there was a solution to your anxiety, what would it look like? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#if-there-was-a-solution-to-your-anxiety-what-would-it-look-like Something bright and warm like the sun but it won't burn or harm you in anyway. It's like that warm, comfortable blanket. When was the last time when you did something for the first time? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#when-was-the-last-time-when-you-did-something-for-the-first-time What I can recall right now is my first time to snorkel and that was five or six years ago and I haven't done it since. What would Beyonce do? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#what-would-beyonce-do About what? Put a ring on it? lol! I don't understand this question. Is it related to the previous question? What if there was a......that could... https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#what-if-there-was-athat-could What if there was a pill that could cure all suffering in the world? I'm sure this world will be a happier place. Why are you worth knowing? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#why-are-you-worth-knowing Me? Hmm. I'm not really that interesting but I can be a friend :) **What or Who lights you up?** https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#what-or-who-lights-you-up Aside from God, my partner of course and my family. They are my reason for living. How do you treat people who can do nothing for you? https://read.cash/@BlueFlipper/let-us-make-a-fun-your-question-and-my-answers-ce82afec#how-do-you-treat-people-who-can-do-nothing-for-you Treat them as humanely as possibly. What's important is that you have a clear conscience that you treated them without regrets. Remember the golden rule: Do unto others what you want others do unto you. Do good. Be good all the time. So there goes my Wednesday. Just a few days more and it's going to be the weekend. Time surely passing us by quickly. Have a good one! Lead image was my own photo taken at Guest Haven Coffee.

@ARTicLEE 20 September 2022

If only it is that easy to make our dreams come true I came across this writing prompt in another platform so I thought of giving it a try. It's actually a contest where you post a minimum of three photos and talk about it. Make a story about it. This is to encourage being original. Well, that is what we all aim for, isn't it? We should aim to be original always in every platform that we are in like here in read. What I like about photography is that you can be creative with it as photography per se but at the same time you can make let your imagination wander and wonder about the story you can create out of a picture. A picture paints a thousand words, so they say and it is true. Different perspective, different angles give different outcomes. Much like in life. Sometimes we have to see things in a different light to realize that it is not so bad after all. Sometimes we have to focus on particular things or maybe see the bigger picture in order for us to come to a better understanding. Here is my entry to that prompt. Note that this was originally posted here **Escape from Reality**. https://steemit.com/hive-185836/@leeart/escape-from-reality *I recently went for a walk where the Tower of Peace was located. This is located in a secluded area, safe from the public eye. It's because you are surrounded by trees. The tower is located in the middle of them all. You can hear the busy roads surrounding this little park but it gives you an escape from reality.* *You can read more about that* *here**.* https://steemit.com/hive-184437/@leeart/amazing-nature-at-tower-of-peace *What made me come to this place is to spend some time with nature even for just a while.* *Where do you draw the line between dream and reality? For dreamers, every waking hour is a chance to dream and create. All around us there are beautiful things we can take inspiration from. Fiction depicts life or is it the other way around?* *We like to live the life that we see in movies, we read in books. We fell in love in being love or the thought of being in love. Because of our past experiences - hurt, lost, pain, death, we wanted nothing of that. Rather, we wanted a life free from those. Thus, we dream.* *In this photo, the tower is reflected in the puddle of water that collected from the rainy weeks we have had these past days. I was imagining of plunging myself into it and see what would I see on the other side. Is it reality or fantasy?* *Would you do it?* *It made me think that if I was able to go into the puddle of other dimension, where would it take me? Would it take me to a world of my subconscious or would it take me to a world that I wanted or would it be something else - a reality that is not mine but of someone else's.* *Would I like it?* *Will it be as clear as what it reflects?* *I am writing this with full of questions. I don't even know where this will lead.* *One thing is clear in nature. Be it great or small, it's a different world out there.* *I used to dream of being small, tiny like these lichens/moss. I used to think there'd be fairies and dwarves, little people among these or some other kind of creatures maybe from the minds of Tolkien or Anderson or King or maybe creatures that have never been thought of or imagined or revealed. A new discovery!* *Maybe it is a world free from politics, from suffering, from greed. However, it is still part of this world and we are bound to be doomed because of what us humans do. We are all connected from small things to great things, the air we breath, the land we farm, the water we drink. Humans consume and consume but what they give back is waste and destruction.* *Sad reality. It's a reality I have to go back to.* *I was at the Tower of Peace but where is peace? Only in figment of our imagination. Elusive. We can feel it like the wind but we can't see it.* *Can we dream and hope what will be our reality and hopefully find peace?*

