Unusual.

Unusual ang style ng damit na ito.

Isa sa mga nakakatawang bagay na resulta ng isang Friend Day. Syempre, marami pang iba (mula sa ibang Friend Day) pero ito lang ang pwedeng picture-an. (Bawal sa Powerbooks eh).

Isang hapon, habang naghahanap ng board shorts si Ren para sa isang party na kanyang pupuntahan...

Am: Uy Ren, ayos 'tong damit na 'to.
Jecy: *nung makita ang style ng damit* (see photo above) Oo nga, Ren bagay na bagay 'to sa'yo. Unusual.

Hindi verbatim ang pagkaka-translate ko ng usapan between Am and Jecy kasi matagal na 'tong nangyari. :) If you want to see for yourself ang Unusual styles, punta kayo sa Rob Department Store. Meron doon. Madami.



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*This is a cross-post from my Multiply page.

To the girl who calls me Frankikay:

"Well, I haven't seen you in a while. You know I miss our talks, I miss your smile."
-Song For The Rich, Tristan Prettyman

For some, name-calling is a start of something bad or it's not a good way, or the way, to start a relationship. Be it a friendship or a romantic relationship. But for me and Janjan, it isn't.

Thanks to our History 3 prof (whom we call by the wonderful, endearing name of Shawie) I became Franky. Yes, Shawie-Frankie just like the Megastar and her Mega daughter. :) I forgot the whole story behind the name but somehow the name stuck.

Flashback: Janjan, Pauie (Raizel) and I, after the NSTP Bisitang Institusyon decided to call each other degrading names. Or rather, degrading forms of our true, normal names. I call Raizel "Pauie" and Janjan calls her "Paupau". Janjan calls me "Franky" and Pauie calls me "Franks". I call Janelle "Janjan" and Pauie calls her "Pare". Gets?

Anyway. Instead of hating the name "Franky" I tolerated it (despite the "truth" that it doesn't actually fit me like a glove). Just for the simple fact that it became some sort of bond between Janjan and I. That even though we are separated by two psywar-ring campuses (separated by miles apart) who tend to say they are better than the other, we still consider each other close friends. Or at least, I do.

If this is was Area Studies 101, our freindship can be called "crossborder friendship".

And just in case you're still wondering about the "kikay" part . . . that's from the Sagada fieldtrip. Justine called me "Kikay" and Janjan (I think she finds the name funny) sort of adopted it and formed a "neologism" (haha). Thus the name, Frankikay.


To You, Janjan:

Who still calls me Frankikay.
Who shared my dislike for Ma'am alam-mo-na before (kasi ayaw niya sa maingay)
Who liked, like me, to call people codenames (secretly, of course)
Who knows who Hannibal is
Who knows who all "our" Bestfriends 1-6 are
Who likes chismax :))Whose insightful (haha) blog posts I read,
Whose sister I call Wachel,Who is, by far, the youngest ka-batch I know
But certainly not the most childish,Who just celebrated her 18th birthday . . .

Happy, happy birthday!
May you find what you are really hoping, wishing and waiting for in the right time.
Always remember, just what I said before, you are maybe losing friends but "You're not losing me." :))

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Janjan, alam ko long overdue na 'tong post na 'to. :) Naging busy lang. Sorry, and Happy Birthday.

Pantay(o)

Pantay(o)*
by Jo Ann Madarang

Sa unang tingin
maaari nating tanungin,

"Di ba't ang pagsulong ng ekonomiya
ay pagsulong rin ng nakararami?"


Isang masaklap na katotohanan:
Ang mga mahihirap, sa pulitika'y walang laban.
Pa'no maisusulong ang kanilang pangangailangan,
Kung ang mga pulitiko ay ayaw silang pakinggan?


Ating tatanungin, pa'no nga ba gagawing
ang pagsulong ng ekonomiya ay pagsulong rin ng nakararami?
Ang gobyerno, korupsyon, mga programa at implementasyon
Sa kanila nakasalalay ang tunay na pagsulong.


Laganap na korupsyon, nagdudulot ng kahirapan tiyak 'yon.
Ang gobyerno at pribadong sektor
dapat magtulungan, at may isang layon:
Maihatid sa mahihirap ang benepisyong hinintay ng maraming taon.


Hindi man maganda (sa pandinig) ang tulang ito:
sana'y nakinig pa rin kayo.
Tandaan: ang tunay na pagsulong
ay ang pagsulong na "pantayo".

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*This is my first poem in Filipino. I made for my Econ101 class under Prof. John Ponsaran. The topic assigned was pro-poor growth. 

