Looking

Over a month ago, I started a book blog called Sultry, Steamy Reading. For all intents and purposes, I really did want the blog to grow in readership. I wanted to be a part of an online community whose members liked the same kinds of books I read.

 

For those who don’t know me too well, I love to read. I could stay up the whole night reading. I could finish one entire book in a night’s worth of reading. However, I consider reading my escape and stress reliever after all those hours of working hard and being in front of a computer. Therefore, I read mostly romance novels. I mean, I like all kinds of books, but the romance genre has given me what I  look for when I’m lying in bed and still awake way past my bedtime. It has given me a kind of satisfaction that I haven’t found in other genres.

 

That’s what I wanted for SSR. I wanted to find a group of book bloggers who read similar books as I do. I would say that I am halfway successful in getting the blog out. The twitter account I created for it has been getting messages and favorites from published authors. Its followers consist of authors, book tour companies, and other book bloggers. The blog stat is good. There’s still a long way to go, but it’s pretty good for me right now.

 

Which brings us to this moment. I realized that I may need another book blogger to share the blog with. There are just so many books to read out there and I won’t be able to keep up. At this rate, I’d be so behind that the books I put up won’t be new books anymore. I wish I had friends who were also into the romance genre as I am and also into blogging as I am. I also wish I’d meet a new friend online, and that we’d click, and we can set up SSR together.

 

Oh well, if you happen to come by this blog and read this and know of someone, please do refer them to me. I’d really like to expand my horizons, and I’m looking forward to meeting fellow book geeks.

Advertising

I’ve always wanted to own a book blog. I wanted to read books an blog about my reviews.

 

Well, I finally started one. It still barely has any readership, but I am patient. I will work on adding more content and promoting it, so it will eventually gain attention.

 

When I first started Chocolate High, my goal was just to have somewhere I can write my thoughts in. I did not plan for it to be successful at all. Well, it’s not really a huge success, but there are still people who come here regularly and I still have followers and gain new followers every now and then. When I was still part of a poetry community, Chocolate High was always featured an visited. Everything that happened on this blog is way beyond what I have initially imagined or aimed for it.

 

For me new book blog, I just hope that I get a few people to visit the blog and be loyal readers. I have goals and plans for it, and I hope I get to achieve even half of what I got for Chocolate High.

 

So, my beloved reader, I hope you find the time to drop by my book blog, Sultry Steamy Reading. It’s at http://sultrysteamyreading.url.ph. Follow the URL I wrote or click on this link as well. I hope to see you there.

Remembrance

On December 14, 2019, I created my WordPress hosted blog, and for a time, it became the center of my universe.

It’s not anymore.

But that does not mean I do not love it as much as I used to. I still do.

For a time, that blog was me. All me. Everything that I was all about.

I’ve said goodbye to that blog several times. However, every now and then, I keep going back. I go back because this was a huge time in my life, when I thrived as a poet.

Like a favorite toy that you put down when a new one comes but still pick up when you need a little comfort. That’s how I feel about that blog.

So I’ve decided, while Chocolate High Chapter 2 is who I am now, I will never let go of the first one, the one who made me believe I can weave magic and stories with words, if I took the time to do so.

New

When I was younger, all I’ve ever wanted to do was write.

I wanted to be a writer.

I’m good at it. Not to brag or anything. I just know, writing is what I’m good at.

And I pursued it. For a while.

Until life happened.

Before long, so many other things became more important.

Work. Money. Reality.

I lost track. I lost my gift. I lost my passion.

I slowly became a robot. All work. A little play. A little vacation every now and then. But never any passion.

I’ve always seen myself to be the one who lived recklessly, the one who did not care about the world, the one who defied expectations. Unfortunately, I became ordinary. I became just another person who loved work more than life.

Yes, life happened. But I never got to live it.

Instead, I watched it happening, fighting it, making sure I get to be the last one standing at the end.

But that’s not the point of life. Not at all.

In all my efforts of making sure I got out of it unscathed, I wasted precious time. Time I could have spent on things that really made me happy – words, ideas, romance, artistry, inspiration.

But no more. I am not going to watch from the sidelines anymore.

Today is a new day.

I am going to live again. I am going to write again. I am going to challenge everyone around me again.

And I will live. I will cry and laugh and scream and shut up. But most of all, I WILL WRITE.

You Can Shoot Me Down

When you ask a person to lead, supervise or manage, you are actually asking a lot from that person.

I don’t think most people realize that when someone becomes a supervisor or a leader of sorts, that person is not getting a “promotion” or a higher status symbol. On the contrary, that person is asked to give more of himself, to think of everybody when everybody else only need to think about their own. When a higher-up screws up, everybody else screws up. If only one person screws up, the higher-up is still the one that’s screwed.

A supervisor has to forego his own satisfaction to make sure that his subordinates are the ones who are satisfied. If he has a subordinate who’s difficult to work with, the supervisor has to be the one to stretch his patience and understand. If a team member is on the wrong, it is still up to the supervisor to apologize and make sure the team member feels valued all the time.

And what do supervisors get in return? Aside from a bigger paycheck, pretty much nothing at all. There’s really no price for self sacrifice, after all. If people depend on you, you have to be there for them at all times, even when they don’t want you to be. You have to be around at all times of the day for them to reach. You work longer because you have to act as a patch for all the holes left by your team. You have to be fair to everyone, even to the ones who are the least likeable. Being

Now you see, being a higher-up is not really a priviledge or an honor. It is a sacrifice that you ask a person to make. The only honor there is the fact that no one really asks a person to make a sacrifice if people felt like that person wasn’t complete enough to give of himself.

