in retrospect…

from the time i sported a new ‘do’, i have been shaving my head every 2 or 3 days [depending on the growth and the time i had]… i bought a 3-razor shaver and have since been seen lugging it around more often than not…

now, tonight, i had a new revelation… if women can endure having their pubes waxed every 2 weeks or so, probably, i can also endure having my head waxed!!

do you know of a salon who does that?? i have googled “head waxing philippines” but came up with nothing… i know this is not commonly done here, but probably, there are someone out there who had done this… wanna share??

Ciao, sweetie…

NOTE: the following is not for me… it is for a person i know… he is not even close to me, and yet, i feel what he is going through right now…

he is your eldest, and you were very proud… you’ve watched him grow up, tended his knee scratches, consoled and taught him when he got into fights, you’ve taught him everything you know… you were around when he met his first girl… you were there when he got his heart broken for the very first time, and everytime thereafter… you put his medal on him when he graduated in elementary and high school, and later on, in college, you were very proud of him thinking that this is the beginning of a new life for him…

you egged him on during the times he was looking for his first job, and failing miserably… you even lent him money and your car [without the knowledge of your wife, of course] just to make it easy for him… and you were still proud of him…

and during all of these times, he was always there for you… he was all the way behind you when one of your daughters had a son out of wedlock, and later on got married outside of your religion… he was behind you when another of your daughters went astray… and he was behind you countless number of times throughout the years… and you were still very proud of him…

and yet, now that he needs your strong backing in his latest endeavor, you left him out in the cold… when the question of religion [or the lack of it] comes up, and the problem is that it goes against your own beliefs, you are not willing to give way, not even an inch… your son will soon get married to a woman whose beliefs are different from your own… and since he loves this woman, he is willing to get married in this woman’s church… but now, you are proud of him no longer… you are willing to forsake your son and let the question of religion come between you…

mamamatay ka na lang, yan pa rin ang iniisip mo… tsk tsk tsk…

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”

Ciao, sweetie…

40 years ago, today, a baby boy was born to parents Nena and Larry, their first, and soon after, a host of other babies followed… and that was the end of the story of their firstborn…

his life was never outstanding… growing up, he never topped his classes, never got his favorite toy, never did what other children of his age did at the time… and this was because his family was poor… at the age of 9 years old, he became the man of the family when his father died due to mysterious circumstances… at the tender age of 12, he was already working fulltime as a tennis ballboy over at a popular rich kid hangout in Makati… at 15, he learned how to do a peon’s job, a baker’s apprentice, delivery boy, and some other small-time jobs just to have a few pesos at the end of the day in his pockets… when he entered college at age 19, it was on his own… he got a scholarship from a government agency, worked in at least 2 jobs at the same time, and later on, also became the editor-in-chief of his school paper which earned him a second scholarship from his school…

during the years that followed, he worked in dead-end jobs… he became an encoder for a foreign company working in Pampanga, a salesman-cum-delivery man of caskets, a computer technician for a short while, and later on, went on to becoming what will be his lifelong passion, teaching…

he first taught computers in small time schools somewhere in the north, then later came back to Manila to teach in high-end institutions, the latest of which was in a prestigious school in Magallanes, Makati… went to HongKong for a short while, but decided to come back because he missed Manila so much… and now, he is an IT manager in one of the international schools based in Taguig…

all very normal, all very common, never distinguished or prominent, never outstanding…

although i don’t drink [much], i would like to make a toast to the first 40 years of my life, and here’s hoping for the 2nd 40… life begins at 40? well, i have arrived to find out… do i hate my life? no… but, do i love it? let me live my 2nd life, then i’ll tell you about it…

happy birthday to me… *hic*

Ciao, sweetie… *hic*

protecting and sustaining the environment is not a job just for one person or government… this is a big job for all of us living in this one earth… i called up Magic 89.9 earlier today and talked about this with the hosts of the show, Mo and Grace, and Mo brought up one important question: how can a poor person even think of preserving the environment if he has nothing to eat?

again, we do not HAVE to go out there and preach about preserving it full time… there are so many little things we can do, that when you add them up, will have a great impact on the environment… here are a few:

…and a host of other things one can do to help preserve the environment… again, if we do our own little part, that will add up to a great deal…

Ciao, sweetie…

Tags: [ environment | preservation | An Inconvenient Truth ]

An Inconvenient Truth: A Global Warning

yes, this is the most terrifying film i have ever seen to date, and i have seen almost all of them… i am terrified for my son, for my son’s sons and daughters, and for all future generations that will come after me…

this film, featuring Al Gore, former vice-president under the infamous Bill Clinton, talks about the climate changes that is happening all over the world… changes that happen due to our misuse of the environment and everything that it gives us… and these changes bring us problems, not good tidings…

Hurricane Katrina, Typhoon Frank, Cyclone Nargis, and a host of other natural disasters are happening year after year, and the earth is crying out for help… a little melodramatic, i know, but that is the only description i can find as far as the global disasters happening all over are concerned…

and all of these are happening because of all our technological advances… global warming is due to the presence of 4 greenhouse gasses, namely carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chloroflourcarbons… all of which are man-made… CO2 is brought about by the burning of fossil fuels… car emissions, coal burning, and forest fires instantly come to mind… methane comes primarily from garbage dumps [remember Smokey Mountain?]… nitrous oxide arose from our use of nitrogen-based fertilizers, and finally, chloroflourcarbons or CFCs come from using airconditioners and other refrigerants too much…

