Christmas waves a magic wand over this world and behold, everything is kinder, gentler, and more beautiful.




To spread Christmas Spirit throughout our community and our City, the Ormoc Festival and Cultural Foundation together with the Sts. Peter and Paul Parish and in cooperation with Congresswoman Lucy Torres Gomez, is bringing you once again Light Up a Star. Now on its second year, the Light up a Star Christmas project originally launched on Dec. 11, 2011. We are all overjoyed with its immense success that is why we have decided to hold this event every year.

Essentially, this is a fund raising program of the Parish and of the Foundation for various projects; one of which is the coffee table book of Ormoc which we will be launching in a few months from now.

Our sincerest thanks to our dear Congresswoman Lucy Torres Gomez for her enormous help that brought this project to fruition. That Giant Star up there represents her. Also, our special thanks to our major sponsors whose names appear on each of the big stars atop these small Christmas trees. We would also like to thank all our donors of these stars around the Christ the King circle. Without you, the success of this project wouldn't have been possible.

May these stars brighten and bring light to our lives not only during this Christmas season but all throughout the years to come. 

Thank you and Merry Christmas to all. 

-Gloria T. Velasquez, Chairman




The older I get: the longer I hold on to a Holiday hug 
The more I realize Christmas is a matter of the heart, 
The more I enjoy giving than receiving, 
The more I try to see Christmas through the eyes of a child, 
The longer I sit in the glow of the Christmas Tree light, 
The more wonderfully beautiful the Christmas story is, 
The deeper my awe at God's infinite Love… 
The more I LOVE Christmas.


Happy Holidays!

xoxo,

First of all, I want to thank EVERYONE for helping me report this person. Now that she's getting more publicity than she'd ever hope for, I just wish Facebook will do something before this gets any uglier. I was able to view some more photos that this poser has posted and just as I thought, she has another album titled, "My Maria" containing these photos:



Geez. Again, all my watermarks are cropped out. You gotta hand it to this girl. She has invested a lot of time doing all these editing/cropping of photos and uploading them. Such a hardworking poser! If she would just channel all that energy into something positive, I bet she'd be able to make a name for herself... or a face and an identity of her own. She even claims to be OPERATIONS MANAGER of Convergys? Now what kind of global company employs liars, posers, and fakers? Tsk tsk tsk.
And guess what? I think I'm not the only one who's being impersonated this time. My girl friend, Joneza, has a wannabe too!


Ching Mendoza? That's just really pathetic. Stealing pictures to post as your own? This has got to stop, you know.
Facebook is fast becoming like Friendster. It's getting too crowded and full of fakers. IMHO, if Facebook wants to stay as legit as it was back then, they ought to have stricter verification other than just asking for your mobile #. Maybe it should ask for a valid ID. Next thing you know, there'd be scammers, pedophiles, maniacs, and what have you lurking in there. You sure you wanna risk becoming a victim? Or maybe it's time to move on from FB? So I guess, good things don't really last forever.

But what am I talking about? It's EASTER! We should be rejoicing! I may not be your idea of what a Christian should be, but I don't care because you didn't die for me. Let's remember a man who died to remind us that goodness trumps evil and that forgiveness and mercy is more powerful than sin. Easter Sunday is the day Jesus rose from the dead, looked Satan in the eyes and said, "Game over!"
And speaking of games, I shall announce the winner of last week's contest! Weeeee! It's none other than...
Congrats to JayL of http://jay-elx.blogspot.com!
Please email me your shipping details so I can ship your prize!

These are some of the results when I searched for my first tweet... using different search methods:







Results showed either March 8, 2009 at 1:28 PM or March 8, 2009 at 05:28:47 (I'm not sure why there are two results, maybe time zone issues?)
Anyways, this week's question will be posted tonight or tomorrow. Just sit back and relax, enjoy your Easter, remember to slather some sunblock, don't eat too much chocolate, and check back for the third weekly contest question! ;)
As for me, I'll go ahead and stuff myself with sweet garlic roasted chicken and Vincenzo's liempo to congratulate myself for successfully completing 40 days of fasting or the no-meat diet! Let's all count our eggs and blessings this Easter time. Love to you all my family and friends...

Happy Easter to one and all!

OMG! It's like stalking to the Nth level all over again? I don't know which is worse... This one or that Naji incident from Friendster Forum. That girl was a moderater for a freaking forum and used 100+ pictures of me in her gallery. What the hey!? Took a lot of verbal abuse to get that over with...
I'm partly to blame because I was careless and uploaded pictures without watermarks, so naturally that attracted a lot of copycats. But come on, since then I've always put watermarks on my pictures and some poser now crops everything and posts them up as her own!? WTF?!

