Humbling. Very humbling. The priest made me cry inside and almost shed a tear. I was glad that he humbled me because humbling myself is not enough.
I told him everything wrong I did with regard to my uncharitable dealings with my colleagues, and he scolded me. As I tried to defend myself, he would put me down. He shook me with realities that I have to face. He made me see the hypocrite inside me and that made me cry.
That was really an awakening moment. I didn't know what gave me the strength to make a public apology last night, but now I know who did: Our Lady. It's the 3rd day of the novena to the Immaculate Conception. I'm very convinced that as always, she is there for me to counsel me and at the same time pour onto me abounding grace to help me carry out what she counsels. She truly is the Mother of Good Counsel, and Mediatrix of Grace.
I hope I can sustain this consciousness of her presence so I can live through life peacefully and cheerfully.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Friday, December 02, 2005
My Public Apology
I just came out from a personal crisis of sorts when all the bad things just flashed before me that I suddenly felt my conscience bug me to apologize for all the wrong I've done. What follows is my public apology email I sent to all my colleagues:
---------------------------------
Perhaps some - if not all - will find what I am about to do foolish, stupid, insane, unnecessary, or inevitable. No matter what you think, I will do as what my conscience - yes, I do have one, and I believe that everybody does - dictates.
Through this email, I would like to apologize to all my colleagues whom I have hurt (I do have some inkling of who these people are, but I will keep it to myself) because of my lack of tact, my being imposing, and simply for my whole being:
I AM DEEPLY SORRY FOR ALL I HAVE DONE.
I know I am not a dollar bill that everybody would like, but I do want to achieve a certain level of civility and charity with my colleagues because, as what I tell my non-Lasallian friends, "I love it there in DLS-C because I have great colleagues." Of course, I cannot achieve the latter if I were uncharitable myself. This is precisely why I am making this apology. I am making this public because I am aware and very guilt-ridden of the fact that I have publicly hurt people, and also of the fact that stories about my misbehavior may have already run from the third floor to the basement, from West to East. In effect, everybody may already be aware of what I have done. (Pardon me here for an apparent case of paranoia.)
AGAIN, I AM SORRY.
I understand if you can't forgive me because I understand also the gravity of my actions, words, and being, and they may be unforgivable. I deserve such treatment.
I know that apologies are useless if there were no resolutions on the part of the penitent. So I also would like to assure you guys that I will try my best to be a good and charitable colleague. Let me know if I have been treating you badly.
Thanks for letting me do this. I hope things will be better after this. Advance Merry Christmas.
Sincerely,
Trish C.
--
Para presumir, hay que sufrir.
---------------------------------
Perhaps some - if not all - will find what I am about to do foolish, stupid, insane, unnecessary, or inevitable. No matter what you think, I will do as what my conscience - yes, I do have one, and I believe that everybody does - dictates.
Through this email, I would like to apologize to all my colleagues whom I have hurt (I do have some inkling of who these people are, but I will keep it to myself) because of my lack of tact, my being imposing, and simply for my whole being:
I AM DEEPLY SORRY FOR ALL I HAVE DONE.
I know I am not a dollar bill that everybody would like, but I do want to achieve a certain level of civility and charity with my colleagues because, as what I tell my non-Lasallian friends, "I love it there in DLS-C because I have great colleagues." Of course, I cannot achieve the latter if I were uncharitable myself. This is precisely why I am making this apology. I am making this public because I am aware and very guilt-ridden of the fact that I have publicly hurt people, and also of the fact that stories about my misbehavior may have already run from the third floor to the basement, from West to East. In effect, everybody may already be aware of what I have done. (Pardon me here for an apparent case of paranoia.)
AGAIN, I AM SORRY.
I understand if you can't forgive me because I understand also the gravity of my actions, words, and being, and they may be unforgivable. I deserve such treatment.
I know that apologies are useless if there were no resolutions on the part of the penitent. So I also would like to assure you guys that I will try my best to be a good and charitable colleague. Let me know if I have been treating you badly.
Thanks for letting me do this. I hope things will be better after this. Advance Merry Christmas.
Sincerely,
Trish C.
--
Para presumir, hay que sufrir.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Para presumir, hay que sufrir.
Talk about the pains of looking good! Vanity is luxury. It hurts your precious time, patience, and pocket.
Being dealt with like a soccer ball ("Let's shampoo your hair, keep your head steady, let's wash your hair, let's go back to the chair, let's wash your hair, let's go back to the chair, let's blow dry your hair") is no luxury.
It was pretty annoying not to know what it takes to semi-rebond your hair. Just when you thought you are done with the whole process as triggered by a blowdry, you hold on to your bladder to realize that they still need to put more chemicals on your hair!
I thought it would never be over, but boy, am I relieved now that I know that it has ended! All that for beautiful hair (tochang-free) and only good for three months! (Have I told you yet how it costs?) That's what it takes, my friends. That's what it takes.
Taking this topic to a higher notch, it's pretty much the same with making our souls beautiful. It takes a lot of pains to keep our soul clean, healthy and beautiful. Now how does a soul look when beautiful? When our soul only sees the good things in others, and see the bad in ourselves. How do beautify our souls? Difficult. We need a lot of humility to admit that our soul is indeed quite dirty. It also takes a lot of humility to ask advice from the RIGHT people. When our soul has mortal sin (don't know what they are? Check this out: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14004b.htm), our souls are ugly. So, we need to clean our souls of mortal sins and venial sins by going to the Sacrament of Confession. In confession, Jesus Christ, through his ministers - the priests - washes our sins away. "Whatever sins you forgive, they are forgiven" Jesus Christ tells his disciples.
And to go to Confession? Very difficult. First, it takes effort to research the confession schedule in our parish. If there's none, it's diffcult to look for other parishes who have confession schedules. If it's easy to find a Church with confession schedules, it's difficult for us to acknowledge that we have indeed committed a mortal sin.
So you guys might have thought how vain I am keeping such a motto. But actually it's more than physical vanity: it's spiritual vanity.
Being dealt with like a soccer ball ("Let's shampoo your hair, keep your head steady, let's wash your hair, let's go back to the chair, let's wash your hair, let's go back to the chair, let's blow dry your hair") is no luxury.
It was pretty annoying not to know what it takes to semi-rebond your hair. Just when you thought you are done with the whole process as triggered by a blowdry, you hold on to your bladder to realize that they still need to put more chemicals on your hair!
I thought it would never be over, but boy, am I relieved now that I know that it has ended! All that for beautiful hair (tochang-free) and only good for three months! (Have I told you yet how it costs?) That's what it takes, my friends. That's what it takes.
Taking this topic to a higher notch, it's pretty much the same with making our souls beautiful. It takes a lot of pains to keep our soul clean, healthy and beautiful. Now how does a soul look when beautiful? When our soul only sees the good things in others, and see the bad in ourselves. How do beautify our souls? Difficult. We need a lot of humility to admit that our soul is indeed quite dirty. It also takes a lot of humility to ask advice from the RIGHT people. When our soul has mortal sin (don't know what they are? Check this out: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14004b.htm), our souls are ugly. So, we need to clean our souls of mortal sins and venial sins by going to the Sacrament of Confession. In confession, Jesus Christ, through his ministers - the priests - washes our sins away. "Whatever sins you forgive, they are forgiven" Jesus Christ tells his disciples.
And to go to Confession? Very difficult. First, it takes effort to research the confession schedule in our parish. If there's none, it's diffcult to look for other parishes who have confession schedules. If it's easy to find a Church with confession schedules, it's difficult for us to acknowledge that we have indeed committed a mortal sin.
So you guys might have thought how vain I am keeping such a motto. But actually it's more than physical vanity: it's spiritual vanity.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Waving My Hand for a Turn
After that Megamall incident, I have yet another Driving Horror Story to tell you.
I was driving home from Alabang after dropping off my voice teacher home and after taking-out some Yellow Cab pizza for family dinner. If you have tried driving along Zapote Road going toward SM Soputhmall, I would not need to recount to you the horrific traffic there. Just take it as it is: HORRIFIC. Good thing my teacher was with me so I had more reason to calm myself down. So I dropped her at her very cozy home in Tierra Nueva, and passed by Yellow Cab at the corner of the village. I thought waiting time for my order could be enough time to give for the traffic to ease a bit. I was wrong, and to add to that, it rained. Anyway, I had to go home and feed my family.
So I calmly drove. I thank God I reached the Toll Plaza area with the least hassle possible. But as I reached the Toll Plaza, there was a build up of cars due to a merging traffic. Road courtesy impels us to alternately give way to cars in a merging traffic. So I gave way to the car at my left calmly, and as I was about to take my turn at the merge, the car at my left aggressively accelerated to the car it was following! Hello?! Where is your courtesy?! So I, in my temper and in an effort to teach him a lesson, embarrassed myself (and hopefully embarrassed him, too), pull down my brand new Altis window, stretched out my arm to signal a turn, and looked at him straight in the eye. You're an Alabang boy and with no courtesy at all!
Sheesh. Didn't they attend the LTO seminar on Road Courtesy before they got their license? Even if they didn't attend, didn't they learn basic courtesy at home or in school?
What waste in education.
I was driving home from Alabang after dropping off my voice teacher home and after taking-out some Yellow Cab pizza for family dinner. If you have tried driving along Zapote Road going toward SM Soputhmall, I would not need to recount to you the horrific traffic there. Just take it as it is: HORRIFIC. Good thing my teacher was with me so I had more reason to calm myself down. So I dropped her at her very cozy home in Tierra Nueva, and passed by Yellow Cab at the corner of the village. I thought waiting time for my order could be enough time to give for the traffic to ease a bit. I was wrong, and to add to that, it rained. Anyway, I had to go home and feed my family.
So I calmly drove. I thank God I reached the Toll Plaza area with the least hassle possible. But as I reached the Toll Plaza, there was a build up of cars due to a merging traffic. Road courtesy impels us to alternately give way to cars in a merging traffic. So I gave way to the car at my left calmly, and as I was about to take my turn at the merge, the car at my left aggressively accelerated to the car it was following! Hello?! Where is your courtesy?! So I, in my temper and in an effort to teach him a lesson, embarrassed myself (and hopefully embarrassed him, too), pull down my brand new Altis window, stretched out my arm to signal a turn, and looked at him straight in the eye. You're an Alabang boy and with no courtesy at all!
Sheesh. Didn't they attend the LTO seminar on Road Courtesy before they got their license? Even if they didn't attend, didn't they learn basic courtesy at home or in school?
What waste in education.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Drivers
Yes, driving. As in driving cars. I am a confessed cursing driver. I get easily impatient with uneducated drivers: jeepney drivers who drive as if they own the road, jeepney drivers who do not know how to use the side view mirrors to look if there are oncoming cars, bus drivers who don't care if there are oncoming cars (I think they become tunnel-visioned when they see potential passengers), and other drivers who do not use signal lights.
One of the highlights of my driving experience is when I was lining to park at Megamall Building A. It was a saturday afternoon and I think it was near a payday. I was diligently queuing with the other cars, and religiously following the "alternate" traffic they have always enforced when lining up to enter the building parking. I was about to take my turn, expecting that the "alternate" traffic scheme is being enforced, when a rusty-colored Kia Picanto cut me in front! I noticed the driver to be a bit fair-skinned, clean-cut hair, and even - I thought - good looking. I silently cursed at the driver and when I got a look at the sticker at the back of his car, I saw: "ATENEO SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING." Whoa! was the sticker shouting.
People according to their biases who either react in these ways: 1) "Oh my! Tsk, tsk, tsk" or 2) "Ahh...that's why."
Like what my mom told me, when we drive, we stop being educated. Now, are we going to let that initial reaction get the better of us, or make a difference?
One of the highlights of my driving experience is when I was lining to park at Megamall Building A. It was a saturday afternoon and I think it was near a payday. I was diligently queuing with the other cars, and religiously following the "alternate" traffic they have always enforced when lining up to enter the building parking. I was about to take my turn, expecting that the "alternate" traffic scheme is being enforced, when a rusty-colored Kia Picanto cut me in front! I noticed the driver to be a bit fair-skinned, clean-cut hair, and even - I thought - good looking. I silently cursed at the driver and when I got a look at the sticker at the back of his car, I saw: "ATENEO SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING." Whoa! was the sticker shouting.
People according to their biases who either react in these ways: 1) "Oh my! Tsk, tsk, tsk" or 2) "Ahh...that's why."
Like what my mom told me, when we drive, we stop being educated. Now, are we going to let that initial reaction get the better of us, or make a difference?
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
27th Anniversary
I saw an advertisement along South Superhighway announcing the 27th anniversary of the Jesus is Lord Christian community. Funny how big the writing is and the whole ad itself. I wonder why they only put 27 years when if Jesus Christ founded the one true Church, then shouldn't they put "2005th anniversary"?
It's sad people don't realize that these are institutions founded by pure mortals 27 years ago, and not by Jesus Christ 2005 years ago. I am glad I am part of the Church who believes and has proofs that our community is founded 2005 years ago on the first 12 apostles of Jesus Christ headed by Peter, now in the presence of our beloved Pontiff.
