tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86320074344480827472024-03-04T23:22:23.051-08:00Opinions, Thoughts and ConcernsErwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-60692617811038253532015-12-26T00:12:00.000-08:002015-12-26T00:22:40.475-08:00How a Bad Design Ruined Miss Universe 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0IQjL_smL3wxJxgebEcEJyTqPfl3OS4M1E6aPPppNTuJvKVGYJ9LCk3awzB8CXHitieVwOnQQNrjcXaO_eaZckZWxNm16CnwiGldc0SQtxa4a-A2gAeJcT9E3gzmzcV0ILPPd_HauHU/s1600/ScoreCard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC0IQjL_smL3wxJxgebEcEJyTqPfl3OS4M1E6aPPppNTuJvKVGYJ9LCk3awzB8CXHitieVwOnQQNrjcXaO_eaZckZWxNm16CnwiGldc0SQtxa4a-A2gAeJcT9E3gzmzcV0ILPPd_HauHU/s320/ScoreCard.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
A few
days after the universal drama that is Miss Universe 2015 coronation night
unfolded,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it is still the hottest topic
around. The internet is littered with it, it is the buzz around office and
still the subject on most lunch and dinners. Ironically, In the middle of it
was a prominently mustached man sporting a bald head, Steve Harvey.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I had to
admit, I didn't know who the guy was, until a friend told me what he does for a
living. When I saw Mr. Harvey for the first time, my thought was, "Richard
Pryor (RIP) is hosting the show. Lol.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I
immediately noticed that he look nervous,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>unnatural and seems a little bit distracted, so I figured that maybe
being around 80 plus pretty ladies and hosting a live show with millions of
audience around the globe has something to do with that. In any case, to me he
doesn't look like he's doing a good job.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
In my
opinion there are 2 major factors that contributed to all this brouhaha.</div>
<ol style="direction: ltr; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .375in; margin-top: 0in; unicode-bidi: embed;" type="1">
<li lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;" value="1"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Lack of
preparation from the emcee. My observation was confirmed when it was
reported that Mr. Harvey didn't practice the announcement of the winners.</span></li>
<li lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; vertical-align: middle;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">And a Failed design. Failed
what? Did I just incorporate my work skills in this? Yes, I just did. Let
me explain.</span></li>
</ol>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
More than
a decade ago, when I was just starting my career in what they call now as
"IT", I attended a company paid traning for Systems Analysis and
Design. There are a few things that stuck with me from that week-long<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>training, and one of those is the proper way
of designing trade documents or any documents for that matter. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Back in
the days, Erap jokes were very popular and the trainer made a hilarious joke
about him. Here it is: When Erap is filling up his COC form,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(certificate of candidacy) with FVR and
Miriam, he looked at it, he saw the field "Surname", so he wrote down
his name, then wrote down his first name across the field "Firstname"
and so on and so fort. Pretty soon he came across a field for "Sex",
he hesitated. He casually glanced at FVR's form and saw<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that FVR wrote "M" in it. Curiously
he took a peek at Miriam's COC and saw that she scribbled "F". At
that moment, he let out a naughty<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>smirk
and wrote down "M-W-F".</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
A great
example of failed document design, not to mention funny. A better design would
be to put 2 check-boxes along with the letters "M" and "F"
beside each other of course.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Now why
is this relevant to the bungled announcement of the Miss Universe 2015? Well
like I said before, one of the factors that made all of this to happen is the
poor design. In this case, the result card.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Look at
the way the result card was presented. On the left side, starting from the top,
the 2nd runner-up and the 1st runner-up results one on top of the other. It
barely occupies the card vertically, there is more than half of empty space
after that. On the right side, there is a text that says, "Miss Universe
2015" with big fonts, more that 2 times the font size of the the
"runner-ups" fonts. An then, below it is the winner with tiny fonts.
The most questionable in design is why the heck it is placed at the lower right
side of the card? It broke the continuity of information in the card. Normally
people would read from top to bottom, from left to right. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
When Mr.
Harvey announced the winner he was holding the card by his right hand. Anybody
holding a card on his right hand would tend to grab it on the lower right side,
exactly where the words "Philippines" was pasted on.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The
recipe for disaster is now complete. Lack of preparation on the part of the
emcee, a badly designed result card plus the fact that he seem a bit uneasy.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Now, when
he read the result, he can clearly see the "2nd Runner up" and the
"1st Runner up" and after that an empty space, he probably gazed on
the upper right side of the card and still empty. At this point the big font
"Miss Universe 2015" looks like an elaborated footnote only, the
title of the event.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
So, after
he announced the 2nd runner up, all he could see now is the 1st runner up and
nothing else. At that moment his eyes made him believe that that is gonna be
the last announcement he would make that night and his mind was probably
processing 3 things, the word "1st" then nothing else, last
announcement, winner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so just like
what they always say, the rest is history.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
If only
the result card had a better design, it could have neutralized Mr. Harvey's
lack of practice. If only the winner was placed immediately after the 1st
runner up or even just<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>above the right
side of the card, the day could have been saved.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Our
Confidently Beautiful Queen with a Heart would have taken her traditional
victory walk and it would have spared us all from seeing the ugly side of some
bitter contestants.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
If I were
Miss Montenegro or Miss Germany or Miss Colombia, I would sue the designer of
the result card. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
:o)</div>
Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-62224836945882335152014-11-26T05:17:00.001-08:002014-11-26T08:00:37.436-08:00Hearing Mass 101
<!--StartFragment-->
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0TUttC6pViRdWQGPwqYc0YTvNOM3E6_kh4B3M_1RTtTYrdq9cnQbHZkkpol7k54KMYuLQlDQb4pJLVzLFtTzevOi4Zl_1XU5Mex2VYXiAYO4IWStbmsPeZqF8130cx_EuE8UGA8YRwtM/s640/blogger-image-760026723.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0TUttC6pViRdWQGPwqYc0YTvNOM3E6_kh4B3M_1RTtTYrdq9cnQbHZkkpol7k54KMYuLQlDQb4pJLVzLFtTzevOi4Zl_1XU5Mex2VYXiAYO4IWStbmsPeZqF8130cx_EuE8UGA8YRwtM/s640/blogger-image-760026723.jpg"></a></div><br><p></p><p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">"Who
was the first man who received the holy communion and then left the
gathering?", our parish priest blurted out right before the choir sang the
song they prepared for Offering that Sunday evening.</p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">Everybody
was caught by surprise. I was. For a second or two I thought he is pin pointing
somebody in the crowd and I was kind of expecting someone to raise his shaky
hand. After a momentary confusion it became apparent that he is trying to make
point.</p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">That
question swirled my mind the for the next 20 minutes or so.</p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">Before
the communion rites he said, "The first man who received the holy
communion and left the gathering was JUDAS." </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt"><span lang="en-GB">As
a background, our priest has always been very vocal on how he hates a plethora </span><span lang="en-US">of </span><span lang="en-GB">people would leave the church right after
receiving the holy communion. That is of course is wrong, very very wrong.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">I studied