Preparing for rain

"God saves the best for last, and the best is yet to come." -Pastor Oly

Waiting has its rewards but sometimes one cannot help but feel tired. More than being tired, one may feel hopeless that the wait is never gonna bear good fruits. Rather, the time one spent waiting is considered time wasted.

But as I listened to Pastor Oly last Sunday I realized the value of waiting. That good things comes to those who wait. That in moments you feel that time is being wasted on waiting, and not acting or doing something, you should pray and trust God that what He wants will be done.

Thus, my second favorite verse,

Hebrew 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and being certain of what we do not see."

In the movie Facing The Giants, Mr. Bridges told Grant Taylor a parable of two farmers who prayed to God for rain. But only one prepared his fields for it. Mr. Bridges asked, "Who do you think deserved and got the rain he prayed for?" Grant replied, "Of course, the farmer who prepared his fields."

No matter how long I have to wait, I am assured that what I'm wairting for will come.

And, yes, God, I am preparing for rain.

Lots of it.

An SATC review: Another one bites the dust

Warning: Sex and the City spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk (if you have watched it already or have no plans to do so, read on).


Any TV series that makes a jump from the small screen to the big screen piques my interest, regardless of the show. The logic behind this: there must be something that the TV series did right for it to be made into a movie. Or in some cases the producers just push the series' popularity a bit too far.


Barks.


In all fairness to the scriptwriter/s of the movie, I never felt left out or OP (to use a 1990s jargon) while watching the movie despite the sad fact (I now realize) that I didn't even get to watch a single episode. (Why, you might ask. I can imagine the dialogue between my mom and I if she chanced upon me watching that show . . . Ma: O anong pinapanood mo? Me: Uh, Sex And The City po. Ma: Ha? Ano ulit?)
Anyway, kudos to the four women/actresses who played Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte. They're the Richard-Gere-Julia-Roberts-tandem of friendship movies. Well, what I meant by that is they have really good on-screen chemistry. They appear to be really good friends on-screen (though they must be in real life). Way better than what Eva and company are doing at Wisteria Lane. Also the guys who played Mr. Big, Steve, Harry, and Smith should be commended for such acting, minimal-yet-just-right. The girls are the bida, and the guys didn't outshine them, or tried to.


Hmm. The jokes are . . . grabe, nakakatawa talaga. Not slapstick, of course, but really funny in the uninhibited, natural sort of way. My Funniest Scene Award goes to (drum roll, please) Kristin Davis as Charlotte York when she did a number two, a.k.a. "poopsied" in her pants just because she drank a few drops of Mexican running water while showering. Natawa talaga ako 'dun. As in. (Though I didn't get what's with Mexico and contaminated food.)


I really really seriously love Charlotte's Asian adopted daughter (sounds familiar?) Lily. She's adorable. Partida, all her lines in the movie were merely one-worded comments or butt-ins except for this one time when she uttered a sentence. One simple sentence! Something like, "There's mommy" or "Mommy's here" or something to that effect. She makes the scenes, in which she's in, playfully funny. She is definitely the fifth SATC girl. (Note: It turns out twins Alexandra and Parker Fong alternately played Lily. So fifth and sixth SATC girls. :P) And because of her (err, them) and the aforementioned factors, I love Color and the City. Gets?


Bites.


There is one hole in the story/script though. What I didn't quite get was the Mr.Big-running-away-from-the-wedding part. Tell me, can a guy not be married just because he's afraid (really now) to get out of the frigging car? Come on. He's not even a first-timer I-do-er (haha, nice term). Already on his third wedding, he's actually a veteran, for goodness' sake. Lesson of the story # 1: Always keep your phone within an arms reach at your wedding. Lesson # 2: Let the groom ride a less comfortable car, that way he'll be itching to get out of it, the first chance he gets.


Another sad sad thing is: watching the Philippine version of the movie was like watching a pirated DVD copy of it. It effing jumps, mehn. My sister rarely spotted the jumps and cuts (except for one, the part when Samantha was supposed to peek/watch while her neighbors are doing the deed then *poof* she's suddenly sitting in the living room, waiting for Smith) but having been taught by Sir Joey in Comm2, these glitches didn't go unnoticed. The movie had a handful of cuts that it bleeds.


Grabe naman, Ms./Mrs. Laguardia (I hope I got her name right). Please choose which films do deserve your cutthroat discipline (pun definitely intended) and which do not. Sayang kasi. I hope the DVD version (orig, opkors) will be literally uncut. Not because I'm some hot-blooded pervert easily turned on by these scenes but because I went to the cinema expecting a full, whole, unglitched version of the movie. No scene-jumping, please.


It wouldn't be titled  Sex and the City if it contains no "sex", right? Common sense people. And why would a parent let her child or anyone for that matter watch such a film without expecting sex scenes. Kaya nga sa title pa lang may warning na. Sex and the City. No subliminal messages there.