It's sad people don't realize that these are institutions founded by pure mortals 27 years ago, and not by Jesus Christ 2005 years ago. I am glad I am part of the Church who believes and has proofs that our community is founded 2005 years ago on the first 12 apostles of Jesus Christ headed by Peter, now in the presence of our beloved Pontiff.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
How people change beyond our expectations!
Just met a friend this afternoon. First thing that came into my mind is this: How much he has changed! I actually commented the difference to him. Sometimes, we just think too squarely on how people are. We tend to put them in a box and expect them not to get out of their little comfort zones and remain how they are from the first day we meet them.
We really can't size them up in one sitting. Man is a mystery as I always say. People continue to surprise us with the little tweaks in their personalities. BUT! There are only two ways in which we can tweak our personality: to make it worse or to make it better. Surely, we all strive for the latter. We can't help, however, to give in to our selfish wants and make a turn for the worse.
It's really our choice to take the "road less traveled by." I'm glad that I know some people who also take that road I'm trying to tread on. I'm glad I realized I actually got company. :)
We really can't size them up in one sitting. Man is a mystery as I always say. People continue to surprise us with the little tweaks in their personalities. BUT! There are only two ways in which we can tweak our personality: to make it worse or to make it better. Surely, we all strive for the latter. We can't help, however, to give in to our selfish wants and make a turn for the worse.
It's really our choice to take the "road less traveled by." I'm glad that I know some people who also take that road I'm trying to tread on. I'm glad I realized I actually got company. :)
An Old Maid Crisis
Single women reaching their 30th birthday experience an immense crisis of becoming an old maid.
Though not yet 30 and still consider myself far from it, I think I am already in it! However, I see the crisis in itself as actually a crisis of vocation. What does God really want from me? What is He calling me for? Is He really calling me for a marriage vocation or to a single blessedness?
At the moment, I would like to think I am called to single blessedness until maybe I fall in love. So far, I have not fallen in love yet. Some people say that when you fall in love, all your standards crumble down. So far, it hasn't crumbled down so I presume that I have not exactly fallen in love yet.
Right now, I just continue doing what I ought to do to please God and wait until I fall in love. :)
Though not yet 30 and still consider myself far from it, I think I am already in it! However, I see the crisis in itself as actually a crisis of vocation. What does God really want from me? What is He calling me for? Is He really calling me for a marriage vocation or to a single blessedness?
At the moment, I would like to think I am called to single blessedness until maybe I fall in love. So far, I have not fallen in love yet. Some people say that when you fall in love, all your standards crumble down. So far, it hasn't crumbled down so I presume that I have not exactly fallen in love yet.
Right now, I just continue doing what I ought to do to please God and wait until I fall in love. :)
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Am I losing my grip on culture?
Just had lunch today with two of my college friends at ebun, this Kapampangan restaurant at Greenbelt 3-and boy!-what scrumptuous bangus they have!!! I have a new place to crave for now. :)
Anyway, in passing, I mentioned to them my "discovery" of Korean romantic comedies particularly My Sassy Girl. My older friend's immediate reaction: how cheap! Whoa! Both of my friends were surprised I can stomach such movies, and how much I have changed in my taste for movies. (That means that I have actually LOST the taste for good movies.) Well, I didn't let them put me down by their comments. Besides, those were their opinions.
Then we continued a conversation about the last good movie both of them watched, "Finding Neverland." As the two of them analyzed how the film was made and the sized up the overall value of the film, I was left dumbfounded by the tons of insights they had. I started reflecting: how come I cannot share an insight on it anymore? I used to "talk like them", giving "intellectual" and "academic" analysis of movies and other pertinent issues. Have I really lost my sense of high breed culture? In the end, did I overrate My Sassy Girl?
Yipes!
I need to work out on my "culture" again. I need some major overhaul and "acculturize" myself again! Perhaps this is what happens to me when I am far from the academic world. The corporate world has probably turned me into one "material girl". Have I forgotten the transcendental values? Have I forgotten the really important and essential things in life? Have we forgotten them?
Anyway, in passing, I mentioned to them my "discovery" of Korean romantic comedies particularly My Sassy Girl. My older friend's immediate reaction: how cheap! Whoa! Both of my friends were surprised I can stomach such movies, and how much I have changed in my taste for movies. (That means that I have actually LOST the taste for good movies.) Well, I didn't let them put me down by their comments. Besides, those were their opinions.
Then we continued a conversation about the last good movie both of them watched, "Finding Neverland." As the two of them analyzed how the film was made and the sized up the overall value of the film, I was left dumbfounded by the tons of insights they had. I started reflecting: how come I cannot share an insight on it anymore? I used to "talk like them", giving "intellectual" and "academic" analysis of movies and other pertinent issues. Have I really lost my sense of high breed culture? In the end, did I overrate My Sassy Girl?
Yipes!
I need to work out on my "culture" again. I need some major overhaul and "acculturize" myself again! Perhaps this is what happens to me when I am far from the academic world. The corporate world has probably turned me into one "material girl". Have I forgotten the transcendental values? Have I forgotten the really important and essential things in life? Have we forgotten them?
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
My Sassy Girl
I wasn't such a freak for Romantic Comedies, but this one got my attention.
Actually, it didn't initially attract me despite the many raves I heard about it from my friends. I wasn't enthused to get a dibidi copy of the movie until the other day when I did some "impulsive" buying. (I originally intended to look for a single dibidi of Dead Poets Society, and I end up getting 4 movies that are unplanned!)
Out of curiosity for the movie that is oh-so-hyped-up by my friends, I played it on our player, and watched. I thought I'd not finish it, and would be willing to stop it in case it will run over my CSI. To my surprise, I find myself intensely watching, I couldn't leave my seat... basically, I was enthralled by this film!
What I find amazing with this movie is that it is actually not one of your typical love stories you can already predict the course of their love-hate relationship. My one word for this movie is: Crafty. (Just a little turn-off in this movie is one scene in the beginning, but with a pure heart, I think it should not be interpreted or imagined more than what it is.) I am quite impressed with the writer and director of the film. How they came up with such ingenuity is simply remarkable. I appreciate - above all - their notion of love. I am impressed with the amount of respect that Gyun Woo has for the girl (It's either she was not named in the movie or I simply forgot her name). I am also captivated by the guy's perseverance and sincere love for the girl. I also loved the way he was able to get to know the girl so well that he knows how to treat her. He simply treated her as a queen.
How I wish I could find someone who would do everything for me! (Of course, I won't take advantage of that.) Pardon my becoming mushy all of a sudden. Honestly, it's not in my genes to be one.
There are a few good Asian love stories, and this is one of them. Filipinos has still yet to come up with a good one. I hope my friend would come up with a similar crafty script and an unbiased director.
Actually, it didn't initially attract me despite the many raves I heard about it from my friends. I wasn't enthused to get a dibidi copy of the movie until the other day when I did some "impulsive" buying. (I originally intended to look for a single dibidi of Dead Poets Society, and I end up getting 4 movies that are unplanned!)
Out of curiosity for the movie that is oh-so-hyped-up by my friends, I played it on our player, and watched. I thought I'd not finish it, and would be willing to stop it in case it will run over my CSI. To my surprise, I find myself intensely watching, I couldn't leave my seat... basically, I was enthralled by this film!
What I find amazing with this movie is that it is actually not one of your typical love stories you can already predict the course of their love-hate relationship. My one word for this movie is: Crafty. (Just a little turn-off in this movie is one scene in the beginning, but with a pure heart, I think it should not be interpreted or imagined more than what it is.) I am quite impressed with the writer and director of the film. How they came up with such ingenuity is simply remarkable. I appreciate - above all - their notion of love. I am impressed with the amount of respect that Gyun Woo has for the girl (It's either she was not named in the movie or I simply forgot her name). I am also captivated by the guy's perseverance and sincere love for the girl. I also loved the way he was able to get to know the girl so well that he knows how to treat her. He simply treated her as a queen.
How I wish I could find someone who would do everything for me! (Of course, I won't take advantage of that.) Pardon my becoming mushy all of a sudden. Honestly, it's not in my genes to be one.
There are a few good Asian love stories, and this is one of them. Filipinos has still yet to come up with a good one. I hope my friend would come up with a similar crafty script and an unbiased director.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Reading through Tranquill Poet
Just read through my other blog or poetry and - boy! - was I amazed! When I am really caught up in a melancholic state, I can't believe such creativity can ooze from my mind. It's amazing how melancholics tend to be more poetic than sanguine types or even a choleric ones. :)
Feel free to browse through my other blog. I would love to hear from you and humble me a bit with your criticisms. I don't mind. :)
Feel free to browse through my other blog. I would love to hear from you and humble me a bit with your criticisms. I don't mind. :)
Mission: To Help Others
Probably the greatest feeling man needs is to feel that he or she is loved. Just try for once that no one loves you or cares for you, I think you'll go crazy. Maybe we can reflect on this need for love a bit more. Personally, I want to feel loved because it gives me the impression that I am important and that I am useful. How people love us is also one of our gauge for our goodness. Goodness is lovable. Truth is lovable.
So if you want to be loved, be good and be truthful. :)
In this blog, I won't be talking about my concerns of being loved, but my loving a friend. I hope I am not psychopathic to do so, but I feel that I have to solve other people's problems. I delight in helping (refer to the previous paragraph). However, one of the trade-offs of being so helpful is the feeling of failure.
Let's just get it straight: no one on earth can really be called the ultimate problem-solver. (Only God can be rightly called as such.) We may be able to solve this problem, but not that problem. We have to understand that in helping other people, we cannot force the other person to do what we tell them to do. We naturally fail in our efforts, but we should not fall into depression because of these.
Let me share with you the prayer commonly taught to recovering addicts and alcoholics. (Though not an alcoholic or drug addict myself, I found this prayer very helpful.)
THE SERENITY PRAYER
God, grant me:
The serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.
So if you want to be loved, be good and be truthful. :)
In this blog, I won't be talking about my concerns of being loved, but my loving a friend. I hope I am not psychopathic to do so, but I feel that I have to solve other people's problems. I delight in helping (refer to the previous paragraph). However, one of the trade-offs of being so helpful is the feeling of failure.
Let's just get it straight: no one on earth can really be called the ultimate problem-solver. (Only God can be rightly called as such.) We may be able to solve this problem, but not that problem. We have to understand that in helping other people, we cannot force the other person to do what we tell them to do. We naturally fail in our efforts, but we should not fall into depression because of these.
Let me share with you the prayer commonly taught to recovering addicts and alcoholics. (Though not an alcoholic or drug addict myself, I found this prayer very helpful.)
THE SERENITY PRAYER
God, grant me:
The serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
June 29, 2005 and finding boyfriends
If you read my previous blogs, I think you'd like to browse through my February 2005 archives for it, my generous father gave me an ultimatum to get married by June 30, 2005. Today is already June 29 and tomorrow will already be June 30. Am I getting married yet? NOT! First of all, I don't have any boyfriend yet nor a decent suitor to consider. (My suitors don't persevere in their wooing me because I am really one hard nut to crack!)
Some tips: Precisely, being a hard nut to crack, if you are able to even scratch my surface for a superficial "wound" then you are likely to be a candidate. For a guy to become my friend is already a headstart. But if you stop, like what's-his-name did, I am not sure if I can give you a second chance.
Girls, look for men who are persevering in their pursuit. Even if you think he is ugly, I know of several friends who gave in to a persevering suitor and are now happily married or happily engaged. :)
And another thing, girls, RESPECT. Don't give in to a guy who will not respect you. You will know if the guy respects you when he does not make moves or "chances" to be physical with you. True love goes beyond what is physical. Love is shown in one's control of one's sexual instinct -- this is respect. If he cannot stop himself, better think twice. He does not love you for who you are but he is in love with how you look. Beat that!
Some tips: Precisely, being a hard nut to crack, if you are able to even scratch my surface for a superficial "wound" then you are likely to be a candidate. For a guy to become my friend is already a headstart. But if you stop, like what's-his-name did, I am not sure if I can give you a second chance.
Girls, look for men who are persevering in their pursuit. Even if you think he is ugly, I know of several friends who gave in to a persevering suitor and are now happily married or happily engaged. :)
And another thing, girls, RESPECT. Don't give in to a guy who will not respect you. You will know if the guy respects you when he does not make moves or "chances" to be physical with you. True love goes beyond what is physical. Love is shown in one's control of one's sexual instinct -- this is respect. If he cannot stop himself, better think twice. He does not love you for who you are but he is in love with how you look. Beat that!
Epilogue to Sadness
You must be wondering what bothered me a few days back when I wrote a poem on sadness. Yes I was sad and I still consider myself sad. I cannot deny that reality, but I cannot afford to reflect it in my public life. I also have my own "Green Mountain" to escape to. I guess I just have a knack for forgetting easily. It's a talent.
What saddens me is my strong sympathy for those who are in trouble, specifically a really close friend of mine.
I am not quite sure if you have already felt the same way as I do now, but I am sure you can empathize with me. I have a friend stricken with depression. Period. I cannot go beyond this statement anymore.
Just a word of advice: Don't become emotional vampires. An emotional vampire sucks out all the negative emotions of another to the point that the "vampire" feels the same emotions as the other. We have to be strong for our friend. Empathy is good, but strength lies on the other end. Remember, too, that we do not have the solution for everything and we cannot fully blame ourselves for every wrong that happens; otherwise, we'll fall into self-pity, and dive into a depression ourselves.
