17 October 2012

Winter Is Coming

Five years ago, I didn't have a constant internet connection. But I blogged - in notebooks. I have volumes of those, some of which I have no idea where. I consider myself lucky to have kept a few of them.

Here's one entry that I kinda like and remember fondly. It was written on 8 October 2007 at 5:20 in the morning. The title was "Constant".

I am afraid of constants. That's why I abhor Math; it's got loads of it.

Just what do you do when something you thought would be always there suddenly disappears? When such happens, you're left dumbfounded, your brain refusing to accept the fact being fed to it. Not without asking a couple of questions. What happened? Where did it go? And even then, the whole idea sinks in like stone in a tub of jelly.

I get too paranoid, spoiling the moment. I reprimand myself for being such but then I can't help but think. I know that I should get over it and enjoy, relish what I have now. Guess being happy could be overwhelmingly addictive, especially if it's too good to be true, and you wouldn't want to see it over. But alas, happiness, just like everything else, would eventually come to an end. And that's the scary part. What would I do if he no longer holds my hand? If he no longer calls in the middle of the night? If I no longer see the words "I love you" in my message inbox? What would I do if he's gone?

Cry? Pretend? Or die?

I wouldn't want to know. This fea of losing something that has become constant is actually driving him away.

How do you kill thoughts?

- In dia metuosum


I was such a hopeless emo kid back then! And the title should have been "inconstant" or "variables" since I talked about things that change.

Just sharing.

16 October 2012

I Dream of Captain Jack

It's 4:34AM now, GMT+8. These are events from yesterday. 

After the grueling waiting process in a company only to be turned down, I went home with a massive headache. So I decided to take an evening nap after I had a late lunch with my boyfriend.

I dreamed of John Barrowman.




Well, not outright. There were some montage Doctor Who-ish scenes where I was on a train and had to punch the chests of zombie-like creatures to kill them. The setting, I gather, was in Baguio and we went to our friend's place there. There were hundreds of LCD TVs in their garage and they were wrapping it. There were also pine tree seedlings. Apparently, the trees were extinct and those are the only remaining stumps.

And then there was John Barrowman.

Dressed in his army coat, he was asking me about his picture in Filipino.

"Nasaan yung picture ko sa wallet mo?"

I took out my wallet, showed it to him and said, "Eto o." And he seemed satisfied after that.




Never mind that he was speaking to me in Filipino. The kilig was just overwhelming that the only thing that could overpower that is bacon.




I woke up to the smell of bacon. My housemate was cooking bacon-wrapped asparagus.


Oh damn.


08 October 2012

HOT GUY IN ACTION!


Okay, I know that was a cheap move. But I really need you to read this post.


Last Saturday, I encountered a photo that has been passed around through Facebook about an old woman vendor named Lola Constancia. The story goes that she is already very weak and elderly but she still sells her merchandise everyday. There are even times that she's out late because she still hasn't sold everything. It broke my heart into a million pieces.

So I made a call out to all my Facebook contacts by sharing the photo and asking if anyone knew any information about the poor lady, since I mean to send out help in any way that I can. Another reason is that I had to make sure if the story is real.

Finally, an old friend and colleague of mine gave information regarding a website that attempted to consolidate the pledges to help her. The poor lady is said to reside in Antipolo. I also found out there that Lola Constancia's story has been featured in the show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho. Unfortunately, I think it failed to generate the needed action, both from the people and the local government. 




As of this post's publish date, the last update from the website was back in 2 July 2012. Nothing followed after that. I am not sure if the efforts to help Lola Constancia have ceased entirely or what, but I really want to know. I left my number and email address there and I am yet to receive communication from whoever maintains that site.

Now that I have raised awareness in you who are reading this right now, here comes my call for action. I urge you to go to the website that I mentioned earlier. Or to make your life easier, click here. A word of caution though: the form has a field that asks you how much you are going to pledge. Since nothing has been heard from them as of yet, I strongly suggest not placing any amount there. Don't worry, you will still be able to submit the form even if the field is left blank. Once I have confirmed about the most recent activities of this group, I will post an update and try to organize an outreach project so we can go extend our help personally.

