The Homer Gang

Singapore, 07-28-2007

Circa 1990, in the suburbs of East Bajac Bajac, a small Baranggay in Olongapo City, lives a budding cartoonist. In exchange for a few minutes of pleasure, this young kid skips meal just to draw his favorite cartoon character. This passion to draw extends to the walls of St. Joseph’s High School. A few minutes walk from his home.

As the teacher exhorts how mathematics shape the life of successful people, this young kid sketches the yellow figure he loves to draw, the yellow figure with a hairdo the size of a giant saw. After a few minutes of meditating the concept or his favorite cartoon hero, he shows it to one of his great friends in anime land. “Sheeeeezeee”, this is how he says it but I forgot to ask him how he spells that word, so 17 years after I would assume that this is how he spells it. Christian Reyes, now a licensed Chemical Engineer working somewhere in the middle east would wave flags of complement in agreement to what I just have drawn…yes, that young artist was me. In a time where Adobe Photoshop was just a fragment of man’s imagination, I was already passionate in drawing. I don’t even have a dream of owning my own computer that time, but I was just engulfed in arts…different seasons to speak. And that time it was the rise of the 20th century’s best television series (awarded Dec 31, 1999, Time Magazine)1.

Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Sounds familiar? Matt Groening, the man behind this longest running American sitcom said in an interview that they have just passed their 400th episode and thought this was a landmark time2. 20 years after its creation, The Simpsons hit the big screen.

The people behind this series have their reasons for doing this movie just now, and one of them is that we don’t have digital animations back then. Though it took them some time to write the script it all fell in one perfect place. Director David Silverman hopes this could regenerate interest in 2D animation and that it would be a great bonus for them3. Why not? That would be a great bonus for us artists who are still alienated in 3D software programs.

Let’s travel back in time. Back in highschool.

A day after a typical Simpson episode on RPN 9 (it was aired on RPN right?) our gang would regroup in one secluded place of our classroom and cover ourselves with a great force field with The Simpson Zone written all over it. No one would dare enter our zone as we talk about how bleeding gums Murphy made the day again. Hmmm…I am having a difficult time remembering the exact episodes but 17 years later, here in Singapore, while shopping with my wife, the monument of my youth stood right before me. It was not just Bart (he was my cartoon hero), the complete family was there for photo ops. After a few minutes of convincing my wife to take a picture of me and the Homer gang, she did so, hurriedly. And here you saw it in my blogsite. A dream come true…. 17 years after my wandering mind digested this yellow humor. I finally got to have my picture taken with them.

Though I am still waiting for $7 worth of financial aid from my wife, I could only imagine how those who have watched this movie laughed their heart out and who among them where already alive when Homer’s annoyed grunt “D’oh!” first hit our existence.

Argh! I am really that old!

1. Wikipedia, The Simpons 2. First, Singapore, July 2007 issue 3. First, Singapore, July 2007 issue

From the Mouth of Babes

I received this email and thought of posting it on my blog..I do not know who is the author of this compiled benevolent thoughts coming from a group of 4-8 year-olds. For some reason I'm very sure a few years from now when I get back to my blog posts this would be one of my favorites..

What does love mean

in the minds of the young

image grabbed from here

When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4

Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8

"My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image)
Karen - age 7

You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,

"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Romans 8:1-2

We need to understand that God doesn’t excuse our sin. Our loving, heavenly Father uses discipline to bring us back to godly behavior. He allows us to experience sins consequences. But divine condemnation isn’t one of them.

Dr. Charles Stanley, In Touch Daily Devotional, 07-25-2007

Really Simple Syndication

Like a child leaping for joy as his father finally agreed to bring him to the park, exaggerated as it may seem. That's how i felt a while ago when i finally made my blogsite available through an RSS feed.

Now most of the readers of my blog(assuming you are more than one) can subscribe to my feed from this page. Really exciting? Yes it is...for me! Hehe!

Thanks to the evolution of Web 2.0, geeks like me have more time pondering alternative hobbies other than dancing our way to NerderLand. Have lots of things to look forward to as i intend to write more and more about anything that would come my way. I discovered it is of great help writing about the present so that you have something to read about when you sit in the future figuring out where you went wrong and how everything turned out right - leading to GREAT LESSONS learned.


God speed!

In Pursuit of Happiness

Singapore. 9:52pm


Here are my thoughts again after a long hiatus inside a cave of asp.net codes, world history and book-reading. Suddenly, I found myself recuperating in unimaginable ways. Was it the mind sweeping activities I chose to get busy with? Or was it the encouragement of what’s left of the masses that I gained notoriety as a streaming scoundrel?

One word to fill the blank. Grace.

Yes, of all the attributes that covered my whole being, those that covered me with a placenta of self-proclaimed influence. I almost got to my last breath ignorant of the real fuel that kept my body pumping life for 30 years. I almost threw my dreams to the ravine of an identity crisis. Unabashed and indignant of anyone who comes my way by telling me to sit down and have a good cup of coffee with a cup of good people.

In daytime, I enjoyed life while at nighttime I hid from life. And as the earth freeze for a time being, as the night overcomes the day, I crawled the floor of humiliation grasping for thin air. With a blind sight and a frail body I shook my head in disbelief.

Suddenly out of the corners of the dark alley that I am trapped into, a spark of hope fleets in to light my path. And as I took a small step forward, one mighty arm saved me and broadens the path beneath me. In a minus eighty eight degree centigrade temperature, grace was sufficient for me to feel embraced again with love and forgiveness. As I leave the dust of my wrong decisions leading to mountains of consequences, I found confidence and strength in the sovereignty of a universal master plan so vast for human perception yet so simple before the greatest Artist in the history of everything.

