One Look

The writer had known the girl for quite some time now.

It was on a breezy Friday afternoon when the girl moved in on the apartment a floor from his. He had just sent the draft to his editor, and the girl was carrying a large statue of a dog, which interestingly resembled an elongated Scooby-Doo. When the girl saw him, she smiled and headed upstairs, failing to notice his outstretched hand. She seemed determined to carry that dog right to the fourth floor. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to insult her strength why he didn’t insist on helping her, but at that split second, he sensed she was not the kind of girl to accept help easily, especially from men. That smile said it all: “hello, nice to meet you. I’m quite capable of carrying this statue, thank you, and I don’t really think I’m in the mood to meet new people today.” He could still surprise himself with his perceptiveness.

    They eventually became friends. She was a chef in some three-star restaurant, and had quite a lot of friends herself. And it was in those lunchdates,  Halloween parties, general get-together picnics and lazy afternoon conversations that he knew these of her: she had a way of handling and mingling with people without giving away the fact that she was basically shy. She liked having company and frequently cooked for her friends, but she could be as happy alone. She was an intellectual, with many diverse interests. Like him, she was a dreamer, but probably with more ambition and a truckload of insecurities. It must be her personal demon. She wouldn’t show her insecurity willingly, though. She was an essentially strong woman, who, despite her insecurities, would always look towards the light. She was sanguine and moody. A contradiction.

    Today, she was feeling particularly forlorn. Probably her demon acting up again. She looked bored and dissatisfied, and the writer could see she needed a distraction, a redirection of thoughts. It wasn’t good to keep on being melancholic. She needed a friend.

    He approached the bench she was sitting at in the park. “If you want to look ugly, all you have to do is take off your concealer and show your eyebags instead of sulking in a park,” he told her. “It just doesn’t work. You look like a sad Giselle(you know, from “Enchanted”?)”

    She rolled her eyes. “Please don’t compromise your masculinity by admitting Enchanted’s your favorite movie.”

    “Women find it sexy, actually.” He was glad to see her lips curve upward and that haughty look come back to her face. She had returned to life. “There’s a children’s choir concert on the east park. That’d be entertaining.” He held his hand out to her.

    She looked up at him with eyes that said thank you.

    “Well, I do love children,” and she took it.

-dated February 24,2009. wrote this on a whim, when I was trying to portray Woman as an ambiguous being, both strong and fragile, and how lucky she is to have a man that understands her with just one look. sort of inspired by Jason Mraz's song "A Beautiful Mess" (which BTW I think is one of the most romantic songs about relationships ever). :) 


please comment on the CBox. :)


photo by KECHI@DEVIANTART

Love Tells Us Who We Are

Love Tells Us Who We Are
Love Tells Us Who We Are.
When I asked the Answer “Who?”
No love answered so I knew
I had to wait for Love

For we are no one before Love
A missing clue looking for a person
A star looking for a sky
An “am” waiting for an I
Music Tells Us What We Feel
But Cannot Say Love Reveals
What We Know but cannot see

Before You I was Nothing But
When You Gave me Your Hand
I took My Hand
For Love Tells Us Who
We Are So When I asked the 
Answer “Who?” 
Love Answered You.

