Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. Tomorrow, we will meet our students in an extradordinary time. I know I must sharpen my listening skill because everybody has a story to tell.

2. Today I took pictures of newspapers headlines that has something to do with Ondoy. I was not able to read newspapers for several days because we are busy cleaning the house.

3. A co-teacher of mine said that he plans to take a housing loan and have a three floor building for his family's use. He is damn tired cleaning his house when flood waters reaches his abode.

4. Some people do not want to revisit the past because they have felt that it can be a burden to them.

5. After Ondoy's wrath, any heavy rain we will be experiencing will be communicating to us to listen to its fall. I pause and listen and time the length as to its downpour.

6. True, Ondoy devasted a huge swath of land, it has made a deeper impression to the consciousness of people who have been affected by it. Our contours of thinking has drastically been altered when rains fall even a gentle one.

7. People should be demanding to their government accuracy of weather reports, which means PAGASA should have the necessary instruments at their use.

8. Our memories are the places that we inhabit at will. We can go in and out of it. We can learn from the import of its joy and pain. It is a special place. To some it is a sacred place. I think, this is the reason why it is important that we remember.

9. Night bath, a good book by Randy David, a night to sleep. This is what I need.

10. At last you are married to your spouse, in due time your will realize "You cannot escape your in-laws".

11. In our modern society the mind will constantly seek its own home. Some say it is a "homeless-mind". Others, will rest in the comfort that the mind is a perpetual seeker. Thus, it wont find a home of its own.

12. There is no (magician) to be discovered in yourself. You have to create that (magician). That requires new imagination about your life, new strategies, new vocabularies and metaphors.

13. Typhoon Ondoy brings out the best and the worst in us. We saw the see of humanity volunteering to help the flood victims. On the other hand, refugees vandalized a school and a report that some robbed the students when the school opened.

14. According to BBC weather report, we will be experiencing sunny days up to Wednesday. I will now have time to clean our concrete slab and apply elastomeric paint.

15. Photos are being dried at the roof. Some photos are now relegated to a tearful goodbye. I simply can't reconstruct them. It's totally destroyed.

16. Do you know the value of those photos that have been washed by an un-welcomed typhoon? God, its priceless.

17. With those photos gone, my memories about them may go with it. It unburdens me with the past but my grand daughter and the generations that will come may be burdened by such a loss.

18. Mr. Rod Stewart, of the Great American Songbook, is now entertaining my evening as I type my postings in this little box of significance.

19. Sorry if I am not responding to request on remembering my birthday. I am off the calendar and I dread high numbers these days.

12. Our concrete slab that acts as our roof is now painted with elastomeric elements. We are now planning to have the second floor fixed for habitation. In case of another Ondoy type we have a place to evacuate.

13. Night is for sleeping. And we value it for what it is.

14. "An Inconvenient Truth" communicated by AL Gore, the media, and other scientists brought to us an understanding of global warming. The recent typhoon that visited us surely says that the weather we are experiencing will never be the same again.

15. I just finished re-tiling part of our living room floor. It is a social labor.

16. "Work is a slice of your life. It's not the entire pizza" - Jacquelyn Mitchard

17. "Few things move as quickly as the future" - Bern Williams

18. "Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them." John Updike

18. "Heroes are people who rise to the occasion and slip quietly away." - Tom Brokaw

19. "It's never too late for a happy childhood" - Gloria Steinem

20. "Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything". Alexander Hamilton

21. We can't live in the past because the present is a daily offering. It should be lived now.

22. "All of us have something to gripe about, but for how long and to what extent will we be trapped in it?" - Ernest Tan, How to atttract love.

23. There is also this human possbility to be able to care, love and be with others. It also promises the possibility to enjoy them.

24. I will be having a Magic for Beginners seminar this coming Saturday 24th October from 10:00 to 5 pm. Interested please ask for details. It will be held at our house at 137-B. 20th Ave. Quezon City. Near Ali Mall.

25. The language of love may not be in the words that you read, rather in the actions that you see.

26. When a person informs you that he/she has changed her number, that person is making you a part of his/her world.

27. School graduation is a modern idea. It is an idea of a life transition that is shaped by a high value on knowledge. There is a time in human civilization that ignorance is the better value than knowing. Hundreds of years ago there is no sense for the vast population to be going to school. Theres no need.

28. Our lives is a constant project of overcoming.

29. Not all overcoming can be good to our life. Sometimes it brings us to more troubles. Remember some people who wants to overcome the raging waters of Ondoy?

30. "What is important is that a recollection of the past should always strengthen rather than weaken one's resolve to face the future." - Randy David, sociologist.

31. Still I find Noynoy Aquino to be a stranger to me. Except that he is the son of Ninoy and Cory and that he is a senator. He seems to be in the background and cultivates public invisibility. His giant parents continues to overshadow him and this is a problem he has to overcome. A proclamation to run as a president is different from the actual accomplishment done in the past.

32. When I post my ideas in this portal it is open to be attacked or supported by readers. Some can make a comment on it.

33. Please do not put my birthday on your calendar. I don't do birthdays today except when I am performing a magic show.

34. A mystic (then) asserts in the first place that knowledge is not attained only by the senses or the intellect or the normal processess of consciousness, but that the highest is attained, and can only be attained by this spiritual sense of intution. - A mystic statement.

35. From a mystic, "God decided to make our soul-spirit its home."

36. When I am hurt, I always withdraw to a place of my own, being alone, feeling the pain, writing about it. Somewhat, I am thrown in a place that is strange to me, trying to know the fabrics and contours of that place to that I will be able to communicate with it.

37. Some people give lame excuses for not showing up as promised. Then you tell yourself that you are not like that. That shapes your behavior in the future.

38. I performed a magical show last 20 September at the Center for Migrant Youth at East Fairview QC. This is the residence of Fr. Ben Villote, a long time and very good friend of our family.

39. From a boyhood friend of mine who posted the following: "I believe in miracles. I see a lot of stupid drivers on the street. It's a miracle they are still alive and to have even passed the driving tests, sheesh!"

40. Still working on my 55 canvass just like a work of art.

41. Nice to have known May Sarton from York, Maine. She opens door for me. She is a poet at Eighty.

42. But May Sarton passed away in 1995 of cancer at Maine. She has published lots of books. I am now reading her book, Poems, Coming into Eighty.

43. The first duty of love is to listen. - Paul Tillich

44. The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory but progress. Anonymous

45. Listening is not merely not talking, though even that is beyond most of our powers; it means taking a vigorous human interest in what is being told us. - Alice Duer Miller

46. What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten and replaced by a new dish. - W. H. Auden

47. "We cannot love that which we do not understand. We can't protect that which we do not love." A quote from an envronmental activist.

48. "Day begins. I only have my body. Aching from comfort. I wait, for some kick-starting-mechanism. Be they hunger or purpose, relief, a job to do. Or, a wife's call for coffee".

