Little Finger

The search for Prince Charming

Girls all dream of becoming princesses.  To be surrounded with beauty and to be adored by everybody.  But not everyone gets to become a princess.  Why?  because becoming a princess also means having a knight in shining armor, also means sleeping hundreds of years and more importantly means a witch is always clawing at the back, ready to strike.  As girls see these limitations, they grow up and forget becoming princesses and look at life in a new perspective, reality.

On the other side of the coin, boys never dream of becoming knights in shining armors or Prince Charming himself.  The only time they want to become these figures is when they fall in love.  With excitement, they declare to save the women they've fallen in love with as princesses who need to be saved from evil witches, dungeons and dragons.  Show the world that with one strike and one kiss all evil will fall over.

Unfortunately at this time, the woman no longer thinks of herself as a princess but rather a lady.  She believes that it takes more than a kiss and a strike of the sword to show what love truly is.  To his dismay, he felt that he can never live up to "his" princess' condition and ends up running away, leaving behind a scarred lady, just the right mix that shows his cowardice.  It is only then that he realizes that there is no such thing as fairy tales.

Too bad, knights and princes only exist when you don't need them.

Music is Life

Music is life.  Common, frequently used line, but taken for granted. 

Lately, I've been watching Nodame Cantabile (drama and anime), a story of musicians striving to leave behind horrible memories.  It is this fictional story that reminded me of what life would be like without music.

I have been isolated from my piano since I left home last 2004.  Since then, my only encounters with it is during church.  But lately, I have been longing of playing on it for like 2 hours per day.  My only fingering practice is the use of the keyboard on my laptop, not good enough practice.  I've lost the crisp and swift movements of my beloved fingers and am starting to get rusty.

I never expected that I would have this longing for piano playing when I left off Iligan City.  I thought that I would only long for chorale singing which I have been doing practically since 8 years old.  But now that I think of it, I have been playing the piano way back at 7 years old.

I miss the leisurely movement, the notes, the cramps on my arms, the pain on my ass and back from sitting on that bench, the ivory and ebony textures, and the glorious music behind each piec...Oh, I could almost say, "I'd give anything just to have a piano in my dormitory right now."  But I'd only be dreaming of white ravens.

Being separated from something that you've grown up with is like being weaned from my Mother's milk, no, worse than being weaned from my Mom's breast.  I never knew the feeling of being separated from that biological need during infancy, but this, this is different.  I could cry from the separation.  The music that I hear is totally different from the music that I make.  I may not be very good at playing on the piano, but I do make some music, and it's eating me.

Music is life.  Very true.  Humanity is nothing without faith, hope, love and music.

3 R's

Of the three R's, if even we could practice even one, that would be a great deal of help. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Ikea, Singapore is advocating reduce and reuse with their bags. I hope we can learn from them. I believe it doesn't use a great deal of our energy to bring along a bag for our shopping and takes less facial muscles to say "NO" to tinderas who immediately pulls a plastic bag underneath her table once we make a purchase. Very simple practice, simple enough to become a habit. Bringing a bag does not only reduce the plastic that each person uses, it also grants convenience to the shopper. Carrying multiple bags while walking and scanning for things to buy is inconvenient compared with walking with a single bag in tow. It also minimizes the number of groceries you can buy to a reasonable quantity, proving to be economical too (though there is no actual study on this worthy of publication on any ISI journal). A single person may not be enough to change the "plastic bag culture" but it would be enough to help save our garbage disposal problems and our only planet. Let us be concerned citizens of Planet Earth, let us do the job entrusted to us by our Creator (Genesis 1:28; Gen 2:15; Gen 2:19) and let us be effective scientists and conservationists by living a life that practice what we preach. Reduce, reuse and recycle.

Lalake: haligi ng tahanan

I've been watching a cartoon series that depicts a captain that radiates so much authority that even his voice could call respect to all his members.

I am wondering what is with his voice that makes me fall in love with him?  That everytime he exercises his authority, I go gaga over him?

