Drawing Lines

Oishinbo!!!

2012-02-13T02:58:00.000-08:00

I got my hands on a volume of Oishinbo a la Carte by Tetsu Kariya and art by Akira Hanasaki, thanks to sopraninigabi, who lent it to me. Now I want to eat Japanese food in Japan. It doesn't help that my Ate went there last week and wouldn't let me stuff myself into her luggage.

Oishinbo is a Japanese manga about cooking and eating. The manga I borrowed is an English-translated compilation (like a "best of") printed by VIZ Media, and the volume is called, plainly enough, "Japanese Cuisine."

But the book is far from plain! It makes you appreciate the little details that go into the humdrum task of cooking ordinary food (for in Japan, the sashimi, the miso soup and the rice are all "ordinary" fare.)

Did you know that making sashimi is not merely a process of cutting fresh fish and serving it on a fancy plate? It requires long hours of practice with a knife to get the fish sliced while keeping it firm. And here I am just eating my sashimi without thinking about how hard the person who put it on my plate practiced just so I can get my fill!

In one chapter (or "course," as it is put in the manga), an artist called Miyasato invited the main characters Shiro, Yuko and Tomio (journalists) to a lunch at his place to settle the matter of a cover page illustration he had previously promised their newspaper. When they got there, they learned that the rival paper was also trying to get the same cover illustration for their Sunday edition. Miyasato said he could only choose one publication, so it all boiled down to who could judge best whether the cooking was good or bad (the connection being if they understood the food, then they would understand the art, too).

The men from the other paper flattered the artist, even if obviously the meal was plain home-fare, and nothing like what they serve at first-class restaurants. So Shiro took the honest route and said, "All the food we had today is home cooking. It's common, everyday food and there's nothing special about it."

Then he continues, "But it is a real gochiso. The word gochiso not only means 'feast,' but also 'to run' or 'rush.' The host rushes around to gather the ingredients, get them ready, and then cook the food. The vegetables and chicken were homegrown, and you must have sought out the halfbreak and quail yourself. Miyasato Sensei expended a lot of effort to treat us to this meal. The dishes we had are all common ones so that we'd easily be able to compare them with versions we've eaten before. For the wakame and green onion with miso, you pulled the onions out of your own vegetable patch, and you also used fresh wakame and homemade miso. And that's why it tasted so much better than usual. The care you've put into getting all these dishes ready is what made this a real gochiso."

"First course: The secret of dashi." Yamaoka Shiro demonstrates how to make kombu dashi. Kombu is a type of edible kelp. Dashi is a Japanese stock, used as basis for many dishes. (Read it from right to left.)

We can learn a lot from the Japanese in this way: if we put enough care into all our endeavors, we can make a gochiso of all the ordinary things we do--whether or not it involves cooking!

Fr. Brown

2012-02-07T22:59:00.000-08:00

I got a sampling of G.K. Chesterton's Fr. Brown mysteries from the little grey and white penguin editions of classic short stories, and I've got to admit I'm hooked!

The mysteries are interesting, the detective priest very clever, and of course, the writing is just beautiful! Before I get into fangirling mode, maybe I should just shut up and share one story, so you can see for yourself. The link below goes to The Blue Cross. Enjoy!

The Blue Cross by G.K. Chesterton

Exercise!

2012-02-07T01:11:00.000-08:00

My doctor told me to exercise, so I started walking in the morning. But that was not enough. I used to do yoga, but it burned a huge hole in my pocket, so I decided that getting fit need not be a financial burden. And now here I am doing Les Mills Body Vive, an exercise dance thing that came free with Nestle Fitnesse Cereal.

My friend lent her CD to me when I told her I needed to exercise. She said it was good because the exercises were doable, and more importantly, the instructors were dressed decently. The women were wearing jogging pants and shirts with sleeves--none of those midriff bearing little things--and the men were in t-shirts and pants. Of course, rubber shoes for all.

Looking good
What I notice about the fitness culture is how closely intertwined it is with looking good. Certainly, you work out because you want to look great--and you do, because it makes you healthy and strong. But the "looking good" I'm talking about now is that seeming need for us to "look good playing the game."

Want to be a cyclist? It's not anymore just a matter getting a bike and safety paraphernalia; somehow you are convinced that you need to wear sporty spandex and reflective goggle things. Jogging is not anymore merely putting on a pair of rubber shoes and hitting the pavement, suddenly you need state-of-the-art running shoes that help you burn more calories and some kind of state-of-the-art music player to keep you entertained (distracted?) while running. Yoga gives you a run for your money with yoga-bras, yoga-pants, or if you don't like pants, yoga-bikini bottoms. (I say, just wear leggings, a t-shirt that fits just right, and your normal underwear.)

Anyway, that just makes exercise a more expensive affair, when in fact exercise should be free and attainable by all. The best outfit for exercise is something that you can move in that's neither too tight nor too loose. If you want to look truly good, you have to make an effort to be decently dressed. Why? The most flattering effect of exercise is the glow on your face after a sprint... would anyone notice that if they're looking at your bare midriff or short shorts?

Pure love blog

2012-02-01T03:17:00.000-08:00

I’ve been thinking of concentrating on one “branch” of the pro-life cause for the past year already, and finally, a few months back, I started this new blog called Main Squeeze. It’s a blog for the youth, and it’s about pure love, chastity, and modesty in a world that says they don’t matter.

From my first post:

Pure love, or chastity, is needed so much nowadays, because many things in the mainstream media and the youth culture have made the impression that the opposites of chastity, purity and modesty are way cooler. This blog is not "free PR" for chastity. It's not here to sell the idea of chastity to unsuspecting youth. Instead, it is here to show that living the virtue is possible for anyone (singles, marrieds, and even those with a past)... and results in a person who is happy and free!
Hope you can visit!

Let's look at dresses

2012-01-25T19:42:00.000-08:00

Preparing for my friend's wedding, I had to look at a lot of pegs (hairstyles and dresses) and it's pretty tedious... especially when nothing seems to turn up that is close enough to what you're looking for. Now that I've a dress already, I think it's time to just relax and admire other people's dresses and how they wore them.

Nice detail on this one. Charlize Theron.

She looks so creamy but spunky. Emma Stone.

So elegant and sparkly! Evan Rachel Wood.

This is how you can wear regular sleeves at a formal event and still fit in: sequins and the right color. Kelly McDonald.

She looks so angelic hehe! Kirsten Dunst.

I like the color, and the dress looks so Greek. Laura Haddock.

Not too L but still elegant BD. The hair is so nice too. Shalaine Woodley.

This dress makes her look really tall. Zoe Saldana.

What do you look for in a dress?

Grace of the moment

2012-01-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

It's funny how a well-planned day falls apart with just one hitch: just last Monday, I had the whole day dedicated to writing, but I couldn't get to it because I had to coordinate with other people about something urgent. I didn't finish the story, so I ended up re-planning the week!

Admittedly, there's hardly a day when things don't go wrong, but I think, with those things that we can do something about, it's worth trying our best to do them at the right time.Some friends of mine use the phrase "grace of the moment" to describe that little instant of grace that everyone can catch simply by doing what they planned to do at the right time; like getting up at 6am, or timing your preparations so that you leave the house on time, or even a setting a regular 15 minutes of your day for the Rosary.

It may seem a little thing, but even many little things make up a big thing! If there are activities within the day that you keep regularly (such as the ones mentioned above), then no matter how many distractions and hitches happen, somehow there will be something to use as a guide, to remind one to stop for a while and figure out the difference between what's urgent and what's important. Orderliness is a virtue, too. It's not about being OC! A person who is orderly ends up accomplishing more at the end of the week.

Now, it's time to plan for next week!

Convenience vs credit

2012-01-18T02:13:00.000-08:00

You don't feel it, but credit cards are hungry little monsters that can eat all the bills in your wallet. How? When you let the lines blur between smart shopping and impulse buying, you make yourself vulnerable to financial disaster (ok, too much utang at least).

Credit cards are credit cards for a reason: they allow consumers to spend more than what they have on hand. Smart credit shopping differs from impulse buying in this way: a smart shopper uses the credit card for convenience, not credit.

For example, you get a phone bill, an electric bill, and a water bill every month. Instead of going to three different places, you can enroll them in your credit card and have them all in one paper. (Better pay off the whole amount in one go to avoid huge interests!) That's convenience.

Some comments on "convenience":

Convenience is not finding a dress on sale and swiping the card because you don't have enough cash on hand.
Convenience is not using your credit card to pay for your birthday blowout just because it's such a troublesome task to list down what you need and create a budget.

When you spend like this and find that you can't pay them off in one go, you'll see that you're actually spending more on credit card interest than you are receiving interest on your savings account. If you continue to plod on this way, don't be surprised when the cash you've worked hard for simply dwindles down to zero! Not fair, but that's life.

Smart shopping is about spending within your means, so don't fall into the credit card trap of thinking that a credit line increases your spending capacity. Remember, you can only spend as much as you earn, and you can only save as much as you keep.

Happy saving!

Cheer for 2012

2012-01-08T18:25:00.000-08:00

Wow, is it 2012 already?

Whatever your plans for the year ahead, it's always good to start with cheerfulness. It's one surefire way of transforming the world around you. Imagine if all your colleagues were glum--wouldn't you be glum at the office too? And what kind work would you have done?

Of course, there are times when being cheerful is extra hard. When it's raining and you have to commute; if somebody is angry with you; when things don't turn out like you planned. Times like these, cheerfulness counts even more--because where is the challenge in being cheerful only during the good times?

When you make mistakes, laugh it off--and then learn from them. When friends leave you out, shrug it off--and invite them to do something else with you. When you feel you haven't accomplished enough last year, then make a concrete resolution to do something this year--and do it well.

You just can't be glum when you know that all you have to do to please God is say "Yes, I'll do it!"--look at what happened when Mary said, "Be it done unto me according to Your word."

That said...
Why should getting up early in the morning be difficult?
Why should smiling at somebody annoying be difficult?
Why should getting your work done (and done well) by 5pm be difficult?
Why should giving up Saturday mornings be difficult?
...why should anything be difficult?

The Christmas season ends today--but not the joy! Have a happy, energetic, and awesome new year everyone! ^_^

Tis the season...

2011-12-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

Image from the National Museums Liverpool Blog

...for Christmas shopping? Sure, but, in times like these, it's easy to forget that it is the thought of giving and not the price of the gift that counts!

Budget-friendly tips for the season:
1. Set aside an amount to SAVE before beginning to shop. Remember, Expenses = INCOME - Savings!
2. Now that you have a budget, stick to it. Don't worry that the receiver will scoff at the price (should it be obvious). It's a gift, and gifts are always welcome!
3. Hold on to that credit card. As much as possible, don't swipe. You don't want to start the new year with a big credit card bill. Either pay in cash or debit, or buy that special person something more affordable but still nice and useful.
4. Personalize your gifts! Add a handwritten card with a dedication longer than "Merry Christmas" and you're sure to enhance the receiver's "gift opening experience," no matter how simple the actual gift is. It just makes people feel more special!
5. Remember that you don't have to give everyone a gift. It might sound cruel and selfish, but it really isn't if you think about it. The gift-giving tradition is a means for us to thank family and friends for making the year wonderful. If you can't give a gift, thank the person in a different way: do a favor, share something you have received (like a box of brownies), or write a helpful note or an email.
6. Forget yourself. There's enough time in a year to shop for yourself. Besides, January is sale month (hint).

This season, don't let the lights, the special offers, and the shopping high mar the true meaning of Christmas. Take some time each day away from the noise and the parties to contemplate the Baby in the manger. When all this is through, you'll see that what matters most is preparing the heart--and you'll be glad you didn't spend too much on the frivolous!

Some things to ponder on

2011-12-02T18:49:00.000-08:00

Friendship!

2011-11-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

If you’ve read the first Harry Potter book (okay, it should be in the movie too), you might remember that scene at the end in which Dumbledore grants Ron and Hermione 50 house points each and Harry 60 house points for doing their heroic deeds. Then after that, he gives 10 points to someone who had nothing to do with the night’s adventures: Neville.

Neville had no hand in the Quirrell quest, but Dumbledore knew he had enough punch in him to merit those 10 points: “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.”

While it’s true that being a true friend means standing up for one’s pal no matter what, there will come occasions in which the person is meant to stand up against his friend—because if he really loved his buddy, he’d only want the best for him!

And this is what I liked the most in the movie There Be Dragons, directed by Roland Joffe. A story about friendship, the movie follows the lives of Josemaría Escriva (played by Charlie Cox) and his friend Manolo (Wes Bentley), as they separated ways during the Spanish civil war. While Manolo is fictional, Josemaría is not, and everything the character does in the movie is based on the latter’s idea of finding holiness in the ordinary things.

The movie is meaty in many aspects, but I’ll talk about just one scene: Josemaría visits Manolo at his house after Manolo’s father dies. They have a bit of an argument, but before Josemaría takes his leave, he hands his friend a rosary. You learn later on that Manolo can talk to his son about the priest’s life because Josemaría never ceased to write him, even after their last meeting.

(I’m gonna stop right here because if I don’t, I will end up spoiling it for those who haven’t watched.)

And this is what friendship is about. You see, sometimes, being a true friend means disagreeing with one’s friends, and when things go bad, it also means never giving up on them. It’s all right to be disappointed with a friend’s choices, but a true friend separates the choice from the person: while he knows the choice is wrong and speaks up against it, he understands that his friend is someone who needs more love than ever! Thus the persistence; and thus, the harsh words (when necessary!)—but always powered by love.

If you have a friend whom you know is making not-so-wise choices, treat him or her with love. Meet up for coffee, have a chat, always be available. And in a very natural way, remind him of the good options he can make. And never cease to pray for him!

PLUG: Watch There Be Dragons starting November 9 in local cinemas: SM Megamall, SM North, SM Southmall, Trimoma, Glorietta 4, Festival Mall. :-)

Patience

2011-10-19T01:04:00.000-07:00

Long lines can get the better of even the most well-dressed ladies sometimes. Here's something I saw on TV as I waited in line this morning at the US Embassy. I already saw it before, but it's nice to be reminded!

I just love how the man holds it in and says "Hi" back. :-)

Doldrums

2011-10-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

dol-drums. n. a state of inactivity or stagnation.

Right now, I am reading The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster which I borrowed from my book club friend Judie. Such a funny book... I can't believe I've never come across it before. Ah, the indignation hehe.

Here's an interesting conversation in it that I want to talk about:

"Well, if you can't laugh or think, what can you do?" asked Milo.

"Anything as long as it's nothing, and everything as long as it isn't anything," explained another [doldrum]. "There's lots to do; we have a very busy schedule--"

"At 8 o'clock we get up and we spend

"From 8 to 9 daydreaming.

"From 9 to 9:30 we take our early midmorning nap.

"From 9:30 to 10:30 we dawdle and delay.

"From 10:30 to 11:30 we take our late early morning nap.

"From 11:30 to 12:00 we bide our time and then eat lunch.

"From 1:00 to 2:00 we linger and loiter.

"From 2:00 to 2:30 we take our early afternoon nap.

"From 2:30 to 3:30 we put off for tomorrow what we could have done today.

"From 3:30 to 4:00 we take our early late afternoon nap.

"From 4:00 to 5:00 we loaf and lounge until dinner.

"From 6:00 to 7:00 we dillydally.

"From 7:00 to 8:00 we take our early evening nap, and then for an hour before we go to bed at 9:00 we waste time.

"As you can see, that leaves almost no time for brooding, lagging, plodding, or procrastinating, and if we stop to think or laugh, we'd never get nothing done."

Those are the Doldrums talking to Milo, the book's protagonist. It got me thinking about how it's so easy to waste time and still think you're so busy. (Of course, the doldrums here really aimed to get nothing done, but that's beside the point.) It happens when a person tries to go about the day without any particular plan in mind; instead of accomplishing things, one ends up with a list of half-done tasks (half-baked ideas?).

Distractions are a fact of life, and in the workplace, you can have more than a fair share. But the trick to accomplishing much is not to get rid of the distractions (because that's impossible), but to learn to prioritize. It's probably common sense, but here it goes: understand first which tasks are urgent, which are important, and which are both, and schedule your day accordingly. Master a good work ethic, and you'll bump into the doldrums less and less--or not at all!

Have a fruitful week, everyone!

Getting revved up for 'the daily grind'

2011-10-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

It's Monday! First day of the week--shouldn't we all be up and about first thing in the morning? With energy! gumption! pizzaz! POWER!

Not all Mondays are so powered up. Actually, most Mondays are sluggish--people call the condition "Monday blues," which I presume gives rise to concepts like "weekend hangover" and cartoon characters like the Sourpuss in Patrick McDonnell's Mutts Comics.

But just because Mondays get bad rap from other people doesn't mean you should treat your Mondays the same way! Start the week right; get up on time and put on a smile--and this small thing determines the success of the week ahead. Here are things I find helpful in getting good work done during those first hours of the work week:

Make a routine and stick to it. You know how some cars won't start and run well without a warm up? It's the same with people. So make a routine that acts as a warm up for you. Here's what I do: a) Do something to look fresh and awake--put on makeup! b) Clean the office desk by clearing away the things you don't need and wiping dust off computer. c) Make a to-do list and promise to accomplish everything in it that very day.
No to "Just 5 minutes"! Sometimes, we feel we need a break. Maybe just a few games of Angry Birds, or 5 minutes on Facebook. Just posting one little thing on Twitter. But those five minutes can easily turn to 20 or 30! Next time you get the urge for a 5-minute break, do something that ends naturally like getting a drink of water, eating a banana, or picking out some easy thing to do from your to-do list (like calling somebody to set a meeting?) and accomplishing it first just to break the monotony. If you do this, you can be sure the "just 5 minutes" will really be just 5 minutes--and you can finish more things.
Watch the clock. Counting the minutes may be a bad habit, especially if you're just waiting till the go-home bell rings and you're off the hook trying to look busy. But if you really make yourself busy, if you really set yourself to finish the tasks for the day, you'll need to watch the clock differently! Try to accomplish your list before 5pm or 5:30pm (or whatever time you're supposed to be finished) so that the few minutes you have left before the bell rings can be used to plan ahead.
Don't forget to pray! Without this, your work will just be that: work. But if you pray and offer all the work you do for the people you love, then the work becomes something special. Plus, if you keep this in mind, you then won't be able to bear leaving that work poorly accomplished--after all, you don't give gifts that are second-rate! :-)

Happy Monday!

Bag hag

2011-09-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

My weekends lately have been filled with painting, painting and more painting! My mom and her friends put up a small business selling bags made from newspapers. Their name is CCLTJ Recycled Crafts (which means Cora, Cora, Ledy, Tessie, Julie). They are friends from way back in their school days. One day, two of them enrolled in a bag-making class. Then someone had a bright idea. They got the other friends on board and took a day to teach other women to weave. Now, our house is full of newspapers scattered everywhere. hehe!!

Here are some of their products:

Different weaving patterns, bag shapes, and painted designs! That brown one is my mom's "famous" Cat-Owl.

The black one on the left and the half colored one on the right are painted by my mom (one of the Coras), while the red one with the tiny hearts is painted by my artist ate, Tasha.

I made that chick one and the funny one with the "B" looking thing. That's a puncher, if you're wondering. The dog was painted by someone else. These are the cuter ones.

If you have any interesting ideas for a bag design, you can let me know! But be sure to ORDER something, too! :p I made one with a life-affirming slogan before but I don't have the picture with me right now. So, maybe in another post... Ciao!

Can I just say I love Pope Benedict XVI???

2011-08-23T01:30:00.000-07:00

I was not there, but the World Youth Day in Madrid this year has strengthened my hope in the world. Two million young people, went off to Spain to... listen to an octogenarian? Believe it.