49. "A day can be laid out like a canvass. What work of art shall I do today? How shall time wrap me with it sweet and bitter embrace?"

50. "Without music, life is a mistake". - Friedrich Nieztche

51. "Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd preferred to talk." - Doug Larson

52. Of course one of the modern addictions that we are developing and spending most of the time is our engagement with Facebook. In the post-modern paradigm face-to-face encounter will be valued highly.

53. I am happy because we have a country, whatever its in there.

54. "Day begins. I only have my body. Aching from comfort. I wait, for some kick-starting-mechanism. Be they hunger or purpose, relief, a job to do. Or, a wife's call for coffee".

55. A soldier will always believe in the just cause that his country is fighting for. But when his leaders are the one that becomes a traitor to the country it is time to switch the direction of the gun.

56. Still many of this night are rabidly running away from their real problems, that they feel, they are being consoled and comforted by their own nightly distractions.

57. Any event that happens, that has been decided upon, will have their own ramifications in the future. That is inevitable.

58. Humans will always be living in a society far from its satisfaction. This is why we have religion.

59. Without love, our souls would be likely a dried prune.

60. What is achieved when we experience pain? We learn how to experience it alone.

61. The strength of belief is in the belief itself.

62. A politician will now have to struggle in plugging the holes in his political life boat. It will take sometime to undo a decision that is within a web of relationship. Given the present political contour, such a decision will be judge if it is foolish or wise.

63. Dreaming, sleeping, eating, procrreating, these are the myriad activities our ancestors engaged in. To this day, we are still doing them.

64. A faith can be overwhelming eventhough it disregards the truth.

65. The reason why corrupt officials are likened to crocodiles is that crocodiles did not change for the last million years. They will continue to be so for the next million years. Their predatory tactics will still be there practiced highly.

66. We are shaped by the truths that we live by, not knowing those truths may well be un-truths.

Charity show for you.

Announcement: We are a group of magicians, professionals and amateurs. Out of our goodness, we want to pay back society by giving charity shows for your event. At this time we are accepting invitations from hospitals for their children's ward. Keep in touch for details.

On Human Dignity

On Human Dignity

by Jonathan Granoff

The human being has the capacity to demonstrate that which is most worthy of praise: the indivisible unity of being. It is realized through the divine attribute of love. The expression of this capacity is through intrinsic dignity, realized through the nurturing of inner character and the kind of knowledge that emerges from that effort, which is often called wisdom. This uniquely human capacity leads to the clear perception of the inner connectedness and inter-connectedness of all life. It manifests as ethics based on the Golden Rule.

The aspiration to our highest calling -- as a unique creature capable of knowing our uniqueness as well as realizing it -- should not be ignored. In this modern age, cynicism toward higher ideals is like a cancer. We hear so much about man as a beast and the great value of seeking the "bottom line." An appropriate bottom line is found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which asserts our common humanity. Below that is where the law of power tends to overtake the power of law. When individuals allow power to overtake the rule of law, personal tragedy is the result. Human respect is corroded and relationships deteriorate. When societies seek power over respect for humanity through the law, war and tyranny ensue.

When nations pursue the Golden Rule and treat other nations as they wish to be treated, peace and prosperity result. When they pursue the quest for ultimate dominance, chaos always follows. One only need compare the result of post-World War I's punishing process and its results with the success of the post-World War II's Marshall Plan and the creation of the UN system.

I am not positing that the world can become heaven easily. I am proposing that when we follow the Lord's Prayer, which calls us to aspire to do God's will here on earth, much goodness results. It is also true that when too many fail to honor the calling to do good works, enormous suffering results. And what we never know is how our own personal commitments affect the whole. What we can know, however, is how such personal commitment affects us. This knowledge is based on experience rather than on doctrines.

We can never aspire enough to our personal highest potential, which might not have a limit. As it partakes of the divine, it certainly cannot be measured or quantified. But, then again, neither can self, consciousness, soul, or conscience. Only objects can be measured, not that which knows them.

We need not bemoan the fact that in our time pursuing the highest ideals, where dignity shines in sacred beauty, is not treated with appropriate respect. One need only look at the trials and tribulations of Socrates or Jesus to remember that those who honor truth above all else might stimulate the most undignified conduct by many. Yet Jesus reminds us that we can forgive all wrongs and preserve the greatest treasures of the spirit. Socrates knowingly gives up his own life fully aware that the law has been misapplied to his individual case but is nevertheless well worth respecting since it is an institution necessary to guide the conduct of many. He gives up his body because he has found something far more precious, the profound presence of divine love for the benefit of others. His actions manifest the presence of the sacred infinite mystery within the finite world.

Can we all attain these standards? Who knows? Can we strive to emulate them? Why not? Both of these men encouraged all to follow in their ways. Both asserted the presence of capacities for human dignity we all too often forget. I had the privilege of seeing this level of dignity in our time and thus have the responsibility of sharing it with you.

I was in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, in 1974, and it was a very hot day. I was sitting at Bawa Muhaiyaddeen's bedside. He was very old, and his ashram was made up of a cement floor, a corrugated steel roof, and a courtyard ten yards from his bed with a variety of animals. There were goats, peacocks, dogs, cats, and a deer that had followed this gentle Sufi out of the jungles when he entered society to teach. I was struck by how the deer was always attentive when Bawa would sing and pray.

Bawa's day consisted mostly of sitting on his bed and giving advice on understanding the wonder and beauty of God. Because he was respected as a living saint, people attributed many things in their lives to him -- both good and bad -- sometimes, things that should not have been blamed on him.

One day a fellow came in absolutely shaking with rage and hatred. I was sitting right by the bed, and the man pulled out a short machete, the kind that one uses to cut bamboo. He was screaming. I understood that some tragedy had befallen his family and he was blaming Bawa. I was close to him, close enough that I could have sucker punched him. He wouldn't have expected it. He would never have seen me coming. But I thought, no, it's not for me to step in front of this sage. I'm here as a student, and it's not for me to intervene.

You must understand the kind of love that Bawa Muhaiyaddeen generated in me, so this was a profound position that I was in. But I knew, deeply, that I wasn't supposed to do anything. I was to watch and not engage.

Bawa attributed all beauty, goodness, wonder, and the miraculous events that happened in creation only to God. He never centralized any events on himself. He did not use miracles as a way of promoting wisdom. He promoted the supremacy of love and the knowledge of the nature of consciousness as the pathway to human realization.

Now Bawa opened his arms fully wide. He had no shirt on, and he leaned his head backward, exposing himself fully to this flood of violence. He looked with the most melting eyes of gentleness at his assailant and said, "My Brother, will taking my life give your soul the peace it is seeking?"

It was as if the molecules in the room began to scintillate and vibrate with the power of love. That love just filled the space we were in like a tangible presence, and the man with the machete became like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He collapsed on the ground and sat up gazing deeply into the sage's eyes. Bawa then embraced him with such kindness and motherly absorption, and said, "Go home and clean yourself, and come back, my child."