+1 more

@ARTicLEE 19 September 2022

Lights on or off and other questions Another unplanned post for me today. I have been having this uncomfortable headache when I woke up today. It started on the front of my headache and now it's radiating to the temporal side. While the pain is tolerable, it's incessantly throbbing. I decided not to do anything online again. Rest is valuable. It's the start of another work week so it's a must to ready oneself to be able to get through. Whenever I feel this kind of headache, I drink coffee and it relieves it. It's been two days, going on three days that I haven't had coffee. I don't want to be dependent on coffee for this. Anyway, after I powered up in Hive (no posts done there), I came here for a bit and saw Jane's post I Wish To Be A Heavy Sleeper and that's where I got these questions from. Now, I have a topic to write. These gave me the idea for a post. https://read.cash/@Jane/i-wish-to-be-a-heavy-sleeper-22830fe6 Let's get on with it. Light or Heavy sleeper? https://read.cash/@Jane/i-wish-to-be-a-heavy-sleeper-22830fe6#light-or-heavy-sleeper I used to be a light sleeper. A slight movement or any sound can wake me. Age changed that. There are still times that I can be awoken by such but not as easily as I used to. I do fall into a heavy sleep when I am physically tired or I haven't had proper sleep for days. Now, I can say that I am more of a heavy sleeper, tired or not. Fan or no Fan? https://read.cash/@Jane/i-wish-to-be-a-heavy-sleeper-22830fe6#fan-or-no-fan No fan. I think this is one of the privileges of living in the mountains. Our climate here is cool almost all year round. Summers are tolerable. Our weather is almost rainy the whole year round. I do recall though back at home that there are times when heat was unbearable during the summer months that we did use a fan. We only have one fan back home and that was used by my brother in his room because it was a small room and not much ventilation and he sweats a lot that's why he needed a fan. When I do sleep in his room when he is not around, I do use the fan too. One or Several Pillows? https://read.cash/@Jane/i-wish-to-be-a-heavy-sleeper-22830fe6#one-or-several-pillows Although I have several pillows, I only use one when I sleep. I use several pillows to prop myself up when I am lying in bed doing whatever I do on my phone but when I go to sleep, I only use one. I interchange the pillows. In the beginning, we only have one each. The rest were used by my niblings and brother when they were living with us. Since they moved, we had to put those pillows in our room to avoid them getting moldy. Early in bed or Late sleeper? https://read.cash/@Jane/i-wish-to-be-a-heavy-sleeper-22830fe6#early-in-bed-or-late-sleeper Early to bed for I have to wake up early as well. There are still days that I like to stay up late especially when blogging or when it is not a work day then I can choose to sleep late. Thin or thick blanket? https://read.cash/@Jane/i-wish-to-be-a-heavy-sleeper-22830fe6#thin-or-thick-blanket This depends on the kind of weather we have. Now that -ber months are hear, thicker blankets are the choice. If not, we use two thin blankets. PJ or Comfy Clothes? https://read.cash/@Jane/i-wish-to-be-a-heavy-sleeper-22830fe6#pj-or-comfy-clothes I remember having PJs when I was younger but as I got older, I don't have PJs but rather comfortable clothes that I use as PJs but most of the times whatever clothes I am in or my house clothes, then that serves as my PJ as well. Saves laundry. Drink Milk or Water? https://read.cash/@Jane/i-wish-to-be-a-heavy-sleeper-22830fe6#drink-milk-or-water I have never built the habit of drinking milk before going to sleep. Back when I was working nights, my sleep pattern had been thrown out of balance. I tried doing things that would help me get some sleep such as reading or watching or drinking milk. Sometimes the milk does the trick but most of the times, it did not so I stopped doing that. I drink lots of water throughout the day though. So there goes my sleep post. How about you?

@ARTicLEE 18 September 2022

Sunday diary This weekend, we did nothing but stayed in. My partner has not been in the best of condition but feeling better now so one more week of total rest will hopefully seal that. They had to report to the office last week for their bosses from the US came to pay them a visit. Aside from work, they were able to do some outreach and shared to the community. It was a 3-day full-packed time for them. I think that took its toll on most of them. They only report to the office once or twice a month or as needed just like last week. I think the hectic schedule and not getting used to going to the office to work put stress on them that's why my partner and some co-workers have been ill. Tomorrow is going to be a work day but thankfully they don't have to report to the office. Yesterday, we ordered for food from one of the restaurants that we haven't tried yet. We didn't expect quantity of food that we ordered. That's one of the things that differ significantly from one restaurant to the other. Their description of good for 2-3 varies. Some have more serving than the others. That's what happened to what we ordered yesterday. One serving can feed 3-4 people, probably 5 at most. However, it still depends on how big is your appetite but for us, the serving we got was a lot. We ordered two different dishes. It's better to have more than less, right? Then, in the afternoon, we had a lot of food from my partner's sister because one of her sons graduated from college that's why they cooked a lot and there were so much food. Because of the busyness perhaps, communication about that was not properly done. There were other different food but good thing they decided not to send it over. We still had a lot of leftovers from our lunch, then we had a lot of blessings received in the afternoon, we have had no problem with meal that lasted us until lunch earlier. It was only me and my partner. I ended up eating most of the food though. It would have lasted us longer if we had a fridge to store those. We had to share some of the food to our landlord and family. I think I'd be fasting for a day or two lol! Having eaten a lot of food made me lazy. I was not supposed to come and write here but I am already missing out a lot in Hive for I haven't been there for how many days now. I'm still in the process of calling for the spirits of motivation to possess me. No luck. I do power up daily to at least not miss out on the power up month. The plan was to power up and then sleep but read is calling so here I am sharing my random post. I was able to watch The Gentlemen earlier. While it is a star-studded movie, I find it a bit boring for there was more talk than action. I like the plot and subplots though. Earlier today, my partner's phone didn't turn on right away. We thought it's gone for good. Our phones are battered and coming apart but they are still functioning okay so far. We then tried searching online what phone to buy. We have even decided what unit. However, after one final try, we turned on the phone and it worked! Thank the heavens! Maybe some parts have been loose or whatever but we were just relieved that it is still working. That's how my day went. How about you? I hope and pray that whatever your plans, whatever you are going through, we can overcome. New job? Exam? Bills? Let's lift up our worries to Him on high who knows best. Or if you are not a believer, trust the universe. Trust yourself and the process. *Lead image was taken by me at Sam's Agritourism Eco-Park.*

