A Fleeting Thought Just Passed...

25 August 2007
Saturday

What is worse than hating a person...

... is hating a person that you once loved so much.

Welcome, Tyler!

4 August 2007
Saturday

What's it like to be a new uncle? Awesome!

My youngest brother is now a proud Pops. We will prolly see the little weasel this coming December. My old man insists that Tyler has got his patented "nguso" while Momsy says the little runt got her Japanese-looking eyes.

Oh, well, you know how grannies behave...

Cheers, bro! Another pototoy in the family. Hehehehehe...

Growing Old With Someone...

I Wanna Grow Old With You
Artist: Adam Sandler

I wanna make you smile,
Whenever you're sad.
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad.
All I wanna do,
Is grow old with you.

I'll get you medicine,
When your tummy aches.
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks.
Oh it could be so nice,
Growin' old with you.

I'll miss you, kiss you,
Give you my coat when you are cold.
Need you, feed you.
Even let you hold the remote control.
So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink.
Put you to bed when you've had too much to drink.
Oh I could be the man,
Who grows old with you.

I wanna grow old with you.

22 July 2007
Sunday

I just took Dad and Mom to the airport today. They are on their way to visit Lola as well as see the going ons at the farm. Remy has flown in from the US a few weeks ago to be with my brother Jay. It seems that they are getting ready to get married next year.

That brother of mine is one lucky bastard. You can see it in her eyes that Remy is very much in love with him.

I see Dad and Mom and I'd say Dad is one lucky bastard too. Of course, he'd also say that Mom is also lucky to have him.

True, but true. He has proven Lola Cion wrong. Lola Cion didn't like Dad for Mom at that time when my old man was courting Momsy back in U.P. at Area 11. This was some time in 1965, I think. After all has been said and done and more than 40 years later, Dad has shown everyone that he is indeed the right man for my Mom --- faults and all.

As I see my old folks together, I can't help but feel envious of the kind of relationship that they have all these years... Even after 40 years I can see how much these two people are so much devoted to each other. Dad wouldn't want to leave the house without Mom, and if has to go without her, he would always want that goodbye kiss before he leaves. If Mom has to go, he always asks her and even calls her to come home soon. They remind each other of their medicines --- Mom is diabetic and Dad is watching his blood pressure (He had a quadruple bypass two years ago.)

Mom would always take care of Dad the way a wife should. Dad does the same as any good husband should. Such devotion. Such passion. Such love. You rarely get to find this kind of relationship these days.

I have this feeling that should one of them meet The Maker, the other one would follow soon. Such is the bond my parents have together. They bring about the best in each other. They complement each other well too. This is very much manifested with the way they brought up 4 sons:

The discipline.

The round table talks.

The debates.

The triumphs.

The heartaches.

How I wished that I could have such a relationship. I wish Remy and Jay the best and hope that they too would have a lasting and meaningful marriage just like our parents.

I hope and pray that I would end up just like them too.

The Reason Behind the U.P. Swagger

19 July 2007
Thursday

It is not true that the University of the Philippines has the monopoly of bright and smart students. However, from what I gather from the Philippine social context when it comes to local education, U.P. is the bastion of smart local education. U.P. students and alumni are generally regarded as smart and intellectually gifted. You can't be a U.P. student if you're down there in the pecking order in terms of intellect.

Surely there are smart and intelligent students/alumni from other universities. Others would contest that it's not the school --- it's the person. Others too would even go further stating that they choose NOT to study in U.P. even if they passed the UPCAT.

And rightly so. I have met people from other schools and universities and they would strike me as people who may even be smarter than some people I know from the U.P.

The question is, why do these U.P. Maroons display this type of pride and swagger over other people from other local schools and universities?

My theory is this: True, Ateneo, DLSU, UST, UA&P and other prestigious unis would have their fair share of I.Q. wunderkinds, but what separates U.P. Maroons from the rest of this pack is THE EXPERIENCES these students had to deal with during their stay in college.

It is a given fact that U.P. students are intelligent. The question is, are you smart enough to graduate? The running joke in U.P. is that a normal U.P. student does not get to finish his/her course in four years --- it's the abnormal ones that do.

Not all intelligent students get to finish or graduate from U.P. It's the smart ones that do. I have known graduates from prestigious highschools who happen to be honor students who would get kicked out of U.P. But if you're intelligent and smart and still did not finish in U.P., there is what we call legitimate bad luck as well as circumstances beyond one's control. There are also personal decisions --- they chose to leave for reasons only privy to them.

