Restless River Seeks Open Sea

Devil Writes Pat: "Not how I roll."

2010-01-18T11:08:00.009+08:00

Needless to say, we are crushed beyond words by the magnitude of the devastation in Haiti. I sought the comfort of a friend and spoke of my feelings saying “it was hard to accept that anything worse could still happen to a nation like Haiti.” And yet at the same time I know in a very personal way, how random life could be and how hitting rock bottom is no guarantee that you are on the way up. As usual, I have no answers. Unable to say anything herself, my friend simply gave me a link to this interesting insight into the persona of the 'hellish one'.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune published a letter from Satan to evangelist Pat Robertson, "in reply" to his comment that Haiti’s persistent troubles, including the earthquake, are due to a pact the nation made with Mephistopheles.

Well, it wasn’t Satan who wrote the letter from hell but skillful Lilly Coyle of Minneapolis writing in the devil's persona. Thought she penned it down pretty good and it is a glimpse as well into deep Christian philosophies on suffering. Here, sharing with you

Dear Pat Robertson,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I’m all over that action.

Enigma, print by Gustave Dore

But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I’m no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth — glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle.

Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven’t you seen “Crossroads”? Or “Damn Yankees”? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there’d be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox — that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it — I’m just saying: Not how I roll.

You’re doing great work, Pat, and I don’t want to clip your wings — just, come on, you’re making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That’s working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract.

Best, Satan

Where the River Meets the Sea

2009-10-15T04:17:00.005+08:00

Once there was a river that gently flowed past the rich plains bordering a tiny fishing village called Hagonoy, before it drained into the sea. It was once the habitat for mangroves and rich marine life. Birds and fowls of various kind made their home there.

As a kid, I fondly recall watching other children enjoy its cool, blue-green waters. It was a veritable summer pool for the young boys, the sturdy mangroves served as their diving boards. On its once verdant banks, I was given to contemplation. There I penned my first poetries, and drew nearer to my God. To this day, I have recurring dreams of my childhood in this special spot. And yes, in its honor, my writer’s pseudonym, and this blog’s name is “Restless River.”

Hagonoy River is a unique body of water, I was to find that out much later -- a freshwater stream that mixes with the seawater as the river conveys freely into the sea. It's brackishwater -- more saline than freshwater, but not as salty as the sea. This water condition occurs in the most extensive brackishwater habitats worldwide, on that wonderful spot where the river meets the sea.

My grandfather was a fisherman. I remember that each time he launched into the river, he came back with his small fishing boat filled with live fishes and shrimps of all kinds. What has happened to change things so? Today, small fisherfolks no longer draw anything much from this river. They have to cast their nets farther for a meager catch, if any. They now compete with bigger vessels of commercial fishers who are able to launch deeper into the ocean.

In this river that used to teem with life, it is now not uncommon to find the floating carcasses of animals. Plastics, garbage litter it. Stench fill its once fresh air. Garbage dumps flow into this river. Untreated heavy metal-laced waste water is suspected to be polluting it.

Why is this river so important? Why should we care? Because it is one river among many and we need to issue this call for this and other rivers, the accelerating deterioration of which have largely been ignored. The integrity of our rivers has been compromised, degraded by many human interventions, pollution, watershed destruction, unregulated fish farming, the list goes on.

And why should it still matter, now that climate change of a global magnitude is disrupting natural systems anyway, why should we bother to rehabilitate a small river? The answer has been established by environmental experts, we need to restore this ecosystem now more than ever. Rivers will continue to play a significant role in combating climate change. It will continue to connect one place to another, allowing plants and animals free movement as the climate shifts. It will always be that place of safety to shelter fish and wildlife from hotter temperatures.

A river has the resilience to spring forth with new life -- assure clean water, germinate new species, protect from flood. It is a refuge to wildlife and humans in a time of rapid climate change. It exist as a very important buffer zone between land and sea, and therefore a natural defense against hurricane and tsunami threats. On World Blog Action Day, let hope float. Let it rise over crisis, over our downward spirals and tragedies, over our own misgivings, and let it cover them all. Let us not give up on this God-given gift and its ability to boost the resilience of nature and with it, the strength of communities against potentially catastrophic climate change impacts.

Sharing with the world this video of Philippine artist and environmental activist Noel Cabangon as he sings about climate change and its impact. This is my Ivanne Scott's favorite song. From all of us, this one's for you son.:)

Kanlungan

"Ang ating kanlungan...tahanan ng ating tula at pangarap, ngayon ay naglaho na. Saan hahanapin pa?"

["Our haven.... home to our rhymes and dreams long gone. Wherever can we find it?"]

My Dynamic Engagement Continues

2009-10-10T09:38:00.004+08:00

I have been too caught up with some projects for the longest time. I have not posted for a handful of people who drop by this blog.

Thanks to Jeff for prompting the third and last part of my Dynamic Engagement, although that was like more than half a year ago. (That lack of time on my part is just the reason why this blog had been on "beta" :D for quite sometime.) Looking back, I agree on all points my good kababayan made in his comment to my post. Indeed, there are varying degrees of engagement on both personal and societal levels. Changes, lasting ones, do take time. Yes, it is worth striving for. I volunteered myself as an example for I only know “me” well enough to be able to say that indeed such openness can happen from a place within us, like I have found long before I ventured out of my country.

All I’m saying in my less-than-erudite way, is that cultural openness and tolerance can and should happen not only through immersion in another culture by way of travel. That would then limit the experience to the moneyed or the exceptionally talented, or the randomly fortunate. Rather, it should happen by way of the ability to view other cultures from a lens other than our own, and on the basis of our common humanity. Rhetoric, sounds like? This brings us to the value of education as integral to the change. It should be that kind of education that promotes an openness of thought and is accountable to human lives, for every life counts.

I have for so long been in development planning as a government worker prior to this challenging but crazy switch along the lines of PR & communications for a beauty and wellness corp… [Company X]. So yes, I do know there have been efforts by governments in alliance with international communities to end poverty and dramatically improve educational opportunities for children, youth and adults for the next decade or so. Are we on track? See what's going on.

Despite much progress over the years, millions of children in the developing and underdeveloped world still lack access to food much less quality education and the benefits it brings. I do not need to tell anyone how this injustice is undermining progress.

The “critical mass” Jeff mentioned is of course, not nearly as simple as it sounds. The sociodynamics of it, when we are able to build enough momentum to fuel the growth and realize the changes we seek, is certainly an enormous task, a dream.

Must we keep on? By all means. Sure, we have enough reason to grow weary. It’s such a vicious cycle. I am reminded of the Parable of the Widow's Mite, from which we have learned -- sometimes those who have the least, gives the most. In the synoptic gospels, a young widow gave two mites to the temple coffer, the least valued coin at that time, and all that she had to live on. Jesus extolled her in his preaching at the temple, as the least giver, and the best giver of all.

From my own experience – seeing all those people I have met in desperate situations for whom nothing much has changed over the years, I could very well have grown cynical and would have been forgiven. But I have also met many wonderful people who leaves me in awe about the fact that they do not sleep on their watch. And what’s astounding is that these are people with the most reasons to stop believing in change. We see them everyday, teachers -- like Filipino public school teacher Efren Penaflorida nominated for CNN Hero of the Year who with all his lack works among destitute out of school children in the shanty towns of Cavite , mentors, grassroots workers, church leaders and lay-leaders, peacekeepers, hopeful mothers of very ill children..the list goes on. There are people who have lost nearly everything, but that did not keep them from moving forward. They never gave up, and neither should we.

The Dust of Words Would Smother Me

2009-09-05T03:12:00.004+08:00

I'd like to think that I have scaled up in terms of emerging media technologies , and that I am at least tech savvy if not tech trained. But I guess nothing can ever change my being such a bookworm. You see, I read a book by approaching it like I would an unopened gift.

Years back, I used Sparknotes for my study guide which includes a plot summary, character study and notes on major themes and symbols. But I try not to be affected with structured analysis. To me, a narrative invites and escapes interpretation.

Something will often excite me about a book. For Anna Karenina, (re-reading and oh, long read,) its depiction of issues in 19th Centrury Russia, and thus quite daunting -- but the first sentence is of course inviting and itself a study in the best-known openings of any novel:

"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Such a pronouncement, holds the promise of a narration that will illuminate. It kept my night lamp burning.

My Dynamic Engagement (Part 2)

2009-01-22T22:28:00.009+08:00

I thank Ethan Zuckerman for the drop-by and for his kind thoughts on my last post. A good segue to what I'm driving at, and I now have a feeling I may have driven my point badly. The best way to produce people of cultural openness and tolerance and thus good bridges of understanding may take so much more than simply getting on a plane and living somewhere. That is certainly one way. But more than that, I feel that cultural openness and understanding must have "a place to begin". There must be that opportunity for such openness to be carved deeply into the soul of as many people as possible. I believe it will be shaped by experiences as well as by good beginnings. An early start that makes possible the creation of a space -- where one can become a person of compassion, and tolerance and wisdom.

I have never lived long enough in any part of the world other than my country to feel like I might know what it’s really like to dwell among other people or understand and embrace them. But even before I hopped on planes, I knew this space within me where I can begin. There is this place inside where I am capable and ready for what they call dynamic engagement. By this, I mean a predisposition to understand, a creativity to redefine based on a new understanding. So much so that I could bite my tongue and withold my judgement and keep emotions in check that I may open my heart to co-create new meanings other than my own. How then, can that predisposition be created and duplicated? I can only speak from experience. (to be continued...)

My Dynamic Engagement (Part 1)

2009-01-20T05:22:00.005+08:00

Has it only been over a year? Feels like twenty. I refer to my life and work in Singapore. In a company that has become trans-national spanning various countries, I am the only Filipino. That made it a bit tough for the first few months. Everywhere else in this cosmopolitan, multi-racial society, there have been countless moments that really put my claim to cultural tolerance to the test. I have had to think twice, or bite my tongue to not engage in skirmishes most of which have cultural underpinnings.