@ARTicLEE 17 September 2022

Drip like the coffee drips I have been vacillating between watching things online and checking out posts from you guys while at the same time thinking of what post to write. Jane wrote about helping other when we can. Do it willingly. Don't give too much though. Remember to help yourself first before you can help others. Emily talked about house hunting. I am in the market too, not for me but for my brother. Oh! A song came to mind that I want to listen to. I then went to the ever-trusted YouTube and listened to Dean Lewis' newest How Do I Say Goodbye. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCtEe-zsCtQ It's interesting that rain makes us want to listen to something sad and lonely, melancholic. I first came to know about Dean Lewis because of his song Waves, which became a fave. Listening to the song and then back to read. Pinkchic talked about processing her passport application. I hope it's going to be a smooth process for me too next month. MaeAntoinette talked about her weekend with family. That's one quality time indeed and at the beach at that! Jealous much :D MomentswithMatti wrote about Cebu food. Oh my. That makes me want to visit Cebu and just do that - eat! Oh, the song's done. Next! After so many songs later, my sister chatted in our group chat asking who has a spare phone to give to my nephew for he accidentally sat on his phone and smashed it. Oh well. Oh, look at the time. It's about 10:00 p.m. What to write? I then made my coffee. My last cup for the night. I have been uninspired to write in Hive. I don't know why. It's not the best month so far in Hive for me personally because I just can't find the fun in it. While I do visit Steemit from time to time, it's with read that I have been busy the most. Noise.cash/app is on my mind too but I seldom visit. So, what should I write? It's another random rainy Saturday night. Should I be laconic in what I write? Let's see how long I can go on this free write so to speak. It is no secret that I like to drink coffee. I went home sometime this week and finally got the coffee my brother sent. I was surprised that he sent 2 kilos of ground Kalinga coffee. Thank you brother! As much as I am pleased and happy about it, it's not good to store ground coffee for long for it will lose it's potency. I'm planning on sharing some of those to friends. I still have some of the drip coffee that I bought when I was with friends last month who came to visit the city. As long as there is still some coffee to be derived from that, I keep using it. When there is not enough, I will add to the bag some of the ground coffee my brother sent. I really should have to buy coffee filter tomorrow. I asked my partner to buy for me earlier today but forgot about it but good thing the nougat I ordered online was not forgotten to be picked up so all is good. By the way, I bought that nougat from someone who rescues dogs. You can check her post here Selling stuff for a cause. They have rescues who are currently at the vet clinic but to pay for the bills to save these rescues they have to come up for ways to raise money so they sell stuff online. https://www.facebook.com/sinamar2/posts/pfbid0gRsnakqA8gR3oudAXP5tGCjdnMfDRpsJkHVo3Higy5bka9hj8ATYweJMzVYBaUdml Just like the coffee, sometimes we are tested and tried. Trials, problems, worries come in our lives like hot water to bring out the best in us. Let's continue giving and helping others but don't forget to help yourself first. The lead image I used was from this post which I used as entry and won! https://steemit.com/hive-185836/@leeart/sunset-at-san-juan-la-union-for-the-world-of-xpilar-landscape-seascape-photography-and-art-contest-week-134 Now I can sleep :)

@ARTicLEE 16 September 2022

I can eat pinakbet every day, twice! I was tagged by @Amjad_Ali_Waince in his post Vigilant Questionnaire & My Response!! In that post are questions that I will answer here in this post as well https://read.cash/@Amjad_Ali_Waince/vigilant-questionnaire-my-response-d7a0ac8a So let's get on with it. Do you think love makes people change? https://read.cash/@Amjad_Ali_Waince/vigilant-questionnaire-my-response-d7a0ac8a#do-you-think-love-makes-people-change Emotions can play a huge part in changing the personality of a person. It can either bring out the best and worst of us. However, above all, love wins! Do you remember when you fell in love? It doesn't have to be a person. It can be a thing or even an idea. How did that make you feel? How did you react? Surely you must have done something about it, pursue it, improved yourself, anything, something. In one way or the other, you moved. You changed. You'd go to great lengths. You did something you thought you'd never do. In other words, we exerted an effort. Hearing a well-respected person criticizing your loved one, what would you do? https://read.cash/@Amjad_Ali_Waince/vigilant-questionnaire-my-response-d7a0ac8a#hearing-a-well-respected-person-criticizing-your-loved-one-what-would-you-do If it is a constructive criticism, then I don't need to interfere. If it is demeaning, then that's a different story. I would still try to be as calm and civil as I can especially if it is done publicly. In general, I'm a pacifist so I don't live arguments or trouble. The only criticism we want to hear is a constructive one. In this age and time where people get easily offended for everything even the smallest thing, I hope you find in you the wisdom to discern things and not be too sensitive for some criticisms are constructive. Be a better person. What dish you would never be able to refuse? https://read.cash/@Amjad_Ali_Waince/vigilant-questionnaire-my-response-d7a0ac8a#what-dish-you-would-never-be-able-to-refuse This is where my title comes in: I can eat pinakbet every day, twice! *Pinakbet/pakbet* is a vegetable dish that is common here in the Philippines. This is my fave vegetable dish so far. It is a sautéed mix of lady fingers, string beans, squash/pumpkin, bitter gourd, long pepper (capsicum anuum), eggplant, tomatoes, some chopped meat/fish (preferably fried), seasoned with fish sauce/shrimp paste/salt. You can choose to cook it in tomato sauce. I like how colorful it is and yummy! Only vegetable lovers can relate though. This is the first dish that I have learned to cook on my own with some guidance and help from mom of course. What is the most mind blowing piece of art you have ever seen? https://read.cash/@Amjad_Ali_Waince/vigilant-questionnaire-my-response-d7a0ac8a#what-is-the-most-mind-blowing-piece-of-art-you-have-ever-seen I don't think I have yet seen something that totally blows my mind. In general though, I am blown away by the amount of creativity out there. The artistry, the concept, the idea - to put that together is beyond me. I appreciate the dedication and passion of those who do what they do. An example of which is this giant crocheted mandala by Adelaida Guia that is one of the attractions here in the city every Sunday. What is last fear you were able to overcome? https://read.cash/@Amjad_Ali_Waince/vigilant-questionnaire-my-response-d7a0ac8a#what-is-last-fear-you-were-able-to-overcome The fear of the unknown. I know this sounds too general but it is an everyday thing for me. It is a constant question of what, why, how but most important what if? I know you can relate to this. What if she/he/they will not like me? What if I fail? What if my posts will not earn anything? What if I die? We are our own enemy. What you prefer going to a concert or hill point? https://read.cash/@Amjad_Ali_Waince/vigilant-questionnaire-my-response-d7a0ac8a#what-you-prefer-going-to-a-concert-or-hill-point Hill point no doubt. If I was younger, I would probably choose a concert. Now I'd rather seek solitude and peace and enjoy the concert in nature. To relax, recharge and be refreshed. That's the constant goal even for just a bit. In this world of unceasing noise, finding peace is a luxury. What's scary is that even hills are now filled with man-made structures. Nature is dying and we are dying along with it. The more we build, the shorter is our lifespan. Without nature, we are nothing. What was the last joke that made you laugh? https://read.cash/@Amjad_Ali_Waince/vigilant-questionnaire-my-response-d7a0ac8a#what-was-the-last-joke-that-made-you-laugh Lately, I see a lot of these effects that you see online like those in IG where it randomly chooses answers for you. For example, there was one filter that will gauge how good or evil are you and I got 100% evil. I laughed for it was true lol! Weekend is here! I hope you are going to have a blast. It's now late so time to sleep and will check back on you tomorrow. The lead image I used was taken at Immuki Island. It was my entry to a contest in Steemit and gladly I won a consolation prize for it.