Make It Mine

Wake up everyone
How can you sleep at a time like this
Unless the dreamer is the real you
Listen to your voice
The one that tells you to taste past the tip of your tongue
Lip and the neck will appear

I don't wanna wake before
The dream is over
I'm gonna make it mine
Yes i... i know it
I'm gonna make it mine
Yes i'll make it all mine

I keep my life on a heavy rotation
Requesting that it's lifting you up
Up up and away
And over to a table at the graditude cafe

And i am finally there
And all the angels they'll be singing
Ah la la la ah la la la I la la la la love you

I don't wanna break before
The tour is over
I'm gonna make it mine
Yes i...i know it
I'm gonna make it mine
Yes i'll make it all mine

And timing's everything
and this time there's plenty
I am balancing
Careful and steady
And reveling in energy that everyone's emitting

I don't wanna wait no more
No i wanna celebrate the whole world
I'm gonna make it mine
Because i'm following your joy
I'm gonna make it mine
Because i... i am open
I'm gonna make it mine
Yes i... i'm gonna show it
Yes i'm gonna make it mine
It's mine...
Yes i will make it all mine

A new song by Jason Mraz

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YEHEY. May bagong album na siya. We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.

It's Hooters not hookers

Hooters

While everyone is blogging about David Cook's recent American Idol win over fan favorite and uber pa-cute David Archuleta, I'm blogging about an entirely different thing.

Hooters Manila recently opened (April 28 to be exact) at Building D of Mall of Asia. If not for Carl Hiaasen's witty, funny and unique-bordering-on-the-weird novels on Miami, Florida I wouldn't have come across with this infamous restaurant.

To cut a long story short (and this blog entry shorter), Hooters or the idea of sexy waitresses--who are chest heavy according to Paolo Lorenzana--serving greasy food (focusing on the male clientèle, obviosuly) first emerged in 1983 at Florida.

So, how did this, well uh, groundbreaking restaurant reached the Philippine shores, miles away from Florida? Thanks (or no thanks) to Eric Gutierrez, who I think is formerly connected with FHM.

And as expected, Catholic and Christian groups announced their, well, denouncement of this establishment. Highly because of its vulgarity. It's another crack at the only-Catholic/Christian-nation-in-Asia image image of the Philippines. And before Hooters starts attracting (Catholic, Christian) customers, bishops or whoever doused the fire with water. The adage, "Prevention is better than cure" has taken on a much serious meaning, in this instance.

In all fairness to the "Delightfully tacky yet unrefined" waitresses and Mr. Eric Gutierrez himself, they're neither trying to promote a filthy club nor an escort service nor legitimize prostitution in the country. They are, let's face it, merely adding a "visual" element to the thing we Filipinos love to do: eating. And Hooters protect their waitresses by having bouncers aka security personnel on standby in case "some inebriated ignoramus" gets carried away by the waitresses' soft teasing. 

I'm not actually against Hooters nor I am endorsing people to go there (except for the food, which I heard are guiltily delicious. I have yet to try it.). I see at as another change our society, our culture encounters and needs to adapt to, sociology-wise.

Adapting does not mean embracing with all arms (a.k.a. to patronize). Adapting means changing some of our views on im/morality. This new concept (of having a good time and not taking everything, and yourself, too seriously when eating which Hooters boasts of) that translates anywhere "needs to be gobbled up" or if you don't want to, well, at least respect it. We all have preferences, remember.

I just wonder with the arrival of a restaurant such as Hooters to the uber-conservative shores of Manila, "What will come next?" My Sociology professor was right when he said that, "Nothing should surprise me (or us) with this generation, in these times."

Darkness

When does a candle shine the brightest? Always in the dark.

Shuffle.

Want to know the brand of music I listen to? Read on.

There's this game/quiz I got from an "online buddy" (hehe, hanep talaga ang relationships sa Multiply). Here are the "rules": 1) You put whatever music player you have on random (a.k.a. on shuffle, which btw I usually do); 2) Post a line from the first 30 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the songs are; 3) Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines came from; 4) Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly; and 5) No cheating.