He paints the canvass with different colors and different strokes of His brush. He might have given emphasis to the beauty of the clouds, but He never missed the details of the rough rocks that serve as static walls that the waves embrace. Giving a beautiful refreshing sound of hope as heat subsides when the water meets the shore.


God meets us where we are and not where someone is.
Joseph M. Stowell, Radical Reliance: Living 24/7 with God, 2006

ενιαίο

The continous and widespread fragmentation of the Church has been the scandal of all the ages. It has been Satan's master strategy. The sin of disunity probably has caused more souls to be lost than all other sins combined.

Paul Billheimer
Love Covers(Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1981)


Today I learned that unity does not begin in examining others' fault but in examining my own faults. I realized it is a bit tiring demanding for change when I am no capable of admitting that I am not perfect myself.

The answer to arguments? Acceptance. The first step to unity? Acceptance. Not agreement, unanimity, negotiation, arbitration or elaboration but ACCEPTANCE. Everything else follows. As there is no way we are told to build unity but only to keep unity.

“I pray for these followers, but I am also praying for all those who will believe in me because of their teaching. Father, I pray that they can be one. As you are in me and I am in you, I pray that they can also be one in us. Then the world will believe that you sent me"
John 17:20-21

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Robert Zimmerman (Jewish) 1964

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

It was only recently that I've read about this American icon (and i was surprised to discover that he is a Jew)...the great poet who helped shaped the future of popular music. Armed with his pen and guitar, spiced with the guts to challenge his own genius, Zimmerman became the youngest topical song writer to emerge in the 60s.

As the rest of his peers are busy with school...science and listening to local radio tunes, this young lad has ears on Little Richard and Woodie Guthrie...

Now I have better things to write about as I become entangled with the roots of a musical genius whom I often hear but never had the time to listen to.

If the point is sharp, and the arrow is swift, it can pierce through the dust no matter how thick.

Positive Minus

A friend once asked me, what in the world are you writing about? What are those things? Where do you get it and how do you find the time to spend thinking about such things?

How would I answer that? My thoughts can only be written at the moment that my heart can speak the truest of its intention. The veracity of my actions has defined itself in a manner that I would not have imagined before. Buoyant as it may seem, but I never intended the curtains to close in grief and distrust.

And as I am always boldly saying, I would stand for what I believed in…NO MATTER WHAT THE COST. Then suddenly… as I review my past actions written on life’s voucher, there’s one thing missing – virtue. You read it right. There was a lack of virtue in what I believed in. I got me a safe place to stand, I had the words to speak, I had a clear understanding of the self-in-a-bottle-of-time attitude but the backbone of all of it was not much founded on rectitude.

All I have now is a picture of the laughter. Though I intend to hear the laughter again, the image itself is still and silent.

But life has to go on.

But one thing I need to do: Forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, “To press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14

The time I only have is now, and I wait for tomorrow with the promise of hope and a better future. To seek favor from the heart of the One whom I broke, He who has loved me with an everlasting love.

The storm left for now, but before I get caught in another storm. I would allow the leaves to dry. And when the leaves are dry enough, then would I touch it with confidence, gently hold it firm and with the grace of Him who paints the rainbow in the sky… I will overcome.

I am sorry for the rainy days… I am not used to bringing umbrella when it rains!

>,"<

Blessed Wind #001

The Wind Heads North

An epilogue to “Love Letter to the Wind”
Sevenink in Singapore
5:10am 05-28-2007

“In your graceful and unfathomed steps, you leave a trail for hope to follow. As the leaves kiss the ground when you head home to the north, so will my heart lie peaceful beneath the adornment of dust and shingles that covers my chest.”

85 miles north of the Equator, a few hours shy of sunrise, with a cup of coffee pretending to be my soul mate, I hurried to my laptop in dire hope to write in words the absence of words in my lips.

In the past few days, the Sovereign God introduced Himself to me as the God of details. Many times in my life He proved how majestic the works of His hand is, how he turns worship inside the church to a glimpse of heaven. How He turns mourning into dancing by quenching the thirst of the desperate souls.

But despite His glorious powers displayed in ways that makes every “believer” shun his own god (or even former gods), despite the grandiosity of the sick being healed and sinners being delivered, there are things that are mostly untouched following these words, “I thank the Lord for…”

As our name gets called to stand on the pulpit to testify on God’s goodness, a miniature time-machine gears up at the back of our mind speeding its way to the last time God proved himself to us.

Does it always need to be artistic? Do you need a lot of words to speak “Praise God?”

If God have numbered even the hairs of our head, and if He names all the stars in the sky, then He is in real serious business of touching our lives even in the animosity of our confused society. Even in the unnoticed details that exist with every second of history. In fact, He has crafted us in detail (“fearfully and wonderfully made”). Have you heard of placing an electrode in the human scalp just to record the electrical activity in the brain? Oh well, if there’s anyone else other than God who better understands how each of our brains should perform such activity, I’d give him my life. Do you know that the human heart has two separate parts? One collecting de-oxygenated blood, the other, collects oxygenated blood. A meshwork of cardiac muscle cells, who planned all this?

Truth of details versus the status-quo preference.

What if you are trapped in an island with only the earth’s crust to comfort you, can you dance your way into praising Him? With the immovable rocks before you and the heat of the sun exposing the absence of shade in a radius of 5Km, can we shake our own hands and tell ourselves “I’m glad you are here?”