Here are excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI's WYD 2011 Message:

'In every period of history, including our own, many young people experience a deep desire for personal relationships marked by truth and solidarity. Many of them yearn to build authentic friendships, to know true love, to start a family that will remain united, to achieve personal fulfillment and real security, all of which are the guarantee of a serene and happy future. In thinking of my own youth, I realize that stability and security are not the questions that most occupy the minds of young people. True enough, it is important to have a job and thus to have firm ground beneath our feet, yet the years of our youth are also a time when we are seeking to get the most out of life. When I think back on that time, I remember above all that we were not willing to settle for a conventional middle-class life. We wanted something great, something new. We wanted to discover life itself, in all its grandeur and beauty. Naturally, part of that was due to the times we lived in. During the Nazi dictatorship and the war, we were, so to speak, "hemmed in" by the dominant power structure. So we wanted to break out into the open, to experience the whole range of human possibilities. I think that, to some extent, this urge to break out of the ordinary is present in every generation. Part of being young is desiring something beyond everyday life and a secure job, a yearning for something really truly greater. Is this simply an empty dream that fades away as we become older? No! Men and women were created for something great, for infinity. Nothing else will ever be enough. Saint Augustine was right when he said "our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you". The desire for a more meaningful life is a sign that God created us and that we bear his "imprint". God is life, and that is why every creature reaches out towards life. Because human beings are made in the image of God, we do this in a unique and special way. We reach out for love, joy and peace. So we can see how absurd it is to think that we can truly live by removing God from the picture! God is the source of life. To set God aside is to separate ourselves from that source and, inevitably, to deprive ourselves of fulfilment and joy: "without the Creator, the creature fades into nothingness" (Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, 36). In some parts of the world, particularly in the West, today's culture tends to exclude God, and to consider faith a purely private issue with no relevance for the life of society. Even though the set of values underpinning society comes from the Gospel - values like the sense of the dignity of the person, of solidarity, of work and of the family -, we see a certain "eclipse of God" taking place, a kind of amnesia which, albeit not an outright rejection of Christianity, is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity.

'For this reason, dear friends, I encourage you to strengthen your faith in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the future of society and of the Church! As the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians of Colossae, it is vital to have roots, a solid foundation! This is particularly true today. Many people have no stable points of reference on which to build their lives, and so they end up deeply insecure. There is a growing mentality of relativism, which holds that everything is equally valid, that truth and absolute points of reference do not exist. But this way of thinking does not lead to true freedom, but rather to instability, confusion and blind conformity to the fads of the moment. As young people, you are entitled to receive from previous generations solid points of reference to help you to make choices and on which to build your lives: like a young plant which needs solid support until it can sink deep roots and become a sturdy tree capable of bearing fruit...'

(Emphasis is mine. Read the whole thing here.)

Today, I notice so much anti-Catholicism. Media reporters quite easily quote a bishop on some issue and voila--you have an instant the-Church-is-ever-so-strict-and-unfair impression. There are people who proudly announce that they "think for themselves," as if having guidance from our teachers and our elders is something wrong and shameful; as if they need no guidance at all. A culture of accepting just any kind of opposition as "the smart thing to do" has worked into us Filipinos so deeply that the only political parties we have now are "Administration" and "Opposition."

Aren't people getting tired of all this aimless opposing and and all that feeling intellectually superior? They glorify the "freedom to do anything I want," but what is freedom without truth, respect, guidance and love?

The World Youth Day has strengthened my resolve to be a witness to a better way of living--the way that is firmly planted in Christ. Just a while ago, a friend told me she was called a "Christian writer" by one of her interviewees who read a piece she wrote--and she said she was "kilig to the bones"! I thought, what a compliment! Perhaps it's the best compliment a person striving to live the life of Christ could ever receive. :-)

Lastly, here's another thought I want to share which I read from Mercatornet, "7 Reasons for good cheer after Madrid" written by Michael Cook:

'The biggest stories are the hidden stories. Benedict XVI knows this. As he told journalists, “God's sowing is always silent; it does not appear in the statistics, and the seed that the Lord sows with World Youth Day is like the seed of which the Gospel speaks: part falls on the road and is lost; part falls on stone and is lost; part falls on thorns and is lost; but a part falls on good earth and gives much fruit.”

'Unnoticed by the media, 2 million young people have embarked upon a journey which will lead many of them to infuse their home countries with their deeply held Christian beliefs. Slowly the world is going to change. Thirty years from now, the media is going to have one hell of a surprise.'

---

Don't you see? We're the youth that will change this world!

Hello, Tintin

2011-08-06T01:45:00.000-07:00

I will watch this movie.

It being Tintin trumps it looking like The Polar Express. I hope it's good.

I promise to make a meatier post next time. Meantime, here's Rupert Grint showing what 'love your enemy' means.

Solving Population?

2011-07-24T01:33:00.000-07:00

I borrowed R's January 2011 issue of the National Geographic because the cover page is attention grabbing, not for its photo (which is the common assumption) but for the cover blurb. "Population 7 Billion: How your world will change." At first glance, the magazine screams, "Doomsday alert! Control the population or die." When you read what's inside, however, it's another story.

The article, penned by Robert Kunzig, points out that while the number is alarming, the fertility decline poses greater effects than the population itself:

The end of a baby boom can have two big economic effects on a country. The first is the “demographic dividend”—a blissful few decades when the boomers swell the labor force and the number of young and old dependents is relatively small, and there is thus a lot of money for other things. Then the second effect kicks in: The boomers start to retire. What had been considered the enduring demographic order is revealed to be a party that has to end. The sharpening American debate over Social Security and last year’s strikes in France over increasing the retirement age are responses to a problem that exists throughout the developed world: how to support an aging population. “In 2050 will there be enough people working to pay for pensions?” asks Frans Willekens, director of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute in The Hague. “The answer is no.” (p.48)

It's a population implosion, not explosion, and it's happening in most developed countries in the world. Imagine, China's fertility rate went from 6 kids per woman in 1965 to a low of 1.5 per woman today. True, the Chinese people still make up a fifth of the world population, but has anyone paused to consider that their land is equally large too?

But let's forget the numbers--I bet this has been discussed over and over already. Truth is, it isn't the issue on implosion vs explosion that bothers me. It's the attitude most people have over the idea of accommodating more people in the planet that I find disturbing.

Kunzig writes that in India, people have been, for 60 years now, battling with overpopulation. Their weapon? Sterilizations. Can you tell me what's wrong with this picture?

The Indian government tried once before to push vasectomies, in the 1970s, when anxiety about the population bomb was at its height. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay used state-of-emergency powers to force a dramatic increase in sterilizations. From 1976 to 1977 the number of operations tripled, to more than eight million. Over six million of those were vasectomies. Family planning workers were pressured to meet quotas; in a few states, sterilization became a condition for receiving new housing or other government benefits. In some cases the police simply rounded up poor people and hauled them to sterilization camps. (p.60)

In their fear of a number, I think many people forget that the number is made up of people like themselves. You don't round up and haul your fellow men or give them incentives to let you mutilate them (and pretend it's for their health when it's really just for your fear of a number). People deserve to be educated to be independent and productive citizens. I think much of the government money would be put in better use if it is invested in the field of training workers, educating kids and producing better livelihood than it would ever be in vasectomy/tubal ligation factories. Let's not forget the dignity of the individual person--just think: what if it was you?

Almas Ali of the Population Foundation says it better: “The goal should be to make the villages livable.... Whenever we talk of population in India, even today, what comes to our mind is the increasing numbers. And the numbers are looked at with fright. This phobia has penetrated the mind-set so much that all the focus is on reducing the number. The focus on people has been pushed to the background.” (p.61)

I bring up this point because the same fear seems to be creeping into our own shores. You read it in the papers, you see it on TV, you hear it over the radio. Have you heard that radio spiel from the Popcom in which a kid complains, "Ano? Mag-aaral ako pagkatapos pa ni Ate, ni Kuya at ni Junior? 'Nay naman!"

First of all, I agree that we should raise families with prudence; however, when, despite all efforts (even with artificial contraception, conception can happen), a baby is given, is it even logical NOT to try to earn more money to send all the kids to school? It's a misplaced kind of prudence at best; it's just a lazy attitude that is not heroic at all--giving only the minimum you have to give, and taking the easiest solution to a problem, never minding if it isn't the right solution.

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We Filipinos have our hearts in the right place TODAY. Let's not allow any of that Western fear creep into them. Tomorrow I'll be at the State of the Soul of the Nation Address, dedicated to commemorating the 43rd Anniversary of the Humanae Vitae. It's also going to be an interfaith event, with people of other religions doing worship services nearby before marching in solidarity with other pro-lifers to Club Filipino. Catholic Mass will be at Sanctuario de San Jose Parish, Greenhills, at 9am.

Hope to see you there!

Money money money

2011-07-17T00:11:00.000-07:00

Do you have a credit card? I do. I got one in the mail and activated it because I needed a laptop. And, because of a series of silly mistakes on my part, I ended up paying for the laptop in cash, which spared me from living with the knowledge that my first credit card bill amounted to almost 20k pesos. (To set the record straight, my first credit card bill amounted to a big bold zero because I was too shy to swipe. Mabait pa ako nyan. hehe!)

I got lucky last Friday when I stayed on to hear Sha Nacino's two cents on credit cards (in particular) and financial freedom (in general). Sha is a yuppie like me, but she knows more about these things, not only because she works in a bank and finished BS Business Economics in UP, but also (and more so) because, in her own words, she has "made a lot of mistakes." In the talk she gave her insights on assets, wealth, and of course, saving.

Here, some points that I found very helpful (which I hope you'll find very helpful too!):

Live within your means. Ok, ok, this may seem a bit obvious, but let me explain. If you have a credit card, technically you aren't living within your means. A credit card is meant to bridge that gap between expenses and income, especially when the former exceeds the latter. This is not to say that credit cards are bad... it's how you use them that makes them either bad or good. Remember that the percent interest the bank collects from your unpaid balance is much more than it gives your savings account. Zero out the balance in your credit bill as often as possible.
Wants and needs? Know which ones are good purchases. I'm not gonna say don't buy the wants, because I can't do that either. But here's something to help you decide whether it's a good buy or not: According to Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad, an asset is anything that puts money in your pocket, while a liability is anything that takes money out of your pocket. Before you make a lifestyle-changing purchase (a car? a huge LCD TV? enrolling in a class? the newest gadget in the market?), think about how it will help you grow as a person (grow in skill/knowledge, hone a talent, instill virtues, bring you a step closer to your dreams) and how much you will spend on it (in terms of time, too, not just money)--and ask yourself: is it worth it?
Develop a habit of saving. Sha points out that as your income grows, so do your expenses. Hence, it's not how much you earn, but how much you keep. This is why saving is so important. If you have a hard time saving, maybe you're using the wrong formula: Income - Expenses = Savings. Use this instead: Income - SAVINGS = Expenses. Set aside a certain amount every month that you absolutely will not touch on pain of [horrible punishment here]. Put it in a savings account so it's not handy when you want something. If you have enough money to set aside that you won't miss in a while, how about considering a time deposit? The interest is larger, and you really won't be able to touch that monies! (There's also the option of the stocks and mutual funds, but those are for people who understand the risks and know how to "play the game." If you're a beginner, take small steps first.)

Did you see that movie Confessions of a Shopaholic? While I wouldn't call my appreciation for shopping an addiction like Becky Bloomwood's, I learned something from the Girl in the Green Scarf: while making the credit card hard to reach (literally freezing it in a block of ice, for instance) will stop you from buying things on impulse, it is not the same as self-mastery.

Because it's sale season I am tempted to buy something for myself every time I wait around in the mall. I know I'm on my "lean months," so I really should think twice before I buy anything impulsively, whether it's on sale or not. Remember that scene in Confessions where Becky enters a sample sale even when she knew very well she didn't have the money to pay off her debts? She tells herself: "These cashmere gloves I need as it is winter and I have... hands." Don't make excuses or superficial reasons for buying something. Excuses only weaken your resolve to do anything, and you lose control again.

I think financial freedom goes hand in hand with self-mastery. That and the virtue of poverty. Now, how on earth did poverty become a virtue? Poverty here means you are not attached to material things, and you are not impressed by the glitter of a name or the cost of a piece of merchandise. You know what you need and want (and have placed these in a proper priority list), and you see how you can make the best use of the things you can afford. Only in living the virtue of poverty can a person see the real worth of things.

Happy saving!

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Photos are stills from the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic, starring Isla Fisher.

Don't be ignorant!

2011-07-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

"Ignorance is boring," so says a National Geographic shirt. A few months ago, I wrote a piece on why the RH bill is not good for Filipinos, and since that article came out already in The You, Inc. Chronicles, a newsletter for women young professionals, I can now share it here.

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When ignorance becomes deadly

Ever heard of the term “reproductive rights”? It sounds very nice, doesn’t it? In fact, it is a very nice concept, on the condition that by “nice” you mean “foolish” as the word meant in Old English.

Why is that? “Reproductive rights” basically points to the right to do anything with one’s fertility and body because it is one’s own. A woman with reproductive rights can kill her unborn child without being called a murderer. A husband with reproductive rights can get a vasectomy without informing his wife. A teenager with reproductive rights can have an IUD inserted without telling her parents. The big deal is, it’s their body; let them do with it as they please.

The Reproductive Health Bill, now known as the “Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2011,” stems from this concept of reproductive rights. Don’t be fooled by the “Responsible Parenthood” in the title; if anything, this bill promotes irresponsible parenthood. Why?

1. It encourages married couples to forget how their body works and just use the contraceptives the government will give for free. “Modern” (read: artificial) family planning methods are to be considered “essential medicines” (Sec. 10) bought using taxpayer’s money, which will amount to about 3 billion pesos. Besides that, the bill provides a plan to integrate an artificial family planning component in the government’s “anti-poverty programs” (Sec. 12), so, after our country spends 3B, we can be sure we’ll have fewer folks under the poverty line. (How do you lessen poverty? The RH bill answer is: Cut down on poor people!)

2. It takes away the parent’s responsibility to teach their children about love, sex and marriage. Mandatory sex education programs (Sec. 16) as dictated by the government will be implemented in schools. If you disagree with any of the lessons in it, you cannot bring your children to another school because all schools will use the same government-issued sex ed manual. What could these lessons be? One list provided in the sex ed manual clumps “Relihiyon” and “Pakikialam ng Pamilya” under one heading: List of obstacles to rights.

3. It insists upon an ideal family size. The bill esteems two children to be the ideal family size. This number is “neither mandatory nor compulsory,” which makes one wonder what it’s doing in Sec. 20 in the first place.

Not only parents, but every citizen will be affected by the RH bill. Besides the fact that your income tax goes to condoms no one will put to good use, you (Sec. 28):

1. Shall be forced to provide access to the full range of reproductive health care services to your employees, if you are an employer. Never mind if you don’t believe in the use of artificial contraceptives (condoms, injectables, IUDs, patches, emergency contraception, etc.), or the need for surgical sterilization when there are better alternatives. What’s more, legislators are saying the bill is anti-abortion, but the term “reproductive health,” as feminist and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defines it, “includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion.” If this bill gets passed, what’s to stop pro-abortion groups from getting “safe” abortion included in the law? After all, it is part of reproductive healthcare. Employers then will not only be providing rubber balloons, but will also be participating in the murder of innocent people.

2. Shall not be allowed to refuse a patient his reproductive healthcare services on account of religion, if you are a healthcare service provider. If a kid asks you for a gun, you don’t refer him to someone else if you don’t believe that guns are the solution. But this bill will make you refer someone to another healthcare service provider if you don’t provide reproductive healthcare. Whatever happened to helping people find better alternatives? Any healthcare service provider will know of more health-friendly and environment-friendly alternatives to stroke-inducing, breast cancer-causing, ecosystem-disrupting oral contraceptive pills.

3. Shall not be allowed to criticize the bill. It says “malicious disinformation” but that can easily mean “anything that rubs the bill the wrong way.” Whoever heard of getting jailed for protesting to something written on a piece of paper?

There are people who may say that the RH bill has some good provisions like maternity and good pre-natal care. Those provisions deserve to be in a bill of their own, not lumped together with provisions on birth control, which is—to say the least—ironic. How can a piece of legislation focus on providing good maternal healthcare when it’s already so bent on not having to handle cases of pregnancy in the first place?

Going back to reproductive rights—while rights are good and wonderful, they go hand in hand with responsibility. That means our freedom to do what we want with our fertility and body ends where the rights of others begin. What’s wrong with the so-called reproductive rights is it oversteps a child’s right to be born, a parent’s right to educate and guide the children, and a husband’s right to know about (and be involved in) his wife’s fertility concerns, and vice versa. What’s wrong with this particular RH bill, in addition to those three already mentioned, is that it also oversteps every citizen’s freedom to practice his religion, to speak up against something he believes is wrong, and to choose without having to hear all that hogwash about the convenience of contraceptives and the need for instant self-gratification.

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Photos of the UP Against RH silent protest courtesy of Sunnyday. Isn't it nice to see the youth (even just a few of them!) standing up for the truth? :-)

True freedom

2011-07-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

Image from i write to believe.

"Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought."-Blessed John Paul II

Imagination

2011-06-23T01:49:00.000-07:00

I've written a lot of articles about imagination, particularly those that go "encourage your child's imagination because...." But today, I'm going to play a different tune.

Our imagination is a rich source of ideas. For writers, it's a well of stories; for artists, inspiration. "Let your imagination run wild" is a common advice given to people suffering a creative block of a sort, and sure, there's really no harm in that! It can even be fun!

But letting the imagination run wild can have its bad consequences too; it's one way to completely lose your cool or change the way you see things without the benefit of verification. The imagination-run-wild can turn into poison, a potent mix that corrupts the mind and the heart!

No one wants to be poisoned. Be wise and consider all points, hear truths from the source, and never assume anything but the good in people. Here are five thoughts to be wary of and to avoid indulging at the expense of your serenity and peace of mind:

Ideas that scare you. Fears make us worry to no end! What can you do about it? Somebody once said that worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair; you move so much but get nowhere. If something scares you (ex. what your boss will say about the big mess you made, or a pain in your arm that won't go away), do something to take that fear away (like go to the doctor) and then occupy yourself with something totally unrelated. You can only do so much; let others help!
Ideas that make you hate/distrust somebody. So you think this friend hates you because you are KJ or something. It's easy to imagine what people think--but remember that putting words in other people's mouth does not equate to their actually thinking or saying it. Give people a break and assume the best in them.
Ideas that are tinged with envy. It may seem harmless, "I wish I had her car," but more often than not, daydreams that begin this way can corrupt you little by little, and before you realize it, you're wishing "I hope she hits her car on a pole." Scary!
Ideas that make you feel uncomfortable. If you've read not-so-decent books or seen not-so-decent movies, sometimes you find yourself imagining not-so-decent situations! Saying "Gross!" works, as an initial reaction. Then get rid of all those media that trash your sensibilities and waste your time. You need to help yourself build self-mastery; having these things around will only weaken any resolve you've made.
Ideas that discourage you from doing the good. Fears again, but a different kind--these fears prevent you from doing the wise/good/just thing. For example, you catch a friend cheating at a test; find that the restaurant you ate in charged you too little; or put off paying the debt you owe. Sometimes, your imagination creates excuses that "justify" your inaction. Don't listen to it! Do the right thing, no matter how scary, and you'll see that you have the strength when you need it.

Good luck!

How to be serene

2011-06-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

A few tempers have exploded during my treks going home last week, and these tempers from ladies, no less. I suppose we can excuse them; it is the end of the day, we all just want to go home, and why do people keep pushing anyway?

This is why I thought I should come up with a serenity list. Who knows? maybe one of these days I could be the one screaming obscenities while breathing down on somebody's neck for lack of wiggle room (literally and/or figuratively). An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

1. Stick to the truth. Whether you're talking about someone you know or explaining your own actions, it's always the best to stick to the truth. For one, it prevents you from having to make up one lie after another (because liars learn that they need to make up more lies to cover up their first), and if there's one thing that robs a person of serenity, it's over-thinking the useless things.

2. Think before you speak. This prevents you from getting stuck in the "lie trap" in the first place. If what you're about to say is not the truth because the truth sounds too boring/horrible/atrocious, just remember that anything you blurt out without prudence (without thinking of the consequences) comes out much worse in the end. And the lie trap snaps.

