Help Fight HPV

PGH doctors on a mission against HPV
by Eric Michael Santos

Started in December 2008, a group of obstetrician-gynecologists-infectious disease specialists at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) is implementing an advocacy program to make human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination accessible to more Filipinos. The program headed by Dr. Ricardo Manalastas, Jr., chief, UP-PGH Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Section of Infectious Diseases (OB-IDS), initially focused their program on socio-civic organizations, private schools, and corporations.
“We explain to members of these groups the benefits and cost of HPV prevention through vaccination and that through our advocacy program, we no longer charge a certain professional fee for the vaccination.”
Increasing incidence rate of cervical cancer and other HPV diseases
“From 1980 to 1995, the incidence rate of cervical cancer in the country has remained a relatively high 22 per 100,000 women. Almost 7 out of 10 of cases are diagnosed in the advanced stage when the chance of dying from the disease is high. About 6 out of 10 Filipino women with cervical cancer will die within 5 years,” Dr. Manalastas said.

more at http://www.hpv.com.ph/media.html

We need your old glasses

I saw this in the National Museum's yocard stand. This is the first time I have heard of recycling eyeglasses for other people's use. See below details of this advocacy of George Optical. I'm an eyeglasses user myself. I've got really bad eyes. And I understand completely how it is like to live in blur. Unfortunately, due to rampant poverty a lot of people in the country who've got eye problems can't afford to buy a pair of eyeglasses. [Well, I've been using the frame I'm wearing for about 4 years now. I only upgrade the lenses not the frame because it's expensive.]
I believe in the cause, so I'll visit the shop one of these days to donate my glasses. If you intend to help, too, see details below.

http://www.george-optical.com/corporate_responsibility.html
The G.O. Green Campaign, which officially kicks off April 1, 2010, encourages eyeglass wearers to support the environment and aid the less fortunate by helping recycle old frames. In light of this, recycling efforts will benefit the Missionaries of Charity (Home of Joy), the charity patients of the Ophthalmology Division of the Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Ophthalmology Division of the University of Santo Tomas Hospital, and UNTV.

Customers can drop off their old frames (no purchase required) at any George Optical branch, where they will also be recycled for the use of the George Co Sr. Foundation. The Foundation will also cover the costs of the lens and actual repairs.

Yes, I am that girl!

After my treatment at the derma, I proceeded to National Bookstore to check a copy of Dawkin's The God Delusion. I gave my copy to a friend back in the province when i went home for the christmas holiday. Unfortunately, the bookstore doesn't have stock yet, again. To compensate with my disappointment, I checked out in the corner where they display their bookmarks to see what's new. And i found these... :D

It's another Hannah Montana BMs. And they're just simply lovely. :D

Erasmus

"When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes." - Erasmus

I have heard of Erasmus Mundus first before i learned about this Dutch Philosopher. When I got this BM, I thought this must be the same genius which the student exchange programme is named after. And yes it is. The Erasmus Programme (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students)for European students and Erasmus Mundus is for non-Europeans, and in fact open for Filipino students.

Copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus
Erasmus was a classical scholar who wrote in a "pure" Latin style and enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists." He has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists." Using humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament. These raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also wrote The Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, Julius Exclusus, and many other works.

Erasmus lived through the Reformation period and he consistently criticized some contemporary popular Christian beliefs. In relation to clerical abuses in the Church, Erasmus remained committed to reforming the Church from within. He also held to Catholic doctrines such as that of free will, which some Protestant Reformers rejected in favor of the doctrine of predestination. His middle road approach disappointed and even angered many Protestants, such as Martin Luther, as well as conservative Catholics. He died in Basel in 1536 and was buried in the formerly Catholic cathedral there, recently converted to a Reformed church.