Anyway, being in he supervisory position has taught me alot about myself and my capabilities. Most of the time, I am full of complaints. However, I am also thankful I got to be where I am because these experiences have helped me in so many ways that I could no longer imagine how I’ve managed myself before.

Hello, Hello

Today is the first day of the year.

I wasn’t really looking forward to saying goodbye to 2012. For one, it has been an amazing year for me. It may be one of the best years I’ve had in my 28 years of colorful existence.

I don’t know what 2013 has in store. I don’t know if it’s going to be a good year, or if this will be a let down. I do hope that, even if it won’t be as great as 2012, it will still be a year that celebrates what life and the world should be about.

I have many things planned for 2013, big ones, actually.

I’m not a person who believes in new year’s resolutions. I’m more of the goal-setting type. This is why I don’t resolve to be anything or do anything this year. What I have is a set of goals that I pray I would meet before the year ends.

As a look back, I made a couple of goals last year that I was not able to meet. However, the more important ones I set were achieved, thanks to God.

For this year, I am going to set new goals and plans, higher and bigger ones. I hope and pray God guides me in making the right decisions, so I can meet the things I plan to meet.

I don’t really know what to ask for from God this year. I haven’t asked him for something big, lately, and I plan to keep it that way. All I really want for myself is to be healthy. All I pray for is that God will keep me away from any sickness. I will not ask for money, a great career, a happy life, a nice house, a car, etc.

All I need is health. As long as I’m healthy, I know that God will help me in reaching for greater things. Money and career is something that I have to work on, not something I ask from God. If he makes me healthy, I can work, have a career and make money. A happy life really depends on how I see things, also not something I also not something to ask from God.

So, Lord, please grant my only prayer of being healthy all the time. Please keep me away from sickness, of any form. Please help me keep away from the massive headaches that have been attacking me all the time. Please hold me in your arms, so that no harm will come my way. That’s the only thing I want for myself. For my family and loved ones, all I ask is to give them the things that make them happy, even if those things are at my expense.

Hello, 2013. For now, i really have no idea just what you’re up to. However, if you’re up to some mischief, let me in on it, and let’s be mischievous together.

14 Days

It has been two weeks since the last time I actually updated this blog.

I have been a little busy with the book blog that I created. First, I created one under my domain, and then I realized that it would eat up a lot of my hosting space, so I decided to create a WordPress hosted book blog instead.

The blog has been driving me crazy the past week. Fortunately, there have been several other bloggers who have already happened to like my content and have started following the blog. I hope that trend continues to increase over time.

I will probably keep the subdomain i created for my first book blog. I like the domain http://books.ishabelle.com, but I just did not want to use up my hosting space with all the pictures I attach to each blog entry.

If you have time, check out my book blog http://theunendingreadinglist.wordpress.com. You’ll find a lot of books that you may be interested in reading.

To Book Blog or Not

I’ve been thinking of starting up a book blog, you know, for all those books I have read and for all the books I have yet to read.

I have more than 2000 books stored on my library manager. That’s not including the ones that I have on paper. Out of that 2000, I don’t think I only read about 500.

That’s why I got this crazy idea to start a new book blog under a different subdomain. Maybe something like books.ishabelle.com.

OR…..

I could just use this blog as a place to post the books I have already read… Yeah…. Well, I am still debating on that.

I could even just use a WordPress.com hosted site instead of using my domain. But what’s the use of a domain if you still keep using free hosted services, right?

Sigh! This book blog thing has really gotten me confused. I’ll probably just sleep on this for a night or two. I hope I do get a final decision before the new week starts. xoxo.

What’s the Latest?

I’m writing a new story, something I hope I can finish this time.

While it is no secret that I write, I am ashamed to admit that I have started on several stories but have ended up abandoning them after the first few chapters.

There was a time when I’d patiently write down every word I can think about on a notebook. Now that technology has made writing easier, I find it too tedious to even finish a single story.

Please check out my latest project. Feel free to leave a comment or suggestion if there is anything you can think about which can help/improve the story.

http://writingpad.ishabelle.com

I will be waiting for you there. xoxo

To Lucky Firsts and New Beginnings

I am so happy to have finally made a decision to have a Chapter Two for my blog, Chocolate High.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been hot and cold on my WP blog. I have, in fact, neglected it for several months. It’s not because I did not want to write. It’s just I felt like most of the things I have blogged about before does not connect to the way my life’s running this time.

I am so thankful that God has blessed me with so much more than I have ever imagined. While it’s true that I have asked for more, I am speechless at the prayers that he answered from me.

Much has changed since I started Chocolate High. I’ve evolved, changed careers more than twice, grown up and traveled a lot. I am the same person as I have always been, but I look at things differently now.

I hope I get to maintain Chocolate High’s 2nd chapter as much as I did the first. I don’t expect a sudden rise in viewership and site popularity. For once, I am going to write a blog and not care if anybody reads it or not. I hope someone does, but it won’t hurt me if they don’t.

I want to say that all the struggles and hardships I ever went through don’t even come close to how sweet life has turned out to be after a couple of years. If anybody out there is going through some tough times right now, know that everything on earth passes. Joy and sorrow do not remain. Laughter and tears do not remain. What does remain is a man’s strength of character along with his faith to his God.