in a catholic school ran by the sisters of saint Paul along R. Hidalgo street
in Quiapo right in the heart of Manila. We have a nun for our Religion class or
Social Ethics as we call it back then. For some reason, I love the subject it
is one of my favourites. On why, that is an entirely different story which I
hope I could write about someday.</p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">Anyway,
from that class I have learnt how to properly hear a mass and I have shared it
with my kids a few times. It's a shame that most Catholics doesn't know about
it probably because nobody ever told them how. So now, I'm gonna enumerate and
share what I have learned.</p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">Here
goes. You didn't hear mass if you:</p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<ol type="1" style="margin-left: 0.375in; direction: ltr; unicode-bidi: embed; margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">
<li value="1" style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;vertical-align:middle" lang="en-GB"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Failed to
arrive before the first words of the Holy Gospel has been pronounced.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;vertical-align:middle" lang="en-GB"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Didn't participate in the
singing. </span></li>
<li style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;vertical-align:middle" lang="en-GB"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Didn't participate in the
prayers, obviously.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;vertical-align:middle" lang="en-GB"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Didn't offer anything except
if you are really really tight on budget.</span></li>
<li style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;vertical-align:middle" lang="en-GB"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Failed to receive the FINAL
BLESSING.</span></li>
</ol>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">The last
one is what our priest is trying to convey. Your whole 1 hour or so of going to
church, participating in the responsorial psalm, singing even though you
sounded like a cat and your tail has just been stepped on, prayed so hard that
sweat comes out of your forehead in an air-conditioned church and even pulled
out a fat fifty dollar bill for your offering. All that will go to waste if you
failed to hear the Final Blessing.</p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">The mass
isn't over when you receive the holy host dear brothers and sisters. You have
to be there when the final blessing is given out. </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">And by
the way, Masses are not like TV Shows or Movies, if you arrive late and failed
to hear the Holy Gospel, you need to hear the entirety of the next scheduled
mass. </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">I hope
this could reach out to a number of Catholics out there. So that the next time
you hear a similar question like what our priest asked us, you won't feel like
a silver-hungry-traitor like the infamous Mr. Iscariot.</p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB"> </p>
<p style="margin:0in;font-family:Calibri;font-size:11.0pt" lang="en-GB">Be
blessed everyone! :o)</p>
<!--EndFragment-->Erwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17487899640584113289noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-33048681008270235202014-05-29T08:14:00.000-07:002014-05-29T08:14:38.828-07:00Pinoy ka ba?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Bm6MBAxgqsbeVXLRHfysG8aBGkPoXRSvMcVtj3MEFSSrzyv-CoBIFBzbWNEBCRPb_gxFFSZKGLs67KLEiSqR7QEXkhAYnn0n8yebynx_c3jIJEzL_QCk_I8KTn0WaDFtAH3X3x-AE8Y/s1600/Super_Pinoy_by_Nordenx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Bm6MBAxgqsbeVXLRHfysG8aBGkPoXRSvMcVtj3MEFSSrzyv-CoBIFBzbWNEBCRPb_gxFFSZKGLs67KLEiSqR7QEXkhAYnn0n8yebynx_c3jIJEzL_QCk_I8KTn0WaDFtAH3X3x-AE8Y/s1600/Super_Pinoy_by_Nordenx.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
By: Erwin L. Sison</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Taglish
ang gagamitin kong medium of writing dahil di ko gusto maintindihan ng ibang
lahi ang mga sasabihin ko.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Having
spent more than eight years sa labas ng Pinas, naging saksi ako on how our
culture is applied sa social integration ng ibang bansa. Singapore is a
multi-cultural country, madaming lahi ang nakatira dito actually too many
considering kung gaano kaliit ito. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Isa sa
mga lahing nandito ay ang mga Pilipino. We have our fair share of the
population here. May mga maids, healthcare workers, engineers, IT professionals
at iba pang engaged sa iba't ibang line of work. Our presence is definitely
undeniable. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Anyway, I
am writing this just to make a point on how we were brought up and kung papano
ito nakaka-apekto sa pakikisalamuha natin sa ibang nationality.</span></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Disclaimer
agad: This is my personal opinion, it might rub you the wrong way pero it might
also inspire you.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Majority
of pinoys are Catholic, that is a fact. So from childhood we were taught to be
humble and give the other cheek. Tahimik lang tayo. We believe na our work or
our attitude will speak for us. Naniniwala tayo na action speaks louder than
words. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Pasensyoso
tayo, as much as possible ayaw natin ng confrontation. We'd rather suffer
quietly than make a big fuss out of something na we think we can still bear.
Most of the time sinasabi natin "Dyos na bahala" o "ipagpapa sa
Dyos ko na lang yan". We prefer to be in the background kaysa maging
parang KSP. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Negative
ang pagiging ambisyoso, we despise them. Kapag na labelan ka na ambisyoso o
ambisyosa parang may social stigma ka na.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'm
telling you right now, all of the above are CRAP! Stop reading if I came down
too hard and please start hating me now. If you wanna know my reason please
proceed.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'm not
saying na ayaw ko ang way ng pagpapalaki sakin ng magulang ko, they are the
best gift anyone could ever have and I love them and will continue to do so
until I take my last breath. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'm not
saying na hate ko ang pagiging pinoy ko because I am truly proud of my roots,
my race at mahal ko ang bansa ko. In fact my love for my country ang isa sa mga
dahilan bakit ko sinusulat ito.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Having
said that, gusto ko i-highlight na may mali sa ating kultura. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Hindi
tama para sa akin na mag-suffer quietly dahil lang ayaw nating ng
confrontation. Hindi tama na magsawalang kibo kahit nahihirapan dahil lang ayaw
natin maka istorbo ng ibang tao. Hindi tama na manahimik lalo na kapag
inaapakan ka na. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Tama ang
maging ambisyoso o ambisyosa tama ang magkaron ng pangarap o ambition tama na
may aim ka sa buhay. At higit sa lahat ayaw na ayaw ko na palagi na lang
ipinagpapa sa dyos ang lahat! I hate that so much! </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Binigyan
ka ng kamay at paa, kumilos ka! Binigyan ka ng bibig magsalita ka! Express your
feelings, do what you need to do but never deprive yourself of something that
you think you deserve. Lumaban ka! Huwag kang kikimi-kimi. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Dito sa
Singapore madaming lahi,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>napapansin ko
most of the time nagta-take advantage sila sa pagiging pinoy natin kasi alam
nila na bihira sa atin ang nagsasalita o lumalaban o nag-iinitiate ng
confrontation. Hindi ko gusto yun and hindi ako ganun. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
My fellow
pinoys na kilala ako ay alam nila na I won't take crap from anybody specially
sa ibang lahi. I am not afraid to stir things up to defend myself, my belief
and my pride. They know na I won't shun away from confrontation and won't
hesitate na i-declare ang unhappiness ko kapag feel ko I am being treated
unfairly. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
In short,
I am not a push-over. At ito ang tinuturo ko sa mga anak ko, I just hope na
ma-adopt nila ito.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Bakit ba
naging masyado tayong pasensyoso? Bakit ba ang pinoy tahimik lang most of the
time? Duwag ba tayo? Papano ba tayo naging ganito as a country, as a race? </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
To answer
this we need to take a look at our history. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
For
approximately 300 years nasa ilalim tayo ng spanish occupation sila ang
nag-gogovern ng bansa at ng buhay natin. 300 years, isipin mo, ang tagal nun.