question now is: must we leave all technological advances we have made in the past 3 decades or so just to save the one earth we live in?? simply to preserve the future of our future? my answer to that is no, we should not… but we must also learn sustainable development and teach what we learned to everyone concerned… and by everyone concerned, i meant, every man, woman, and child that you come in contact with in your every waking hour… of everyday, for the rest of your life…

i am not saying that you stop driving a car… stop driving those gas-guzzling-big-American-made cars, and go for the environment friendly ones… or better yet, ride in mass transports and save up on gas… decrease your use of electricity and go back to the basics… and many others each one of us can do to help save the environment…

yes, there will be major changes to our way of life, i agree, but if we want to continue living in this one earth of ours, i suggest we do just that… and immediately… nature will NEVER wait for us to wake up and finally do what must be done… it will go its natural way, whether there is a person in its path [and more often that not, there are people in its path] or not… our storms will continue to rise in intensity, our summer heats will continue to rise no matter what, and our hurricanes will get stronger and stronger if we just sit on our fat asses and do nothing… the time to go forward and let your voice be heard is now… blog about it… talk about it amongst your friends… teach about it to your students… spare an hour a day explaining about it to your employees… but whatever you do, DO IT NOW!! before your way of life comes to an abrupt end…

Tags: [ environment | global changes | disasters | An Inconvenient Truth | Al Gore ]

I have always sported a full head of hair, and am very proud of it… at least most of the time… it was all black, really wavy when it gets to a certain length, and really something to be proud of…

but yesterday, as i was combing my hair getting ready for work, i noticed [finally] not that it is already long and needing a haircut… not the gray hairs making themselves a home of my head [slowly edging out all the blacks], and not the dry skin peeling off whenever i scratch my head [no, dear, it is not dandruff]… okay, maybe i noticed all of the above, but what got me more was the fact that i hated that hair…

and so, today, i finally did the unbelievable…

as defined by Dictionary.com:

dare·dev·il (dâr’děv’əl)
n. One who is recklessly bold.

adj. Recklessly bold. See Synonyms at adventurous.

and i am pertaining to those 2-wheeled vehicles more commonly known as motorcycles… drivers of this dang contraptions weave in and out of traffic without care for life or limb… daredevils? yes… responsible drivers? NO!!

just the other day, while on my way to work, there was no traffic as it was still so early in the morning, and i was cruising along Makati Avenue following a white Totyota Altis… when out of the blue, a small blue motorcyle [and with the driver having no helmet to boot!!] cut me just when the car i was following braked!! i almost hit the guy, he looked back, and gave me that devil-may-care grin… i was just so… fuming mad!!! so mad i could’ve went after him and run him over, if not for the fact that running grinning daredevils over with a car is called premeditated murder… but i really could’ve done it just so i can see that grin wiped off his mug…

see, they know that us car drivers will always stop and be on the lookout for them, so they don’t really care… and that fact i hate the most… and the same goes for bicycles and pedestrians…

shouldn’t bigger vehicles have the right of way along streets and highways? should’t smaller vehicles be on the lookout for bigger ones? i still remember the days when we can travel the streets without always looking left and right fearing that we might hit a motorcycle… sheesshhh… where were those days?? tsk tsk tsk…

and you know what? this’ll get more and more worse as days, weeks, months, and years go by if we don’t do something… i dunno, probably our esteemed lawmakers can pass a law banning weaving in and out of traffic?? or designating a lane for them??

of course, there are responsible motorcycles out there, not all of them are bastards… but majority of them are… you will see them everywhere… with babies in front of them, with riders at their backs, or alone, they are everywhere…

i. really, hate. these. people.

bastards…

Ciao, sweetie…

Alam ko masama na talaga ang kalidad ng edukasyon dito sa Pilipinas… alam ko dumadami na ang tangang Pinoy (pasensya na, totoo lng)… alam ko, dumadami ang di natututo magbasa at magsulat… pero, kailangan ba natin ipangalandakan un? at sa world stage pa man din??? taena!!

sa mga namamahala ng Binubuning Pilipinas (pun intended), bakit nyo naman hinayaan na manalo ito?

panoorin sa youtube

BAKKEEEETTTT???

bumaba na ba pati ang inyong mga pamantayan?? kagandahan na lng ba ang kailangan para manalo sa inyong patimpalak?? e hindi pa nga gaano maganda e!! hindi na ba tinitingnan kasama katalinuhan?? o kasama ang kabobohan sa inyong mga criteria sa mananalo???

kung ganun, tang ina nyo lahat!! ipinakikita nyo sa lahat ang kabobohan ng mga Pinoy. eto ang tanong ko sa inyo: sa Miss World ano ang gagawin nyan?? magpapa-cute??? o magtatanga-tangahan na naman sya??

ewan ko ba sa inyo… sana kung wala kayo mapili, di na lng kayo nagpa-panalo!! di ba may mga interbyu kayo ginagawa? nakapasa sya dun?? hindi kaya meron nangyari na di dapat mangyari para lng sya manalo?? wag kayo magagalit sa akin, dahil ako’y nagtatanong lng!!

(To my foreigner readers: I am so sorry if i have to do this in my native language… i am jsut so ashamed of the contents, that i cannot let you be a part of this farce… so ashamed that we let things like this happen to us… so sorry… and if you ever find out what this is all about, please know that not all of us are like her…)

itigil nyo na ang kalokohang itoi!!!

Ciao, sweetie…

the son, not the father…

Ciao, sweetie…

i want to wish my son, Mistral Julian, a very Happy 8th Birthday today!!

Happy Birthday, son… please know that, though we haven’t seen each other for the past 3 years, you are always in my heart and my thoughts… always…

i love you, Ian…

Ciao, sweetie…