I had that in mind while I was checking on my RSS feeds, been sooo long since I had the chance to read up. Interestingly, I found a couple of posts (ancient posts by internet time) by Ethan Zuckerman about xenophiles, homophily, serendipity. Ethan has this theory that xenophiles will be very influential in the future. Who are they? Someone like Zuckerman himself perhaps? Where do they breed? I have an idea. And when will they rise up and create another renaissance? I am clueless.

I certainly cannot lay claim to being one. Xenophiles are said to be people who have this excitement and openess about the world and being almost wired as such, can be good bridge figures for building conversations that allows us to make a breakthrough towards cross-cultural understanding.

As always, following Ethan's voice randomly, I feel enriched by his knowledge and at times, exhausted by the complexities. From my very basic understanding, I know how inability to bridge cultural gaps is at the heart of conflict and can never be separated from it. So what does it take for genuine cross-cultural understanding to take place? Do you need to mass-produce xenophiles? Ethan had this suggestion that cracked me up: marry into other cultures. Quite absurd one might think for a moment but hey, he has a point. Who else can drive you to understand other cultures than your 'alien of a husband or wife' whom you must learn to live with with such understanding and intimate knowing. But of course, that's not how marriages are forged nor can we force it by legislation. And he meant that for laughs.

I believe the predisposition towards embracing other cultures including conflict resolution is deep-seated and complex and cannot happen without understanding cultural underpinnings and definitely without becoming completely fluent in your own. Indeed, it can happen in the most wonderful of situations, but not often, without conscious effort, or perhaps a struggle. (To be continued...)

Hail to the New Chief !

2008-11-06T04:13:00.010+08:00

Barack Obama, silhouetted. Photo courtesy of the The Big Picture (AP Photo)

He is more than a new Chief to the word's superpower lately losing grip. In an op-ed I wrote for a local business paper in Singapore a few weeks back, I pointed out how an American President means as much to America as it does to the world-- inextricably linked as we are to this nation in nearly all aspects of life.

How symbolic it is -- the new global Chief is of a magnificent heritage --African-American, an emancipated black man in every way, with roots in Kenya and early footprints as a child growing up in South East Asia. He inspires the world coming together and gives the much needed boost to a floundering American image. Crisis is the best context for charismatic leadership, and it is during these times 'poetic figures' do arise to unleash hope.

Barack Obama, 76 days before his inauguration as the 44th President of the United States of America. With glee, I have just added his name to my 'little childhood talent' of knowing which American President ruled when. You can quiz me on that !

Liberty Once Lost.

2008-09-21T09:21:00.018+08:00

No matter how busy I am, I find time for my readings and studies -- a nerdy side to my personality (some friends find this strange, I find them weird) otherwise balanced by an all-too-silly kind of humor. But yes, I do try to keep pace mentally. Thanks to the internet, I can read the NY Times and Washington Post Daily. I make sure to read Philippine Daily Inquirer. I got BBC news, CNN, Guardian and Huffington Post. I have a hundred or so sites on my google reader. And I buy bestseller books on occasion. Are you ok? I know this is not commonplace.

One such book I have read is Naomi Wolfe’s The End of America, Letter of Warning to A Young Patriot which landed the NY Times bestseller’s list in the fall of 2007. I do admire the winsome feminist and social critic, but the arguments in her book failed to excite me. And I bet it would lull progressive thinkers in the Philippines to sleep. Most recently, Wolfe penned "Give Me Liberty" as a sequel.

In The End of America, purposely made to look reminiscent of Thomas Paine's pamphleteering, Naomi Wolfe argues that recent history has profound lessons for those in the US today. It outlines how fascist, totalitarian, and other repressive leaders seize and maintain power, in what were once democracies. She points to a predictive blue print that all would-be dictators put to action in order to crush a democracy. She discusses the ten steps here. Now, she is so clever, she speaks and writes beautifully. But her thesis is so old, at least to us in US-neo-colonial Philippines.

For what is so jolting about something that has echoed through history over and over again? And I am really appalled not at the ten steps or that it is now underway in the US -- but that Wolf, a Rhodes scholar who went to post-grad at Oxford shouted eureka on the tactical blueprint only recently, as in, only in the year 2006, in the era of Mark Zuckerberg and Tom of Myspacelandia. Not that she is late. But that it got me into thinking, about how little attention indeed, American society has given to the affairs of nations, even those who "would be brothers".

In the Philippines, thinkers and critics a good many number of whom were educated in my school have so long ago "decoded" the secret codes of despots. No matter if we did not sum it up as ten steps like a "fascist for dummies". But in Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, Pinochet, Mao Ze Dong -- they were all there, as history begging not to be repeated.

And it is no news to us -- the United States, defender of the Free World is believed to have aided dictatorships in many countries throughout history. What could be more undemocratic than to use the law to subvert the rule of law? But we have seen that happen . The outcry in the Philippines until the dictatorship was toppled in the late 80’s was “down with US-Marcos Fascist Regime”. And I have to say, there was no better student of Mussolini than Marcos. And despite our best and brightest men and women, who sounded the alarm, Ferdinand Marcos -- once thought to be the leader to make our nation great again -- put the Philippines under martial rule thirty-six years ago today, September 21.

America -- bastion of pure democracy where the Founding Fathers, original Philadelphia 76ers have proclaimed liberty not just for the New World but for all nations. Has it been so pampered, so assured of freedom, that it has gotten lazy on the very principles that made it a great nation? Now Naomi Wolf has just shouted "I found it!", on how democracies come crashing down. The blue print is predictive, sure. Though our leaders and thinkers knew all the facts-- were they able to prevent our country from plunging into the dark years of martial law? Surely not, and you tell me why.

Now, they think Bush is doing this? Like he was destined, in a bible -truth sort of way, to be a despot? Truth be told, pure liberty has been tainted long before him. You think a vote for Obama or Mc Cain will prevent the End of America if it is really underway? I make a reference to John Adams who warned -- liberty, once lost, is lost forever. But like anything dear that you've lost, it lives within your heart. And then you bravely go on, and do your best to navigate a complex and perilous world. No, we no longer can restore pure liberty by simply exhorting democratic rethorics, no matter how well-intentioned. It is that proverbial long road with the end nowhere in sight. And whoever has got it figured, go write a good book.

The Founding Fathers have set the principles in place, bless their souls. My country's heroes learned from them. But sadly, all the principles they have laid down to avoid man's abuses were not enough to withstand the complexities of human nature-- of the never-ending tension between good and evil and the supposed triumph of the will.

You wish to continue to ask the wrong questions? Whatever. The question is not: "why is Bush so evil or how could Karl Rove and other criminals in the White House do this to us?" The question is, "since there is a blueprint and yes, we have seen it re-cur throughout history, then why is man so vulnerable to the same attacks again and again?"

During the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, there is a story told of a young American who posed a question t0 John Adams, "Sir, what do we have here? A monarchy, or a republic?" . To which the patriot replied, " A republic. If you can keep it."

My Journey So Far

2008-08-26T20:29:00.006+08:00

At lunchbreak today, I was going through my feed reader and checked out Paul Coelho’s UNESCO keynote address on the radicalization of youth at the crossroad. Well those who know me deeply would understand how I feel for these things. On the other hand, a new acquaintance IM'd me, after checking out my blog, saying that "it truly is fashionable to be espousing social causes like child rights, stop world hunger, ban land mines etc. these days" and hence, is that why I am on it… "trying to keep up with what’s in?" Indeed, the social landscape is changing across the globe but not in the context she meant. As for me, the cause for children is a very personal one. While I had always been actively involved in community work a few years back as a development planner, my work that has to do with programs on the protection of children’s rights truly began in the year 2005 with a project for UNICEF which encourages LGU-UNICEF collaboration on the development of Child-friendly cities in the Philippines. As I had always been involved as a writer for UN-related projects, I thought it was nothing new. For this one, I had the opportunity of working with local leaders and much later with locally-based global children’s organization like Save the Children and Global Fund for Children in Conflict mostly as writer and development planner. It was a way for me to deal with that certain grief of my own and I was then so sure, it was to be the path of change for me.

As I immersed myself in readings on the state of children – reading all I could get my hands on -- first in the Philippines, and then in Asia and then in the world, then I came to know in a personal way -- what I had known ever since -- that change is a long, lonely road. But getting involved in these things has stages. And I was then in a stage where I was too caught up in my own pain to be of any use to others. The problem was overwhelming, I was beginning to see how difficult and frustrating things were, and as Paul Coellho said "the feeling of powerlessness gripped me". Confound it with the fact that I could not make a change that way while I have my own issues and while resources were short even for me.

And so my involvement on this project came to a halt in 2007, along with many other community projects we had on the drawing board. Then one upset after another – a project I was to take on that farther away land was indefinitely shelved after all had seemed set, ready, go. The saddest part of that—and I cannot possibly recount here – is that failed trip failed in another way in terms of my "personal life". Because of that I had lost in the relationship arena by "default" and I had been told as a result of my no-show that I have put someone “on a spot more than he can say”. Restless, I had already been feeling like fish out of water where I was (well, I correct me there, I’m supposed to be a “river”) certain that something awaits me somewhere.

Then a year ago, I caught up with a close friend who was planning on a trip to Singapore. Next thing I found myself was deep in corporate work right here in cosmopolitan Singapore. What’s next for me, time alone can tell. Some really thought-provoking developments have turned up. I am trying to think straight and listen “to the universe” for some things I really have no control over. All I know is that, wherever life leads, I would like to come full circle to the meaningful work that I had once began and still wish to do. It's in my heart all the while.