1. I try not to rely, not to rely on the perfect line. 
2. Every night she walks right in my dreams since I met her from the start.
3. I can't believe this pain, it's driving me insane.
4. Don't be afraid, in your heart you'll find a way.
5. Making love to you was never second best. #tooeasy
6. Lately we're running out of time, aren't we? 
7. The space between what's wrong and right is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you.
8. Whenever I see your smiling face, I have to smile myself because I love you. Yes I do. #tooeasy
9. Turns out everything I say to you comes out wrong and never comes out right.
10. Kudos to those who see through the sickness.
11. Every color and every hue is represented by me and you.  #tooeasy 

12. You tell me to get a life, do you understand the weight of that line?
13. And I would never let somebody bring you down, or take your crown. Never.
14. My Lord I have You to thank, You watch over me and hold my hand.
15. You love me but you don't know who I am.
16. Someday you'll find me calm beneath the landslide. #gleemusic
17. If you're thinking of being my brother, it doesn't matter if you're black or white. #tooeasy
18. Went on a walk inside your head the other day and I couldn't believe a word I heard you say.
19. Hey mom, why didn't you warn me . . . about boys? #sotrue
20. Pardon me, I just can't help staring at you.
21. Too many walls have been built in between us. Too many dreams have been shattered around us. #PauAndJan
22. We find peace in the shadows long enough to see the monsters rise.
23. Ako'y nandirito pa rin para sa'yo. Hindi mo lang alam.
24. I wish that every kiss was never ending.
25. Everbody's dressing up, I'm dressing down.  #LagiNaman

26. I put my life in your hands.
27. Get real and see the beauty in ugly.
28. I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off you.
29. It must've been love but it's over now. #commonknowledge
30. But when I see you, it's like I'm staring down the sun. 



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*This is a cross-post from my Multiply page.

Pointless writing

"Writing is turning one's worst moments into money." J. P. Donleavy

I can't remember the first time I wrote well. What I mean is, the first time that I wrote something that really expressed what I wanted to say at that moment has been lost to me, and my memory. I didn't even know I wanted to write, just as I'm doing now. Nor do I remember the time I realized that I had the talent(WTF?!) and the guts to write what I wanted, because honestly I didn't thought many would read them.

I admire many writers. They're like the most brilliantly creative people for me. They make the most mundane and silly things sound larger than life, when, sometimes, they aren't.

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"Style is but the faintly contemptible vessel in which the bitter liquid is recommended to the world." -Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey

A book I really wouldn't read if not for Hum1 purposes. It was definitely hard to find, and Prof. who, by the way, introduced me to many brilliant writers) wanted us to have an original copy to read from (or better yet, to own) because abridged versions are, well, abridged. Honestly I don't know the point of this blog entry, and why I'm writing it. So before this gets brilliantly un-creative, I'll stop. Now.

What Goes Around Comes Around: My Thoughts on Survivor: Micronesia

"A man can/might outrun a woman but a man can't outwit a woman."
-Natalie Bolton, Survivor: Micronesia on Cirie, Amanda and Parvati

I was torn between blogging or writing a review on the just concluded season of the Mother of all the Reality Shows, Survivor. But since I blog a lot, and I do this better than writing a review (I think), I'll blog.

Aside from Rich Alvarez/Redbull games, the Survivor 2-hour season finale is what I look forward to. That I would give up everything I was doing at that moment just to watch it. Or I would stay awake way past my bedtime just to watch it. And last Monday I was happy that I got home just in the nick of time.

Tagged as Fans vs. Favorites, this season of Survivor is one of my favorites because:

1) Eliza Orlins (from Survivor: Vanuatu) is back. :)

2) Parvati Shallow (Survivor: Cook Islands) is back as well. And she won, too.

3) The all-girl Final Four is actually done this season by Parvati, Natalie, Cirie and Amanda (that the girls of Vanuatu failed to do because of the devious Chris).

4) It had the record-number of blindsides (this is Survivorspeak for getting someone voted out and leaving that person utterly clueless and in disbelief) orchestrated by the intriguing yet embarrassing Natalie. Embarrassing because of her questions to the Final Two, Amanda and Parvati. God, they made me blush and change channels briefly. See for yourselves here. 

5) The aforementioned four girls managed a magnificent feat by convincing Erik to give up the Immunity Idol he got in Exile Islands. Dumb guy, and I feel sorry for him.

Survivor has gone through sixteen seasons counting the just-concluded in Micronesia. And with its longevity inevitably comes boring-y, for lack of a better term. It takes 28 days for one thing to become a habit, and as Survivor shows us, that it takes years to lose a habit. Everything becomes a routine. Twenty or so outcasts are sent to a remote island for nearly a month to, in short, outwit, outplay, outlast. In between these days are reward and immunity challenges, which quoting Jeff Probst, "guarantee you a (Insert percentage/fraction here) shot of being the Sole Survivor."

But seasons wherein previous players are asked to come back (All-Stars, Stephenie and Bobbyjohn in Guatemala, and Micronesia) give the much-needed break in the monotony, and the much-needed boost in ratings.

Blindsides are a manifestation of the players' wittiness and good-ness in acting. (Natalie should play poker everyday, she's going to win with her straight-face.) They are actually not a good thing because it shows how good at lying a player or players are. And this season is so full of it that even the end (the reading of the final vote) was fittingly marked with it.