Without the sound of the cymbals, the amplified rhythm section of a loud band, without a microphone in your hand, without the presence of a rejoicing peer, without the pastor, without your best friend, without your loved one, without everything else. Only God’s promise in your heart…brethren how would you praise God?

Is praise possible in the absence of everything else? Yes, you might say, but have you gone that road before? And are you willing to travel that unpopular direction if you are led to?

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 3:17-18

A Ray of Hope for Philippine Politics

Sevenink in Singapore

05-19-2007 12:45am

Gone were the days that the governance of the three stars and the sun were diminished by fame, so to speak. Darlene Custodio, making the lead over a crowd favorite boxer and Eddie "Among Ed" Panlilio with a surprising lead over the son of Leon Guerrero and the wife of a suspected gambling lord gives reason for the young generation to hope.

It’s high time that Filipino’s regain the momentum of choosing better options for their nation. In earlier times, greater exposure in the boob tube and top billing a popular movie no matter how shallow the story is, will give you greater chances of landing a place in the political arena. A place where heroes spill their blood holding integrity and truth as their only assets.

Now, with actors vying for a seat in the senate not landing the top 20 of early tallies proves that popularity alone is not enough. The people have had enough of the popular guys wearing suites instead of aprons.

Aside from this one news that is so appallingly numbing to my skull, TU gets 12-0 in Maguindanao. I’m not that good at mathematics, but when stupidity overshadows logic in the most obvious way, people really do exist in dreamland. I don’t know about substance abuse, but Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin cut lines of crack till their brain stops functioning. The TU guys obviously are not on the road to being OD’d but how come their brain seems to be at loss? Hold your breath, Singson at number 1 followed by Pichay at number 2.

Laughing stock of Asia you would say?

I say no. For this matter is not of the laughing nature. With gnashing of teeth, people involved and who are still subject to the norms of righteousness should stand out for this horrendous feat.

Can’t say the TU guys are not worth it, but for obvious reasons, let’s not allow a circus act dictate our future. Whoever the operators of this abysmal craft should find out for themselves this early where they are heading.

12-0?

Ok let’s go back to paragraph one.

Love Letter to the Wind

Sevenink in Singapore
05.08.07 11:41pm

The helm of time rolls over with a counterfeit bliss attached to its series of countless revolution. In the solace of nature’s warm embrace, I find each moment more invigorating by your presence in my every breath. Though I desire to hold you as you softly swift in front of me, the world may hate me for my selfish carnality to own what is not mine. And as another life breathes you from the opposite side of the world, thus, my will to take you as mine will be forsaken.

In your graceful and unfathomed steps, you leave a trail for hope to follow. As the leaves kiss the ground when you head home to the north, so will my heart lie peacefully beneath the adornment of dust and shingles that covers my chest.

I seek to find rest with you alone in my arms. But how? Calmly you stay but my eyes can’t see you. I can only see you when you swim through the trees with a lovely song . Oh the cruelty of the forest will not make my heart believe that I can't love you. Though tall trees hinders me to follow you, the comfort of the streams that feeds their roots shall lead me to you.

Oh great wind! Speak softly to my ear and tell me where you are heading. Though I may not find ways to make you safe to your chosen place, still, I can build a fence of prayers that my heart alone can give.

Never mind the rain, never mind the heat of the sun... for your breeze will hide my tears and bring forth a cooling soothe of confidence to my weary soul.

The night approaches, will you be here when I sleep? It won’t matter for tomorrow I will wake up and breathe the first air for a new day. I know it’s you, the wind who will stay long after my name is forgotten by everyone. Everyone who will witness my frail body being sealed under the same ground that the leaves have kissed when you left.

And then will I know where your home is. Need I knock when my heart is already at home with you?

Unfathomed Tears

Sevenink in Singapore
05.01.2007 11:45pm

We have the right to cry without the whole world knowing why!

I woke up in the saddest of my days, can’t hardly pray that’s why I just told God what’s in my heart. Today I lost my most treasured possession, which I can not throw away, and plan to throw away, has found a way out on its own. With all its glory and beauty and majesty, the treasure bid goodbye to me.

Last night, the mischief in me caught a glimpse of its own misdeed in mid-air. Of all things to pray about, I prayed about death. I pray that God take me from where I am because I would not know where I would be after the last page of the book turned and galloped to eternity. Where do I pick up the pieces of a broken glass window, and if found out where, why would I pick it? It would only make me bleed!

Minutes after I closed my eyes to sleep, death came knocking at my door. Never was death so vivid and clear in his intention of pulling me out of this earth. The bed I was sleeping has a second deck on top. Suddenly, a rumbling feeling came out of me, I could see the second deck and what’s fascinating is I could visibly see that I’m on my way pass the deck on top of me, and I could really feel my body is still laying on the first deck. It was slow sure death. But I thought about names of persons, of people, then I shouted and I woke up.

How do I pray after that ludicrous stunt?

My first time to read the bible from the back of my tears, imagine yourself inside a car as rain pours heavily outside and on the opposite side of the window you find little words scribbling for your attention. Hard to grasp. But as I am in dire need of God’s word this morning, I just opened my mouth and transcribed the pain I’m feeling inside.

As hopeless as it may seem, I did not waiver to seek for one Word, anything at all that would untie the cord that is strangling my consciousness this very minute.

Then the awesome display of God’s abundant provision took center stage.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him”

Pointblank, the summation of all good things I thought of, I planned to have, all the worth of this world that I strive to keep as myself – they all became like a dew on a leaf in a forest compared to the One who created the forest.

This is what I call small time.