Why am I sharing this? Because in a blog you are compelled to be honest in a beautiful way -- to process that honesty, stringing words together within context, sometimes with fresh eyes and new understanding, and in a well presented manner -- in case someone might pass by and share in the journey. Then, for myself – a communicator with an almost desperate longing to understand and be understood, you probably will never understand why one has to leave some of her private thoughts out in the open. I don’t have to tell you how often having to elaborate has gotten me into trouble. But for the personal sharing -- how useful and nice that I have something on here, a piece of my mind that I can come back to, a part of me that I sent like a prayer, out there in the random world somewhere.

A World Made New

2008-07-23T20:53:00.004+08:00

Nowhere is living on the edge more true than in living after your dreams have died. Yet we all have dreams that have died. The question is how do we respond to unrealized dreams?

Dreams we dreamt for ourselves. Whatever they were, no small deal. We must face them when they are dashed. Understand why that happened. Yet we must also acknowledge that dreams do come from deepest longings known to man. The longing to be loved. To be intimately known. The longing to see a “better tomorrow”. The need to “leave a legacy” -- a part of ourselves to create that "better world".

Some so-called dreams are dreams we build around our imperfect selves in an imperfect world. Then they are broken. Yet you live on. And the irony of that place of brokenness is that it can transform our lives in ways we never could have thought possible. In my favorite Hemingway novel -- A Farewell to Arms, I always quote -- the world breaks everyone, then afterwards, many are strong in all the broken places. That says it well for me. As to dreams, let me keep on having them. If I lose all, so be it as there is nothing I could do with that. But I will not lose my dreams of a world made new. Then with its coming, I suspect -- that all I have lost will be restored to me.

Our World

2008-05-23T18:24:00.005+08:00

"If there is no love in the world,
we will make a new world,
and we will give it walls,
and we will furnish it with soft, red interiors,
from the inside out,
and give it a knocker that resonates
like a diamond falling to a jeweller's felt
so that we should never hear it.
Love me, because love doesn't exist,
and I have tried everything that does."

-- Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated: A Novel)

Bad Domain Names

2008-05-23T15:35:00.001+08:00

Stumbled upon companies that didn't spend quite enough time considering how their online names might appear - and be misread...have fun:

Who Represents is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity. Their Web site is
www.whorepresents.com/
Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange Advice and views at
www.expertsexchange.com/
Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
www.penisland.net/
Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
www.therapistfinder.com/
There's the Italian Power Generator company,
www.powergenitalia.com/
And don't forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales,
www.molestationnursery.com/
If you're looking for IP computer software, there?s always
www.ipanywhere.com/
The First Cumming Methodist Church Web site is
www.cummingfirst.com/
And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky Web site,
www.speedofart.com/

Thinking Hemingway

2008-05-14T14:45:00.000+08:00

"When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring,
it's as if a young person
had died for no reason...."

Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

The Dust of Words Would Smother Me

2008-05-02T06:14:00.004+08:00

I read a book by approaching it like I would an unopened gift.

Something will often excite me about a book. For Anna Karenina, (oh, long read,) for of its depiction of issues in 19th Centrury Russia, and thus quite daunting -- but the first sentence is of course inviting and itself a study in the best-known openings of any novel:

"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Such a pronouncement, holds the promise of a narration that will illuminate. It kept my night lamp burning.

You are in my universe, and I'm in yours...

2008-04-22T20:50:00.012+08:00

Certainly. I will come running. At the speed of light, I wouldn’t mind delving deep into the paradoxes of traveling backwards or forwards in time. Potentially very exciting.

Well then, shall I also “meet you when we were younger?” Will you then be in the neighbourhood we used to explore, with the little lake and its many incongruous details and bike trails? How much of our present state could we possibly eliminate, just by revisiting life a week back? The implications are mind- boggling.

I think I like the 'parallel universes' approach best. Trashes all new apps in this techie world where people with Macbook Airs and i-phones and smart-alecky microblogs think they are all that. Hah ! Wait for the launching of this:

I will probably come and see you, embracing life's experiences and all that entails, forward and backward along a line. Or back and forth through a three-dimensional space. Why not, since we always say time is the 4th dimension?

Fringe ideas of ours. And we can argue all we want under the cryptic night sky, last Thursday.

This Might Inspire You Too

2008-04-14T21:28:00.008+08:00

I got this on my inbox today: an e mail from TED's Chris Anderson about one-minute films that feaures a choir in one country singing another country's national anthem. Simple idea, but quite compelling.

France sings for USA
Kenya sings for India
Japan sings for Turkey

These were shot by film directors looking to support the landmark TED project Pangea Day happening on May 10. Feel free to pass the message on.

Reporting from the Ground

2008-04-07T14:48:00.010+08:00

I have tried participating in the worldwide conversation by writing for Ground Report.Com. GroundReport, an NYC-based citizen journalism site with worldwide reach, allows journalists from anywhere in the world share to their stories and then share in the revenue generated from the traffic. The next piece of their business plan is to geographically target advertising and revenue sharing.

I have been reporting for the site for the past few days and have written no more than two articles. In today's issue, my reports were featured on front page as among the most popular for all regions. I have no idea how that happened but it is something that moves very fast and as you read this, I may have been dislodged from the hotpicks. No, I don't have friends on there. And I did not link it to my Facebook or Stumble Upon, not yet. :) I was just trying to get some thoughts out there and it was thrilling in a way to connect with people where things move more quickly.

My article Philippines languishes behind in closing digital divide was in the hot category for media and tech. Go check them out, and you can do your own reporting of the news as they unfold where you are in the world.

Will You Send Her Your Stereotypes?

2008-04-06T13:45:00.015+08:00

As Jeff Jarvis says, a lovelier spokesperson who can find? I completely agree.

In the video Her Majesty Queen Rania made her presence on You Tube asking that we tackle our stereotypes of the Arab World.

"In a world where it's so easy to connect to one another, we still remain very much disconnected," Rania said in her YouTube video. "If what most people know about the Arab world and Arab people they've known through programs like 24 and Jack Bauer, I think they are in for a very big surprise."

Among the "stereotypes" she mentioned: "Do all Arabs hate Americans?"

Well, that is not so much a stereotype as it is a commonly-held truth that can only be understood within the historical context. The radicalisation or antipathy towards Western culture is widespread in the Arab world but not without the theories. Out there, everyone has a theory, their own stereotypes of the Western world. But truth be told, there's got to be a better way to facilitate the peace process and understanding between these peoples and nations other than dang the stereotypes.

Among those who responded had this to say:

Over the years, I have made a few serious friendships from both regions of the world. The stereotypes would often make the scene as one group's joke when the other's not listening. Other than that, there was no real misjudgement based on ignorance that I have seen. They are in fact aware of the stereotypes, and that they're just that. Of course this is just to cite an example. But the fact is that, there are deep-seated conflicts that started the fire in the hearts of these groups of people which to this day continue to threaten peace in the world. I do not know for sure who acted too slow to extinguish it or who fanned the flames, though I have theories. But please don't tell me that on the basis of getting rid of the labels, people can move on and begin to understand.

Because I did NOT KNOW, I also used to point along fundamental cultural differences as the culprit. Or that each one is just reducing the other by pinning labels wrongly to a group rather than seeing them as individuals. And therefore, once that's over, then there shall be peace in the land. Please, do not confuse me. I also used to think "ah stereotypes". I now wish I had not, for in fact that was never the point of discord.

Thoughts at High Tea

2008-03-27T19:06:00.016+08:00

I have been holding up on my take, instead I'm sort of trying to enrich perspective by listening to what's going on in the world, through the internet. Lately, bloggers have been breaking news faster than the pooled might of the BBC. And blogs and discussions of conferences are so convivial and enlightening. Other than discovering many thought-provoking articles and amazing blogs, I have also been entertaining myself a great deal on twitter and other social networks. That's one way I try to keep abreast with people of various persuasions. And who knows what ludicrous things one can find along with the heavy stuff.

Lately, this has been all the rage: facebook, pownce, tumblogs, twitter -- hah, here's where I met pranksters who gets you to click a link that purports to be something good, but you will actually be hitched to the second coming kooky video of an 80's pop celeb. So, have you ever been rickrolled ?

It was admittedly gut-busting, and at first I thought, a tortuous comeback for Rick Astley. Oh, but where is my sense of humour ! The song Never Gonna Give You Up has blared in many a geeky rebel assemblage here in Singapore, I kid you not. Nope, Rick Astley isn't dead. As a matter of fact, he spoke to LA Times recently of his thoughts two decades after on his re-mixed, re-used and re-mocked 80's creation. Well, whatever you say, at least consider this rickroll chart courtesy of NewTeeVee. You guys are so naughty !

Have fun ! Meantime, let me finish my cup of tea.

Updates from "Lazy Blogger" :)

2008-03-11T19:28:00.006+08:00

Corporate work can be toxic, cool that I had time to unwind the past days. Sometimes, going as far away from the computer as I can get is good for me. Two-day convention at the Suntec City capped by a night at the concert. It was good in that I was able to personally meet some of our colleagues in countries where the company operates such as key markets in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea and yes, the Philippines.

But ! the moment I was able to lay a hold on my pc, (which did not take too long :) I logged on and eavesdropped on the TED conference as a site member. The TED Conference is on in Monterrey CA. The TED website is a cauldron of ideas and a source of enormous inspiration. Take the case of Dave Eggers. In 2002, Dave Eggers co-founded a writing and tutoring center named 826 Valencia in San Francisco. Over the next six years additional 826 centers opened in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Michigan and Boston under the umbrella of 826 National.