Mr. Nobody and Somebody

As far as i can remember, these are original works - graphic art - from my swap partner's friend. It's nice to receive something like an original work from swapping. :)

Death Note

I got addicted watching Death Note sometime last year. A bit late from the craze, actually. I fell for the character named L, which made me use his picture as my profile pic in Facebook for quite some time. And it was only this year, when I was browsing my bookmark album, that I found out about having a Death Note bookmark with his picture on it. I could get a little clumsy at times that I miss or forget details like this. It's normal. I completely didn't remember seeing this Japanese Anime in my bookmark collection when I was staying up late series-marathoning. :p

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note
Death Note (デスノート, Desu Nōto?) is a Japanese manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The series centers on Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the "Death Note", dropped on Earth by a shinigami (death god) named Ryuk. The Death Note grants its user the ability to kill anyone whose face they have seen, by writing the victim's name in the notebook. The story follows Light's attempt to create and rule a world cleansed of evil using the notebook, and the complex conflict between him, his opponents and a mysterious detective known to the world only as L.

Death Note was first serialized in 108 chapters by Shueisha in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to May 2006. The series was also published in tankōbon format in Japan starting in May 2004 and ending in October 2006 with a total of twelve volumes. The series was adapted into live-action films released in Japan on June 17, 2006, on November 3, 2006, and on February 2, 2008. The anime series aired in Japan from October 3, 2006, to June 26, 2007. Composed of 37 episodes, the anime was developed by Madhouse and directed by Tetsuro Araki. A light novel based on the series, written by Nisio Isin, was released in Japan.

Palacio de Mineria

A bookmark from Mexico featuring another historical structure - Palacio de Mineria. Every year the Palace of Mines is used as temporary home office of one of the most important world-wide known publishing events in the country: The International Book Fair.

http://www.palaciomineria.unam.mx/english/palaceofmines.php
Palace of Mines, masterpiece of Latin American neoclassicism, is situated in Mexico City, at the end of Tacuba Street, facing the plaza named after Manuel Tolsá, where the equestrian statue of Charles IV, better known as “El Caballito”, creation of the same artist, is located. The most important civil building, made up by this Valencian sculptor and architect, was built to house the Royal Seminar of Mines in order to give academic instruction to miners since 1813.

The majestic monument of elegant forms and exact proportions where light, space and functionality merge, is one of the most outstanding constructions within Mexican architecture. It is part of the artistic and cultural patrimony of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), which, at present time, is under the custody of the School of Engineering.

Teotihuacan

Bookmarks are not only tools or accessories that mark our page in a book, but also they are information materials which contain literary quotations, works of art, films, famous authors and books, historical events and places and many others.

Honestly, I know nothing about Teotihuacan before I got this bookmark and wondered what this word means or what it is. Now I know.

Bookmarks can widen our knowledge about history and other countries' culture. We just have to take the initiative to research if we encounter something we haven't heard of. We only need that curiosity and passion of learning more going. *winks*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with an orthographic accent on the last syllable, following the conventions of Spanish orthography – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas. Apart from the pyramidal structures, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals.

The city was thought to have been established around 200 BCE, lasting until its fall sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries CE At its zenith in the first half of the 1st millennium CE, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas. At this time it may have had more than 200,000 inhabitants, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. The civilization and cultural complex associated with the site is also referred to as Teotihuacan or Teotihuacano.

Haruki Murakami

Any bookworms has heard of him and/or read his pieces. I'm glad i got BMs featuring Haruki Murakami from different exchanges i had. This one is from Portugal.

Copied from http://www.murakami.ch/hm/bibliography/main.html
Legend has it that on a warm day in Spring 1974 while watching a baseball game Murakami-san had the inspiration to write his first novel, later called Hear the Wind sing.

It won him his first Literary award and is part of The Trilogy of the Rat together with Pinball 1973 and A Wild Sheep Chase .

His career as an writer took off fast and a steady flow of Novels, Short Stories, Articles and Documentaries followed.

The fact that he spent a good part of his life outside Japan, mainly in the US and southern Europe, is maybe the key factor of his growing worldwide success.

The stories and settings are familiar to Westerners and yet there is a distinctive Japanese touch.

Puzzle bookmarks

I'm back. :) I got sooo many stuff going, especially with the summer hanging around: going back to my second home - Bohol - after 14 long years, my grandma's birthday, volunteer work at the National Museum, another certificate course - graphic and web design -, full-time work and a lot more. Well, still busy actually, but at least I have find time to post another entry in this blog.