You see, there are a lot of things that Maroons have to face in order to be able to wear The Sablay (when other uni grads wear the togas during their commencement exercises, UP graduating students wear this native-looking "sash" over their Barong Tagalogs or Filipiniana dresses). It takes savvy and smarts to come out alive from what we consider as a microcosm of Philippine society (actually I don't agree with this, because if this was true then why the blue blazes do I see a number of stupid people around?).

1. Registration: Unlike other schools and unis who would have their students' scheds and subjects handed on a silver platter, Maroons have to fight over tooth and nail in order to be able to get the subjects that they need to be taken in scheds that they want. You start with your blank Form 5-A and it's up to you to sign up for the subjects that you intend to take in that sem.

Here is where you test your social skills, networking skills, skills of persuasiveness, and all those "diskarte" skills and talents in order to be able to land that subject that you're aiming for. One also has to deal with signing up for subjects whose enrollment rooms are not just floors apart, but buildings apart! Imagine signing up for Math subjects at the Math building then go to the College of Science for Nat Sci and STS, the GYM for P.E. and your major subjects in your respective colleges. Even if you had a car, it's no walk in the park since you have to deal with looking for parking spaces first.

2. Spacing your subjects: In connection to point 1, the smart U.P. student would come up with the right combination of subjects. One does not finish all his easy G.E. (General Education, not Geodetic Engineering) subjects and electives and leave the tough ones and major subjects later on. That's suicide! Imagine taking the Math 50 series, the Physics 70 series, and higher Chem subjects all in one sem without any easy subjects as buffers in order to maintain the minimum number of units to pass in a semester.

3. The Sense of Freedom and Open Opportunities: Compared to other students from other unis, Maroons "are more free" to do anything that they want provided that they pass their exams and projects and that the professors wouldn't give a crap how many times you were "absent" from their classes. What this means is U.P. students are very much exposed to temptations and distractions given a great number of freedoms allotted to them: you may opt to just hang out with your buddies or fraternity brods in your respective tambayans; cut classes to get that quality time with your S.O. for a little nookie; or even have a few rounds of alcohol a few hours or minutes BEFORE exams. You won't be sanctioned if you show up in class or exam wastedly drunk or reeking of alcohol.

4. The Competition: Given the profile of a typical U.P. student, this means that you're not the only one who is smart and intelligent. You have to at least show that you deserve to be in this class, in this university.

5. Student Organizations, Fraternities, and Sororities: Need I say more? This is very much related to the aforementioned point no.3.

The name of the game is Survival of the Fittest.

Only the strongest (and smartest) survive.

And that, my friends, explain why U.P. Maroons have that swagger.

A Leap of Faith???

15 July 2007
Sunday

Had a long talk with Dad. Sounds like a plan, really.

Do I have a choice?

Of course I know I do. The thing is, do I have the proverbial balls and have that fortitude to stand up with the convictions that would go along such decision? I know I should. Dad didn't raise his sons to be sniveling wimps!

But man, it's so friggin difficult, and it would definitely hurt me big time. The problem with me is that I tend to be too idealistic when it comes to issues like this. I'm just blessed that I got very supportive parents. Makes me wonder how life would be without them.

I'm about to make up my mind and convince myself that this is the path I'm going to take.

Brace myself.

This is gonna hurt.

Migraine Attack.

I just had my first migraine attack in years. Started an hour ago. It's not as intense as I used to have but it is enough to make my right eyelid look a bit puffy.

Where's the naprosen when I needed one.

Damn Politics!

No matter how great your workplace is, stupid politics will always rear its ugly head and ruin everything.

Dagnabit.

No matter how much one tries to avoid it like the plague, it will always find its way to bite you where the sun doesn't shine. I love my co-workers to bits especially those whom I work with on a very regular basis. It just irritates me so much whenever I have to listen to, if not deal with, such political crap.

My immediate superior even commented that it is not enough that I just keep mum and not participate in such discussion. He said that I have the duty to tell them off that such gossip-mongering is unhealthy and has no place at work.

I admit he has a point. However, there are times too that such verbal tirade from co-workers are not meant as gossip since they are just venting out their angst without having to deliberately broadcasting it for maximum exposure.

Damn politics.

Friggin' crud.

The Bloomfields' Wala Nang Iba Music Video

I have got to hand it to these guys! Love the music, love the video! Wincy, my man, job well done!