I found several people liveblogging the event such as Ethan Zukerman. Ethan blogged about TED Prize recipient Eggers in this post at My Heart's in Accra. I discovered Ethan through Harvard blogger Rebecca Mc Kinnon, former CNN news anchor whose talk at I-Blog Philippines I attended at the UP Diliman way back 2006. That, by the way, inspired me and got me into blogging eventually. Ethan Zuckerman's My Heart’s in Accra, is among my favorite reads. I have been a lurker at his page, but never quite had to pluck to post a comment. I probably was in awe of the famed blogger and therefore at a loss for words :D. I see that he is liveblogging conferences extremely well. He gave a few tips about liveblogging conferences here. I noted Ethan’s tools: his Macbook(wish!), two charged batteries, a power strip, a digital camera and cables, granola bars (quite practical) and I’d love to have one like his lap desk.

Ok, cut to -- our wiki, brewing ideas at the Bayanihan Google group has hinted on the possibility of starting a non-profit. I would be happy to see Greg Moreno step it up from the wiki idea to yet another level of collaboration. The web is a good place to be for such purposes. Non-profits and NGOs thrive on relationships – therefore the social web holds tremendous potential to transform their effectiveness and impact. We wish to build the strategic capacity, knowledge and skills to put powerful new online tools towards achieving the changes we seek.

Shopping for Conferences?

2008-03-08T20:28:00.009+08:00

Today I "stumbled upon" Arnout Mostert, CEO and Founder of Conference Bay. I say stumbled, for it was an unexpected but most fortunate meeting. He spoke to me about his Internet biz in Singapore. It is easy to tell that Conference Bay, hence its name, is modeled after the so-called eBay economy, where a new marketing platform was born and thus, revolutionized trading for its hundreds of millions of users throughout the world. Well, if eBay has done it with leather bags and branded hoodies and lalique figurines, why not conferences?

Although Conference Bay's bid procedure is not winner-takes-all in the fashion of eBay, I still believe this concept rides high and timely, and rightfully so, with the same eBay community spirit and its battle cry of "The power of all of us" -- which a tech blogger has once dubbed "a preachy yet trademarked slogan". Years ago, it was easy to sneer at all of that. But look where eBay is today. Indeed, increasingly more people are willing to bid top dollar for the "extras" of a service oriented economy -- more time, more value-packed packages at competitive prices. Arnout blogged about the concept quite interestingly here.

I can visualize a strong symbiosis at play here. I am quite impressed with the spirit with which Arnout Mostert and partner Frank Bomers has brought the idea of conference stakeholders and audiences transacting online and getting to grips with an idea whose time has come. I believe it is poised to revolutionize the way conferences are organized and attended. The online seat bidding and direct booking at conferences democratizes pricing and thereby broadens the base of knowledge and information sharing, it likewise gives traders a new platform, targets organizers, delegates, speakers. Sounds like a sensible, interesting, less-fuzz way to attend and organize conferences. Let's check it out.

My Thoughts Today

2008-03-06T10:25:00.003+08:00

He who has lost his soul will be finding God anywhere, up above and down below, in here and out there, he will cling to every straw of love blown past his doorway as he stands waiting for a sign.

Rivers to the Sea

2008-03-04T14:40:00.003+08:00

I LOVE too much, I am a river
Surging with spring that seeks the sea,
I am too generous a giver,
Love will not stoop to drink of me.

His feet will turn to desert places
Shadowless, reft of rain and dew,
Where stars stare down with sharpened faces
From heavens pitilessly blue.

And there at midnight sick with faring,
He will stoop down in his desire
To slake the thirst grown past all bearing
In stagnant water keen as fire.

::: why restless river? (smiles) there is my poem...
courtesy of my muse Sara Teasdale :::

Back in a few.

2008-02-24T09:54:00.004+08:00

Here at Suntec City, Singapore. Will be gone for a few days, going to try to post some thoughts from here, after my events. Hi to all.:)

Sharing with you, on this, my special day..I promise,

2008-02-21T23:33:00.006+08:00

We Shall Not Cease

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always -
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well
All manner of things shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

--t.s.eliot(from 'four quartets')

Of Hopes and Dreams and the Long Tail of Learning 2.0

2008-02-14T13:21:00.036+08:00

I have been thinking ...it is no mean feat to realize the ideals of the open education movement in the Philippines. At the same time I thought... how can we choose to not do it? Even if one does not believe in this so-called new pedagogy of learning, and no matter how one frowns on it -- its time has come.

This is the way the world is going and there is no turning back.

Nicholas Negroponte has invited a lot of criticisms by pronouncing: "it is not about training the teachers nor building more schools, it is all about leveraging the children themselves!" He was of course referring to his OLPC project. Now, that might sound like utopia to many. And no, I am not about to lean towards technological determinism where you shape the tools and then it shapes you. We will then argue for social constructivism and critique that the controversial idea has not been pre-tested. But since this is about surviving in the new global world order, Negroponte may have a point there and to keep pace will be our painful duty. We are on the cusp of a global revolution in teaching and learning -- just look at the OLPC piloted in countries like China, Argentina, Thailand, Rwanda to name a few. As to why the Philippines was not among the pilots for the project you can read about it here.

So please, don't wonder. I have seen how slow things can be. Been there. And it was anywhere from annoying to heartbreaking. I worked for many years with local government units in the Philippines. I have served under mayors, governors, congressmen, done stuff for senators and government administrators. Concurrently, I was also exposed to work at foundations and collaborated with development workers from international organizations.

I shall spare you the details. Let me just say that today, in a setting so far removed from my usual work at local school boards and health boards, I reckon things from this first world point of view but my "third world soul" knows that those who can make it in the new world order are the ones who can be globally competitive, so-called. And who are they? Those sprung from robust local ecosystems of resources supporting innovation and productivity. The statistics are staggering, it is almost scary to think: more than one-third of the world’s population is under 20. There shall be over 6 billion people in 2010. In the US alone, to meet this staggering demand, a major university has to be created every week. Where does that leave us knowing the things we know about the state of Philippine education?

But forge ahead, we certainly must. As you might know from here our wiki group has taken but baby steps yet more than a keen interest on the free culture movement to benefit Filipino school children. (I also belong to a wiki working on a book on public health here. ) And so we talk stuff like open source, royalty-free, share-alike. This project has been included among the priority projects of the Philippine Commons .

Under the weight of what needs to be done, am I losing heart? Certainly not. The natural gift heaven has bestowed on the Filipino child is enough reason to keep on believing. It is worth the long, lonely struggle so the activitists at my university often say. And they say it so true. The Filipino child like every child must grow into all that he should be. There are many odds to realizing this vision. As the Capetown Open Education Declaration has pointed out, most educators remain unaware of the growing pool of open educational resources. Indeed, government people and even certain groups in the academe are either clueless or doubtful of the benefits of such. The biggest setback of course is that the majority of the world does not yet have access to the computers and networks that are integral to efforts at utilizing the free culture movement as a fertile ground to benefit education. Therefore, cooperation is so crucial from all fronts and I believe, must be carried out at a radical magnitude if it is to have impact as the world moves at this dizzying pace.

Still I maintain, little steps do lead somewhere. If you go splashing, the ripples will be created. I hold with Margaret Mead who said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people could change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Sit it Out, or dance?

2008-02-11T18:18:00.001+08:00

dancing freely is
a light springin air
like a tiny
determined spider
scurrying
exposed
across the green carpet
of dreamweaving
silk web patterns
traces of stories
some deep
some delicately etched
invisibly
strand by strand
forever seeding
imaginative pulses
of play and longing

::aneecummingsofsort-starbucks at paragon::wonderful to string words::
but it's only words you say...

Lunar New Year and great goings on...

2008-02-08T17:53:00.000+08:00

Hope springs !

Yea, a self-indulgent post. That's 'me and me', looking so Chinese-ee :) at a Chinese Garden where else. :D

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated here in Singapore not much different from ours, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration is traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors. And so, while I am no party girl and could never be bothered staying out late, I have been off for a bit of Chinese New Year dinner here and there. And looks like it's not over as yet.

Glad for some alone time at last, I checked out our Bayanihan books google groups and I was just delighted at the progress you/we guys are making. Things are still a bit overwhelming for newbies :D, and we are all wondering how we can come in to give a hand.

You can check out Greg Moreno's site for more updates. This idea is fast catching up and getting the support it needs from Filipinos in PI and abroad. I am tentative as yet on how to come in with support as I am not an educator, but as Tesha Adaon said, the group needs all the help it can get -- editing, proofreading, events promoting, lay out and design, the possibilities are so inspiring. I myself am still figuring out ways to put in support more solidly from where I am based. Perhaps, my friends (oh you are all over the planet, smiles) can help me out. You too can do something. Tesha and Greg have been amazing inspiration, they have buckled down to work here, based on Learning Competencies formulated by Dep Ed. With such dedication, I do not doubt that this project will meet with success once we as a group, is able to gain the momentum and get a grip on things as days roll by.

Just Sharing with You

2008-02-03T19:05:00.000+08:00

By Black Eyed Peas on the barack Obama "Yes we can" campaign :) Pretty engaging...

Not a Magical Winter Day

2008-02-01T10:58:00.000+08:00

I was in touch awhile back with my friend Helen Deng in Changsha, China and she was having the worst winter of her life. It has been all of 15 days she said and a harrowing experience that shows no sign of letting up. I have never experienced winter and I always have had this poetic notion of winter where you sit in awe by the window as the snow starts falling down. Reminds me of a line by my favorite poet ee cummings “as when the heart of this flower imagines the snow, carefully, everywhere descending”. Well, seemed magical for this woman of the the tropics.

But in China right now, it is nothing near poetic. It is rather, chaos all around but in a way, as I sensed in my friend's reactions, also calm and stoic – perhaps, I thought, living up to the traditional Chinese trait of "chi ku" or "eating bitterness," enduring hardship without complaint. My overall policy for storms is, sit it out since we are well in the middle of it, hoping the sun shines soon, and hey, get warm by the fire!