This is my first complete 6-pc. puzzle bookmark. I didn't have any idea about puzzle bookmarks when my swap partner from Portugal sent me this. I was so surprised and excited. After then I started looking more of the puzzle types of bookmarks.

Shark Hologram

I have to position it in such a way that i could clearly capture the Great White Shark's image. It's a hologram, yes. I got this from a souvenir shop in Underwater World at Sentosa in Singapore. I choose this amongst others because of its ferocious look. It looks a bit spooky but cute, i don't know. *tongues out* http://www.indianchild.com/great_white_shark.htm
One species of the shark clan is the great white shark that swims around the coastal regions of the all the oceans. These sharks are also known as white pointer, white death, as well as white shark. The scientific name of this shark species is Carcharodon carcharias.

The white sharks are the largest predatory fish in the world. It is the only species of the genus Carcharodon that has survived the ravages of time. The rest of the species have gone into extinction.

The great white sharks are extremely sensitive to the electrical field emitted by the movement of living creatures. Their sensitivity is due to the extra sense that was given by the Ampullae of Lorenzini. The sharks are so sensitive that they can perceive half a billionth of a volt.

Your ticket to the pages

I don't know with you guys, but i think the bus tickets that are neglectfully left in your jeans' pockets or in your purses after a backpacking trip from other countries can be a brilliant idea for a bookmark. I was in a city bus, heading to Likas Bay in Malaysia, staring on my bus ticket when i thought of the idea. Bus tickets, usually, are written by the national language of the country and it reflects the amount paid for the ride in that country's currency. It's a nice souvenir, right? How about you go a little further and laminate it? You preserve the ticket souvenir, at the same time you have created an interesting international bookmark.

Here are the tickets I've got from a recent trip, Malaysia and Brunei, and from last year's trip in Vietnam. I've placed two tickets in one row and laminated it. You may leave it as is or you may put a hole on one end and put some frills that match the color or theme of the ticket.

I'm a Buffalo skin

This is a hand painted Buffalo skin bookmark i got from one of the booths in UP Fair - a traditional yearly concert of rock bands at University of the Philippines Diliman. I never thought somebody would have an interest to make a bookmark out of this beast's skin, but hey, why not. For me, it's a very unique and exotic material for a bookmark.

Buffalo, from Greek boubalos, perhaps from bous, cow; see gwou- in Indo-European roots.
Word History: The buffalo is so closely associated with the Wild West that one might assume that its name comes from a Native American word, as is the case with the words moose and skunk. In fact, however, buffalo can probably be traced back by way of one or more of the Romance languages through Late and Classical Latin and ultimately to the Greek word boubalos, meaning "an antelope or a buffalo." The buffalo referred to by the Greek and Latin words was of course not the American one but an Old World mammal, such as the water buffalo of southern Asia. Applied to the North American mammal, buffalo is a misnomer, bison being the preferred term. As far as everyday usage is concerned, however, buffalo, first recorded for the American mammal in 1635, is older than bison, first recorded in 1774.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Buffalo

Sobby Sabah

I just arrived last week from Kota Kinabalu (KK), Malaysia (and Brunei but, unfortunately, i wasn't able to buy bookmarks in Brunei). KK is the capital of Sabah state in Malaysia.

As a bookmark collector, i always ask vendors in souvenir shops and even in bookstores inside their malls if they sell bookmarks. Others understand what a bookmark is while others don't. My bookmark hunting finally satisfied when we visited Mt. Kinabalu park, where their souvenir shops sell really beautiful bookmarks. So, ---->
that's what I've got, a classic wooden bookmark with a carved Pitcher Plant design on top. Different species of pitcher plants are common in the lushes of Mt. Kinabalu and that's probably the reason they make souvenirs with such design.

I got another bookmark at one of the busy walk bridges in the heart of Kota Kinabalu. It's a warm crochet - and cheapskate i should say - bookmark with frills on both ends.

More About Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu is named after Mount Kinabalu, situated about 90 kilometres east-northeast of the city. Kinabalu derived from the name Aki Nabalu meaning the "revered place of the dead", in which, Aki means "ancestors" or "grandfather", and Nabalu being a name for the mountain in the Dusun language. There is also a source claiming that the term originated from Ki Nabalu, where Ki meaning "have" or "exist", and Nabalu meaning "spirit of the dead".

