Beam Me Up, Scottie.
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Posted:Sep 10, 2006 6:29 am
Last Updated:Sep 12, 2006 7:48 am 1814 Views
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HOW I wish I can just disappear right now and go somewhere by just saying "Beam me up, Scottie." Like right now, I could use a vacation because I haven't had one in a long time.
If I could only go to any place by just saying "Beam me up, Scottie", I would be tapping my shoes in Venice, Italy where I would do my sweet gondola ride through the Grand Canal. While the gondola man sings for me, my eyes would be feasting at the great beauty of the blue afternoon Italian sky.
When that moment is over (it's my ultimate dream in this temporal world), I'd be hugging myself while promenading around St. Mark's Square, smelling the honeyed breeze of Venice before nightfall, and I would be silently praying for my future God-given man.
When I am already bursting with happiness, and though I'm already tired, I'd still make sure to drag my feet and pass by for a while to get a feel of Rialto -- the most famous of the three bridges spanning the canal, lined with a double row of shops. In one of the pavement cafes, I'd look for an Italian friend so he/she could share a mug of brewed coffee with me and tell me all the rest of the goodness of Venice, or simply take in the beauty of the early evening hours. Chi trova un amico, truva un tesoro... one who finds a friend, finds a treasure.
The place has always fascinated me. Some of my dreams were characterized by striking mental pictures of romantic gondola rides. I love reading books that describe its historical splendour, and movies too. For example, I am not a big fan of Mark Wahlberg, but I did watch the Italian Job a number of times all because of the city. Then there's that other movie that starred Mandy Moore, and though I find it too cheesy for my liking, I didn't mind. I just wanted to see how Venice was featured.
Venice is an archipelago of 120 islands, connected by about 400 bridges. You can practically step on every island using these quaint and charming arch bridges. It's one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and one day I want to belong in it even if just for a while. The buildings and decorations, from Byzantine to Renaissance styles, show great artistic achievement of the Venitis, the first settlers of the place. Maybe in my past life, I was a Veniti.
Sigh... if I could only say "Beam me up, Scottie", I'm probably riding my wonderful, wonderful, wonderful route through the Grand Canal now, right this minute.
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Goodbye, Mommy Camie...
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Posted:Sep 9, 2006 7:40 am
Last Updated:Sep 10, 2006 4:53 am 1940 Views
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THERE are so many things I want to say or write but couldn't find the right mind to. Writer's block is at me again. I usually experience this when I have a big thing in my mind. Concentrating is difficult even when it's just really something trivial.
It makes me think why I need to even reflect when all I have to do is exactly do the first thing that comes inside my head. Pray tell, where are the fairies of sanity? Of lucidity? Tonight is the night that I need them most, and they're not somewhere within my space.
Tonight... 
All I wanted is just to say goodnight to Mommy Came, the mother of my Aunt Neneng, who passed away today just before nightfall. I will miss seeing her every morning when I go to the office. She had been a very important part of my "going-to-the-office-morning ritual" because every time, she's there to see me off... smiling and waving her frail hands at me.
Death is inevitable. It happens, and along with it is sadness. If life is true, so is death. It is its doppelganger. But she's back home with her Creator now, and that is most important. She's no longer going to feel the pain that this world always has a lot to give. She will be at peace... she had reached the vivid colors of her sunset, and her obligations had been fulfilled.
Death came to her as a friend and not like a thief in the night. And most important of all, she was with her family that loves her so much. So long, Mommy Came... I will miss you. My mornings won't be complete for a long time, but it's okay, I know where you are now.
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No Brain Cell Was Wasted Writing This
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Posted:Sep 8, 2006 8:06 pm
Last Updated:Sep 9, 2006 8:19 am 1805 Views
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ARE you confused about life? Take your pick here. Define what life is for you 
Life is a characteristic state or mode of living; "social life"; "city life"; "real life."
Life is the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living; "he hoped for a new life in Australia"; "he wanted to live his own life without interference from others."
Life is the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities; "he could no longer cope with the complexities of life."
Life is animation: the condition of living or the state of being alive; "while there's life there's hope"; "life depends on many chemical and physical processes."
