Does the Zodiac REALLY tell us who we are?





I do not believe in Horoscopes... not just because of my religion but I always get the feeling they are expressively put there only to tell us what we want to hear.
The Zodiac is a total puzzle. According to its character profile; as a typical Libra I am romantic but particular, diplomatic but indecisive, ultimately happiest when in love, in reality I don't like being alone, I hate conflicts, will do absolutely anything to avoid confrontations  and  possess a high developed sense of objectivity and conflict resolution.  Except for the part of being in love (I haven’t been in love for years), the rest... all true.
After getting over the shock, I urged my colleagues to tell me their birth dates to get their Zodiac signs and read them their character profiles; all turned out accurate- a friend who’s a Scorpio admitted she does find it difficult to forgive when offended, a Scorpio trait. After that day, my fascination with the Zodiac was born.
Then I came across an article in an old copy of Marie Claire- the topic “How to Spot a Bastard” by using his Zodiac sign. Hear this, ladies...

 The Taurus Man... In a nut shell, he thinks he knows what’s good for you, a.k.a he’s arrogant and bossy.  
The Cancer Man, don’t ask what’s wrong with him, he’ll only say “nothing.” This means he is moody.
 The Scorpio Man will manipulate you until you become exactly what he wants you to be- which means he’s a tyrant. The Aries Man yearns for the time when men were men and women were grateful; a chauvinist. The Leo Man- you are so blessed to have such a special man... at least that’s what he’ll tell you; a conceited  egomaniac. The Libra Man (most disturbing to me) always gets his own way; stubborn and unbending.  Ugh... talk about North and North poles repel rather than attract! But there was a few that were more promising, like the Capricorn Man who is hardworking, ambitious and takes everything seriously.
Speaking of taking things seriously... while I was reluctant to believe in the accuracy of the Zodiac, I was a little freaked out at the way it listed out my traits that way, especially the ones I didn't know I had in the first place, it’s was like I didn't know the actual me until astrology pointed it out. Aren't we in a position to know all our traits; positive or negative? 
Or the real question is, does the Zodiac dictate our personalities or we humans form our personalities ourselves? If it's the second, how? Genes or experience? Or for real... the Zodiac is more than meets the scornful eye???

DIEGO AND PALOMA- The beginning







MEXICO...


It is harvest time again at the hacienda Casa Blanca; a plantation/ranch known for its fertile acres of land and its quality coffee crop. The workers-  known as bean collectors- arrive in droves to begin  work. Climbing out of one of the trucks are two women; one dark haired petite and youthful  looking woman,Soledad Suarez. The other is a tall, slim and staggeringly beautiful young woman with curly honey-blonde hair; her daughter Teresa but it is immediately  noticed that Soledad, the foreman Aurelio and  the male co-workers who attempt to  flirt with the disdainful young woman address her as 'Paloma' instead. Aurelio warmly welcomes the two women. The hacienda's owner, Don Lorenzo Sanchez-Serrano arrives with his wife, Inez. Don Lorenzo is looking obviously very frail and leans on Inez's arm as they enter the house. Paloma and Soledad interact with the other workers and go about their work but it appears that Paloma wants more out of life than harvesting crops for the rest of her life. Soledad is more of a simple persona.
The next morning, Don Lorenzo is unable to get out of bed and Inez is exasperated by the sound of Paloma's singing from afar but Lorenzo does not seem to mind a bit. Suddenly Lorenzo feels weaker and calls Inez to his side... he is dying.  Inez, filled with sorrow, tries to reassure him but Don Lorenzo dies in minutes.
Aurelio solemnly and sadly informs the workers that Don Lorenzo Sanchez-Serrano is dead and the outpouring of grief is great; Soledad especially is very tearful.
One by one; the family is notified. The eldest son, Juan Francisco is in New York when he received word. His son and the son of his younger brother Joachim- Fabian and the handsome Diego- are in England; having a party in their apartment. While Fabian is entertaining their guests, Diego is trying to get amorous with his date in the bedroom but alas, the plane refused to take off (to his acute frustration and embarrassment) so he gets dressed and leaves the room. They too get the news.
Diego's sister, Diana, is making love with her Scottish  boyfriend Jeremy Macgregor when she got the message of her grandfather's passing and to her dismay, Jeremy insisted on flying to Mexico with her. Diego's younger sister also received word but unfortunately cannot make it to the funeral as the play she was featuring in was to open the following night.
The family arrive in Casa Blanca for Don Lorenzo's funeral and console Inez. Paloma sees Diego walk by and is immediately fascinated by the handsome young man. At the funeral, Paloma walks to the front of the chapel to lay a flower on the Don's casket and Diego sees her for the very first time; giving her a faint smile in spite of himself.
The will is read out by the family counsel; Jorge. The hacienda is to go to Joachim which would then go to Diego after his death. The coffee exporting company known as El Cafetalero is to go to Juan Francisco, the older son. There are two odd things however; Don Lorenzo also stated that the grandson who bore a son first would inherit both the hacienda and the company. The second was a sealed envelope which he instructed Jorge NOT to open and view its contents until a certain period of time. The family is mystified but they reluctantly have to follow the late man's wishes.
Diego and Paloma become friends when he surprises her and Soledad with a T.V set to watch in their cabin instead of going to the main house to watch telenovelas through the window like they usually did. A co-worker harasses Paloma and Diego breaks up a fight between them. Joachim, who is very protective of his children does not approve of Jeremy; to his discomfort. Barbara, Fabian's official girlfriend hopes he will finally commit to her.
The days go by and Diego and Paloma; after getting to know each other more, realize that they are in love. One moonlit night, they go to the lake, discussing their feelings and plans for the future as Diego has to go back to England with Fabian; while Paloma and Soledad have to drift on. Emotions are high between the couple. Paloma admits that she's never made love to a man. Diego in turn tells her he's never slept with a woman (obviously Paloma is the one woman who actually turned him on).
Paloma, very shy and a little fearful, stands trembling as Diego pulls down the shoulder strap of her dress but does not stop him. Diego then  slowly unzips her dress, they kiss and sink to the ground; Paloma unbuttons his shirt and takes it off...
They then made love under the stars; their action punctuated by kisses and caresses then finally, they fell asleep in each other's arms...