Bookmark Day: March 5

Ok, so I missed the Ist Bookmark Virtual Convention. In the absence of luck, I had a hard time looking for a way how to have Paypal account or something for me to pay and register. Honestly, I don’t have any credit card anymore, I cancelled it. It wasn’t a wise move when I got one. But, I realized the downside of not having one when circumstances like this comes along. Anyway, so much of the credit card thingie.

So I thought I have to wait for quite another while to experience another event for bookmark collectors until I stumbled on THIS BLOG. An American bookmark collector, Monica Schroeder, had a brilliant idea of creating a Bookmark Day. And that day is already fast approaching, it will be on March 15.

Isn’t that great to hear about? I missed something but, surely, another good thing is gonna come. This is what I am looking forward to.

If you’re an author, a bookmark seller, a bookmark blogger and/or a bookmark promoter who wish to donate or sell books and bookmarks, then this is your day. Proceed to this link for further information.

Let’s join the hype and have some fun. This is surely be great.

The Leading Men

This is one of my favorite bookmark series I have. Each bookmark features an old romantic film that was a box-office hit several years ago. Below are the leading men who starred in the films. I got these beautiful series from a swap partner in Spain.

The Leading Men (left to right)
Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan: The Ape Man)
Paul Newman (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
James Dean (Rebel Without a Cause)
Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire)
Sean Connery (Goldfinger)
Gary Cooper (Saratoga Trunk)
Rock Hudson (Pillow Talk)
Humphrey Bogart (High Sierra)
Clark Gable (Gone with the Wind)

Ye Shanghai

Accidentally, a classmate in my photography class learned that i collect bookmarks. He, surprisingly, told me he'll give me some bookmarks his wife brought from China. It was so thoughtful of him especially that we weren't really talking in the class. Anyway, so in the next photography meeting, he got me this. Very Chinese and it's lovely. Below is write-up on its back.

A fitting dress with a high Mandarin collar and equally high slits, the qipao was the height of fashion in the 1030s. Tailored to flatter the slim figures of Shanghainese women, it became the pinnacle of Shanghai's fashion culture and established the city as the fashion center of China. Beautifully dressed, the city's elite would flock to Nanking Theater to watch foreign films. Today, the theater has been renamed Shanghai Concert Hall, home to the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

Despite the modern-day, cosmopolitan landscape known as the Paris of the East, the links to the past remain strong.

This bookmark must show

I got this metallic bookmark from Powerbooks. I simply like the quote.

David Copperfield or The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (which he never meant to publish on any account) is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial form a year earlier. Many elements within the novel follow events in Dickens' own life, and it is probably the most autobiographical of all of his novels. In the preface to the 1867 Charles Dickens edition, he wrote, "… like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield."

***Wikipedia

Chilean sailor, i guess

This lovely bookmark i got from a swap partner in Chile. This is only one among the series, which is enclosed in a nice packaging. This is an art from the Fundacion Pablo Neruda.

According to its rules, the Pablo Neruda Foundation holds as its general purpose, “the practice and divulgation of arts and letters”. It acquires legal existence with the publication of the Justice Department’s Supreme Decree 368 in the “Diario Oficial”, on June 4th, 1986. Its legal precedent was the will of Matilde Urrutia, the poet’s widow, which constitutes the Foundation, outlines its rules and appoints its directors and counsellors.

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), whose real name is Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, was born on 12 July, 1904, in the town of Parral in Chile. His father was a railway employee and his mother, who died shortly after his birth, a teacher. Some years later his father, who had then moved to the town of Temuco, remarried doña Trinidad Candia Malverde. The poet spent his childhood and youth in Temuco, where he also got to know Gabriela Mistral, head of the girls' secondary school, who took a liking to him... continue

Pen Bookmark

Who says a pen can't be a bookmark?
It's a pen and a bookmark in one. Another clever cute little thing. Only you shouldn't use the pen in marking/highlighting parts of your book. Never ever write on your book. It would ruin the pages, and of course, it would make it look untidy. If you have to save important messages, then grab a piece of paper or a notebook and jot down what you have to.
I got this from a swap partner in France.