3. Understand where others are coming from. Sometimes, it's not all about you. Somebody loses his temper, or blames your for something, or picks a fight. Before you stress over that, just remember that if you've done everything honestly, properly and well, then you shouldn't worry! Just let the hothead cool off; and don't hit back. Your energy is better spent in productive work. Most of all, remember that you're called to love, esp. those who are most difficult to love.

4. Smile. And freshen up that tired face. Wear a nice shirt. While it's true that serenity comes from within, that's no reason to cultivate a chaotic appearance without. When you look good, you feel better, you treat others better, and you make more people serene, too--which is the ultimate effect of serenity.

5. Remember: It's not all up to you. A lot of us lose our cool when we think everything is up to us. What do you expect? We're only human, and huge responsibilities are daunting. But if you keep in mind that nothing is "all up to you" then you can rest better and worry less (besides, what does worry accomplish?). Your energy, your health, your reason, your resources... aren't they all gifts with which we can get up in the morning and achieve our goals? These things would not be ours to use if they weren't given; they're all up to Someone to give us. So take a few moments each day to thank Him for letting you do what you do. That's the surest way of gaining (and fortifying) serenity.

Rainy day etiquette

2011-06-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

It's the season of commuting in the rain again! Get those rain-sturdy shoes out and practice those opening-and-closing-the-stubborn-foldable-umbrella skills, which come especially handy in boarding public vehicles driven by people who expect you to hop in and out Hollywood Action Movie style (albeit sans the background explosions).

While commuting to and from work in the rain gives everyone an excuse to just "get going already" and not care so much about how you get to point B from point A, I'd say it's possible to still be a lady in the worst kind of weather. No, I don't mean we have to be "maarte" or hold our umbrellas with our pinky finger sticking out; I mean that manners are called for in any situation as a sign of sensitivity to the needs of others.

An umbrella, for instance, is one of the most cumbersome contraptions ever invented by man. It helps us get somewhere without getting our head wet (yes, just "head") while constantly threatening to hit somebody in the eye. We all need an umbrella in the rain. We all have the right to use one, but along with that right, we have a responsibility to use it properly. For example, you don't hog the entire sidewalk with the bulk of your umbrella, and you don't walk with one without watching out for the heads (eyes, ears, noses, shoulders) of your co-pedestrians.

Here, some reminders about rainy day etiquette for commuters/pedestrians:

What do you do when there is heavy 2-way foot traffic in the sidewalk while it's raining? Watch out for the heads and umbrellas of other people! To make things easy, make height your rule of thumb: if the person you are coming towards is shorter than you, raise your umbrella. If taller, lower yours.

What do you do when you're walking out of a building or shelter and into the rain? Let the people ahead of you open their umbrella and walk out first before you open yours and follow. It may seem like this takes longer, but if everyone had the patience to wait the few seconds it takes to do this, walking around becomes more efficient, if not more pleasant. It's also a good way to avoid leaving umbrella prints on the clothes of the person directly ahead, who, just like you, prefers to be dry, too.

What do you do when you board a runaway bus with a wet umbrella? While most conductors like to scream that you should step in first before closing that umbrella, there is no way to do that without getting pulled back out (by the open umbrella) and losing your balance just because bus drivers don't like brakes. No need to risk your life. The trick is to loosen the tautness of the umbrella first while keeping it over your head, then step in the bus, quickly closing the umbrella all the way, and hold on tight to stay balanced, keeping the wet umbrella close to the floor. This way, you don't drip all over the laps of the seated passengers, and if you accidentally wet someone's toes, at least it's the feet, which, in this weather, are probably wet already. If you have a plastic bag, put the wet umbrella in it, to help keep the bus as puddle-free as possible. If you don't, keep the umbrella between your feet when you're seated already so that it doesn't soak other people's pants.

How about a jeep? Because you enter a jeep head-first, you'll have to close the umbrella before boarding. Practice closing the foldable umbrella swiftly so you can close-and-board in one swoosh. (Watch out where you swoosh the umbrella though, someone might be standing close behind you.) Then, keep the umbrella down as you make your way to your seat. Again, a plastic bag to put it in comes in handy.

What do you do when you open the umbrella and find out it's snagged? Close it again, don't step out in the rain, but get out of the way of the foot traffic. Fix the snag first before lining up in the traffic again like a good citizen.

Pedestrians hate rainy days, but just because we don't like it doesn't mean we should go through our commuting route with a frown and ready to elbow everybody. Instead, we can offer up the difficulties for the people we love, and be thankful for the small mercies: that there's a home to get to (with soap and water!), that at least the sun is not too hot, and (if it's in your route) that the MRT platform has a roof. Can you just imagine what would happen if the yet-to-be-discovered football stars that appear at the MRT during rush hour were armed with wet umbrellas?

Yet still more discussions...

2011-05-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

The Philippine Daily Inquirer last Thursday came out with a front page story that detailed the life of a poor woman and her husband struggling to raise their eight children in poverty. I'm not linking the article here because I believe it's one of the worst the Inquirer has ever done, and it puts their motto, "balance news..." in jeopardy. I didn't take up journalism but I recognize a title seeping in bias when I read one. And on the front page with a miserable photo, too.

The reason I brought this up is that it was the core of a discussion my mother and I had that day; she thinking that in cases such as those, the RH bill should be beneficial, and I--very inarticulately--insisting that that woman does not need a freebie ligation but help in the form of better livelihood and education. I learned one thing from Mama that day, too; I learned that for some people, the RH measure is acceptable because it is hard to believe that the poor will ever change.

One of the things we can easily forget is that a person is a person no matter how much he makes, where he lives, how many limbs he's got, or in what stage of life he is. He has a heart, he has a mind, and if you're Christian, you know he is a child of God, therefore that he possesses the same dignity as any of the "better" folks out there.

No one, not even a poor person struggling to raise eight children, deserves to be neutered/spayed, because that is only done to cats and dogs. You do that to cats and dogs because if you don't they just multiply and get galis and spread diseases. People are not like that. People are better than that. We people can be taught, and we have a will, and besides, all of us at some point in our genealogy, were once dirt poor, too.

RH is not a solution to help people in poverty. It is a license to solve poverty by eliminating the poor. Not convinced?

FVR: “I think the philosophy of RH bill is that we must learn to produce quality people in this world instead of producing people who only end up as, say, beggars on the streets, scavengers, or sellers of cheap or prohibited items. This, I think, is the real valid argument in favor of the RH bill.” (May 18, 2011, PDI)

Makes you wonder what "quality people" are.

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BTW, my mom is neither for nor against the bill. And I love her! She is made of win.

Don't forget about love

2011-05-15T17:40:00.000-07:00

I felt dismayed last Sunday when I learned from sunnyday that Angsioco was encouraging pro-RH Catholics to go to mass wearing purple (good thing I wasn't in purple) and walk out if the priest mentions the RH bill. It's so sad! Whatever happened to sincerely fulfilling the Sunday obligation? How can you honestly receive Jesus (who loves you so much!) in the Eucharist when you go out there in hopes that the priest voices out something you disagree with... and then proudly step out if he does? Put yourself in Christ's shoes. Imagine you're celebrating your birthday and some people attend just so they can readily walk out when they catch you (or someone who vouches for you) saying something they disagree with. Hindi ba masakit?

Amidst all these RH debates (which I have become rather sick of to be honest) people are forgetting that we are all called to love. If you disagree with a friend about this issue, love him or her all the more. It's just an issue, but your friend is a soul. What's to stop you from trying to share with that friend the beautiful things you've learned? And, in turn, listen to that friend--if you both sincerely look for the Truth, it will make itself plain soon enough.

Have a love-filled week!

From The Well and the Shallows

2011-04-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

I love reading G.K. Chesterton. It is common knowledge that he is witty and has a great command of language. But more than those, I admire him for his understanding--his writing is steeped in a deep understanding of what it truly means to be a human being, a child of God, and how to live in a world where people would have you believe otherwise. I want to understand as he does. (And I wish I can write so beautifully, too.) He is a genius.

I'm re-posting an excerpt from an essay of his, which I have already posted way back in 2008. I think that we should constantly (and objectively) seek the Truth, especially now, when the media culture makes pollution/noise just as accessible as the brain/heart food we really need. In the excerpt below, GKC talks about why he despises birth control, and mindset that goes with it:

"...But there is a third reason for my contempt, much deeper and therefore more difficult to express; in which is rooted all my reasons for being anything I am or attempt to be; and above all, for being a Distributist. Perhaps the nearest to a description of it is to say this: that my contempt boils over into bad behaviour when I hear the common suggestion that a birth is avoided because people want to be 'free' to go to the cinema or buy a gramophone or a loud-speaker. What makes me want to walk over such people like doormats is that they use the word 'free.' By every act of that sort they chain themselves to the most servile and mechanical system yet tolerated by men. The cinema is a machine for unrolling certain regular patterns called pictures; expressing the most vulgar millionaires' notion of the taste of the most vulgar millions. The gramophone is a machine for recording such tunes as certain shops and other organisations choose to sell. The wireless is better; but even that is marked by the modern mark of all three; the impotence of the receptive party. The amateur cannot challenge the actor; the householder will find it vain to go and shout into the gramophone; the mob cannot pelt the modern speaker, especially when he is a loud-speaker. It is all a central mechanism giving out to men exactly what their masters think they should have.

"Now a child is the very sign and sacrament of personal freedom. He is a fresh free will added to the wills of the world; he is something that his parents have freely chosen to produce and which they freely agree to protect. They can feel that any amusement he gives (which is often considerable) really comes from him and from them and from nobody else. He has been born without the intervention of any master or lord. He is a creation and a contribution; he is their own creative contribution to creation. He is also a much more beautiful, wonderful, amusing and astonishing thing than any of the stale stories or jingling jazz tunes turned out by the machines. When men no longer feel that he is so, they have lost the appreciation of primary things, and therefore all sense of proportion about the world. People who prefer the mechanical pleasures, to such a miracle, are jaded and enslaved. They are preferring the very dregs of life to the first fountains of life. They are preferring the last, crooked, indirect, borrowed, repeated and exhausted things of our dying Capitalist civilisation, to the reality which is the only rejuvenation of all civilisation. It is they who are hugging the chains of their old slavery; it is the child who is ready for the new world."

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Ang ganda, 'no? Before I hibernate again to continue writing my assignments, here's a quote from GKC that perhaps we should take up as a challenge.... Let's prove it untrue! :-)

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."

'Hindi umaayaw'

2011-04-22T18:50:00.000-07:00

If you listen to AM radio, you must've already heard the advertisement for vitamins that uses the title of this post as a tagline, and you know that their image model is no other than Robin Padilla. The whole point of the ad is to say that Robin can do all that he does (and even be locked up in jail) because he never backs out, or if you take the tagline literally, he doesn't say no. And he doesn't have to say no to anything because his vitamins give him the energy to do it all! Hooray!

I get the point of not wanting to back out of anything--especially when it comes to work. The ad is talking to people in blue collar jobs and appealing to their yearning to easily put in more hours at work so they can have more income to bring home. In that case, not backing out is a good thing.

I brought this up because I want to focus on something quite the opposite, which is being able to say No. It's ridiculous to go, I never say No. Sure, that's obvious when it comes to things that can get you in trouble, land you in jail, etc., however, there are also other less obvious things that merit saying no to; and because we are thinking people, we should know when these occasions are.

Have you ever heard anyone say: "You can afford it, why not?" or "It's your right to do what you want," and other phrases of the same line of thought? In this get-everything-you-want-NOW kind of world, that seems to be the dominant philosophy. Dominant, though, doesn't necessarily equate to "good for you," and no matter how much of a right you have to drown yourself in junk food, junk media, or junk philosophies, you realize sooner or later that you are not happy drowning in the same after a while. All this yes-ing can get tiring; worse, you come out of it not learning anything at all.

That's one of the things I find wanting in a contraceptive mindset. It's all yes-ing without stopping to think about what's good for anybody, let alone what's good for the self. People can go on harping about their rights as if there's such a thing as rights without responsibility, but it doesn't change the fact that each one of us needs to learn to say No, too.

I find it puzzling how some people applaud the Japanese for their great self-mastery and selflessness, and then trumpet their support for some bill that teaches the Filipinos to throw to the winds those very same virtues. My think: why is self-mastery considered noble when you're in a crisis of Ondoy proportions, but not very valuable in the bedroom?

It's the same virtue: if you can say No in the privacy of your home--say No to lazing around, say No to your vices (you know what those are), say No to putting off spring cleaning to another day, say No to comforts (chocolate?) once in a while--then you will be able to say No when you step outside: hold back that rage when an impudent taxi driver cuts you on the road, avoid succumbing to a BIG SALE that you don't need to be in, call a rain check when your friends are not being prudent about their time and yours....

You may be thinking: how KJ naman to have to say No to so many things! But keep in mind that every No to one thing is a Yes to something else, and something better for that matter. You say No to laziness, you say Yes to accomplishing things. A No to one more bar of chocolate is a Yes to good health, and perhaps to sharing that extra bar with someone else, too. No to the BIG SALE means Yes to saving up for a style piece that you'll get more wear out of later on.

And of course, every well-thought-out No is a brick in that house called character, which constantly needs fortifying, given the fickleness of our "open-minded" world. You gotta learn to say No conscientiously. You gotta think well and hard before you give your Yes to anything. That's good character. That's self-mastery.

...besides, whoever takes "hindi umaayaw" as a compliment better brush up on colloquial Filipino--isn't that the description right next to "Utu-uto"?

Words for the ladies, a tipsheet

2011-04-13T04:25:00.000-07:00

I learned a new word the other week: Loquacious. It sounds attractive, even smart, but it really isn't a compliment, if ever you were described that way.

Loquacity means talking too much--not in the sense that you're talkative (because there are really those people with the gift of gab), but in the sense that you're talking without thinking about the implications of your words. Who cares how you come across, or whether what you said was a little exaggerated, or on whose reputation you sling the mud. You just gab away, and enjoy the attention!

How does a lady avoid the trap of loquacity? (I find that amusing--"trap of loquacity" haha!). Here, five tips.

1. Learn to hold that tongue. Think before you speak. Sure, if you've the gift of holding interesting conversations, it can be hard sometimes, and then there's the fear that you may end up looking like you don't have any ideas to share. But, a lady who doesn't think before she speaks can easily end up saying something offensive or untrue.

2. If something really needs to be said, correct don't criticize. And give it in private. Don't say, "You're wrong!" but kindly suggest a way for your friend to do things better. For example, a friend is having a bad hair day (month, year?). You don't say, "Mahangin ba sa labas?" or "Ang pangit ng buhok mo," instead invite her to the salon or suggest a good haircut that you think will look good on her.

3. Think of how you will feel if something you said about someone is said about you, too. We ladies love talking about other people, but a little restraint sets apart the ladies from the mere females. Always be kind when talking about people you know, and when something negative is mentioned about them, take it with a grain of salt. You don't have to believe it, unless there is hard proof that it's true. Even then, you must be kind to that person!

4. Assume the good in everyone. It is every lady's duty to assume the good in other people, because it is everyone's right to claim a good name and reputation. (And of course, you want others to be careful with your good name too!)

5. Always speak the truth! When you're in the middle of telling a really good story, it's probably tempting to add little details that would enhance the story, but make it a little untrue. While it may seem harmless, or may actually be harmless, you're teaching your mouth to be careless. Who knows what worse exaggerations (or would you console yourself calling it half truths?) you'll be capable of if you keep that up? Remember, big lies come from many little ones. Practice makes perfect--haha!

----

"Those who think it is permissible to tell white lies soon grow color-blind." -Austin O'Malley

Letter to my blog

2011-04-09T03:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Blog,

I'm sorry I haven't been writing. I have been missing weekends lately, something seems to be eating them. And I have been getting sick, and whenever I would sit in front of my computer it would only be to finish writing something else.

Rest assured that I do have many plans for you, and I have some post ideas in store (which just need to be disentangled somewhere in brain-land), and many pictures to share (if I finally have the time to transfer them to my computer). I just want to say that very soon, I will be churning out more great, wonderful, super-duper (?!) insights for the world to consume at their own leisure.

And this be very very soon.

Love,
Nicole

Bitten by the love bug?

2011-02-05T06:11:00.000-08:00

It's February! And how lucky! Jason Evert is coming to Manila! Yipee! I want to attend the talk on Feb 27, 1pm in SMX Convention Center--it's fifty pesos! So do come and attend if you have the time. Lots to learn about love! BTW, the event is called: Real Love Revolution 2011, Romance without Regret.

If you aren't familiar with Jason Evert, watch this video. I like how he starts with "Men need to be challenged to be gentlemen." Enjoy! :D

Rules of the road--for pedestrians

2011-01-27T04:03:00.000-08:00

Sure you know stop, look and listen. But these days you have to be extra careful because even cars don't follow rules of the road. In The Great Gatsby, one of the minor characters (Jordan) says she hates people who drive carelessly, but is not a careful driver herself. (Actually if you take to heart the "lessons" from Fitzgerald's novel, you'll probably go about believing the world is full of bad drivers, which may actually be a life-saving assumption, but it isn't very charitable, is it?)

So, here are some of the extra things that methinks should be added to Pedestrian Road Safety 101:

1. Wait a second or two after the light changes before crossing the street (this, of course, after stop look and listen). I was crossing the street a few weeks back when a taxi ran the red light. If I wasn't alert enough, or if I crossed the street too quickly, it could've made roadkill of me! And this was in Batangas Street, not a highway.
2. Earphones and the streets do not jibe. You need to hear everything. (For the record, I don't commute with earphones, but I see a lot of "plugged" people get honked at. And once I saw a runner wired to his iPod sprint across the street without even looking if there's a car coming!) I know earphones are probably there to help you beat the boredom, but they're so good at making you forget where you are.
3. Wear white or bright colors. At sea, people need to wear brights so if they accidentally fall overboard, they will be easier to spot and rescue. On the road, people in white or bright colors are easier to see as they cross the street.
4. Look at signal lights of cars. They're there to let other motorists know if and where they're turning; it's good for you, as a pedestrian, to make sure you can already cross safely. Some traffic lights don't apply to cars turning left or right at intersections.
5. If there is an overpass or underpass, take it, no matter how "out of the way" it is. That's why they are there. And the same rule applies when it comes to pedestrian lanes. The point is, you have to cross where motorists expect you to cross. You have to be predictable!

Lastly, as in the photo above, remember that only the Beatles could cross the street without having to keep these pedestrian road safety rules in mind. If you aren't one of them, better to simply stay alert!

Let there be...

2011-01-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

I want to see this movie! It's set in the Spanish Civil War, and the lead is a Spanish soldier, Manolo, who falls in love with a Hungarian revolutionary, Ildiko, who loves this militia leader, Oriol... (Oh hey, isn't Oriol that guy from 300? haha!)

Okay, I really want to see this because it gives a peep into the early life of St. Josemaria Escriva, who, in the story, happens to be the friend of this said Spanish soldier. The genre is historical fiction, and Writing Class will tell you that historical fiction is based on real events or real people but the specific scenes, some characters, their words and actions are mostly imagined to make a story fit for a novel or a movie.

Despite its being fiction, the film seems to keep the soul of St. Josemaria's character intact, as well as that of the war itself. I hope they show it here!

The director, Roland Joffe, an English movie director, shares how he started working on the film in the movie's production blog:

“When I was first approached about doing a film about Josemaria Escriva I had, to be honest, grave doubts whether I was up for it in terms of my knowledge of religion. Religion is an immensely rich and extraordinary experience. I considered for quite a long time about whether I could bring something new to that experience, but I thought that probably I couldn’t. Then I had dinner with one of the producers, who gave me a DVD of Josemaria. Later that night, I sat down to compose a letter of, ‘thanks so much, it’s been very nice meeting you and I really admire what you want to do, but I don’t think it’s for me.’

"Instead, I put the DVD in and Josemaria was on it talking to a group of people in Chile or maybe Argentina. They were in a big tent of people, all these rapt faces looking at him. I saw a very likeable man, a man just like you and me, someone you might sit next to on a bus. Obviously a man who loved people—he had a real warmth that caught my eye. Then a young girl in the back of the audience put her hand up and said. ‘Excuse me father, but I have a question.’ He says, ‘Yes, what’s your question?’ She says, ‘Well, I would like to convert.’ Josemaria smiles and says, ‘Well of course. Please do.’ And she said, ‘The problem is, my parents are Jewish and they would be very upset.’ And Josemaria, said, without a pause. ‘The love of my life is Jewish.’ Then he said, ‘Oh, my dear, my dear, honoring your parents is very important to the Lord. He doesn’t want you to do anything that would upset your parents. If he is in your heart, he is in your heart. Welcome him there. And pray that one day they will support you in your desire.’