On China Rising

2008-01-26T21:06:00.000+08:00

No, I am not here...yet. But going soon. This is Shanghai, China which translates as "City on the sea". With festivities up in the air for the Chinese Lunar New Year, I have thought of passing on some info on anything China or Chinese that I have been re-discovering while here in Singapore.

Shanghai. Ok, reminds us Pinoys mostly of the lumpiang Shanghai, lol. ( a Philippine version of the famous Shanghai dumpling). Well, Shanghai is Asia's cultural and business center in pre-revolutionary China, where China's Communist Party flourished. Today, it is every bit the dragon that has awakened, in a complex, fascinating way, right on the global stage. There is more to China today than meets the eye or more than foreign media would have us believe. Meanwhile, forget about the black and white images of women pushing carts, think about skyscrapers and hip youngsters more tech savvy than most. More to come.

Happy Chinese New Year....Gong Xi Fa Cai !

Yearning to be Educated

2008-01-20T07:36:00.000+08:00

When my words are not enough, these powerful images

from Sidney Snoeck speaks.....for the purpose of this post,

I had to caption some of them :D

Open content i.e., attribution-share alike license under Creative Commons licenses may very well be a way to usher in public school education's wide open future in Asia

While the rest of the world talks about digital information, this is how most of educational tools look like for impoverished public school children in the Philippines.

I am thankful for a bit of slack time as I spend the last of my holidays in PI. I had time to make the round of friends. I also have enough time on the net to surf Pinoy blogs particularly those created in Singapore. For the most part, I did some research on Creative Commons as I am truly interested to maximize this opportunity to benefit the public school system in the Philippines. I stumbled upon an interesting blog entry putting words to my exact same thoughts on revolutionizing the Philippine textbook industry. He calls his project Libro para sa Bawat Batang Pilipino. You can read about it here. The blog author, who I have yet to meet, also wrote about the Philippines' active role as a a member of the global commons.

I am all for developing a local collaboration promoting alternative licensing, free and open source software, open education, and free culture. The Internet has no doubt revolutionized information in astounding ways. Cyberspace heralded the information age and propagated human expressions in unprecedented heights-- music, video, photographs, blogs, online journals, books, presentations, documents, artistic, literary, educational, technical, and scientific creations. With Creative Commons, there is hope to bridge the great divide when it comes to sharing of ideas and information. Down with the cartel if we can only work together.

It tears me apart to think that while the rest of the world is making headway to ensure their young people are able to utilize the benefits of the new global media, our impoverished school children in the Philippines share taterred text books year after year after year, in a seeming perpetual state of backwardness. Quite ironically, I think we have equally bright and talented kids but they need a lot of intervention.

Greg Moreno allows us a glimpse of the situation here:

"Every start of the school year, our adviser hands out textbooks for the entire class. She would call our names one by one and instruct us to pick a number of books from a pile. Since we were always called alphabetically and my surname starts with M, I keep an anxious look at the diminishing pile, wondering if there are still Science or Math books left. I didn’t mind if I don’t have English or History books. I only want Science and Math.

I wouldn’t mind having all the books, of course. But even if I want to, that is not possible. In a public school, the number of students grow every year but the number of books do not. Some students will have books for Math, English, and History only while others will only have Science and Filipino. I don’t recall a time when all of us received books for all the subjects. It was even rare that a student had the complete set."

Some of us were once like one of them

Can you imagine how it is for me as my surname starts with V? :) I would often get the least number of the most dilapidated textbooks, missing a cover here, or a page there. Looking back, I feel blessed thought that such deprivation had made me hanker for what I suspect I was missing and created within me a passion for learning. I remember how I would borrow from public libraries, stay an extra time after school to borrow readings from my teacher, whatever i could get. Books became my Secret Garden and opened me up to possibilities that I otherwise would not have come across as life was difficult. It is also true that these stock of knowledge have served me in good stead though life's many storms. Really.

Those of us lucky enough to cross the line so to speak, I thought we are duty-bound to share what we have discovered and to facilitate its transfer. So, if I can be help, sign me up !

Fly Me Safely!

2008-01-18T10:07:00.000+08:00

They often talk about this spectacular view on the approach to Changi Airport just before touchdown. Anxious for safety, I never get to notice. :(

My friend and I were just talking about the alert issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advising its citizens to shun a Philippine carrier. How sad that such a direct hit is bound to affect the country's flag carrier, Philippine Airlines, and with it our nation's economy and the tourism industry. Apparently, PAL's downgrade to category 2 affects travel decision not just of Americans but of everyone else including us Filipino travellers who will then perceive PAL as an unsafe carrier.

What to do? This isn't one of those issues where you can stand by your nation and so eloquently defend it from its supposed attackers. This is about safety, about the value of human life. And so, rather than taking a defensive stance, the civil aviation authorities must answer our questions: Were they aware of the impending downgrade ? I bet they were. Why was nothing done to satisfy FAA's concern? No money. Then, why was this never an issue when the national budget was being passed?

Oh, well, I thought, let me book a budget carrier meanwhile for my flight back to Singapore. Ok, so I will fly Tiger Airways which I have been shunning in the past owing to my exaggerated imaginings: Free-seating arrangement? Actually, I was able to choose a window seat :) No airline food. Who gives a hoot about airline food unless you are on first-class? (lobster, yum!) The attendants are not as good-looking. So not true. Plus, I don't care?? I may have to stand on the aisle if plane is too full? Silly thought. It is so cheaply-priced, oh my, it will crash. Think rationally, for goodness' sake.

Consider the facts. The world’s oldest budget airline, America’s Southwest, has never had a crash in 40 years of operation – that’s over 12 million flights. The UK’s two biggest budget flight operators, Ryanair and Easyjet, have also never suffered a crash throughout their company history. Arguably, safer, at second sight.

Things are rocking at Facebook

2008-01-16T07:30:00.000+08:00

If you think you are too old for this, consider what I have found out recently. Facebook is by far the coolest social media available today and millions are fleeing Myspace, 360, Multiply and what have you for the joy and benefits of being on it. I signed up for it to track my friends and relatives in the States, specially my LA family and friends. In no time I was in touch with many of them.

I also soon discovered that I can instantly access networks of professional interest to me by region, workplace or organization. That way I am linked to the jobmarket in a very personal way, never possible in sites like JobsDB and the like. Indeed you can even chat with potential bosses in countries half the globe away, I recently did, and spoke with an author in Chicago and a film producer in LA. Prior to that, I got a brief writing assignment in Palo Alto. Now that is experiencing social networking first-hand.

It is fun to put myself into the younger generation's frame of mind, to know what our kids are thinking and to touch base with them in ways not possible before the advent of the new global media. I have friends in Singapore who are half my age (see my sidebar?) and they are so fun to be with, not at all shallow and I have learned more from them than from jaded adults. It is also a way to keep in touch with my Filipino network in Singapore (friends, you have not updated). True, I also have neglected my Facebook when I started to get so busy with work but I am trying to rock it, lol.

I like the privacy aspect. Facebook puts the user in control, allowing limit specific pieces of information they want to share within their various networks. So many privacy controls indeed that it is a bit overwhelming at first.

You will be surprised who you will run into at Facebook. It is NOT designed as a dating nor a hookup site (oh, but sure you can if you want to). Its CEO and founder began the social media at Harvard and hence the rapid succession in all of Boston and the world. See this photo? A smarter, better-looking Bill Gates, I have to say. >>

I don't know about you but Facebook seems able to serve a myriad of significant purposes for a professional like me who is venturing out and embracing the world, eager to share whatever skills or competencies I have. Been setting up my social networks, and throwing a bit of fun into it isn't so bad.

MySpace is equipped with this functionality but I doubt that it is being used in the manner Facebook has used its network apps, that is, by leveraging privacy and perhaps more importantly, benefiting from targeted network listings. Items such as jobs, things for sale, etc. are posted into networks. That makes them easier to find and more relevant. Classifieds at Myspace do not work as well unless they are geographically based. No such boundaries at Facebook.

I don't know if all these will serve me in good stead for the long stretch. But for now at Facebook, I am easily able to track people I have met in conferences wherever they are in the world, former colleagues, schoolmates at UP, relatives who migrated, former bosses. This blogger is integrated with my Facebook and my posts appear there regularly. My bookmarks on delicious are there, oh what else? I am also linked and easily updated with causes I support. All these in one stop, can you imagine. If not, try it for yourself!

An Awesome Song...for You :)

2008-01-12T19:24:00.000+08:00

Marc Chagall painted scenes of untold beauty in his native village, he painted dreams of love and freedom...His paintings of post impressionist style inspired this lovely song by the Weepies. It is a song that speaks of impossible yet hopeful love, as deep and powerful as these images in the paintings by Chagall...I have posted its lovely lyrics too:)

Thunder rumbles in the distance, a quiet intensity
I am willful, your insistence is tugging at the best of me
You’re the moon, I’m the water

You’re Mars, calling up Neptune’s daughter

Sometimes rain that’s needed falls
We float like two lovers in a painting by Chagall
All around is sky and blue town
Holding these flowers for a wedding gown
We live so high above the ground, satellites surround us.

I am humbled in this city
There seems to be an endless sea...people like us
Wakeful dreamers, I pass them on the sunlit streets
In our rooms filled with laughter
We make hope from every small disaster

And everybody says “you can’t, you can't, you can't, don’t try.”
Still everybody says that if they had the chance...

they’d fly like we do!