*Just as everybody thought Amanda got the win in the bag, the jury (Eliza was the deciding vote, actually) voted for Parvati as the Sole Survivor. Nice.*

So to cut this short, I love Survivor: Micronesia, for all its flaws and good points. And according to Jeff Probst this season got the highest rating in the history of Survivor next to the show's first season, Survivor: Borneo.


Women rock, and Natalie, Cirie, Amanda and Parvati (and Eliza as well) proved it to the world.

Make Everyday Pangea Day

This four-hour program of films, music, and speeches is going to air around the world in a few hours. But who are we kidding? It isn’t gonna change the world.
-Pepe Diokno

I first heard the term Pangea from my brilliant Nat Sci 2 professor. Pangea, she said, was, "About 250 million years ago, the entire world was a super-continent called Pangea. The giant land mass has since broken up, forming the Earth we see today." Yes. The continents was once one big land mass. Just imagine how chaotic the world would be if everyone can go to anywhere by bus.

Anyway, now, this term is used as fitting title to another "unifying effort" to save the world through music. Well. Really. Lots of efforts by musicians and different artists in the past years have done benefit concerts or for-a-causes, but years after do they make a change?

MTV's Live 8 concert for their campaign, Make Poverty History, in 2005, has admitted that this project-for-a-cause has not borne fruit. “If the G8 were high school seniors, they might be in for some summer school,” their report reads.

Don't get me wrong. I like it that people are doing their best to, uh, save whatever it is that needed to be saved. (Just a side note. Sir Marquez told us that the earth need not be saved because, through natural processes, it can save itself. The difference is that the earth, by itself takes longer.)

But as Neil Gallagher (in Pepe Diokno's article in Philstar's Supreme yesterday) — who was not a part of Live 8 — said, in a conversation with UK’s The Guardian in 2005, “Are they hoping that one of these guys from the G8 is on a quick 15-minute break at Gleneagles and sees Annie Lennox singing Sweet Dreams and thinks, ‘F*ck me, she might have a point there, you know?’… Keane doing Somewhere Only We Know and some Japanese businessman going: ‘Aw, look at him … we should really f*ckin’ drop that debt.’ It’s not going to happen, is it?”

We can't expect these big shots to do the change the world for us. Because let's face it, they're doing better off. So why would they bother. And as a cliche goes, Why fix it if it ain't broke. Such selfishness, but true.

In short, we have to act now if we really want change. Whether political, social, environmental. You name it. And as the organizers of Pangea Day agree. “Movies alone can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can."

John Mayer's song puts it best by saying, "Now we see everything that's going wrong with the world and those who lead it. We just feel like we don't have the means to rise above and beat it. So we keep waiting, waiting. Waiting on the world to change."

I should stop waiting, and act. But I should face the fact that some things are easier said, or typed, than done.



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The quotes used above are from the great Pepe Diokno's article yesterday, 10 May 2008, in PhilStar.

Which is more credible?

The CRS or the classcard?

Being the gc that I am, I checked my crs again, just for kicks, even after getting all my classcards. And there it was! The big "discrepancy". A good one though. =D

Sir Hey, name changed for my safety (safety talaga eh no, haha), never fails to surprise me, kahit na bakasyon. Ayos talaga 'yun. Haha. He gave me a .25 higher grade in the CRS. So, which should I believe? The uber-late CRS grade or the pen-marked classcard? I hope the CRS. ;P


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PS: Isn't it creepy to have exactly the same GWA for the 1st and 2nd sems of my second year? Oo, parehong-pareho, up to the third decimal place (hehe). Creepy. It's as if I'm functioning on auto-pilot, like Adam Sandler in Click. Haay. Iba na talaga kapag control-freak.

Pag-alis

Kung wala ka nang gustong sabihin
wag ka nang tumingin ng ganyan.
Kung bukas ako'y kalilimutan,
sana naman ngayo'y di mo na isipin ako'y tawagan.

At habang may panahon,
wag na nating hintaying lumalim pa
at masakit nang tanggapin
ang pag-alis ng iyong liwanag
na gumising sa mahabang gabi

Ika'y langit ngunit ako'y nasanay
at di kakayanin ang iyong pag-alis.

Kung wala ka nang gustong marinig,
Ako'y aalis at mananahimik.
Ang kahapong nais kong limutin
sana nama'y huwag nang manumbalik at bigyang pansin.
At habang may panahon,
wag na nating hintaying lumalim pa
at masakit nang tanggapin
ang pag-alis ng iyong liwanag
na gumising sa mahabang gabi.

Ika'y langit ngunit ako'y nasanay
at di kakayanin ang iyong pag-alis.