If you have reached this point in this post, there is one more thing I ask you to do, and I ask this as a huge, huge favor: SHARE THIS. Share this to as many people as you can and ask them to do something as well. Raising awareness is well and good, but it is what you do with that awareness that matters more.

Earlier, I went to Ortigas to give my boyfriend's office ID which he left at home. On my way there, I saw three homeless, grubby beggar children sleeping on the cold concrete stairs of the MRT. It totally dawned on me how massively important the Cyber-crime Prevention Law is.


Lastly, I really apologize that there really are no hot guys in action here. It was a bad advertising tactic, an old trick in the bag. I just needed to get your attention and I think here I can say the end justifies the means. 


This is not illegal, and as long as there are children sleeping in MRT staircases and elderly people left without proper care, I will not be silent.

04 October 2012

Silently Quoting Caligula


Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, nicknamed "Caligula", was, as you may have guessed, a Roman Emperor. He has been portrayed a lot of times as a hedonistic, insane ruler given to excess.

I read up on him and found out that the first few years of his reign was actually celebrated by the populace. He removed a lot of taxes, gave prizes to the audience in the arena, and what-not. It is when the Empire went almost bankrupt that lost the people's love and he became an intolerable tyrant. Anyway, just do your own research.

I wrote this in light of the recent events in this country.

I have been trying to make sense out of all the clamor that is going on. I have read the Republic Act and I think it is good and really helpful except for a few things. And those few things are what everyone is fussing about. I am not sure if they know it when they drafted the bill, or if they knew it after it was blown out of proportion, but there is one theme prevalent amidst all the chaos.

Fear.

The thought of online freedom being curtailed makes us cringe. Every word you say can and will be used against you. Your electronically expressed thoughts may be used as prima facie evidence of violating the provisions stated in the law and without court order. While the law mostly reads harmless enough, it is the interpretation of it by those who have the power but not the discernment is what we are afraid of. We fear that the law will be abused, that even your most innocent little comment about how this country is being run will be considered libelous and can serve as your one-way ticket to jail. Underneath it all, we fear that this is the way cyber-bullied personages are getting back at us. And I think they are banking on that fear, if only to pull the reins on netizens gone wild. Hence, I imagine them silently quoting Caligula:

Oderint dum metuant.

But it is just an emotion, and as with all emotions, it clouds our better judgment. We might be tempted to answer in ways that we might regret. I have seen a lot of flaming status messages and I understand because humans' initial reaction to fear is hate. We would either fight or flee. But since it is a gruesome process to leave the country, we'd most likely choose the former.

Let them hate as long as they fear.

Hate is intense, blind hate even more. There goes your dangling bait.

I know that my fellow netizens are intelligent, discerning and creative. (Unfortunately, I am not generalizing. All baskets of society have rotten tomatoes.) I am pretty sure we will come up with a well-thought response to this seeming madness.

Oh, and by the way, Caligula is the first Roman Emperor to be assassinated. Cheers!


This is not illegal, but it is vague.

02 October 2012

Black Tuesday


Drink Up!

So I just came to the realization that this blog is just the same as any kind of blog out there: daily updates of inane activities that nobody really cares about. What I had for breakfast/second breakfast/elevensies/luncheon/afternoon tea/dinner/supper, what TV/movie I just watched, et cetera ad nauseam.

I'm not really different. I might be part of the unthinking masses. But then, I am legally shackled so I better shut it.


My housemate Edward and I bought two 1.5-liter bottles of C2 and some chips for some midnight snack, just so you know. Drink up!


This is not illegal, but it is vague.

01 October 2012

Let The Whatever Begin!

Welcome to my newest incarnation in the blogosphere! 


And welcome to the Cyber Philippines! I hope you find your stay awfully boring and un-intellectual.



Oh, earlier I had a very disappointing dinner where what was advertised wasn't necessarily true. I have been thinking of what to post without getting sued by the government, so there.


This is not illegal but it is vague. Let the whatever begin!