"I thought, ‘Actually, this is wonderful. This has got such respect and such love, for her parents, and for her and for her experience.’ I was so struck by it that I paused in writing my letter and thought, ‘I wouldn’t mind seeing that in a film.’ So I sat down and I wrote a scene where an older man who worked for Josemaria’s father is dying and Josemaria comes to him as a priest. He discovers on the death bed that this man is actually Jewish as he expresses doubts about his faith. It is a very, very touching moment. And they pray together.

"After I wrote the scene, I knew I had to write the rest! Now I was curious--how did the man get to that position and what did it mean? Particularly, I began to think about the period, when Spain was falling apart. This was their civil war. When you think about it, the only war America has known on its own territory is what? The Civil War! And, though it happened a hundred odd years ago, it is still etched, fixed in the American mind. Ask any American about it and they will have images of it, because it was so destructive. And that happened in Spain; in fact it happened in Spain over a number of years. The war created such a rich background for the story. Then I really wanted to write it and thought, ‘You know I could have a go at this!’”

-----

Teehee! I always like reading about how people eventually change heart. :-)

Banish the sedentary lifestyle!

2010-12-29T20:12:00.001-08:00

You know how some jokes are framed this way: "You're so fat..." or "You're so skinny..." and finished off with something so impossible that it becomes funny? These are known as "insult jokes" because they are, well, insults that are meant to be jokes. Here are a few:

You're so skinny, you can hoolahoop with a cheerio.
You're so skinny, when you turn sideways you disappear.

(I will only post the skinny ones because I'm skinny, and no one will take it as an insult.)

I'm not encouraging you to insult someone in the New Year. Something just occurred to me as I was going to bed the other night: while being skinny or fat can be the object of insults, it's unfair to criticize someone for being so, after all, a lot of us can't help being our size--that's just in the genes. But to be sedentary, to sit all day writing, working, calling people on the phone, watching TV--that's something that can be helped. If you're stuck in a sedentary lifestyle, that's because of your own doing (i.e. YOUR FAULT).

Now why am I saying this? It's New Year's Day tomorrow! A lot of people will promise to go on a diet or lose so and so pounds. My resolution is to get moving. I'm a writer and part-time assistant; I'm paid to sit in front of the computer all day, as are so many other people. I think I can get moving by taking more MRT, bus and jeepney rides instead of the taxi (plus it will be good to my wallet and immunity), doing some stretching for 15 mins a day, lessening the sitting-in-coffee-shops when I'm out with my friends, and keeping to my sleep and wake up time (believe me, starting the day without having to bargain for "ten more minutes of sleep" can really get one going).

I'm not feeling very well today--I caught another virus maybe from my sister, who had a sore throat, or from the viral/bacterial ecology from the vicinity of the new commuting route I've been taking this week. But I'm still gonna do my best to start the year with a lot of energy. Here, a few sedentary insult jokes that I made, not to insult, but to help us get going! (And perhaps laughing, too!)

You're so sedentary, you pull a muscle when you yawn.
You're so sedentary, the couch has a dent in the shape of your whole body.
You're so sedentary, your office chair has done more rolling than you walking.
You're so sedentary, your cat thinks you've topped him in the nap department.

Happy New Year!

Heroic Minutes

2010-12-20T17:49:00.000-08:00

It's almost Christmas, hurray! I've caught up on sleep, which I've been missing in the past week due to a mixture of get-togethers, deadlines and Simbang Gabi. Super-tiring days like these give us more opportunities to be heroes, but we have to be open to the little details to be able to seize them! The title of this post is nothing I invented but something I learned and am trying to keep doing, especially this Christmas.

What's a heroic minute? You know how days are made up of hours, and hours of minutes? Each minute counts to complete a day; so, in living everyday to the fullest, every minute counts. A heroic minute is the moment one seizes, no matter how difficult, and offers up for others in prayer. Just as a minute is a detail of an hour, heroic minutes are found the little details of the daily routine: waking up on time (versus pressing the snooze button for 5 more minutes), doing tasks on the dot when it seems that 2 minutes of Facebook will do no harm, smiling when you feel like grumbling, or eating the fish on the table when all you really want is chicken.

(In this photo of the Holy Family's flight to Egypt, I think Our Blessed Mother seized all of the heroic minutes thrown her way... perhaps it was only a few weeks after She became a Mother that they had to hastily pack their bags and take that long journey to Egypt. Imagine riding that donkey through the desert with a Baby who needs to be fed and changed every two hours... and St. Joseph, too, lived by his heroic minutes, leading that donkey carefully, perhaps budgeting the money he had, and eating less so Mary could have more sustenance....)

You cannot take these tiny opportunities for granted when you know how many people you can help by simply going about your day with a supernatural outlook, good work, and lot and lots of love! These minutes are little flowers that, when put together in one bundle, can become a beautiful bouquet; a wonderful present for the Holy Family on Christmas Day.

So, what are you waiting for? I hope this Christmas becomes a most meaningful one for everyone! Merry Christmas!

'Ignorance is boring'

2010-11-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

Girl Reading by Charles Edward Perugini

The title of this post is a T-shirt design slogan for one of the National Geographic Tees that local clothing brand Regatta is selling. Recently, the slogan has come to mean a new thing thanks to my friend Sunnyday, who says that we must really study and understand issues so that we can make sound conclusions. With these, we can help other people by explaining the issue well to help them understand too.

Regarding the big issue surrounding Pope Benedict XVI's comments on condoms in Peter Seewald's now (in)famous book Light of the World, it pays to know the whole story. What local media--slamming us with headlines like "Pope: Condom Use OK in AIDS Fight" or "Condom Use Acceptable in Certain Cases-Pope"--did was make noise over a portion of a quote taken out context and package it as The Greatest and Latest Church Teaching Ever.

For a clear analysis of what the Pope really said, go to Jimmy Akin's site. But here I'll aslo try to explain with my limited theological knowledge. Wehehe!

Yesterday, I was at a media forum listening to Fr. Joel Jason, a moral theologian in the San Carlos Seminary, explain that bit on condoms being the "first step to moralization." According to Fr. Jason, what the Holy Father meant by that was a consciousness and a concern on the part of the male prostitute (in his example) to wish that no harm comes to other people by his doing his "job." A male prostitute who is concerned about not infecting others with AIDS (and uses a condom to achieve it) is possibly taking the first step of assuming responsibility.

Fr. Jason continues: "With this first step, [Pope Benedict means that] hopefully, [this grain of responsibility] matures and grows into the other direction--that of the humanization of sexuality." The last means that sexuality is regarded as a positive, wholesome, and procreative gift to be shared in marriage--and not a drug that you can get high with just because "you have the right."

To this, Archbishop-Emeritus Oscar Cruz (who was also speaking at the forum) adds: "Ang karapatan at obligasyon, magkasama yan. Kapag condom ang pinag-uusapan, palagi na lang 'karapatan, karapatan!' Kinalimutan ang obligasyon." ("Rights and obligation go together. When it comes to condoms, all they shout for is 'rights, rights!' They've forgotten the obligation.")

Besides, why work harder on the aspect of showering the whole country with condoms when it's so obvious that condom use does not eliminate AIDS? Because if it's really, truly, infallibly potent at getting rid of AIDS, why is it that condom promotion comes hand in hand with rising HIV/AIDS cases?

Barya barya

2010-11-18T19:48:00.000-08:00

(Image for illustration purposes only. Peace!)

Have you ever been asked for change in a huge commercial establishment, the type that you generally should not expect to ask you for "barya" because of their apparent money magnanimity? This is one thing I find very amusing and frustrating at the same time--frustrating because you're checking out your purchases already and are forced suddenly to dig in your purse for an errant 25 centavos, and amusing because it happens so often you can guess that the lady at the cashier would ask it... it's just the matter of her phrasing that you have to get right in your head.

Speaking of phrasing, there's a different tact that some cashier personnel have come to use: instead of asking for exact payments, they ask if it's okay with you if you receive insufficient change! Why, imagine how much money that would sum up to if everyone who bought something received 25 centavos less or a peso less in their due change!

I'm really in need of a little more spunk in this aspect, so I'm quite thankful this particular tactic hasn't been tried on me yet. But should it happen to you, here are two comebacks you may want to use, courtesy of my sister Isis, who has encountered such impudence more than once already:

Cashier: "Ma'am kulang lang po ng 25 centavos." (While handing over the insufficient change.)
You: "Tatanggapin mo ba ang bayad ko kung kulang?"

Or

Cashier: "Ma'am okay lang po ba kung kulang?"
You: "Ok kung sobra."

Say it lightly and don't pick a fight! Most of the time, cashier personnel do this because they're ~~too lazy to look for change~~ not very well-prepared and feel that looking around will hold up the line. This is a chance for you to help them do better in their job, so they can be more prudent and helpful next time. Don't forget to say thank you when you get the right change!

Do the math, listen to the heart

2010-11-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry, guys, I have been a delinquent blogger. Has it been a month already!? No fear, I'm getting back on track... lots of interesting stuff at work ;-)

Last Tuesday I attended the CBCP-CMN Tuesday Breakfast Forum in Ilustrado Restaurant, Intramuros, and Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez was there to talk about the issue on the value of human life, which the RH bill is bent on putting down. This congressman really talks sense into the whole matter--and from an economic point of view too.

What he explained was: let's say a Pill costs 10 pesos, and that at present there are 10 million women of reproductive age.

10 x 10,000,000 = 100,000,000

And there are 365 days a year.

100,000,000 x 365 = 36,500,000,000

That's right, folks! 36.5B a year on the Pill alone! How many schools will that put up? How many workers can that train to be competent in their jobs? How many... well you can figure it out.

The comment I appreciated the most from Rep. Golez had nothing to do with math, budget or economics, though... it's the comment he said as a father. In the forum, he pointed out that it has become "normal" (or worse, "safe") nowadays to bring a condom to a gimik, just "for goodtime." But he adds:

"Paano kung yung daughter mo ang mag-goodtime?"

Bam! Paano nga ba?

I don't have a daughter, but as a daughter myself, I can imagine the adamant NO coming out of my parents' lips. It's not just about getting pregnant (which the condom "fixes") that I think bothers parents when their kids, specifically daughters, um, run rampant, but rather it's the respect she loses, the values she throws out, and the reputation she builds, and ultimately the person she becomes, that make Mom and Dad--especially Dad--become protective.

Call me conservative or old-fashioned, but I think I'm not alone in the belief that there's nothing unjust in the fact that women give birth and men don't. Give it up already. Women can't be men and men can't be women.

What is it that "feminists" are so envious of men about? The fact that they can sleep around? Who says they can do that anyway? (And why would you want to do that?!) Sure, men technically can sleep around without suffering evident consequences, but how does it corrupt them inside? It shifts their priorities, befuddles them about whether they really love or just lust after someone. Where is true happiness in that?

It can't be stressed enough that the family is the basic unit of society. If we allow ourselves to be corrupted--our mindset, our values--in the heart of our home, paano tayo pupunta sa matuwid na daan?

CS Lewis's letters

2010-10-11T04:27:00.000-07:00

Guess what I'm reading? I borrowed The Collected Letters of CS Lewis from my friend sopraninigabi and it's the book I read before sleeping.

It's the type of book that fits right into the bedtime routine because his thoughts and insights still ring true today, and yet you're given a glimpse of the early 20th century (that is, a time long gone) because you're taken in on even the most ordinary of everyday life: Jack (CS Lewis's nickname) asking for a new jacket or pair of socks, talking about the books he's reading (I really MUST pick up a Bronte sister now), and making travel plans... aren't these the stuff of everyday? Only now, we text and email--so I find myself constantly marveling at the fact that back then you needed to set aside at least an hour everyday just to attend to (meaningful) correspondence. Seems like such a nice way to spend an hour.

Here's a snippet from a letter sent from Gastons on 5 Oct 1914 (date not exact because Lewis had the bad habit of not dating his letters) to his father in Bookham:

My dear Papy,

Thanks so much for the photographs, which I have duly received and studied. They are artistically got up and touched in: in fact everything that could be desired--only, do I really tie my tie like that? Do I really brush my hair like that? Am I really as fat as that? Do I really look so sleepy? However, I suppose that thing in the photo is the one thing I am saddled with forever and ever, so I had better learn to like it. Isn't it curious that we know anyone else better than we do ourselves? Possibly a merciful delusion.

I am very amused by such self-scrutiny coming from a man like Lewis (he would be about 16 years old here)--don't we all do that? (I can especially relate to "Do I really look so sleepy?" LOL!)

Must stop blogging now because I am catching up on my writing. I leave you with a quote about letter-writing:

"It is the immemorial privilege of letter-writers to commit to paper things they would not say: to write in a more grandiose manner than that in which they speak: and to enlarge upon feelings which would be passed by unnoticed in conversation."

Not heroic at all

2010-10-03T01:20:00.000-07:00

I stand by my conviction that there is nothing admirable about Carlos Celdran's rudeness, and that it's highly discouraging to find out that people are saying it's heroism or martyrdom of a sort to do such an uncharitable thing.

Let's put it this way: think of your most favorite hero (one of mine is Sara Crewe!) and tell me if you'd still respect that person if he walked up to you (as you prayed) and screamed in your face, all because he wanted to let you know you were super-duper absolutely positively incredibly and crazily wrong about something. What's so heroic about that?

Sometimes, I turn to books for comfort. Here's a tidbit from A Little Princess:

"When you will not fly into a passion people know you are stronger than they are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage, and they are not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterward. There's nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in--that's stronger."

I ain't saying we should never speak up and air our views, I'm saying we should air them calmly and in a civilized and respectful manner. Write a Letter to the Editor, organize a march, get the word out through various media.... If you love the Filipino people, you'll do us a good turn by not giving the impression that the only way we Filipinos think we can be heard is by making a complete fool of ourselves and getting jailed for it.

Here's a Letter to the Editor of Philippine Star that basically sums up what Celdran did, and what the media shouldn't have done.

Dear Editor:

Today's editorial calling for the repeal of the law penalizing offending religious feelings ("The Philippine Star", October 2, 2010, p. 14) is highly misinformed.

First of all, it is inaccurate to portray Carlos Celdran as a martyr for his free speech rights. He is not being charged for simply expressing his views; hence your fear that "80 percent of the population who through surveys have expressed support for birth control" could be imprisoned for offending religious feelings is unfounded. He is being charged for having scoffed at church authority during the mass and inside a church. Please take the trouble of researching what Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code actually penalizes. The constitution protects Carlos Celdran's right to express his views, no matter how unconventional they may be, but the constitution likewise protects the rights of everyone to worship according to their religious beliefs in peace. While he has the right to express dissenting opinions, he has no right to infringe on other people's right to worship in peace.

Second, the provision penalizing offending religious feelings applies to all religions alike. To repeal the law against offending religious feelings would be to expose all religions -- and not just the Catholic religion -- to contempt. The repeal would mean anyone can burn the Koran inside a mosque during an Islamic service, or make a heated attack on Manalo inside an Iglesia ni Cristo building during their Thursday pagsamba. These scenarios hardly promote mutual understanding among religions. The above mentioned examples are offensive to modern sensibilities; a similar affront on the Catholic religion is no less offensive.

For quite some time, I have been disappointed with your newspaper which, while printing inspirational quotes about God on its footer and daily biblical commentaries, prints a lot of articles and editorials supporting the RH bill. I have tolerated your publication of these articles even if I don't agree with them. But your approval of Carlos Celdran's offensive behavior is no longer a healthy exercise of free speech; it is an affront to what the majority of the population holds sacred. Please consider my subscription to your newspaper cancelled.

Sincerely,
Atty. Cristina A. Montes

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Have a fruitful week everyone!

September is special

2010-09-20T02:20:00.000-07:00

It's a very special issue this month for Baby Magazine. For our cover, we have super-adorable 19-month-old Juan Aristeo Paz--Tio for short--smiling between his mother's legs. To read more about the shoot (and some behind-the-scenes photos!), visit Sunnyday's blog. We all have a lot to learn from these special little ones and their families!

Lots of meaty reads in this issue to help not only parents of children with special needs, but every parent or parent-to-be as well. From pick-me-uppers during some gloomy pregnancy days to knowing what to expect on the 9th month of pregnancy, and from info on Down Syndrome, Autism, & ADHD to making your home a haven for reading, there are so many things to learn!

I especially loved reading the stories of Dr. Beatriz Paz (the mommy of Tio) and Dr. Bambi Ronquillo, whose daughter Brianna, at 6 years old, got a Cochlear implant, enabling her to finally hear! Now Brianna is a sporty 12-year-old (badminton and swimming) and is eager to teach little kids to sign and talk when she grows up. How's that for empowerment? :-)

When I hear the words "quality of life" being tossed around in debates concerning "pro-choice" propositions, I always wonder why some big intellectual folks forget that human beings are resilient; they fail to take into account that, in the face of difficulties, we humans are designed to make new ways to reach our goals, which is why Team Hoyt still runs and Christopher Reeve was deemed a real-life superman. And you don't even have to look that far to come to that conclusion. Just read the stories in the magazine :-)

Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, SM baby department stores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama, Eastwood Mall), Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall.

Quick reaction

2010-09-14T05:56:00.000-07:00

I'm finding less time to blog nowadays because there is so much to be done. But two mottoes have been keeping me going and so I keep going.

Here's a quick reaction to something about the abandoned baby story I read on the paper today, written by Rina Jimenez-David ("The boy in the plane," At Large, Opinion, Inquirer, Sept 14, 2010). She writes:

"Although to tell the truth, I'm dying to find out who the mother is and know not only how she managed to pull off the feat, but also her reasons for doing so. She must be one gutsy--or terribly desperate--woman. Giving up one's baby, through abandonment, adoption or even abortion, is never an easy or casual decision, and one can only imagine the lengths to which the mother wrestled with her conscience before taking this step."

Oh, so now it's gutsy to choose the easy way out? And it's a victory of sorts to overcome your conscience and take the I-don't-want-this-burden route? Let me get this straight: The conscience is there to wrest with you? I'm sorry, I thought it was there to guide you.

Ok, end of quick reaction. I said it was gonna be quick.

A woman to come home to

2010-08-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

Just finished watching Anchors Aweigh (Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Kathryn Grayson) and I can't help admiring the outfits of the leading lady Aunt Susie (Grayson), but this won't be a fashion post. (Note to self: scarf/ribbon headbands look great with curly hair!)

At the beginning of the movie, you see Joe (Kelly) and Clarence (Sinatra)--navy men--getting off the ship so they can enjoy a few day's leave in Hollywood. Joe is the type to easily charm the ladies, while Clarence is the shy guy who always doesn't know what to say. Anyway, because they're together on leave, Clarence sticks to Joe like a barnacle, asking for help to, er, charm the ladies.

You can see it's all about flirting and charming to them... and from here you get the picture of what a navy man is like: there are pin-up pictures of women in their locker, they gather around telling stories of how well they scored (not in today's sense of the word, though), and they rejoice over meeting a lady who "lives alone." To top it off, this funny song (link below) shows exactly what kind of woman a lady is believed to be if she hangs out with too many navy men:

[I can't embed it so you'll have to go to YouTube.]
(Of course, Joe and Clarence were only lying to the poor man here. Clarence had a crush on Susie and, wanting to get rid of her date, he and Joe smudged her reputation, haha!)

During their leave (and in the process of getting to know Susie more), the two navy men learn that women are not prizes you catch for being "charming"; they aren't marks on a tally board to boast of. By some amusing turn of events involving a lost kid who wants to join the navy, the men making up one lie after another, dinner-and-dance dates at a Mexican restaurant, and having to run after a famous musician to make up for the lies, both men learn that, more than having a lady to be with during a leave, what's more important was to have "somebody to come home to"--a lady for keeps!