Papano nila nagawa yun? Nagyari yun dahil bukod sa espada, gumamit din sila ng
religion, Catholicism. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Naging
way ito para mahawakan tayo for as long as they want. Itinuro nila sa atin na
masama ang maging ambisyoso, ipagpa-sa dyos ang lahat at huwag masyado mataas
ang pangarap. Mahirap syempre i-supress ang isang bansa na marunong mag
ambisyon o maging palaban. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
So
nagkarooon ng<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>negative conotation ang
pagiging aggresive at pagiging assertive. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
After ng
Spaniards the Americans came and they did almost the same thing. In fact they
played a major part in choosing our martyr national hero who doesn't even want
to go to war in the first place instead of an aggressive, change-seeking,
freedom fighter. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Even
folklores such as "Biag ni Lam-Ang" were banned during those times so
not to inspire Filipinos to seek for freedom. Bilang oppressor ayaw mo ito, and
that is what they did.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
To sum
things up, dahil sa history natin na palagi na lang tayong may tormentor we
were taught and trained to be happy with what we have and as much as possible
huwag mangarap. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Times
have changed at hindi na natin dapat ine-embrace ang ganung thinking, if we
want to progress as a nation as a race we have to be assertive and most of all
act towards the direction of what we want to achieve. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Hindi na
pwede yung bow na lang ng bow. Matagal na umalis mga hapon sa bansa natin. This
is the time to assert ourselves kaya tayo binu-bully ng China e. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
50 or 60
years ago mas maunlad tayo sa mga katabi nating bansa. Today, maunlad na sila
tayo parang lalo pang umatras. Yes, one of the reason is our corrupt government
pero look at the mirror, malaking factor dito ang ating acquired (and taught)
inferiority complex.</div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Parents
should start changing the way na palakihin ang mga anak natin, dapat tutuan
silang maging competitive and to reach for their dreams with all they got. No
boundaries, no limits. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Hindi na
applicable na antayin mo ang grasya na lapitan ka, have we not learned anything
from Juan Tamad? We need to go for it, paminsan-minsan kailangan mo iangat ang
sarili mong bangko. Who knows, 3 centuries hence we'll be one of the super
powers of the world. Hindi impossible considering our natural born talent to
excel. </div>
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div lang="en-US" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Change is
in order. Change is what we need. The time is now. Let us start with the man in
the mirror. </div>
Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-23573351323170074302013-11-14T21:09:00.000-08:002013-11-14T23:51:42.595-08:00How Dare You Anderson Cooper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02A0lmTg3UseVodj1RpMPIekiM63AgPyyx2EuOPA2789IY_QvsGa2SNJbb1hld6BWQxmr30LEpfHeMdz3zbTcR42aaT_P3rJpIl3ufAl1mirOTQips90AflzcHCsywaYrxALk1oASRjs/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02A0lmTg3UseVodj1RpMPIekiM63AgPyyx2EuOPA2789IY_QvsGa2SNJbb1hld6BWQxmr30LEpfHeMdz3zbTcR42aaT_P3rJpIl3ufAl1mirOTQips90AflzcHCsywaYrxALk1oASRjs/s1600/images.jpg"></a></div>
<br>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">How Dare You Anderson Cooper!</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">by: Erwin L. Sison</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Recently a certain Anderson Cooper who made
some remarks through CNN regarding the way the Philippine Government is
handling the situation in Tacloban City. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He was quoted as saying, “</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's a miserable, miserable situation here. It is
not getting better day-by-day. We're now entering the fifth day since the storm
hit here in Tacloban ... You would expect maybe a feeding center that has been
set up five days after the storm. We haven't seen that, certainly not in this
area.</span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">"</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As to who's in
charge of the Philippine side of the whole operation, that is not really clear.
I'm just surprised that on this day 5, maybe I've gotten here late, that things
would be well in hand. It does not seem like that,</span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri;">” Cooper
continued.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">He even compared the
situation to Japan during the tsunami in 2011, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #434343;">When I was in Japan, right after the
tsunami there two years ago, within a day or two, you had Japanese defense
forces going out, carving up cities into grids and going out on foot looking
for people, walking through the wreckage. We have not seen that here in any
kind of large-scale operation,</span></i><span style="color: #434343;">” Cooper
said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My take? I am offended as a Filipino.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How
dare you Anderson Cooper</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> to belittle
the Filipino resolve. It might be true that there is no BIG military presence on
the same spot that you are standing on but you should be sensible enough to know
that the disaster covers a very very large area spanning from Eastern Samar, Tacloban,
Masbate, Cebu, Palawan, Davao all the way to Negros Occidental. That is almost
half of the country and these places are separate islands across the
archipelago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How
dare you Anderson Cooper</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> to
speak as if you are an expert in handling natural disasters telling the whole
world what Filipino Government should have done in this situation. YOU’RE NOT
AN EXPERT Mr. Cooper you’re just a spectator making a living out of these
disasters! I watch basketball almost everyday does it make me an EXPERT? Does
it mean I can be the head coach on the Miami Heat? Your remarks are downright absurd
and irresponsible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How dare
you Anderson Cooper</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> comparing us
with the way the Japanese handled the situation in Japan during the 2011 tsunami.