Smile people!
I am just blabbing here. But I got to blab for my sanity. :)
What saddens me is my strong sympathy for those who are in trouble, specifically a really close friend of mine.
I am not quite sure if you have already felt the same way as I do now, but I am sure you can empathize with me. I have a friend stricken with depression. Period. I cannot go beyond this statement anymore.
Just a word of advice: Don't become emotional vampires. An emotional vampire sucks out all the negative emotions of another to the point that the "vampire" feels the same emotions as the other. We have to be strong for our friend. Empathy is good, but strength lies on the other end. Remember, too, that we do not have the solution for everything and we cannot fully blame ourselves for every wrong that happens; otherwise, we'll fall into self-pity, and dive into a depression ourselves.
Smile people!
I am just blabbing here. But I got to blab for my sanity. :)
Ahhh... Teaching
I've been teaching in DLS-C for two weeks now and I could say that it's a pretty exciting two weeks. Let me recap the excitement for you:
1. Getting to know my students and learn how to handle them (actually this is in progress).
2. Experimenting on my loosening up and see how I can manage to keep my authority intact.
3. So far, so good on my deadlines. (Whew! I thought I could not manage.)
4. The Board just asked me to be part of the Marketing Committee of the School. (My superior justified this "appointment" by saying to the Board that I am articulate! Bwahaha! How many people have I fooled?!)
5. Discovering the quirks and funny bones of my colleagues. :D
6. I am still motivated to work.
7. My Level Coordinator missed my classroom observation since there was a parent who came that prevented her from observing my class. But I told her she could come anytime. :P (Actually, that was foolish of me to invite her!!! Aargh!)
8. My club, I think, is going smoothly. Though my members would probably beg to disagree. :O I hope not though. :P
Yup, so that summarizes it.
I do miss blogging though... I am losing my momentum in expressing my thoughts with ease. :( I need to blog more often than every two weeks. Ciao!
1. Getting to know my students and learn how to handle them (actually this is in progress).
2. Experimenting on my loosening up and see how I can manage to keep my authority intact.
3. So far, so good on my deadlines. (Whew! I thought I could not manage.)
4. The Board just asked me to be part of the Marketing Committee of the School. (My superior justified this "appointment" by saying to the Board that I am articulate! Bwahaha! How many people have I fooled?!)
5. Discovering the quirks and funny bones of my colleagues. :D
6. I am still motivated to work.
7. My Level Coordinator missed my classroom observation since there was a parent who came that prevented her from observing my class. But I told her she could come anytime. :P (Actually, that was foolish of me to invite her!!! Aargh!)
8. My club, I think, is going smoothly. Though my members would probably beg to disagree. :O I hope not though. :P
Yup, so that summarizes it.
I do miss blogging though... I am losing my momentum in expressing my thoughts with ease. :( I need to blog more often than every two weeks. Ciao!
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Sadness
Perhaps it doesn't show
But the sea inside me
Is disturbed by your sadness
You were jolly and gay
It is you I admire
For your total self-giving
What triggered it, my friend?
Is it my ignorance?
Is it the world's injustice?
I wish I could see you
To hug you, to cheer you
But restraint right now is best
For you and for me
Through prayers I'll go
Hugging you, cheering you.
But the sea inside me
Is disturbed by your sadness
You were jolly and gay
It is you I admire
For your total self-giving
What triggered it, my friend?
Is it my ignorance?
Is it the world's injustice?
I wish I could see you
To hug you, to cheer you
But restraint right now is best
For you and for me
Through prayers I'll go
Hugging you, cheering you.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
It's been months!
Whew! It's been 2 1/2 months since I blogged! You must be wondering what ever happened to me, huh?
Anyway, let me enumerate some milestones:
1. I got busy putting up a Family KTV bar and resto here in the City of Sta. Rosa.
2. I left Makati and went back "to my roots."
3. Started reporting for work in De La Salle Canlubang as a 2nd year English HS Teacher. (Wonderful, wonderful colleagues! Go Powerpuff! hehehe)
4. Got a super turn-off suitor... yep, still bugging me!
5. Got a flash drive - my most expensive purchase.
6. Ended my tutoring with the IS Students. I hope they all did well in their exams.
7. Ended my Philo Anthro classes.
8. Started taking voice lessons - I have a future! Hahaha!
So that's it. Hope that's enough updates for you guys.
I kinda miss blogging. Will probably start again to hone my writing skills as an English teacher. I'll require my students to start their own blogs if they haven't.
Anyway, let me enumerate some milestones:
1. I got busy putting up a Family KTV bar and resto here in the City of Sta. Rosa.
2. I left Makati and went back "to my roots."
3. Started reporting for work in De La Salle Canlubang as a 2nd year English HS Teacher. (Wonderful, wonderful colleagues! Go Powerpuff! hehehe)
4. Got a super turn-off suitor... yep, still bugging me!
5. Got a flash drive - my most expensive purchase.
6. Ended my tutoring with the IS Students. I hope they all did well in their exams.
7. Ended my Philo Anthro classes.
8. Started taking voice lessons - I have a future! Hahaha!
So that's it. Hope that's enough updates for you guys.
I kinda miss blogging. Will probably start again to hone my writing skills as an English teacher. I'll require my students to start their own blogs if they haven't.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Boston.com / A&E / Media / The disappearing tween years
Sheesh... teenage girls who are 12 going on 16? Dang, I hope your kids are not one of them. If they are, I hope you do something about it soon!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Fr. Jun's Quotable quotes:
1. Prayer is not to change God's will but to change our hearts.
2. Lent is a time when we are reminded to give up some basic things [such as meat on fridays] so that we may once feel poor. Lent is a time to sympathize with the poor.
3. During Lent, we practice giving up what we like to remind us that there is one thing that we cannot give up: God.
2. Lent is a time when we are reminded to give up some basic things [such as meat on fridays] so that we may once feel poor. Lent is a time to sympathize with the poor.
3. During Lent, we practice giving up what we like to remind us that there is one thing that we cannot give up: God.
Good out of something evil.
The recent bombing attacks of the Abu Sayyaf against our Filipino brothers and sisters who were merely coming from their 10 hour work schedule to earn their keep for their family can either jolt us or numb us.
People already start complaining about how the government tries to secure the country against these acts of terrorism, but we can never absolutely blame the government for failing. Can I blame you for failing to go to work on time? We all fail and the government is no exception. The government will never please everyone under her care for there are many stakeholders that the government has to please and all of them are not pleased by only one and the same decision.
Then who we can ultimately blame for all these? Sin. Sin is the cause of all the unhappiness in this world. Our pride that bogs us down when we fail. Our pride that bogs us down when we can instead at humbly before rejections. Our envy for other's apparent and true happiness. Our anger against people who contradict us. Our lustful tendencies that lead us to feed two families. Our greed for money, for food, always just concerned about pleasing oneself when there is infinite joy in giving. It is not the fighting that causes divorce. It is one man's or woman's lust, greed, or anger.
Let's end the talk on sin.
One thing that spurs us to hope is this: that God will draw out something good from the evil that is happening. All we have to do is to raise our minds to the same level as God's and we will start seeing the good from all this. In every failure, there is something good that we can draw out: learning. In every rejection is humility. In every bombing, we learn to trust in God and renew our piety. In every tsunami, in every accident, a good. Build this spirit of optimism in all of us and the devil will scorn us for still smiling at his effort to turn our eyes away from God.
Remember, the devil celebrates at every sin we commit. Let's resolve to go to confession soon, prepare ourselves for our indefinite deaths, and start smiling more often with God's grace.
People already start complaining about how the government tries to secure the country against these acts of terrorism, but we can never absolutely blame the government for failing. Can I blame you for failing to go to work on time? We all fail and the government is no exception. The government will never please everyone under her care for there are many stakeholders that the government has to please and all of them are not pleased by only one and the same decision.
Then who we can ultimately blame for all these? Sin. Sin is the cause of all the unhappiness in this world. Our pride that bogs us down when we fail. Our pride that bogs us down when we can instead at humbly before rejections. Our envy for other's apparent and true happiness. Our anger against people who contradict us. Our lustful tendencies that lead us to feed two families. Our greed for money, for food, always just concerned about pleasing oneself when there is infinite joy in giving. It is not the fighting that causes divorce. It is one man's or woman's lust, greed, or anger.
Let's end the talk on sin.
One thing that spurs us to hope is this: that God will draw out something good from the evil that is happening. All we have to do is to raise our minds to the same level as God's and we will start seeing the good from all this. In every failure, there is something good that we can draw out: learning. In every rejection is humility. In every bombing, we learn to trust in God and renew our piety. In every tsunami, in every accident, a good. Build this spirit of optimism in all of us and the devil will scorn us for still smiling at his effort to turn our eyes away from God.
Remember, the devil celebrates at every sin we commit. Let's resolve to go to confession soon, prepare ourselves for our indefinite deaths, and start smiling more often with God's grace.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Eres Tú
Como una promesa eres tú, eres tú,
como una mañana de verano,
como una sonrisa eres tú, eres tú,
así, así eres tú.
Toda mi esperanza eres tú, eres tú,
como lluvia fresca en mis manos,
como fuerte brisa eres tú, eres tú,
así, así eres tú.
Eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar,
eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar.
Como un poema eres tú, eres tú,
como una guitarra en la noche,
como el horizonte eres tú, eres tú,
así, así eres tú.
Eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar,
eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar.
como una mañana de verano,
como una sonrisa eres tú, eres tú,
así, así eres tú.
Toda mi esperanza eres tú, eres tú,
como lluvia fresca en mis manos,
como fuerte brisa eres tú, eres tú,
así, así eres tú.
Eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar,
eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar.
Como un poema eres tú, eres tú,
como una guitarra en la noche,
como el horizonte eres tú, eres tú,
así, así eres tú.
Eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar,
eres tú como el agua de mi fuente,
eres tú el fuego de mi hogar.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Something Beautiful
Wonderful song. Just simply beautiful. I'd sing this to anyone who I think needs to be encouraged. I sing this whenever I receive some blessing. This could be my life's soundtrack. :)
When storms have tossed your heart
And left you weak and wan
Then you must think upon something beautiful
When all your fondest dreams
Are scattered here and yon
Then you must think upon something beautiful
The tree transformed by autumn
The way a sunset close
A water fall
A wedding cake, a rose
When every friend has foe
And hope is all but come
It's time to think upon summer skies
Carousels, butterflies
Whereupon through your eyes you'll see
That living still can be
Something beautiful
When storms have tossed your heart
And left you weak and wan
Then you must think upon something beautiful
When all your fondest dreams
Are scattered here and yon
Then you must think upon something beautiful
The tree transformed by autumn
The way a sunset close
A water fall
A wedding cake, a rose
When every friend has foe
And hope is all but come
It's time to think upon summer skies
Carousels, butterflies
Whereupon through your eyes you'll see
That living still can be
Something beautiful
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
My First Pack in Years.
I bought my first pack of cigarettes in years.
I have quit smoking for 8 1/2 years. It wasn't a smoke free 8.5 years but perhaps some 5 sticks escaped my fingers during this span. I probably bought a menthol pack once and didn't finish it. My sister gave me a pack two years ago which I kept in my cabinet for "emergency". When I had recently urged for a smoke, I thought I could still brave a stale pack but when I saw the stains leaching through the packaging, I never dared. So today, I officially bought my first pack.
I must be in a pretty terrible situation now that I had finally dared myself to buy one. You must be curious whether I have opened the pack already or not. Yes, as soon as I got home, I opened it and lit my first serious cigarette. It was rough in my tonsils. It's not used to it anymore. I coughed after I took my last puff of the cigarette. It's been years... and the whole sensation brought me back to those years naive years of my college when I started smoking. It made me laugh.
Funny, I bought it on an Ash Wednesday. Pretty bad timing to buy. I could have bought it another day. But never mind. I guess it's "symbolic" that I also shed some ash with my cigarette on an Ash Wednesday. That would make this day more memorable. Haha.
So what's on my mind? I am just horribly saddened by all the wrong decisions I made. It's hard to make major decisions, all the more harder to undo them. It's hard. I know now that it is right. But the right is always hard to swallow. I need some assurance.
I have quit smoking for 8 1/2 years. It wasn't a smoke free 8.5 years but perhaps some 5 sticks escaped my fingers during this span. I probably bought a menthol pack once and didn't finish it. My sister gave me a pack two years ago which I kept in my cabinet for "emergency". When I had recently urged for a smoke, I thought I could still brave a stale pack but when I saw the stains leaching through the packaging, I never dared. So today, I officially bought my first pack.
I must be in a pretty terrible situation now that I had finally dared myself to buy one. You must be curious whether I have opened the pack already or not. Yes, as soon as I got home, I opened it and lit my first serious cigarette. It was rough in my tonsils. It's not used to it anymore. I coughed after I took my last puff of the cigarette. It's been years... and the whole sensation brought me back to those years naive years of my college when I started smoking. It made me laugh.
Funny, I bought it on an Ash Wednesday. Pretty bad timing to buy. I could have bought it another day. But never mind. I guess it's "symbolic" that I also shed some ash with my cigarette on an Ash Wednesday. That would make this day more memorable. Haha.
