Life is beautiful

Life is funny, beautiful, and relentless.

There's always experiences that rattle you a bit. These are the experiences that open your eyes to who you are, what you are capable of, and the bravery you exude. It's all about you, but not in the selfish way, more like the selfless way but in another form. You are growing as a human being by becoming a better person. Not in the deeds you do, but in what you LEARN. You learn about your love for someone/your family. You learn to be brave and say things you didn't want to say because it's not what that other person wants to hear. You tread lightly, but you go forward with it. You come out a shaken and relieved at the same time.

You smile. You smile because you just experienced life. No matter how simple, complicated, big, or small, it's life and you experienced it.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

This long weekend for me is almost over. Shiet. I didn't have the long weekend I expected. I guess I wanted to do more or get more accomplished. It was due to the shitty rain and cold, physical pains/discomfort, plain forgetfulness, and store closures on Sunday.

I can't help but feel a little confused considering most Easters have been with family and attending mass. But these days, family is scattered (it feels like any regular Sunday) and I hate the crowds in the Mass. People who normally don't go on regular Sundays appear for "special Christian occasions". I think that's hypocritical. If you're not going on regular Sundays, then why bother for the special occasions? That's not being consistent. I don't go (anymore) on Sundays or on special occasions - so at least I'm consistent. I like when I go to a Church where the Pastor speaks To you and not At you. Big difference.

I can't complain too much though because I did get to experiment with cooking fish for the first time and it came out amazing! So amazing I ate it all and didn't share. Then I ate a huge brownie from the local bakery here all by myself. Then I went to buy dark chocolate pudding and don't want to share that either. =P

Ok. My life is revolving around food. I even enjoyed grocery shopping this weekend. I'm happy as a clam. :)

Sword-making

The reality of it is:
Everything worth Anything takes time.

Remember how a sharp and solid sword is made:

A swordsmith’s goal was to produce a sturdy... blade to have a far sharper edge and to withstand much greater stress without breaking or staying bent.

A swordsmith had to base it all on his experience of what, as best he could tell, had worked well enough before. A swordsmith needed to carefully forge a blade... so that the blade could flex under sudden impact but resist deformation.

He would shape his metal while red-hot by slowly and repeatedly hammering and re-heating until it was the length, width, and thickness he wanted.

A swordsmith had to skillfully create these shapes, perhaps in some small way improving his design each time by refining his techniques and incorporating new ideas.

When satisfied with the initial shape the swordsmith was far from finished.

A finely crafted sword had to have just the right mix of good steel as well as just the right temper. Heat treatment was the final crucial step that gave the blade its strength and toughness.

To ensure toughness and flexibility the blade would be quickly quenched in either oil or water.

Girl

Girl realizes what she could do with hard-earned money.
Girl acts like girl and becomes a shopaholic.
Girl takes vacations.
Girl furnishes her apartment how she wants to.
Girl realizes all of this is on her credit card.
Girl grows up.
Girl pays off “bad” debt.
Girl gets a handle on her finances after what seemed like an eternity.
Girl becomes a smarter shopper.
Girl spends less.
Girl saves more.
Girl even loses weight (yay).
Girl is smarter now.
Now, Girl just needs to get a handle of her career’s future.
Now, Girl has to work from the inside out (after mistakenly working from the outside in during her early 20s).