That is totally a different condition, geographically speaking, in Japan the
areas heavily affected were the shorelines and rescuers can still move from the
northeast side of the country towards southwest, unlike in our situation where
the whole island is affected. In times like these mobility is one of the key
factors and we simply don’t have that in this particular state (I am not an expert).
You should know that right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How
dare you Anderson Cooper</span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
forgetting to compare our condition to your home country when Hurricane Katrina
struck America and there was widespread violence, looting, rape, hunger and
killings because the US Government DID NOT RESPOND properly and on time. You
were there, have you forgotten about that? Isn’t that the closest comparison to
our situation instead of the tsunami? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And finally, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">how dare you Anderson Cooper</b> being a veteran journalist barking out
all these nonsense on international TV disregarding the effect of your
irresponsible reporting (barks) to the entire Philippine nation who is reeling
from the effects of the strongest typhoon ever recorded in the history of
mankind. It was like rubbing salt to a wound.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Note: Anderson Cooper is an American journalist
labeled as “<b>emo-anchor</b>”. In my
opinion the label is very close to “<b>an
Actor</b>”. </span><!--EndFragment--></div>
Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-62370846587800219342013-06-12T08:05:00.002-07:002013-06-12T08:14:07.940-07:00In Pursuit of (Momentary) Happiness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzsVKCY-VC24Lm7mHydUuPWuwQ6MDzWPTmx0zHDIii7ADXwD3hWrk4RJbmSD7xllmmPXBwMbEJsjvn3e9iKQhEOMOrCsMr7zy3EUX8ZB1w-6UMjK50mcrWT8pS2Y7RMclJjIVRBV3EJM/s1600/Happy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzsVKCY-VC24Lm7mHydUuPWuwQ6MDzWPTmx0zHDIii7ADXwD3hWrk4RJbmSD7xllmmPXBwMbEJsjvn3e9iKQhEOMOrCsMr7zy3EUX8ZB1w-6UMjK50mcrWT8pS2Y7RMclJjIVRBV3EJM/s1600/Happy.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is safe to say that everybody wants to be happy.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will everybody be happy? I'd boldly say YES. Intrigued? Go on.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To start with, happiness is one of the biggest misconceptions in life. Most of us think that it is the ultimate goal, something that eludes us until we finally hit the jackpot. People spend a lifetime pursuing it, trying to force it and at the end of the day when they feel their time is almost up, they'll ask themselves, "Am I happy?". If I were to ask that question to myself knowing that my end is just around the corner then my answer would be a crispy "Hell no!", that would probably qualify as one of the most upsetting moment of my life. But if I were to ask myself, "Was I happy?" then my answer could have been different.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My point is, Happiness is not the jackpot that we long for nor the ultimate goal that we seek. Well it is a goal in a manner of speaking but it isn't as grand as we perceive it to be.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happiness is a state of a moment, an instance or an event of being happy. More often, it is just a temporary feeling. But although it diminishes real fast, it is quickly replaced by our unending drive to be happy again</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humans are programmed to chase happiness. It is what we always aim for. The best thing about it is, we are capable of achieving it at least once a day and that my friends is what keeps us moving forward, what keeps us in our pursuit of a momentary happiness.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life they say is a cycle, a series of ups and downs. I strongly agree. One moment we are happy the next moment we are gearing up to seize it back again. </span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;">
</span>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So kick that ball, score that goal and once you did score, savour the moment, celebrate, be happy then run back out again and plan for your next attack. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">:o)</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #454545; font-size: 12px;">
</span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-31908143814255153812012-08-17T21:35:00.003-07:002012-08-17T21:35:30.653-07:00Mano Po
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmakG69iMmf9OfNXZnft6UI_MRHSE4wxO6m37erZGAbaZu_LsWagU423H_P5_Kj_P1XXURTW06RB0v_mGpTRjZfGKLRL6sDO6arbBJ-4eAOSni8YLgIdN1X9esZq01Zfk_ioRlfzhGvk/s1600/Mano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXmakG69iMmf9OfNXZnft6UI_MRHSE4wxO6m37erZGAbaZu_LsWagU423H_P5_Kj_P1XXURTW06RB0v_mGpTRjZfGKLRL6sDO6arbBJ-4eAOSni8YLgIdN1X9esZq01Zfk_ioRlfzhGvk/s320/Mano.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Filipino Family Value</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Let me tell
you this, I don't care if it is part of your culture but it is not proper to
grab my hand and place it onto your forehead." The priest warned before he
gave his final blessing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I was standing
there shocked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"Asking for my
blessing after you have received the ultimate blessing from God is an insult to
God himself." He continued.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I am still frozen,
unable to process what I just heard. Obviously referring to us Filipinos inside
the church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I glanced at my
children and saw the confusion on their faces, I shook my head, a sign of
disapproval from what we just heard. In my mind, I was like; I need to correct
this nonsense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Why would the
priest say that? What is his basis? Did he just attack our Filipino Family
Values? There were so many questions running through my mind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt;">There must be a
logical explanation to his behavior. A behavior which to be honest, took away a
huge chunk of respect I had for him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Slowly, I tried to
dissect what just happened and make a sense out of it. Here is what common
sense dictated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The priest, being a
non-Filipino doesn't have a clue on what he is saying. In our church, after the
mass, these priests would stand next to the exit and shakes hand with their
parishioners as they go out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">For Filipinos, we
don’t shake hands with priests; we bestow the highest respect to them by raising
their hand to touch our forehead. We give them "Mano" and this is probably
where the culture gap sets is. Or should I say, Ignorance. Not by the priest
but Ignorance of my fellow Filipinos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Why do I blame my
fellow Filipinos? Because I know the priest, he is one of the most sensible
priests I have ever listened to. And he won't be so insensitive about matters
like these if he didn't do his own little research. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What could have happened? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Our church, just
like any other place here in Singapore is a multi-cultural environment. A lot
of Filipinos volunteers for church work, me included. So, if there is non-Filipino
from the church wants to know our ways, there is always somebody nearby, a
Filipino to ask from. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The priest was
probably puzzled on why we aren't shaking hands with them instead; we pull
their hands and place it onto our forehead. So what would a smart priest do if
in doubt? Yes, he would ask a Filipino what that gesture is and what it is
for. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Since all of us
know that "Mano" is a Tagalog word, the fellow probably converted it
to English, and what do we commonly call "mano" in English? Yes, we
commonly call it "Bless". Probably the guy even go further by telling
the priest that it is an act of asking for a blessing, thus the priest stance
on "mano".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Looking at the
priest's point of view, I couldn't blame him. The problem was, he was
misinformed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Let's do a quick
analogy of the term that we use for "mano" and it's REAL meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Mano is a Spanish word,
which directly translates to Hand. That is why when we want to give respect to
our elders we say, "mano po" which directly translates to "hand
please".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Now where did the
term "bless" come around? It came around because when we give this
highest gesture of respect to our elders, especially our parents, they would
normally say "Kaawaan ka ng Diyos" which translates to "May the
Lord BLESS you". <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">During the course
of time, we have identified "mano" with "bless" and eventually
these two words became synonymous to each other. Our parents would normally
tell us "mag-bless ka" if they would ask us to pay our respect to our
grandparents. The more appropriate or more accurate term for that matter should
have been "Pay your respect". <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We are not asking for a blessing, we are
paying our highest respect without asking anything in return when we
"mano". Our elders’ response of "May the lord bless you" is
just a voluntary prayer to reward the gesture</span></b><span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So could I blame
the priest for his stance on "mano"? Certainly not. Should I blame
the fellow Pinoy who imparted his thoughts to the priest? Partly, yes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Did I mention that
I was a volunteer in the church? What I asked my children to do is to continue
to pay their respect to their mother and me by doing "mano" after
each mass. Deep inside I am hoping the priest would notice and ask me about it.