I plan to buy my own Mac this year, I plan to drive my own car next year, I dreamed of plotting my own orbit for the greatest love I’ve had and I see myself as a successful creative artist with limitless access to my digital canvass. Of course I also have different things in my mind other than these which are nothing less than hedonistic. But I choose to discuss anything positive out of myself this time as to avoid confusion. Besides, I’m portraying the role of a super villain here. (Remember a few paragraphs earlier I prayed for death?)

Small time it is.

Now I don’t have a choice but to wait. But for sure, never again will I pray for death. Never again would I reduce the time allotted for me to traverse this road ahead. And with these words, I hope to plant a smile to the beauty of the night; to the color I love most, to the walking shadow under the heat of the sun, to the half of march, to the silent wailer, to the crying voice. I will see the unfolding of God’s promise in a time that is only His.

The Sting of Goodbye

Sevenink in Singapore

04.26.2007 7:54pm

According to Yahoo Education;

No doubt more than one reader has wondered exactly how goodbye is derived from the phrase "God be with you." To understand this, it is helpful to see earlier forms of the expression, such as God be wy you, god b'w'y, godbwye, god buy' ye, and good-b'wy. The first word of the expression is now good and not God, for good replaced God by analogy with such expressions as good day, perhaps after people no longer had a clear idea of the original sense of the expression. A letter of 1573 written by Gabriel Harvey contains the first recorded use of goodbye: "To requite your gallonde [gallon] of godbwyes, I regive you a pottle of howdyes," recalling another contraction that is still used.

Wikipedia has the same thing to say about this word, a traditional farewell phrase used in the English language.

This word has always been used primarily to connote leaving something or someone important to your heart. Not to the level of deserting their importance or having no use to them but its just that other elements of life much supreme than you or what you have needs to take its toll as to set in place somehow how the universe should work, and as most of us would agree, the culprit would be, none other than – TIME.

Yes so much have been going on for ages as time sits by his most comfortable corner and in most of time’s capability to laugh at lives missing most of its worth using time in the wrong way you end up in tears. And then unknowingly, time shows off its cruelty by speeding away from you when you most enjoyed it. Time is more supreme than joy, is more powerful than love, time can be peaceful but peace can not over write time.

The most absurd idea you might say from someone who does websites, yes I might live from the age of gigabytes and ones and zeroes. But more than any other living species on this earth I’ve had my share of time’s cruel intentions because I believe nothing could have ever happened without it – without time. How can you find yourself as a thirty year old geek without time passing by? How can you promise someone a future if time won’t pass by and bring that future at your hands? And God would return when? Time will tell right?

And where does that leave us? Are we just accidents waiting to happen? I beg to disagree. Sometimes I think if there’s something next to God in terms of supremacy, it would be time. Time sits someplace near God’s throne so that when we pray for something, God’s answer would come in a package delivered with time.

Even saying goodbye must be in coordination with time cause logically you cant say goodbye to things that time have not yet given you. And who would know if you will find yourself walking the same path again? Of course, time would.

I’ve had the greatest this world has to offer, I’ve had the most profound lifestyle that one could not imagine me having. I’ve been cruelly loved by the most defiant of creatures who wears name tags that read “friends”. Now time dictates that I need to pack my bags to de-synthesize my efforts to build from the ruins of unmet social norms, from the accordions of legalism, from the arc of man’s definitive covenant to survival. All of these I hide in the shadow of history’s most significant piece of wood, to a place not worthy for a King, where one Man ended all humanitarian efforts to unite the creation to the Creator. To where the Savior bid goodbye not to us but to the power of death over us.

You define time whichever way you wish, you call it the most beautiful name you want, pack it in the most expensive cloth or even preserve it in some way but at the end of the day the workflow leads to one single time-table.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 God has made EVERYTHING beautiful in His time. Goodbye has it's sting in my own time but never in God’s.

Defeating Ignorant Grief

SevenInk in Singapore
04.25.2007 09:30 AM



Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14 NIV

I began this day reciting this verse repeatedly, amidst my tears in hope that suddenly I would start singing for joy and be glad all my days.

Unfailing love, translated in the Amplified Bible as God’s mercy and loving-kindness. To where shall I put my trust in times that trust has lost its ground inside the very core of my heart. To where shall I seek joy when my weary eyes have given way to my tears as its master.

Nowadays, when silence seems so loud and grief is comfortable in its new-found home which is my being, making the next step feels like a feat requiring higher level of knowledge. My right foot can’t make its move as my left foot is so sturdy and careless of its other half.

Oh, grief is so ignorant and does not even care to learn. (L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert). Ever watched this in real time? Ever had all the colors in your palette but you end up painting grayscale? How about drinking water from an empty glass and yet you expect to be filled?

Pain has numerous ways to count its way inside a man’s heart. Yet my heart would decide if pain indeed would have its way inside me. But as the battle heightens up, I begin to realize that I’m losing by TKO. I seek protection inside the covering of the mighty armor of silence yet the fiercest of my thoughts beats the hell out of me.

I lay my armor, I stare at the horizon, I touch the soft wind and like a whisper to a thunderous scream, I uttered in defeat to God, “lay down your game plan and I’ll zoom my way against all foes knowing You planned it”.

Now I wait for the certain peace in uncertain time. But as God holds the hands of the clock, it would stop whenever its destined to stop.

Time is running out for this mortal breath of mine. But the immortality of eternity waits with abundant joy as the rest of the soldiers of God who lived in this world gloriously triumph bearing no sign of their wounds and no blood to spill as the blood of the Savior already spilled its way for my redemption.