I believe men are born to be leaders.  But they should learn and study good leadership.

Women love it when their men exercises good authority over her and over his family.  Ladies may not realize it when their boo asks them to stop wearing skimpy skirts, but it is through that authority that they show they care.  But if women are to look deeply into this innate behaviour of men and men would learn how to exercise it well, I'd bet all women would gaga over such a man.

Like for example, ladies, when they are taken out on a date like it when the date is fully planned ahead.  Guys asking their date what she wants to do would turn out awkward and boring. But when a guy knows where to take her, makes the move to make the date fun-filled, tells that he knows how to handle things and is exercising good leadership.  Asking what she wants to do tells her he does not know anything and would end up giving her the impression that he is sunod-sunoran.  Guys, if you want to impress your date, create and do the move.  When men show good leadership, they also show that they can handle tough situtations in the future, that is, when he becomes the haligi ng tahanan.

That's why I go gaga over Tezuka Kunimitsu.  But gee, he's just a cartoon character!

Meeting 'em

To meet a celebrity is awesome. I never met one, I only saw some. But the past week, I have been honored to have met several world famous scientists! Wow! Just amazing! Thinking that before, you'd only see them on pictures from the internet or read of their works from journals, but I've been blessed! Meeting them was like meeting a celebrity himself, or should I say "meeting Albert Einstein," (though, I almost met Einstein because Dr. Eugene Rosenberg of Tel Aviv University looked a lot like Einstein).

I had fun hanging out and learning from all of them. Just superb! Yet some things are also unbelievable. I watched them get drunk and dance like dorks!!! Who could have imagine people, famous in their field of work, doing something as crazy as that? Hahahah!!! But it doesn't matter now, does it? As long as I met them and made friends with them, their dorkiness is terribly fine...Lol.

"Nice meeting you, guys!! You were a break to the monotony of our work here at BML."

Small World

Bolinao is a municipality located at the tip or at the coastal end of the province of Pangasinan.  Secluded, yes.  Most tourists are from the same province.  International tourists usually end up at Alaminos City, a 40-minute drive from here, where the Hundred Islands is located.  Now, who would expect that I would meet someone I expected never to meet again?

A higschool batchmate (he was from a different section).  But he only studied at MMA for one year, so we rarely had encounters during that single year.  That means there is no way of communication and knowledge of his whereabouts will ever be gained.  But who would have known that a a job and a field trip would connect previous worlds again?

Who's he?  Si Mark Castillon.  Whose brother we all mourned for.  Who both were sensational in the girls' dormitory.  I admit, gwapo pa rin siya, but unlike those days, I believe he has loosend or left behind some of his irksome attitudes.

Small world indeed.

Sigh...

Have you ever been in love with a person you never met?

I'm not a fanatic person, the type where I go gaga whenever I see the person I'm crushing on.  I rarely have crushes.  Let's just say, mapili ako.

But lately, whenever I listen to him and I imagine his hands running through those ivory and ebony keys, my heart melts.  I badly want to sit beside him, watch him play, and learn from him.  I just admire him so much.

Well, maybe because I am frustrated, that I could never be like him for I never had the determination to do so.  Unlike Maksim Mrvica who struggled to continue despite the blaring bombs around him.

Sigh...

Gidugangan pa jud nga guwapo kaayo siya nga pianist.  Haaay, samot jud ko ka in-love niya...Taman na lang intawon ko ani sa ima...

Sigh...

My motortrike escapade

Mamang prohibited Papang from driving his motorcycle again.

That happened way back more than a decade ago when I took my first "underwater diving lesson" in Mindanao Sanitarium and Hospital's front canal.  I was the passenger on Papang's Yamaha motorcycle when this stupid drunk jeepney driver went careening and dancing around.  I ended up having a crooked left middle finger with 13 stitches, a short little finger and 2 stitches on my head.

