fall in love

Someone sent me this lovely poem attributed to Fr. Pedro Arrupe SJ. He said that I should not be scared to fall in love...

Fall in Love

Nothing is more practical

Than finding God, than

Falling in Love

In a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,

What seizes your imagination, will affect

Everything.

It will decide

What will get you out of bed in the morning,

What you do with your evenings,

How you spend your weekends,

What you read, whom you know,

What breaks your heart,

And what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in Love, stay in love,

And it will decide everything. 

Male Chauvinism 2.0

My gorgeous writer-friend and I share the same dilemma of getting unwanted attention on streets by male chauvinists. We hate it. With that, she posted poetry on feminism that I would like to share.  

This is a follow-up post on my recently-published entry, “Women as Objects and Why I don’t Wear Shorts That Much”:

The poem was written by artist, journalist, and teacher/lecturer Carol Diehl. (website and blog)

For the Men Who Still Don’t Get It  (Carol Diehl)

What if

all women were bigger and stronger than you

and thought they were smarter

What if

women were the ones who started wars

What if

too many of your friends had been raped by women wielding giant dildos

and no K-Y Jelly

What if

the state trooper

who pulled you over on the New Jersey Turnpike

was a woman

and carried a gun

What if

the ability to menstruate

was the prerequisite for most high-paying jobs

What if

your attractiveness to women depended

on the size of your penis

What if

every time women saw you

they'd hoot and make jerking motions with their hands

What if

women were always making jokes

about how ugly penises are

and how bad sperm tastes

What if

you had to explain what's wrong with your car

to big sweaty women with greasy hands

who stared at your crotch

in a garage where you are surrounded

by posters of naked men with hard-ons

What if

men's magazines featured cover photos

of 14-year-old boys

with socks

tucked into the front of their jeans

and articles like:

"How to tell if your wife is unfaithful"

or

"What your doctor won't tell you about your prostate"

or

"The truth about impotence"

What if

the doctor who examined your prostate

was a woman

and called you "Honey"

What if

you had to inhale your boss's stale cigar breath

as she insisted that sleeping with her

was part of the job

What if

you couldn't get away because

the company dress code required

you wear shoes

designed to keep you from running

And what if

after all that

women still wanted you

to love them.

*Awww*

We cannot blame someone if he or she has become jaded and cynical about the world. After all, he or she has compelling reasons to feel so. In the Philippines alone, there are numerous and escalating cases of rape, theft, robbery, murder, among others, what more across the globe.

Last year, I posted a blog comment (Malady) about how a Chinese girl was left unconscious in the middle of a busy street after she was hit by a motorcycle. The street was brimming with passersby yet, nobody cared to help the little girl. She died afterward.

However, there are moments that will bring you back to the realization, that somehow, there are still good Samaritan out there. Below is a re-post from Cavnews.wordpress.com (21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity).

I felt so good and touched to find out that the world is not as wicked as I thought it was. Cheers to brotherhood and universal love. After all, amid a number of seemingly different world religions, we all long for the same thing: love and world peace.

***

1. This picture of Chicago Christians who showed up at a gay pride parade to apologize for homophobia in the Church.

(Michelle Gantner / Maladjusted Media) 

… and the reaction from the parade.

(Michelle Gantner / Maladjusted Media)

2. This story about Japanese senior citizens who volunteered to tackle the nuclear crisis at Fukushima power station so that young people wouldn’t have to subject themselves to radiation.

Source: bbc.co.uk

3. This picture of two Norwegian guys rescuing a sheep from the ocean.

4. This sign at an awesome bookshop.

Source: helsinki-syndrome.tumblr.com

5. This poll about what Snooki should name her child.

6. The moment in which this Ohio athlete stopped to help an injured competitor across the finish line during a track meet.

17-year-old Meghan Vogel was in last place in the 3,200-meter run when she caught up to competitor Arden McMath, whose body was giving out. Instead of running past her to avoid the last-place finish, Vogel put McMath’s arm around her shoulders, carried her 30 meters, and then pushed her over the finish line before crossing it.