But that never happened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It's been almost
two years since that church incident happened. A lot of things have changed.
We moved to another house and also moved to another church. But up to
this day, that incident haunts me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Noteworthy Light"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Filipinos please be
informed.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-83069858020320644342011-07-07T21:58:00.001-07:002011-07-07T22:00:56.191-07:00Chompin Humans<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Does anybody ever wonder how much we, humans eat?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Ok. I may be a bit too fast. Let me tell you why this question popped out of my mind.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Rewind…</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">One night, just like any normal night I am sitting in front of my computer. My well cushioned seat is already warm with my natural butt warmth, a sign that I am still alive and clicking (mouse) and also an indication that I have been sitting there far too long. And what am I doing? I’m browsing a page popularly known as Facebook. Typing some comments on pictures and statuses of my friends which I hope would make me look either witty or funny.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Let’s face it, everyone does.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Facebook has become a phenomenon. It also defied all the privacy rules our elders once protected so valiantly during their days. Today most people who visit this so called social networking page do these; Allow their friends (and strangers) know where exactly they are at that precise moment, share what they are currently doing and feeling and tell and show what places they have visited.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">In short, we allow other people to have a peek into our everyday lives and have a bit of an access to our brains as well. The scope of the word privacy is getting smaller each day.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Another fun thing that we love doing these days is posting pictures, everybody has gone digital when it comes to pictures. We now see it every single day. Face pictures with tongues sticking out , portraits of people flashing the “peace” sign (hippie’s rules!), photos of girls blowing their mouth which honestly looks ridiculous to me, photos of half-drunk men raising their glass to the person holding the camera, almost anything we think worth posting, we post.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But there is something I noticed which made me wonder on my very first question above.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">For the past two or three years I have seen so many pictures of food which I only see on cookbooks and McDonalds counter before this phenomenon existed. All of a sudden, pictures of food and people eating are flooding the facebook pages. It doesn’t matter if they are showing the people with food or the food itself, they are everywhere.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">We love food, period.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">People gather for special occasions like birthdays, Christmases, Thanksgivings, weddings etc. And to make everybody happy we put food on the table. It won’t be a successful gathering if we go home with our bellies empty. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time people come to eat. Every one is a cookie monster, so to speak. We chomp and we chomp and we chomp. We are all like a pacman, no wonder it was a phenomenon in its own right back in the eighties. We are born to live and to live we EAT, simple as that.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">So it is now clearly established that people love to eat. We do this repetitively on an average of three times a day, seven days a week, thirty or so days a month and so on and so on. With this in mind and with information at my fingertips (google) I did some clickin, typin and computin ( I dunno, I just felt cool omitting the ‘g’ from those words). And what did I stumble upon will shock every human being who would read this (I am guessing somewhere between four and five, my wife and I included).</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Are you ready? Here goes:</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Fact, Earth is about 4.55 billion years old. Fact, there are currently close to 7 billion people on this planet. Fact, 50 years ago (1960) the population is almost half of the population today registered at just over 3 billion. Fact, the earth’s mass is 6.0 × 1024 kg, or simply 6,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 (6.6 sextillion) short tons (6.0 sextillion metric tons). Now that’s quite heavy.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Where am I getting at? Here, if our population growth becomes steady for the next millennium or two which means double every 50 years and each human continues to eat an average of 1 Kilogram of food per day, the mass of food we would have eaten would equal to the mass of… wait for it… the ENTIRE EARTH.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Yes, according to my calculations it is safe to say that we could have eaten the entire planet in a little over 15 centuries that is one and half millennium from today. You might say my theory is absurd and bizarre but it’s a plausible theory nonetheless.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Can you imagine? Us the people living on earth can actually eat food equal to the mass of the planet we are living in, less than two millenniums from today. That is mind boggling. It’s like Burrrrgggggee... (mind blowing, with hand gestures and spit flying).</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Not to mention the amount of food we Homo sapiens have eaten for the past 4.55 billion years. WOW! That is awesome! Think about it.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Now, there are only two things I can conclude based from what I have written above, either I have a very playful imagination or I just have way too much free time on my hand to actually take notice of this.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You decide.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I’m HUNGRY. :o)</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><img src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/184650_1874695065339_1180054730_32305805_4278724_n.jpg" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; max-width: 493px; " /></p></span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-48907662947379256002011-07-07T21:57:00.001-07:002011-07-07T21:58:02.149-07:00A Sad Tale<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I am the center of attraction.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Friends and relatives alike always take notice of me whenever they visit.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">My family always makes sure that I am up-to-date with every occasion worth remembering.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I am the source of their happiness.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But that was then.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Now, I sit here alone.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Nobody notices me anymore.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I haven’t been updated for God knows how long.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I am now forgotten and longing for attention.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">One day, I was pulled out from where I was resting.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">In the beginning I couldn’t comprehend what was happening.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Dusts were wiped off my covers and my pages were once again opened.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I felt the touch which brought warmth and a feeling of nostalgia.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I haven’t felt that good in a long time.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Finally, the bad dream has been broken. Or so I thought.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Suddenly my plastic lamination was torn off.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Pictures were taken one by one.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Pictures I have embraced and protected for so long.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Pictures I kept and have been a part of me.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">One by one they were placed on a scanner.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I heard about a similar story like mine some time ago.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I just didn’t realize it would also happen to me.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em>Postal stamp</em><strong> </strong>was the first to complain.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And I’m pretty sure you heard about the story of <em>Dyolen, Sipa, Goma, Teks</em> and others.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">We suffered the same fate.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Forgotten in an era they now call “Digital Age.”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">:o)</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><img src="http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs805.snc4/68561_1745034903916_1180054730_32026614_2985478_a.jpg" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; max-width: 493px; " /></p></span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-89766757398448991632011-07-07T21:50:00.000-07:002011-07-07T21:53:07.303-07:00My Hero, my Friend, my Handkerchief<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I seldom go out without a handkerchief. When I started going to school my mom introduced this tiny piece of cloth into my life, and I have been carrying them ever since. In fact my right pants pocket is strictly for hankies. Loose coins go to the left. Candies go to the left. Small toys go to the left. Chewing gum for reuse of course goes to the left.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Everything except hankies goes straight to the left.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">When I was young, hankies were the recipients of my occasional spills. Milk, orange juice, chocolate drinks, yakults you name it. They were always there when I need to wipe the sweat off my face, when I need something to sneeze on and not to mention my occasional “Pfffffftttt” when I have a runny nose.