April 7th, 2009
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While having my daily dose of coffee mocha at Cottonwood, I gazed upon a couple who also frequent the shop, just like me, but for their evening tea and slices of sandwiches. She is not the usual lady who bends her head on her partner’s shoulder. Neither is she the one who smiles constantly and flirts. He is not the man who winks at her when trying to make a point. He does not hold her hand. He sips his tea without pretensions or fear of not getting a good impression from her. She is his wife. He is her husband. By the look of her gray hair and his balding head, they are on their late 70s or maybe even early 80s. At their age and still enjoying the regular Cottonwood visits and the sips of tea, who says this is a young world?
There are people I know who find aging so astonishing. I smile to myself whenever I hear someone say, “You have visibly grown older.” It gives me the impression that we live in a world made for and of the young. With the way we view youthfulness and revere youth above one’s ability, knowledge and experience, who is to blame? Our mind is partly corrupted with the idea that aging is a no-no in our society.
April 5th, 2009
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Fr. Paul mentions something about people who seem to be so attached with work that they forget and set aside God.
I wrote something about this before.
Ora et Labora (translated as Prayer and Work) are ancient monastic values. The values are for busy people who, because of their tight schedules, have sporadically affected their time of silence and prayer.
March 23rd, 2009
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My column for the March 4 issue of this paper entitled “One too many beers changed this life forever” spawned quite a frenzy from readers who thought I was glorifying a rapist. To those who commented and reacted, thank you for raising the questions that I obviously failed to answer in the previous article. At this point, I do not even need a second thought to write part 2.
Did I write the column to glorify the rapist Smith? Or was it to say Nicole, the victim, lied about the rape? No, for the first, and yes, for the second. I am against rape, but I am also against injustice. I am for truth, I do not condone lies. What people might have read from online reports were products of Nicole’s ivy poisoning each and every fragile mind of her dishonesty. She managed to make people believe she was raped. Truth of the matter, she was not.
March 20th, 2009
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For those planning to live a “happy” life, relocating to Utah, Hawaii, or Wyoming may be the best options. Rethink if you wish to live in these states-Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky and West Virginia. What about living in South Dakota?
According to the latest survey numbers released Wednesday last week by Gallup in partnership with Healthways and America’s Health Insurance Plans, South Dakota ranks as the 39th “happiest” state in the U.S.
March 19th, 2009
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I was browsing for some graduate study links online and found an interesting post from The Chronicle about the declining number of American Ph.D. degree holders. What is the trend? The U.S. is luring foreigners into taking graduate studies. You most likely notice it in action with all the foreign students eagerly wanting to get their graduate degrees in SDSU. But why the decline? Why would a young American hate science and brush aside the big opportunity of having a Ph.D. degree?
The answer is simple: it does not pay! Here are some statistics between 1993 and 2001 as gathered by E. Rubenstein, a financial analyst, economics journalist and consultant:
March 11th, 2009
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Say you found a stranger very attractive (however you define attractive). Would you want to have sex before or after gulping bottles of beer?
Sex under the influence of beer is common and easy. All you need to do is get yourself drunk (10 bottles will suffice) and in a matter of hours you’ll find yourself on someone else’s bed, most likely with the stranger you often exchange smiles with in the bar, whom you lusted or dreamed so long to be with. Make sure that both of you are extremely intoxicated so that the alcohol will do all the thinking, talking and the strategic planning of where and how you would perform the sex escapade – hmmm, in the car, at the park, beside a big rock, behind a pine tree, in the garage or just to make it sound so nice, in the comfort of your own room.
February 14th, 2009
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Who wants a date on Valentine’s Day? No, I do not want one. No need to beat around the bush, I abhor the day. When St. Valentine sent the first ‘Valentine’ greeting ‘From your Valentine’ during the third century, I have this idea he wasn’t after for an intimate love. Go google it. The greeting was for the daughter of a prison guard who constantly visited him in his prison cell after he was caught for not obeying or supporting the Emperor’s law on marriages. On the day he was sentenced to death, he left the note thanking the girl for friendship and loyalty.
The note was about friendship. Valentine was a good priest and I deem he cannot allow himself to fall in love with a girl and abandon his holy vows. He was after for friendship alone.
February 4th, 2009
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Mama told me not to build castles in the air, but of bricks. She was the one who constantly pushed me forward and stirred me to strive to be the best that I can. In the countless times that things went south and continued to fall apart, there she was, a wonder woman standing by my side swift to shield every unwilling part of me from the falling debris. She was there in each tear that was about to trickle or a smile that was about to break into laughter. She was there where superman failed to show and when any other superhero fell short to save.
Unlike Papa whose character could be likened to a silent harp, Mama harps her subterranean emotions out. The day when she defended my older brother from a wrongdoing and said how much she loves both of us and shed a tear afterwards, I cried with her.