Image by The Daily Call, Mike Ullery / AP

7. This exchange between a 3-year-old girl and a shopping center.

8. This note that was handed to a waiter along with a $20 bill by an elderly lady in his restaurant.

9. This sign at an awesome Subway restaurant.

10. This picture of a villager carrying stranded kittens to dry land during floods in Cuttack City, India.

Image by Biswaranjan Rout / AP

Image by Biswaranjan Rout / AP

11. This sign at an awesome drycleaner’s.

Plaza Cleaners in Portland, OR, helped over 2,000 unemployed workers who couldn’t afford dry cleaning. The store’s owner estimated that it cost his company $32,000 dollars.

12. This photograph of a man giving his shoes to a homeless girl in Rio de Janeiro.

13. This picture of a firefighter administering oxygen to a cat rescued from a house fire.

(TOM BAUER/Missoulian)

14. And this one.

Image by Chris Butler / AP

15. This interaction between a Guatemalan girl and a tourist she just met.

16. This gesture from a neighbor.

17. These photos of two children collaborating to rescue a dog who had fallen into a ravine.

18. This note on a young family’s check.

19. This exchange between a protester and a soldier during a protest in Brazil.

(Imagens/ TVBA)

20. These pictures of a man jumping into rough waters to rescue a stranger’s Shih Tzu in Melbourne.

Sue Drummond was walking her beloved Shih Tzu, Bibi, on a pier in Melbourne, when a fierce gust of wind picked him up and hurled him into the rough waters of the bay. A passerby, Raden Soemawinata, who happened to be on the pier that day to scatter his grandmother’s ashes, wasted no time in stripping down and diving into the bay to rescue the animal.

(Photos: Chris Scott)

Via: news.com.au

21. And this photograph of two best friends on a swing.

Source: volobuev.me

cannot understand queue

Queue –(n.) line ; (v.) to line up and wait your turn

Beyond the difficulty reading this British English word, Filipinos cannot seem to understand the meaning, more so, the essence of queue. Pinoys do not know how to form a line, at least, in their own country. On one hand, we follow every rule when outside Filipinas or Pilipinas. (There’s a petition on changing the name of the Philippines, by the way.)

What ‘s up with getting ahead of other people, at the dispense of physically hurting them? Witnessing cat fights and hearing curse words in LRT and MRT stations have been a constant scenario that foreigners find amusing. 

Hordes of passengers trying to get in and come out alive from these trains that will take you to destinations at faster rates; men and women elbowing one another just to get in even before other passengers have come out—these and more are welcoming scenes in a nearby train station. 

I’ve experienced how it is to be pushed over by throngs of Amazonas who of course aim to get a seat or a strategic spot (near the entrance). And it’s not good. Why can’t we just peacefully let the outgoing travellers out first before we get in? 

Getting ahead of someone on the dispense of hurting him or her is also noticeable in elevators. Everybody’s aiming to push that floor number before anybody else as if it the elevator will go to a specific floor that’s buzzed first. 

Lahat naguunahan. 

Why do we do these? Perhaps, these seemingly simple, mundane things are one of the easiest ways to feel triumphant over a stranger. It’s that or we simply don’t know how to pay respect.

early bird catches the, what?

I won an award--- for being an early bird. Just recently, I received a facial GC from the Asian Stem Cell Institute (ASCI) because apparently, I was very early --- again. 

I arrived at the venue 30 minutes earlier than the supposed call time. I don't know why I arrive ahead of schedule in most of my coverages even if I know that most of them start at least an hour late. It's just that I either don't want to miss anything or want to look very haggard, a mess, if don't follow the call time. 

But I do mind waiting, of course, especially when the event turns out to be a... so-so. 

The Philippine time has recently been unified and standardized in the hopes of abolishing the habit of coming late. But I guess to no avail. 

fake it 'til you make it

"Sometimes it is not enough that we do our best; we must do what is required." Winston Churchill

***

There are times when I find myself in an upscale social gathering and ask myself, what am I doing here??

Amidst the ladies and gentlemen dressed to the nines, here I am in a corner, socially awkward: wearing pants and t-shirt, scrolling my phone to appear busy, and randomly smiling at people who look at me and are probably thinking what is she doing here? (It's cocktails time, by the way.)

I am covering a birthday bash of someone I do not know. Apparently, the birthday girl is a social being on top of the societal hierarchy. So what to do? Just do it! Jot down notes, take pictures, tweet the event, and wait until the curtains close.