This time, the picture is different.  Three days back, I was driving a motortrike.  Actually, not driving, but learning to drive.  Viver was sending off acquaintances to their home, I was in for a joyride.  On the way back, I summoned my guts and tried to learn driving.  I thought that driving a trike would be much simpler because I'd be able to focus on how to drive and forget balancing.  I was elated when I reached a distance of 200m without any problems, so much elated that I overlooked the real problem is in starting the engine to run.  On a turn, the engine stopped and I had to try my luck again on starting.  An abrupt release of the clutch and/or an excessive turn on the accelerator lead me to driving with only the hind wheel running...

A wall, the pavement, a flash, pain, blood, blood, blood and a left ankle buried under the trike materialized in less than a minute.

A stitch, a black eye, a blown up cheekbone, and an abrasion are now left with me.  Hoping for the best that all these will vanish weeks from now and only the memory of it all would remain with me.  My stitch is starting to itch, a sign of healing, thank God for my valiant blood cells.

Am I stupid to decide to leave the driving to someone else and remain a passenger forever?  I know my limitations, and this is one of them.  Yes, no accident is foreseeable but I'll take lesser risks with this decision.

Yes, I now understand in-depth what Mamang meant when she forbade Papang from driving.

The good thing about all this is, I came laughing out loud from the first trickle of blood until the memory of it all will fade.  My only regret is, not bringing my camera with me when we went back to our "crime scene" the next day to take a photo of the scarred wall.

-------------------

click here for my pictures

Lessons on simplicity

Today, I have observed the simple life of bacteria, observed how, in small yet continuous ways it survives in this harsh world.  Very simple but profound in its own way.

The most striking characteristic is their number.  I can never comprehend why one single blot from a tip of a pen would mean millions of cells.  Yes it means a single cell can divide in seconds, but with the complexity of the human mind, it is incomprehensible.  Watching them jam-packed gave me an eerie sensation.  It reminded me of the horrible episode of Wowowee last February.  Yet, it also opened a whole new perspective into my mind, that despite their chaotic appearance harmony abounds.

What contrast to men!  Selfishness does that.

Growth in bacteriology is defined as the exponential increase of number of cells from a single cell through time, totally different from a layman's concept of human growth, change in size.  Once a bacterium divides, the size of both cells remains the same. There is no such thing as big and small in germs.  Each cell has equal opportunities with all cells surrounding it.  Disadvantage is nonexistent in a single bacterial colony's vocabulary.

How I wish we'd all be treated with equity.  But I have to keep in thought Desiderata's line, "Don't compare yourself with others, for always, there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."

Minute in size, but when working together, microbes can rain deep impact even on complex creatures.  Who has never succumbed to loose bowel movement?  Unity can indeed do great wonders.

Will accord ever come full circle in men?  We should not look at the big picture, if we do, there will never be an end to beauty pageant candidates answering "World peace."  Focus narrower, a toddler started walking with a shaky step, a germ started disease by splitting, let's start unity within our selves.

Simple is the life of bacteria, yet profound in it's own way.

If I could say apalling, then so be it.

Yesterday, I heard some news of old friends back home.  It's disheartening.  Why does it has to happen?  I mean, they were all in the same church, the same organization, cared by the same leader, but why does it have to happen?

I guess even in an organization, there are clear cut factions.  This group is this and that and that group is these and those.  Why the partition?  Aren't we under the same roof?  Didn't we grow up under one leader? 

Is there also hierarchy in friendships? 

Do we tend to appreciate someone more because he is on top of the list?  And that we don't care if a person is way below in our list?

We were all friends once, but why the catfights? 

Catfights over some guy, some lover or what? 

Should this be the way for friendships to be severed? 

Is your friendship worth losing over for some intimacy?

Is this the evil in love?

Is love evil?

I don't think so.  But why could it cause so much disarray?

"Hayahay ba kaayo sa lalake nga gi-ilogan."

Hey, straighten up your mind, missy.  The world doesn't end if you loose him.