I think their meeting a woman of substance (Susie) helped Joe and Clarence "grow up"--not only in their regard for women, but also in their realizing the consequences of their actions (they kept seeing Susie with the excuse that they knew somebody in Hollywood who would give her an audition--a lie that progressively got worse as the plot unfolded). The guys had a lucky break that Jose Iturbi (as himself) was kind enough to give Susie her audition even if the whole thing was all made up!

What I like about this film (besides the music and the dancing!) is the way it portrays women as people men must take the time to get to know--women have dreams, too, and they need to be respected... and they're definitely not people to be lied to or simply taken in by some guy's "charms." Today, this still rings true, but it's harder to see that it's wanting because popular media has clouded the view by insisting women are more liberated if they be more naughty like Megan Fox, eccentric/wild like Lady Gaga or super tough like Salt. I'm not sure how "liberation" can ever happen when women are objectified (which all three are).

What do you think?

Departures

2010-08-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

This movie made me cry. But then, I'm a crybaby haha!

Great story, awesome soundtrack, perfect comedic timing and not really as morbid as it looks! :->

Departures--or Okuribito--is about Daigo, a cellist who lost his job at the orchestra in Tokyo. Because of that, he decides to resign as a professional musician and instead look for a job in his old hometown in Yamagata. In his search, he finds an ad for an agency (NK Agents) that "assists in journeys," and he takes this job not knowing the job was about encoffinment!

This movie is about family: you find yourself learning from the families who've lost their loved ones (most especially the family of the lady who owned the bath house), Daigo's own family (his wife Mika and his relationship with his parents), and even from the little non-family family that is the NK Agents (Daigo, Shoei, and Yuriko); and about acceptance, not only of one's "unusual job" but also of all faults... I suppose a better word is reconciliation.

In a review, Walter Pless writes:

"This is a perspective on death that could help materialistic Western audiences to focus on the things that are really important in life. Departures is about love, family, loyalty, respect, responsibility, and even the place of humans in the natural world. But its central theme is reconciliation....

"Daigo’s reconciliation with his pregnant wife and his interactions with the local owner of the sento, or bath house, and its clientele, encompass a wide range of human emotions, including basic human prejudices. But his new-found profession turns out to be a unifying and positive factor in his own life and in the lives of bereaved families within the community.

"Daigo earns respect, and bickering families are reconciled through his ministrations over the body of their relative. The climax comes in a moving scene when Daigo has to prepare the body of his own long-estranged father. Reconciliation is at the heart of Departures....

"Departures transcends its morbid subject and one’s initial apprehension at its unconventional subject is soon swept away by its positive message about the dignity of being human, both in life and in death.

----

You know how you can't ever keep something good to yourself? This is one of those times for me! Go see it!

Just two tips:
1) Don't eat while watching, and
2) have lots of tissue on hand.

"Mean women"

2010-08-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

My younger sister once told me about a woman who had eight babies and killed them each time she had them, and then buried them in their garden. Apparently her husband never knew because she had a hefty build and a pregnancy wasn't obvious. But the crime was discovered anyway.

After telling the story, my sister asked me, "What do you think?" and because I didn't know how better to say it, I said that the woman must've gotten crazy/deranged somewhere down the road.

Today I read an article on MercatorNet that basically worded out the jumble that was on my mind when I first heard that story. Carolyn Moynihan writes ("Women fatally forgetting themselves"):

Now, there is one ideology today that brings out this streak in women to a truly frightening extent and it has nothing to do with war-mongering, although it has everything to do with dehumanising a certain part of humanity. It is the systematically promoted and officially sanctioned idea that women not only have the right to kill their unborn children, but that it is often the best, most responsible thing they can do. Like shooting Jewish children in the war, it is really for the good of all concerned -- even the victims.

If Keli Lane killed her newborn daughter, it was only the next logical step on from what she learned as a teenager in family planning counselling rooms and abortion clinics from the women who staff them. When Dominique Cottrez smothered eight of her babies after she delivered them, was she really doing something morally different from what any abortionist would have done for her before they were born?

[Emphasis is mine.]

Why is a woman who kills her babies when they are born (and buries them without anyone knowing) more 'horrible,' 'barbarous,' or 'deranged' than a woman who gets an abortion? Didn't they just do the same thing? The latter even brought other people in to kill the baby with her. Is it because abortion is legal or "safe" that makes the act of baby-killing-while-still-in-the-womb seem less inhumane than baby-killing-after-birth?

I'm not saying that people who have done abortions or are pro-abortion are crazy. I'm just trying to understand what made abortion seem acceptable in the first place (when obviously we do get shocked by news of people killing little ones). Is it because not everyone knows that life starts at conception, and that there are those who truly believe the fetus is just "a piece of tissue"? Or does it stem from a power struggle--that of a woman asserting her freedom to do just what she wants with her body? About the latter, I do wonder how that sort of thinking, no matter how prevalent, has not yet translated to people just doing whatever they want with their life, never mind justice, never mind peace and never mind respecting the existence of others.

July and August

2010-08-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

Apologies for delinquent posting. Here's a quick summary of past events. So first, I had some concerns about environmentalists who put saving the earth above saving people. And then suddenly the issue was overpopulation. And then the RH bill issue suddenly exploded into an abortion legalization issue (thanks to a women's rights group). And THEN another women's rights group forced divorce down our throats. Makes me think, what next?

But before I get all gloomy, here are the covers of the JULY and AUGUST issues of Baby Magazine! Nothing like a dose of cuteness to bring out a smile on an otherwise troubled face. Seriously, can you look at these happy faces and still be pigheaded about your conviction that abortion-on-demand does not violate anybody's rights?

Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, SM baby department stores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama, Eastwood Mall), Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall.

When Status updates become rants

2010-08-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this web ad by Yahoo! Mail? I think it reflects how the status messages on FB have come to be used as a ranting portal by a lot of people. True, you get comforting responses from your network of friends, but that habit is not at all a very good one--I mean, talk about being unprofessional!

Ok, some of you may disagree with me about the need to rant--sometimes people just have to let out steam! But I think people can let out steam in private: confiding in trusted friends, asking for advice from a mentor.... What's the use of letting the whole world know that you feel indignant doing the work you're paid to do?

See the last frame in that web ad: "Just make sure your boss isn't on your friends list." Doesn't that mean ranting in public poses the risk of giving you more problems? Ranting doesn't solve anything, and ranting in public, more often than not, makes things worse.

...besides, how can you accomplish your work well if instead of concentrating on it, you keep focusing on why doing it is such a hassle? It's the difficulties, after all, that help a professional become more like a professional. Unless you're a professional online ranter, clouding everyone's FB wall with your gloom only says one thing: "this person has nothing more interesting to say."

Check out our Fashion blog!

2010-08-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

(GUTSY is a group of women who advocate person-centered fashion for the youth. )

For the past months, I've been wondering how to be more active in the advocacy of dignified dressing, and I figured putting up a blog would be interesting. Then I met GUTSY and everything just fell into place! Last weekend we had a Fashion Camp, and now we have a team of bloggers for the site. Certainly there will be a lot of gutsiness to go around haha!

Check out our fashion blog: http://gutsyfashionteam.blogspot.com/

I would appreciate ideas, topic requests, photos of well-dressed women for the blog. Just email me! ;-)

On radio talk (aka brainless chatter)

2010-07-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

Last night I was riding the FX going to the MRT and the radio was tuned to DZMM 630. The reporters were discussing the water shortage due to no rain falling in Angat Dam. And the woman reporter blamed it on the overpopulation. And went on a rampage about how overpopulation is causing climate change etc.

First of all, what is a reporter, who is supposed to unbiasedly read the news, doing inserting her misinformed opinions in a news item about lack of rain? Is it the perpetual fear of radio announcers not to leave dead air doing the talking? Or is it because World Population Day just came and went without fanfare, that reporters are somehow forced to connect at least one piece of news to it? Is that lack of fanfare due to nobody going hysterical about overpop and global warming in this country? And why do they want us to go hysterical over nothing?

I have a theory about AM radio announcers. It seems that being on air everyday has permanently switched on their brain's auto-talk. They say practically anything just to keep talking. I understand the need to fill dead air, but it becomes ridiculous when the fillers are 30 seconds of Diyoskopongmahabagin!pambihirabanaman!mantakinmo! empty banter that dead air would have been better for listener's ears (and hearts).

...and 30 seconds of misinformation? Can you say: waste of time?

Why there are lots of jobs in Singapore

2010-07-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

My Ate said she wanted to try out finding a job in Singapore, because she has some friends there already. Why go to Singapore? Is it because there are better offers? And why are there better offers?

Oh look at this article I found from Inquirer:

In the 1960s, Singapore started a “Stop at Two” program. It was so successful that the population of Singapore dropped to dangerous levels.

The working class (labor force) had a difficult time supporting the elderly. The Singaporean government saw this and changed their population policy to “Three or more.” We have to learn from the mistakes of our Asian neighbor.

But the "Three or more" policy doesn't seem to work on a generation raised to think birth control is secret to happy (satisfying? materialistic?) life etc etc. The other solution? Get people from other countries to come over and work there, despite increasing number of citizens complaining about the tighter competition for jobs. (Got this link from WillyJ's blog.)

And what if the countries where these foreign workers are coming from start adapting their own "Stop at Two" program because their legislators think overpopulation is the cause of poverty? (Guess what? It's not.) Give or take, in 30 years there won't be enough people--citizen or no--to compete for jobs at all.

Reading List:
Obsolete Thinking--Again!
Population Sense and Nonsense
They're at Malthus Again

Lovin' the earth

2010-07-07T02:58:00.000-07:00

Recently, I canceled a monthly pledge to a pro-environment cause organization, and I think it's about time somebody explained that there's such a thing as "going too green" and why this can go wrong.

Okay, so there's global warming. And we're wasting so many resources. And because of our carbon emissions and pollution, we're killing the earth. I'm all for saving the environment. I'm all for conservation of natural resources. I care about segregating my trash and recycling and choosing more earth-friendly materials.

Loving the earth is what people should really do. We're only given one earth to use and keep, so let's save it, right? Of course.

What made me stop my pledge was the fact that the organization I was funding does a little something on the side: it promotes family planning.

Whoa, whoa, waitaminute--am I overreacting? It's just family planning...

It's not "just" family planning. It's a whole way of thinking that undermines a new person's right to live. It runs on the premise that "there is not much earth to go around; so, let's cut down on people so that we can have more for ourselves." Promoting the use of contraceptives is a part of it... not to mention the use of abortifacients... and (here goes) abortion.

I can't continue funding an organization that insists that whales and baby seals are more important than human life. Because whales, no matter how majestic, are not more precious than a human being. And baby seals, no matter how cute, are no match to our own babies. If you find this confusing and biased, then perhaps you haven't tried understanding why the Jews were insulted when PETA compared the Holocaust to chickens in a factory.

I believe in saving the environment, but I don't want to mix up the priorities. The earth is here to be of use to people; it is up to us if we're going to use it wisely or waste it. What's marvelous is we have intellect; we can use it to make our resources last longer and conserve the earth. So there's no need to prevent births.

Why should we go against ourselves? It's like eating your own hand just so more rabbits can run free in your backyard.We need to live, so we care for the earth. The earth doesn't need us to deplete ourselves so it can live. It isn't alive the way we are; it doesn't have reason, and it doesn't have a soul. When the human race dies out, the earth will go on revolving without a care.

Finally, here's a question to help you see the irony:
Are you really saving the planet for the next generation if you're preventing the birth of this very same next generation?

It takes a flower

2010-07-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, the inauguration is over and done with and I haven't posted anything. I want to share this photo from EDSA 1 because it's a nice reminder to our newly inaugurated president "P-Noy" that the legacy of peace and no-corruption that his mom represented must live on.

President Aquino didn't get my vote on May 10, but I wish him the best and I'll do what I can as citizen to help make this country better.

That said, congrats P-Noy and this is the end of my quick post!

Stop it!

2010-06-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

Thank God for vigilant people! :-) Look at the photo above (from elsadossantos.wordpress.com) and tell me: how would reading about condoms and Pills affect this child?

UN-Backed Sex-Ed Program in Philippines Put on Hold

By James Tillman

MANILA, Philippines, June 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- The Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) has decided to put a hold on the implementation of a new UN-backed sex-education program in elementary and high schools. The program had caused an uproar in the country, and was heavily opposed by parents and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

"We decided to hold in abeyance the teaching of the sex education module until a final decision is made on the consultation process," DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno said.

The new program, “Institutionalizing Adolescent Reproductive Health through Lifeskills-Based Education," would have given sex education to children as young as 12. It was set to be introduced in 80 elementary and 79 high schools around the nation.

It would have incorporated sex education into the entire curriculum, not only in classes such as Health, Science, and PE, but also Music, Arts, Mathematics, English, and others. Valisno said that despite the momentary halt, some sex-ed subjects, such as the scientific treatment of the reproductive system, would still be handled.

Read the rest of it here.

---

First of all, what is the UN doing meddling with the affairs of Filipino family? If they're so bent on population control, they should just get rid of themselves and be done with it. (Iron man would send them orbiting around the solar system in a Stark spacecraft with toothpaste-like food to last them 50 years.) After all, if someone adamantly believes there's a surplus on people, then that person must also logically (and readily) admit that he is the surplus.

Here's the big problem with sex-ed, as quoted from the article:

Human Life International-Asia executive director Dr. Ligaya Acosta criticized the government's insistence that children need sex education, stating that sex education “is actually a course in systematic behavior modification, designed to change the child’s entire belief system.”

“The glaring truth is that researches around the world substantiate the fact that the more contraceptive programs are aimed at the young, the more pregnancies, abortions, promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, and cancer of the cervix results,” Acosta said.

(Emphasis is mine.)

Let's keep working towards the implementation of more character-based programs, and helping more parents understand their role as parents to instill in their children good virtues and a good understanding of what love is really all about.

...unless, of course, we want to end up thinking it's best to teach first graders this way.

Planning the day well

2010-06-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

Have you ever considered waking up in the morning the biggest battle of the day? Here's some food for thought:

"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction." George Horace Lorimer

---

I've been thinking about time lately, and how to spend it well (and why spend it well). And today I bumped into our chaplain at Holy Family Chapel in Eastwood. He asked me if I worked nearby and told me how happy he was to see me attending mass regularly, and then he said something that made me think--he said, in reference to the effort of attending daily mass, "How hardworking!"

I really like how that comment resounded--hardworking. When you say "I try to attend mass daily," people usually assume you have nothing else to do--and then here comes someone who says you're "hardworking" for doing the very same thing.

How does this fit into "spending time well"?

Working hard doesn't only mean you plow on without a moment's rest (you're not an ox). What if that leaves you so tired that you can't churn up good work anymore? A day well-spent requires planning. It needs enough hours for serious work, rest (which is another word for "less demanding work"), family time, friend time and quiet time. Mass is the time in which to hinge all those times--on weekdays, it takes just 30 mins, but I think this 30mins gives a person the right motivation to get all the things done properly that day.

---

Oh hey, it's St. Josemaria Escriva's feast day on June 26! His teachings on serving God in the midst of the world will always be helpful to every worker. Here's basically his answer to the question: why should time be spent well?

"How short indeed is the time of our passing through this world! For the true Christian these words ring deep down in his heart as a reproach to his lack of generosity, and as a constant invitation to be loyal. Brief indeed is our time for loving, for giving, for making atonement. It would be very wrong, therefore, for us to waste it, or to cast this treasure irresponsibly overboard. We mustn’t squander this period of the world’s history that God has entrusted to each one of us." (Friends of God)

---

Lastly, just like Corporate Cat in the photo above, let's also not waste time on shenanigans--particularly, our own.

:-)

Singin' (and almost dancin') in the rain

2010-06-13T02:27:00.000-07:00

After some very hot and dry months, I find myself commuting again in the rain. My shoes are soaked. My pants are soaked. All my things are soaked. I come home with a cold--so my insides are soaked too.

My commuting route includes a lot of walking in the "wild" outdoors, so getting soaked can't be helped. And just last Friday, in an effort to stay dry, I took a tricycle going to the MRT, and guess what--the seat was wet. Rain-1, Me-0.

Dreary days and commuting always make me a little sad, especially when I'm hauling all my junk from one end of the city to another. It gets robotic; left foot, right foot, turn here, go in there.... So it's a good thing I recently got infected by the Gene-Kelly-Singing-in-the-Rain bug. (Ask Sunnyday.) Just the thought of Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the rain--having a wonderful time getting soaked--makes me smile at my own soaked situation. Humming the tune while taking the long walk seems to shorten the distance a whole lot... and before I know it, I'm where I ought to be.

Watch the video here.

Singing in the Rain
I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin',
Singin' in the rain

Dancin' in the rain
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
I'm happy again!
I'm singin' and dancin' in the rain!

I'm dancin' and singin' in the rain...

Raising kids in a high-tech world

2010-06-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Owen Carandang is a natural! Ready smiles all the way--what a pleasant shoot this was! And what a pleasant cover too! I always break into a smile when I look at this sunny cover (our JUNE 2010 issue) taken by Krissy Rodriguez of Little People Lifestyle Photography.

This issue is all about Raising Kids in a High-Tech World. Because this new generation is growing up not knowing a life without computers, cellphones and iPods, it's a wonder how today's kids can be taught the value of imagination--don't all these high-tech media do the imagining for their consumers?

Another curious thing is the popularity of Facebook. I got to interview Educhild Facilitator Joy Barreiro for some insights on how Facebook can be maximized by parents to improve family relationships (instead of erasing them in favor of a "virtual life").

This month's Working Mother is Amihan Bonifacio-Ramolete, the Company Manager of Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas. If you've been reading some of my older posts, you'll know that Teatrong Mulat is dedicated to the art of puppetry--a form of entertainment that may not be under your list of "high-tech media." Her take on kids and entertainment provides a refreshing contrast to today's video-games-Internet-TV-and-movie circus that spells typical entertainment. It's wonderful to note that kids still do enjoy theater, music and books!

Finally, I can't help posting this photo of little Owen that I took during the cover shoot. I love his expression here! If there's a word balloon, what would you write?

Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, SM baby department stores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama, Eastwood Mall), Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall.

Repost: Meet the Scholars!

2010-06-09T01:29:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the Ex Libris Philippines scholars, batch 2010: Frederick G. Precillas, Claudine V. Enduma, Mark Bryan F. Manantan, and Dancille Villarey!

Congratulations, Scholars. Mabuhay kayo!

Thank you to all who helped us out in our cause! Thanks to you, four UP students will be able to continue their education in UP.

For photos of the turn-over ceremony, click here.

Still on the hunt

2010-06-02T17:17:00.000-07:00

...for the suitable word to use when pertaining to modesty in dress.

I found an article in Tiger Print about "The dreaded M-word" and true enough, as Katie Hinderer writes:
Say the word to most teens and young professionals today and they will immediately tune you out. There is something about the word that is cringe worthy. It brings forth images of shapeless skirts that brush the floor and unfeminine tops that cover from wrist to chin to hips. They see the swimsuits of yesteryear that were anything but functional for an actual swim or they envision baggy muumuus.

So, what are good words to use in its place? I heard some elegant ladies use positive dressing. Another idea is dignified dressing. How about person-centered fashion? Appropriate attire? Comfortable elegance? Or am I pushing it?

Looking for a more stylish word to use meantime is important because you don't want to make the people who can benefit from what you have to say tune you out! Modesty, on its own, is a positive word--but it may take a while for the fashion-forward to adopt such a backward-sounding word in their vocabulary.

The solution for now? Take a fashionable term and use it to gain an audience. But, sparingly, let the M-word come up... how else are we going to bring about a change in the word's image if we let it remain in its negative slump? Use it sparingly, but positively--at least start with what it truly means: decency and reserve, not only in dress, but also in words and conduct.

Photo from FALL 2010 collection of Roberto Cavalli

Milk tea

2010-05-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

Image from Completely Smitten.

Because it's been so hot, I've been dreaming of drinks with ICE. So yesterday, upon the suggestion of my friend Sheree, I made some milk tea.

Nikko's Milk Tea
1 mug hot water
1 tea bag
milk
sugar
Ice ice ice!