@ARTicLEE 15 September 2022

The procrastination trap I forgot where I read this but I'll try to give a summary of what I can recall. I'd like to relate that to my experience with the bank. Yes, I'm not done with that yet lol! A guy noticed that one of the windows in their house was broken. A lot of scenarios played in his mind. Upon initial inspection, he thinks that it needs an expert to do it. Thus, he contacted some contractors asking for an estimate and he was given a quote. He kept pushing back on having it done. Because of the busyness in life, he kept forgetting about it but it is one of those things that always comes back nagging at you. Still he kept pushing it away. One day, he decided to take a closer look and tried assessing the damage further. There he realized that it was actually an easy fix that he was able to do it himself. That saved him a lot of money by not having it done by somebody else. This made him realize that if he should have addressed the problem right away, then it would have given him a peace of mind right there and then. Now, let me relate it to my experience with the bank. When I talked to the clerk at the bank about my dilemma regarding my ATM card, the only solution is to apply for a replacement to the branch where I opened that account. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I only have one valid ID available. I have asked the clerk what are the ways for me to do so that I can process that in that particular branch where I lost my card. Since I only have one ID, I have to secure a police clearance or barangay clearance to serve as a secondary ID. Thinking about processing that one piece of paper is already stressful and an inconvenience because even though that is just one piece of paper, it takes a lot of time and energy to secure one. I then went to the bank where I originally opened my account. Aside from the waiting time, the process was done in less than 10 minutes for the clerk to do it. I forgot my ID so I had to go back to our apartment to get it and then back to the bank again. That was my fault. Other than that little mishap, it was an easy process. Just like the guy in the story, I let myself suffer mentally by thinking a lot of things instead of facing the problem head on and doing what needs to be done to solve it. Sometimes we tend to over think things and we burden ourselves by thinking of different problems and other concerns which are unrelated to the problem itself. We like to complicate things when the easy way is already staring us in the face. Maybe because of our past experiences that we don't want to happen again that made us cynical. When we are faced with a situation, the easy solution is doubtful or do we like to be challenged more? My partner had been having issue logging in to their system through the desktop. Good thing my partner has a laptop as back up to use and that is where my partner had been working. IT had been informed about it. They had been telling ways how to fix the problem but it was never resolved. It has been two days. One of the reasons of the delay is that they are taking a long time to respond. Until now, IT finally decided to remote accessed it and the issue resolved in minutes. Was it laziness that make us procrastinate or do easy solutions bore us?

@ARTicLEE 14 September 2022

Make a happy ending I got this prompt from **Kacy01****.** Check it out here If you love prompt... https://read.cash/@Kacy01 https://read.cash/@Kacy01/if-you-love-prompt-1fff4850 Now the prompt I think I have answered some of these already or maybe all of it but I can't recall lol! I do like eating out. It saves me time so I find it convenient. I find places that are within my budget of course. Of course, home-made meals are undeniably less expensive and you can choose to make whatever you want. What I like about dining out is that I can meet with friends especially unplanned dates. Also, we can check out new places or try new things. Food can be an adventure whether you cook it or eat out. Whenever I watch movie or series, I always look out for villains. For them to make you dislike them, to make your blood boil, they have done a great job. I think it's easier being a hero in a story for we easily feel pity and compassion. No one likes to be hated, enough to wish ill to them. To be a villain is a daunting task and for them to be effective is double the effort. I'm a sucker for sad endings but still for me it's a wishful thinking on my part that things will turn out for the best still so it's happy ending for me. I can sing ang play the guitar but only the basics. I use to play the recorder when I was younger too. I remember me and my sister going for piano lessons when we were kids but that didn't last long. I'm not sure what happened. I haven't really pursued playing one instrument. I have spent more time singing when I was a kid. I have shared in some of my posts that with singing, I get to go to different places just within the regions around ours though. There is no particular color that I like. It's good to match light and dark and bright and colorful. Colors are meant to mix. Colors enhance each other. They blend. They match. That is what we should be as humans too. We are made of different colors but we make a picture together. Rich in experience, knowledge and wisdom will make one beautiful. What are treasures if you lack knowledge and experience? You don't know what you will do with what you have. I admit I lack that drive to learn and know more, to develop and improve. That is what we should pursue and make it part of our lives because learning is progressive. It never stops. We just have to be open to the idea of learning something new and be willing to be taught. Love is a two-way street. Have you seen Three Thousand Years of Longing? Even if we wish for a genie to fall in love to us, that is just a selfish kind of love. It's not real. I do agree that love is not equal but at least there should be some sense of give and take. There should be a mutual understanding of sharing love to each other. It should be nurturing and both benefit from it. I like to think I'm an introvert but I choose the right kind of people that I can be extrovert with. There's really no label of being introvert, extrovert or ambivert. We just have to find the right kind of people who accept us the way we are and bring out the best in us. Flying is appealing. There is that longing in us when we see birds fly and we wish that we can fly too, free like those birds in the sky, feel the wind and think of nothing just riding the clouds. One of the things I miss about traveling is being in a plane. It's a different world out there. Things seem small but at the same time it's a big picture that you see up there. It makes you realize how tiny we are in this world. It's a humbling experience to fly. Happy hump day! It's now the end of the middle of week in this part of the world. I hope your week is going great so far.