I bear witness to having seen somebody respond to ultimate violence with no concern for his own life but only for the well-being of the attacker. I saw the power of divine love in this world in action.

I learned the value of a true human being.

I am sharing with you a secret he told me: "If you treat other lives as your own life and live within the resonance of God's compassion, wisdom will dawn and you will know yourself. If you know yourself, you will know that God lives in you and you live in God."

A person with such knowledge shines with a light that guides others even without speaking. They do not protect the grace of God for they have surrendered themselves into God and reside knowing that God protects them. Thus, they express the grace of God as part of their own being. Such an expression is a unique human potential and the ultimate ground of human dignity.

For generations people who have attained this level of realization have been admonishing all who would listen to see the human family as one and to respect the mystery and sacredness of life. In this modern age -- when our reach is extended through science and technology to the point where we can shred the very fabric of the web of life by following the excessive quest for power through nuclear weapons or through greedily irresponsible business practices that hurt the environment-this admonition has become an imperative.

Persons who have chosen to pursue the secret inner treasure upon which real value is based are capable of presenting a different route. This route is based on nothing new or old. It is based on living to know and honor the Creator of the indivisible unity of being through the attribute of love. A life lived in such a fashion is resplendent with dignity. May we live to know this.

Jonathan Granoff is an attorney, author, and international advocate who emphasizes the legal, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of human development, nuclear disarmament, peace, and security. He is president of the Global Security Institute and a member of the National Advisory Board of the Network of Spiritual Progressives.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. Religion is not suppose to answer all the questions we pose about life, rather, it should give us the courage to answer them.

2. One of the strategies that we are going to employ is to finish our second floor area. Another is to prepare sandbags.

3. My main fear was to be caught in our house with rising flood waters. Thus, i sent an SOS to my friends in the Barangay office and in 15-minutes they plucked out my daughter, granddaughter and our assistant house manager. That event stabilized my mind.... I have to keep my feet dry and eat our lunch at the second floor. Lucky, I have my nephew around to help me out and both survive.

4. I do not think we can curse typhoon Ondoy. At best we could harness our energy to survive this event. Typhoon Ondoy do not recognize a name, a village, or a valued status.

5. One of the learning that people affected by flood, and they are around .5 million of them is that thought that a second floor will protect them from the next coming flood.

6. After Ondoy, when the accounting has been done, when the garbage has been thrown out, when things are back to "normal", will it be business-as-usual?

7. We just had our Post traumatic de-briefing session at Miriam College. I like to thank Dr. Roni Motilla, Dr. Grace Evangelista, the Guidance and Psychology department. It helped me a lot in dealing with my feelings and setting goals post Ondoy's ...whims. I think this can be cascaded to the barangay level.

8. My grand daughter and I will go to Ali Mall and SM Cubao, for our post-traumatic session due to the floods that hit our house here at 20th Ave.

9. We are now planning to have our second floor an added roof that will act as a laundry and sun-deck, evening view deck ( I hope to buy a telescope to see the stars closely), and of course an evacuation area in case a new Ondoy type of typhoon will come.

10. Today I took pictures of newspapers headlines that has something to do with Ondoy. I was not able to read newspapers for several days because we are busy cleaning the house.

11. A co-teacher of mine said that he plans to take a housing loan and have a three floor building for his family's use. He is damn tired cleaning his house when flood waters reaches his abode.

12. Some people do not want to revisit the past because they have felt that it can be a burden to them.

13. After Ondoy's wrath, any heavy rain we will be experiencing will be communicating to us to listen to its fall. I pause and listen and time the length as to its downpour.

14. True, Ondoy devastated a great swath of land, it has made a deeper impression to the consciousness of people who have been affected by it. Our contours of thinking has drastically been altered when rains fall even a gentle one.

15. People should be demanding to their government accuracy of weather reports, which means PAGASA should have the necessary instruments at their use.

16. Our memories are the places that we inhabit at will. We can go in and out of it. We can learn from the import of its joy and pain. It is a special place. To some it is a sacred place. I think, this is the reason why it is important that we remember.

17. Night bath, a good book by Randy David, a night to sleep. This is what I need.

18. At last you are married to your spouse, in due time your will realize "You cannot escape your in-laws".

19. In our modern society the mind will constantly seek its own home. Some say it is a "homeless-mind". Others, will rest in the comfort that the mind is a perpetual seeker. Thus, it wont find a home of its own.

20. There is no (magician) to be discovered in yourself. You have to create that (magician). That requires new imagination about your life, new strategies, new vocabularies and metaphors.

21. Typhoon Ondoy brings out the best and the worst in us. We saw the see of humanity volunteering to help the flood victims. On the other hand, refugees vandalized a school and a report that some robbed the students when the school opened.

22. According to BBC weather report, we will be experiencing sunny days up to Wednesday. I will now have time to clean our concrete slab and apply elastomeric paint.

23. Do you know the value of those photos that have been washed by an un-welcomed storm? God, its priceless.

24. At last you are married to your spouse, in due time your will realize "You cannot escape your in-laws".

25. In our modern society the mind will constantly seek its own home. Some say it is a "homeless-mind". Others, will rest in the comfort that the mind is a perpetual seeker. Thus, it wont find a home of its own.

26. There is no (magician) to be discovered in yourself. You have to create that (magician). That requires new imagination about your life, new strategies, new vocabularies and metaphors.

27. Photos are being dried at the roof. Some photos are now relegated to a tearful goodbye. I simply can't reconstruct them. It's totally destroyed.

28. Sorry if I am not responding to request on remembering my birthday. I am off the calendar and I dread high numbers these days.

29. It breaks my heart when I found out the submerged photos of the past. Its done and over with smudges and prints that can't be recognized. I may just depend on my aging memory to recall what can be recalled.

30. Our concrete slab that acts as our roof is now painted with elastomeric elements. We are now planning to have the second floor fixed for habitation. In case of another Ondoy type we have a place to evacuate.

31. I just finished re-tiling part of our living room floor. It is a social labor.

32. I just finished re-tiling part of our living room floor. It is a social labor.

33. "Work is a slice of your life. It's not the entire pizza" - Jacquelyn Mitchard

34. "Few things move as quickly as the future" - Bern Williams

35. "Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them." John Updike

36. "Heroes are people who rise to the occasion and slip quietly away." - Tom Brokaw

37. "It's never too late for a happy childhood" - Gloria Steinem

38. "Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything". Alexander Hamilton

39. "An Inconvenient Truth" communicated by AL Gore, the media, and other scientists brought to us an understanding of global warming. The recent typhoon that visited us surely says that the weather we are experiencing will never be the same again.

40. Night is for sleeping. And we value it for what it is.

41. We are one who were traumatized by typhoon Ondoy. No control, helpless from the floods. Iba na ngayong ang dating ng ulan.