-Barbie Almalbis-Honasan.

Because I can't take it when you leave, I beat you to it.
I left, I gave up before you can give up on me.
Call me selfish, call me impatient, call me a coward
but don't call me manhid.
Because you are.

Days like these when I miss (think of you) you,
I have no one to talk to
(everyone seems to be busy)
and I'm sitting in front the computer screen,
who always seems to be willing to listen.

PGMA's Robert de Niro

Outwit, Outplay, Out-News?

In celebration(?) of the advent of Survivor to the Philippines, I am using its famous tagline as subtitle. Varied a little, of course.

Everywhere I look, all, I see is rice, rice, and more rice. Am not referring to the Purefoods import, the novel writer, nor the US Dept head. I'm referring to this staple food we Filipinos were born to love. This unassuming grain has taken the limelight from ZTE star witness, whistleblower Jun Lozada. It has indeed taken centerstage, so might as well blog about it.

Beyond all the facts that show the presence of the rice shortage, I think the reason behind all this hyped-up sensationalized Rice Crisis is the interest of the administration. PGMA herself. What I'm saying here is that before this so-called "crisis" the news of Lozada, Abalos, ZTE, and the million dollar commissions were at the top of the evening news. All bad press for the outgoing president. Her solution: create an issue that is bigger and can/will divert the Filipinos attention away from her, and her knight in shining surfboard, the First Gentleman.

What was the last thing I heard from the ZTE "issue"?

That Romulo Neri was using the so-called executive privilege and "protecting diplomatic relations" as reasons and justifications for not appearing in the Senate inquiry. That's bull. Why would we want to prioritize diplomatic relations when we should be concerned with regaining the people's trust and hope in the government?

In the film Wag The Dog, which we watched in our Political Science 11 class under Prof. Jalton Taguibao, the US president running for reelection was involved in an "issue" about a prostitute (Hmm, sounds familiar?) and to save his reelection bid, his "aide" (played by Robert de Niro) hyped up other news like, the US going to a non-existent, much-advertised war. 

So what's my point really? Whomever PGMA's Robert de Niro is, I congratulate him or her for succeeding in driving the people's interest's away from the ZTE anomaly.

And to Pinoys, here and abroad, wake up. See beyond that four-cornered device in your living room. See beyond the news. We are being (or trying to be) manipulated into thinking that this current president is a modern-day superhero that can alleviate us from poverty and save us from this Rice Crisis using her superpower called the NFA rice.

Let us not forget that finding a solution to the country's problems is one of her many tasks as president, and that getting commissions or signing "anomalous" deals, isn't.

Yes, we have mouths to feed, but we also have to remember that our mouths are not only for eating but for speaking as well. So speak up, and be heard.

Dear Astronaut Food

Jonathan Lethem on "astronaut food":

"Stuff in little packets that you keep lying on the shelf. Everyone has some lying around. Or, the person you imagine you might be with but you know you never really will be. The people who if you're in a relationship but you're a little bored or restless you meet them for coffee a lot and the other half in the relationship isn't really thrilled about it. Or if you're single, they're the people you're keeping on a mental list just so you don't feel like there aren't any possibilities. Friends who are more than friends but really, they are friends." (You Don't Love Me Yet)

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Though people sense it at a certain level that they're your astronaut food, nobody wants to be told. Because, in a way, it bursts the bubble of thrill. Sometimes people act like they're only an astronaut food but really has hopes of something better/more. Because of the fear of rejection that in one way/degree or another, I think, we all have.


Only if everyone agrees that they're mutual astronaut food.


So to everyone who feels they are someone else's Astronaut Food, let me advise you. If you feel that you are somebody else's astronaut food, be nice to that person. He/She needs you but time, circumstances and hindrances prevent them from making you more than their astronaut food. These factors mentioned, most of the time, control this person's actions. He/She maybe helpless, and afraid to get out of the four walls of safety he/she have secured himself/herself in. Please understand that being someone's astronaut food does not make you any less important. If anything, it only means you can't be eaten (we're talking about food anyway) regularly. But you are loved, you are appreciated, you are needed. You being someone's astronaut food may appear to be a selfish decision but understand that it is not. Finally, let me remind you, dear astronaut food, the minute you sense you are someone's astronaut food, please don't deprive that person of your presence, your smile, your company. It is all that he/she is asking.


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This is why I love allusions and metaphors.

Malice in Wonderland featuring Dorian Gray

As promised, here is my blog entry on I-hope-you-don't-know-who.

Trivia/Pop quiz: What do Lewis Carroll and Oscar Wilde have in common? Um, to those literature freaks or avid "classic" book reader, maybe you know. But if you don't, Google it. (Haha, I should be paid by Google for advertising.)

