Who needs Ecstasy when you have Full House?

What is Ecstasy? MDMA or Ecstasy (3-4-methylenedioxymethampheta-mine), is a synthetic drug with amphetamine-like and hallucinogenic properties. It is classified as a stimulant. Users report that Ecstasy produces intensely pleasurable effects – including an enhanced sense of self-confidence and energy. Effects include feelings of peacefulness, happiness, acceptance and empathy...
What is Full House? One of the most popular TV miniseries released in Korea was Full House, based on a popular comic book series. This fun miniseries shows us the difficulties that occur while living together, as well as the funny side of life. From the onset, Full House has been praised for its fresh and saucy take on the love.

So, why am I writing about Ecstasy and Full House in the same post? Because the series, Full House, has the same effect on me as (I would suppose, based on the description above) ecstasy would have on a user.

I've never really been a fan of Koreanovelas (nor of any telenovelas from any country, for that matter). I've always been your CSI-24-Prison Break-CNN type of televiewer. Well, that is, until one of my friends in the office, Tita Nonie (the ultimate Koreanovela Queen and the original Bi-fan), introduced me to Full House.

I was feeling depressed that time and was looking for something (anything) to give my spirits a much-needed boost. So God, in his infinite wisdom, sent me Tita Nonie with her bootlegged, boxed DVD set of Full House (rather than introducing me to some drug pusher with his multi-colored ecstasy pills, perhaps). God is good!

So, that's how it all started for me. It's been 8 months since and I am totally hooked. Call me an addict if you must. I won't care. It's the truth anyway... Keke...

I've seen Full House for the nth time that I've lost count. I watch it almost everyday. As soon as I would finish the last disc, I'd start all over with disc one. I've memorized every scene and dialogue that I can now even watch it in Korean... with out English sub. Oh, and I got myself the original, director's cut, DVD boxed set too... all the way from Korea for a whoping 5K. That is, on top of my 3 other pirated sets. (You can never get enough back-ups...)

I've also totally fallen in love with the cast, especially the 2 main

characters... and especially with Bi or Rain or Jeong Ji Hoon. Full House is also what got me started in my other addiction... my Bi-addiction. I am now a full-pledged, hard-core, high-leveled Rain fanatic... and proud of it! Haha!

But funny and weird as it may seem to others, for me, having found Full House and Rain is perhaps one of the biggest blessings in my life. It is an answered prayer. (It was another friend, Joyce from London, who told me that is how personal and intimate God answers our prayers. He knows us and our eccentricities so he uses the most extra ordinary circumstances and most outrageous people to answer our prayers. I guess, God knows how weird I really can get sometimes. Kekeke...)

Eight months ago, it seems like nothing's going well in my life - there's nothing to hope for or look forward too. (Clinical depression can make you feel that... But then, that's another long story...) And now, I'm totally happy!!! My life's been pretty interesting and exciting these past few months. I am so full of positive energies. I practically have a perpetual smile on my face. I feel so inspired and hopeful.

I'm living my life with as much joy and passion as I can muster. I'm loving the people in my life as much as I can. I'm doing my best to make my God proud. That he won't regret answering my prayers back in January... with a Koreanovela Queen, an 8-disc/16-episodes-long Korean series, and a Sexy Angel by the name of Bi.

So, who needs ecstasy?

Creed To Live By

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each os us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.
It is this fragile thread that binds us to each other.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks.
It is bytaking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love;
The fastest way to lose love is to hold it tightly;
And the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don't miss your dreams.
To be without dreams us to be without hope;
To be without hope is to be without purpose.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been but also where you are going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

A Child's Faith

One of my favorite poems of all time... by Helen Steiner Rice...

By the way, these are my niece and nephew, Nadine and Neigel... Don't be deceived by the sweet, angelic looks... Kekeke... Love them anyway...

"Jesus Loves Me, this I know,

For the Bible tells me so..."

Little children ask no more,

For love is all they're looking for.

And in a small child's shinning eyes

The Faith of all the ages lies.

And tiny hands and touseled heads

That kneel in prayer by little beds

Are closer to the dear Lord's heart

And of his kingdom more a part

Than we who search and never find,

The answer to our questioning minds.

For faith in things we cannot see

Requires a child's simplicity.

For lost in life's complexities,

We drift upon uncharted seas.

And slowly faith disintegrates

While wealth and power accumulates.

And the more man learns, the less He knows,

And the more involved his thinking grows.

And in his arrogance and pride,

No longer is man satisfied

To place his confidence and love,

With childlike Faith in God above.

Oh, Father, grant once more to men

A simple childlike faith again.

And with a small child's trusting eyes,

May all men come to realize

That faith alone can save man's soul

And lead him to a Higher Goal...

How To Stay Young

Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down. (Keep this In mind if you are one of those grouches.)
Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain get idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!
Enjoy the simple things.
Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with him or her.
The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with you your entirelife, is yourself. LIVE while you are alive.
Surround yourself with what you love. Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

I Hope You Dance...

My best friend, Roxe, gave me a journal on my last birthday. On the first page, she wrote this poem. We both don't know who the poet is, but we just love this poem. And this is my prayer and wish for everyone as well...

I HOPE YOU DANCE...

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder...
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger...
May you never take one single breath for granted...
God forbid ever to leave you empty-handed...
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean...
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens...
Promise me that you'd give faith a fighting chance...
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance...
I hope you dance...
I hope you dance...

Take the Risk...

From one of my favorite authors, Leo Buscaglia...

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool...
To weep is to risk being called sentimental...
To reach out to someone is to risk involvement...
To expose one's feelings is to risk showing your true self...
To place your ideas and your dreams before the crowd is to risk being called naive...
To love is to risk not being loved in return...
To live is to risk dying...
To hope is to risk despair...
To try is to risk failure...

But risks must be taken,
becaus the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing,
is nothing, and becomes nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrows,
but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.
Chained by his certitude, he's a slave.
He has forfeited his freedom.
Only the person who risks is truly free.
Try it and see what happens...