42. The high point of the floods was at noon time. The sofa is now floating, pails, garbage containers followed the natural course of the menu prepared by Ondoy. Outside the house on the street level was six fee deep. We have a creek that drains the wate...r on this natural funnel that we constructed our house. Some people decided to construct a building beside it. What do we got?

43. When the clear flood waters came in via our main entrance, it was somewhat bizarre that his flood happen to me on a personal level. The floods are there but what can I do? I was sure stamped with "Helpless". Thus, instead of fighting the flood I'd let it enter to see what would happen. It is just rushing water, but it can be fatal.

44. Natural flood waters has the capacity to tilt the way to handle things. When it is your first time, you turn to become a rookie. You estimate certain decisions that you wanted to be safe but in an afterthought, it could turn out to be dangerous.

Dry clothes outside your house.

They can now hang their clothes outside to dry. Click on link below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/us/11clothesline.html?em

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. And as you enter the realm of the public, it demands that each one should live a moral life. It is in the realm of the public that one fully realizes who one is. The private realm is merely a rehearsal.

2. The private realm is one that the problematique because it is in this engagement that you are alone to yourself, a fact that you can't escape.

3. When you write "Ah", that may mean a hundred different interpretations.

4. When one posts his/her private thoughts at facebook, remember that thought was transformed into the public sphere. Your thoughts can be analyzed, decoded, interpreted and re-interpreted. The private magically becomes public.

5. Typhoon Ondoy is an interruption to our daily grind particularly in Metro Manila. It forced us to do things that we usually do not do. Then we discover something that we were capable of. Such discovery is an exercise of who we are as a nation. This s...hapes our collective self at a particular juncture of history.

6. Nature has no word if this is a tragedy or not, it simply dumps water that you have not imagined in your life.

7. Sometimes it is harder to believe that everything happens for no reason at all!

8. "More dreams die because we fail to seize the moment. Do it now!" - Tony Robbins. This is your time to respond to the disaster brought about by typhoon Ondoy. Go to your nearest volunteer recruitment center.

9. to Jim Paredes: "That is ok to have a break for being a Filipino. Our identities are shaped by culture. Cultures are inherently tentative. Our identities are defining moments, sometimes also a burden. As we are inserted into a historically conditioned society the malleability of identity is always achieved."

10. Our reflections about the recent national event should unite us even more in over coming the barriers that was brought by a typhoon. We now see barriers that prevents others from becoming human. There is a need to act to help other people.

11. There are around 200-dead people due to the effect of the typhoon. For sure if we are a prepared nation given this kind of natural-human disaster, the deaths could have been lessened.

12. Individually we will have to reflect on the events that is presently unfolding right now. As a collective community we will have to come to terms with a nation strategically located in a typhoon belt.

13. One plastic box full of wet clothing have been drained.

14. We will be mourning those who perished from this tragedy and we will be celebrating the birth of those being born with no memory of this event.

15. Still, this event raises the question, "As a people, how are we organized to confront a similar problem in the future?"

16. Even my granddaughter who is barely equipped with our language is trying to tell her story of how flood waters is going inside the house. She is 3-years old.

17. I guess will have to keep the learning and the bad memories go away with the receding flood waters. Typhoon Ondoy is a terror, terrible teacher.

18. Since this historical floods came rushing in we have to change our ways of thinking on how to cope when the next flood will come along.

19. Flood waters came inside our house last Saturday. We have been living here for the past 19-years. This is the first time flood came into our house. Books, magazines, documents came out wet. Some books have to be discarded. Around 80 kilos of magazin...es that I am selling as collectors items over the net have to go. An Italian painting magazine of 1960 got wet and turned into soggy shreds.

20. "Before I die, I want to make a movie that shows people over 70 having hot erotic relationship. I'd have to write the script myself." Jane Fonda on being 70.

21. When you age, you don't have to be perfect.

22. Governments given their power at their disposal cannot abolish religion. At best they have to cooperate with it.

23. Our shared experiences can be blocked by our failure or incapacity to communicate.

24. Silence possess a power that we grope for something tangible that the mind wants to produce, so that a stalled conversation can pick-up and continue its mandatory journey.

25. When we meet again people who are related to us and that means you are physically both far from each other, you want to overcome the silence that touches you in between your conversations. There is an attitude that wanting to search for a topic, an object of conversation to connect and to keep on conversing because a pause, a silence can be a felt pain.

51 best thing for being Pinoy

51 Best things for being Pinoy


50. Midnight madness, weekends sales, bangketas and baratillos. It's
retail therapy at its best, with Filipinos braving traffic, crowds, and
human deluge to find a bargain.

51. Merienda. Where else is it normal to eat five times a day?

52. Sawsawan. Assorted sauces that guarantee freedom of choice, enough
room for experimentation and maximum tolerance for diverse tastes.
Favorites: toyo't calamansi, suka at sili, patis.

53. Kuwan, ano. At a loss for words? Try these and marvel at how
Pinoys understand exactly what you want.

54. Pinoy humor and irreverence. If you're api and you know it, crack
a joke. Nothing personal, really.

55. Tingi. Thank goodness for small entrepreneurs. Where else can we
buy cigarettes, soap, condiments and life's essentials in small
affordable amounts?

56. Spirituality. Even before the Spaniards came, ethnic tribes had
their own anitos, bathalas and assorted deities, pointing to a strong
relationship with the Creator, who or whatever it may be.

57. Po, opo, mano po. Speech suffixes that define courtesy, deference,
filial respect--a balm to the spirit in these aggressive times.

58. Pasalubong. Our way of sharing the vicarious thrills and delights
of a trip, and a wonderful excuse to shop without the customary guilt.

59. Beaches! With 7,000 plus islands, we have miles and miles of
shoreline piled high with fine white sand, lapped by warm waters, and
nibbled by exotic tropical fish. From the stormy seas of Batanes to the
emerald isles of Palawan and beautiful Boracay--over here, life is truly
a beach.

60. Bagoong. Darkly mysterious, this smelly fish or shrimp paste
typifies the underlying theme of most ethnic foods: disgustingly
unhygienic, unbearably stinky and simply irresistible.

61. Bayanihan. Yes, the internationally- renowned dance company, but
also this habit of pitching in still common in small communities. Just
have that cold beer and some pulutan ready for the troops.

62. The Balikbayan box. Another way of sharing life's bounty, no matter
if it seems like we're fleeing Pol Pot every time we head home from
anywhere in the globe. The most wonderful part is that, more often than
not, the contents are carted home to be distributed.

63. Pilipino komiks. Not to mention "Hiwaga," "Aliwan," "Tagalog
Classics," "Liwayway" and"Bulaklak" magazines. Pulpy publications that
gave us Darna, Facifica Falayfay, Lagalag, Kulafu, Kenkoy, Dyesebel,
characters of a time both innocent and worldly.