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">They are one of the most useful inventions man has ever made, right next to the moon buggy of course.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">During my high school days, it was my favorite gift for my girlfriends. I used a plural word because I had 2 or 3 back in HS but not at the same time of course (whew...) Reason is because it is easy to find, very useful, colorful with fun designs and of course the most important thing is; it is not very expensive. It was one of the nice things my allowance could afford at that time.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I know, I know. You heard about the elders saying; it is not good to give out hankies because you only gonna make the receiver cry. I don’t believe any of that stuff. For me I believe more in my pockets than my elders.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Before Facebook, Friendster and other social network sites came up; Filipinos have their own way of expanding their so called social network. They use hankies. Yes Hankies. You get an invite when you see a girl drops a hankie. Intentionally, unintentionally it’s very hard to distinguish. And you accept the invite by picking it up and running after her. I believe this is still being practiced up to this very minute.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Yes, hankies have been around since time memorial. It was even speculated that on the original version of <em>Noli Me Tangere</em> Maria Clara used the hanky drop trick to get Crisostomo Ibarra’s attention. Of course that is just pure speculation everything depended on Jose Rizal’s imagination. Even Andres Bonifacio has a red handkerchief over his shoulders when he tore down his <em>cedula</em> in <em>Balintawak</em> along with thousands of <em>Katipuneros</em> who bravely fought the Spaniards after that.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Somebody should put up a monument to commemorate those hankies that fought alongside our <em>Katipuneros</em>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Here in Singapore, they don’t fancy handkerchiefs like Filipinos do. Here they use tissue. Tissues here are sold everywhere. Everybody carries a packet in their pockets because you don’t get a free tissue even if you buy a meal. You have to buy them separately. Here, tissues are recipients of their occasional Laksa, Hokkien Mee and Hor Fun spills.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Following the saying; “When you’re in Rome, do what the Romans do”, I did what they were doing. I try to carry around a packet of tissue whenever I can. But my right pants pocket is still reserved for my handkerchief.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">So when I came here I had a dilemma. I’m not sure which pocket the tissue will go in. So I decided it will be on my left breast pocket. If I’m wearing a breast pocket less shirt then I don’t carry a tissue at all. I just rely on my old friend.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Today I found the tissue useful. Maybe they are not as efficient as my trusted friend down on my right pants pocket but it’s alright. They can address to most of my occasional spills and wiping my face perspiration but one thing I learned about tissues is they cannot hold off my most nasty nose “Pfffftttttt”.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">They shatter into pieces. Unlike my battle weary friend.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">:o)</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><img class="img" src="http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/154350_1731922016102_1180054730_31999874_5261849_a.jpg" alt="" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; max-width: 493px; " /></p></span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-42501626455421090902011-07-07T21:49:00.001-07:002011-07-07T21:50:09.942-07:00Seryosong Kasalan<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em>I have always been amazed with wedding invitations, specially the poems and the couple's pledge of love that goes with it. So when it's our turn to get wed, being a self-proclaimed nonconformist I decided to write our own wedding poem that says exactly what and how we want to say it.</em> :o)</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sariwa pa ang lahat sa aming isipan</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Nang aming mga mata’y unang nagtipan</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Isang ngiting naka-ngiwi ang pinakawalan</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Pa-beautiful eyes with matching ngisi ang isinagot naman.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Simula noon, kami’y naging mag-tropa</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Umaatikabong asaran, biruan, at kulitan sa opisina</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Minsa’y inuman hanggang abutin ng umaga</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Aming kalooba’y lihim na nahulog sa isa’t-isa.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Lampas sampung taon, ang lumipas na pala</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Simula nang nangyari yung first stanza</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Ngayon ay hihingin na namin ang blessing NYA</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Upang ang aming tipanan ay ma-formalize na.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sa araw na ito, kayo ay magiging witness</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sa pagmamahalan na pwede na sa guinness</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sa dambana maririnig nyo ang matatamis naming YES</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Para sa pagsasamang wagas, until we lay to rest.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Bago pa pala namin makalimutan</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Ang aming pamilya ay malapit nang lumisan</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sa Singapore kami ay maninirahan</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Kung kaya’t CASH na lang at wag na kagamitan.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">:o)</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><img class="img" src="http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/155792_1716896560475_1180054730_31966543_402082_a.jpg" alt="" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; max-width: 493px; " /></p></span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-73877404806405450652011-07-07T21:47:00.001-07:002011-07-07T21:48:31.414-07:00Mad World<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em>I posted this entry to my Friendster blog on July 26, 2007.</em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em><br /></em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sitting in an MRT train is a man holding a bible, eyes fixed on the thin fine pages. His hand keeps on flipping the pages. Pauses for a couple of seconds, as if reflecting and checks if he is being noticed. Then pretends to read again and continues with his page-flipping.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Empty.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">A woman talks about her church-going habit openly. She prays, mentions and discusses about her religion with regularity. But then again, she is not well liked by her peers. Is it because she’s too holy for them? Or is it because what she say and do are poles apart? It’s the latter.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Hollow.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">A group of people says they are the “chosen people”. Salvation is for them alone come apocalypse. Berates and attacks other religion to the point of threatening their lives.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Neurotic.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Another group, considered as one of the “most devoted” to their religion, speaks about their God all the time and at the same breath swears to kill and wipe out all their “enemies” regardless of age, race and gender.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Madness.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">God and religion is being used as an excuse to gain acceptance, fame and power. From an innocent looking man who just wanted to be noticed, to the killers of thousands of innocent lives (and still hungry for more). How a humble act of submitting oneself to God did became a source of all these chaos?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Has the world really gone MAD? Or it was always this way from the beginning?</p><div><br /></div></span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-16150067830287306262011-07-07T21:44:00.000-07:002011-07-07T21:46:44.733-07:00Famous Ears<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div class="mbl notesBlogText clearfix" style="display: block; zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 20px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; word-wrap: break-word; "><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em>I posted this entry to my Friendster blog on August 31, 2007. I hope you'll like it.</em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em><br /></em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">When I was young, I hated my ears.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And I sometimes wonder what these are for.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I mean, it’s very hard to clean, with all its curbs and alleys.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It gets in the way when I’m having my haircut.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It also gets in the way when I comb my hair.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">They are just two chunks of meat which protrudes on both sides of my face.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Which by the way, I can’t even feel.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Unless of course my mom manage to grab it while scolding me.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And when I was young, I was very naughty.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">So you could just imagine how many times these chunks-of-meat have been pulled by mom.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The thing is, no matter how I turn, she still manages to grab one.