Donald T. Sanders 1944


~~~~
one of my favorite poems. :)

Progress by Ezra Wube

Caught this at the middle part and the artwork immediately caught my eye. And the nice message behind it. "HERE FOR GOOD". I didn't know it was for a bank until I searched for the full video on YouTube. (I never heard of Standard Chartered Bank before...)

Kudos to the people behind this advertisement/campaign. I think it's brilliant. :D

Here's the description from youtube:

Standard Chartereds unique footprint has helped define the very nature of the bank. The Collective Good continues that tradition by inviting creative minds across Asia, Africa and the Middle East to contribute to the banks brand identity.

One guiding belief. Four different interpretations. Thanks to the unique talents of acclaimed graphic designer, Stefan Sagmeister. Renowned Chinese filmmaker, Tian Zhuangzhuang. Ethiopian artist, Ezra Wube. And Jordanian documentary maker, Sandra Madi.

Each film has its own vision. Each film tells its own story. Yet they all serve the principle of being Here for good.

Watch Progress by Ezra Wube

In conclusion to the Philippine elections....

I'm not a fan of people who rant about stuff without even knowing what they're talking about, so I'm going to try not to do that and just write honestly and simply.

Before the elections, I wrote my say on it here: [LINK], and since I had my say before it started, I should be able to have a conclusion after the elections, right? ;)

This year's elections had people hoping that it would mark a change, including me. But what a disappointment when it went anti-climatic. Here are some of my disappointments:

1. That the best candidate wasn't proclaimed as our president. In fact, the top 3 weren't the best choices at all. Seriously,a mediocre senator? A former president famously kicked out of his seat? A businessman, who made a bad investment by spending all that money just to win the presidency?(something's fishy there...). Haven't we learned from the past?

2. That the vice president may well be a pawn for greedy millionaires who care nothing about the country. Politics is too shady for me to understand its intricacies.(It's very convenient to keep innocent citizens in the dark).  I feel a little sorry for Mar Roxas. At least with the Noy-Mar tandem, there was more hope Noynoy wouldn't bungle up. Binay's slogan "Gagawin kong Makati ang buong Pilipinas" was certainly enticing, but I was more impressed by Bayani Fernando. Really. WHY HIM? (yeah, it's too late) ;)


3. That Erap came in second. I did not see this coming. I seriously thought people would learn from their mistakes. Remember, the Philippines deserves the best. And he is not the best.

4. That the media misuse their powers. Don't you ever feel the media is just manipulating you to think what they want you to think? I hope we remember the fact that we can think for ourselves and not be so gullible to everything that is fed to us.

5. That many people still choose to be ignorant and/or apathetic. Ignorance and apathy is a deadly combination. I mean, they were already deadly alone, what more when they're combined?

6. That candidates think that it's normal to buy votes. A candidate threw a big party a day before the election and proceeded to bribe those attending with 3K to vote for him. How lucky for the attendees.

7. That a vote can cost as low as a rice coupon/ 1 kilo of rice. And some will settle for that.

8. That the incumbent president ran for Congress and won, despite how foolish that would look.


9. That Imelda Marcos also won a seat in Congress through the votes of the same people who kicked her out of Malacañang about two decades ago.


10. That though the people "chose" a president that is "not corrupt", they still voted for corrupt people on other positions.

The major disappointment is,I realized how dirty politics really is. I was surprised that my parents talked of vote buying as if it was nothing. It's like a common part of the elections and how sick is that? The day before the elections, many candidates for our local positions bought votes through rice coupons and cash, as if they were expected to show up on the poor sectors and buy votes. Just thinking about it makes me sick. How are we ever going to change our country into something great if we started it by doing something so low? Call it my naiveté talking, but if someone deserves to win, they will win without having to go through the "tradition" of vote-buying. And the worst thing is, people sell their votes.

I am torn between being frustrated of how stupid people can sometimes be, and compliant acceptance that this is what we are which we have to live and work with. But I'm so stubborn as to feel and hope that there's more to this. The Philippines is such a rich country. It has loving people, fertile lands, beautiful landscapes. And yet, 80% are on the poverty line. Children can't enjoy what they deserve. It hurts me the most that what our children will most likely inherit is a wasteland, instead of the rich land that we should be striving for today. Seriously, do people look at their children and think, "my child deserves a better world than I live in"?.Of course, I'm saying that without disregarding other people's children.