64. Folk songs. They come unbidden and spring, full blown, like a
second language, at the slightest nudge from the too-loud stereo of a
passing jeepney or tricycle..

65. Fiesta. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow is just another day,
shrugs the poor man who, once a year, honors a patron saint with this
sumptuous, no-holds-barred spread. It's a Pinoy celebration at its
pious and riotous best.

66. Aswang, manananggal, kapre. The whole underworld of Filipino lower
mythology recalls our uniquely bizarre childhood, that is, before
political correctness kicked in. Still, their rich adventures pepper
our storytelling.

67. Jeepneys. Colorful, fast, reckless, a vehicle of postwar Pinoy
ingenuity, this Everyman's communal cadillac makes for a cheap,
interesting ride. If the driver's a daredevil (as they usually are),
hang on to your seat.

68. Dinuguan. Blood stew, a bloodcurdling idea, until you try it with
puto. Best when mined with jalapei's peppers. Messy but delicious.

69. Santacruzan. More than just a beauty contest, this one has
religious overtones, a tableau of St. Helena's and Constantine' s search
for the Cross that seamlessly blends piety, pageantry and ritual. Plus,
it's the perfect excuse to show off the prettiest ladies--and the most
beautiful gowns.

70. Balut. Unhatched duck's embryo, another unspeakable ethnic food to
outsiders, but oh, to indulge in guilty pleasures! Sprinkle some salt
and suck out that soup, with gusto.

71. Pakidala. A personalized door-to-door remittance and delivery
system for overseas Filipino workers who don't trust the banking system,
and who expect a family update from the courier, as well.

72. Choc-nut. Crumbly peanut chocolate bars that defined childhood
ecstasy before M & M's and Hershey's.

73. Kamayan style. To eat with one's hand and eschew spoon, fork and
table manners--ah, heaven.

74. Chicharon. Pork, fish or chicken crackling. There is in the
crunch a hint of the extravagant, the decadent and the pedestrian.
Perfect with vinegar, sublime with beer.

75. Pinoy hospitality. Just about everyone gets a hearty "Kain tayo!"
invitation to break bread with whoever has food to share, no matter how
skimpy or austere it is.

76. Adobo, kare-kare, sinigang and other lutong bahay stuff.
Home-cooked meals that have the stamp of approval from several
generations, who swear by closely-guarded cooking secrets and family
recipes.

77. Lola Basyang. The voice one heard spinning tales over the radio,
before movies and television curtailed imagination and defined grown-up
tastes.

78. Pambahay. Home is where one can let it all hang out, where clothes
do not make a man or woman but rather define their level of comfort.

79. Tricycle and trisikad, the poor Pinoy's taxicab that delivers you
at your doorstep for as little as P7.00, with a complimentary dusting of
polluted air.

80. Dirty ice cream. Very Pinoy flavors that make up for the risk:
munggo, langka, ube, mais, keso, macapuno. Plus there's the colorful
cart that recalls jeepney art.

81. Yayas. The trusted Filipino nanny who, ironically, has become a
major Philippine export as overseas contract workers. A good one is
almost like a surrogate parent -- if you don't mind the accent and the
predilection for afternoon soap and movie stars.

82.. Sarsi. Pinoy rootbeer, the enduring taste of childhood. Our
grandfathers had them with an egg beaten in.

83. Pinoy fruits. Atis, guyabano, chesa, mabolo, lanzones, durian,
langka, makopa, dalanghita, siniguelas, suha, chico, papaya,
singkamas--the possibilities!

84. Filipino celebrities. Movie stars, broadcasters, beauty queens,
public officials, all-around controversial figures: Aurora Pijuan,
Cardinal Sin, Carlos P. Romulo, Charito Solis, Gemma Cruz, Cory Aquino,
Emilio Aguinaldo, the Eraserheads, Fidel V. Ramos, Francis Magalona,
Gloria Diaz, Manuel L. Quezon, Margie Moran, Melanie Marquez, Ninoy
Aquino, Nora Aunor, Pitoy Moreno, Ramon Magsysay, Richard Gomez, San
Lorenzo Ruiz, Sharon Cuneta, Erap, Tiya Dely, Mel and Jay, Gary V, Kris
Aquino, Piolo Pascual, Papa Wilie "wowowie."

85. World class Pinoys who put us on the global map: Lea Salonga, Paeng
Nepomuceno, Eugene Torre, Luisito Espinosa, Lydia de Vega-Mercado,
Jocelyn Enriquez, Elma Muros, Onyok Velasco, Efren "Bata" Reyes, Lilia
Calderon-Clemente, Loida Nicolas-Lewis, Josie Natori, Charice, Manny
Pacquiao.

86. Pinoy tastes. A dietitian's nightmare: too sweet, too salty, too
fatty, as in burong talangka, itlog na maalat, crab fat (aligue),
bokayo, kutchinta, sapin-sapin, halo-halo, pastilyas, palitaw, pulburon,
longganisa, tuyo, ensaymada, ube haleya, sweetened macapuno and
garbanzos. Remember, we're the guys who put sugar (horrors) in our
spaghetti sauce. Yum!

87. The sights. Banaue Rice Terraces, Boracay, Bohol's Chocolate
Hills, Corregidor Island, Fort Santiago, the Hundred Islands, the Las
Pinas Bamboo Organ, Rizal Park, Mt. Banahaw, Mayon Volcano, Taal
Volcano. Palawan Underground River. A land of contrasts and
ever-changing landscapes.

88. Gayuma, agimat and anting-anting. Love potions and amulets.. How
the socially-disadvanta ged Pinoy copes.

89. Barangay Ginebra, Jaworski, PBA, MBA and basketball. How the
verticaly-challenge d Pinoy compensates, via a national sports obsession
that reduces fans to tears and fistfights.

90. People Power at EDSA. When everyone became a hero and changed
Philippine history overnight.

91. San Miguel Beer and pulutan. "Isa pa nga!" and the Philippines'
most popular, world-renowned beer goes well with peanuts, corniks, tapa,
chicharon, usa, barbecue, sisig, and all manner of spicy, crunchy and
cholesterol- rich chasers. Iba ng may pingasamahan!

92. Resiliency. We've survived 400 years of Spanish rule, the US
bases, Marcos, the 1990 earthquake, lahar, lambada, Robin Padilla, and
Tamagochi. We'll survive Gloria.

93. Yoyo. Truly Filipino in origin, this hunting tool, weapon, toy and
merchandising vehicle remains the best way to "walk the dog" and "rock
the baby," using just a piece of string..

94. Pinoy games: Pabitin, palosebo, basagan ng palayok. A few basic
rules make individual cunning and persistence a premium, and guarantee a
good time for all.

95. Ninoy Aquino.. For saying that "the Filipino is worth dying for,''
and proving it.

96. Balagtasan. The verbal joust that brings out rhyme, reason and
passion on a public stage.

97. Tabo. All-powerful, ever-useful, hygienically- triumphant device to
scoop water out of a bucket and help the true Pinoy answer nature's
call. Helps maintain our famously stringent toilet habits.

