Para Kay B:

"Please leave

everything behind

the memories, the laughter

my heart

(that you took unknowingly)

that I gave you,

that you ignored,

willingly.

Please leave

my mind soon.

my heart sooner.

me alone."

------------------------------

Sorry to Ricky Lee for using the title of his book as my excuse to address my own "B". For a more critical review of Para Kay B (the book), click here.

Of Lanterns, right of view, rotating Oble, driving, MDJ etc.

Instead of uploading pictures of the Lantern Parade (Dec 17 2008), I will blog about it. Para maiba naman. (With pictures pa rin, syempre).

Last Wednesday was my first time to watch the Lantern Parade "Diliman version" despite all the hype that is associated with it. Pero it was not my first time, overall. Syempre, 'yung UPM Lantern Parade 'nung Freshie ako was my first. Ha. At, naglakad ako with the Parade.


This time, naki-nood na lang ako. Not wanting to shed off unwanted calories(?!) we just sat in front of the waiting shed just outside the AS parking lot, near the Palma Hall Annex (Exact location 'yan! We kept telling people where we were exactly kasi nagkakawalaan na. Hahaha). That spot, which for some was not-so-good, turned out to be the prime spot. We watched half the Parade sitting.

We miss you, Pau.

No one would dare stand in front of where Teppie, Elaine, Janjan, Jecy and I were sitting. They could walk, run or drag their selves to somewhere in front of us but not stand there and linger! Because, I argued, that space was our "right of view" just as passersby had their "right of way". :)


We (or I did) spent half the time making fun of people's funny outfits, quirky "props" and, uh, their behavior. Example: Merong "couple" in a yellow Pimp-My-Ride-ish car parked directly across us. They were taking pictures and stuff. Ayun, just like the Piattos commercial, we (or, again, I did) dubbed them. Haha. Masaya. :)

I didn't take notice, and note, of the lanterns of each of the campuses, orgs, admin, etc per se (Hehe). What I noticed was, of course, CAS or UPM's which "featured" this rotating replica of the Oblation. Pero, thanks to Justine's very observant eyes, we were able to see (and appreciate) that it was rotating because two men were alternating at making the Oblation replica turn. Yes, they were manually turning it. (I can just imagine how their arms ached after the Parade, which we didn't bother to finish watching).

If you were observant enough in reading you'd notice that I mentioned " watching half the Parade sitting". Tumayo kami later on because there was this, uh, group in green-colored pants and black tops making wonderful(?) noises using plastic drums (and things of that sort). And one of their dancers actually sat beside me and Janjan! Hahaha. (Meron ding group with wonderful dancers in green, pang-magsasaka-like long sleeves. They were good. :D)

But really, the highlight of the night (and the afternoon) wasn't the Parade. :) It was two things.
1) Seeing Janjan drive for the first time! I was so perplexed (Ha!) that I was quiet the whole time; laughing occasionally because of Harold's Panalo comments (Dapat mag-i-isaw siya kasama namin kaso uwi na siya, so parang hinatid lang niya kami sa may Kalayaan dorm. Salamat pa rin, nonetheless); ****Photo to follow**** and;

2) Nanlibre si Ma'am Doti ng kwek-kwek, squid balls, fish balls at C2! (She was true her word! Hahaha. Salamat Ma'am. Merry Christmas!)

Area Studies Batch 2010 and Prof. Jose

***Nga pala, there was one downside. (Two, actually, but I'd rather not talk of the first. Ha) Here it goes: Dinaya kami ng Rodicks! I saw Jecy pay P120 (two fifty-peso bills and two ten-peso coins) for two Tapsilogs but the lady with unlady-like behavior at the counter said "Kulang pa ng ten." Hay. Not wanting to cause a scene for just ten pesos, Jecy and I gave her an extra ten. Badtrip. But the food is okay. :) So bawi lang.

Enjoying our food, which cost P10 more

Are you Christmas-ready?

It's roughly two weeks (or less) 'till Christmas. Everyone has finished their to-do lists, to-buy lists, wishlists and every list there is to make that is relevant to this season of giving.

But are we really ready?

To make it sort of easier to check (and do, later on) if we are really prepared and ready for Christmas, Pastor Oly took down and shared his own list. :)

1) Clean your heart. Just as we are, or maybe our parents or relatives or kasambahays, doing a yearly(?) general house cleaning to make way, sort of, to the holiday decorations, we should also do the same with our hearts. General heart cleaning, so to speak. In Matthew 5:8: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." How can we be pure in heart? Fortunately for us ". . . because God has poured out his love into our hearts . .." (Romans 5:5) it will be relatively easier. So, ask yourself, "what is the state of my heart today?"

2) Arrange your priorities. Come Christmastime, lists (aside from parties, food and gifts) are in season to sort of keep up with all the holiday hype. Instead of being stressed out with other trivial, unnecessary things, we should focus on our relationship with God. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33) Many celebrate Christmas without the celebrant. Remember, it was not called "Christmas" for nothing. Jesus is the reason for the season.

3) Decorate your life. After the general cleaning and prioritizing, we now go to the second (or third?) most fun activity during Christmas (for some people): decorating. In Ezekiel 36:26, it is said: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Allow God to decorate your life with the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, kindness, patience and self-control amongst other things) because the Lord wants to make your life beautiful.

4) Receive and give the gift. Gift-giving has been identified with Christmas since, uh, time immemorial. :) Well, it started, I guess, with the three kings giving the new-born Jesus three gifts. The Lord gave us the best gift we could ever receive, and He can give: salvation. So it is just appropriate that we give Him the best gift we could ever give. For in Proverbs 23:26, it said: "My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways." Receiving Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour is about accepting Him; and letting Him take control of your life.

In Luke 2:17: "When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child." When the disciples and the people knew of Christ's birth, they prophesized and told the others of this good news.

Pastor Oly asked, "Are you that selfish to keep secret the reason for your meaningful Christmas?"

I am not. So I am sharing this to you.

Merry (and meaningful) Christmas! :)

**I made a longer, more correct entry but as fate would have it, the computer, to my utter disbelief, shut down. Nag-brown out kasi. Tsk. I have tried my best to re-think and re-type what I thought of earlier. :)

Without God,

our week would be: Sinday, Mournday, Tearsday, Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday & Shatterday.

-from my Facebook friend. ;P