Life is the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death); "the battery had a short life"; "he lived a long and happy life."
Life is the period between birth and the present time; "I have known him all his life."
Life is liveliness: animation and energy in action or expression; "it was a heavy play and the actors tried in vain to give life to it."
Life is biography: an account of the series of events making up a person's life.
Life is life sentence: a prison term lasting as long as the prisoner lives; "he got life for killing the guard."
Life is a multi-faceted concept. Life may refer to the ongoing process of which living things are a part; the period between the birth (or a point at which the entity can be considered to be living) and death of an organism; the condition of an entity that has been born (or reached the point in its existence at which it can be established to be alive) and has yet to die; and that which makes a living thing alive.
Life is the name of two notable magazines published in the United States.
Life is a live album by Irish band Thin Lizzy, released in 1983.
Life is a 1999 feature film from Universal Pictures. It stars Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence as two men forced into moonshining(being unable to otherwise pay off their debts), who take a shipment of booze into the deep south of Mississippi in 1932. They are framed for murder, and the judge sentences them to life in prison. The pair therefore spend the next seven decades in prison, at various times making attempts to break out and escape, becoming best friends at the end.
Life is a breakfast cereal made of whole grain oats, and distributed by the Quaker Oats Company.
Life was a Formula One constructor from Italy. They participated in 14 grands prix, entering a total of 14 cars.
LIFE IS... I won't even try defining this one.
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Acrophobic Me?
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Posted:Sep 8, 2006 7:25 am
Last Updated:Sep 9, 2006 6:28 am 1857 Views
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Like many others, I am afraid of heights too. Well, not afraid as in really afraid because I have no fear of airplanes... but sometimes, I do get intimidated.
There was one time I was in Malaysia, and I fell so utterly besotted with the grandiose of the Petronas Twin Towers, but sadly, no amount of cajoling would make me brave my panic and climb it. Every night the whole week I was there, I'd walk my way to where it is from my hotel located along Jalan Putra to just sit on the roadway and stare at it. I have so many pictures of it from where I sat, but I have nothing taken of the sceneries down below. And I regret that
Being afraid of heights is common and sometimes an appropriate feeling. But the phobia part kicks in when you feel scared in a safe environment, such as inside a skyscraper.
Well, we weren't exactly designed to fly. But most of the time, a fear of heights can become a foolish obsession, so bad that many are too terrified to even use an escalator in a shopping mall. I am not like that, thank goodness... I'm not a serious case.
I don't know if I'm making sense here, but I guess if you're not afraid, if you don't have the fear of heights, then it's really hard to explain to somebody.
I am posting this for you... yes, you know who you are
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“He Is The Cow”
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Posted:Sep 7, 2006 9:51 am
Last Updated:Sep 7, 2006 4:13 pm 1709 Views
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NOW HERE'S a true essay submitted during a civil service examination in India that I find a good read. "Be warned because by the time you finish this, you'll have forgotten all the English you ever learned," says a friend who sent it to me.
For good laughs -- because I'm really wretched today -- I read this three times. Once aloud to one of my reporters who came into the office this afternoon feeling dejected because her news source stood her up. This is certainly an ice-breaker considering the day's palpable monotony.
"The cow is a successful animal. Also he is 4 footed, and because he is female, he give milks, [but will do so when he is got .] He is same like-God, sacred to Hindus and useful to man.
But he has got four legs together. Two are forward and two are afterwards. His whole body can be utilised for use. More so the milk. Milk comes from 4 taps attached to his basement. [Horses don’t have any such attachment]
What can it do? Various butter, cream, curd, ghee, the condensed milk and so forth. Also he is useful to cobbler, watermans and mankind generally.
His motion is slow only because he is of lazy species, Also his other motion is much useful to trees, plants as well as making flat (manure - JLM) cakes, like pizza in hand and drying in the sun. .
Cow is the only animal that extricates his feeding after eating. Then afterwards she chew with his teeth whom are situated in the inside of the mouth. He is incessantly in the meadows in the grass. .
His only attacking and defending organ is the horns, specially so when he is got . This is done by knowing his head whereby he causes the weapons to be paralleled to the ground of the earth and instantly proceed with great velocity forwards.