98. Pandesal. Despite its shrinking size, still a good buy. Goes well
with any filling, best when hot.

99. Jollibee. Truly Pinoy in taste and sensibility, and a corporate
icon that we can be quite proud of. Do you know that it's invaded the
Middle East, as well?

100. The butanding, the dolphins and other creatures in our blessed
waters. They're Pinoys, too, and they're here to stay. Now if some
folks would just stop turning them into daing.

49 Best things about being Pinoy

100 BEST THINGS ABOUT BEING A PINOY (First 49)



01. Pakikisama. It's what makes people stay longer at parties, have another drink, join pals in sickness and health. You can get dead drunk and still make it home.

02. Sing-a-long and videoke. Filipinos love to sing, and thank God a lot of us do it well!

03. Kayumanggi. Neither pale nor dark, our skin tone is beautifully healthy, the color of a rich earth or a mahogany tree growing towards the sun.

04. Handwoven cloth and native weaves. Colorful, environment- friendly alternatives to polyester that feature skillful workmanship and a rich indigenous culture behind every thread. From the pinukpok of the north
to the malong of the south, it's the fiber of who we are.

05. Movies. Still the cheapest form of entertainment, especially if you watch the same movie several times.

06. Bahala na. We cope with uncertainty by embracing it, and are thus enabled to play life by ear.

07. Papaitan. An offal stew flavored with bile, admittedly an acquired taste, but pointing to our national ability to acquire a taste for almost anything.

08. English. Whether carabao or Arr-neoww-accented, it doubles our chances in the global marketplace.

09. The Press. Irresponsible, sensational, often inaccurate, but still the liveliest in Asia. Otherwise, we'd all be glued to TV.

10. Divisoria. Smelly, crowded, a pickpocket's paradise, but you can get anything here, often at rock-bottom prices. The sensory overload is a bonus.

11. Barong Tagalog. Enables men to look formal and dignified without
having to strangle themselves with a necktie. Worn well, it makes any
ordinary Juan look marvelously makisig.

12. Filipinas. They make the best friends, lovers, wives. Too bad
they can't say the same for Filipinos.

13. Filipinos. So maybe they're bolero and macho with an occasional
streak of generic infidelity; they do know how to make a woman feel like
one.

14. Catholicism. What fun would sin be without guilt? Jesus Christ is
firmly planted on Philippine soil.

15. Dolphy. Our favorite, ultra-durable comedian gives the beleaguered
Pinoy. Everyman an odd dignity, even in drag.

16. Style. Something we often prefer over substance. But every
Filipino claims it as a birthright.

17. Bad taste. Clear plastic covers on the vinyl-upholstered sofa,
posters of poker-playing dogs masquerading as art, overaccessorized
jeepneys and altars--the list is endless, and wealth only seems to
magnify it.

18. Mangoes, especially Cebu Guadalupe mangoes. Crisp and tart, or
lusciously ripe, they evoke memories of family outings and endless
sunshine in a heart-shaped package.

19. Unbridled optimism. Why we rank so low on the suicide scale.

20. Street food: Barbecue, lugaw, banana-cue, fishballs, IUD (chicken
entrails), Adidas (chicken feet), warm taho. Forget hepatitis; here's
cheap, tasty food with gritty ambience.

21. The siesta. Snoozing in the middle of the day is smart, not lazy.

22. Honorifics and courteous titles: Kuya, ate, diko, ditse, ineng,
totoy, Ingkong, Aling, Mang, etc. No exact English translation, but
these words connote respect, deference and the value placed on kinship.

23. Heroes and people who stood up for truth and freedom. Lapu-lapu
started it all, and other heroes and revolutionaries followed: Diego
Silang, Macario Sakay, Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Apolinario Mabini,
Melchora Aquino, Gregorio del Pilar, Gabriela Silang, Miguel Malvar,
Francisco Balagtas, Juan Luna, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Panday Pira, Emilio
Jacinto, Raha Suliman, Antonio Luna, Gomburza, Emilio Aguinaldo, the
heroes of Bataan and Corregidor, Pepe Diokno, Satur Ocampo, Dean Armando
Malay, Evelio Javier, Ninoy Aquino, Lola Rosa and other comfort women
who spoke up, honest cabbie Emilio Advincula, Rona Mahilum, the women
lawyers who didn't let Jalosjos get away with rape.

24. Flora and fauna. The sea cow (dugong), the tarsier, calamian deer,
bearcat, Philippine eagle, sampaguita, ilang-ilang, camia, pandan, the
creatures that make our archipelago unique.

25. Pilipino songs, OPM and composers: "Ama Namin," "Lupang Hinirang,"
"Gaano Ko Ikaw Kamahal," "Ngayon at Kailanman," "Anak," "Handog,""Hindi
Kita Malilimutan, " "Ang Pasko ay Sumapit"; Ryan Cayabyab, George
Canseco, Restie Umali, Levi Celerio, Manuel Francisco, Freddie Aguilar,
and Florante--living examples of our musical gift.

26. Metro Aides. They started out as Imelda Marcos' groupies, but have
gallantly proven their worth. Against all odds, they continuously prove
that cleanliness is next to godliness--especial ly now that those darn
candidates' posters have to be scraped off the face of Manila!

27. Sari-sari store. There's one in every corner, offering everything
from bananas and floor wax to Band-Aid and bakya.

28. Philippine National Red Cross. PAWS. Caritas. Fund drives. They
help us help each other.

29. Favorite TV shows through the years: "Singing Bee," "John and
Marsha," "Deal or No deal," "Ryan, Ryan Musikahan," "Wowowie," "Public
Forum/Lives, " "Banana Split," "MMK." In the age of inane variety shows,
they have redeemed Philippine television.

30. Quirks of language that can drive crazy any tourist listening in:
"Bababa ba?" "Bababa!"

31. "Sayang!" "Naman!" "Kadiri!" "Ano ba!?" "pala." Expressions
that defy translation but wring out feelings genuinely Pinoy.

32. Cockfighting. Filipino men love it more than their wives
(sometimes).

33. Dr. Jose Rizal. A category in himself. Hero, medicine man, genius,
athlete, sculptor, fictionist, poet, essayist, husband, lover,
Samaritan, martyr. Truly someone to emulate and be proud of, anytime,
anywhere.

34. Nora Aunor. Short, dark and homely-looking, she redefined our
rigid concept of how leading ladies should look.

35. Noranian or Vilmanian. Defines the friendly rivalry between Ate
Guy Aunor and Ate Vi Santos and for many years, the only way to be for
many Filipino fans.

36. Filipino Christmas. The world's longest holiday season. A perfect
excuse to mix our love for feasting, gift-giving and music and wrap it
up with a touch of religion.