@ARTicLEE 13 September 2022

Sorry, but I can't trust you This is related to my post yesterday. If you haven't read it yet, it's about me losing my ATM card. At least, that's my initial thought. I withdrew from one of the machines in one of my bank's branches in the city. When I re-inserted my card to inquire about my balance, the machine couldn't read it but it didn't eject the card. Usually when that happens, it will eject it right away. That time, it took longer than usual so I concluded it was captured by the machine. I was wrong. When I reported that incident to the bank, they couldn't find my card so I decided to apply for a replacement instead. In order for me to do that, the card had to be blocked first so that no one can use it anymore. I then went to the branch where I opened my account to process the replacement. It is more convenient if I did that because they all have my records and they only require one valid ID. If I am to process that in other branches, I would have to provide two IDs but I don't have other IDs that haven't expired. While waiting for my turn, I browsed through my messenger. Every now and then, there are those I don't know who would send me message especially people who I am not friends with in fb which turn out to be spam or their message may contain info that I don't need. In relation to that, there are those who add me but I don't know them or even if I do and I don't feel like adding them, then I just don't. When I saw the recent message in my spam folder, this guy messaged me asking me if I have left my card in one of the machines in my bank's branch. No wonder I had a notification from this guy for a friend request. I like his research skill though. That I give to him for he was able to track me down. I mean he took the chance to message me to find the right person. I replied to him that yes, I did lose my card there and would be so kind to kindly surrender the card to the bank. When it was my turn, the first thing I asked the clerk was can a blocked card be unblocked and her response was no. I already have that strong feeling that it can't be done and so I went ahead and processed my application. I checked my messages when I was done with the bank and the guy replied that we should meet instead so he can hand me my card. I then replied that I have already requested for a replacement of my card so there is no need for us to meet. What do you do when you find somebody's card at a bank's ATM? What I do right away is to surrender that to the bank or the security personnel. Simple. Less hassle. Unless the machine is located someplace else where you can't do that, then use the resourcefulness of the guy who had my card by looking the person up online and hope that you get lucky to find the right person who owns that card. One tip: It's wiser to withdraw from machines located within your bank. It's safer that way. So to that guy you has my card, thank you, but sorry. There is no need for us to meet. The paranoia in me had me thinking that he is up for something. Again, sorry. But can you blame me? Lots of scammers out there and they can get creative and persuasive. That's why it's best to keep your distance. One of the deciding factor that made me decide to apply for replacement is that the card was how many years old and sometimes machines can't read the card well anymore that's why it's about time to have it replaced anyway. I have that card since it was issued to me less than 10 years ago if my memory serves me right.

@ARTicLEE 12 September 2022

I can go for long walks but waiting drains me more I have been sharing with you that I can go for long walks, however, waiting drains the energy out of me more. Banks. Yup. I'm talking about banks. Those institutions where you put your money into. I don't know how it is in your country, but here in the Philippines, doing business with the bank can be a nightmare. Why? Because of the waiting time. A mere update on your account will take hours at most. Last Saturday, I was out early for a morning walk because finally, the night before that, I was able to secure an appointment at DFA for passport renewal. I finally received an email indicating there a reference number. That number will be valid for 24 hours. It will be a reference number that you will use to pay in authorized payment centers to secure your appointment. That's why I took that opportunity to go out early for a walk and at the same time make payment for my appointment. I stopped by one of the branches of my bank to withdraw money that I will use for the appointment and allowance as well. The machine I used has no receipt available which was fine. I did my withdrawal and all went well. As an after thought, I decided to make a balance inquiry. I re-inserted my card into the machine but then it said that the card cannot be read. That happens a lot and most of the time, machine ejects the card. That time, it did not. It just keeps flashing the message that the card cannot be read then it showed a message that the card was retained. It was the first time that happened to me. I waited a few seconds but the card did not eject so I thought my card was captured. Because the bank will not be open for a couple of hours, I then went ahead and paid for my appointment and then did my morning walk. I went back to the bank and reported my card being captured. They did check not only the machine I used but all the machines and found nothing. They then advised me to apply for replacement to the branch where I availed that card. They can do it on that branch but I have to present two valid ID's. Unfortunately, my passport expired and I only have one available ID which is not enough. So the solution is to go to back to branch I opened my account for that card. I did go today to the branch where I opened that account. The process took me half a day. All I did was fill up the Affidavit of Loss form and had it notarized by a lawyer across the street. I had to go back to our apartment for I forgot my ID and then went back to the bank. The clerk who processed that took no less than 10 minutes. So you see, it would have been just an hour or so at most and not take up the entire half day for that to be done. At the end of the day, I was grateful that it was done and that I will be able to get my new card after two weeks. I don't mind the wait as long as I will get my card by then. Throughout the process, there was nothing to do but suck it up and patiently wait. There is no use complaining or raising hell because that's the way things are done. One of the reasons why I like to do my transactions online is to avoid the waiting time. A lot of times, a lot of times wasted. I forgot to bring a reading material with me or something to entertain me. I could have fiddled with my phone while waiting which I did a bit but I took that opportunity to avoid screen time. Also, I had a quick visit at our parents' home. I ordered from a friend some moist cakes and brought that home. What I like about visiting our home is that I have more to bring when I leave. I had bananas, some rice delicacies which I love and of course the coffee that was sent by my brother last month. So you see, it was still a good day. The weather was okay. It did drizzle a bit but not for long, my business with the bank was done and I got a lot of stuff from home. God is good!