Our joys are made better when sorrow is in the midst of them. And our sorrows become bright through the joys that God has planted around them.(L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert)

Unleavened Thoughts

16th of April, 11:48 pm, gate 3 NAIA. Waiting for our boarding announcement, I am now bored, who would not be? My plane ticket says I should have left 3 hours ago,(meaning, I should be in Singapore by now) but still here I am, already bought 2 phone cards to talk to my friends. Oh life, I asked them, “would you want me to leave?, The plane won’t start” my friend just giggled over the phone and told me, “don’t know anything about it”. Good to hear a voice of an angel friend.

This is the most boring boredom that ever landed my bored thoughts. To make matters worst, my mobile phone is almost dead. Why in the world would I keep my phone charger on the bag that I checked in and not on the bag that I’m carrying now? Maybe it’s a result of a Dysphiriangenetical Immuno Acidic Mutation Of Nerves, in short – Lack of Sleep, in Tagalog - “Puyat”.(Ok I admit, I made it up!)

Yes it was a wild ride, the last few days was like a train bound to kingdom come. Everything is scattered on my soft damped carpet, my books are all in place (all of them occupies random location on a Cartesian plane that I call my home)

I don’t know anyone from the group of people that are also bored waiting for the boarding announcement but I find solace in being far from anyone that I knew, for a while but not for a moment.

Now, it made me think about what I would be leaving behind and where I am heading to. It could fall into several categories though, those happy plastic people that would give you their best smile armored with a claw of doubt. And those that possess the ability to shift gears on the fly.

No more waking up on sorry nights, fearing my own tears and clogging my dreams with fabricated sunsets. The final countdown has reached its end, as silence makes up for the lost time that dissonance has taken for itself. I now hold on to the peace that passes all understanding, to the most significant thing that money can not buy, to the happiness that was tainted with eloquent beliefs of the wandering spectators.

Finally, the boarding announcement. And as usual you would hear the “sorry for the inconvenience” litany, as if it would help. And as I board my plane, I leave the rest of my life to the One who would hold my plane to its safe landing, the One who would allow me to walk the road in safety. To the One who knows my most precious thoughts, even my most lonely days. The fear of leaving supersedes the fear of having to start all over again.

It is so hard to cry. But it’s harder to be the reason for someone else’s tears.

Hold your breath.

A mutant’s ordeal of a weird lover of laughter and tears

[Pinakamagulong blog na naisulat ko...mutant mode kasi ako dito december pala nung last ako ng blog..grabe tagal na...]

Intro
Paputol-putol ang ftp connection ko habang ang puno ng saging sa tabi ko ay mayabang na nagsasabing ikaw kasi…pasaway ka!

Ang hirap simulan ng kwentong sasabihin ko ngayon kya sinimulan ko ng walang kwenta…pero kung malalaman nyo lang kung ano tlga gusto kong ikwento ay malamang mamangha kayo at tumugon kayo ng napakamadamdaming “OK!”

Chapter 1 Nagsimula ang Lahat sa Hangin
Sige proceed na tayo, halos tatlong taon na ng una kong narinig ang busina ng jeep sa Remedios at nalanghap ang usok ng nagmamadaling jeep ulit papunta sa Monumento, ngayon malapit nko lumayas ng Pilipinas andun pa rin ang usok na kumakapit sa uniporme ng tiwaling traffic enforcer na wala ng ginawa kundi ang mag piko sa kalye gamit ang makapal na mukha bilang pamato.

Simula noon naging madalas na kung gabi ako umuwi meron kasing training sa isang basement sa San Marcelino, mangilan-ngilang kaluluwa ang dumadalaw dun para makulong ng ilang saglit sa piling ng malaking daga na sobrang mahiyain. Dun ko nakilala ang mga kaibigan ko na inabot na ng bagyo at tidal wave ay kaibigan ko pa rin. Salamat sa inyo ha? At lumipas man ang sandamakmak na rally sa Pilipinas, magkikita pa rin tayo kasi hindi naman tayo bulag. (corny ng joke ko bad trip)

Chapter 2 Para mama!!... bago mag Estrella!
Ansaya nung mga panahon na hindi pa kumplikado ang buhay papunta sa petplans, hindi pa nakakalito pumara ng bus sa pagitan ng tulay at overpass, at hindi pa kelangang sumakay ng elevator na papuntang 11th floor(na nag iisang buhay na palapag sa building na yun nung panahon n iyon).

Chapter 3 Bulong ng Palad
Bago pa dumating ang mga kwento, madami ng kwentuhan, bago dumating ang mga nagpipilit makinig ng mga piniling tinig ay marami na kong nadinig. Antagal na panahon na din palang lumipas madaming tao na rin ang dumaan sa trangkahan ng atensiyon ko. Sabi ng isang kaibigan kong matalik, masyado daw ako mapili sa mga kinakaibigan ko. Aba! At mapili pa pala ako ng lagay na ito? Teka meron bang taong hindi namili ng kaibigan niya? Maliban nlang kung politiko ka malamang gawin mo ito, pero sa katulad nating namamasahe lang ng 9 pesos sa bus na byaheng cubao to boni avenue ay dapat mamili tayo ng kaibigan natin diba?

Chapter 4 Share a Load, Win a Friend
Ewan ko sa iyo at diyan sa katabi mong nagbabasa din nitong blog ko pero ako talaga mas gusto kong mamili ng taong pagkakatiwalaan, yung tipong hindi ka tlga iiwan sa balag ng alanganin. Yung kahit panis na pop corn at boring na soda ay sasamahan ka kasi ang mahalaga yung magkasama kayo at kaya nyong magalit sa isa’t isa ng harapan tapos kakain na kayo ulit ng popcorn at soda, hindi yung plastic na chocolate walnut brownies at choco frap na nagpapanggap na whip cream kapiling ng ngiting pumupunit sa circumference ng mukha ng kausap mo mula kanang tenga hanggang kaliwang tenga.