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Silly ears, hanging there where they are not suppose to.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But that was then.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">As I grow up, I managed to appreciate its use.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">My friends and I devised a clever way to keep us amused, By flicking each others ears whenever one loses out on a <em>jack-and-poy</em>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">My uncle, the carpenter uses them as a pencil holder.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And my friend uses it as a coin purse.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Some people use them to decorate themselves up.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Nice. Nice. Nice.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">As a teenager I started looking at ears differently.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Especially when a girl starts to brush aside her hair with her fingers to show her ear with one swift motion.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It’s really nice to watch.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Whoever invented that move was a real genius.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It’s a sure-fire attention getter.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And it’s very hard to explain why boys are somewhat magnetized by an ear.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">One of the great mysteries of life huh!</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Today I learned to live with my ears.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I made peace with them.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I have memorized all its alleys and curbs so it’s easier for me to clean them.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I now get angry with the barber when he handles my ears with hostility.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Not the other way around.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But the greatest discovery I made about my ears is it is directly linked to my lips.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">A girls whisper never fails to put a smile on my lips.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It doesn’t matter if she’s asking me to lend her some money, Or saying that my feet smell so bad.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The smile will always be there.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">In one of Shakespeare’s play, he made the ear famous.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It was Mark Anthony who blurted out one of the most famous lines in play history.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It was, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears….”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I bet you heard that before.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I told you it was famous.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The line wasn’t famous because of the “Friends” or “Romans” nor the “Countrymen”.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It was the “EAR” that gave the magical spark.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I bet you can’t remember the next line after that.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I also cannot.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It was as if the world stopped right after the “EARS”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It is a good word.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And a great chunk-of-meat.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">If I were Eric Clapton, I’d sing “Ears in Heaven”.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">:o)</p></div></div></span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-44954589389785184072011-07-07T21:28:00.000-07:002011-07-07T21:32:22.943-07:00Until We Meet Again Papa<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em>I posted this to my Friendster blog on July 15, 2007, a day after my Father passed away. </em><em>This has got to be the hardest blog/letter I've ever written. It took me several hours to finish because I couldn't contain my tears.</em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em><br /></em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em>He and mom lives in New York and I couldn't be there to attend the funeral. This letter ended up being read as his Eulogy. How I wish I was there to personally read it to him.</em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em><br /></em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I have always been what they call a “mama’s boy”.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I grew up with mom.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You were always away, working.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">That is why we rarely share a picture together.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">When I was young I was longing for a father figure.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I used to ask myself why aren’t’ you beside me?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Why do you have to go all the time?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Am I asking too much?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But then I came to realize that you were doing it for me, for mom and my sister.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">That I am so much luckier compared to what you have been through.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">So what I did was I tried to cherish every moment that we spent together.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And I listened intently to all your stories.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You introduced me to history. You made me like sports.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I remember one time; I asked you every part of a song called “we didn’t start the fire”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And you gave me all the right answers.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">From that moment on, you became my idol.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Not all people are as lucky as I am to have a father like you.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">We may not be together all the time but we can communicate.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">We laugh at the same joke; we feed each others sense of humor,</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">We even had secrets which we share together.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But what really amazes me is how you started everything.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">How you manage to put all the pieces together</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Like a jigsaw puzzle.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Considering all the things you’ve been through.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You started this journey alone.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Your father died before you could even speak.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Then grandma passed away before you met mom.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You were alone, young and totally on your own.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Most people would simply crumble in such situation.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Most men would easily choose to take the dark path.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Weak people would give up right there and then.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But not you, you were determined to make your life meaningful.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You started this family with practically nothing.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You wanted to become a father for me and my sister.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And for a guy who never felt a father’s embrace I must say you did a great job.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">In fact you set the standard so high I sometimes wonder if I could even come close.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Now, as you join our creator</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">We, your family, the family that you have started, will go on.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">We will miss you, for we love you so dearly.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But we will let you go, for we know that is what you want.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">We will continue with the journey you started.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">We will use the memories that you left us as a driving force.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Because you were the driving force of this family.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">A family that has become so loving and caring.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The Baton has officially been passed on to me.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Now let me finish my race and I pray that I will also have a good run.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Thank you PAPA for all the love, memories and strength.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Thank you for instilling in me the values which I now possess.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I will always be a “mama’s boy”</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But I will also be your MAN, Forever.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I will try my best to give back all the love that you gave me to my children.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">That way, your legacy will continue.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">This is not goodbye, not even a farewell.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You have just been elevated to the next level.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Take a bow, have a well deserved rest. My hats are off for you.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Until we meet again.