1. Steep tea in hot water and leave till it cools down to room temp. (This makes strong tea but it will be diluted with milk and ice.)
2. Add milk, sugar and ice. Enjoy!

Variations:

If you don't like milk tea, replace milk with calamansi or lemon juice to make iced tea.
Sago is a good idea, but only if you have sago straw. :-P~
Iced coffee is good too. Just make sure to dissolve coffee creamer (if you use it) in hot water first.
Vanilla milk tea? Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla essence.
Avatar tea? Add 1-2 drops blue food color. (But whyyy? LOL)

Suggestions:

Drink while reading Moby Dick. (It's written in a roundabout style that'll make you feel the afternoon is longer than it actually is. Plus... white whale is most awesome.)
Drink while watching Singing in the Rain. Try tap dancing after, and then make more tea to cool off. Pray for more men on TV and movies to keep cool by singing and tap dancing in rain instead of taking shirt off.

Have a chilly June day!

Movie review: Here comes the bride

2010-05-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

Sunnyday told me to be more wary about movies my Ate invites me to see with her because, as the trend has it, I often end up wasting my time sitting through her choice of films. But I miss my Ate; so last Sunday I found myself at the mercy of Here Comes the Bride. I'm gonna make something useful come out of the experience by writing what I think.

First of all, I think this movie should not have been rated GP. Besides the type of humor in it, the attitudes of the different characters towards love, sex and marriage are a bit off. Take Stephanie, the bride-to-be (played by Angelica Panganiban and Eugene Domingo) for instance. She was styled as the "good girl"--she designed her wedding dress conservatively, she seems to have already talked to her boyfriend/fiance about saving sex for marriage, etc. but as you watch the film, you feel that the character is flat--it's as if they created Stephanie by throwing in all the typical goody-goody attributes but filled her head with notions that didn't agree with any of them.

Because somehow it seems that the whole film regards marriage as a license to have sex, and that the whole point of the wedding is the honeymoon that happens after (hence, the supposedly VERY funny scene where the just-married-husband tries to do it with his wife, who happened to be--after some twists and turns involving magnets, car accidents and a solar eclipse--trapped in Eugene Domingo's body). GP GP GP!

I mean, if you're going to write about a good girl, please give her a brain (because she needs one to be able to make good decisions) and spunk (because she needs it to stick to these decisions). None of this "I can't wait for tonight because we can finally do it!"

Marriage is a vocation, a calling to a life dedicated to one's spouse and to God; and a promise to raise a family in a home full of love. I'm not an expert at this to be able to give examples and all, but that's the gist. And this movie doesn't get it.

Images from http://hctbmovie.multiply.com

Fearless modesty

2010-05-27T01:29:00.000-07:00

It sounds like an oxymoron, but these days the words "fearless modesty" seem quite apt as a call to action: we're so used to seeing people dressed improperly that modest fashion comes off as going against the grain.

Just look at the swimsuit racks and you'll see what I mean. Have you ever tried asking the saleslady if the store had more one-piece suits? I have, and salesladies, with apologetic smiles, always say no. I concede to the fact that people like to have options and that there are those who prefer triangle tops and bikini bottoms to more functional one-piece suits, but whatever happened to options for people who appreciate real and fashionable suits for swimming? (I'm talking about the regular fashion boutiques that offer summer fashion; sports stores will always have modest options because they know what swimming entails.)

And another thing: when did the word "modest" get equated to "unfashionable"? When you strive to be modest in attire, you're thinking about what will make you look good and presentable--what's so unfashionable about that?

Frankly, there's so much more fashion creativity fostered when you choose your clothing pieces with care. Covering up appropriately takes more brain power! Recently, I bought a very nice crayola-blue short-sleeved cardigan to wear over some tops and dresses I bought way back in 2007, when I didn't think much about appropriate clothing. I'm happy to say I can wear these unwearable pieces more often now that I have a cardigan to put over them. See--creativity and modest fashion just go together.

To anyone who, like me, is getting tired of people insisting short shorts are cool (I concede again that they literally are), and plunging necklines more "womanly," here are some humorous comebacks to use at one's own risk:

"Why don't you want to show your cleavage?"
"Hindi KSP ang cleavage ko."
(Got this from Sunnyday. LOL. I can't think of an English translation with similar punch.)

"Why do you keep wearing a cardigan? I'm feeling so hot here just looking at you!"
"Go wear a swimsuit and stand beside the fan."

"Why are you wearing leggings under that mini dress?"
"I want to keep my sitting rights."

"If you've got it, flaunt it!"
"I think there are enough free shows out there."

If you're a woman and want to be respected, you have to stand up for modesty. Because in the end, it's your dignity--and the way people see you and (in turn) deal with you--at stake! There's a thin line that separates clothing that make you a subject and clothing that make you an object. To help you discern that line, here's a beauty contest question to ponder on: "Would you rather be sexy or beautiful?" which is just another way of saying: "Would you rather people see you as a set of body parts or as a whole person?"

Methinks the answer to that is the same for all women.

Call for scholarship applicants!

2010-05-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Our concert was a success! Here's a repost from the Ex Libris Philippines blog. It's about our Scholarship Project!

---

Sometimes, all it takes is a helping hand given at the right moment. One semester can make the difference between a student continuing and eventually finishing his studies at UP, or stopping his schooling in order to work. The trouble with the latter is that they rarely get the chance to complete them.

It is because of this that our NGO, Ex Libris Philippines, organized our "Concert For A Cause" fundraising activity last May 21, 2010. We're now looking for beneficiaries for our scholarship project. We seek undergraduate students who need financial assistance to continue their studies at the University of the Philippines for the first semester of A.Y. '10-'11. (Partial and complete scholarship grants for one semester will be granted based on the applicant's need)

Do you know of any deserving U.P. student of good moral and intellectual standing (preferably no INC's or 5's, with a GWA of 2.00 or higher), who REALLY NEEDS this one semester tuition fee grant? If you do, please send their contact information and any other pertinent info (e.g. references, mini bios) to Gabriela Francisco gabitwin@gmail.com (09209470835) or Tata Francisco teachertata@gmail.com (09209470861) (or any other Ex Libris Philippines member you know).

Thank you so much! Please reply if you know someone---anyone---an orgmate, collegemate, friend, or classmate. A UP student who you think is deserving, and who really needs the financial aid. Just a name (or several names!) and contact number/s will do---and of course, a few sentences (personal recommendation) will be a great help. Please forward this to your teachers/students, family and friends; perhaps they may know of people who need this scholarship. Thank you so much!

For more information about Ex Libris Philippines, please go to http://exlibrisphilippines.multiply.com

For interested applicants, please submit the following:

4 pcs. 1x1 ID picture
Copy of parents' most recent ITR
Copy of TCG (a CRS printout of grades will do)
3-4 names (with complete contact info) for references

Bad news!

2010-05-16T18:34:00.001-07:00

My phone got snatched last week. I'm so sorry to everyone in my phonebook. So far, I heard from some friends that the snatchers have nothing better to do than call and text them. Good-bye load.

Globe says they can give me back my number within the week. Why it takes a week, I don't know. >:-(

Here's what happened, in case this experience can help other people avoid getting their stuff snatched in the future. I was in the Cubao-Crossing bus going home.

Snatcher Guy sat beside me in the bus. My bag was on my lap and the zipper opening was on the side near him. My phone was right by the zipper opening. (Careless, I know.)
Snatcher Guy pretended to twiddle with the aircon. He reached up and was twiddling with the aircon for so long I got irritated and looked up.
Turns out he was using his other hand to pick from my bag. Bye-bye phone.
He changed seats and made someone with him (let's call him Cahoots Guy) sit beside me. So I wouldn't be able to stand up and stop him. (Not sure if Cahoots Guy had knife.) I told Cahoots Guy that Snatcher Guy stole my phone. Cahoots Guy was bad actor. I hope my split second of sincere trust in stranger pricked his conscience. But maybe not.
The snatchers got off at Guadalupe before the bridge. There were three of them. I wonder how many victims there were.

Heard from a friend that there are other techniques they use. Some pretend to be barfing and then a Cahoots Guy will say, "Natalsikan ka! (You got some on you!)" and when you inspect your shirt... good-bye iPod Touch.

Some open letters:

Dear Big-Discount-Phone-Buying Public,

Please don't patronize those places where they sell phones/gadgets of dubious origin. It encourages more snatching.

Dear Soon-To-Be-President,

I hope what you stand for really seeps down to the people so that we'll have a more commuter-friendly nation. "Hindi ako magnanakaw" was your, um, campaign slogan, and it seems most people voted you for that. I find it very ironic that my phone got snatched just when all the news headlines are blaring how you're leading in the partial results. Please do something to really eradicate corruption, not just in politics.

Dear friends,

Please pray that Snatcher Guy and Co. find better things to do with their time. And that they get pricked by their conscience. I think they won't get much from selling my phone because it's a relatively cheap model (that happens to be on sale now in Samsung) and is network-locked (i.e. someone has to pay to make it open-line). I got it for free when I signed up for a prepaid plan. I am really annoyed that they've been using my number to bother you guys. And of course, I hate the inconvenience, but on the bright side, I'm lucky to be ok.

Merry month of May

2010-05-12T23:40:00.000-07:00

It's our May issue! And who's that little girl in pink? Cutie-pie Kara Judielle Sacrez, of course! She's having a grand time here ordering cupcakes and (very refreshing) iced tea at Cupcakes by Sonja, Serendra. Photo taken by Krissy Alfafara Rodriguez of Little People Lifestyle Photography.

Our theme this month is Be the Best Mom You Can Be! so there are certainly lots of articles that are helpful... including informative pregnancy articles for moms-in-waiting, baby articles for the moms-in-training, and parenting & family articles for all moms-for-life.

I know it's quite late for this but I'll say it anyway: Happy Mother's Day to all wonderful mommies out there! Yehey!

Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, SM baby department stores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama), Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall.

Wanted: Leaders who will uphold life

2010-05-06T03:05:00.000-07:00

I'm so frazzled. I don't want all our future leaders to be OK with the RH Bill. That would be a nightmare. And you thought this issue was dead.

I got asked by a friend once what I wanted in our leaders and I said, "I want someone who is pro-life." And she replied, "Is that all the matters to you?"

(Why, yes, because life comes above all causes. What's education if there are no kids to study? What's environmentalism without people to breathe the newly freshened air? What's commerce without workers? or agriculture without farmers? Think about it: people are the benefactors and the assets. Stop insisting on cutting down on people!)

I want pro-life leaders because I want a Philippines that values life, and with it, family, marriage and a prevailing culture that preserves these institutions. We can't have that if we vote a president who, in his first 100 days in office, will sign into law a bill that forces schools to teach sex education to kids as young as 10. They say "age appropriate" as if all kids mature in mind and heart at the same rate.

In defense of sex education, another friend of mine says, "It's better to learn from school than to learn through the Net...because kids are really gonna find it online." Interesting. Did you know that you can learn how to slice off your fingers and sew them back on through the Net? Maybe we should teach that in school too.

What good will knowledge of contraceptive use do for the youth anyway? Oh, let's add to that the free condom stalls they'll put up in every barangay or district (goodbye, taxpayer's money which could've paid for someone's heart transplant). Imagine growing up hearing your teachers say "This is how to use this...'essential medicine'" and then walking home to calls of "Who wants a condom?"

You know what that makes us? Numb.

Let this happen now and, in the future, you won't get shocked if kiddie fastfood meals come with kiddie condoms. Or schools start holding workshops on "self pleasure." Gross? That's what's happening in other parts of the world.

Consider this: before a famous men's magazine made it big, pornography was something only a sleazebag would possess. Now, they're calling it "art." Now, women are vying for a spot on some top 100 list of Women Who Need Men To Drool Over Them So They Can Have Higher Self-Esteem. The very people who should be offended by this kind of material are outdoing each other to be one of the top 100 most objectified women in the country. Ironic? We're just numb.

I don't want our country to become numb. I don't want casual sex to become a norm, marriage merely a contract, and family just a collection of individuals living in the same house.

I sure hope the majority is with me on this.

Random reminders

2010-04-27T02:29:00.000-07:00

Maybe because some of us are allowed to wear jeans to work (I know I am), or because malls allow us to bring pets to public indoor places, or because the social networking culture makes displaying your whole life for the public not seem as corny as showbiz talk shows, that some basic rules of etiquette are easy to forget now. A few friendly reminders:

Just because you can bring that dog to the mall doesn't mean you can bring it in the chapel, too. No matter how smart (or small or quiet) your dog is, it will never appreciate the mass.
Be sensitive about the pictures you post on social-networking sites. Weed out the unflattering shots for your friends' sake!
Remember the rule about never putting on lipstick at the table? Let me add a similar one: never use oil-blotting paper outside the ladies room. It's really not nice to see. :-/
Jeans are one thing--they can be dressed up with the right pieces--but slippers to work? Unprofessional.
Pedestrian, you can't stop a car by flashing your palm. Especially in a highway. Find the overpass and give our drivers a break!

One more month til Concert!

2010-04-26T01:53:00.000-07:00

Only a month away! How time flies. I'm inviting everyone to see our Concert for a Cause, which is going to be very good for the ears! Trust me! :D

What's more, by watching our concert, you not only get to listen to good music (Broadway, Filipino love songs, and Classical music!) but you also help send students to school. Think about that person (or people!!) whose life you can change. :)

It's going to be a rare treat--rare because when you say "entertainment" nowadays you get movies, video games and the like--for families and friends. So, come and invite yours!

----

Our NGO, Ex Libris Philippines, a SEC-certified, nonstock, nonprofit organization of book enthusiasts, is raising funds in order to help send deserving but financially challenged UP students to school. Our last two fundraising projects held March 2007 and April 2008 have funded the education of seven deserving students at the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

We are now holding our third fundraising project for our NGO's Scholarship Project. This year's fundraising project is a Concert for a Cause, with performances by professors, students and alumni of the UP College of Music. All funds to be raised will go to the Scholarship Project. The concert will be on May 21, 2010, Friday, 6 p.m. at the UP College of Music, Nicanor Abelardo Hall.

Treat yourself to a night of music and magic, and help out in a good cause, too! You'll be helping send students to school. Please also help spread the word to your friends and family, and invite them to come as well!

Tickets are at Php 300.00 each. For tickets, please contact Tata Francisco at 0920-947-08-61, Gabi Francisco at 0920-947-08-35, or Nicole Bautista at 0916-341-33-66. You can also email us at teachertata@gmail.com, gabitwin@gmail.com, nikkobautista@gmail.com.

Or leave a comment here and coordinate with me; I'm the Nicole in that list. :D

Corruption in the small things

2010-04-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I rode a taxi with my mom and my sister to East Avenue to fix my SSS ID application. We were planning to drop off Isis in UP first and then proceed to the SSS office, but Isis forgot her enrollment documents. So, they decided that it was best to drop me off first and then make a round trip to pick up the errant forms.

The taxi was a nice one--clean and new. The driver was pleasant... a little chatty for my taste, but he was courteous enough--he wasn't cursing the traffic or the heat or whatever else taxi drivers curse about.

On the windshield was a campaign sticker for one popular candidate running for president--the one people are lauding for having the guts to put an end to corruption because his mom and dad were not corrupt. And half the time the driver was telling us how much he wanted that candidate to win and that only one passenger expressed an opposing view about his choice for president.

"Dapat hindi corrupt (he should not be corrupt)," he was saying, adding that he's been campaigning for the man for free because he believes the man can end corruption. He also said that if someone is gonna get voted into the presidency, it should be because people really believe in him enough to campaign for him without incentives.

Very well.

My problem with this is what happened after I got off the cab. My mom told me that after I got off at East Avenue, the driver switched off his meter and drove them all the way back to Eastwood without the meter counting. He charged them a fat 200 pesos when they got home, and refused to take them back to UP because "Ayoko na pumunta doon (I don't want to drive back there)."

It makes me wonder how we as a people expect to eradicate corruption when even the smallest things are not treated with the proper justice. That whole round trip would probably have amounted to 150-160 pesos only (and not 200) if the man didn't switch off his meter.

That cab driver can root for his non-corrupt candidate all he wants, but corruption will not be eradicated if he keeps on treating his passengers unfairly. After all, honest living is not demanded of politicians alone; it is demanded of all of us.

"Jeggings"

2010-04-15T04:50:00.000-07:00

Jeggings. What a funny word. And funnier still is that it's picking up. First, a popular jeans brand comes up with ultra-skinny pants and calls it "Jeans Leggings" (or something to that effect) and then before you know it, stores have racks filled with all sorts of "jeggings"--leggings made to look like jeans (maybe because they're cheaper).

I read an interesting article on leggings from Tiger Print, and I'd like to share an excerpt from it--it's called "Please, no legging behinds" by Katie Hinderer:

Leggings, pants and tights are all different fashion pieces. As such, they each have a specific use and while the lines can tend to blur occasionally on these items it’s important to keep these clothing items separate.

Leggings are not pants because they do not offer any structure or support. They are always skin-tight and form-fitting. And to be honest, in leggings it is possible for everyone to see every little bodily nuance we have. They do nothing to flatter our figure, re-proportion our silhouette or compliment our natural beauty. When worn alone we might as well announce to the world that our bottom half is the most important part and invite others to take a look. (Um… no thanks.)

What am I getting at? No matter how like jeans some leggings are, they're still leggings! What if everything meant as an accessory, accent or underthing is treated like a main article of clothing? Would you wear half slip as a skirt? How about a scarf as a shirt? Socks as shoes? (I'm thinking of "trendy" names for them now: skips, sharves and shocks. Maybe if some fashion guru said them, these words would catch on, too.)

Real fashion-forward people remember what each bit of clothing is for and how to wear them properly. If a fashion designer insists a camisole should be exposed and worn as a shirt, then that designer probably has no more bright ideas up her sleeve. It's one thing for them to try to pull that off (using photoshopped models in ad campaigns), it's another for consumers to snap it up without thinking.

So, let's be more discerning and give only the trends that really mean to make us look better and feel more confident the leg-up.

...as for jeans that look like leggings, if regular skinny jeans don't suit the trendsetter anymore, it might be a good time to remember what happens when people think micro minis aren't micro enough and short shorts aren't short enough: peek-a-boo, I see you!

Haciendero baby

2010-04-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

It's summer! And so hot! Who wouldn't want to bite into a cool and juicy slice of watermelon? It sure is very enticing to be in the shoes of the little watermelon farmer on the cover; little Mikle Flores's cute expression here is captured by Ralph Alejandrino.

What's so fun about the summer issue? Well, we've put together a lot of useful articles for parents and parents-to-be! What I remember most about this issue is that I learned how discovery is always something we can look forward to in everything that we do, no matter how much we've done it before. I've been with the magazine for three years and it was only in the making of this month's issue that I learned babies can't yet carry their own slice of watermelon! Little Mikle had such a hard time lifting the juicy slice that he (smart baby that he is) simply just bent down to get a big bite off the fruit--leaving us (Baby mag staff and his parents Karen and Mon) in stitches! Poor Ralph had to wait a few moments to catch Mikle with his face not buried in the fruit.

It's days like this that remind us how different babies are from the rest of us--and while we all know that they need our protection, support, and guidance, we can benefit from the fact that they (in their vulnerability and innocence) can teach us a thing or two about life and the world, particularly in that the world still has its mysteries... and that uncovering these mysteries (when we set out to discover and learn something new) is what makes each day a bit more special than the last. And if we have to bend down to the watermelon to have a sample of one of life's sweet and simple pleasures, then bend we do; let's not be afraid to try new things now!

Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, SM baby department stores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama), Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall.

The last laugh

2010-04-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

Remember the last time you felt you had the last laugh? It was satisfying, wasn't it? To get that final word in, to feel the wisest--the lone grain of wisdom in a sack of ignorant fools.

Remember, too, those times when you were not able to get that last laugh. You kept re-imagining the scene in your head to place the situation in your favor--the more you thought about it, the snappier and wittier your comebacks became... if only you had thought to say them at the time!

Who could blame anyone for wanting to have the last laugh? It's only natural that we don't want to be shamed; we don't want to lose face, and having the last laugh somehow redeems a person in the sight of others... or so we think.