37. Relatives and kababayan abroad. The best refuge against
loneliness, discrimination and confusion in a foreign place. Distant
relatives and fellow Pinoys readily roll out the welcome mat even on the
basis of a phone introduction or referral.

38. Festivals: Sinulog, Ati-atihan, Moriones, Parol Festival and
Street Dancing of San Jose Occidental Mindoro. Sounds, colors, pagan
frenzy and Christian overtones.

39. Folk dances. Tinikling, pandanggo as ilaw, kari?as, kuratsa,
itik-itik, alitaptap, rigodon. All the right moves and a distinct
rhythm.

40. Native wear and costumes. Baro't saya, tapis, terno, saya,
salakot, bakya. Lovely form and ingenious function in the way we dress.

41. Sunday family gatherings. Or, close family ties that never get
severed. You don't have to win the lotto or be a president to have
10,000 relatives. Everyone's family tree extends all over the
archipelago, and it's at its best in times of crisis; notice how food,
hostesses, money, and moral support materialize during a wake?

42. Calesa and karitela. The colorful and leisurely way to negotiate
narrow streets when loaded down with a year's provisions.

43. Quality of life. Where else can an ordinary employee afford a
stay-in helper, a yaya, unlimited movies, eat-all-you- can buffets, the
latest fashion (Baclaran nga lang), even Viagra in the black market?

44. All Saints' Day. In honoring our dead, we also prove that we know
how to live.

45. Handicrafts. Shellcraft, rattancraft, abaca novelties,
woodcarvings, banig placemats and bags, bamboo windchimes, etc.
Portable memories of home. Hindi lang pang-turista, pang-balikbayan pa!

46. Pinoy greens. Sitaw. Okra. Ampalaya. Gabi. Munggo. Dahon ng
Sili. Kangkong. Luya. Talong. Sigarillas. Bataw. Patani. Lutong
bahay will never be the same without them.

47. OCWs. The lengths (and miles) we'd go for a better life for our
family, as proven by these modern-day heroes of the economy.

48. The Filipino artist. From Luna's magnificent "Spoliarium" and
Amorsolo's sun-kissed ricefields, to Ang Kiukok's jarring abstractions
and Borlongan's haunting ghosts, and everybody else in between. Hang a
Filipino painting on your wall, and you're hanging one of Asia's best..

49. Tagalog soap operas. From "Gulong ng Palad" and "Flor de Luna" to
today's incarnations like "Mula sa Puso"--they' re the story of our
lives, and we feel strongly for them, MariMar notwithstanding.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. “To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing." - Rabbi Harold Kushner

2. How will a nation commit suicide? When leaders have no vision of the future.

3. "You don't become happy by pursuing happiness. You become happy by living a life that means something." Rabbi Harold Kushner

4. Happiness is likened to a butterfly, when you want to catch it, it goes away from you. But when you simply just stay put and become who you are then it settles on your hand.

5. It is not dying that people are afraid of, it is not having lived at all.

6. I am constant, but not flawless.

7. Religion is not suppose to answer all the questions we pose about life, rather, it should give us the courage to answer them.

8. Sometimes our defining moment may be a burden in an unpredictable future.

9. It has been said that one of the "dangerous" books in the Bible is the book of Ecclesiastes. Read it and find out.

10. For some, the Philippines is a memory to return to. For those Filipino veterans who fought for recognition in America, died of old age and disease, the Philippines is a repository of their ashes.

11. Sometimes life isn't the party we hoped for, but since we're here, we should dance. Anonymous.

12. Death is more universal than life. Everybody dies but not everybody lives.

13. There are many dead in our society.They were given life but refused to live it.

14. Some of our institutions were built by our leaders based on their experience and perceived disappointments about human affairs.

15. Religion is not suppose to answer all the questions we pose about life, rather, it should give us the courage to answer them.

16. For some lying is a strategy to survive.

17. If we can't get what we like, let us enjoy what we have.

18. For some, truth is something not to look for, truth is something that has to be created.

19. The danger in running for the highest public office falls automatically into the trap that he is better than his opponents, worst he is better than other people.

14. Though people may vote for this particular candidate, the voters may end up bitter and frustrated to this leader whom they have voted into office.

15. Voters can seek protection from their leaders by knowing in public the candidate's program of government, of course we have no guarantee that a leader will stick to his program. It can change, just like the weather.

16. Ferdinand Marcos was able to cow millions of Filipinos when he declared martial law, save for those people who took to the mountains, organized resistance cells, defied curfew hours, grew long hairs and beard. Still, fomenting fear is a convenient t...ool available to political leaders. They can use it at will weakening our institutions that tries to promote a regime of certainties.

17. Our institutions are always built on a daily basis so that predictability of life's events are presumed to carry on.

18. Voting is a human right, as much as a job is.

19. If we canot love the person whom we see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see. - Mother Theresa

20. I will not say I failed 1,000 times, I will say that I discovered 1,000 ways that can cause failure. - Thomas Edison

21. If you win, you need not have to explain...If you lose, you should not be there to explain. - Adolf Hitler

22. If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they had never tried a new thing in their life. - Albert Einstein

23. In a day, when you don't come across any problems, you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong way. - Swami Vivekananda

24. The persistence of life is something we cannot deny.

Parenting, Carl Rogers

Does saying "I love you" to your child mean "Do as I do?". Parenting in modern time is a crux of the matter.

Our Unconscious, Karl Jung, analytical psychologist

The unconscious in which we are not familiar with is worth reading. Click on the link.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. I feel comfortably terrified with Jean Paul Sartre's ideas on existentialism. It means we have to create our on self. That's difficult.

2. How do we grapple humor? We grapple humor just the same as we grapple with absurdity.

3. Mass media sells entertainment. It employs instruments of mass measurements like prime-time viewership. Sometimes they end up deeply unsatisfied, worst doubting.

4. If organized religion aspire to conquer, what would be it's redeeming value?

5. We look for a society or a social arrangement that will and can satisfy our needs. But, by the looks of our infinitesimal needs, our needs can't be satisfied. Thus shall we deem society still relevant?

6. We are all born out of necessity, not out of choice.

7. We try to use symbols so that it would fit our own motivations.

8. Those who are presently employed are still living a nomadic life.

9. We have organized a society based on the idealism of the past but may not be able to work in the present human condition.

10 And what do we call a homeless family?They are the fulfillment of a life of uncertainty.

12. When a whistle blowers blows the State, the State will simply make the truth of the whistle blower dull and boring.

13. They say "The past is past". But the past is a steel anchor that drags itself to the present. The past is a sui generis or a being having a life of its own.

14. Our relationship with both the past and the present is mixed with complexity and a state of being bizarre. Somewhat we are confronted with how to mix oil and water.

15. September rains will be a memorable event. We have hard working and patient rains.

16. As I have said I don't intend to retire. I intend to live.

17. "If you are not busy living, perhaps you are busy dying" - Bob Dylan

18. I live in an imperfect world (I have my notion of it). Lately I realized that I am part of perfecting that world of mine. One small effort at a time.

