rocking the double celebration

The mood is festive for most people, doubly festive for the Chinese. The heart’s day and the lunar new year happen to fall on the same day (not to mention Kris Aquino’s birthday). The malls were probably ridiculously filled with people, and Tagaytay is probably a bit warmer because of the numerous lovers dating in the romantic city. I heard there’s a pyromusical today. I was on our Outer Banks vacation homes (of course, it’s not true). PJVP and I spent it rocking — playing the guitars and drums, like this:

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heart’s day trivia

Prompted by an Inquirer trivia on this commercial holiday, I looked for the origin of this day (instead of doing the usual freelacce job search) and found this on the web:

The origin of the Valentines Day is shrouded in mystery and there are varying opinions about it. Its origin has become theme of many legends. St. Valentines Day as we celebrate today has remnants of both Christian and ancient Roman traditions. According to some legends Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying his decree, which outlawed marriage for young men.

There is an interesting story portraying the love affair between St. Valentine and the jailor’s daughter. St. Valentine left a farewell note for her, the note read –  “from your Valentine”. Valentine’s Day is said to have started in the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans regarded her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the festival of Lupercalia, in honor of Lupercus, the hunter of wolves. Legends aside, the popularity of the Valentines Day rose manifold among the people and in tune with it Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor St. Valentine, the patron saint of love and romance.

Waiting for Skye

I just arrived home from one of those baby shower invitations. As usual, the attendees were all excited for the baby to come out. I am specially excited because the soon-to-be mom was one of my constant companions during college and even after. This night was the first night I saw her big belly (hahaha), and well, I just couldn’t imagine that she will already be a mother.

She was my partner in crime. Whenever a drink is all I need, she was always the first one I’d call. We laugh at the silliest things, and yet we talk of the serious questions in life. Of course, there was, at first, fear that we could no longer go to those smoke-filled places where bands go, or to those convenience stores in gas stations to grab a beer or two. (Perhaps this is what one feels when most of her friends are settling down.) Or that we are no longer of the same frequency. But, what the heck, we’ve outgrown (or outgrowin) those stuff. We can’t stay that way forever. And I’m pretty sure, there would be new experiences with this new chapter in our lives. After all, we’re all very excited to see Skye. She’s gonna be well-loved by all of us, her mom’s sisters.

Eric, our gift

Today is Eric’s 7th birthday. Some of you probably remember him from some of my posts. He is my cousin, who when he was 4, was diagnosed with leukemia, not to mention he already has Down syndrome. I could no longer recount the first few months he was confined in the hospital because it was really painful to see a child suffering. It’s even worse when you love the child so much. Anyway, that is all behind us now, and I am very happy that he had already finished all his chemo sessions and he only goes to the hospital for tests, no longer for treatment!

They said that children with Down syndrome are a gift to the family because they bring luck to business. Well, that isn’t the case for us. But we are definitely blessed because of him. He made his father a great man, bringing out all the patience, and perseverance, and selflessness in him. He brought the family closer — all of us supported in every way he can during the time when he was really sick. I don’t know a time when we were that supportive of each other. Best efforts.

He brings joy to my heart. He is very sweet to me. Whenever we see each other, he never leaves my side. He sleeps in my room whenever he can. He kisses the phone whenever he talks to me. And there was genuine excitement eveytime he sees me. He runs toward me while saying over and over “tete” (meaning ate) then hugs me.

Like all kids, he also has a naughty side. I say, his naughtier than most kids his age I know. But I couldn’t bring myself to be mad at him. When all the adults are angry when he did some naughty stuff, I couldn’t help but laugh. I always wonder where he gets his ideas.

He loves one pose—the Mr. Pogi pose. He likes having pictures.  Most of them aren’t developed yet, whereas some were just printed from a tm-t88iv. I’ll try to post new pictures here when the two of us get to celebrate his birthday.

Happy birthday, Eric! We love you!

who NOT to vote

Interesting how this election has turned out for me and my friend to be on who not to vote. The surveys and the ads all made us think that there are only two candidates fighting for the presidency. Though there are good reasons to believe that it may be true. I am thinking of voting the lesser evil (and lesser experience) of the two. If the VP candidates were the ones running for the chief executive, I would have voted on the basis of who to vote, not on who not to vote.

Last election, I voted for all the candidates to the Senate from the Kapatiran party. I believed in them, though I knew there’s a tiny chance they would win. Relatively, they got a higher number of votes than expected, but of course not enough. Most of the time, I vote according to competency and good reputation. I voted for Flavier, though not really a politician. He was a physician who knew a lot about rheumatoid arthritis information and heart attack prevention, but also knew how to manage and provide good services in the DOH. I wouldn’t forget his encouraging, Let’s DOH It! I voted for Yasay and for Monsod. I knew them to be good in their fields and to be good in their dealings. Last election, I voted for Villanueva.

But I guess we are too cautious now. We’ve had too much difficulties in the government during Erap’s time. GMA’s time was so much worse and seemed too long. This is realigning our perspective, becoming very careful not only on who to vote, but on who would become president by reason of our vote.

leaders by example

I asked a taxi driver last month who he would vote for president, he started a whole litany on why it is not good to have an intelligent president (i think he meant cunning). He said that what happens in the Big League (i.e., Malacanang) also happens in the Little League (barangay levels). He said that when a fund is coming, the barangay captains already know what to do and how to misappropriate the funds, which cannot be imputed to them. In short, they already know how to steal the money, spend it for themselves alone, and still stay in power — and get re-elected.

Look at Arroyo, he said. They said she’s intelligent, an economist, etc. Look at where we are now. (All the time, I was just asking questions to let him know I want him to continue.) He went on to describe poverty in his eyes. Then, I asked him, “Who would you vote for president?” Well, the one I voted last time. The one who really is for the masa.

What the driver said about what’s happening in the national is also happening in the local levels, I believe, is true. As the Obama administration was speaking of grassroots democracy, manong was talking about grassroots corruption. Leaders are effective only if they lead by example.

The next election, I hope we would have better leaders (or none at all). Not a senator whose always on ski vacations in North America, always part of the entourage. Or not a representative who’s always absent. Or a representative whose only bill is to change the name of a street. Or a senator who repeatedly refuses to attend investigations in the House. Or a president who just says “sorry”.

cheers to the new nurse!

Last year, speaking of missing celebrations, I recounted the story of my kinakapatid who took 10 long years before finishing college, starting from engineering and ending with nursing. Well, this year, I am just so proud of him! He is now finally a registered nurse! Yey! He used to be (and still kinda is) so preoccupied with barkada, alcohol and women that education didn’t seem to fit in his list. Now, he is a certified nurse! I asked him if he’d work right away, as I thought he’d want to try working since most of us his age are already working and supporting ourselves. But he told me that he’d study for NCLEX first and for the English tests or maybe take some other medical coding training courses. Tuloy tuloy na kumbaga.

I just admired him for his perseverance. This he did even after he seemed to have “lost” his way. He found his way back, when he decided to look for it. This is what makes him special among other graduates. I find inspiration in him. No matter how long he had been out of track, he was still able to find his path.