Rainy Days Bookmark

This i would call, "Rainy Days bookmark". I'm fond of fleece material especially in blankets. I have a low tolerance in cold temperature so I would always give credit to the makers of fleece blankets. :D

With this bookmark, my rainy season reading, surely, will be warmer.

Fleece is a general term for a soft fabric (often with a deep pile). Also refers to the woolen coat of a domestic sheep or long-haired goat, especially after having been sheared (but before being processed into yarn or thread)

***Wikipedia

Saigon Lady

This is a bookmark painted in Dzo Paper me and Brando got from Vietnam. Shown in the painting is a Vietnamese lady in traditional costume with her bicycle. This is a typical view in Vietnam, even nowadays.

Although fragile and flexible, the dzo paper (made from mulberry bark) is also long lasting and durable. Used by ethnic minorities for altar paintings, for honourable certificates and for inscribing buddhist sutras.

"When I paint on this kind of paper, I can feel the spirit of calmness and thoughtfulness of my ancestors. Patience is also needed when working on dzo paper, and this helps me to develop new pictures slowly because when one color is dry, a new color can be applied to it with strange effects." Vu Thu Hien, Vietnamese artist

***http://www.lalunagallery.com/artist_vu_thu_hien.asp

Magnifies

Quite a unique and a very practical one for a bookmark - magnifying sheet and a bookmark in one. This is a very helpful tool for me, especially when i get older. *laughs* At least i don't have to buy me a magnifying glass anymore. A friend got this from a trade show in China, which she then gave me when she arrived home.

A sheet magnifier consists of many very narrow concentric ring-shaped lenses, such that the combination acts as a single lens but is much thinner. This arrangement is known as a Fresnel lens.

***Wikipedia

Purple Butterfly

A fun bookmark my boss gave me for my birthday - together with other stuff. It's a plastic butterfly-shaped clip bookmark.

According to the “Butterflies” chapter in Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn, a butterfly is seen as the personification of a person's soul; whether they be living, dying, or already dead. In the Philippines, a superstition says that if a butterfly enters your house, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. However, large numbers of butterflies are viewed as bad omens.

***Wikipedia

People of the Lake

I got this wooden bookmark in Davao City. This is hand painted by a well-known tribe in the South (which usually refers to Mindanao) called Maranao. I'm, personally, quite familiar with this group since I'm also from Mindanao, only in the Northern part. This bookmark has a metal clam-like ornament, which clings when moved.

Maranao is the term used for the people of Lanao, a predominantly Muslim region in the Philippine island of Mindanao. They are famous for their artwork, sophisticated weaving, wood and metal craft, and their epic literature. The word Maranao, also spelled Maranaw, means "People of the Lake", referring to the indigenous people who inhabited the lands around Lake Lanao whose principal town is Marawi City. The Maranaos are part of the wider Moro ethnic group, who constitute the sixth largest Filipino ethnic group.

***Wikipedia

Jack-o'-lantern

This is another magnetic bookmark in a die-cut Jack-o'-lantern design. I got this free from a trade show in Hongkong.

A jack-o'-lantern (sometimes also spelled Jack O'Lantern) is typically a carved pumpkin. It is associated chiefly with the holiday Halloween. The tradition of carving a lantern started in the UK. However it was traditionally carved from a swede or a turnip. They were carved on All Hallows' Eve and left on the door step to ward off evil spirits. An offering or, as we know know it, a "treat" would also be commonly left, as it was feared if you didn't the demons and spirits would fiddle with property or live stock (play a "trick"). Once the tradition moved to the USA it was adapted to the carving of a pumpkin as these were more readily available and easier to carve. The ritual of "trick or treating" was soon invented to re-create the coming of demons and ghouls on the night to dwellings requesting a treat (which is now traditionally given as candy)or a trick would be played. The demons and ghouls are now of course children dressed up to represent them.

***Wikipedia

UNICEF

I got this magnetic UNICEF bookmark from a swap partner in France. It's one of my favorites.

The United Nations Children's Fund (or UNICEF) was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II. In 1953, UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations System and its name was shortened from the original United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund but it has continued to be known by the popular acronym based on this old name. Headquartered in New York City, UNICEF provides long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.