Hidden in Plain Sight

2008-01-10T06:48:00.000+08:00

I went to Manila last Tuesday to catch up with some friends. It was about the time when preparations for the feast of the Black Nazarene reaches fever pitch. Actual feast day was yeterday, January 9. I watched TV reports on the long procession as I did year after year. It never cease to amaze me how this unbelievable 'sea of people' show their veneration for the life-sized, dark-skinned, wooden sculpture of Jesus Christ genuflected on the weight of his cross. I am inclined to draw a parallel with out people's condition and how they truly resonate with the image of the suffering Saviour.

Photos from My Sari-sari Store

Then something else struck me. There is actually rhythm and grace in the frenzied pulling of the Black Nazarene’s wood and steel float as it is processioned along the streets of Quiapo from mid- afternoon until well into the night. Bearers take the cue from every push and every pull on the a 50-meter rope throughout the procession. Everyone reaches out to touch the rope, but each one mindful of the need to let go immediately to allow the float to move on.

There is our lesson -- like a treasure hidden in plain sight. Selflessness. Respect for one another. It waits for the day when we can fully apply it to our daily lives. Perhaps then, our nation will have been well on its way to the destiny it rightfully deserves.

My Wish

2008-01-09T14:52:00.000+08:00

I look forward to the day,
When every child knows,
The kindness of every woman,
And caring of every man,
When grandparents sing in smiles,
At once prisons and warzones
That have finally become schools and homes,
Where happy, healthy children
Run free in ungated communities
Don't tell me it can't be,
For that is the greatest lie.

Peace, Happiness and Courage,
Restless River :)

My New Year Verse

2008-01-07T08:58:00.001+08:00

My joys depend on more than years.
I measure it by those lilting laughter

Or the rolling swell of bittersweet tears
I live in the light of all of life's journeys,
And all my moments, I gather to a wave.

Then life hands the gift of another year,
A new crest on which my hope must ride
It is the present, here, now -- quickly !
Let us not tarry, move on to our true destiny.

Life turns as it will, year after year
Though the dephts of the ocean lie still
Here I stand, between the future and the past
Where memories of the waves we made will never last!

Happy Errand, Pleasant Travels

2008-01-02T07:53:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year dear all !

I have been slack on my blogging. Pity my handful of readers. There are about three or four of them, lol, really. I don't blog to become famous !? :)

Changi Airport, 23rd December. I missed my Tiger Airways budget flight! Omigosh, alarm didn't go off...yea Rina (my friend) that's what happened). Read on...

First off, I am on holiday va-cay in PI. And I am trying to go about it ever so leisurely. I deserve it after spending nearly 12 hours at the airport on the eve of Christmas eve, trying to get to Manila. I did have a sneaking suspicion my oddly-timed flight would either be cancelled or that I'd miss it. To make things worse, I didn't get onto any flight all day due to overbooking. I spent the day shuttling to and from two terminals, budget terminal for a Tiger Air seat and terminal 2 for a PAL business class flight. I flew Philippine Airlines, phew! All's well I made it to Christmas Eve. (big SMILE).

I look around me now, t00k these snaphots of the old familar holiday stuff we have had for as long as I can remember, not to be missed are the Christmas yummies that's been mainstay year after year. Feeling s0 loved. And loving them back all the more, no problem. Just then I know, I am home, yay!

Living Alone is not All Bad

2007-12-16T19:58:00.000+08:00

Living alone, though I still dread it, has taught me a few things about myself that I never would have known had I not ventured out in a foreign country. Some are quite silly and amusing but they have their parallel meanings, if you dig deep. Shallow interpretations should also be quite alright. :)

I have learned by living alone....

1. That a kilo of sugar and a 200 g jar of coffee can last me until summer. Hey, I had these since last summer?! And oh, I'll never finish a gallon of milk...and in a month I'd never see the bottom of a loaf of bread (stale bread here now, and ain't seen the bottom layer as yet ).

2. That the last thing I want to do after a hard day's work is to be chopping onions, mincing garlic, thawing a chicken, mixing pepper, soy and vinegar or what-have-you, to cook an adobo for my one and only self in say 20-30 minutes, that is, if I won't forget I also have to boil some rice?! NO. Not gonna happen. That would be troublesome, impractical and quite a sad occasion, sigh (:

3. That I can do without TV trash -- that I'd actually be better off not seeing Kris Aquino and Boy Abunda or Angel Locsin, nor Oprah and the Bachelor.:) That I can be more chic alone, with my hair always in place, my skin always buttered (thank you Bodyshoppe or Likas Papaya if that's what you want,lol) and my bag and shoe collection increasing proportionately with my boredom. And let me add, that an idle fool and her money are all too soon parted, lol.

4. That when things get tough as they oftentimes would, I can cry and talk to myself (never again will I think them psycho--those who mutter things to themselves :>).

5. That I can be tolerant and open to differences in races and cultures. That I can compete with those of the best. And that a genuine smile is a universal language.

6. That I can wince away the night reading and writing more, take up a class, go for a jog, re-negotiate with the dishes and the laundry when I'm too tired. And come to terms with myself as to what I want from here on, living outside of my comfort zone and somehow surviving, pretty much alone.

Top Up Some Happiness

2007-12-15T18:21:00.000+08:00

Much like everywhere else, Christmas in Singapore, apparently, is a great deal about the shopping. Here, I took some shots (good day, bad cam :> ) at Orchard Road, Singapore's main shopping district. Orchard is adorned in periwinkle blue and soft white lights this year. Down there, ritzy Paragon is where you go to shop in style. You traipse down from Agnes B, Prada to Gucci to "covet" your dream apparel ( I mean ahmm, you look longingly on the show window and dream about how prettier you'd be wearing them, lol.) wake up!

As for me, I am heading home for the good, old holiday, Philippine style. Got to top up some love and happines to last me for the next leg of the journey.... :)

My Sudden Epiphanies!

2007-12-07T22:12:00.000+08:00

Photos I took of my first rainy night in Singapore. This was my daily walk from the subway to the block I lived in. Note that even on a downpour, the city reflects a sanguine sky...celeste bleu!

Sauntering home in Singapore can get philosophical on a rainy night. My first impression of this nation was drab and uneventful. That it was high-rise, hard-nosed living, with little if any concern for beauty or repose. Funny, I've always believed that if you want to find beauty you got to take some with you. Yet imperfect as I am, I lose sight of the truth so often. No, I did not come here cold. I came wholly me, with a bad crack somewhere, yes, but not shattered. Well, almost. But guess I fought tooth and nail to not lose it all.

For all that I have endured, despair was in me and of me, at times, I was despair itself – and it all happened at the very springtime of my life. But looking back, perhaps I never lost the sense that life can get better. I believed in it, saw it from a distance and felt it so well illumined on certain days. Now, that is what I call my sudden epiphanies! That moment, when things hidden and not well understood are, in a moment of truth, revealed to us, and we are appalled, awed...overcome with light and beauty. Of that light, it has been written-- it shineth in the darkness...and the darkness could not comprehend it....

Sometimes Even in a Crowded Cafe, You....

2007-11-24T08:50:00.000+08:00

...somehow encounter yourself......

Bored one weekend, I found one gem of a travelogue as I was browsing through shelves upon shelves of books at Border’s in Wheelock's Place. This is a treat I have been allowing myself when I yearn for a good read over a nice, warm cup of vanilla latte. I see that this has come to replace my trips to Powerbooks back when I was in Manila.

While a community library is also fine by me, I sort of get seduced by new books that I often prefer to read in places where I can see various scenes come to life. Sitting in a café, somehow allows for some vignettes of life as seen in a new light, and a bit of slow, easy time for ruminations quite elusive in the cold, musty atmosphere of a public library.

Well, Hemingway felt the same? :>) And he is, you know, vrai un personnage.

That being said, on a grey, rainy weekend, I allowed myself to be carried away in Sarah Turnbull’s lovely travel memoir set in my dream destination – France! A lovely telling of a journey by a feisty, young journalist from Sydney who traveled to Paris on a whim to meet a guy she barely knew and ended up finding not just love, but a new life I truly enjoyed a glimpse into the true nature of Parisians and life in that gorgeous city.

The book is a bestseller and I heard has come to be regarded as a classic of sorts in Australia, the author’s native land. I’d have to say it is an endearing look into the life of those who must dare to cross boundaries in response to life calling us to live it as it is sometimes meant to be lived. That is, with faith, courage and a sense of adventure.

For the past four or five months, I know enough of being a woman in a foreign land. Of how it takes a lot to remain my Filipina inner self yet open to the highs and lows of navigating my strange new world. Of how I got crazy one day and crossed borders to start over in the bustling city-state that is Singapore, surviving its fast-paced culture, discovering the paradoxes of this melting pot of races and allowing my unending journey to push me on to uncharted courses.

A Haiku by the Riverbend

2007-11-10T05:42:00.000+08:00

Lonely for home today, from the misty window of my "high-rise, restless living", I wrote the verse below....sharing with you...

Out there, past the harbor lights near the river’s end,

From the heavens upon the earth falls a mighty shower,

and the fishes of the ocean gathers for their run...

Bloggers of the World Unite

2007-08-25T08:30:00.000+08:00

BLOGGERS around the world have been invited to join a mass blog effort for one day about a single most important topic: the environment.

“On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind — the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future,” the organizers behind the Blog Action Day announced on their blog. As of this writing, the call has already attracted 1,358 blogs, the organizers said. A-list bloggers have already signed up first for this call to action, including Lifehack, Copyblogger, Get Rick Slowly, The Simple Dollar, and Zen Habits, among others. I have gathered from a Philippine Daily Inquirer feed that there are three ways to join this call to action: post an entry in your blog relating to the environment on Blog Action Day; donate your day’s earnings to an environmental charity; and promote Blog Action Day around the Web.

The blog posts of the day must be about the environment preferably as it relates to your blog theme if any. I am keen about writing one as it relates to the Philippines and the region, perhaps one that is politics-related meaning how government inaction affects the environment adversely.