He has got tails also, situated in the backyard, but not like similar animals. It has hairs on the other end of the other side. This is done to frighten away the flies which alight on his cohesive body hereupon he gives hit with it.
The palms of his feet are soft unto the touch. So the grasses head is not crushed. At night time have poses by looking down on the ground and he shouts . His eyes and nose are like his other relatives. This is the cow.”
FOOTNOTE: We are informed that the candidate passed the exam, and is now in the government’s civil service, somewhere in Bihar.
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Preventing
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Posted:Sep 5, 2006 6:28 am
Last Updated:Sep 8, 2006 11:38 pm 1933 Views
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A FEW weeks ago, the naked body of a young female high school student was found dead near a river in Barangay Magara, Roxas. According to investigations done by the police, the poor girl had 13 wounds on her head. Apparently not satisfied her, her attacker had to kill her too.
Then there was also the story about a 12-year old girl who was held for a few days to be again and again. She was rescued, but the trauma she suffered would already change her life as she grows old.
A few months ago, there’s a young woman who was too by her neighbor somewhere in a municipality in southern Palawan. No case was filed against the because he had offered to marry her to save her reputation. Sadly, the parents accepted.
has always been a difficult offense to prosecute because often the only direct evidence comes from the victim and the alleged . Now that the government has written off the implementation of the death penalty law, what gives it and the society more teeth to abate that cuts across culture, gender, ages, families, and even power?
In many communities, happens because people are complacent. When they hear a neighbor has been , they only care to know about how she was attacked or what was done to her. They hear it from the news, and that’s it. They do not realize that they can do something to stop in their communities. They forgot that they and any member of their families are at risk too of being .
People in the community can do something to decrease if not stop the number of cases. Prevention is still better than cure. To hinder from claiming more victims, people have to speak up and support survivors of . You will probably never see a in progress, but you will see and hear attitudes and behaviors that degrade women and promote . When your best friend tells a joke about , say that you do not find it funny. When you read an article that blames a survivor for being assaulted, write a letter to the editor. When laws are proposed that limit women’s rights, let politicians know that you will not support them. Do anything but remain silent. will not be taken seriously until everyone knows how common it is. In the Philippines alone, the number of those who have been continues to increase everyday. By learning to sensitively support survivors in their lives, men can help both women and other men feel safer to speak out about being and let the world know how serious a problem is. Talk with women about how the risk of being affects their daily lives; about how they want to be supported if it has happened to them; about what they think men can do to prevent sexual violence. If we are willing to listen, we can learn a lot from women about the impact of and how to stop it.
And lastly, work to end other oppressions. feeds off many other forms of prejudice- including racism, homophobia, and religious discrimination. By speaking out against any beliefs and behaviors, including , that promote one group of people as superior to another and deny other groups their full humanity, you support everyone’s equality.
Unless we do something, will continue to happen everywhere. Women will continue being violated.
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Chinese Cinderella
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Posted:Aug 29, 2006 8:13 pm
Last Updated:Sep 4, 2006 5:59 am 1727 Views
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IF THERE'S one thing that makes me happy leaving my old job, it's probably getting the groove back to read books again. Reading is one passion I have, and nurturing it is a personal journey that I do like to continue even if I make stops along the way.
Three years ago, I remember buying a book called Chinese Cinderella in Power Books in Manila. I never got to reading it when I got back to Palawan as time was so precious for me then. I have this bad addiction for buying books that I thought are nice, and then just put them away until I find them again. If it's books we're talking about, I can really shop. Bad, bad, bad sometimes...
Anyway, last night, as I was trying to find an old travelling bag to lend to a friend, I found an unopened Power Books plastic with Adeline Yen Mah's "Chinese Cinderella" book.
Chinese Cinderella is Yen Mah's true childhood story in China. It tells of her courage and triumph over the abuse she suffered from the hands of her father and stepmother.
If there's anything to learn in the book, it's about the meaning of courage, and that we shouldn't allow loneliness and the feeling that we are unwanted to be our greatest poverty. Courage should be every human being's wealth. To be weakened is to be lonely even if we are surrounded by all the good things around us.