***Wikipedia

Precious Moments

This is a porcelain bookmark i got from Precious Moments kiosk. I thought it's something new to have a bookmark of such material. The print shows a young lady who's holding a cake and standing beside a basket of fruits. Notice the book inside her side pocket, just lovely.

Porcelain derives its present name from old Italian porcellana (cowrie shell) because of its resemblance to the translucent surface of the shell. Porcelain can informally be referred to as "china" in some English-speaking countries, as China was the birth place of porcelain making. Properties associated with porcelain include low permeability and elasticity; considerable strength, hardness, glassiness, brittleness, whiteness, translucence, and resonance; and a high resistance to chemical attack and thermal shock.

***Wikipedia

Hannah Montana

Who doesn't love this girl?
I'm 26, yet I'm a fan. So I can't help but keep a few Hannah Montana bookmarks.

Hannah Montana is an American television series, which debuted on March 24, 2006 on Disney Channel. The series focuses on a girl who lives a double life as an average teenage school girl named Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus) by day and a famous pop singer named Hannah Montana by night, concealing her real identity from the public, other than her close friends and family.

***Wikipedia

Elephant

Another wooden bookmark from South East Asian country - Thailand. My boss gave this to me when she arrived from a business trip in Bangkok. She kinda know i fancy bookmarks.

While Carabao is the beast of burden in the Philippines, it is the Elephant in Thailand. The Elephants were also important in battle, with kings mounted on them fighting the Burmese to defend their country on many occasions. They have also been noted for their intelligence, memory and pleasant nature. A Thai legend has it that a marriage is like an elephant-- the husband is the front legs, that choose the direction, the wife the back legs, providing the power.
Elephants only sleep for three or four hours a day, usually from 11pm to 3am. They simply lie down, yawning and later snoring just like humans. Only sick elephants sleep standing up.

***http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/elephants_thai.html

The Hill Tribes

These are wooden bookmarks with a miniature doll in ethnic costumes. I got them from an swap partner from Thailand. These dolls are actually representations of the Hill Tribes. It is a term used in Thailand for all of the various tribal peoples who migrated from China and Tibet over the past few centuries. They now inhabit the remote border areas between Northern Thailand, Laos and Burma (Myanmar). These areas are known for their thick forests and mountainous terrain. The hill tribes are subsistence farmers who use slash and burn agricultural techniques to farm their heavily forested communities.

The six major hill tribes within Thailand are the Akha, Lahu, Karen, Hmong, Mien and Lisu, each with a distinct language and culture.

***Wikipedia

Tha Black Cat

Isn't he lovely?

I have a thing for black cats. They've got oozing sophistication. I've always wanted to own one. Actually, a neighbor offered his Siberian Black cat to me last January, only i refused because of the lack of space for a feline in our apartment. Not all of my housemates like cats, so that would be a problem. For now, I'll just content myself with an equally adorable Black Cat Bookmark.

A black cat is a feline with black fur. Black cats may be thought of as either good luck or bad. It is not a particular breed of cat and may be mixed or of a specific breed. The all-black pigmentation is equally prevalent in both male and female cats. It is interesting to note that adult black cats cannot have blue eyes.

In literature, The Black Cat is an 1843 short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. In 2002, Neil Gaiman published a children's novel called Coraline, where one of the characters is a black cat who acts as a wise yet snide guide to the protagonist-Coraline

***Wikipedia

The Light of Wisdom

This is metal bookmark Brando got me from Powerbooks - one of the few good bookstores in the Philippines. It's not locally made, it's an importation, but i'll group this under Philippines anyway, since we only acquired it here.
It's named "The Light of Wisdom". Check out what's written on its case.

“There is a universe comprises of all kinds of fun, knowledge, venture, romance, passion, vision, wisdom and much more. Enthusiastic patrons may already have realized the joy they may experience in, and the power they can tap from such a universe. Accompanying your expedition in this boundless dimension, this piece of equipment serves as a milestone to register every stop you make along your voyage of acquiring the power of knowledge, the source of intelligence, the light of wisdom, the key to success and anything your quest for in this sublime resource of everything.”