Last holy week, I watched Mel Gibson's movie again and one of the things that I found really nice was that scene of Christ's sermon on the mount. He said, "If you love only your friends, what's hard in that?"

Think about it: Which is harder--getting the last laugh, or letting somebody else have it at your expense? Sometimes, not giving that snappy comeback, that witty comment, or that bitter retort is the best way to handle the situation. If you're in the wrong, it saves you from having to justify something you can never justify; if you're in the right... well, so was That Man on the mount, and HE never said a thing when everyone was laughing all around Him.

Forgoing the last laugh is one of those hard things we are asked to do--and to do without worrying so much about what other people will say or think. Aren't we all called to be more like Christ? Remembering how He was treated in the Passion makes our "shame" so little compared! What's wonderful is, no matter how little our offering is (and will always be), we are invited to share in the only last laugh won through humility and selflessness--

Happy Easter!

Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused. -Anonymous

Concert for a cause!

2010-03-31T03:34:00.000-07:00

Our NGO, Ex Libris Philippines, a SEC-certified, non-stock, nonprofit organization of book enthusiasts, is raising funds in order to help send deserving but financially challenged UP students to school. Our last two fundraising projects held March 2007 and April 2008 have funded the education of seven deserving students at the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

We are now holding our third fundraising project for our NGO's Scholarship Project. This year's fundraising project is a Concert for a Cause, with performances by professors, students and alumni of the UP College of Music. All funds to be raised will go to the Scholarship Project. The concert will be on May 21, 2010, Friday, 6 p.m. at the UP College of Music, Nicanor Abelardo Hall.

Treat yourself to a night of music and magic, and help out in a good cause, too! You'll be helping send students to school. Please also help spread the word to your friends and family, and invite them to come as well!

Tickets are at Php 300.00 each. For tickets, please contact Tata Francisco at 0920-947-08-61, or Gabi Francisco at 0920-947-08-35. You can also email us at teachertata@gmail.com, or gabitwin@gmail.com.

By simply forwarding this to your friends, you'll be helping us A LOT already. Please help us spread the word about this Concert For A Cause! Thank you so much.

Umbrella for (more than) the sun

2010-03-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

It hasn't been raining, but my mom gave me a new umbrella because she thought my old one made me look pitiful--the handle was gone and the cloth was sewn (and re-sewn) on the frame. The red color was fading at the folds too.

I found it a bit amusing to get a new umbrella at the height of summer--an El Nino summer, to boot--but I wasn't surprised because, here, the umbrella is used as much on sunny days as on rainy days. I'm not very fond of using my umbrella in the sun because sometimes it's such a hassle to open it up and then fold it back again, but there is wisdom in using that parasol (beyond preventing skin woes, I mean).

My last great commuting adventure was when our car wouldn't start and I had to pick up two things for work. I found myself thrown into a commuting route I hadn't yet thought about; I usually asked somebody (like my dad or a friend who commutes) for the best and easiest route to take, but that day left me no time for a pep talk. No matter; I had (I hoped) my wits, and my new umbrella.

What was so important about the umbrella, you ask? Well, I expected to walk a lot that day (and I did); I needed the umbrella to keep me as un-melted as possible as I tried to make it alive at each stop. Thirty-nine degrees out and three destinations (photographer's house for photos, boss's house for the page-guide, and the office for the day's work)...without an umbrella, you can't expect to still be on your feet after a walkathon!

In this way, an umbrella plays a part when it comes to looking presentable when on the move. Sure, you can always say you can't help looking like a train wreck when the wind blows your hair out of place; or when the sun is so hot it pastes every last strand of hair on your head flat on your scalp, face and neck. But it doesn't have to be that way. There's still the end of the road to think about, and the success of the trip is not merely getting there alive, but getting there looking alive, too. What a pity to make it to your destination only to be sent to a corner because you don't look up to the task!

Hence, not only on planned treks, but also in every crazy turn of events this wonderful world decides to rain on you, it's important to look ahead to be able to master the art of adjusting to bizarre situations accordingly. Prudence and resilience go hand in hand in times like these--and more than just being "a trooper," a person can come out of misadventures with genuine cheerfulness, and still alert enough to take on some more.

Why the sad face?

2010-03-18T02:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed those big yellow stickers in buses and bus-stop waiting sheds that remind bus riders to let the elderly, the disabled, the pregnant, and those traveling with kids to get in the bus first? Those yellow stickers were made by the Rotary Club of San Juan Del Monte, and I think they're a good reminder for seat-hungry people to have a little charity.

I just found it odd (in a slightly amusing way, because this observation is so very... trivial) how the illustrations in the signs struck me as slanted. There is an illustration representing each person whom one should be considerate of. The old woman and the crippled man are smiling but the pregnant woman and the woman with kids are not. I may be reading too much into it, but I think it's unfair to show that having kids or being with kids pastes a perpetual frown on a face. In fact, commuting with (talkative) kids can even be very amusing.

I hope people would stop suggesting or associating children with doom. For homework, read this post from Generations for Life. Watch the video too. Good to know these things.

Papet Pasyon!

2010-03-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

One more peaceful Sunday before Papet Pasyon, Teatrong Mulat's annual Holy Week show! This year is special because it marks the puppet play's 25th year. (Papet Pasyon was first shown in 1985.) So, if you want to see something different (cultural! historical!), how about forgetting the mall for one day and dropping by our teatro in Teacher's Village? Bring the whole family! (And, if you've just gone to mass, bring your palaspas!)

Watch AMELIA LAPEÑA-BONIFACIO' s

PAPET PASYON

(the Philippines' 1st and only children's senakulo in puppetry)

FOR FREE!!!

March 28, 2010/Palm Sunday

3:00 & 5:30 pm

Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Teatro Papet Museo

64 Mapagkawanggawa St., Teachers Village, Quezon City

for details call 921.9773, 929.0895, 0918.903.2040

Directions from Quezon Memorial Circle: Take Commonwealth Ave., RIGHT on Masaya St. (before Mercury Philcoa; corner w/ tricycles, Ministop and Bank of Commerce) LEFT on Maginhawa St. go straight until you see Holy Family School. Theater on the left side in front of Talleres de Nazaret.

From Katipunan: Take CP Garcia, go straight when you see National Stud Farm turn LEFT. RIGHT on Magiting St. when you see Ministop turn RIGHT (Maginhawa St.). Next street to your LEFT is Mapagkawanggawa. Theater on the left side in front of Talleres de Nazaret.

The March 2010 issue

2010-03-11T22:10:00.000-08:00

Such a happy baby on the cover, no? That little girl in the blue dress is Star Baby Alyssa Claire Belmes, photographed by Ralph Alejandrino.

March is about preparing for your first baby! The March issue is always our pregnancy issue because in March fall two important days: International Women's Day (March 8), which is probably why this month is also International Women's Month, and the Day of the Unborn (March 25). Women + unborn babies = pregnancy, if you can follow that logic! hehe!

I always learn a lot of things, working on a new issue. Not just because I need to be able to write informative articles on pregnancy, childcare and parenting, not being a parent myself, but also because I meet interesting people! This issue, we worked with Richelle Balbieran, a pretty mom on the family way (she gave birth already, congrats!), who taught me a few things on priorities when it comes to fashion (without meaning to, actually!).

During the shoot, Richelle shared that she was the type to melt easily in the heat, and during pregnancy, feeling hot was one of her most common discomforts. But while the heat was something to contend with, Richelle's own clothing choices proved that clothes that flattered mattered more--no spaghetti straps for the hot mom! Instead, a bright-colored peasant-style blouse was what she donned after the fashion-filled afternoon; it was festive enough for the party she and hubby Ron were attending later that day, and cool enough to beat the early heat wave of the year. Truly, when you know what matters more (presenting yourself well), you won't make "quick melting" an excuse to wear something less than suitable for any occasion.

Here are some pictures I took of the fashion shoot. The one right above is a picture of Richelle with EIC Diana, who was here giving some sample lines to help our mommy model get into the role of "Mom conquering the unexpected." To find out what that means, how about getting your own copy of our pregnancy issue? There are so many good reads in it to help a mom (and dad) face the daily challenges of family-rearing.

Enjoy!

Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, SM baby department stores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama), Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall.

T-shirts!

2010-03-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

My friend Sunnyday has this dream of making some really nice Pro-Life statement shirts, and while I like thinking of slogans for them, I really have no idea how wearing a shirt can make a change--especially if nobody gets the point. (Right now, there are so many shirts with "Vote" on it that I find it rather sickening. While I'm convinced that I have to do my civic duty, I don't want to make my right to vote a fashion statement.)

But yesterday, I saw a man in church wearing a Pro-Life shirt. It was blue and it had a list of "10 reasons to love life" at the back, with the tag-line "Choose Life" after the list. And, you know what? I felt so heartened when I saw it! Haha! I was too shy to say anything about the shirt to him (he was maybe like my Dad's age) so I just said a prayer for him to keep wearing the shirt around. Amazing what one shirt can do.

So that's how I figured that it isn't quite useless to have a Pro-Life shirt made, after all--because it is one way of promoting life, everywhere you go. It heartens people with the same strong convictions, and it makes people who don't ask some questions they would otherwise not have bothered to ask....

I found this shirt design from the Generations for Life blog, and I think it says a lot in so few words. Maybe we could have some t-shirts made for March 25 (The Day of the Unborn)! Is that too soon? What do you think?

:D

Papet ASEAN 2010 in pictures

2010-02-27T18:04:00.001-08:00

The festival is over! It was an eye-opening experience, not only because I met people from different ASEAN countries (and got to see awesome shows!), but also because somehow, there are times when you feel like a foreigner in your own country. Take, for instance, coping with little changes in the plans! One has to learn to be flexible when the instructions given and the demands of the moment disagree. One has to be ready to do things, and not just wait for them to be done. And one has to learn to be calm in case the printer does not cooperate. hehe!

Can't write much now because I only have two weeks for all my Baby Mag assignments! So here are a few pictures I took with my low-batt camera. Enjoy!

At the festival opening; waiting for the show to start!

Vishnu shadow puppet for Teatrong Mulat's Sita and Rama.

Checking the OHP's distance for Ravana's song.

The delegates have their meeting at the Claro M. Recto Hall in Faculty Center.

Wayang sandosa from Indonesia!

Eating out with some delegates at Max's Restaurant after a long day!

The delegates take a tour of Amelia Lapena Bonifacio Teatro Papet Museo.

Jamming--the ASEAN way!

Dressing for a date?

2010-02-22T22:58:00.001-08:00

When you watch commercials selling luxury residences, you see women dressed in gowns and men in black ties. And it's pretty normal to see that--on the screen. But come out and walk the streets, and you'll notice that couples dress differently in real life. For one, it's kinda funny to see people in formal attire on a sunny weekend. But this post is not about formal and casual wear for men and women.

Walking in the mall on my way home, I can't help noticing couples and how they dress. As far as I know, when a girl dresses up to meet her boyfriend, she really puts some thought into what she wears. That said, why is it that when I see young women going out with young men, it seems that the preferred attire is something short, or something low, or something back-bearing... it makes me wonder, doesn't a young woman want her boyfriend to look at her face?

Dressing up for a date is something worth putting much thought to because dressing is a form of communication. When it comes to a date, it communicates 1) how a lady sees herself and 2) how much she respects her young man. The first is obvious: clothing reflects the wearer, and shows how seriously she wants to be taken (ever wonder why people put much thought when they get ready for a job interview?). How a woman mixes and matches and layers and accessorizes is self-expression!

The second is not so obvious, but think of it this way: when you know you're meeting someone you think highly of, you don't dress in a sando and a pair of Islander sandals. You wear something good, something that suits you and makes you look like someone worth listening to. The same principle applies when a lady goes out with her boyfriend. She doesn't have to dress to the nines, but she has to look fresh and comfortable, with not a thread out of place--she needs to look like someone whose stories, insights, ideas and opinions are worth hearing... after all, good conversation is primarily what a date is about!

Now, if that's still hard to understand, maybe I should pick something closer to home: When a young woman dresses up for a date, she must keep her Dad in mind. What will Dad say? It's amusing how a father could be a fashion consultant, but in my experience, it works. My dad has often commented on my choice of clothes--and when he says a shirt is too tight, then it must be! (Lately, he just kids me for not wearing red on Valentine's or for being "color blind.")

Why does Dad's opinion matter, you ask? Because he's someone who loves you without being smitten with you (that's for Mom, of course), and because, somehow, he knows what your young man will think when he sees you in whatever you're wearing.

Naturally, he'll only approve something that will make you shine.

Street fashion

2010-02-18T00:38:00.000-08:00

Images from The Sartorialist

Getting dressed for work is pretty tricky--especially if you have a dress code at the office and you regularly take the jeep/bus/MRT/FX. Though my job doesn't require me to wear stockings and heels, I consider it a duty to look like I'm raring to get to work--and not like I can't wait to catch some zzz's.

This conviction is the result of that horrible experience of coming to work in rubber slippers (because they're comfy for commuting), and then finding out later that day that I was to attend a press event (cocktails) in Asian Hospital, and hopefully catch an interview with Lea Salonga (which didn't push through...thankfully). Since then, I've thought more about street fashion, which in this case can also be called: Clothes to Wear When Traveling from One End of the City to the Other without Looking Like a Tornado Victim or a Teleported Island Hopper at Any Point in Time.

Here are some points to remember when dressing for commuting and going to work:

No slippers. It took me a potential interview with an international star to realize how inappropriate slippers are when worn for work. I think it's the "expensive rubber slipper trend" that initially made slippers "acceptable" in places other than the house and the beach. It got so common that one hotel put up a sign that said "No slippers allowed inside." No matter how expensive those things are they're still RUBBER CUTOUTS made for walking in sand.
A good pair of closed walking shoes is a nice investment. I've noticed some women commuters wearing office uniforms (the pencil skirt kind) with stockings and slippers. While I understand how much discomfort commuting in one's office heels could be, I don't think donning the slippers is a better idea--after all, you're still in your uniform! There are nice comfy walking shoes that can complement that office uniform out of office hours. Go shopping!
Mini-anythings are giant boo-boos! While fashion experts may hail short shorts, mini-skirts, spaghetti-halter tops and tiny tees as the "in" thing, the commuter is wise never to listen to such ridiculous people. Try climbing in a jeepney or hopping off a bus (or even stepping into a taxi) in one of those microscopic numbers and tell me if you didn't feel a trifle uncomfortable. Sure, it's hot out there, but you gotta remember that in a public vehicle you've got enough things to worry about (the fare, your bag, your phone, your limbs, your breathing space) that any piece of clothing that make you have to double-, triple-, quadruple-check yourself every time you change position makes you prime target for becoming a victim of snatching (not to mention the obvious). Besides, what would your boss say if you step in the office in that?
Be a "coherent" dresser! It all comes to this, then. Deciding what to wear for the commute and for work is a matter of choosing pieces that are decent for the office and at the same time comfortable for the road (bringing extra items--like comfy shoes and an extra shirt--to satisfy the difference is simply a matter of foresight). Though different places require different "appropriate attire," it's still the wearer who decides what to don every day and in effect defines who she is. For example, if you're a neat person, that means you are neat wherever you go--at home, in the office, in the thick of the city. If you're one character in one place and a totally different one in the next... well, that's quite a tangle you've got yourself into! This is how coherence--or unity in lifestyle--is important: in all the fashion decisions you'll have to make daily, you are the constant; your personal modest and considerate choices are the pattern, the groundwork of the rules you follow on appropriate dressing. And the more you see how the way you dress affects the people around you, the smarter your choices will be--on the street or out of it.

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Oh by the way, there will be a talk on "stylish dressing and hairstyling" next Saturday (Feb 27) to be given by Ms. Boots Estrada and Ms. Ester Ong! Here are the details:

From Head to Toe
Feb 27, 2010
Dining Hall 1 & 2, UA&P
2:00-2:15 Registration
2:15-3:30 Talk
Smart Casual
PhP 200
(For women ages 14-35)

Love love me do!

2010-02-15T23:25:00.000-08:00

That little cutie on the cover is Ayesha Nunez, photographed by Krissy Rodriguez of Little People Lifestyle Photography. What do you think of our "lifestyle cover"? Tee-hee!

What I remember most about putting this issue together is spending an afternoon racking our brains (I mean me and EIC Diana) for suitable love songs that could make good titles for our articles. An article about Gestational Diabetes ended up being called "One sweet day" and one about teaching kids to master following rules became "Baby one more time." It was one of the lesser-stress days--that we still have them occasionally is something I am always thankful for. We were thinking maybe we could put in a contest asking readers to sing us a love song that we used as title and win some fun prizes. But maybe next time! ;)

The theme for this month is "Surround your family with love," and it takes more than listening to love songs all day to do that! From learning how to lessen petty fights (by keeping one's mouth shut when one has to!) to being there during the wife's pregnancy and long, long after, there are a lot of good reads for the mom or dad who just wants to know more things about pregnancy, child care and raising a family.

In this "modern" day and age, kids really need to grow up in a REAL LOVE-filled home--to be frank, what is being promoted as "natural" (i.e. by the highly sexualized media) can be very misleading! It's time to help people realize that Love is deeper than sex. And strong families are perhaps the best weapon against the things that degrade society little by little. If kids are raised knowing what Real Love is, pretty soon everyone will see how absurd we've let our media culture become. And maybe something can be done about those big ugly things in EDSA.

Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, SM baby department stores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama), Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall.

No small roles

2010-02-09T00:35:00.000-08:00

We started the Papet Pasyon rehearsals again! Three new puppeteers are joining this year so I don't know if I'll still be bread or wine (or both). Anyhoo, here's a little something I thought about in last Sunday's rehearsals, and maybe it would be good to share.

It was my Theater 131 teacher Sir Behn (Behn Cervantes) who said those words in the title of this post. In fact, it's even longer than that. He said, "There are no small roles." I don't remember if he said it once or repeatedly throughout the semester, but it stuck with me. I remember it every time I do my work, or whenever I pick up a puppet, or even when I do some house chores, it reverberates in my head.

In my first Papet Pasyon, I remember having been assigned to do all those little stuff: the bread and wine, the bag of silver, the cross of Christ. And I remember looking at the other puppeteers with green eyes and thinking, "I wish I had an apostle or at least a puppet with rods on its hands." But as a newcomer, I only got to hold a dancer in the first number and all those little objects.

But as I've participated in more and more Pasyon shows and have handled more puppets, I've come to understand how difficult and important those little roles are. For one, you can hardly see in the dark and are more liable to be stepped on when you're crouching and praying for your dear life while everyone is standing around you carrying heavy wooden apostles. For another, just one little bad pass (like, say, in handling the bag of coins between Dathan and Judas) is a magnified mistake as opposed to a big blocking mishap among the larger puppets (with a person-puppet, you can always make it pretend it knows what it's doing; a bag of coins floating in the air, on the other hand, will be a magical phenomenon that fits nicely only in Professor Flitwick's first year class).

Finally, what's the Last Supper without the bread and wine?

It doesn't stop in Theater class or puppeteering. There are no small roles. In the work you do, have you ever considered any of your tasks a menial one? Imagine taking it out: does the office work still hold together? In Baby Mag, I've "arrrghed" over the task of compiling all the baby pictures in Baby Gallery and making sure the names are spelled right--but (surprise!) that's the first page mommies turn to when they buy the magazine! I know because there is always a letter saying thanks for publishing a baby photo. Small task, but important.

There is always that temptation to just do the little things haphazardly--after all, "no one might notice" or "it's just a little thing". But the truth is, in everything one does, one leaves a bit of himself...something like a stamp of ownership, or a proof of manufacture. Slipshod work, then, is just proof of a slipshod heart. (I say "heart" because that's where the "I" is--the real one, without the mask.)

In this way, it isn't only a matter of seeing the little things as important--anyone can do that. It's also a matter of wanting to treat the small things as big things, to put one's all in every task that lay ahead. I am shortchanging you by quoting Sir Behn incompletely. What he said in whole, which he directed as a challenge, especially to that lone shy and silly girl in his class was: "There are no small roles...just small actors."

So get to it!

Papet ASEAN!