At the start of the elections, it was in the air: people are sick and tired of being screwed over.  We are ready for change, it's just a question of whether we have the guts to seize that opportunity to change. With the way things have turned out, seems like we didn't have the guts?

I really love this ESSAY ABOUT THE PHILLIPINES. It was written by Jaeyoun Kim, a Korean, as a sort of wake up call to Filipinos. Love this country. But one thing has to be noted: the Korean president who strived to make Korea a great country was selfless and only wished for Korea's well-being. I wish our officials are the same way: compassionate about their people and live up to their position, which was created to serve the people and not their pockets.One person alone cannot save us. It has to be a collective effort. I really hope that we throw away our apathy, and start working together for the future.

Frisbee and my hamstrings.

It's a struggle just to get up and go to SMRAA. The thought of doing that much activity is unappealing. But then I don't regret it after stepping on that rubberized track and doing just even one lap is rewarding. It's nice to exercise. Yun nga lang, mahirap talaga bumangon at pumunta sa track.

Today, me, Remy, Jacque and Melvonn joined the "Air Benders". Who were we to refuse the invitation to learn about how Ultimate Frisbee is really played? Who wouldv'e thought it'd be so...hard. I love the name by the way. I'm an Avatar:The Last Airbender fan.

Things I learned today (which I hope will help):

1. A real ultimate ftisbee costs 700 pesos and weighs a lot more than our 100-peso frisbee. No wonder, since it's more appropriate for throwing. Still, for recreation, a cheaper one is enough.
2. I learned the backhand throw and forehand throw.
3. Basic drills.
4. The game. A team needs to get their frisbee on the other side. Like football.
5. If you drop the frisbee, the other team gets it.
6. Once you catch the frisbee, you can't take more than three steps. Else, that will be travelling. (I travelled two times today.hehe. Got carried away after catching a frisbee)
7. An opponent will try to block you(like in basketball!), and will count and wait for six seconds until you pass the frisbee to yout team mate. Otherwise, the other team gets th frisbee.
8. Your opponent needs to tap your frisbee after you catch it. hmmm.. i don't know when or why....
9. The frisbee has to be held by a player at the goal to count as a score. (like in football)

Sorry for sounding like an amateur. I AM one. 

That was fun, but,God, my hamstrings hurt.

image from nataliedee.com

buko halo-halo,review centers and friends.

It's just nice to get out and not worry about anything. (but then I ended up worrying anyway).
There's this famous place in Brgy Saravia that serves buko halo-halo. Aparejas buko halo-halo.
The assortment of vehicles - luxury cars, vans, trucks, multicabs -seem out of place and strange lining up in the quiet road-side of Barangay Saravia. But people come there just to eat the buko halo-halo. And why not? It's cheap and delicious. And in the strange way of Philippine entrepreneurship, the neighbors have followed suit. There are about four(?) buko halo-halo places now all within 5 meters of each other.
But nothing seems to compare with the original.

Image from [link]. (It's close to what we have eaten)

It was fun and laidback. The prospect of hitchhiking from Saravia to the main city was exciting, but we chickened out. 

Along the way we saw clouds pouring rain on Mt.Matutum. It was the first time I've seen rain coming roght out of the clouds. It looks like an army of cloud people are pouring large bottomless buckets of water along the clouds. 

We had planned on playing frisbee on the park but it rained. Apparently nobody wanted to get wet even though most frisbee players played rain or shine. We settled for KCC and couldn't resist the lure of Booksale.

We had also worried about which review center we would enroll to. It IS mind boggling. Plus there's the worry of studying with your classmates. Would it be a temptation? Though it's hard to imagine anyone not being serious about the board exams.

God, I'm really indecisive. Sometimes I want others to decide for me and I'll just let it be. Ironic how at some points in time I'm the one they look to for a decision. It's easier to decide for one's self because one could live with the consequences. But if that decision affects a lot of people, it's not so easy to decide. It's not easy to take the blame, that's why I admire leaders who makes good decisions that don't have to take the blame, but receive praise.

I remembered a depressing part of my life. It would never leave for a long time. But when I see the friends I have, and the good things that I have, who am I to continue spreading negative vibes? Good and bad are a given in anyone's life and I'm happy to be reminded that my life doesn't entirely suck.

Image by Propaganda-panda @deviantart