So what's on my mind? I am just horribly saddened by all the wrong decisions I made. It's hard to make major decisions, all the more harder to undo them. It's hard. I know now that it is right. But the right is always hard to swallow. I need some assurance.
The Truth.
How would you know the truth?
I am in an existential crisis of truth. I hear of several people's views (especially of opinions of how people are) and they all differ. I don't know who to believe. I don't know who to trust. There is only one person I trust. I trust God who is all-knowing. No matter how tainted people think of others, God knows who is telling the truth. I'll just have to trust Him.
What do I do now?
I am distancing myself from the people who are confusing me. I don't want to talk to them anymore. That's it. But I do understand why people think differently. It's because we all lie in order to get what we want. Perhaps not lie. Just to give evasive answers or opinions. The best is to be just simply sincere and straightforward, folks. If you try to be "kind" in your words to make a bad thing sound good, then you'll in for a whole mess. Just say things as they are. Call them by their real names.
I am in an existential crisis of truth. I hear of several people's views (especially of opinions of how people are) and they all differ. I don't know who to believe. I don't know who to trust. There is only one person I trust. I trust God who is all-knowing. No matter how tainted people think of others, God knows who is telling the truth. I'll just have to trust Him.
What do I do now?
I am distancing myself from the people who are confusing me. I don't want to talk to them anymore. That's it. But I do understand why people think differently. It's because we all lie in order to get what we want. Perhaps not lie. Just to give evasive answers or opinions. The best is to be just simply sincere and straightforward, folks. If you try to be "kind" in your words to make a bad thing sound good, then you'll in for a whole mess. Just say things as they are. Call them by their real names.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Cheer up.
"Kasama Ka"
Sana’y masabi sa awit kong ito
Lahat ng ninanais nitong puso ko
Sana saan man patungo sa buhay
May pag-ibig, pag-asa; may saya at saysay
Sana sa bawat sandali’y matikman pa
sarap ng pagsasama,at simpleng ligaya
Tara na, sakyan lang, malay mo
Andiyan lang, andiyan lang… ang hinahanap mo!
-From the TV commercial “I Wish” launched January 1, 2005 for Coke
Sana’y masabi sa awit kong ito
Lahat ng ninanais nitong puso ko
Sana saan man patungo sa buhay
May pag-ibig, pag-asa; may saya at saysay
Sana sa bawat sandali’y matikman pa
sarap ng pagsasama,at simpleng ligaya
Tara na, sakyan lang, malay mo
Andiyan lang, andiyan lang… ang hinahanap mo!
-From the TV commercial “I Wish” launched January 1, 2005 for Coke
Breaking up is hard to do.
No, I didn't have a boyfriend.
I know I have told you about my friend and how lucky I am to have her as friend, but last night we have finally ended our friendship. She doesn't want to do anything with me anymore. She doesn't want to be associated with me. I tried to salvage the friendship by offering a simple compromise but she was not open. It's either we were really good friends or not friends. And so I conceded to her side: Fine, no more dealings with each other. And so that part of my story ends.
Epilogue.
I have lost a really good friend. Who will I call now when I'm feeling really bad? Who will I share my corny jokes with? Who will I share my latest escapades to now? I didn't want to really end the friendship. I just simply wanted the texting at odd and several times. She didn't like the idea. And so it ended. Though I lost a friend, I know in my heart that she will still be the same friend I described to you before. I would love to think this way at least that she'll be there -- God willing! -- at my funeral. She is still a friend. She doesn't want to do anything with me, but I will still consider her a friend. Her number will still remain in my phonebook. I will still cherish the memories we have had with each other.
Thanks, Martha, for everything. No doubt you were a very supportive and "useful" friend.
I know I have told you about my friend and how lucky I am to have her as friend, but last night we have finally ended our friendship. She doesn't want to do anything with me anymore. She doesn't want to be associated with me. I tried to salvage the friendship by offering a simple compromise but she was not open. It's either we were really good friends or not friends. And so I conceded to her side: Fine, no more dealings with each other. And so that part of my story ends.
Epilogue.
I have lost a really good friend. Who will I call now when I'm feeling really bad? Who will I share my corny jokes with? Who will I share my latest escapades to now? I didn't want to really end the friendship. I just simply wanted the texting at odd and several times. She didn't like the idea. And so it ended. Though I lost a friend, I know in my heart that she will still be the same friend I described to you before. I would love to think this way at least that she'll be there -- God willing! -- at my funeral. She is still a friend. She doesn't want to do anything with me, but I will still consider her a friend. Her number will still remain in my phonebook. I will still cherish the memories we have had with each other.
Thanks, Martha, for everything. No doubt you were a very supportive and "useful" friend.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Al's Two views
Got this from John Gibson's blog. Just to teach you some guys about simple logic. :-)
----------------------------------
Al seems to be having a moral disconnect... Here, I will try to help him.
Al has said the following on Abortion:
Women can choose about their life and their body (November 5th)
Conserve Roe v. Wade (March 6)
Abortion is wrong, but let women choose (Jan 2002)
His Supreme Court nominees will allow right to choose (Jan 2002)
Al Sharpton on KFC
KFC treats chickens inhumanely
KFC needs to be boycotted so they change
KFC is wrong for treating chickens like this
Now... lets try something here
Abortion treats children inhumanely
Planned Parenthood needs to be boycotted so they change
America is wrong for allowing people to treat children like this
So... Why does Al believe that Roe v. Wade should be upheld and KFC should be boycotted?
KFC has a choice about their chickens lives and their chickens bodies
Inhumane abuse is wrong, but let KFC choose
His nominees will allow KFC to choose how it treats its Chickens
So in Al's world view... Children in the womb have no rights... Chickens who are about to be slaughtered for food do have rights...
Anyone else getting a major brain fart on this one?
----------------------------------
Al seems to be having a moral disconnect... Here, I will try to help him.
Al has said the following on Abortion:
Women can choose about their life and their body (November 5th)
Conserve Roe v. Wade (March 6)
Abortion is wrong, but let women choose (Jan 2002)
His Supreme Court nominees will allow right to choose (Jan 2002)
Al Sharpton on KFC
KFC treats chickens inhumanely
KFC needs to be boycotted so they change
KFC is wrong for treating chickens like this
Now... lets try something here
Abortion treats children inhumanely
Planned Parenthood needs to be boycotted so they change
America is wrong for allowing people to treat children like this
So... Why does Al believe that Roe v. Wade should be upheld and KFC should be boycotted?
KFC has a choice about their chickens lives and their chickens bodies
Inhumane abuse is wrong, but let KFC choose
His nominees will allow KFC to choose how it treats its Chickens
So in Al's world view... Children in the womb have no rights... Chickens who are about to be slaughtered for food do have rights...
Anyone else getting a major brain fart on this one?
Crazy Mass Celebrations
I hope this won't happen in our country, but I don't think it's not far. Perhaps, it is already happening! Ö
Mass Tour: An Update- Holy Family Parish
Mass Tour: An Update- Holy Family Parish
The Oldest Couple: Marriage is really Forever.
Nice!
Not that I want to live until I'm 101 or 104 but I wish I could marry someone who will be with me forever, too.
What about you?
Not that I want to live until I'm 101 or 104 but I wish I could marry someone who will be with me forever, too.
What about you?
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Bad Impressions on Opus Dei
It's sad that Opus Dei is a favorite subject of criticisms among non-Catholics and Catholics (laity and clergy!) even.
1. They are for the rich and famous. (There is a jeepney driver in the Philippines who is a member.)
2. They ARE the landed rich. (Who doesn't need land to put up Catholic schools, convents, monasteries, and Churches?)
3. They think women are second-class citizens. (I don't exactly understand the nuance of "second-class.")
4. They are the Pope's secret army. (Heck! Then it's not so secret anymore!)
5. They are too demanding on their members. (Ever heard of how to acquire virtues?)
6. They are too conservative. (Shouldn't all Catholics try to conserve the real intentions and meanings of the Church's teachings?)
7. They are out to dominate the world. (I'd be glad if they do! I don't mind some strong Catholics leading my country. Wouldn't that be utopic?)
I think the above summarizes all most common "accusations" (unjust!) against Opus Dei.
It's sad that even Catholics who are supposed to be "hard core" Catholics speak bad about the organization or at least don't fully understand their mission. I don't want to judge them, but I guess they started on the wrong foot about Opus Dei. I reckon that people who think bad about Opus Dei have first encountered the organization by reading a lot of articles that speak against it. It has created some sort of prejudice in them.
I'm sure that the books written by the Founder of Opus Dei, St. Escriva, are not included in the Index Librorum Prohibitorium, nor other works of Opus Dei. I would like to recommend the Navarre Bible series of texts and commentaries of the different books of the old and new testaments (taken from the Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition Bible). The commentaries are made by Theologians who happen to be members of Opus Dei. You can check out Scepter Publishers.
You won't see St. Josemaria's books inside this bag! Fr. Sibley, I love this bag! Wish you could deliver to the Philippines!
1. They are for the rich and famous. (There is a jeepney driver in the Philippines who is a member.)
2. They ARE the landed rich. (Who doesn't need land to put up Catholic schools, convents, monasteries, and Churches?)
3. They think women are second-class citizens. (I don't exactly understand the nuance of "second-class.")
4. They are the Pope's secret army. (Heck! Then it's not so secret anymore!)
5. They are too demanding on their members. (Ever heard of how to acquire virtues?)
6. They are too conservative. (Shouldn't all Catholics try to conserve the real intentions and meanings of the Church's teachings?)
7. They are out to dominate the world. (I'd be glad if they do! I don't mind some strong Catholics leading my country. Wouldn't that be utopic?)
I think the above summarizes all most common "accusations" (unjust!) against Opus Dei.
It's sad that even Catholics who are supposed to be "hard core" Catholics speak bad about the organization or at least don't fully understand their mission. I don't want to judge them, but I guess they started on the wrong foot about Opus Dei. I reckon that people who think bad about Opus Dei have first encountered the organization by reading a lot of articles that speak against it. It has created some sort of prejudice in them.
I'm sure that the books written by the Founder of Opus Dei, St. Escriva, are not included in the Index Librorum Prohibitorium, nor other works of Opus Dei. I would like to recommend the Navarre Bible series of texts and commentaries of the different books of the old and new testaments (taken from the Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition Bible). The commentaries are made by Theologians who happen to be members of Opus Dei. You can check out Scepter Publishers.
You won't see St. Josemaria's books inside this bag! Fr. Sibley, I love this bag! Wish you could deliver to the Philippines!
The King's English and I
I thought of posting this to my blog. Very interesting impression of the King's English. Good read. :-)
By Carla Montemayor
Sheffield--
I have always had a love affair with English, and for that reason I write in this language. I've encountered Singlish (the okay lahs of Singapore), Deep South English (brung and y'all), Japanese English (no R's), Ilocano English (all R's), and I have never had major surprises until now with English English, the way they speak it here in the UK.
It's not that I was ignorant of its peculiarities. I had read British authors, watched British films, and spoken with British people long before I got here. All that, however, still did not prepare me for the shock of the colloquial.
For starters, there's the verbose politesse. The British will not just say "thanks," they will invariably say, "Thank you very much indeed," or "Thank you ever so much." Ever so much na, indeed pa. How does one reply adequately to that? "You are profoundly welcome from the deepest recesses of my heart"?
Sometimes I feel like bowing. Then there are the dramatic exclamations. Things are never just "okay" or "nice" or even "great"; they are "splendid," "fantastic," and "brilliant." It's overwhelming and somewhat suspicious for someone whose own language is restrained in the deployment of superlatives.
Maganda (beautiful), magaling (good), and ang galing-galing (really good) are about all we can bring ourselves to describe anything we're impressed with, although we do make up for it with emphatic gestures and lively vocal tones. The British, when pronouncing something as being "superb," will make the most frugal of lip movements and the slightest of eyebrow lifts.
Requests are bound to be long-winded. "You don't suppose you could turn the light on, do you, that is if you don't mind and if it's not too much trouble, of course?" I'm tempted to reply with a similar treatise, but I just say, yes, I suppose the Filipino CAN!
But CANS are not in vogue here. My housemate asked me for a TIN opener, not a CAN opener. And we're all supposed to throw our trash in the trash BIN, not the trash CAN. This must have confused the English when Bin Laden burst into the political scene because, well, the bin is always laden and that is why one must empty it regularly.
One evening, I decided I could speak fancy English as well as everyone, and so I announced to my housemates that I would be buying a small SKILLET. That was met with blank expressions. I am buying a small skillet so that we won't have to fry eggs in that big pan, I announced again. Oh, a FRYING PAN, they chorused. (Celtic barbarians, I muttered under my breath.) But when they did fry poTAHtoes in that pan, they weren't FRIES at all but had somehow been transformed into CHIPS.
Don't get me started with those poTAHtoes and toMAHtoes. I scoured the grocery shelves and there wasn't any toMAHto SAUCE, just diced toMAHtoes in toMAHto JUICE. But I don't want to drink it! I want to cook with it! I went on to the vegetable section already stressed out. No one knows of EGGPLANTS around here, just AUBERGINES. I could not positively identify the ZUCCHINIS because they were hiding under the alias COURGETTES. I've lost all hope of finding mustasa because I'm sure they're not called "moustache." I've seen menus featuring "spotted dick," but I'm too embarrassed to order it. I searched for BISCUITS, ignoring large packages of DIGESTIVES, which I thought were for septuagenarians who had to put all solid food through a blender.