***

This isn't a rant on one of my coverages rather a post on how amusing, bewildering it is to witness a "sosyalan" when you came to it unprepared. I should have worn a dress had I known. Dressed up or down, what matters most is that I get the details and write the "story".

take it from someone with a double K and C

Just recently, Hollywood couple Kim Kardashian and Kanye West named their child, North, which makes him North West. This got numerous reactions from netizens, which, I think was what the actors are trying to achieve. 

Quirky names, huh? But this is quite normal in the Philippines.

Back in 1991, a Filipina mother gave birth to her daughter and decided to complicate things by naming her newborn, Nickky.

Filipinos also have a knack for "name recall" in its purest, most literal sense: Bhong-Bhong, Jhing-Jhing, Noy-Noy, Jhen-Jhen, Tin-Tin, Pek...

World Boxing Champion Manny Pacquiao named his daughter, Queen Elizabeth. 

While others combine names to come up with Rodjun (Rodela and Jhun-Jhun) or Luviminda (Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao). 

Also recently published in the local newspapers was a family with penchants for long names. One family member has 40 first names and goes by Ratziel Timshel Ismail Zerubbabel Zabud Zimry Pike Blavatsky Philo Judaeus Polidorus Isurenus Morya Nylghara Rakoczy Kuthumi Krishnamurti Ashram Jerram Akasaha Aum Ultimus Rufinorum Jancsi Janko Diamond Hu Ziv Zane Zeke Wakeman Wyu Muo Teletai Chokhmah Neserthrah Mercavah Nigel Seven Morningstar, San Juan. Whew! 

While there are persons named after an event, a saint, food, or hobby.

"What's in a name?,"  Juliette asks, "that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". 

But every person's name at least has a history, or an inspiration. 

"You don't like your name? It's so unique," my mom would always rationalized every time I ask her why my name is spelled so. She said it was her favorite name and she had her college notebooks to back up her claim. There, scribbled at the back of her notes was "Nickky". My second name came from a saint. You know that nun from the 3 o'clock habit, sister Faustine?

But can we choose our names?

Apparently, we can, if we have compelling reasons and willpower to succumb to the National Statistics Office's red tape. 

But seriously, please name your babies with "decency", because on the other side of the globe, there is someone suffering, and she goes by the name, "Juniper". 

Filipino actor, Ding-Dong Dantes 

***
Worst celeb baby names

women as objects and why I don't wear shorts (that much)

Women flaunt and brandish what their mama gave them whenever they see someone attractive. According to personal experiences and online researches, women will walk across the room so the men they find cute can see what they got.

Women have always been the object, the painting, while the men are the player, the observer. Males are very visual, they adore gazing at women-- their breast, legs, hair, eyes, figure, feet--at a very obvious manner because apparently, they don't have an "encompassing visual capacity" (i coined this, lol). What I mean is they have to check out a girl, look at her from head to toe, and eventually get caught by the "object", unlike women who have "wider eye view", who can easily check out someone sans being obvious.

This is why I shy away from wearing short shorts whenever I can even if we're allowed to wear such in our male-dominated office. I also barely wear skirts, except when I run out of my jeans. I hate catching men looking at me. I loathe it when a guy looks at me from head to toe like I'm some kind of an alien. BUT, I can't help but wear cutout and sleeveless tops. Haha!  

Just this Sunday, we watched our male friends play basketball. I wasn't even surprised that most of the women who were watching the league were wearing short shorts and some, skirts. I kind of expected it. I think I was the only one in jeans.

thanks google for the photo

Every girl owns a pair of "perfect shorts", it is one of the easiest fashion items that go with anything. When I was in college, I had two bad experiences that opted me to veer away from wearing leg-baring bottoms. One, my family and I were in a grocery when suddenly my father kicked and punched a random guy who was apparently, checking me out. It made a fleeting commotion and I had to run away from the scene. The other experience was again, I was with my family doing grocery, a man was apparently smelling me from behind. I didn't notice it because I was busy choosing between dark or milk chocolate. This time, my father didn't punched the man, but scolded him. (Eh ang ganda ko daw eh anong magagawa ko? Charing!)