The goal here is not to promote any one school of thought or viewpoint but to push the issue to the table for discussion. The environment was selected as 2007’s theme “both for the clarity of its importance and the undeniable urgency that issues like global warming and pollution have,” the organizers said. Blog Action Day was launched sometime in the first week of August 2007. So think up your green blog ideas now and tell the world.

Interesting Wiki Google Challenge

2007-08-20T23:20:00.000+08:00

Latest buzz...Jimmy Wales, the creator of online encyclopedia Wikipedia, recently made public details of his company's community-developed open source search engine. The new site, due to launch by the end of 2007, will combine human-assisted editing with computer-controlled searches. Earlier this year Wales' commercial startup company, Wikia, purchased the rights to web crawler platform Grub. These are interesting turns in the cybersearch balance of power so-called.

Asian Media Vows to Make Western Media Cry

2007-08-19T09:15:00.000+08:00

How cool is this article from the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual Chinese talking shop, on how Asian media will rise up to challenge western media juggernauts. It seems that Asians take offense that they are 96.2% of the world's population and yet produce only 0.3% of its international media. By the way I got published in the August 13 issue of Singapore's Business Times, but you guessed it right, the article was in someone else's byline. It is called View from the Top and is supposedly written by a Singapore CEO, well he is 'me', lol. Talk about individual achievement, am in no way near there.

So, to continue the BOA forum article I have read raised a lot of interesting issues:

"The world is not flat actually," Liu Jiang, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, said at the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which was held over the weekend in the south China town of Boao.
"The world is in reality a slop on which information flows downward from developed countries to developing countries and regions," Liu said. "The World Is Flat" by the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has been frequently quoted to prove an alleged "magic power" of globalization by Bill Gates and other lecturers at the conference.

The book figures out ten driving forces to grind the world flat,in each of which media play an important role. "Developed contrives, which have one seventh of the world population, have dominated two thirds of the total information flow," Liu said. "However, globalization does not balance a horizontal world when it is grinding the world."

"Why do Asian media always yield to Western culture?" Felix Soh,deputy editor-in-chief of The Straits Times headquartered in Singapore, questioned in his speech at the sub-forum discussing globalization and the media.
Not to demean but I agree with one blogger of note, Asian media do suck. Oh there are fine Asian filmmakers and writers but on the whole I agree we have played on the precarious brink of irredeemability. Whose fault?

Look what blogger Imagethief has to say here.

The Straits Times took the last train to dullsville and fell asleep in its seat and missed the stop. I know. I subscribed for years. The tragedy of this --the great, majestic, swooping tragedy-- is that if any country was going to produce a credible pan-Asian newspaper it would be Singapore. It's in the right place, it's got the right people, and it speaks the right languages. It really is a regional hub. But it will never happen. I blame government. Governments, by and large, should not involve themselves in media. But Asia's governments cannot, for the life of them, keep their grubby mitts off the media. And damned if they don't have a near mystical talent for boiling the life out of it.

Well, hey Asia, if you truly need a clearer, louder voice in the world, if you're tired of being walked all over by western media, if you think you are being misrepresented on the global media scene, then try lick em don't join em. Set our own media free. It will probably be worth the effort, and may bring us somewhere, I suspect.

My Days in Singapore

2007-07-13T13:48:00.000+08:00

My first few weeks in SG, from July 2007 onwards

Week 1

Hello everyone, yes am still alive :) Things are going great despite some rough times. My flight was right on time. I arrived in Singapore around midnight, Singapore immigration did not fuzz much about my passport, gee thanks. So, at Changi airport i just picked up my bags and walked out. I am here on extended social pass so I am allowed to live and work here. Met some cool people to guide me around.

I flew in with my friend Rina, met her husband Vava and their cousins upon arrival. We had a very late dinner of egg noodles with charsieu sauce at a local diner. They so kindly helped with my luggages and took me to my transient house which is a pretty nice 3br on the 4th storey which looks out to a lush green park at the front.

Week 2

Indeed I was amazed by how nice, clean and geen Singapore is. From the airport mainroads it is amazingly greenlined with trees of oaks, cypresses and firs almost the whole way across the island. Birds abound. The air is crisp, a bit warm here but no smog. I can tell cause my hair smells like a rainforest all day. That's pretty much it for now. I was feeling too sad though on this first days...and sobbing quietly at night, I drift off to sleep and wake up feeling pensive....

Week 3

I miss home and family and was not feeling up to anything for awhile here. But some cool people toured me down Sentosa Island, Marina Bay, Clark Quay, the shops. The sights are fabulous. This is fashion capital to the max. I was enjoying in a way but only in a superficial manner. Not really that happy or content. But might as well enjoy Afterall I can really be such a sucker for elegant clothes and shoes and bags and hair trinkets and all the girly things. But perhaps am too old for that sh*t.

The museums and concert halls are great as well and I am so into that. But then I always drift back to melancholy. Spent not a few times thinking deeply... my heart seems "always somewhere". (Hi there peeps!)

A Sense of Place

2007-06-28T09:32:00.000+08:00

I was the proverbial Asian woman who grew up thinking my life is tied to a “sense of place” so-called. I was of this nation, this river-town, this home – where I was born and raised, and where my family has lived for generations.

I have not been anywhere so far from home. If at all -- my explorations were inward, toward the core of what supports me physically and spiritually. I came from such a world where a place is not a place until people have " been born in it, have grown up in it, lived in it, known it, died in it."

I myself thought I was "well-placed" in the comfort of home and loved ones, friends and places all- too -familiar, a nice enough job, some advocacies -- that for me to be moving out and up in the world at that point would not only be unthought of but to my mind -- shallow, listless, hasty – indicative of a lack of stamping ground. But sometimes, life hands you cake you cannot eat. I suspect I was born with this sorrow, this kind of sadness that yearns to roam…

At this point my musing is…..

“The land was ours before we were the land’s,” from my favorite Robert Frost poem. I have always known deep within me that there are worlds other than mine. There are many duties to be performed, many hats to be worn, many emotions left to be felt.

Alas, the world’s too big, too interesting. And only in the act of submission to life and its motion is the "sense of place" truly realized. Then, a sustainable and healing relationship between people and earth.... and earth and sky..... is thereby established.

The 'Yin and the Yang ' of Living in a Global Age

2007-06-24T09:41:00.000+08:00

There is no continent with a more astonishing diversity of speech and written systems as Asia. Yet today, in Southeast Asia for instance, the response to globalization is to acquire language skills. Not in many languages, but in one -- the English language. I myself, have long ago determined, that proficiency in the English language is inevitably -- key to success in this globalized era.

But I am only too aware of the perils such as those observed by ethnololinguists like Dr. Rujaya Abhakorn, lecturer in Southeast Asian history at Chiang Mai University in Thailand, who bewail how Asian traditions rooted in its ancient codes are being eroded by globalization. As a Professor of Northern Thai history, Dr. Abhakorn speaks relentlessly on the preservation of the collective memory of mainland Southeast Asia, which is dependent upon its traditional manuscripts in the local dialects.

Meanwhile, the English language which served the colonial British Empire, now drives the Information Age and with it the market-driven economies of the world. This new knowledge economy has been referred to as the Tyrannosaurus rex that gobbles up cultures and traditions. Talk about borderless.

The irony of all these, to my mind is that on the other hand, economic development, and factors like growth and human capital are not tolerant of differences. They most certainly need to adapt to what is the international standard. And in today’s world, globalized modernization requires that knowledge is imparted in ways that are comparable across differences of setting, culture and language.

As a reaction, I am therefore inclined to hold with Anne Pakir, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, that English must go 'glocal', that is, go global while maintaining local roots. She sees "glocal English" as a language that has "international status but which also expresses local identities."

Indeed, we must adapt yet still maintain a sense of who we are as rooted in traditions that are uniquely Asian. Already, more Asians speak English than anyone else, a phenomenon that is shaping the way we live and look at the world. Many still think of this as an intrusion, a force to destroy us. Yet I believe a parallel globalization is occurring all the while. It is dependent upon our own openness to grow wings with which to embrace the world...and the confidence to keep firmly rooted in the cultural heritage that honors our very soul. Indeed, there is some solace to be found in the old Malay saying, "Your mouth is your tiger."

What the hell is a doohickey??

2007-06-21T14:56:00.000+08:00

Let's chill for a bit...

I've heard and read a lot of these colorful, amusing "substitution words" so-called over the past year. Seen them on blogs, heard them among friends...'know I have to get used to hearing a lot more of these as I try to get me out there to learn many diff'rent cultures. So just for kicks, here's a collection of some all-too-western expressions ( for when mental vacuity occurs? lol). You know.. when it's at the tip of their tongue and the proper word is elusive... or when they're maybe just tryin' to be playful or fun....that's when ! So here you go... There's always something new to learn somewhere. No matter if it's pure gibberish. 'Nuff said.

"I was rooting willy-nilly through a buncha stuff, looking every whichway for the dinky little whatchamacallit to fix the goldong thingamajig, but good ol’ whatsizname had put it in the hooziwhatsit, as usual! Boy oh boy, what a load of hooey. Always the same old rigamarole with that cockamamie bozo. He’s such a pipsqueak! If I found it, ka-ching, I’d be rich, which would be just jim dandy!

For the gazillionth time, the flightly little flibbertigibbit said alrighty, she wouldn't shilly shally, to do a bodaciously whizbang job on the whole shebang. That's right, the whole kit 'n caboodle, no ifs, ands, or buts about it ... no malarkey. Okee dokey, but she was a skosh busy right then, yada, yada, yada.

Yessirreebob, I usually like gadgets galore, but what with the this-and-that, and all the hooplah, it’s all topsy turvy today, ’cuz that humungous nincompoop is still in the whatsit acting like everything's just hunky dory !"

