Q2
>> Monday, March 15, 2010
in a few days, the second quarter of my life would start. of course, that is if i live up to a hundred years.
do i have to mark it with something?
and if ever, with what?
v-day
>> Monday, February 15, 2010
I never thought that my v-day weekend would be filled with a lot of activities. The original plan was to take a much needed rest this Sunday, but I was able to get home by 1am already. Nevertheless, it was very very nice. I’m happy to have been able to give myself some pampering and to have spent it with dear friends.
And yey for invisible retainers, mojitos, fried green tomatoes, red wine and catching-up’s. :)
Stages of Love
>> Saturday, February 13, 2010
i wish they would stage this again..
There are many stages that the heart goes through
Just read the many pages that have led you to
The one your heart belongs to
And sings its songs to
But how did you get here from there?
Do you remember when you first saw her?
What were you thinking?
How did it feel?
When you first saw her
What were you thinking?
Were you saying to yourself
“How could someone like her possibly like me?”
Love happens when you don’t look for it
Open the door when it comes a-knockin’
Don’t ignore it
How did you greet her
When you got to meet her
What were the first words that opened doors?
“Hello. My name is…
It’s nice to meet you.”
While you were saying to yourself
“Oh, forget introductions!
Take me I’m yours!”
There are many stages that the heart goes through
And so it may take ages before he gets to you
But if it’s just beginning
Girl, just enjoy the ride
And soon enough you’ll reach that stage
When he’ll be by your side
When he first called you
Could you believe it?
How did you answer?
“Hello? Who’s this? I don’t recall…
Oh, yes. I remember…”
While you were saying to yourself
“Oh, thank you God!
Please, tell him I’m his!”
Love happens every day and minute
Open the door, a journey’s waiting
Go begin it
First dance, first dinner
First kiss
Remember first time he told you
“I’ll never go”
(yeah, right!)
First fight, first break-up
First time you made up
While you were saying to yourself
“I hate him… Love him…
Hate him, love him so!”
There are many stages that the heart will pass
So if you say this love just isn’t gonna last
Don’t you believe it
Don’t leave it
Boy, just enjoy the ride
And soon enough you’ll reach that stage
When she will be your bride
But as time goes by you wonder
How to keep the rhythm beating
How do couples who stay together for so long
How do they do it?
But as time goes by you realize
That the answer is simple
When you really love each other
There is nothing to it
There are many stages that the heart goes through
Just read the many pages that have led you to
The one your heart belongs to
And sings its songs to
It all begins with hi, hello
Then love her, hate him
Love her so
First dance, first kiss
First call, you know
It’s all a part of
The stages of love.
going home
I find it weird when people would ask me why every time I tell them I’m going home to our province. I would often reply, “Why not? That’s where I live, right?” I know I’m not able to go home often but I still consider “going home” as the normal thing — not being able to go home is not normal. There’s no need for any special occasion for me to do so.
After almost 10 years, I still don’t consider myself as someone residing in Manila though that is something that would, from time to time, cross my mind. It gets a little confusing sometimes. I guess it’s a little hard when you live your life someplace, and then call someplace else home.
disbelief
>> Saturday, January 30, 2010
My Facebook live news update shows that my 13-year old niece is in a relationship. It earned a number of comments, the last one being one of my brothers asking: “Alam ba yan ng Daddy mo?”
Can it be true? Oh my, oh my..
Read more...i like.. :)
>> Wednesday, January 27, 2010
i hope i can watch this. clever idea, isn’t it?
Read more...3lbs
>> Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Assuming that I was able to use the weighing scale properly, I’ve lost 3lbs in less than 2 weeks. I don’t know whether that is a big or small amount, but a loss is a loss. haha :)
3 more lbs and I think I’m ok. Now, how to get rid of those extra body fat?
2010
>> Sunday, January 24, 2010
Because there’s just so many things that I want to do in life, I figured perhaps it only makes sense to pick a theme for the year. In that way, my efforts would be focused and I will not get overwhelmed (and frustrated if I am not able to do them) of my to do’s.
And so, my 2010 would be all about health and well-being. This means that I would have to:
1. Take my gym enrollment seriously
2. Watch what I eat and eat on time. Plus make sure that I eat breakfast everyday
3. Be active in at least one type of sports
Now, the above only answers the physical aspect. I also know that I need to seriously look into the spiritual side. I have not been really out of touch in terms of this, but I know I was also not able to grow deeper in the past year. I do not have any concrete plans for this yet, but one thing that I seriously need to do is to allot more time for prayer.