@ARTicLEE 12 September 2022

Day and night - Harrison Road. I took the photo on the left during one of my morning walks. After a long time, I have been able to do that and I haven't had the stamina as I used to have then. That's how long it was since the last long walk I had. The one on the right was taken last night when we decided to check out the night market specifically the street food area. I was a bit disappointed. There was not much of variation of food sold there. We didn't even stay long to check what's new in the market for most items sold there are the same as well. Anyway, it's a new start of the week. Have a good one!

@ARTicLEE 11 September 2022

Take time to be alone Being alone is not being sad or lonely so there is no harm if you take time to be by yourself and think about things. Take time to be alone because that is how you find peace and time for yourself. I came across this video online where a guy approached a lady all alone. The guy then asked the lady if she could hold the flowers he was holding, to which the lady readily did, so that the guy can tie his shoelaces. When he was done, he said to the lady to have a nice day and left leaving the flowers behind. I thought was cute and heartwarming. A couple of days later, I saw clip which featured that video. In it the lady in the video said that she saw a lot of posts and comments online about that video of hers and most assumed that she was lonely and sad old lady. To her that was not right for she was neither sad nor lonely. She felt that the video was not about her but rather it was for the content creator who posted the video online without her consent even. She had become another victim of content creators. This reminded me of a post by @Ruffa about being alone but not lonely. Let us normalize being alone. Another post online is about a guy who was sitting by himself and the author of the post captioned it as "the lonely guy" and the author wanted to keep the guy company but he/she was shy. The guy doesn't seem lonely. He looks like someone who was enjoying his meal while busy on his phone. When did "me time" become not normal? For the past couple of days, I was not that in a great mental and emotional state. I haven't been that active in blogging platforms because I was just not feeling it. Yes, I do go about some of my routines and still go on with life but I still need my own time to think and process why I feel what I feel and that's normal. We still spend some time together with my partner in the same room but I still like to go to the other room to be alone and, again, that's normal. A lot of content creators these days are just for that - content. They don't even have the decency to ask permission for those people in their videos if they are willing to be videoed or photographed. If you want to do good deeds, like really help people, then do it willingly and wholeheartedly without having to record it and showing it to the world. I mean that is not that bad but to make it more about yourself, that's what makes it bad.

@ARTicLEE 9 September 2022

When you don't have anything to write, write! Half effort is better than none, right? So here goes another late night random writing on my part. I have been away from Hive for two days now because I just don't have any energy left. That or I don't have the motivation. What I like about read is that I can freely write anything. Well, you can do that still in Hive but it's more catered there to certain communities. You have to be more particular there. At least that's how I feel. Or you can join contests and other writing prompts there. So the energy you have to bring in there has to be more. Here in read, I feel more relaxed. Freer, if you will. Less restrictions. Just like in noise. By the way, if you haven't joined the new noise, then feel free to join https://noise.app/leeart. It's not yet earning now but you can start building your network. Now, while it says that we can limit who we should invite there, sharing our invitation links still attracts spammers because we can't control who will join our link. Right? You can still check my profile and you can follow me there or not. If you do, let me know in the comments below so I can follow you too. A lot of noise users have already boarded the new noise. An update about my passport application. I wrote yesterday about my experience of booking an appointment online. That is the only way to make an appointment to the DFA. It was a failed attempt. I tried again several times this afternoon but still failed. I tried one last time before writing this article and finally it pushed through. I already received an email stating there my reference number that I will be using to pay in authorized payment centers to secure my appointment for next month. That is valid for 24 hours before it expires. It will be the first order of business I will be doing tomorrow. My brother and another friend were able to schedule an appointment earlier. We had the same issue of not being able to secure an appointment yesterday because schedules filled up too quickly. I think the process became easier this time because the agency had been questioned in congress regarding this issue. Those who wants to make an appointment with the agency ends up not securing one because of how quickly the schedules fill up. Anyway, I hope my payment will push through tomorrow so I can finally secure my appointment. Passports now have a 10-year validity unlike before where it was only five years. My passport expired last July. It's only now that I was able to schedule a renewal. I haven't even used this passport for any travel abroad. This is one of the pages of my passport. I like the design of this one because they featured different tourist spots around the country and one of them is the rice terraces of Ifugao. The line on the left page states "alab ng puso," meaning burning heart, burning desire or fervor, intense feeling. That is a line from our National Song "Lupang Hinirang." My plans for traveling abroad is not my priority for I want to explore my own country more that's why I don't have the need for passport but my main purpose is to use it for identification purposes. I don't have any other major government issued ID other than this. We'll never know what the future holds for us. Who knows? I'll be traveling abroad still :)

@ARTicLEE 8 September 2022

Okay, so here goes something. Thanks to @Pantera, I have come to know about the new noise. So far, I have been only following familiar faces and I like that the people that it suggests for me to follow. Here's to new beginnings and hopefully long lasting greatness. Cheers!