Chapter 5 Sigaw!
“Huwag ka diyan” sigaw ng katipunerong may hawak na iPod, ng tanungin ng barberong may dalang cd ng cueshe, “bakit?” ang sagot ng katipunero, “sapagkat sinabi ko at ako ay katipunero” - ang labo diba? Minsan ganun sa mundong ibabaw eh, kahit sa mundong gilid at mundong ilalim, nangyayari yun kahit pa munggo lang ang ulam nyo mangyayari pa rin yun. May taong mag-sasabi sayo ng isang bagay na ang basehan lang niya ay kasi siya yun.

Chapter 6 Basang Sisiw sa Gilid ng Tuyong Kalan
Nakakatuwa din minsan na manood ng trailer ng isang suspense thriller na pelikula sa mukha ng kausap mo. Suspense kasi di mo alam kung ano kasunod na sasabihin, thriller kasi nakaka-shock kapag nalaman mo ang susunod na sasabihin, hindi mo alam san nanggaling.

Chapter 7 Wear Your Smile Always - Zionne
Naku katext ko ang kaibigan ko habang ginagawa ko ang blog na ito, at ang payo niya mag-hunos dili daw ako, sabi ko nagsusulat lang naman ako, wala naman akong inaaway. Ska isa pa napagod ako sa trabaho kaya kelangan ko magsulat, ang pagsusulat ay isang bitamina ng utak ko na nakakakapagrelax. Nawawala ang pressure ng trabaho pag nagsusulat ako, nalilimutan ko ang lahat ng problema ko at tumatahimik ako habang nagsusulat.

Conclusion
Sige sa hindi malamang dahilan, tatapusin ko na itong blog ko, anlabo ng title ng blog ko noh?, kahit anong hanap mo dito sa sinulat ko di mo matatagpuan ang ibig kong sabihin unless na weird ka din katulad ko, ay hindi pala ako weird, mutant pala ako.

The Trojan Masterpiece

12.21,2006
A day after the second day
Manila


Disrespectful of authority, radical cynicism, sordid agendas, all in a day’s work. Wonder how you would fill in the gap between being a role model and a visual artist. The latter requiring me to give fewer compliments in exchange for the truth. Majority of the people who would first see the way I work would hate me, that’s almost 95% of the time. But I choose not to become a crowd pleaser still. If some people would not prefer the way I talk, and the way I grumble, I guess they were not the ones who are willing to witness the unfolding of a mystery called, “myself”.

Reckoning tango, what a way to amplify your own worth. Yes it’s true that what most of us have done is too tiring, but is it not tiring also to talk behind some other person’s back? When would people find the guts to tell someone straight in the face that “hey shut up you’re not the only one working here” instead they comfort you with a semi conductor smile and with a synthetic attitude of asking you to eat with them, to join them and the final blow, thanking you for what you have done.

Fears you said? Paranoia? Not in words spoken out of the one who heard. Anyways no time to ask who you are. It’s your call but don’t expect me to come knocking at your door and say “I’m sorry, I do not intend it to be that way”, definitely not, not unless you tell me my faults and not to someone else.

The cancer that ate the system is that all the faces wore a smile before me that very day, and me, in a jolly mood, unsuspecting of a bullet from a friendly fire have bared open amidst the ammunition of acrobatic verbal stunts.

It’s the experts versus the expertise.

Maybe the pull of gravity is less than 9.81m/s(s) from where I am standing, but it doesn’t mean that I validate myself as an object of scorn.

Even dirt has its own place in the ground!

Panahon Na Naman[Dekada Otsenta Part 2]

Una sa lahat, salamat sa mga tugon ng mga tagahanga ng aking blog, salamat sa inyong text at email (magkapatid pa naman kayong dalawa hehehe)

Eto na tayo ulit. Ang dekada otsenta ay hindi lang tungkol sa palabas sa TV, ito ay isang lifestyle na mahirap iwanan. Isang klase ng pamumuhay na nakasanayan na at nakakabit na sa bawat labi na magsasabing siya ay malapit ng mag trenta anyos.

Spray Net. Huwag mong sabihin na ni minsan ay di mo sinubukan gumamit ng spray net ha? Oh cmon! Lalo na ng sumikat si Romnick Sarmienta with matching high-cut na rubber shoes. Dalawa lang ang direksyon ng mga buhok natin nun. Pakaliwa at Pakanan. Yung bangs matigas. Tama ba?

Bagets. Ang bagets ay di lamang pelikula ni Aga Mulach, William Martinez, JC Bonnin at Raymond Lauchengco(tama ba spelling?) Ang bagets ay estilo na rin ng damit. Yung tipong pagbukas mo ng aparador lahat ng kulay na Makita mo ay isusuot mo, at dapat may tali ka sa ulo habang kumakanta ng mga kanta ng Menudo. Wahaha..Menudo naisip ko pa yun. Si Robby Rosa yun…”Got to catch that plane at 7:30..” bunso nila si Ricky Martin at nung pumunta sila sa Pilipinas at mag guest sa Student Canteen, grabe daig ang labanang Pacquiao-Morales(mga boksingerong nabuhay din nung dekada otsenta)

Yakult! San mo unang nakita ang yakult? At saan mo siya madalas makita dati…hmmm ako madalas ko siya makita sa Kuarta o Kahon, yung Yakult:Roleta ng Kapalaran, madalas itong filler sa show ni Kuya Pepe Pimentel, yung laging kaaway ang biyenan niya. RPN9 ito palabas at dito ka makakakita ng malulufet na advertisement..dito rin natin madalas marinig ang national anthem ng mga wallet…”Seiko, Seiko Wallet ang wallet na masuwerte!” cmon raise your hands and sing with me..”Balat nito ay genuine, international pa ang mga design”. Nakakapagod ba? Hindi masyado.