I hope things work out fine. Bring it on 2010! :)
trying out Windows Live Writer
>> Saturday, January 23, 2010
hmm.. looks good.
this application can be an inspiration to start blogging again.
i better start with changing the blog layout. :)
Read more...me wants to blog
>> Sunday, January 04, 2009
one of these days, i wll write about the story.
Read more...>> Sunday, October 26, 2008
I'm testing out mail's new itouch. It took me a couple of minutes before I was able to login to the wifi connection as I kept on pressing (touching?) the wrong letters on the screen. Right now, I'm a little used to it already but i still prefer having a keyboard or at least a keypad because I want to "feel" the letters that I'm typing. My index finger is already tired and numb, so time to end this post.
Read more...>> Saturday, October 18, 2008
sa wakas, matutuloy na dn ang roadtrip to batangas mamya.. kahit 3 na lang kami na natuloy, sana masaya pa dn! :)
Read more...>> Monday, October 06, 2008
i tried to change my friendster status nth times today. the message says that i was able to successfully do so but still shows the original one.
i wonder why? :)
isn't it ironic?
>> Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I was re-checking a score sheet when I came across this comment. The manager who is reviewing the results deducted points from the examinee because apparently that person committed “grammartical errors”.
Then, this morning, I saw his email with this subject:
Sumasakit ang ulo ko!
By the way, he is not Filipino and he is not my boss. J
when was the last time i posted something on this blog?
>> Thursday, July 17, 2008
hmm.. i don’t really remember.
i actually planned to write a couple of times but just couldn’t find the time do actually do it. maybe because i spend most of my time nowadays either planning stuff for work/learning how to actually do my job or trying to forget about things I need to do/learn for work. during my 6th month appraisal, my boss told me that somehow, she feels like i’m still struggling to find my way in the company. and i told her that she’s right.
there’s really lots to learn. it’s stressing me out but somehow i feel good about it. this is something i was wishing for before. so, i should be glad right? J
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in other news, we went to saguijos last night to watch sugarfree, imago and cambio and some other bands.. galing! Nakakatuwa dn yun place kse ang liit nya lng, so parang jamming lang tlga yun performances. ang kulet pa nun mga bands.
Sbe ni ebe (sugarfree), “chismis lng daw yun reunion ng e-heads. Tanungin nyo si raymund mamaya.” [sabay tawa] pang-asar! hehe
something i read from our batch e-group..
>> Tuesday, June 03, 2008
To my fellow parents:
ON THE MEANING OF AN
ATENEO EDUCATION
by Agustin Martin G. Rodriguez, Ph.D.
When my daughter had the chance to finish high school in New York, we agonized about it: I more than her. Her agony centered around the need to moderate her desire to embark on this adventure because she knew it would break my heart. My agony had two thorns. Firstly, I didn’t want her to go because in all our lives, we had never spent more than 2 days apart from each other. Secondly, there was the irony of her studying in the United States. As a nationalist academic and development worker, I always believed that one’s spirit had to be formed with one’s people—among their myths and their sufferings—in order to understand who one is, what one’s responsibilities are and to whom one’s heart belongs. I know to the sophisticated global citizen I would sound archaic and provincial, but I still believe that before our spirit can embrace the world it must be rooted in a home we love. But I knew that the idea of giving up this opportunity was breaking her up inside because, as she said, she might spend the rest of her life wondering what if, so I let her go. She left with the promise that she would come back for college because I still believe that the university years are formative. But we all know how those promises go. Two years in the glitter of a new world could weaken the bindings of promises made in times of great emotions. It has been a year and we are now completely at peace with her decision to leave.
All that I have said is a prelude to why I am writing this piece. I am writing this to explain why I believe her formation in the Ateneo would still be the best for my daughter. I want to clarify to everyone else who raise their eyebrows at me, what I mean when I say that I believe an education here is superior to any ivy league education. Many of my colleagues who know that my daughter has a chance to study in an American university cannot understand why I would prefer that she study here. One of them even exclaimed: “You would prefer that she study here even if she had a chance to study in Harvard!” with a you-are-so ridiculous tone. And to me the answer was “Yes, of course, you’re so ridiculous.” And the reason is simply this: she may get a superior technical education in some top ranking university abroad but only in the Philippines will she have a superior education in being a Filipino for Filipinos.