MY FAVORITE THINGS: YEAR 6 !


I first learnt about blogging from a professional blogger(and very talented lady) who posted recaps of the telenovela La Hija de Jardinero (The Gardener's Daughter) and  other things in her blog,
 TELENOVELA LOVE GARDEN .  When I found my way to blogger, I agonized over what to call mine and what to put in it. Since Mrs. Philomena  already put 'The Gardener's daughters' episodes in hers, I thought I would try to talk about movies and books to begin with.
Hence, after naming my blog MY FAVORITE THINGS; on May 10th 2007, I posted my very first post- AND THEN THERE WAS THREE   and the next day it was about the release of J.K Rowling's final Harry Potter book in   ATTENTION HARRY POTTER FANS!  At that time, I had no idea what I was doing except I wanted my blog to contain my interests as well as entertain my visitors. At one point I thought about deleting MY FAVORITE THINGS since it didn't seem to be attracting  much traffic but then I posted  IT'S RAINING TELENOVELAS  and suddenly I had more readers, mostly in thanks to Mrs. Philomena who saw my blog and praised my efforts (Welcome Amina, The Telenovela Rainmaker)
 and she and many people encouraged me to keep MY FAVORITE THINGS going. My first official label was  WORLD OF LATINA; followed by recaps of CATALINA y SEBASTIAN, movie reviews under LATEST MOVIES , celebrities under PEOPLE , summaries of a classic mini series under THE THORN BIRDS  and about T.V couple Bo Brady and Carly Manning under Carbo; chapters of my story & a one shot based on them under CARBO FAN FICTION. There are other labels in this blog, each one fun to put together but the one that was the most fun/ the most challenging was the TU O NADIE EPISODES( No One But You) ; everything was  entirely drawn from memory and watching some clips in YT(difficult since my Spanish is not excellent) and a few English episodes I recorded on our VCR (the cassette is completely dirty now, alas) but it was all worth it in the end, plus the trivia about the remakes and afterwards posting episodes of of one of them, ACAPULCO BODY & SOUL
In the 6 years I've maintained MY FAVORITE THINGS, I've not made any money from it but the reward I've reaped are  my readers and having warm interactions with my visitors who love my blog and what I post. For me, it's good practice for a writer like me- each post gives me more confidence that  writing is my calling; nothing else. I also enjoy the comments and feedback I get as well as the large amount of traffic; that's more than enough reward for me.
I'm thankful to God that I'm posting this anniversary post; I'm thankful to my readers/blog visitors and my mentor, Mrs. Philomena. Your words of  encouragement were a major fuel in keeping this blog going and I pray  there will be more years of MY FAVORITE THINGS. A very big THANK YOU to my readers/visitors for visiting, reading, commenting and messaging. I honestly and truly appreciate it.
Happy Anniversary, MY FAVORITE THINGS and peace be with you all.
HONEY xxxxx