@ARTicLEE 8 September 2022

Rainy, Baguio, Night, Coffee, Weather So this is the result of the prompts rainy, Baguio, lazy that I used for Midjourney. Thanks to @Pichi28 who posted about Midjourney. I have been meaning to use that too when I read her post. https://www.midjourney.com/home/ I'm getting head of myself. This is the complete choices that Midjourney gave me when I typed the prompts above. https://www.midjourney.com/home/ It does look like Baguio but still not Baguio. Houses on the mountains, trees, fog, rain. Close enough. What gave me the idea to try Midjourney this time? Earlier this afternoon, a friend messaged us in our group chat that there are now schedules open for DFA appointment. Our passports have expired months ago. Securing a schedule is a challenge. I had to wake up my partner so that we can book appointments together. The earliest schedule we available that time was October 24 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. At first there was only one time slot in the afternoon unavailable. When I checked the second time, all the afternoon appointments have been filled. So we decided to book for the first time slot available which is 10:00 a.m. We went through the process of booking an appointment online through their website. When we got to the final part, there was an option of paying over the counter or through credit/debt card. I chose over the counter. I was prompted that my status was a success. There were instructions there that we should get the reference number and use that to pay in authorized centers to secure our appointment. There is no reference number anywhere that I can see. It's been hours and I still haven't received any email. I searched online about it and from DFA's page, we should wait for an email where all the needed information for paying is there. Zilch. Nada. None. Wala. Awan. Opso. My friend was also booking her appointment and she has been doing it for how many tries with the choice of paying through credit card. She was unsuccessful unfortunately. She informed us that the last time she booked an appointment November is the earliest available schedule. I think we'll try again in the wee hours when the site is not so busy and hopefully we can have better luck. So that made me check out Midjourney so that I can have something to add in my post for today. Here's another one with coffee, weather, Baguio, night, rainy as prompts I saw someone online who posted images from Midjourney as well adding Baguio to the prompt and those images were more Baguio images. The lead image was taken from this set particularly the left top image. It's interesting how technology works these days. Have you heard about the AI generated art that won? Here's the link. I guess these AI generated images should have another category of their own. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html

@ARTicLEE 7 September 2022

A morning like no other I heard voices in my dream-like state. I thought it was part of the dream but then it's becoming louder and clearer and constant. It wasn't a dream. I then opened my eyes and lifted my head to the sound of the voices to find my landlady and her son working on our computer. I don't know what they were doing but they were there and they seem to be serious with their task. They saw me woke up and they just smiled at me then went back to whatever they are busy with. Then it dawned on me. That's odd. Since when did we bring our computer in our bedroom? As if the presence of our landlady and her son is not weird enough. I then sat on our bed not knowing how to react. Questions fill my head. Where did my partner go? I then slowly take in the room I'm in. Something seems odd. It is wider, almost double in size than our room before. Did they renovate while I was sleeping? How long have I been asleep? I thought at first I am in another house but when I looked at the sheets and the blankets and curtains, they are ours. As I looked around more, it's getting stranger by the minute yet all seems familiar. The color of the wall is different. It's whiter than I remembered. I did notice a number of bags filled with clothes or linens or whatever set on the floor almost filling half of the room even surrounding the area where my landlady and her son was. I then decided to get up and out of our bed for I feel the need for coffee. Mother and son are still hellbent on the computer talking to each other seriously. As I was about to step out, the son acknowledged me and mentioned about them working on something urgent. No wonder they are that serious. Stepping out of our room, there on our sofa in the living room sits the younger son tying his shoes. He saw me and smiled and then called out for his mom saying something to the effect that he is ready to go out. I don't remember what was said between them but the younger son then went out the door and left. I continued on to our bathroom to relief myself and do my own business. I don't know what happened next for that's when I woke up. For real this time. It was all a dream. This was a dream I had two days ago. Usually, I forgot what I dreamt about. It slipped my mind yesterday but now it came back in full force. I mean the gist of the dream not every detail of it. I decided to write it down. That's how dreams are anyway. Weird and strange and yet familiar. The lead image was taken by me at Immuki Island. You can check out more photos here. https://ecency.com/hive-179017/@leeart/reflections-make-me-smile-my-entry-for-reflection-hunters-contest-round-81

@ARTicLEE 6 September 2022

A reminder: Life is short. Live it. If it was not for bjmc98's post, I wouldn't have known that @Pachuchay is in critical condition. As some of you know, she is suffering from medical condition/s. I haven't had the chance to interact with her since I got busy with Hive. I don't see her active as well in some of the comments from other users here. After a long time, I was able to log in to my noise account because of that and to make a post there just a short info about her condition. If you are in noise, check out this post from Pachuchay's sister https://noise.cash/post/124586r5. Good thing I still have some BTC left in my wallet from my noise earnings back then so that is what I sent to her sister. I saw that I had some FTs left so I visited other users there and spread what little FT I have. I do miss being there but for now I don't know when I will be back there for I can only manage read and hive for now and steemit on the side. Aside from that news, Pakistan is also in trouble right now because of the flood affecting the country. As of this writing, there were more than a thousand people who died from this disaster. Floods and landslides are the major concerns whenever there is constant rain. We all know how nature can be destructive. It's heartbreaking to see people suffer from natural occurrences especially if we are can't do anything but pray. It's frustrating to find ourselves helpless. If you have the means, share your blessings to others. A little help can go a long way. This is a reminder to us all that we don't know what the future holds for us. In terms of our health, we have to learn to balance work and rest. It is a challenge and it is easier said than done especially if you have a lot of responsibilities and your efforts does not seem to be enough. We want to do as much as we can in a span of time. Time is another thing that we are limited of. Even if we wanted to go on, our body needs to rest as well for what good will our money be if we will spend it to cure and heal ourselves. That's why balance is everything. It's easy to give up but we can't. When things are not going our way, look up and humble yourself and pray. I was reminded of this from Olasquare's post where he mentioned about praying. So talking about rest, today is a rest day for me so I plan to take it easy. I have rewatched Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring the other day I think or maybe two days ago. It's like watching it again for the first time. As some of you know, LOTR trilogy is my all time fave. I'll be watching Two Towers next and if still have time later on, Return of the King. It's Tuesday already. How quickly time passes by. Tomorrow will be the middle of week then weekend is here before you know it. The sun came out today but not that strong. It is still shy hiding between the clouds. I hope you are all having a great day. Keep safe! The lead image was from my post about Kalinga. I made another entry post to a contest in Steemit for that that's why I have to re-use that photo.