And because this is the north of England, I've been invited to TEA in the evening in which no tea was served it was actually DINNER. Then I was asked to DINNER, which turned out to be LUNCH. So now when they ask what I'm having for "tea," I say "rice." And when someone invites me to "dinner," I no longer plan to wear a shiny dress.
I have also ceased to recoil upon hearing the various endearments with which total strangers address me: "luv" (fairly common), "flower," "angel," and get this "duck." Why the name of a domestic fowl is considered a fond nickname, I have no idea. If someone called me "bibe" (duck) back home, I would surely be livid and yell back, "Itik" (skinny Philippine fowl)!
I have had to LOAD credits onto a local SIM card given to me by a friend, but I found out right away that there is no pre-paid "loading" here, only TOP-UP service. You top-up your mobile phone, tuition, bank balance. All that topping up requires money, of course, and I cannot help making mental computations to convert pounds into pesos. (One pound is now about a hundred pesos.) So when I get a "concession" ticket (a discounted ticket for students) to watch a movie for "just" five pounds, I have actually spent P500 to see a film. Oh, bollocks! as the Brits would exclaim, and to that I can certainly relate because it sounds like bulok (rotten) and in the plural, too. In other words, bulok na bulok (very rotten).
Due to all the budgeting I have had to do, I have become better at MATHS yes, in the plural, as well. But for the first time in my life, my spelling skills have to be, er, topped up. It's labour, with a U. It's analyse and offence. All my written academic work is riddled with words underlined in red. I am completely DISORIENTED, but since this is England, I must be DISORIENTATED. Bloody strange, if you will excuse my English.
Anyway, I don't understand why "bloody" or "bleeding" is considered a swear word in this country. In Tagalog, if a meeting or a confrontation is particularly tense, it will be described as madugo (bloody). How is that filthy?
Probably for the same reason that here, "phlegmatic" is something of a flattering adjective. To be full of phlegm is to be quintessentially British: calm and unflappable. Me, I'm from a population of weak lungs where the horror of tuberculosis is still euphemized by the term "primary complex." I neither possess nor desire any phlegm whatsoever.
To each language its own bodily fluid. lovely, isn't it? =) c u later, my ducks! =)
By Carla Montemayor
Sheffield--
I have always had a love affair with English, and for that reason I write in this language. I've encountered Singlish (the okay lahs of Singapore), Deep South English (brung and y'all), Japanese English (no R's), Ilocano English (all R's), and I have never had major surprises until now with English English, the way they speak it here in the UK.
It's not that I was ignorant of its peculiarities. I had read British authors, watched British films, and spoken with British people long before I got here. All that, however, still did not prepare me for the shock of the colloquial.
For starters, there's the verbose politesse. The British will not just say "thanks," they will invariably say, "Thank you very much indeed," or "Thank you ever so much." Ever so much na, indeed pa. How does one reply adequately to that? "You are profoundly welcome from the deepest recesses of my heart"?
Sometimes I feel like bowing. Then there are the dramatic exclamations. Things are never just "okay" or "nice" or even "great"; they are "splendid," "fantastic," and "brilliant." It's overwhelming and somewhat suspicious for someone whose own language is restrained in the deployment of superlatives.
Maganda (beautiful), magaling (good), and ang galing-galing (really good) are about all we can bring ourselves to describe anything we're impressed with, although we do make up for it with emphatic gestures and lively vocal tones. The British, when pronouncing something as being "superb," will make the most frugal of lip movements and the slightest of eyebrow lifts.
Requests are bound to be long-winded. "You don't suppose you could turn the light on, do you, that is if you don't mind and if it's not too much trouble, of course?" I'm tempted to reply with a similar treatise, but I just say, yes, I suppose the Filipino CAN!
But CANS are not in vogue here. My housemate asked me for a TIN opener, not a CAN opener. And we're all supposed to throw our trash in the trash BIN, not the trash CAN. This must have confused the English when Bin Laden burst into the political scene because, well, the bin is always laden and that is why one must empty it regularly.
One evening, I decided I could speak fancy English as well as everyone, and so I announced to my housemates that I would be buying a small SKILLET. That was met with blank expressions. I am buying a small skillet so that we won't have to fry eggs in that big pan, I announced again. Oh, a FRYING PAN, they chorused. (Celtic barbarians, I muttered under my breath.) But when they did fry poTAHtoes in that pan, they weren't FRIES at all but had somehow been transformed into CHIPS.
Don't get me started with those poTAHtoes and toMAHtoes. I scoured the grocery shelves and there wasn't any toMAHto SAUCE, just diced toMAHtoes in toMAHto JUICE. But I don't want to drink it! I want to cook with it! I went on to the vegetable section already stressed out. No one knows of EGGPLANTS around here, just AUBERGINES. I could not positively identify the ZUCCHINIS because they were hiding under the alias COURGETTES. I've lost all hope of finding mustasa because I'm sure they're not called "moustache." I've seen menus featuring "spotted dick," but I'm too embarrassed to order it. I searched for BISCUITS, ignoring large packages of DIGESTIVES, which I thought were for septuagenarians who had to put all solid food through a blender.
And because this is the north of England, I've been invited to TEA in the evening in which no tea was served it was actually DINNER. Then I was asked to DINNER, which turned out to be LUNCH. So now when they ask what I'm having for "tea," I say "rice." And when someone invites me to "dinner," I no longer plan to wear a shiny dress.
I have also ceased to recoil upon hearing the various endearments with which total strangers address me: "luv" (fairly common), "flower," "angel," and get this "duck." Why the name of a domestic fowl is considered a fond nickname, I have no idea. If someone called me "bibe" (duck) back home, I would surely be livid and yell back, "Itik" (skinny Philippine fowl)!
I have had to LOAD credits onto a local SIM card given to me by a friend, but I found out right away that there is no pre-paid "loading" here, only TOP-UP service. You top-up your mobile phone, tuition, bank balance. All that topping up requires money, of course, and I cannot help making mental computations to convert pounds into pesos. (One pound is now about a hundred pesos.) So when I get a "concession" ticket (a discounted ticket for students) to watch a movie for "just" five pounds, I have actually spent P500 to see a film. Oh, bollocks! as the Brits would exclaim, and to that I can certainly relate because it sounds like bulok (rotten) and in the plural, too. In other words, bulok na bulok (very rotten).
Due to all the budgeting I have had to do, I have become better at MATHS yes, in the plural, as well. But for the first time in my life, my spelling skills have to be, er, topped up. It's labour, with a U. It's analyse and offence. All my written academic work is riddled with words underlined in red. I am completely DISORIENTED, but since this is England, I must be DISORIENTATED. Bloody strange, if you will excuse my English.
Anyway, I don't understand why "bloody" or "bleeding" is considered a swear word in this country. In Tagalog, if a meeting or a confrontation is particularly tense, it will be described as madugo (bloody). How is that filthy?
Probably for the same reason that here, "phlegmatic" is something of a flattering adjective. To be full of phlegm is to be quintessentially British: calm and unflappable. Me, I'm from a population of weak lungs where the horror of tuberculosis is still euphemized by the term "primary complex." I neither possess nor desire any phlegm whatsoever.
To each language its own bodily fluid. lovely, isn't it? =) c u later, my ducks! =)
Am I Hurrying?
You read my previous blog when I talked to you about my dad's incentives? Yeah?
Probably just an epilogue to it: I'm not giving in to these incentives. Just want to make it clear. I don't care if I get the condo for free because I'm getting married. No one should ever get married for these reasons. Don't get fooled again by parents who are giving you these incentives. No one should really hurry their choosing a husband or a wife for that matter.
Each in one's own time. Patience is a virtue.
Probably just an epilogue to it: I'm not giving in to these incentives. Just want to make it clear. I don't care if I get the condo for free because I'm getting married. No one should ever get married for these reasons. Don't get fooled again by parents who are giving you these incentives. No one should really hurry their choosing a husband or a wife for that matter.
Each in one's own time. Patience is a virtue.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Read This.
cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd
waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of
the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht
oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny
iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be
in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses
and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs
is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought
slpeling was ipmorantt! tahts so cool!!!
Well, I don't know what you think about this, but I think it's kinda cool but also stupid. Don't be fooled by the above because it only used common words we are so familiar with. People who read words and not see the order of the letters, learned to read from children's story books taught by non-teaching adults. We don't read letters, true, but we produce the sound of the letters. If we learn to read words, we will have a hard time learning a new language because doing so require that we learn to read the sounds of the letters and learn to pronounce them. For those who speak English as their second language, they can easily read the above paragraph with no problem at all, but at the same time, pronounce words we may encounter for the first time.
waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of
the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht
oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny
iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be
in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses
and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs
is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed
ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought
slpeling was ipmorantt! tahts so cool!!!
Well, I don't know what you think about this, but I think it's kinda cool but also stupid. Don't be fooled by the above because it only used common words we are so familiar with. People who read words and not see the order of the letters, learned to read from children's story books taught by non-teaching adults. We don't read letters, true, but we produce the sound of the letters. If we learn to read words, we will have a hard time learning a new language because doing so require that we learn to read the sounds of the letters and learn to pronounce them. For those who speak English as their second language, they can easily read the above paragraph with no problem at all, but at the same time, pronounce words we may encounter for the first time.
Age Test
|
You Are 26 Years Old |
|
26 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax. |
I got the link for this test and I thought I'd take it since I always think that I act older than my real age. I thought it will really come out something like 30+ but to my surprise, the quiz judged me to act just a year younger than I really am! Imagine that, I actually act younger than mmy age! Well, i think it is pretty consoling to know this little detail though I know I shouldn't take these tests too seriously for it has pretty vague descriptions. ;P It's fun though.
Ultimatum.
I don't know if this the bright side of things, but my father gave me an ultimatum of sorts.
Remember that "casual conversation" we had? Well, he also gave me an ultimatum. Maybe not so much as an ultimatum, but an "incentive." He told me that I can get more "benefits" and "inheritances" if I get married by June 30, 2005.
Uh-huh. You read that right. Now, how many fathers would have actually told their daughters these words or similar words? Maybe, just one. Mine. I don't know if I should rejoice or not. Definitely, I won't marry by June 30 this year. First of all, I don't have a boyfriend. Suitors? None even. I can probably find a boyfriend, spend a whole day with him to get to know him, decide if I should marry him within a month. Ii get engage, say March. Wedding preparations can be done in three months (like my sister's). Hmmm. Not bad if suddenly I meet my soul mate tomorrow. Naturally, it won't happen this quick. So I guess, my dad's "hopes" for my inheritances are really nihil. Non-existent. So why bother for that inheritance? Ah, and one more thing he said - he's attaching incentives to everything that cannot be planned - he'll give more inheritance for every child borne from his children (that's my sister and me). I'd believe this one. Sounds more realistic.
Getting married is not just a matter of incentive. It is not just a task that you have to do for the heck of an incentive. It is beyond incentives and rewards and inheritances. It requires waiting. What if I don't get married? So I won't get any inheritance? Well, I don't mind. That's the consequence of not getting married.
Hmmmm... Maybe my dad is pressuring me to get married quick by making it seem difficult for me to fulfill my dreams being alone. He probably wanted me to conclude that I just simply get married... He has to understand though that it is not that I don't want to get married. They are just not coming. Maybe marriage is really not for me. Anyway, let's just wait and see.
One thing's for sure, I won't marry for the heck of incentive. If I have to live it out in the province and drive a rusty car, I will.
Remember that "casual conversation" we had? Well, he also gave me an ultimatum. Maybe not so much as an ultimatum, but an "incentive." He told me that I can get more "benefits" and "inheritances" if I get married by June 30, 2005.
Uh-huh. You read that right. Now, how many fathers would have actually told their daughters these words or similar words? Maybe, just one. Mine. I don't know if I should rejoice or not. Definitely, I won't marry by June 30 this year. First of all, I don't have a boyfriend. Suitors? None even. I can probably find a boyfriend, spend a whole day with him to get to know him, decide if I should marry him within a month. Ii get engage, say March. Wedding preparations can be done in three months (like my sister's). Hmmm. Not bad if suddenly I meet my soul mate tomorrow. Naturally, it won't happen this quick. So I guess, my dad's "hopes" for my inheritances are really nihil. Non-existent. So why bother for that inheritance? Ah, and one more thing he said - he's attaching incentives to everything that cannot be planned - he'll give more inheritance for every child borne from his children (that's my sister and me). I'd believe this one. Sounds more realistic.
Getting married is not just a matter of incentive. It is not just a task that you have to do for the heck of an incentive. It is beyond incentives and rewards and inheritances. It requires waiting. What if I don't get married? So I won't get any inheritance? Well, I don't mind. That's the consequence of not getting married.
Hmmmm... Maybe my dad is pressuring me to get married quick by making it seem difficult for me to fulfill my dreams being alone. He probably wanted me to conclude that I just simply get married... He has to understand though that it is not that I don't want to get married. They are just not coming. Maybe marriage is really not for me. Anyway, let's just wait and see.