19. As you reach middle age, you have to take your battles one at a time. And be sure you have an estimate that you are going to win. If not, just leave.

20 There is also wisdom in surrendering.

21. Always remember that you have an inherent power that cannot be taken away from you. That power is indestructible. It will always be in your possession.

22. Friends will always be friends, but always know what are the intentions.

Stemcell treatment

For Your information. movement in stem cell treatment. Click on colored link.

Reflected thoughts about life and death, and in between

1. Identities, be they personal or national can be used conveniently as an excuse.

2. What I am doing may be trivial, but time will tell me to a certain degree of clarity what has been accomplished yesterday.

3. At this time, I seem not to connect my personal strivings to the growth of a nation.

4. I am not looking for the good life. I am simply searching for a meaningful one.

5. "As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality." - Albert Einstein

6. I think life is an endless search of seeking who you really are. We will be seeking who we are even at our deathbed.

7. We despair because life offers uncertainties, and we continue to negotiate how we get to know ourselves more. Such negotiations entails difficulties.

8. In life I know I made lots of mistakes, that is why I am not perfect.

9. It looks like that what we are going to leave in this earth is more of the legacy on how we lived our lives.

10. Bringing a digital camera strapped on my belt makes my life meaningful.

11. Sometimes you have to go to a bar with live band to search for the meaning of life.

12. I am working on my success.

13. For your delectation on parties, invite a magician.

14. I always bring my digicam to make life more meaningful.

15. If we are indeed lovers of life, we are able to embrace the past, the future and present and the pains that go with it.

16. We forget the past that burdens us. But we remember the past that says "Life is good".

17. I think the concept of retirement is against the so-called "gray population".

18. I do not intend to retire. I intend to live.

19. I think we should be wearing black ribbons for ten days to remember those who perished from this tragic event (Dona Paz sinking in 1987 "Asia Titanic".)

20. Should we treat our memories as guests?

21. Now for the monitor screens circa 2009, its either, CRT or flat screen. How these things change!

22. That green cursor was the precursor of a new term called "paper white" monitor.

23. One of the moment that I was delighted with is to see a monitor with a flickering green cursor.

24. There are religion that captures the human spirit in which the human spirit wants to be freed from what captures him.

24. True religion is the one that unites us to God and one that serves others.

25. It was Rumi the mystic and poet of the Eastern world was given the honor that his image be placed on the monetary bill of Turkey.

26. A gossip is likened to a feather pillow on a windy day. Once those feathers got out of the case it is doubly difficult to bring them back again. - Inspired from the film "Doubt".

27. Even a nun will lie to achieve her ends - From the film "Doubt".

28. Airport, a terminal. When it is your time, it's your time. - Daffinition

29. Umbrella, usually is kept at summer time. - Daffinition.

30. "Live fast, Love hard, lie about your age" - from a birthday card.

31. The beauty of life is that you can't avoid it. The beauty of death is that it is necessary.

32. Louis Pasteur said "Beyond is a limitless grandeur". We can only see Pasteur's Limitless Grandeur when we are part of that Beyond.

33. Dare to dream even if it will take an impossible dream.

34. An airplane is a place where you can touch the heavens but the pilot won't allow you. - Daffinition.

35. "If you feel God has abandoned you, could it be that you have abandoned Him?" Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ.

36. Facebook is a place where you really have to think on what you are going to say, and to say next.

37. Some people fill themselves with so many things thinking that they can find meaning in these things.

38. I pray that one day rains can wash away our loneliness.

39. The highest umbrella I can use against the sun are the clouds.

40. If you want to see evil, look for the one who delights in separation.

41. "God will not wipe away the tears we never shed. If we shed tears of compassion, it will become tears of love and of joy" - Fr. Guido Argulles SJ

42. Losing your life direction may be a way of finding it.

43. Escaping a problem may be fun for you. But with certainty, you can't escape yourself.

44. The heart of a lonely runner is the one that is nurtured by love.

45. The trip with students yesterday at Majayjay and Pila, Laguna, brought in me the majesty of the history. It is filled with a dead-weight past and an immense possibility for the future. This is a classic example of change and non-change. Humans will always have a choice.

46. I was delighted to know that "411" is the jargon for "information" It came from America. That is what you call cultural diffusion.

47. An American boy was called by the teacher and was asked "When was the United States founded"? The boy said, "9-11".

48. In the modern time we were able to create a word "hidden agenda". As if it is an esoteric word. Actually this hidden agenda, as "hidden" as it is, is always seen in the bosom of one's interests. it's like the Emperor's new clothes.

49. Leaders and their people always have a complex and bizarre, relationships. Power relationships draws the the line of difference and the safety of the gray area.

50. The political life of a nation will always affect our lives unless we pretend to be dead persons.

51. The earth does not care for us. We have to care for the earth so that it can care for us.

52. As we are experiencing underdevelopment, endless social conflict, corruption that becomes a collective nightmare, what we are seeing is a culture where we have no roots and sensitivity to others. We are creating rootless society.

53. On this info-mercials, we need to think if the end of their message is really important to us. After they have reached expiry date did it make a difference in our lives?

54. On this info-mercials, we need to think if the end of their message is really important to us. After they have reached expiry date did it make a difference in our lives?

55. I have nothing against giving the public information. But when this information is burned to our consciousness without let up, my, my, I think that is too much.

56. Digitized condemnation. In our society when a person wishes to condemn an act of one, he can go to launch a campaign via the internet and those who will join the chorus can be counted to the last detail.

57. One of the amazing realization as one ages is the knowledge that one can have more fun in achieving one rational goal.

58. One of the amazing realization as one ages is the knowledge that one can have more fun in achieving one rational goal.

59. Somebody told me that it is good to bring flowers when you visit your loved ones because they can see, touch and smell it. But when they are consigned to the earth nobody is going to tell you a sweet appreciation. Enjoy being alive. There's plenty of time to be dead.

60. Our rage, anger, cannot bring back the life of a loved one who met the creator. This is the reason why we should mourn. We should be able to say goodbye to our loved one, that is the purpose of mourning. In a way it should help up to attain peace.

61. When one has a possibility to experience the goodness of life and it is cut short by death, I think that is a tragedy.

62. A news last night that a three year old child was run over by a bus at EDSA causing her death. This makes me really sad. It makes my stomach turn upside down.

63. Eternity is life lived fully on earth.

64. Eternity cannot be thought of as bounded by space and time. It has no dimension. Eternity is the unworded experience of life lived in totality.

65. It is true when Kris Aquino lied to Cory. It is never "ok" when your loved one is finally going to bid you goodbye. There is this infinite pain that needs to be healed by love not just by time.

Magic SOMA phone act

Cory A, Eleanor Rigby, Apo Hiking