You be the judge.

When my Big Sis Marmel sent me a message asking me if this was an impostor's account, I immediately clicked on the profile link she gave me. At first, I thought it was alright maybe she liked that photo of me so she used it as her primary photo.

Then it gets creepier.
I clicked on the Profile Pictures album... and OMGWTFBBQ! She has a whole album of me...! FML! The nerve! SHE CROPPED ALL MY WATERMARKS OUT! And she has had this album for 5 freaking months already!? She's even got pictures of me taken back in 2007... and pictures of me and my friends, cousins, and even Noodle Boy is there!




And she's got COMMENTS, too! Holy crap.

I appreciate you liking my photos and all, but posting them as yours? What kind of ugly face you got that only a mother could love?!

Guys, if you're reading this post... and you have a Facebook account, I have a favor to ask. Please REPORT this person. Go to her profile at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000046245123&ref=nf and scroll to the bottom. See below:



I really really hate posers. :( I guess they just don't realize that it is a crime to steal pictures. They must be oblivious to the fact that anything anyone writes or any images are copyright of the owner and they are libel to prosecution if they use them or steal them without permission. Puh-lease, why don't you google image copyright infringement!!?
If imitation is the best form of flattery, I think this one here clearly went overboard. Must teach her a lesson. But I don't know if I want to fight this out right now. Jesus Christ hasn't even risen from the dead. Maybe I'll wait til after Easter to kill this creep. Tee hee.

Well, you know who's who. "Will the real MyMaria, please stand up!" Nawww, thanks. I think it's pretty obvious who's the copycat here. 'Nuff said.

~_~ You can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets, and shut it up in a tomb... but it will rise! Remember more than 2000 years ago, Jesus died for our sins so that we may have everlasting life. You may not like me, but Jesus thinks I'm to die for. ;) Think about it.

I just finished building the rabbit trap, now to add the right kind of bait to catch the Easter Bunny. (Gonna have her for dinner on Sunday! Rabbit stew!!! Nom nom nom!)

May all of you share an Easter that's bright and sunny, too... Filled with love and happiness in every way for you!



LATEST UPDATE: http://www.bastaigatsikat.com/2010/08/facebook-disabled-my-account.html

I'm a really bad planner. I don't really set schedules because I'm not a big fan of routines. I get bored easily and I always crave for something new. (I'm guessing that's partly why I haven't settled down?) I think it's the personality that I have. I like spontaneity. I live for randomness. And I enjoy being impulsive. Although there are downsides to it all, but I can't imagine myself being monotonous.

All my life I wanted to be different. I think when you follow a crowd, you have a tendency to get lost. I've always thought I'd deviate from the norms. To do things my way. To make a statement. And that got me into a lot of trouble. Really. You know the kind of trouble that gets you a police blotter? LOL! But I'm happy because it's fun that way. I love life. I like living. I have stories to tell my grandkids! It's a great big world out there and I can't wait to spread my wings and fly. Wait a minute, I had my chance and if my memory serves me correctly, I think I tried that already.

But something was missing, you know. I couldn't do it alone. I needed somebody to be with me in all my adventures and misadventures. It was then I realized that it's true we are all angels with one wing. The only way to fly, therefore, is to embrace one another. I asked myself who was willing to fly with me. I took it as a sign when Vincenzo commented last year on my primary photo with the quote, "Maybe some women aren't meant to be tamed. Maybe they just need to run free till they find someone just as wild to run with them." He said he'd run wild with me anytime. It might not be the most romantic approach but it was pretty cute. Because after all, why be in a relationship that stunts your growth? We all need someone who doesn't merely tolerate but also builds us up and molds us to become better persons not by restricting or putting limits to the things we do. That is the kind of relationship that works for me. And boy, am I glad to find someone just like that.

I hope everyone gets to celebrate life and love the way I do. I thank God every day for this gift.

So now I give you the winner for last week's weekly contest... *drumroll please*

The winner is leonora galo!!!

Please message me or shoot an email to mymariatv@gmail.com for details on how to claim your prize as well as send me your shipping details so I can send the items. ;)
Now for the next question... Let's make it a little more challenging, shall we?


Alright guys, there you go! If you haven't yet, follow me at TWITTER @MyMariaTV to win a Flickr Pro account and for this blog contest, a chance to win (1) kit of Local Obagi plus (1) Mistine White Spa Extra Whitening & Skin Perfecting Roll-on...


Of note, it wasn't until I saw the fliers did I realize Lucy Torres-Gomez is actually endorsing this product! Mabuhay ang mga taga-Ormoc!!!
Be good and have a blessed Holy Week ahead, y'all!


P.S. One more week and I can eat meat again! Yay!!!