CARBO FAN FICTION-Return Journey Chapter 18



Chapter 18
Finally the day of Daniel and Darcy’s wedding arrived. The wedding planner Carly had hired had done a very good job; from the food to the decorations, not one thing was lacking.

CARBO FAN FICTION- Return Journey Chapter 17




Chapter 17
As Chelsea was now in the bridal party; Billie decided to extend their visit but knowing very well that her grandmother Kate would have nothing but negative things to say about Daniel and Darcy; Chelsea opted to stay at Carly’s house- wanting to spend more time with her sisters and her baby brother.

CARBO FAN FICTION- Return Journey Chapter 16




Chapter 16


‘Hope Brady; you’ve got a visitor.’


Hope looked up from the book she was reading. ‘Who?’ she asked, wondering if it was Bo. She hadn't seen him since she’d signed the divorce papers.


‘Some guy. On your feet.’



CARBO FAN FICTION- Return Journey Chapter 15

               
           
Chapter 15
The baby was nine pounds, seven ounces and like Darcy said- all together beautiful. Carly held her new son with a new found peace and happiness; a feeling she didn't have years ago after Darcy’s birth. 

CARBO FAN FICTION- Return Journey Chapter 14


Chapter 14

The female officer who had accompanied Roman remained at the house to stay with Ciara while Carly went to the hospital with Roman, nervous hands twisting on her lap in great anxiety and fear for Bo.

MOTHER'S DAY: ME AND MUM




It's Mother's Day here in Nigeria today and I think over my relationship with my Mum. I'm my mother's first child and only daughter; after me came two sons. Mum has always been overprotective with me especially; it would appear touching but as a woman of 33 now, I find it exasperating and  rather annoying. But that's the thing; even when you leave your childhood behind, you  remain your Mum's child for the rest of your life. 
Mum and I have had our share of friction and  closeness over the years, mostly because we think differently and have different preferences. These days I try to be more assertive since I'm not a teenager anymore but it's not all that easy since I live in a society where sassing your elders is considered as something  just not done. Some daughters are their mother's best friends, some are like their sisters/mother and child. I love my Mum and I know she loves me as well but the only way I can define our relationship would be  enduring
Even though she's looked after me all through my childhood till now, there is still something missing between us; which is real communication where I can tell her just about anything. And there is the feeling of not being the sort of daughter that she wants because so far, I don't think I've really done anything to make her proud. 
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitching about her, Lord no! She's carried a lot of burden on her shoulders over the years; mostly for us kids and we three hope that in time we'll be able to repay her for it. And we also hope that we'll achieve something huge and be a real credit to her.
Mothers don't always share our interests, personalities and opinions but real mothers be there for the children. And a mother's love is constant and forever. Which is the type of love my mum has for us three. 

CARBO FAN FICTION- Return Journey Chapter 13





Chapter 13
Two weeks later...

Doug Williams was very upset about his daughter and couldn't help feeling that Hope’s  mother was reproaching him from Heaven. Addie had carried Hope to term even though she was stricken with leukaemia, refusing any form of  treatment. 

CARBO FAN FICTION- Return Journey Chapter 12



Chapter 12

Shawn Douglas went back to his parents’ house the following day only to get his backpack and that was after Bo had left for work; so he left a note telling him he was staying with Carly. It wrung Carly’s heart to see her beloved foster son alienated from his parents and family but Shawn Douglas flatly refused to discuss them or go to the Pub, although he did insist that the current situation wasn't Carly’s fault at all; his family’s behaviour had shocked him so much that he simply couldn't be around them for now.


Tu O Nadie: The fifth version

Did you know that the beloved 1985 telenovela " Tu No Nadie" (No One But You)   has a 5th version? I recently discovered this by ...

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