I don't mean to ridicule Oscar Wilde's (nor Lewis Carroll's)

famous novel but here is my take/description on Dorian Gray:

- Before we start, the name is pronounce with a silent 'r' (like how you pronounce 't' in buffet).

- He has a fake British accent.

- He is gay, and so proud of it that he out-ed himself in our class using Young Charmides. (using PINK paper as handout at that!) -This description is supposed to come at the latter part of the list but I just can't keep myself from saying, or rather, typing it.

- He loves wearing tight shirts, cargo pants and sneakers with either a big backpack or equally big body bag.

- He is a Labor (pronounced the Filipino way) baby. He knows of flying buttresses and has done a play. (Gets?)

- He wanted his character to hit on Oedipus (or the reallife counterpart, I am not sure), in our play.

- He makes great scripts with absurd ideas and wisecrack (and I say offending) jokes.

- And, he comes in always late and . . . sweaty. (Elaine this one is for you!)

Okay, by now, you may know that this is not the real Dorian Gray as in the novel. This is the, um, contemporary version. (haha, pun and inside joke rolled into one.)

If you still don't know the answer to the pop quiz above, I'll tell you personally or, um, PM me. The matter is too delicate to discuss. (haha)

I hope, for CAS people, you won't realize who this is, because if you do, I'm in big trouble.

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Don't get me wrong here. We (Elaine and I) love him that it hurts. Actually si Elaine lang. Blogging about him is actually her idea. Everywhere we go/turn we see something that can be attributed to/has something to do with him, from book titles to movie titles to Mr. Bean. And to commemorate his profound (!) effect on our lives, we named Tuesdays as "____ (his name here) Day" (for Elaine) and "Gay Awareness Day" for me. He is surely one colorful, ehem, manly gay man.

Google exercise, kids.

Try this. Go to Google, type "___(your name here) likes to" then search. You'll find the hits interesting and fun. Parang pseudo-split personality. Basta. Try niyo kung hindi kayo busy. =D

*Got the idea from Kuya Robert, who got it from someone. Chain, chain, chain.

Here are mine, to those who are interested:

Jo Ann likes to shoot. -at people, no. As in camera.-
Jo Ann likes to mix up craft techniques and materials in many of her projects. -Um, partly correct, haha-
Jo Ann likes to spend time with her grandchildren, to garden, to ski and to travel. -grandchildren?? Hala. To graden??? I don't have a green thumb!-
Jo Ann likes to write skating coaches at the Skating Coaches e-mail mailing list. -Ano raw?-
Jo Ann likes to dance, walk 5k, walks for charity, do water aerobics, drive her new 2004 GTO and drive her boyfriend's Harley morotcycle. -athletic!-
Jo Ann likes to go shopping with her daughters and granddaughters. -granddaughters again.-
Jo Ann likes to pick up. -People, no. Kalat siguro pwede pa.-
Jo Ann likes to play with recipes and ingredients. -Hindi ako marunong magluto, naman. Prito pwede pa. =D-
Jo Ann likes to see a photo of granny while she works on the data. -GRANNY HIT NO. 3-
Jo Ann likes to boast that she is "pointifically infallible," that she can find and correct errors in the (seemingly) most pristine of texts. -In short, mahilig pumuna. tsk.-

Korean experience

To those who take time to read my blog *thank you, by the way* you'll notice or have observed by now but refuse to comment on it, or say it directly, that I blog about, generally, serious things. Or if not, I write about a, um, simple thing then connect it to or find it's "deeper, hidden" meaning.

Pero now, since it's Easter *koneksyon??* magkukwento na lang ako.

Kahapan, black saturday, my sister, my mom and I went "dress-hunting" for my sister's graduation dress. We don't do this usually. In fact, we do it, rarely. (Si Ate lagi, haha.) Nagpunta kami around Makati/glorietta/greenbelt/PSone area, kasi she wants to. Demanding. So yun, pumunta kami, naghanap, pero after three hours, wala pa rin. =D She takes forever finding a shirt, so what will I expect with a dress.

I don't really care with the stress, endless walking and all. Kasi kumain naman kami. *Haha, patay gutom* Relatively new place, Spaghetti Factory. Sana may ganito sa Rob kasi medyo masarap yun food. Pero hindi ko macompare sa TOSH kasi, um, nakalimutan ko na ang lasa ng TOSH. haha. WHAM-baby na kasi ako. Haha.

Corny. Haha, anyway.