Noong panahon na iyon, wala pang internet. Si Bill Gates ay manina pa sa chicks at si Steven Tyler ng Aerosmith ay kaya pang mag push up ng bente tuwing umaga. Pero kahit walang internet napakarami nating libangan. Isa na rito ang Komiks..Sinong magsasabing ni minsan ay hindi siya nagbasa ng komiks? Ilan sa inyo ang walang patumanggang sumusunod sa kwento na nagtatapos sa ITUTULOY! At next week bibili ka ulit diba? Ano ba mga magagandang komiks dati? Tagalog Klasiks, Pilipino, Aliwan, Pioneer (susme talagang naalala ko pa) Alamat komiks hehe at siyempre ang Liwayway magazine na 1929 pala nung nagsimula ayon sa http://www.alanguilan.com/.

Nabanggit ko dati ang That’s Entertainment sa part one, request ni katotong Marlon na inlove kay Joy banggitin ko daw ang mga pangalan na ito at baka may mapangiti sa inyo. Caselyn Francisco (talagang inuna si Caselyn?), Rudolph Yaptinchay(malay ko sa spelling ng apelyido neto), Benedict Aquino, Nikki Martel, Jojo Alejar, Jestoni Alarcon, at Michael Locsin, haba pa ng listahan tama na muna yan.

May Playstation ka ba ngayon o kaya X-Box? Aba wala yan sa ating kauna unahang computer game noon. ATARI! Naalala ko sumakit ang kamay ko dahil sa kakalaro ng Pac-Man gamit ang joystick nung unang panahon. Pero masaya ang Atari diba?

Sabado anong pinapanood mo? Ako FPJ sa GMA antagal nun, ang galing ni DaKing, lalo na yung mga war movies andami nyang kalaban na hapon pero take note, isa niya lang naka black siya para kitang kita siya sa black and white na screen dati, simple lang ang plot ng mga movie ni FPJ, mahuhuli, gugulpihin, tatakas at reresbak, ganun lagi yun. Ilang mga movies na napanood ko dito ay ang Asedilio, Ang Maestro, Aguila, Durugin si Totoy Bato, Daniel Barrion at syempre ang Panday(special mention si Tata Temiong na nakapulot ng aklat na itim) Tapos di natin alam pagkatapos ng ilang dekada...magiging magkalabang mortal pala ang dalawa na yun FPJ at GMA.

Iba pang palabas sa TV nun na sinubaybayan ng maraming wala pang email address sa Yahoo ay ang; Villa Quintana, Aguila at Valiente(Val Sotto era) Ula ang batang Gubat(Judy Ann Santos)

Last but not the least for this series: Wrestling, halos lahat tayo nanood nito. Siyempre kilala nyo si Hulk Hogan at Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant at Yokuzuna. Pati si Earthquake yung long hair na malaking tao din. Meron pa ngang issue nun na si Ultimate Warrior ay hindi na si Ultimate Warrior, ang gulo diba? Kasi namatay na daw dahil napatiran ng ugat. Mga ganung kwento na sinubaybayan natin nung panahon na iyon. Naalala nyo ba si Ravishing Rick Rude? Yung nahubaran sa ring. Si Hacksaw Jim Dougan na ang drama eh may pumalo sa kanya ng kahoy kya mula nun naging wrestler na din siya at siyempre tuwang tuwa tayo kapag may kontrabida na nagiging bida katulad ni Undertaker na laging kasama si Pole Bearer. May dagdag pa ako ha? Si Junkyard Dog at si Jake the Snake Roberts.

Makulay tlga ang Dekada Otsenta, sabi nga sa mga blog na nabasa ko ito ang pinakamasayang panahon kahit wala pang internet at MP3 player masayang masaya na tayo sa mga pinaglalaruan natin katulad ng Pepsi Cola- 7 Up, Siyato, Langit-Lupa Impiyerno(Im-Im-Impiyerno), at Tumbang preso. Saka pag nasa skul tayo nung elementary gustong gusto natin pag birthday ng classmate natin kasi may spaghetti at cake at ice cream at kung mayaman ang classmate mo may clown pa. Mga maliit na bagay na ang sarap i-appreciate. Parang jolens at yo-yo na paborito nating laruin after skul kasama ng Teks(yung parang mga ginupit na komiks, kung dalawa lang kayong magkalaban ang tawag dun sa isang card ay PANABLA), at Kalog(may tatlong pitsa na aalugin ka sa loob ng nakasaradong palad tapos ang pustahan ang mga laruan na na-free sa mga chichirya, may iba’t ibang denomination ito, yung Panday na malambot, ang bilang nun minsan bente minsan trenta, yung maliliit na sundalong kulay green isa lang ang bilang nun, malalaman mong addict ka na sa sugal na ito kung ipinusta mo na ang GI Joe mo n original kasi 500 ang bilang nun, o kya yung Barbie Doll ng kapatid mong babae na minsan ay 1000 ang bilang..PS na-addict ako dito kaya alam ko) Tapos pag gusto niyong pawisan dahil boring na ang Kalog, pumupuwesto kayo kahit saang parte ng kalsada at gumuguhit ng maliit na box tapos sa mejo malayong lugar may Persan…ang tawag dito Tatsing, pagalingan ng hagis kung sinong first malamang ikaw ang madaming makabig at kung last ka naman malamang ang susunod mo ng tira ay sa persan ulit.