One thing's for sure, I won't marry for the heck of incentive. If I have to live it out in the province and drive a rusty car, I will.
Letting Myself Be Deceived
My "dreams" were just shattered by my father's words.
I have recently dreamt of my own flat in the City and a nice new economy car I can replace for my current 9 year old one, with the hope of actually being able to get one, based on my father's words: "I'll give it to you as advanced inheritance." Well, it was just a casual conversation which I took quite seriously since I trust my father a lot. I knew him as someone who says one thing and will live by it. Since I was blinded by thought of actually having the chance of owning my "dreams," I took his words literally. I had let myself be deceived.
My dad, who holds a CPA, asked for my financial statement (like a summary of my monthly income and expenses). I didn't know what for, but I saw it as a "requirement" for getting the condo of my dreams. He reviewed my FS, and after a week or so, he now talks to me about it telling me, "I think you are living beyond your expenses. I think if you want to get that condo, you need a better job, a more stable job that will earn you an income enough to pay for both the condo and the car." I was open to what he said. Regarding my living beyond my expenses, I somehow didn't react surprised - maybe because I know that I am living beyond my expenses (not that my expenses are more than my income, heck no). As for finding a better job to accommodate my luxuries, I wasn't quite open. I am not for the corporate world. I don't really see myself working for the money. I don't see myself working from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, in the same office, doing the same thing. Honestly, I don't have the discipline for such a job. I like movement, dynamism, but not activism.
So I tried to clarify his words during our "casual conversation" regarding the "inheritance." Well, now that it is clarified, it really isn't about shelling out the whole cash for me without my paying back. What he actually meant was that he was willing to finance it for me. So much for an inheritance. [Is that what I'll expect for my actual inheritance?]
After that quick conversation, my spirits were down. I didn't want to talk to him anymore. I just avoided his gaze and anymore possible conversation that may worsen the issue.
Fairly enough, I learned my lesson. It truly was a humbling experience. I am posting this experience here as a way to combat my pride. Pride does not do us any good. And I don't want it to harm my relationship with my father, who I owe a lot. This is my way of swallowing and stepping on my pride. Besides, why am I trying to seek happiness where I cannot find it?
What about you? Do you make the effort to step on yours?
I have recently dreamt of my own flat in the City and a nice new economy car I can replace for my current 9 year old one, with the hope of actually being able to get one, based on my father's words: "I'll give it to you as advanced inheritance." Well, it was just a casual conversation which I took quite seriously since I trust my father a lot. I knew him as someone who says one thing and will live by it. Since I was blinded by thought of actually having the chance of owning my "dreams," I took his words literally. I had let myself be deceived.
My dad, who holds a CPA, asked for my financial statement (like a summary of my monthly income and expenses). I didn't know what for, but I saw it as a "requirement" for getting the condo of my dreams. He reviewed my FS, and after a week or so, he now talks to me about it telling me, "I think you are living beyond your expenses. I think if you want to get that condo, you need a better job, a more stable job that will earn you an income enough to pay for both the condo and the car." I was open to what he said. Regarding my living beyond my expenses, I somehow didn't react surprised - maybe because I know that I am living beyond my expenses (not that my expenses are more than my income, heck no). As for finding a better job to accommodate my luxuries, I wasn't quite open. I am not for the corporate world. I don't really see myself working for the money. I don't see myself working from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, in the same office, doing the same thing. Honestly, I don't have the discipline for such a job. I like movement, dynamism, but not activism.
So I tried to clarify his words during our "casual conversation" regarding the "inheritance." Well, now that it is clarified, it really isn't about shelling out the whole cash for me without my paying back. What he actually meant was that he was willing to finance it for me. So much for an inheritance. [Is that what I'll expect for my actual inheritance?]
After that quick conversation, my spirits were down. I didn't want to talk to him anymore. I just avoided his gaze and anymore possible conversation that may worsen the issue.
Fairly enough, I learned my lesson. It truly was a humbling experience. I am posting this experience here as a way to combat my pride. Pride does not do us any good. And I don't want it to harm my relationship with my father, who I owe a lot. This is my way of swallowing and stepping on my pride. Besides, why am I trying to seek happiness where I cannot find it?
What about you? Do you make the effort to step on yours?
Sunday, January 23, 2005
C. S. Lewis on Friendship.
"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival."
Again and again, I almost lost the same friend. I have become too independent minded as to reach this point of thinking that I can live on my own without having a real friend. It has only caused me loneliness. I almost lost her.
"He who has found a friend, has found a treasure." I have found a treasure in her only when I almost lost her. Does it always have to happen that we only realize the value of a treasure when it is already gone? Well, I think it just had to happen to me. Although I am happy that I had not exactly lost her. She is so patient with me. She gave me countless chances to reconcile with her. I don't mind you guys interpreting this as something else. Maybe you just have not found a real friend.
Anyway, I am resolved to keep this treasure from now own. I won't let something like this to happen again. It took me many days of tears before I could muster some courage to tell her that I wanted to keep her as a friend no matter what. I was an ingrat, an ungrateful fool, who'd let a treasure slip by my hands so easily. Thank God, I arrived at a conclusion that she truly is a treasure. I am glad that I have a friend who will sacrifice to do me favors. I am glad that I have a friend who will give me a great eulogy when I die. I am glad that I have a friend who will pray the rosary beside my death bed and call for a priest to give the last sacraments. I am glad that I have a friend who'll do anything to cheer me up. I am glad that I have friend who will free up some of her time to listen to my woes. I am glad that I have friend who I know will visit me in the "basement" if I suddenly go insane. I am glad that I have a friend who has a family who treats me like I am one of their daughters. I am glad that I have a friend who will point to me the things that I am doing wrong. I am glad to have a friend who I know is a real treasure.
What about you, have you found a treasure like I have found mine?
Again and again, I almost lost the same friend. I have become too independent minded as to reach this point of thinking that I can live on my own without having a real friend. It has only caused me loneliness. I almost lost her.
"He who has found a friend, has found a treasure." I have found a treasure in her only when I almost lost her. Does it always have to happen that we only realize the value of a treasure when it is already gone? Well, I think it just had to happen to me. Although I am happy that I had not exactly lost her. She is so patient with me. She gave me countless chances to reconcile with her. I don't mind you guys interpreting this as something else. Maybe you just have not found a real friend.
Anyway, I am resolved to keep this treasure from now own. I won't let something like this to happen again. It took me many days of tears before I could muster some courage to tell her that I wanted to keep her as a friend no matter what. I was an ingrat, an ungrateful fool, who'd let a treasure slip by my hands so easily. Thank God, I arrived at a conclusion that she truly is a treasure. I am glad that I have a friend who will sacrifice to do me favors. I am glad that I have a friend who will give me a great eulogy when I die. I am glad that I have a friend who will pray the rosary beside my death bed and call for a priest to give the last sacraments. I am glad that I have a friend who'll do anything to cheer me up. I am glad that I have friend who will free up some of her time to listen to my woes. I am glad that I have friend who I know will visit me in the "basement" if I suddenly go insane. I am glad that I have a friend who has a family who treats me like I am one of their daughters. I am glad that I have a friend who will point to me the things that I am doing wrong. I am glad to have a friend who I know is a real treasure.
What about you, have you found a treasure like I have found mine?
Friday, January 21, 2005
Food for Thought 2.
"Man invented time just to be enslaved by it."
Are we always running after time? Or is time running after us. Just a reminder: We created time, the clocks, the watches, not to be enslaved by them, but to help us manage our time.
So will you still run after time?
Are we always running after time? Or is time running after us. Just a reminder: We created time, the clocks, the watches, not to be enslaved by them, but to help us manage our time.
So will you still run after time?
Food for Thought 1.
"We only have one life to live."
I will live my life to the fullest. I will enjoy all my weekends and visit all the bars in Greenbelt. Life is too short, I better make the best of it. I will eat at all the fancy restaurants I can eat in.
Are you going to live your life as if there were no hell? If you do, just remember that there is no second life to speak of. Don't say you were never told.
I will live my life to the fullest. I will enjoy all my weekends and visit all the bars in Greenbelt. Life is too short, I better make the best of it. I will eat at all the fancy restaurants I can eat in.
Are you going to live your life as if there were no hell? If you do, just remember that there is no second life to speak of. Don't say you were never told.
Homosexuality.
Okay guys. Let me get this straight.
I'm sure we all have friends who call themselves "bading". Actually, they admit that they are not straight. "Ayoko ko ngang maging straight." Admitting so, they agree that they are somewhat "distorted" or "curved" - not straight. They know that they are in the wrong but willfully remain in the wrong.
There are some who have "come out" but still want to pray or to praise God. How can they praise God fully when their bodies don't glorify God? How do our bodies praise God? By taking care of it and using them according to how God had designed them. God had made man and woman, and no man-slash-woman.
So how should a good Christian, a Catholic, deal with these people? Definitely, we won't be helping them with tolerance. It will just give them the impression that they are accepted by society, that their way of behaving is the norm. A good Catholic will not fear being with people with a distorted view of their gender. A good Catholic would be good friends with a homosexual. He/She will try to understand this new found friend and try to help him/her to live and behave according to how God had really created them.
They need the help of good Catholics. We cannot be homophobics. Who else will help them, but us.
I don't have the time and space to explain my point but you might want to visit the EWTN Library for a series of articles that discuss the problem thoroughly. I can be only available for questions after you've read the articles there. I also have a link on my side bar for a support group for homosexuals. They have good testimonies of homosexuals who have gone straight but not necessarily heterosexual.
Enjoy the read.
I'm sure we all have friends who call themselves "bading". Actually, they admit that they are not straight. "Ayoko ko ngang maging straight." Admitting so, they agree that they are somewhat "distorted" or "curved" - not straight. They know that they are in the wrong but willfully remain in the wrong.
There are some who have "come out" but still want to pray or to praise God. How can they praise God fully when their bodies don't glorify God? How do our bodies praise God? By taking care of it and using them according to how God had designed them. God had made man and woman, and no man-slash-woman.
So how should a good Christian, a Catholic, deal with these people? Definitely, we won't be helping them with tolerance. It will just give them the impression that they are accepted by society, that their way of behaving is the norm. A good Catholic will not fear being with people with a distorted view of their gender. A good Catholic would be good friends with a homosexual. He/She will try to understand this new found friend and try to help him/her to live and behave according to how God had really created them.
They need the help of good Catholics. We cannot be homophobics. Who else will help them, but us.
I don't have the time and space to explain my point but you might want to visit the EWTN Library for a series of articles that discuss the problem thoroughly. I can be only available for questions after you've read the articles there. I also have a link on my side bar for a support group for homosexuals. They have good testimonies of homosexuals who have gone straight but not necessarily heterosexual.
Enjoy the read.
Like a Roller Coaster Ride. An Excerpt.
I'm sorry that our friendship has gone through a lot of trials, and most of the time, and I have to admit, I always seem to be the one to trigger these episodes. Like what I've said before, it has gone through an endless roller coaster ride that can give us a really twisted stomach and that makes us puke. It has been pretty smooth in the beginning of the ride until the loops have come. If we liken our friendship to a roller coaster ride, I would love to think that our episodes will also end smoothly and with a sense of satisfaction that we've braved through the "loops".
But our roller coaster has gotten stuck once in while as it passes through the "loops". It wasn't a smooth ride through the loops when things could have just simply been treated with a quick "this-will-end-soon". I thought I was trying to just face the "loops" by dismissing issues this way because I wanted it to end already, but maybe that even made the situation worse because you don't think the same way as I do. We probably both have handled the "loops" quite badly that we had made the diameter bigger.
I don't know. This is how I imagined it. Of course, I am not surprised if you imagined it differently. Two people ride the roller coaster, and may have different feelings about it. One may be enjoying the adventure, the other may be cursing all throughout. But both experience the same physical effects of gravity and inertia.
There you go. A common ground.
But our roller coaster has gotten stuck once in while as it passes through the "loops". It wasn't a smooth ride through the loops when things could have just simply been treated with a quick "this-will-end-soon". I thought I was trying to just face the "loops" by dismissing issues this way because I wanted it to end already, but maybe that even made the situation worse because you don't think the same way as I do. We probably both have handled the "loops" quite badly that we had made the diameter bigger.
I don't know. This is how I imagined it. Of course, I am not surprised if you imagined it differently. Two people ride the roller coaster, and may have different feelings about it. One may be enjoying the adventure, the other may be cursing all throughout. But both experience the same physical effects of gravity and inertia.
There you go. A common ground.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
The Check-Up
So you guys maybe are interested in what happened to my check-up.
One thing's for sure, it's not hyperacidity. What is it? It's what you call Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It's the over reaction or non-reaction of your large intestines which give you the pains, the diarrhea or the constipation. Cause? Stress. This is a common stress reaction in your body. When we are stressed, our organs are affected. It can be our brains (we get tension headaches), our tummy (we get hyperacidity), or our large intestines like in my case.
Stress is good for us, but we just need so much to make us do what we're supposed to do. If it's too much, we get these unexplained sicknesses. As soon as we are aware of our condition, maybe we have to look again at our load and see if we are overloaded with work and need to give up some tasks. Or perhaps let's see how we make use of our time so that we don't cram our deadlines which can be a lot of pressure too.