Sa SM, bumili ang nanay ko ng regalo para sa baptism na a-attend-an ng tatay ko *with her, of course*. Ayun, may Koreana, actually tatlo sila. Relatively, old, parang mommies andf daddy. Nakapila siya in front of me. Eh ayaw gumana ng card (as in credit card) niya, she got mad. Tas, she tried swiping it, by herself. Then, wala pa rin. she tranferred to another counter, really mad. As in nagsimulang magsalita in Korean *yun ba tawag sa language nila?* tapos directing her harsh-sounding "comments" to all the employees there who gathered to watch the "fiasco". Pinoy nga naman, haha.

So yun, sa sobrang asar ng nanay ko she said, with all the taray/catty-ness she could muster, "Speak in English they won't understand you". Ohaa. The Korean Brat stopped speaking her Korean utterances, and just talked to the cashier. Ping, score one for Flora.

'Yun lang actually ang point ng blog na 'to. Moral of the story: Don't cross my mom. Haha, joke lang. Seriously, don't shout at us Filipinos, you Koreans! You're just invading our country. Yes, my mom loves watching your countless drama series-es but that doesn't mean you have the right to be harsh, or act like stars here or as if you own our country.

Go away, aliens.

By this, I declare, Sir E, I hate Koreans. Yes, including you *if you continue to declare yourself as one*.

Surprises, Ironies and Coincidences

My eldest sister (she's the only sister I have, by the way) has been bugging me for ages to blog about her. This interest of hers in what I think of her was started by the blog I wrote on my mom. My sister felt that she "deserves" the same, well, compliment.

I've never written anything about my sister, really. Because I belive there's not much to write about (haha) or I don't think about her that often.

Ate, since you're graduating this March (you should, of course!), I'm writing about you, finally.
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Just as I was wallowing myself in self-pity (i.e. ranting to myself how freaking weak I am in terms of "expression", figuratively-speaking), my sister gets hold-upped (?) for the second time. (This happened last week, I think.)

What was surprising about this, then, if its the second time? Answers: 1) She has been hold-up-free for three-sems-in-a-row, and 2) she thought that she was going to graduate from such "fates" as well; 3) she was utterly clueless (she didn't whip out her phone and texted away, like she always does); 4) her, ehem, companion had a relatively new (read: expensive) phone; and 5) she was ironically asking for a new-er one upon graduation.

Flashback: My sister, whose name is Jane by the way, when compared to me and my younger brothers, is the most materialistic. I'm not saying she's dense or whatever. I'm just saying that she gets attached to things too much. To cite an example, she keeps all her English and Science (her favorite subjects, apparently) notebooks from Grade Three to college! She's that sentimental. To add, she keeps (or kept) a whole bouquet of roses instead of just one petal or a stalk; she keeps all the letters and notes she has received since her first letter, whether random or important, she keeps them all.

So I know that when she loses something, even just a hanky, she gets pained. I often spite her because of this "attachment" but she just dismisses me with a sarcastic "Nye."

And just as she was retelling the New Hold-Up Story (hehe) for the nth time, she started "devising" theories or observations to explain the occurrence of the incident, and answer the age-old question "Why me?". Her most "credible" theory is that: All the phones that my father gave her for her birthday gets stolen or robbed. My counter-theory: She gets robbed or hold-upped when she's with a guy. I mean, she's always with someone but in both situations, she's with a guy, ehem, companion. Talk about coincidence.

To say that she was affected with the "demise" of her phone is an understatement. This incident sort of "triggered" the other fears she have been feeling and trying to fight, within herself. Coincidence? I think not. God wanted her to realize that such material things are, well, immaterial because they come and go; they lose or depreciate in value.

To cut a long and emotional story short (haha, sorry Ate), she was, um, rocked to her core. She started feeling down and started asking us (my mom and me) why she is always the victim of such harsh crimes even if she prays, a lot. The talk even reached to the point that she didn't want to walk on stage anymore when she graduates.

Being the positive-thinker that my mom is, she told Ate that she should rather be thankful that no further harm was done. She wasn't hurt, scathed or worse killed. But still, my sister is bothered. Add to her existing woes, she's a little worried with the upcoming nursing board exams. Yes, it is still months away. But as early as January, I think, she has been worried. She's afraid to fail, literally and figuratively. She is afraid to fail the exams, and in turn, fail my parents and relatives, and a whole lot of people who expects a lot from her. (You know being panganay and all.)

But, Ate, failing is not entirely failure. In fact, it strengthens one's character. And if you do fail, though with God's grace you won't, Mama and the whole family is here to support you, defend you. Even Limboy.

I'll stop before it gets mushier.

I'll end this by quoting a passage from Hebrews 11, "Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see." Have faith that with God's grace and your hardwork, you will pass. Not only this exam (and others as well) but other more important, harder tests in life.

And I do hope you'll realize that you are, in more ways than one, blessed.


(Happy graduation, Ate. Love you. Naks naman, mushy.)