My daughter wants to be a writer and recently she has had a chance to attend a prestigious workshop in an American university best known as a center for writing. And I was witness to how because of that opportunity, her writing skills have advanced light years from when she left. I have no doubt that if she studied creative writing in one of the US universities known for it, her skills would be strengthened even more. But what would she write about? A great writer is as much about her skill as it is about her great insight. If you have the skill but not the immersion in the profound realities that have formed your soul, what is there to write about? And who would she write for? A truly great writer is one whose passion is fueled by the need to speak for her people, especially the mute. And to even begin to want to speak for them, you have to be grounded in their misery. One’s people are never generic: they take concrete form in the faces that resonate in your heart. I think an education in her own country would prepare her to face the faces that resonate in her heart and perhaps an Ateneo education could awaken the passion to respond to those faces.
I know that many complain that Ateneans lead a very sheltered life in this campus. In an infinite number of ways that is ridiculously true. In the end, the Ateneo is the Ateneo: a separate world from the world of the margins. But what most people don’t understand about the Ateneo, is that the Ateneo is not just about the majors or the specific programs. It is about a spirit that pervades among its best people.
When I was young, I was ready to quit the Church because I was convinced that there were no intelligent and just Catholics. And then I came to the Ateneo where I met Catholics who strove to serve the margins because of their love of God. And because they loved God’s people, they strove for excellence. That realization astounded me and kept me in the Church and in Ateneo. If anything, Filipino Jesuit education just means to teach people that the love of God means nothing but to love the people who suffer forgotten in the margins, and that we strive for excellence in what we do to serve them best: otherwise excellence and the love of God is empty. What else does faith mean? What else grounds excellence? What else measures the good of a life but that? And if you take Ateneo education seriously enough, and if you are open to its opportunities enough, it will lead you to that realization and it will lead you to your first opening to the faces that you will have to serve. At its core, Ateneo education is an apprenticeship in the work of being a Filipino for others. This is only a slogan so long as one misses out on the living examples of alumni, scholars, administrators, maintenance and staff who show us the way to realizing the truth of an Ateneo education. Open your eyes to those who serve radically and they will radically educate your heart. And if one is open enough one can see that such people dwell in this school because there is a spirit in this school that cradles them and supports their vocation. It is intangible, but it is a spirit that guides the best of us.
Some people feel that we are an elite school that cultivates an elite rationality. Radioactive Sago’s brilliant third album is entitled “… Ang Daming Nagugutom Sa Mundo Fashionista Ka Pa Rin.” In one gig, Lord de Vera was plugging their album and he said “Bilhin ninyo ang aming album ‘… Ang Daming Nagugutom Sa Mundo Atenista Ka Pa Rin.’” I could understand his sentiments exactly. Just listen to conversations in the pocket garden where people complain about the heat, their slow laptops and their old school phones and anyone who knows anything about the hardships in our country will easily agree with Lord. But then, if you think about it, although some of our graduates are oblivious to the suffering around them and even if some of them do reinforce structures that exploit the suffering, there is that core of Ateneans touched by the spirit of this school who choose to genuinely build communities founded on justice, to found enterprises that serve true needs, to lawyer for the oppressed, and to doctor for the poor. Many innovations of justice building in our country arise because of their apprenticeships in the magis of our service. We just don’t hear about these things because they don’t find their way into our tarpaulins. But the spirit is there and it is the spirit that defines us more than basketball championships or the number of CEOs we produce. Somehow, because of our formation, Ateneans still tend to be idealistic about service. And so I say “Dahil ang daming nagugutom sa mundo kailangan mong seryosohin ang pagka- Atenista.” This is why, my dear fellow parents, I think an Ateneo education is more valuable for my daughter than a Cornell or Harvard or Princeton education: because here, we learn to be excellent for something important—our people and our Filipino humanity.
Dr. Rodriguez is currently an Assistant Professor of the Philosophy Department of the Loyola Schools.
His daughter, Leal, is a freshman in the Ateneo majoring in AB Humanities.
Edited version of “To my colleagues: On the meaning of an Ateneo education” by Agustin Martin G. Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Chalk Marks. The Guidon. Volume LXXV. Number 6.
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