Madami pa!

Panahon Na Naman

Dekada Otsenta…kainitan ng akng kamalayan. Aking na-alala courtesy of Kuya Paul, Ate Dina, Henson at may extra pang Joanne at Jane at special na bisita from Bench, si JM. Ansaya ng tugtugan. Naalala ang maraming bagay mula sa REO Speedwagon hanggang sa Starship. Mga bandang sumikat nung panahon na halos kaka memorize ko pa lang ng multiplication table (Note: High School na ako ay namamangha pa ako sa multiplication table at kung papipiliin mas gusto kong kabisahin ang sagot sa crossword puzzle ng pinakasikat na tabloid noon…ang Balita)

Sige. Isa isahin natin. At kung ikaw ay nahilig kay Usher, Black Eyed Peas at sa Linkin Park, baka mejo hindi ka na makarelate ditto. Isang suhestyon isama ang inyong tiyuhin, yung pangalawa sa panganay na magkakapatid ng inyong ama. Huwag ang bunso. Pwede ang panganay.

Simulan natin kay Kuya Germs (nga pala, not in chronological order ang isusulat ko ha? Ito ay ayon sa bilis ng memorya ko habang nagkakape dito sa office ng Musikatha). Sige balik tayo kay Kuya Germs. Siya yung kung tagurian ay Master Showman. Wow! Master na Showman pa. hehehe. Si Kuya Germs ay ang nagpasikat ng mga kabataang artista nun (counterpart ng Starstruck at Star Circle Quest sa panahon ngayon) That’s Entertainment na pinakomplika ng Monday to Friday edition at magpapasikatan ito sa Saturday Presentation. Pag dating ng Linggo ay mapapanood mo pa rin si Kuya Germs sa GMA Supershow.

Bigla ko naalala ang rivalry ni Ate Guy at Ate Vi. Eh usapan dekada otsenta hindi post-war era. Kaya wag na natin palalimin ang topic tungkol sa kanila.

Ano pa ba? Cafeteria Aroma ni Apeng Daldal, grabe walang sinabi ang mga sitcoms ngayon kay pareng Apeng, aba nakaupo lang ito lagi sa isang mesa kasama si Minyong, ang classical na gitarista na opposite ang haba ng patilya nya sa haba ng bangs nya. Pareho na yatang sumakabilang buhay ang dalawang ito, ewan ko lang kya mejo ito nlang muna ang description natin sa kanila.

Meron pa akong naalalang mga palabas sa TV, yung Dayuhan, si Hero Bautista ang bida dito, tuturo nya lang ang kamay nya na parang si Hitler tapos may mangyayari na. Papasok siya sa isang kubo pag labas nya parang time space warp na yun ibang lugar na mapupuntahan nya. Siyempre anjan din ang Yagit, at Gulong ng Palad. Pag mejo ndi ka pa naiiyak eh alalahanin mo ang Flor De Luna at yung kay Julie Vega(RIP) I forgot the title eh text nyo nlang ako pag naalala nyo ha?

Teka, kung ikaw ay nsa edad 25 pababa at nagbabasa ka pa neto. Aba dapat kang palakpakan kasi ibig sabihin maraming naitagong Liwayway magasin ang Tita mo (kapatid nung Tiyuhin mo na binabanggit ko kanina) Kahanga hanga at nakakarelate ka pa dito. Bravo Macro!

Sige tuloy tayo, alam nyo ba ang Eat Bulaga? Hindi yun ang paguusapan natin kundi ang Student Canteen, kung hindi ako nagkakamali kasunod nito ang Lovingly Yours Helen, walang sinabi ang Malaala mo Kaya at Magpakailnman dito, kasi dito nagsimula yung katagang, “Dear Ate Helen, itago nyo nlang ako sa pangalang…..” kainis no? bakit itago sa pangalan eh magtatago nlang bakit hindi pa sa middle initial or apelyido diba mas safe? Tignan nyo..”Dear Ate Helen, itago nyo nlang ako sa apelyidong…” o diba tagong-tago malamang hehehe.

Siyempre hindi lang puro tagalong ang palabas sa TV, meron ding English. Alam nyo ba yung The A Team? Si B.A. Baraccus? Isa lang naman ang plot nila eh. Makukulong sila sa isang kuwarto tapos mag fifigure out sila ng maraming paraan para makalabas at di mo namamalayan may tangke na silang nabuo gamit ang mga lumang cabinet, sintas ng combat shoes, table napkin, pihitan ng lumang transistor at 110 volts na bumbilya.(McGyver ang palabas na halos katulad nito). Hay naku ang haba pa ng listahan. Meron ding kotseng itim na nagsasalita na kung tagurian ay Knight Rider, singer na ngayon ang bida dun. Pero bago siya naging singer ay naging lifeguard muna siya sa Baywatch.

Andami ko pang gustong ikwento tawa ng tawa ang ang mga kasama ko dito sa office eh nagtatanong lang naman ako ng mga trivias nung dekada otsenta. Siguro ang gagawin ko nlang gagawan ko nlang ito ng part 2 kasi masyado na yatang mahaba. Pero actually kaya ko ng sumulat ng libro na puro patungkol lang sa dekada otsenta kaya lang boring eh. Dapat may climax sa DOJ at Comelec sa kasalukuyang panahon. Classic yun eh.

Sige hanggang dito na lang uuwi n kami eh.

Abangan ang Part 2.