@ARTicLEE 5 September 2022

Be a disciplined and responsible traveler Here in the Philippines, we have a public transportation called jeepney or simply jeep. The invention of this transportation was from Willys Jeeps that were once the mode of transportation brought about by Americans during their occupation here. When the war ended and their rule was over, these jeeps were left behind. According to some sources online, Leonardo Sarao was the inventor of jeepneys. The jeeps left by the Americans were then transformed to accommodate more people. Over time, jeeps have become bigger and still colorful as ever. The body of the jeepney has two long seats facing each other. Passengers would then seat beside each other on these seats. Depending on the size of the jeepney, it can accommodate more or less 20 people. Paying for your fare would then be passed from one passenger to another until the closest passenger to the driver would then finally pass the fare to the driver. If you have change, then the process is reversed. The driver will hand the change nearest to him and that will then be passed along until it reached the passenger with that change. One particular incident was that a foreigner was the one seated closest to the driver so naturally it is understandable that he will be the one to finally hand out fares of other passengers to the driver. When another passenger handed a fare which was handed to him, this foreigner got mad like really angry almost livid. He said to the passenger handing him the fare that it is not his problem to hand out the fare to the driver. The other passenger was surprised of course but he calmly explained to the foreigner that this is the way things are but the foreigner will not hear of it. Still, the other passenger was persistent but continued in a calm manner explaining to the foreigner what needs to be done. In the end, the foreigner reluctantly handed the fare to the driver. The other passengers were watching in surprise, amazed and really curious that that such incident happened. This is the way we always do things here and now comes someone who is not from here who will not do such a thing. The foreigner may have his reasons. He and the other passenger had been talking but I couldn't get understand what they were talking about but the foreigner's demeanor changed into a better one and calmed down eventually. What happened to "when in Rome, do what the Romans do?" The city have always had tourists visiting. One major problem is the trash they leave behind. No discipline at all for you can see them leaving their trash anywhere and everywhere. I'm not generalizing but most of them do that even if their is a trash bin inches away from them. I mean, how hard can that be to throw your trash in in a trash bin? If you don't find one, then hold on to it until you do find one. Even when staying in hotels or other accommodations, just because you are on vacation doesn't mean you trash the place as well. You arrived to that place in an orderly manner, clean and comfortable. That doesn't give you the right to be sloppy and dirty just because you are on vacation. Treat the places you visit as your second home. **Not unless you are that undisciplined, dirty and destructive even when you are back home? Have you no respect at all?** We visited the Baguio Museum yesterday. Here's a video that I took of the place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSuEuHMhxI8 While I know that the museum is not a church or a library, but should you be that noisy and loud? A group disturbed the peace while we were there. You can see from the video above that there are areas there that needs reading about the history of Baguio and its people and culture. Of course that requires concentration and as much as possible less noise. I find it curious that other people just can't talk among themselves loud enough to understand each other. They would rather be boisterous like they own the place. They don't even read what's written there or probably they already know everything then that would be great if they do. But what is obvious is that they were there just for the sake of being there and for photo ops. Manners, people. What happened to manners? So please when you travel and go to places, be mindful of others. Do you travel just for pictures without interest of the place you are visiting? The lead photo was taken by me. It was still a rainy and foggy and windy weather we had yesterday that's why we decided to visit the museum instead for we couldn't enjoy being outside anyway.

@ARTicLEE 4 September 2022

Amidst the storm I mentioned in my previous blog that I will be meeting with a friend from another province. Despite the heavy rainfall we are experiencing which I warned them about, they still pursued to come as a family. She has her reasons which made me understand even more the "need" to do the trip else they will not have that chance to visit the city as a family. We kept updating each other where they are and where they will be going next. This is in anticipation to when I will plan to meet with them. We then decided to meet late in the afternoon for dinner/supper. Because of the weather, they couldn't go to as much place as they want to. They were even wet from the rain in one of the spots they visited. I queried if they were the only ones that but to my surprise, she mentioned that there were still a lot of tourists. It seems the windy rainy foggy weather did not deter anyone. The photo above was taken in one of the restaurants at the mall. That is where I waited for her reply. We decided to meet at the mall because there was nowhere else to go anyway. There is not much indoor activities that one can enjoy in the city. Cafes and restaurants are highly recommended though. I waited and waited patiently for them. I left the restaurant with the thought of going home already. My worry is that there will not be that much taxi if I will stay late in the city. My phone's battery is at 30+ percent anyway. Good thing I dropped by one of the shops there to buy something and that's where I received a reply from her that they are already in the mall. When I was done at the store, it took longer than necessary before we finally saw each. I accompanied them to where they wanted to shop before finally settling for dinner - back to the same restaurant that I had my coffee earlier. The food court was full and there were no seats so I decided to bring them there. Thankfully, we were the only customers that time. After eating, we stayed there a bit. Her husband went to sleep in their car while the kids went to buy some stuff in the mall. The topic that me and my friend touched on arrived at relationships. It was not intended to be but she brought out about one of our batchmates where she posted personal matters online. Understand that she and I don't like discussing stuff like this or don't like reading stuff about people's personal stuff that they post online. It's not my cup of tea. If you want the world to know your every move in life, then so be it but I'd rather leave you to it. The only reason the subject was brought out was because it was mentioned to her by one of our friends during their meet up one time. This common friend of ours have told me stuff also about my friend's (the one I met last night) relationship situation. I'd rather want to hear it from her about it rather than relying from other sources so I asked her that. We all know that every relationship is not perfect. Just because we have come into misunderstanding that we easily give up each other. Never assume that what you think is the real reason of the misunderstanding. Also, it is important to humble yourself and admit your faults which my friend did. She admitted that she assumed and did not communicate properly with her husband. Yes we do have our own stuff to take care of especially family outside of our own relationships but that should be discussed and talked about as well. If we communicate properly our feelings, the situations that we are in, listen to each other's concerns and be more understanding and patient, then we can make it work. Yes you can find someone you can confide your problems and feelings but that should not be enough to wreck a family. Relationships are constantly making it work but both parties should make the effort to make it work. My friend and I had the same level of understanding and how we approach our problems. I'm glad that they were able to sort things out between her and her husband. This stormy weather seems to be symbolic for them as a couple. At least that is how I want to think about it. No matter what storms we go through in our lives, in our relationships, we have to keep the family intact by working things out.