Although the video reminds people of the Beatles when they performed at the Ed Sullivan show (tho there were no comments after their names like "sorry girls, he's taken..."), all one has to do is close one's eyes and you would hear the Beach Boys singing.

I just hope that these dudes won't allow themselves to be seen as Beatles or Beach Boys copycats. Their song and music video are really cute but I hope that they could still produce songs and sounds that people would easily identify as The Bloomfields'.

Hmmm... haven't you noticed that the bands mentioned all start with the letter "B"?

Coincidence perhaps?

Time Management

It seems to me that I should seriously beef up my self-discipline and actually apply what I have learned when it comes to time management.

All it takes is political will.

Enough of relying on plain winging out on things.

Dang.

Talking with Dad

It's always fun talking with Dad... when he is in a good listening mood. It's all the more fun when we talk about "men stuff."

The nice thing I like about my Dad is that I don't have much qualms relating to him my problems and anxieties, as well as the things that have been happening of late... even the intimate ones.

Mind, it was never like kiss and tell. If there is anyone I would want to relate whatever has been happening to me, that would be my Dad and my brother Allen.

With Dad, it isn't like those "Boy Talks" when friends talk about stuff with the intention to impress - or at least won't get behind of what the rest of the posse has been getting. On top of that, I don't have any fear of being judged by some self-righteous moral compass. I can be myself and Dad knows pretty well that I don't tell him things just to impress him or show off.

Of course, Dad is quite concerned of what's happening in my life. He is quite concerned about my future. He reminded me one day that I should be sure that the woman I'm spending the rest of my life should always be there for me till the end of days. Obviously, he has gotten a good catch --- my Mom is always my yardstick when it comes to the kind of women I would have wanted to have till the end.

My parents are so lucky to have each other. Through all their trials and tribulations, it makes no wonder why these two would be there for each other --- forever.

Finally, the template I have always wanted!

Yes! I finally got the template that fits me perfectly. I tried a couple of times to make it work and finally I got to fix the glitches as I found the right website.

Anyway...

Today was a loooong day at work. Funny how things seem not to get done despite the time allotted to you. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings... the problem now is how to get things done and have all our action plans consumated.

I had an interesting chat with this friend of mine as we were on our way to meet our other co-workers for our regular weekly badminton night. We were talking about his latest moves concerning this newbie co-worker.

As always, I have told him that such things are bad news considering his failed relationship with a co-worker not so long ago.

Some people just never learn.

If this plan of his comes into fruition and the girl finally becomes his... people will definitely be watching him. And if that relationship doesn't work --- man, his rep really goes down the drain and he would be seen as a pariah of sort --- especially for female noobs.

Totally unprepared.

It's really something when the past haunts you and you're still unprepared to deal with it.

Damn.

I just hate it when I'm not in control of things. I just hate it when I don't have any choices...

... actually, I do have choices... they're just, well... bad ones. More like out of the frying pan and into the freaking fire.

I always end up just reminiscing the good old days, and make it makes me wonder how life would be like if I just let it go back in '99. Would life be rosier? If anything, the presence of just this one person (B) whom I love to bits makes my sufferings --- both ambivalence and otherwise --- worthwhile.

I told Mom one day that I regretted what I did and it's only this person (B) that made me wish that somehow something good still came up. She scolded me. Boy, was I surprised! As much as Mom adores this person (B), she would have wished that my choices in life would have been better... even if it means that this person (B) will never be a part of our lives.

So sad. Damn. Tragic definitely, if I had the power to turn back the hands of time and I opted to leave this other person (A) but that would mean person B wouldn't be with us...

... I just can't have my cake and eat it too.

Giving blogging a (-nother) try...

Funny how most first-time posts of blog virgins would start their "blogging career." If you haven't figured that one out... then check a number of blogs and see what I mean. Hehehe...

Frankly, I wouldn't care any less if my first entry with be similar as those of the others. I actually started a blog of my own a few months back but somehow I have totally forgotten its name--- even that of my name-handle.

It just goes to show how ambivalent I am into this thing about blogging.

I guess there is this fear of expressing myself- no holds barred - and then for some reason, get busted by somehow who actually knows you.

Hmmm... I'm actually at work as I type this. I got project proposals to do, not to mention training designs and power point presentations as well as starting off documentation for my school's CIS accreditation thingy...

For fear of getting busted by people who shouldn't know. I will just leave it hanging when it comes to certain proper names.

Okay, enough of slacking, I have to get back to work.