2010-01-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

It's a busy time for puppeteers now that February is coming up. On February 24-26, puppeteers from different ASEAN countries (such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines) come together at the Abelardo Hall Auditorium (College of Music, UP Diliman) to showcase their different puppetry forms and techniques to help create appreciation and awareness among the younger generations.

At a time when television and the Internet rank high as main forms of entertainment for kids, the puppets of Papet ASEAN 2010 provide a different (and if I may stay so, creativity-enhancing) take on what entertains kids--and at the same time educates them. Join the Seminar on Puppetry-in-Education at the Claro M. Recto Hall, Bulwagang Rizal (Faculty Center), UP Diliman, at 4pm on Feb 25.

Here's the news snippet on the puppet fest:

“PAPET ASEAN 2010: Celebrating ASEAN Puppet Traditions” is a 3-day celebration of artistry, solidarity, and life as distinguished puppet artists and experts/scholars meet, perform and discuss the rich tradition of puppetry in the ASEAN.

Puppets come alive on Feb. 24 (Festival Opening) and Feb. 25-26 (10 am & 2:30 pm shows @ the Abelardo Hall Auditorium). The festival will feature Mascots and Puppets Specialists (Singapore), Pak Yusoff Mamat (Malaysia), 2 Indonesian dalangs, Anino Shadowplay Collective (Philippines), Ony Carcamo (Philippines), Roppets Edutainment (Philippines), and Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas (Philippines). A seminar on puppetry-in-education is scheduled on Feb. 25.

PAPET ASEAN 2010 coincides with the celebration of the National Arts Month, the U.P. Diliman Month and the U.P. Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts 50^th Anniversary.

Festival Organizer Samahan ng mga Papetir ng Pilipinas acknowledges the invaluable support of the ASEAN Foundation, ASEAN Puppetry Association, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, UNESCO, the Quezon City Government, PAGCOR, Theater Lighting Technology, Royal Embassy of Cambodia, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the University of the Philippines (Office of the President, Office of the Chancellor, Office for Initiatives in Culture and Arts, College of Arts & Letters, and the College of Music Department of Musicology).

Mark your calendar for Papet ASEAN 2010—February 24-26, 2010--and get ready for this magical puppetry event!

For inquiries, call/text 0918.9032040, 439.1471 or email papetir@gmail.com.

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Schedule of shows!

Feb 25/Thurs

10am and 2:30pm

Wayang golek dalang (Indonesia), Pak Yusoff Mamat (wayang kulit, Malaysia), Anino Shadowplay Collective (shadow puppetry, Philippines)

Feb 26/Fri

10am and 2:30pm

Wayang kulit dalang (Indonesia), Roppets Edutainment (table puppetry and muppets, Philippines), Mascots and Puppets Specialists (marionettes, Singapore)

Feb 26
Festival closing (after 2:30pm show)

Tickets (P200) are available at the Department of Speech Communication & Theater Arts, FC3069, Bulwagang Rizal, College of Arts & Letters, and Ticket Net)

March for Life - JAN 22

2010-01-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

Statement of Solidarity with the January 22 March for Life

We, concerned Filipinos from all walks of life, who uphold, respect and protect the dignity and quality of human life from natural conception (fertilization) to natural death, and the natural institutions of marriage and the family, hereby express our solidarity with the people participating in the January 22, 2010 March for Life in Washington, D.C., USA.

DIANA UICHANCO
MANNY AMADOR
MIKE GOMEZ
MIKE MAPA
NICOLE BAUTISTA
BEN SANTILLAN
MON CABRERA
WILLY JOSE

* The March for Life is an annual peaceful protest held on January 22 to mark the 1973 Roe v. Wade US Supreme Court decision that decriminalized abortion. The first March for Life in 1974 had about 20,000 participating; in recent years, the event has drawn together an average of 200,000. It is held in Washington D.C., but in the last several years people from different parts of the US have been holding their own satellite activities to bring awareness to the repercussions of the infamous 1973 decision, and to reiterate the dignity of human life in all stages, from womb to tomb.

---

Some students from the University of Asia and the Pacific had a tarp made of the Statement of Solidarity and displayed it for people to sign. In this picture, UAP faculty Abby De Leon signs up in support of the Pro-Life cause! (Photo courtesy of Mike Gomez.)

If you want to sign up too, just leave a comment here and I'll edit the entry to add your name. You can also post the statement in your FB, blog, Multiply, etc., and add your name to the list. :D

Happiness!

2010-01-18T22:18:00.000-08:00

Need a laugh? In putting this issue together, I learned that describing what happens to the body when we laugh is very hard to put to words! Is it because laughing is so natural that no one bothers to think about the how-to-go-about-it?

Topics featured--such as laughter (and how it heals stress), endorphins and health, babies and giggle-inducing tickling, money's non-relation to happiness, positive thinking in pregnancy (plus perks!), and what really makes kids happy--show exactly how Baby Magazine covers happiness from ear to ear! It's important to start the year with a smile, don't you think? And, with optimism hinged in the right place, this smile should last all year long.

The cover taken by Karen Ilagan captures the laughter of Mommy Reena and Baby Caleb, winners of J&J Look Alike, Skin Alike contest. Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, SM baby department stores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama), Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall.

How to be noticed in church

2010-01-17T23:48:00.000-08:00

So, you want to be noticed. In church. No matter the motives, the methods are the same. Here is a list of Pinoy churchgoing practices that are bound to help heads turn your way. I gather these from three years' experience of attending mass in a chapel beside a mall (i.e., where the experts attend mass). I assure you that those heads would not be smiling, but as long as they don't breathe a word to you, you can go on turning heads this way. Ready?

1. Getting noticed starts with the clothes. Pick out your rattiest pair of pants. Or do like the party girls do, wear short shorts, spaghetti straps and bling. Keep your cool hat on. Or wear slippers. If you're a guy, wear a sando or beach shorts. Tropical!

2. Even if there is somebody at home to watch him, bring your wailing baby. Or bring a restless tot and tell him that "Bro" is on the cross, but He'll come down and snatch him if he misbehaves. Make your voice loud as you say this so other people will be impressed by your wit.

3. If you don't have a baby or a toddler, bring your living breathing barking animal. Tie its fur in pink ribbons and give it a shirt to wear to make it look more like a person. Nobody will be able to tell the difference.

4. If you have neither kid nor dog, you can bring a big bag and treat it like a person. Save it a seat and leave that old person standing on the side without a seat. Who could bear seeing a genuine LV on the floor? Sacrilege!

5. Act bored. Rest both arms on the back of the seat, cross your legs, step on the cushion for kneeling, preferably after you stepped on wet grass. Slouch and make faces at your brother. And when your mother tells you to quit it, pout until the end of the mass.

6. Talk to your companion when the priest is talking. Shut your mouth when people are responding. Repeat 70 x 7 times.

Good luck being noticed! I hope the people at your church become more vocal about correcting bad conduct.

Book-loving, and -keeping

2010-01-08T19:47:00.000-08:00

Been reading A Passion for Books, edited by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan. It is a book about "collecting, reading, borrowing, lending, caring for, and appreciating books." I am not a book collector, in the sense that A.S.W. Rosenbach was a book collector, but I do have quite a hoard, which has been quietly encroaching my parents' shelves too (partly because my dad likes reading my books after--or even before--I've read them...in fact he even picks up some of the books I borrow from friends--while I'm reading them).

I am really amused with some anecdotes about writers (like the one about Margaret Mitchell getting so overwhelmed about her book being chosen as Book of the Month that she kept it to herself for three days, and the one about Wordsworth tearing open the pages of a new book using a butter-y butter knife) because in these little glimpses you really get to picture them as real people, and not as the big names behind some famous book. But I want to delve into caring for books in this post.

I live in the top floor of a building, and up there, when it rains, the walls sweat. When we moved in, we converted all of the nooks in the rooms into bookshelves by putting some glass in them, and they're pretty sturdy and accessible. Problem was we didn't know that bit about the walls, so when the rainy season came, we learned the hard way that those easy-access shelves were death-traps for books. It was a good thing that the books that were sticking to the walls were wrapped in plastic so we could just wipe the mold away and save them.

I've at least three rainy seasons in that flat under my belt, and I've found a good way to use the shelves without leaving much damage to the books. Instead of the usual way of putting books side by side, I just stack them up one on top of the other. This way, no book needs to touch the traitorous walls. It's just harder to pick out a book that is in the bottom, but that's a small price to pay if it means the books will never get wet.

Here are a few mental notes I've made about keeping books.
1. Shelves should be reachable; too-high shelves discourage browsing and rediscovering old favorites. I failed to mention that, besides the nooks that we converted to mini bookshelves, my dad had the carpenter build a long ledge for books one foot below the ceiling. I cannot reach any of the books up there and it constantly frustrates me. Besides, it's harder to dust!
2. Keep away books from harsh light. I have a booklet that I keep by my bedside. I wondered every day why the face got lighter and lighter as time went by. Then I remembered that I kept it on the window ledge, unprotected by the curtain.
3. Regular cleaning keeps books happy! If you don't regularly dust the books (or shift them around, rearrange them), they could turn brown faster, gather dust and form cobwebs (A-choo!). In the words of one of my friends: "they age."
4. Reading while eating? Proceed with caution when it comes to snacking. I sometimes read at the dining table because there is no other decent place where I can sit and have a sturdy table to put a glass of water on. (And reading on the bed makes me sleepy.) But because it's a dining table I tend to snack. There are neat foods and there are messy ones, so I guess anyone will be able to distinguish them and exercise proper caution. Mealtimes, though, should be spent with spoon and fork on the right and left hands respectively.

"I have sometimes heard of an Iliad in a nutshell; but it hath been my fortune to have much oftener seen a nutshell in an Iliad." -Jonathan Swift

Time for some resolutions that stick!

2010-01-05T02:26:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions because they're like fireworks. They make a big loud show, then sputter, die, and leave you with ashes, which is bad for the environment. How many times have New Year's Resolutions been broken and then not taken up again until the year turned? Honestly, January 1 comes around too few times to be able to actually help anyone be a better person. So why do people bother with resolutions?

What is easily forgotten is that the word resolutions is not inseparable from the two words that usually precede it. Remove "New Year's" and you still get its full meaning--it still poses the same big challenge, that is, to make better people out of us.

If anything, resolutions should be quiet (just keep it to yourself or share it with someone whom you think can really help you make it and keep it), not so grand (maybe one or two solid things...three or more would be too ambitious for a person to achieve--besides, you can always add to it later when you think you've mastered some), and constant (you don't stop being on your guard...ever).

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Work started yesterday and I'm under a heap of things to do. So this is just a quick post, but I hope it is helpful and makes sense. The end.

Happy New Year!

There are no menial tasks

2009-12-28T17:01:00.000-08:00

It's the lull between Christmas and New Year again, and I'm playing superhero--that is, I'm doing superhero duties: cleaning out the closet, sweeping, washing dishes, fixing the bed... apart from my usual cleaning of the cat business. Done on a daily basis, tidying up could get really repetitive; it's not surprising that it's hard to pry oneself away from the computer or book or television just to get those plates out of the way.

But let's not end the year with a note of lethargy. House chores, though effectively tiresome and repetitive, are never a lowly occupation. It takes some know-how to get them done well, some patience to get them done at all, and a lot of love to get them done with ease.

And, whoever said that chores left the house looking duller than before? Completing all those little things brightens up the home considerably--and quietly. Nobody needs to be praised all the time for the good things he does... because people who really want to do good will continue doing what they do even without anybody taking notice. That's why they're superheroes.

From A Christmas Carol

2009-12-23T15:23:00.000-08:00

"Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, everyone!"

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

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May we always know how to "keep Christmas well" (this season and all year round) like this new Scrooge! Merry Christmas everyone! This is posted a day early because I don't normally go online on Christmas day. :P

When shutting up is the more graceful option

2009-12-17T02:13:00.000-08:00

Taking public transport has not only tested many a hot-head's patience to the limits, but also their self-control. How gratifying must it feel to let everyone know that "I'm not pleased! Isn't it obvious?"--and perhaps this is not the first time anyone has fantasized about putting noisy, pushy, slow-walking, or [insert peeve here] people in their place.

This reminds me of a woman in the Guadalupe Station at the MRT. She was waiting outside to squeeze in with the heaving mass of football playing women, but alas it was no use. In her frustration, she shouted at us--all those already inside the car when the train stopped there--saying, "Ang luwag-luwag pa kaya, ba't di kayo umusog!" [There's still a lot of space, why don't you cram yourselves in some more?"] But of course none of us could move, so the doors closed and she was left outside--to the great relief of all.

Another woman let me know of her ire when she was being indecisive about entering the elevator. There were a bunch of us inside already and she lingered by the door. Everybody didn't know what she planned to do; I, being by the buttons, was holding the "open" button for her, but let go because she wouldn't come in--I really thought she wasn't going up and she would wait for the elevator that would be going down. But, suddenly she decided to step in--and the doors closed on her. After the elevator hit her and opened again to let her in, she stomped inside in a huff, gave me a bad look and forcefully punched her floor (2nd). Though I am really sorry for not understanding her body language, I still think it's very childish behavior for a mature woman. Shame.

While it may seem gratifying to let people know that you're fuming and losing your patience over their, say, foolishness, there are times when keeping these feelings to yourself is the most graceful way out. Look at it this way: in the MRT, at rush hour, everyone is tired, everyone wants to go home, everyone is not in a very good mood. But among all those women, it is you who happens to lose it--you're the only one who makes a scene! Who's the fool then?

It may not be obvious, but there are good things that can come from holding that tongue, even if you think you're in the right. One, there is that exercise on patience--an opportunity to grow. Two, the people around you (or those with you) won't feel the need to pretend you don't exist. Three, overall, it's better for everyone to be saved from enduring your tirade-cum-entertainment showcase, and that includes you. Trust me, a person who displays such a violent show of ire hardly ever leaves a gathering or a place gracefully--she may have left with her head held highly and righteously, but because actions speak louder than words, she will only be remembered for losing her temper, and not for being right.

Stairway to heaven

2009-12-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, I must admit I have never watched an episode of this series, be it the Korean version or the Filipino version. But my mom likes it a lot and it's not the first time I had to listen to her tell me over again how some girl called Eunice could be so jealous of the bida girl called Jodi that she, the former, would run over the latter twice, which in effect, results in injuries that kill Jodi just after she finds happily ever after with Cholo at the end of the series.

The Filipino version was made by GMA7. (There are so many koreanovela remakes now it's easy to forget which station did what.) Anyhoo, my mom was just telling me last night how they changed the ending of the Pinoy version of Stairway to Heaven. She felt sad for Jodi not because she dies--she really dies in the original anyway--but because in our version she doesn't forgive Eunice. Isn't it funny that people in a non-Catholic country like Korea would see it fit for the character to forgive before she dies, but we wouldn't? After copying everything about the series (even the cold-weather clothing and Jodi's abominable bangs), we forget to add the important fact that Jodi dies having already forgiven her enemies.... My mom says, that's the main reason why Stairway is so nice, because Jodi was so good. Apparently she isn't as good in the Philippine setting.

Maybe we're just so smitten by the Cholo-Jodi love story that the series' (probably existent) finer points have been tossed aside for more cutesy scenes between the two. I heard before that stories for Korean television were written with family values and individual virtues in mind--perhaps that's why most of the koreanovelas have relatively big roles for parents and siblings--apart from the given bida guy and bida girl. (For the record, I have watched the korean Full House, Coffee Prince, and the first episodes of Princess Hours...and now that I think of it, all three aren't as "serious" as Stairway, in the sense that there is no character seeking some horrible revenge. For lack of a better word, they fall under the "pa-cute" genre.)

What is lacking in our TV culture? Besides the obvious disregard for dressing women well enough so that they are respected and not drooled over (gross, I know), there is a lack of teleserye storylines that really put nation-building values (be they individual or community values and virtues) to the fore. It really just looks like TV people have gotten so lazy that they simply recycle already-popular stories. And also like they're banking on the stars' "cuteness" to raise the ratings...

Good stories by themselves really do have the power to draw audiences. Before it got its Hollywood makeover, nobody read Harry Potter just because "Harry is cute"! It's the adventure that draws, not the "cuteness" of the character. If ever, people will admire Harry for his courage, not his good looks. (Besides, Rowling never wrote that Harry was good-looking.)

Frankly, Pinoy TV has become so focused on what characters look like that it has forgotten that, more important than the Ding-dong-Rhian, Piolo-KC, Richard-Heart cuteness oozing factor, it's how the characters face up to conflicts that makes a story come alive. What inherent qualities do they have that are admirable and worth emulating?

Maybe it's time we stop watching TV and read more books! At least through the books we choose, we're sure that nobody underestimates our intelligence. :P

Christmas!

2009-12-10T16:59:00.001-08:00

It's the Season of Gifts again! But more than the gifts we receive, it's time to look at what we can give this season. And by giving, I don't simply mean giving material tokens to loved ones. A gift of time is just as pleasing; as gift of effort goes a long way. The first Christmas, after all, was not a lavish material celebration--at least, not the way it is celebrated now. As Sunnyday says in her post:

This Christmas is bound to be a very, very different one for the many who were directly affected by the destructive typhoons our country experienced in September; add to that the families and other loved ones of the victims of the Ampatuan massacre in Maguindanao. So probably it will be a bit harder for some of them to appreciate the spirit of the season and the things that the birth of the Savior stands for: simplicity, poverty, self-giving. Hopefully, those of us around them will be the ones to help them see that there is much to be thankful for even amid times that challenge the human spirit.

Putting the meaning in Christmas really depends on us--and if we keep seeing it as a time to splurge on the latest gadgets "because we deserve it," then it's no surprise that the beauty and simplicity of the season itself eludes us. What is the meaning of Christmas? Take a few minutes in front of a belen and maybe you'll catch a glimpse of the immense Love behind it. Having a hard time? It only means you need to Stop! ...and listen.

Okay so I didn't talk about the newest issue of Baby, but do go out and buy a copy! We have many parenting tips and good reads.

On the cover is Maka Carpio waving hello to photographer Kristin Alfafara Rodriguez of Little People Lifestyle Photography. Baby magazine is published by Marathon Publishing Co. and is sold at all National Bookstores, SM baby department stores, Babyland (Robinsons Galleria, Shaw Blvd. near Cherry Foodarama), Baby & Co. (The Podium and Power Plant Mall), Bufini, Procreation Shangri-la mall, Big & Small Co. Shangri-la Mall.

A prude is...something to think about

2009-12-06T02:51:00.000-08:00

The definition of prude is a person who is described as being obsessively concerned with decorum, modesty, and propriety. Even the definition sounds so...derogatory.

Bad connotations aside, I do wonder how people started thinking that keeping the standards high when it comes to fashion and pop culture is a bad thing. Is it because actually voicing out that some fashion brand's "illegally" low jeans look uncomfy instantly makes one uncool? Is it because if somebody smart had just cracked a green joke, correcting him would make one look dumb?

Who gives the labels anyway?

More on this some other time. :P

Checklist: little acts...

2009-11-29T03:51:00.000-08:00

Quick post. Here are 9 little things to do to be more charitable.

Listen...and carefully. Look the person in the eye and don't keep looking at your watch or mobile phone. There's so much to learn; pay attention!
Be affectionate. This depends on how close you are to a person. Of course, don't be too touchy with everybody--that would be creepy, hehe!
Laugh. When something is really funny. But not at somebody else's expense.
Write sincere messages and notes to friends. A well-written note will never be forgotten!
Give sincere compliments. Sincere is the key word.
Go out of your way to do something kind...every day. Do favors, and people will find it easier to go out of their way for you too; more importantly, happiness comes from helping others, not helping yourself.
Get your "alone time." And give others theirs.
Keep a cheerful disposition. When you're exhausted, get that hair out of your face and make an effort to look fresh and happy. It's not lying to yourself--it's just that not everyone needs to know of your woes. Maybe just your closest friends--even then, you can tell them without looking all torn and broken!
Inspire. Don't think about this too much. Simply do what is just, admire awesome people, stay grounded, stick to the truth, and keep working hard. Hopefully by example, you'll get others to do the same (so you better be worth emulating!).

Happy start of Advent!