Because I’m feeling extra today

Marinated baby back ribs. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I just suddenly felt like doing something extra today. That weekend trip back home to see friends lifted my mood that carried over to this week. So far, so good. I will be interviewing a candidate tomorrow and I have three CVs on my file now, all are promising.

I first grilled marinated baby back ribs until they looked cooked on the outside. Then I cooked it on the Instant Pot on High Pressure for 16 mins with a combination of beef broth, ketchup, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce as liquid marinade under the ribs that were placed on a trivet so they won’t be swimming in the marinade.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Et voila! It was tender and yet perfectly glazed on the outside.

This was a bit spicy. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My customers (i.e. the girls and Ate C) consumed it all. With pinakbet as vegetable side dish, this was *chef’s kiss* The thing here is that I didn’t have this for lunch and instead I ate leftover meatballs with home-made gravy. I am limiting red meat intake, if I can help it. My brother is now diabetic, like my two sisters. And my mom. So aside from sugar, I should be watching out for my red meat intake and processed carbohydrates.

I’m also restarting my exercise regimen. I got stalled in October when I got the flu.


Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

This is a light sketch of a scene in my head that keeps playing over and over whenever I hear the song Beauty and Madness by Fra Lippo Lippi. I had been trying to draw this for over 25 years but I couldn’t because I lacked the proper technique. I will try to make this again and again until I get it right.

In my head, the sky is dark with slight illumination from the moon that is sometimes obscured by clouds. A woman is on a cliff overlooking an angry sea. Or an unquiet sea.

I don’t know why I’m stuck with that imagery and it’s forever attached to that song. Maybe I read too many Gothic novels when I was younger.

I had been playing that song by oido for years as well. The chord transcripts I had and the music sheet I have of the song are somehow incomplete.

This transcript, which I got from a tutorial on Youtube, is close to the original piano version.

I wrote the chord transcript by hand. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I should review my major and minor sevens. I keep on forgetting them, unlike other chords, which are now like instinct when I play them on the piano.

This song reflects the struggles of people, in varying degrees. It resonates with me, even way back in high school, as I am drawn to the darkness of the image it painted. But the melody is not dark; it is quite emotional–it’s haunting, like there is this emptiness that you haven’t quite figured out just yet.

Who will see the madness in your life

And who will be there to catch you if you fall?

Still a work in progress. I will let it dry until tomorrow. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com

Trampoline day

So here we are in this stage where my girls want to hang with their friends more than with me. I’m a cool mom so I had been driving them to places where they meet up with friends.

Trampoline playground at Ayala Feliz. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

So this afternoon I drove them to Ayala Malls Feliz in Pasig along Marcos Highway. I loaded their Timezone cards and left them there while they waited for their friends.

I went around a bit but shopping isn’t really my sport so I just went to a foot massage place and did a 70-min session, which was just so-so. Then I just waited for the girls at Agave, the Mexican restaurant in front of Timezone and had this:

Churros and hot chocolate. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I did some finishing touches to this but I’m still unhappy. Art and photo by CallMeCreation.com
So I am remaking it for someone who liked the first sketch. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Still half-way through but tthe light is already fading.

I think my astigmatism or myopia has gotten worse. I feel a dull pain pounding behind my left eye, which is radiating now to my forehead and crown.

Another visit to the optometrist is in order. 😑

And oh, I found a random guy playing beautifully on my dream piano.

Several videos later…

I can’t stop watching!

Smells Like Teen Spirit

I like Tori Amos’ covers of well-known rock songs. She gives them more depth and female angst. Here is my simplified version of her Nirvana cover, Smells Like Teen Spirit. I couldn’t match Tori’s piano playing because I’m lazy and I want the easier way 🤣

Smells Like Teen Spirit

On the perky side of life, here is my version of Sweet Child of Mine by Guns N’ Roses. A staple during my high school days.

I kept playing the piano to cool down after my 7+ km walk tonight. Yep I just rested for two days and back again on the saddle.

It took me a little bit longer today because I didn’t pressure myself. But I think I didn’t change my pace that much since I still average 15 mins per km.

When the girls were much younger, this path was their playground. They pretended to go on a journey, like in Pokemon, climbed trees and explored the winding paths. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I wanted to catch the sunset again. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Concert machine

My concert machine. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I moved around furniture in my room, trying to figure out how I can best accommodate my piano that has been stuck in the huge closet with no purpose. I’m not getting my money’s worth if it’s just hidden there. Well, after some huffing and puffing, I reverted to the previous set-up and adjusted my worktable and the Ikea drawer.

A little bit tighter now. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

This set-up works for now; that area was dead space anyway. I tried playing for an hour and I think this will do for now. I mean I will just roll away from my desk to my piano to de-stress.

Prior to this room reconfiguring, I washed the girls’ old running shoes using the mini washing machine. I will give these away when we go home to my mom’s this coming weekend. They turned out clean! Yey! I no longer need to brush shoes manually. I am getting my money’s worth from this tiny machine. I now always have clean rags and foot mats.

Sushi ruining my bag. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My cats are happy that I’m home the entire day. They have this separation anxiety that I find endearing; but I have mixed feelings regarding this when it comes to humans. Good thing my girls outgrew this because it causes me anxiety; there’s always this guilty feeling that I need to come home soon or I always had to bring them with me wherever I go. I couldn’t have my “Me” time.

same thing now with my cats. When my girls tell me that my cats are waiting for me in my room and they don’t leave my room because they miss me, I couldn’t help feel that I needed to come home immediately. Sushi especially has this weird separation anxiety. They told me that while I was away in Singapore, Sushi never left my room and she rarely went down to hang at the living room or elsewhere. She just stayed in my room and slept. I told them not to wash my bedsheets until I arrive so that my cats can still smell me and be comforted.

They always wait outside my bedroom door everyday and wait for me to open it so that they can sleep with me. But of course I don’t want them inside my room when I retire for the night because of their 3 am or 4 am zoomies.

I guess they’re joining me tonight.

I’d rather have cats sleep with me than have somebody who disdains me and was just forced to share my bed because he had nowhere else to go.

Homesick

As part of “my learn two songs a day on the piano” challenge, I learned three songs tonight but I’m only uploading this one now. This is the only song I liked from Dua Lipa, which I have on my Spotify. Excuse the errors because I only learned this an hour or two before uploading.

Because we’re stuck again inside our homes and I’m still recovering from colds.

Lord, help me

Yamaha grand piano, worth several millions of pesos. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I am here at Yupangco Building in Makati with my girls. I had been trying out the pianos here and I am dying. Been tinkering with the grand pianos and upright pianos here. I may come out of this store with a Yamaha P-125 with me. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Yamaha P-125 in black and white. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Save me from myself. I’m like a kid in a candy store. I even fell in love with the guitars. The guitars are so beautiful and the tones are perfect. The cheapest Yamaha guitar there is PhP 17k.

We’re at the nearby Starbucks so I can calm myself and contemplate.

Came back to Yupangco…

Lovely to play, too expensive for me. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Flashyyyyy! Worth half a million pesos. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I can’t resist.

I’m such a sucker. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
It’s now gracing my small apartment. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

My birthday, Christmas, and promotion gift to myself. So far I haven’t felt any buyer’s remorse. It sounds and feels 10x better than my old Roland that I’m gonna sell online later tonight.

Bye bye Roland E-09. May you find another good home. Photo by CallMeCreation.com