Take care of your health, guys.
One thing's for sure, it's not hyperacidity. What is it? It's what you call Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It's the over reaction or non-reaction of your large intestines which give you the pains, the diarrhea or the constipation. Cause? Stress. This is a common stress reaction in your body. When we are stressed, our organs are affected. It can be our brains (we get tension headaches), our tummy (we get hyperacidity), or our large intestines like in my case.
Stress is good for us, but we just need so much to make us do what we're supposed to do. If it's too much, we get these unexplained sicknesses. As soon as we are aware of our condition, maybe we have to look again at our load and see if we are overloaded with work and need to give up some tasks. Or perhaps let's see how we make use of our time so that we don't cram our deadlines which can be a lot of pressure too.
Take care of your health, guys.
Like a Student Again.
I just came from a Philosophy class.
"What? You're back in school? You never told me anything about going back to school." No, I'm not back in school. This Philosophy course is organized by El Cielito Foundation for "selected" people. Of course, since I work for it, I am privileged enough to be invited.
Man! What an amazing course! I have always been a philo junkie but since I stopped going to school, I stopped attending philo classes too. But with this opportunity - boy! - what a privilege! It's just our first session this evening and it was already super enlightening. Funny how things coincide, but for this class, we talked about TIME, and the concept of time, and with it, the idea of DEATH. See the coincidence of my just going to a wake, talking about death, and now here comes a class that talks about the idea of death.
We talked about a lot of things during the class that I'd like to share with you, but let me focus on death. Death is a mystery. In the same way that our "birth" which should not be the time we came out of our mother's womb but the time the sperm cell and egg cell met, is a mystery (since we cannot pinpoint exactly the time and day we were conceived), death is also a mystery. [The life and death of the person, being a mystery, makes the person a mystery in itself.] How a person dies is a mystery to us all. People ask God for reasons why He took this person's life away so soon and without warning. Isn't it also mysterious that we ask people "who" died and not whose body died. Persons, together with their bodies die. At the same time, though, DEATH is a reality. Being a reality, we have to accept death. If you want to be happy when you die, you must learn to accept death. One thing our professor told us is, acceptance of death requires the full freedom of the person. Realistically speaking, too, death is not that easy to accept. She said that if we want to learn to accept death, we have to think of death at least once a day. Not too long that we only think of our death. We have to practice accepting death day by day.
We are doing the wrong thing when we always brush aside the talk of death. In effect, we are denying the reality of death as if we can deny any other reality like the law of gravity. She also read to us a paragraph explaining to us how much media hide the reality of death for us. They present shows as if death does not exist. Cosmetic manufacturers come up with all sort to cover the lines of our aging. (We even put make-up to our dead as if to make them look alive.) We have bars and night clubs to go to every night as if there is no death. Media projects to us a very distorted view of what death is all about. Thinking about death re-directs our lives towards the real MEANING of our lives. This is also what she was also talking to us about.
The meaning of our lives depends on how we live the past, the present and the future. Briefly, we live the past by remembering the past and learning from it. We live the present by paying attention to each present moment and not getting distracted about the future nor sulking in the past. We live the future, by hoping for something that we want to have or happen. Now, the basis of this hope is crucial because hope is genuine when it is based on the amount of time we give in order to achieve what we hope for, and the action that we commit in order to achieve what we hope for.
Yikes. I have to stop, otherwise, this will be a long lecture. I'll give you more tomorrow. But at least I already gave you some bit on death and meaning of life. Want to have meaning in your life? Ask me. Maybe I can help. :-)
"What? You're back in school? You never told me anything about going back to school." No, I'm not back in school. This Philosophy course is organized by El Cielito Foundation for "selected" people. Of course, since I work for it, I am privileged enough to be invited.
Man! What an amazing course! I have always been a philo junkie but since I stopped going to school, I stopped attending philo classes too. But with this opportunity - boy! - what a privilege! It's just our first session this evening and it was already super enlightening. Funny how things coincide, but for this class, we talked about TIME, and the concept of time, and with it, the idea of DEATH. See the coincidence of my just going to a wake, talking about death, and now here comes a class that talks about the idea of death.
We talked about a lot of things during the class that I'd like to share with you, but let me focus on death. Death is a mystery. In the same way that our "birth" which should not be the time we came out of our mother's womb but the time the sperm cell and egg cell met, is a mystery (since we cannot pinpoint exactly the time and day we were conceived), death is also a mystery. [The life and death of the person, being a mystery, makes the person a mystery in itself.] How a person dies is a mystery to us all. People ask God for reasons why He took this person's life away so soon and without warning. Isn't it also mysterious that we ask people "who" died and not whose body died. Persons, together with their bodies die. At the same time, though, DEATH is a reality. Being a reality, we have to accept death. If you want to be happy when you die, you must learn to accept death. One thing our professor told us is, acceptance of death requires the full freedom of the person. Realistically speaking, too, death is not that easy to accept. She said that if we want to learn to accept death, we have to think of death at least once a day. Not too long that we only think of our death. We have to practice accepting death day by day.
We are doing the wrong thing when we always brush aside the talk of death. In effect, we are denying the reality of death as if we can deny any other reality like the law of gravity. She also read to us a paragraph explaining to us how much media hide the reality of death for us. They present shows as if death does not exist. Cosmetic manufacturers come up with all sort to cover the lines of our aging. (We even put make-up to our dead as if to make them look alive.) We have bars and night clubs to go to every night as if there is no death. Media projects to us a very distorted view of what death is all about. Thinking about death re-directs our lives towards the real MEANING of our lives. This is also what she was also talking to us about.
The meaning of our lives depends on how we live the past, the present and the future. Briefly, we live the past by remembering the past and learning from it. We live the present by paying attention to each present moment and not getting distracted about the future nor sulking in the past. We live the future, by hoping for something that we want to have or happen. Now, the basis of this hope is crucial because hope is genuine when it is based on the amount of time we give in order to achieve what we hope for, and the action that we commit in order to achieve what we hope for.
Yikes. I have to stop, otherwise, this will be a long lecture. I'll give you more tomorrow. But at least I already gave you some bit on death and meaning of life. Want to have meaning in your life? Ask me. Maybe I can help. :-)
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
A Wake.
Funny how you call them "wakes" when the dead is actually sleeping.
Anyway, I just came from the wake of my friend's mom. Since I'm "educated" (due to frequent visits to them) in going to wakes, I thought I could survive the visit alone. I did survive it.
So what's to blog about?
Visiting wakes always reminds me of my own impending death. "Tricia, don't talk like that." I can hear you probably say it. Ah! But remember that we are all waiting for our own impending deaths, and are you prepared for it? I love going to wakes for this reason. It makes me talk to God about how I'm living my life, and think about where I'll go after my journey here on earth. It makes me sorry to Him for all the things that I have offended Him because I know that if I am sinful, I won't have a happy afterlife. Going to wakes makes me re-direct my life to where it's supposed to be headed. "From dust I have made you, and to dust you shall return." Yup, our bodies will disintegrate but definitely not our souls (Now don't question me about existence of souls. Poor you if you don't believe you have one. Anyway, you still have a soul whether you believe that you have one or not.). We have souls, and what happens to our souls when our bodies disintegrate? Since our souls were given to us by God, God takes hold of it and decides whether to put it in trash (hell) or to keep them in his sight (heaven).
Yes, my friends, we will all die. So how are we living our lives so that we don't suffer in hell? Are we living our lives as if there were no hell? I'm sad for you. Better consider Paschal's wager. What is it? Ask me. In this way, we can start a more interesting conversation.
We should love visiting wakes. It should help us remember about the truths that we once in a while deny. Visiting wakes, if it ever has an effect on us, should make us reflect on our lives more. It's not a joke or a game to live our lives. We might be enjoying our "short" life here on earth, but we may be suffering in hell for eternity. What's 70 or 80 years of life here on earth struggling to be a good Catholic compared to eternity in heaven? Have you ever thought about this?
Anyway, I just came from the wake of my friend's mom. Since I'm "educated" (due to frequent visits to them) in going to wakes, I thought I could survive the visit alone. I did survive it.
So what's to blog about?
Visiting wakes always reminds me of my own impending death. "Tricia, don't talk like that." I can hear you probably say it. Ah! But remember that we are all waiting for our own impending deaths, and are you prepared for it? I love going to wakes for this reason. It makes me talk to God about how I'm living my life, and think about where I'll go after my journey here on earth. It makes me sorry to Him for all the things that I have offended Him because I know that if I am sinful, I won't have a happy afterlife. Going to wakes makes me re-direct my life to where it's supposed to be headed. "From dust I have made you, and to dust you shall return." Yup, our bodies will disintegrate but definitely not our souls (Now don't question me about existence of souls. Poor you if you don't believe you have one. Anyway, you still have a soul whether you believe that you have one or not.). We have souls, and what happens to our souls when our bodies disintegrate? Since our souls were given to us by God, God takes hold of it and decides whether to put it in trash (hell) or to keep them in his sight (heaven).
Yes, my friends, we will all die. So how are we living our lives so that we don't suffer in hell? Are we living our lives as if there were no hell? I'm sad for you. Better consider Paschal's wager. What is it? Ask me. In this way, we can start a more interesting conversation.
We should love visiting wakes. It should help us remember about the truths that we once in a while deny. Visiting wakes, if it ever has an effect on us, should make us reflect on our lives more. It's not a joke or a game to live our lives. We might be enjoying our "short" life here on earth, but we may be suffering in hell for eternity. What's 70 or 80 years of life here on earth struggling to be a good Catholic compared to eternity in heaven? Have you ever thought about this?
Monday, January 17, 2005
So it's getting more frequent..
Let me update you with my funny tummies. It's more frequent now. After I eat, my tummy acts up and growls, and a curl for a 15 second pain. Then I go back to normal. That was in the early stages of my FTs. Today, maybe it's on its 4th day, it's not just 3 times a day anymore. My FTs act up almost like every 2 hours.
I complained about it in front of my mom and she scolded me. Yes, I'm 20++ and I'm still being scolded by my mom. Why not? At least I know she's still concerned with me. She scared me though. She thinks it's not just your plain old high school tummy aches. She thinks, mind you, she ain't a doctor, it's ulcer. Eeks! Ulcer? I had a college friend who was so skinny and had ulcers. She would always have this sachet thing with milk-looking liquid (must have been something like an antacid) which she gulps when her ulcers attack. Then we'd often bring her to the clinic because she becomes pale with the pain. Eeks! Will I ever reach that stage? Or perhaps, am I in that stage?
I hope not.
So much for my alternative medicines because I'll be visiting my gastroenterologist already this Wednesday. My last with him was 2+ years ago when I had stress-related hyperacidity. Then I'll see him again, hoping that it's the same stress-related hyperacidity and nothing more. With my visit, surely he'll prescribe medicines. Yikes! More expenses. I'm scrimping already on my food and still struggle with my finances at times, and I have to pay for medicines. I guess I'll have to work double-time with my sideline.
[I never talked to you yet about my sideline. Maybe when there's something amusing for me to talk about it.]
So, you people who are reading this blog, please keep me in mind. Pray that it's nothing more than stress-related symptoms. Thanks guys!
I complained about it in front of my mom and she scolded me. Yes, I'm 20++ and I'm still being scolded by my mom. Why not? At least I know she's still concerned with me. She scared me though. She thinks it's not just your plain old high school tummy aches. She thinks, mind you, she ain't a doctor, it's ulcer. Eeks! Ulcer? I had a college friend who was so skinny and had ulcers. She would always have this sachet thing with milk-looking liquid (must have been something like an antacid) which she gulps when her ulcers attack. Then we'd often bring her to the clinic because she becomes pale with the pain. Eeks! Will I ever reach that stage? Or perhaps, am I in that stage?
I hope not.
So much for my alternative medicines because I'll be visiting my gastroenterologist already this Wednesday. My last with him was 2+ years ago when I had stress-related hyperacidity. Then I'll see him again, hoping that it's the same stress-related hyperacidity and nothing more. With my visit, surely he'll prescribe medicines. Yikes! More expenses. I'm scrimping already on my food and still struggle with my finances at times, and I have to pay for medicines. I guess I'll have to work double-time with my sideline.
[I never talked to you yet about my sideline. Maybe when there's something amusing for me to talk about it.]
So, you people who are reading this blog, please keep me in mind. Pray that it's nothing more than stress-related symptoms. Thanks guys!
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Showing off my cheekbones
Skipping breakfast and dinner has taken its toll on me.
Living alone is quite a trouble when it comes to meals. You have problems eating breakfast and dinner on a regular basis. This is my case. I don't cook. If I do cook, I "cook" instant noodles or I fry whatever I can fry. So I only have the best of all unhealthy foods: monosodium glutamate and cholesterol. (Oily foods even aggravate the pains of hyperacidity!) It's really just stressful to worry about what you're going to eat for lunch.
I've been living alone since March last year which makes it a total of 10 months of almost little or no breakfast and dinner. I have grown thin and I was the envy of my friends and relatives. My health-conscious cousin even commented to me: "Tricia, I didn't realize that you had cheekbones!" It sounded a little bit sarcastic but if you knew my cousin, it was even a compliment. Oh well, that's because of living alone. Hyperacidity, on the other hand, is also because of living alone.