The book has so much drama which made me shed some tears. There are some scenes that I find impossible, but they did happen to her. And I even wondered if she felt loved at all when she was growing up. Even when she was already an adult, Yen Mah still had difficulty finding care and love. And yet, she went through it all and came out a better person.
It's a great read. And you can also finish it in less than an hour.
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Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park
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Posted:Aug 29, 2006 4:05 am
Last Updated:Aug 29, 2006 4:50 am 1732 Views
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HALFWAY through writing my editorial for Palawan Times Newsweekly's 24th edition at home (as in now) for this week, my attention was caught by the news balling behind me from ABS-CBN's TV Patrol. Apparently, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has caught sight of an oil slick off the affected areas of the Guimaras Island shores that is hastily moving its way to the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park in Palawan -- my province.
For those who do not know it yet, the reefs of Tubbataha are popular dive sites for foreign and domestic scuba diving fanatics. The park covers 33,200 hectares of marine sanctuaries, including the North and South Reefs. "It is a unique example of an atoll reef with a very high density of marine species; the North Islet serving as a nesting site for birds and marine turtles."
The protection of Tubbataha is paramount to the provincial government of Palawan and many non-government organizations (NGOs) as it directly affects people from the nearby Cagayancillo island municipality who depend on the reef for their livelihood.
The news is upsetting, considering that this afternoon in the office I was just appreciating the framed picture of a sea turtle taken from Tubbataha hanging on our walls. I inquired if it was a gift from the World Wide Fund for Nature, but I was told it was just a campaign poster for the protection of Tubbataha, and our photojournalist just had it framed so we'll have a bit of color there.
Tubbataha was declared a national marine park in 1988 and a world heritage site in 1993. The park is the home of numerous marine species. Most divers visit this area because of the chance to see large pelagics, such as sharks, mantas, rays, turtles, mackerels, tunas and barracudas but there are also interesting smaller animals, such as nudibranchs, special crabs and shrimps and corals. The reef is very rich in fish, large schools of different species practically covering the corals and visibility at some days is just unbelievably good.
The Tubbataha atolls lie 182 km southeast of Puerto Princesa and are part of a larger group of tiny islands that stretch from the northeast to the southwest, compromising Cagayancillo, Caluse, Cavili, Arena, then the Tubbataha reefs, Bastera (Maeander Reef), Bancoran, San Miguel islands and Cagayan close to Borneo. However these islands don't belong to the National park and thus are not protected.
I pray that our provincial government, different NGOs, and out congressmen would work together so the oil slick won't reach Tubbataha. Otherwise, it would be a sad state.
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I Waited For You During The Solar Eclipse
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Posted:Aug 28, 2006 8:00 pm
Last Updated:Aug 29, 2006 3:47 am 1800 Views
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Last night,
I waited for you
You said you'll be with me
To linger and watch
The solar eclipse.
There was I
In my little garden
With my red roses
In my hands
For they too,
Were excited to see
The solar eclipse.
But day
Turned into night
And the sun has set
There beyond the horizon
The crimson sky
Yet, I didn't see you
Not even your shadow
Lost its my way to my garden
So I can tell you about
The solar eclipse.
I feel sad that night
On my bed
And I had a dream:
I was Cleopatra
You were Mark Anthony
I was waiting
In my bedroom
Filled with the smell
Of the roses.
A dream
I still made
Even without you
That day
Of the solar eclipse.
(Written in the kitchen while cooking lumpia for my father at 5:45 p.m.)
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An Unnamed Poem
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Posted:Aug 28, 2006 9:01 am
Last Updated:May 20, 2024 8:31 am 1728 Views
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It's silent
Deep, unfathomable
So mysterious
Understanding is impossible.
It's unhappy
Miserable, woeful
Not cheerful
Done without proper thought.
It's unwise
Reckless, foolish
Lacking wisdom
Most of the time without knowledge.
It's angry
Dark looks, livid
Shady secrets
With no ability to endure.
It's love
Passion, devotion
Feels romantic
But... most of the time
Just an attitude
Or a feeling of aversion
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