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><img class="img" src="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/73082_1706564422178_1180054730_31947126_7966768_n.jpg" alt="" style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; max-width: 493px; " /></p></span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-50199771776401329472011-07-07T21:24:00.001-07:002011-07-07T21:27:14.689-07:00Peanuts<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em>I posted this to my Friendster blog on June 19, 2007</em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em><br /></em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">When was the last time you had peanuts?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">My mother used to say it is good for my memory.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I don’t believe her.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But I loved it.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Back in high school I used to munch a bunch of those.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I would normally skip an extra rice on lunch or a cold coca-cola just to save money for a tiny bag of peanuts come dismissal time.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">The peanut vendors are too smart to strategically position their carts where I would normally pass on my way home.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Never mind the pimple that keeps popping out, I love that stuff.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">By the time I finished savoring the contents of my tiny peanut bag, my index finger and my thumb nails are the cleanest part of my body.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Neat huh?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But I eat those not to enrich my reminiscing prowess but for the pure pleasure of munching it. Yummy.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Now why peanuts?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Because when you live thousands of miles away from your family you tend to think about peanuts.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You tend to rely on your memory.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You tend to remember every detail about your family.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Every birthday, every Christmas, every New Year’s Eve, and even those “araw ng kagitingan” days you spent with them.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">You try to reminisce every moment.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Memory becomes your greatest ally.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It is happening to me.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">And boy am I glad I was a big peanut fan.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">So it is true, mother knows best.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Hooray for Mom! Hooray for those vendors!</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Hooray for PEANUTS!</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Not only it is good for your memory, it improves your personal hygiene as well.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">:o)</p></span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-55979064979434676702011-07-07T20:51:00.002-07:002011-07-07T21:23:47.720-07:00My Better Half<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em>I posted this to my Friendster blog on July 16, 2007</em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><em><br /></em></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I’m not exactly what you call an Alpha Male.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I’m not even a Beta for crying out loud.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I have lots of flaws, I could counter Lindsey Lohan’s prickled face.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I mean, perfection is the farthest thing on GOD’s mind when he scribbled me.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I took some wrong turns and my wife knows that.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But she stayed beside me, she never walks away.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">She is always on my ear rather than in my face.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">She’s more like my class adviser rather than our school librarian.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">My wife knows my darkest side too.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Like how I press my toothpaste in the middle instead of working my way from the bottom.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Or how I always forget to put down the toilet seat cover after taking a pee.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">She’s also the only one on the planet who knows that Ben Wallace is whiter than my ass.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But through it all, she hangs on.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sometimes I wonder if I really deserve her.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Maybe I’m just a lucky guy.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Am I capable of giving back all her love?</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I also don’t know. Maybe one day I will ask her.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">What I do know is I am glad I am making this journey with her.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">For I don’t know how many rough roads I can endure without her.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">If I say she’s very supportive, that’s an understatement.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">So I guess on this day, Fathers day, I will reverse an old tradition.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Today, on our family, the father will give honor and thanks to the mother.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Because I believe that I am not a complete man without her.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I am not perfect but with her I feel that I am, and sometimes that is all what matters.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">I wanna say, thank you Yollie for staying on my passenger seat.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Thank you for being my BETTER HALF. I love you.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.5em; ">:o)</p></span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-66176442587716181222011-07-07T20:47:00.000-07:002012-09-21T21:54:17.662-07:00Winners, You and I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglTnPDCcUyo9xV6fvuS6KfD6bht__u5THbGhMqzU2kJSbvMZxwcibOyhcx-9bW0KTa2DoGwsBfuPIMlwJLv1paI-iy6IhmiREdVOSvsUC4HkspAsJYNv4KmsGUTNUUD0LKGH3_LysHKes/s1600/NewBorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglTnPDCcUyo9xV6fvuS6KfD6bht__u5THbGhMqzU2kJSbvMZxwcibOyhcx-9bW0KTa2DoGwsBfuPIMlwJLv1paI-iy6IhmiREdVOSvsUC4HkspAsJYNv4KmsGUTNUUD0LKGH3_LysHKes/s320/NewBorn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">I have been down before.<br />There were times when I felt I lost it all.<br />But did I crumble?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">No lah!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px;">I Fight back. I Pray. I Hang on,<br />and I reminisce. Yes reminisce.<br /><br />I try to remember the biggest win I ever had in my entire life.<br />A victory we all have achieved. A win so glorious it started the ball rolling.<br />Yes. We share the same experience.<br />No matter who you are, no matter where you are. We have done it.<br />Except maybe those ones who started it in a GLASS.<br /><br />Interested? Read on.<br /><br />Remember the time when you were in a dark room?<br />The room was so packed you can't hardly even move?<br />Where everyone else looks exactly like you?<br />Remember that? Think hard! It will come back.<br /><br />Then the room started jerking, slow at first.<br />Pretty soon the jerking was turned into shaking, you start to panic.<br />Then the fellow near the door shouted, “get ready fellas!”.<br />Suddenly, you along with millions of other sperm blasted to an equally dark room, but bigger this time.<br /><br />You started swimming, then you realized this is a RACE. But there are no signs which way to go.<br />Others opted the closer path behind you towards the light.<br />Only to see them disappear as they slide downwards.<br /><br />Without direction and totally on your own you won the race.<br />You managed to get inside that wonderful egg.<br />You beat million of other sperms.<br />And you are blessed with this thing we now call LIFE.<br /><br />You see, from the beginning life is a struggle, it’s a competition, it’s about survival.<br />It’s about being strong and trusting your instincts.<br />So when you’re down and out, just remember this story and fight on,<br />for we are all WINNERS, You and I.<br /><br />*<i>note : this is a revised version of the speech which I have delivered on my speech class during my college days, after the speech, Ms. Lopez, my newly grad teacher, single and with an angelic face never looked at me the same way again.<br /><br />Her eyes says it all… “Oh God, I have a maniac in class.”</i><br /><br />:o)</span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8632007434448082747.post-53033228562185257412011-07-07T20:46:00.000-07:002011-07-07T20:47:11.647-07:00Sensing the Non Sense<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 16px; ">not everything makes sense.<br /><br />just when you thought you have it all figured out.<br /><br />there are certain things that isn’t rational.<br /><br />not all Q’s has A’s.<br /><br />logic sometimes hangs around with ‘il’ and ‘al’.<br /><br />I used to think everything has a reason.<br /><br />i know why most people put their wristwatches on the left hand.<br /><br />i also know why the buttons on a girls clothing is on the left side.<br /><br />but this.<br /><br />as i was traversing the narrow path of endless boutique in plaza singapura, one item caught my attention.<br /><br />up to this minute, i cant figure out why. WHY?<br /><br />this is a dilemma.<br /><br />somebody must have the perfect answer.<br /><br />but then again, maybe nobody knows.<br /><br />maybe someone will pretend he knows.<br /><br />dont ask me. i dont have it.<br /><br />will the answer be logical? rational? sensible? reasonable?<br /><br />beats me. maybe. maybe not.<br /><br />can you explain to me why on earth? how on earth?<br /><br />this tiny piece of garment called ‘panties’ is more expensive than my levi’s 501 jeans?<br /><br />go figure.<br /><br />:o)</span>Erwinskofphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12268075991905508528noreply@blogger.com0