Not Fun. :(

2007-06-20T19:07:00.000+08:00

Moving. Uprooting. Definitely new, but not one of those things I'd completely jump with excitement about. Scary but it could be a step in the right direction. Well, never know until you dare...You've got to fight for each and every dream, no matter how impossible they may seem. For who's to know which ones you let go ...would have completed your life so..? :) Shucks, that rhymes...

How to pimp my blog?

2007-06-20T16:20:00.000+08:00

Well, blogging hits the bigtime according to this piece. So now that I have signed up for Google Ad Sense what now? I wonder who would then click the not-too-attractive icon, shhh...No problem though as I am basically just here to claim my tiny corner of the blogosphere. Indeed as a PR/communications practitioner, my first reaction to writing for my own blogsite was "you mean I'm not getting paid for this???" But I am sure you know all the tricks, so let me in on some ways to "cash in" on this, LOLz....ugh, far-out:)

From East of the Sun

2007-06-12T21:23:00.000+08:00

It’s finally on the horizon. The next few weeks will find me in places and situations that are so new to me. When all has more or less really settled I will be happy to let my friends in on some details.

As I take the first few steps into this journey, I am closing an old chapter in my little corner of the blogospehere to give way to a new one. It has been barely a year of blogging and I had no idea how much I was going to enjoy this. The circumstances which led me to meander this way I probably will never ever be able to discuss. It is more than meets the eye. Not really about networking or online dating or merely being part of a blogging community (but then all these happened nonetheless). My foray into this global medium was, unbeknownst to many, life-altering for me.(not exagerrating).

I basically blog for me, to express what babbles up inside on several issues, sometimes to share my personal advocacies, then to give a sort of “dear world” glimpse of where I’m at in my life (well some had been too personal (cringe).

At this point, what’s up?

Sunday night – I had no need to dread Monday and the usual dragging-me-to-my-job routine. Cause you see, I no longer have one, smiles.

Monday morning - Uncluttering, stashing away things I probably will never be able to use for a long time. A million odds and ends of a life lived forever in these shores. That is terribly hard to put away and I can’t even begin to really face it.

Right this minute -- Letting go with a tug in my heart. One thing I realize as I was going through this is how much crap I actually have accumulated over the years and what it says about the way I tend to dwell and cling. Now I must detach myself a bit, and as I have once read in Gypsy's blog -- cherish memories but not cling to them.

The list goes on…as the day progresses.

`tidying up my email account, down to only 200 unread emails, a feat!

`list items for purchase

`calling to have my laptop system-checked

`gifting myself with an electronic file of all our old, funny-looking pics prior to the advent of the digital age.

`getting my budget and bills in order (well not quite as yet)

A few things that I can carry along.

Can't do without my best buddy.

Fast-forward to next month…

And so, in between work, the days ahead will probably find me musing beside the Merlion, or on my notebook in some cybercafé. I have e-mailed professional contacts and Filipino friends I might have a chance to meet up with over in the city.

These days truly challenge the best of me. I have grown weary of people telling me how lucky I am to be moving on up. Because all I cound think of is that I am leaving the only home I’d known for my entire life.

I have known extreme bliss in my lifetime. But I also have had to endure prolonged episodes of despair. Yes, I have been around enough to know that life is about seasons. Who knows, but maybe I have come to yet a new springtime.
In the midst of all these, it occurred to me…there is that home we leave behind, and that other one which we are constantly creating. But there is only one home which shall always sit on top of our hearts.

My friends say I am a brave one. I do hope I merit that observation. But no, I cannot stand to wave at my nearest and dearest til they disappear in the rearview mirror. And no, I may not be able to even catch a glimpse of the sunset by the bay as I pass by. I will be crying way too much to see straight.

A Grain of Truth

2007-06-06T08:58:00.000+08:00

The rains have come. It is the season here for planting rice. Driving down the road, I was amused to see a couple of farmers, their backs bent but apparently happy to cultivate the first seeds. Then I thought, may the Rice Godess drive the storms away this year. For I will surely weep with these folks should this planting season not end in a bountiful harvest.

Indeed, for us Asians rice is life. It permeates all aspects of communal living.. Rice is in music, particularly folk songs. It reminded me of my college thesis. My subject was about lost folk songs mostly sung as rice rituals. It thrilled me then to find out that rice is also in various forms of the arts – from poems to paintings to sculptures. It is in tradition, folklore, ritual and even language.For most of us Asians, life without rice is simply unthinkable. I, for one, find it odd that I don’t feel good and tend to slack when rice is taken out of my meal.

As a young girl growing up in countryside Philippines, I was taughtt that rice is "all that makes you strong and wise." It is not to be wasted. We find various ways to recycle leftover rice. Any rice remaining after a meal must not be thrown away, but must be put on top of new bolied rice in the cooking pot. Even the crust of rice sticking to the bottom of the pan is to be eaten. Not a morsel should fall on the table, or you will get the dagger looks from Mother.

Looking back, I also must have gotten my love of the written word during all those times when I had to tend to boiling rice in our old clay stove. We never cared for electric rice cookers even when we could already afford one. Cooking rice is in itself a worship, a ritual. I penned my first short story in English, at the age of 10, spread over many days of cooking the “perfect rice”.That was a mighty long time ago and much has changed since. But I am not about to forget how our days began with "morning rice" and ends with "evening rice." I thought much yesterday about our communal life...how this grain has shaped the history, culture, diet, and economy of billions of our people.

As we drove on, I lowered the car window for a closer view of the planters. Come to think of it, the growth stage of the rice crop marks the passage of time and season in my own life. The cool wind touched my face, I wanted to get off but it was time to move on indeed. All the same, something magical and spiritual -- radiating from the depths of the green fields -- is what I shall ever carry in heart.

With you all the way...

2007-04-14T21:27:00.000+08:00

That’s how it is in the little solace within me, a life left with little regret for the sacrifices I had to make. With me following your dreams because they were always mine, too.

When Rivers No Longer Run Through

2007-03-22T14:36:00.000+08:00

If Himalayan glaciers melt away, rivers like the Indus will disappear. Some of the world's major rivers are reaching crisis point because of dams, shipping, pollution and climate change, according to the environment group WWF.

The group reported World's Top 10 Rivers at Risk, says the river "crisis" rivals climate change in importance. Five of its "top 10" are in Asia, such as the Yangtse, Mekong, and Ganges, though Europe's Danube and North America's Rio Grande are also included.

Governments then should see water as an issue of national security. Its report is issued in advance of World Water Day (22 March).

A loved woman.

2007-02-16T13:54:00.001+08:00

A loved woman's heart is a new-lit candle
Incandescent... fire bright,
Her lambent eyes are sparkling stars
Glowing through the blackest night.

A loved woman's walk is fairy footfall
Leaping through the air so light,
A loved woman's hair will catch the moonbeam
And reflect celestial white.

A loved woman's laughter -- silver bells!
Ringing in the twinkling foam,
Her soul will soar to the highest heights
Of Heaven's vast and starry dome!

My Protagonist is Never a Bore!

2007-01-14T06:02:00.000+08:00

I am among those likely to say, I have not seen the movie but I have read the book! Yes, I have this long-standing love affair with the written word. In the good books of the world, I find my so-called "metaphysics in a teacup". Yeah, some would ask, why read fiction to think about the world?

As for me, I read for the dazzle it brings to my imagination, I devour the pages for the verbal splendour, to get lost in the nimble narrative like a restless river that seeks the open sea. But more than that -- to seek wisdom within the treasures of the breadth of human experience in space and time....to attempt to lead, if only deep within, what they call the life of the mind which to me, is appallingly exciting.

While our primal needs are for food, clothing and shelter -- I have long ago determined that books, travel and entertainment are for keeping JOY alive.Now as to books -- Other than fiction, I read biographies, ethics, anthropology, art criticisms, thelogy and metaphysics. I read the Bible and am in awe of the Almighty's monologue in the Book of Job.

I read Homer, Shakespeare, Hemingway, Joyce, Kafka, Steinbeck, Kundera, Salinger, Nabokov, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis. I love the book by Eli Wiesel and those penned by Gabriel Marquez. I also go for other contemporary writers -- even the really goofy series on shopaholics and just-not-in-to-yous. My muse -- e.e. cummings, and T.S. Elliot. I love an Edna St. Vincent Millay and savor a Maria Rainier Rilke. Well, all these over the years and not too many at the same time.

As a young girl growing up in a poor family from countryside Philippines, I was a least-likely candidate for any sort of erudition and still am nowhere near that. But perhaps, that very lack -- sparked the curiosity to find out what is out there in the world. And today, for all the things I still do not have in this world, I am a very proud owner of a good collection of books that have served me in good stead over the many storms of life. My bank account is waiting, LOL, no dinner with wine at the Ritz nor box seats at an English Opera House for me still (wish!) -- but oh I can say I live in relative plenty. And my mind is quite ready and receptive of grander moments.

Yes, I am getting to be a bit techy but when it comes down to it -- I am such a bookworm, more than anything. And yep I do google and yahooo...)))))) but my undying quote would still be "to die, to sleep... perchance, to dream..." (Hamlet, Shakespeare) !

Saturday Musings

2007-01-13T05:16:00.000+08:00

Saturday here, and I am not as rushed. I can laze around a bit. I am seeing an opportunity to read a book, pore through my notes, daydream my next post.Well... New Year ruminations, still... and I think of the many turns my life has taken over the last few years. I do have some 'life-altering plans' so to speak which had been on my mind for the longest time. And I hope that I can manage a firm resolve. I tend to procrastinate too much. I hope to devote more target-specific time. That will help me in this new path I believe I am on, to familiarize myself with it, be brave enough to live it, with all its possibilities. More later.