I started to have some bouts of hyperacidity last month just before we went up to Baguio. I ignored it and dismissed it as simple "funny tummies". (Imagine, I'm still in denial!) It disappeared after a week and a half. Now, just barely a month, I am experiencing "funny tummies" again. I guess I can't ignore this one anymore. I have to admit that I may be having hyperacidity which may lead to ulcer! (No, I haven't been diagnosed by a gastroenterologist.)
Medicines?
Nah. I'm over taking medicines. If I can find alternatives I would. Tea is a good alternative and healthy foods. I'd probably just slowly break-in some food into my tummy. Bring crackers (tell me how I can make crackers more appetizing, please!) for me to munch during the day. I guess, para presumir, hay que sufrir. If I want to look good and healthily good, I have make that sacrifice of eating hard, tasteless, and dry bread. So much for the discovery of my cheekbones!
Living alone is quite a trouble when it comes to meals. You have problems eating breakfast and dinner on a regular basis. This is my case. I don't cook. If I do cook, I "cook" instant noodles or I fry whatever I can fry. So I only have the best of all unhealthy foods: monosodium glutamate and cholesterol. (Oily foods even aggravate the pains of hyperacidity!) It's really just stressful to worry about what you're going to eat for lunch.
I've been living alone since March last year which makes it a total of 10 months of almost little or no breakfast and dinner. I have grown thin and I was the envy of my friends and relatives. My health-conscious cousin even commented to me: "Tricia, I didn't realize that you had cheekbones!" It sounded a little bit sarcastic but if you knew my cousin, it was even a compliment. Oh well, that's because of living alone. Hyperacidity, on the other hand, is also because of living alone.
I started to have some bouts of hyperacidity last month just before we went up to Baguio. I ignored it and dismissed it as simple "funny tummies". (Imagine, I'm still in denial!) It disappeared after a week and a half. Now, just barely a month, I am experiencing "funny tummies" again. I guess I can't ignore this one anymore. I have to admit that I may be having hyperacidity which may lead to ulcer! (No, I haven't been diagnosed by a gastroenterologist.)
Medicines?
Nah. I'm over taking medicines. If I can find alternatives I would. Tea is a good alternative and healthy foods. I'd probably just slowly break-in some food into my tummy. Bring crackers (tell me how I can make crackers more appetizing, please!) for me to munch during the day. I guess, para presumir, hay que sufrir. If I want to look good and healthily good, I have make that sacrifice of eating hard, tasteless, and dry bread. So much for the discovery of my cheekbones!
Friday, January 14, 2005
Can't understand Kant?
It's actually just simple.
Immanuel Kant is one of the positivists (remember your Philosophy classes?). And who are the positivists? The positivists are philosophers or people who believe that what you see is what you get, and that only what science can find out is true. There is no such thing as a God. Pretty radical huh?
Anyway, if there was anything good that we can draw out from one of his crazy theories, it's his thesis <-> anti-thesis => synthesis. This formula is also know as dialectics. Marx later on applied this formula to his economic theory of communinsm. His thesis was the rich, his anti-thesis was the poor, and his synthesis is the new class. This is what he called Dialectical Materialism or commonly known as the class struggle theory. See how radical Kant's ideas are? What good can come out of this?! There is somewhat some good. A friend used it once to serve as an analogy for love, and I thought, "I think it's just simply perfect." True, our partner in life should complete us. To complete us means that they have something we don't. We are imperfect beings, right? Then there are things that you are lacking, but you can find in the other person. So in effect, if you combine - synthesize - all your good aspects, you become one perfect being. :-)
It's not unusual that a couple would seem to be like total opposites. I guess, according to Kant, it might work better that way.
Immanuel Kant is one of the positivists (remember your Philosophy classes?). And who are the positivists? The positivists are philosophers or people who believe that what you see is what you get, and that only what science can find out is true. There is no such thing as a God. Pretty radical huh?
Anyway, if there was anything good that we can draw out from one of his crazy theories, it's his thesis <-> anti-thesis => synthesis. This formula is also know as dialectics. Marx later on applied this formula to his economic theory of communinsm. His thesis was the rich, his anti-thesis was the poor, and his synthesis is the new class. This is what he called Dialectical Materialism or commonly known as the class struggle theory. See how radical Kant's ideas are? What good can come out of this?! There is somewhat some good. A friend used it once to serve as an analogy for love, and I thought, "I think it's just simply perfect." True, our partner in life should complete us. To complete us means that they have something we don't. We are imperfect beings, right? Then there are things that you are lacking, but you can find in the other person. So in effect, if you combine - synthesize - all your good aspects, you become one perfect being. :-)
It's not unusual that a couple would seem to be like total opposites. I guess, according to Kant, it might work better that way.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Reviving Old Friends
I had an "anonymous" visitor (and my first commentor!) on my blogspot last night. She commented on my "Cold Turkey" entry where I talked about my issues about having best friends. It is kind of nice to have someone else second my feelings. I was a bit assured.
So how are we now?
My best friend, let's call her "Martha," visited me a few days ago here at my flat. I don't know how the conversation started but we just started reminiscing of how it was in the old days. We were trying to recall how this "friendship" started to develop between us and did we find an answer? Not really. It's either you make friends with people or friendships just simply develop. Certainly, our case was the second. I didn't intend to be friends with her. It just simply happened because circumstances allowed a friendship to develop. We stayed in the same dorm, we were roommates, we would ask each other favors, when she would feel sick (and she can get really sick!!!), it happens that I'm the only one around who can tend to her, and many other circumstances.
We enjoyed that talk. That conversation also helped me rekindle that old flame that originally was there between us. I'm starting to be thankful to God again for having the opportunity to get to know her. I am actually very privileged to have her as a friend. I'm sure, a lot of people (her classmates in law school, for example) would just die to be friends with her (she comes from a semi-prominent family and is very intelligent). I am already her friend and I didn't even cherish it. Now, I'm cherishing it.
Epilogue.
One of my bosses in the Foundation I work for is a common friend of my best friend and I. She asked me once, "Are you and Martha, best friends?" I could only laugh when I heard her ask me that question. I just told her, "What a childish question! It's something that you'll only find in slum books." So we both laughed.
So how are we now?
My best friend, let's call her "Martha," visited me a few days ago here at my flat. I don't know how the conversation started but we just started reminiscing of how it was in the old days. We were trying to recall how this "friendship" started to develop between us and did we find an answer? Not really. It's either you make friends with people or friendships just simply develop. Certainly, our case was the second. I didn't intend to be friends with her. It just simply happened because circumstances allowed a friendship to develop. We stayed in the same dorm, we were roommates, we would ask each other favors, when she would feel sick (and she can get really sick!!!), it happens that I'm the only one around who can tend to her, and many other circumstances.
We enjoyed that talk. That conversation also helped me rekindle that old flame that originally was there between us. I'm starting to be thankful to God again for having the opportunity to get to know her. I am actually very privileged to have her as a friend. I'm sure, a lot of people (her classmates in law school, for example) would just die to be friends with her (she comes from a semi-prominent family and is very intelligent). I am already her friend and I didn't even cherish it. Now, I'm cherishing it.
Epilogue.
One of my bosses in the Foundation I work for is a common friend of my best friend and I. She asked me once, "Are you and Martha, best friends?" I could only laugh when I heard her ask me that question. I just told her, "What a childish question! It's something that you'll only find in slum books." So we both laughed.
Sunday, January 09, 2005
My Boys
If there were any boys I could call my own, these are
the boys of my life!
Not that I'm a cradle snatcher, I don't even fall for
these boys. These are my highschool student volunteers
from St. Michael Institute in Bacoor, Cavite who are
willing to devote an hour on Fridays and their
Saturday mornings to teach Catechism to public school
children and be trained to be effective Catechists.
One of my observations: the boys are more constant
attendees than our girl volunteers. This fact amazes
me! Are men really more service-oriented than women?
Of course not in my case and in my other firend's
cases. But I guess, there is hope for the men after
all.
We do have one problem with these boys. We need to
look for their "Kuya" to handle them. We have
activities separate with the girls since we wanted to
give the boys the right inputs they need and the girls
their own.
Are you willing to be their Kuya? :-)
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Celebrating my birthday on a New Year
Yes, I was born on New Year's day. My mom had labor pains at 10pm, was brought to the hospital, encountering her OB-GYN and anaesthesiologist partying and the latter bordering drunkenness and sobriety. My mom had CS and I came out around 2am. Well, so much for being a 12:00mn baby, but 2:00am ain't that bad.
I hated my birthday. It was quite emotional for me that everybody is celebrating with fireworks, and at the strike of 12mn, everybody shouts "Happy New Year!" and then goes, "Happy Birthday!" I never failed to shed tears when they greet me Happy Birthday...even until now. Yeah, yeah, I'm a crybaby. But I hardly show them I cry. I don't like other people seeing my teary-eyed whatever occasion.
However,
As soon as I practised my Catholic Faith, I realized a great deal about my birthday and how lucky I am to have my birthday on a January 1. I never bothered to figure out why January 1 was a holy day of obligation until I learned that it was because it is the Solemnity of the Motherhood of Mary. WOW! How lucky can I get to be born on that kind of feast! What else can I ask for? (Maybe to die on one of her feast days.) I am lucky to have been born under her "mantle". I would love to think that she preferred that I was born under her feast so that I realize that she is also my mother.
Since that realization, I try to make sure that I make a pilgrimage to a Church or Shrine dedicated to Mama Mary (I particularly love the Immaculate Conception Churches). On my way to Church, I pray a part of the Holy Rosary. Inside the Church, before an image of our Lady, I pray the whole Holy Rosary for the day. On my way home, I pray another part of the Holy Rosary.
Anyone, who wants to go with me on my next birthday? You're welcome. :-)
I hated my birthday. It was quite emotional for me that everybody is celebrating with fireworks, and at the strike of 12mn, everybody shouts "Happy New Year!" and then goes, "Happy Birthday!" I never failed to shed tears when they greet me Happy Birthday...even until now. Yeah, yeah, I'm a crybaby. But I hardly show them I cry. I don't like other people seeing my teary-eyed whatever occasion.
However,
As soon as I practised my Catholic Faith, I realized a great deal about my birthday and how lucky I am to have my birthday on a January 1. I never bothered to figure out why January 1 was a holy day of obligation until I learned that it was because it is the Solemnity of the Motherhood of Mary. WOW! How lucky can I get to be born on that kind of feast! What else can I ask for? (Maybe to die on one of her feast days.) I am lucky to have been born under her "mantle". I would love to think that she preferred that I was born under her feast so that I realize that she is also my mother.
Since that realization, I try to make sure that I make a pilgrimage to a Church or Shrine dedicated to Mama Mary (I particularly love the Immaculate Conception Churches). On my way to Church, I pray a part of the Holy Rosary. Inside the Church, before an image of our Lady, I pray the whole Holy Rosary for the day. On my way home, I pray another part of the Holy Rosary.
Anyone, who wants to go with me on my next birthday? You're welcome. :-)
Baguio!
Went to Baguio with my whole family last December 27-29, 2004. It must have been my first since 2000. I was not really fond of going to Baguio. I hate long drives. Anyway, I gave my family a chance and so I agreed. Whoa! I didn't imagine how great The Manor Hotel was until I saw it myself!
Anyway, we went to Baguio not worrying about the recent outbreak "Meningococcemia". Not one of us were worried about getting infected. Personally, I didn't even know that the bacteria thrives in the wet market. Not that we were aware that it's contained there in the market, we just simply didn't want to go to the local wet market! Sheesh! We were saved (perhaps) by our own "sophistication" and ignorance.
On the second night, we had to leave The Manor because they didn't have any more free rooms to lend us. (We were chance clients.) I called for a booking in El Cielito Inn (NOT a hotel, just an inn). I work for the Foundation of El Cielito. So I guess I felt a bit proud to be able to stay in one of OUR "hotels." Perhaps I expected too much about the condition of El Cielito rooms and apartelles that I got "shocked" moving from a Five Star Manor Hotel to a... simple hotel. It was like living in Forbes and transferred to Camella Homes. Anyway, that's what I get staying in a more posh hotel before an inn.
Nevertheless, El Cielito is well-kept in its own league.
Anyway, we went to Baguio not worrying about the recent outbreak "Meningococcemia". Not one of us were worried about getting infected. Personally, I didn't even know that the bacteria thrives in the wet market. Not that we were aware that it's contained there in the market, we just simply didn't want to go to the local wet market! Sheesh! We were saved (perhaps) by our own "sophistication" and ignorance.
On the second night, we had to leave The Manor because they didn't have any more free rooms to lend us. (We were chance clients.) I called for a booking in El Cielito Inn (NOT a hotel, just an inn). I work for the Foundation of El Cielito. So I guess I felt a bit proud to be able to stay in one of OUR "hotels." Perhaps I expected too much about the condition of El Cielito rooms and apartelles that I got "shocked" moving from a Five Star Manor Hotel to a... simple hotel. It was like living in Forbes and transferred to Camella Homes. Anyway, that's what I get staying in a more posh hotel before an inn.
Nevertheless, El Cielito is well-kept in its own league.
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