=]

genres are there to help us understand the wider scope that is music. but what's the point when instead of keeping us together, it divides us and generally defeats the definition of music being universal.

Carolyn Johnson: The joy of boredom

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-johnson_23edi.ART.State.Edition1.464c4cc.html

Don't check that e-mail. Don't answer that phone. Just sit there. You might be surprised by what happens.

10:27 AM CDT on Sunday, March 23, 2008

A decade ago, those monotonous minutes were just a fact of life: time ticking away, as you gazed idly into space, stood in line, or sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

JAMES STEINBERG/Special Contributor

Boredom's doldrums were unavoidable, yet also a primordial soup for some of life's most quintessentially human moments. Jostled by a stranger's cart in the express checkout line, thoughts of a loved one might come to mind. A long drive home after a frustrating day could force ruminations. A pang of homesickness at the start of a plane ride might put a journey in perspective.

Increasingly, these empty moments are being saturated with productivity, communication and the digital distractions offered by an ever-expanding array of slick mobile devices. A few years ago, cellphone maker Motorola even began using the word "microboredom" to describe the ever-smaller slices of free time from which new mobile technology offers an escape. "Mobisodes," two-minute long television episodes of everything from Lost to Prison Break made for the cellphone screen, are perfectly tailored for the microbored. Cellphone games are often designed to last just minutes – simple, snack-sized diversions like Snake, solitaire and Tetris. Social networks like Twitter and Facebook turn every mundane moment between activities into a chance to broadcast feelings and thoughts, even if it is just to triple-tap a keypad with the words "I am bored."

But are we too busy twirling through the songs on our iPods – while checking e-mail, while changing lanes on the highway – to consider whether we are giving up a good thing?

We are most human when we feel dull. Lolling around in a state of restlessness is one of life's greatest luxuries – one not available to creatures that spend all their time pursuing mere survival. To be bored is to stop reacting to the external world, and to explore the internal one. It is in these times of reflection that people often discover something new, whether it is an epiphany about a relationship or a new theory about the way the universe works.

Granted, many people emerge from boredom feeling that they have accomplished nothing. But is accomplishment really the point of life? There is a strong argument that boredom – so often parodied as a glassy-eyed drooling state of nothingness – is an essential human emotion that underlies art, literature, philosophy, science and even love.

"If you think of boredom as the prelude to creativity, and loneliness as the prelude to engagement of the imagination, then they are good things," said Dr. Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist and author of the book CrazyBusy. "They are doorways to something better, as opposed to something to be abhorred and eradicated immediately."

Public health officials often bemoan the obesity epidemic, the unintended consequence of a modern lifestyle that allows easy access to calories. Technology seems to offer a similar proposition: a wide array of distractions that offer the boon of connection, but at a cost. Already, mobile technology has shaped the way people interact and communicate. People no longer make plans in the same way; public spaces have become semi-private bubbles of conversation; and things like getting a busy signal or being unreachable seem foreign, even quaint.

Today, distraction from monotony is not merely available; it is almost unavoidable.

Perhaps nothing illuminates the speed of social change better than the new fear of disconnection. People driving a car or waiting in a doctor's office have always had some distractions available to them, from the radio to National Geographic. But until the advent of connected devices, they were still, fundamentally, alone in some way.

Today, there is a growing fear of the prospect of being untethered in the world without the security blanket of a cellphone. In the timescale of human inventions, the mobile phone is still new, but it is already a crucial part of the trinity of things people fear to forget when they leave the house – keys, wallet, phone.

"There is this hyper-anxiety over feeling lonely or disconnected," said Kathleen Cumiskey, a professor of psychology and women's studies at the College of Staten Island who says her stepdaughter sleeps with her cellphone at arm's length and considers turning the device off unthinkable. "Our society is perpetually anxious, and a way to alleviate the anxiety is to delve into something that's very within our control, pleasurable and fun. ... It feels like it has all the makings of addiction."

In a way, the entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the small moments of spare time that are sprinkled through modern life parallel the pharmaceutical industry. A growing chorus of mental health specialists has begun to question whether normal sadness and social anxiety are being transformed into disorders that people believe need to be cured – by the companies offering elixirs. The tech industry may be doing the same thing with disconnection.

Many of the original arguments for having a cellphone – safety, security, emergencies – never figure into the advertisements. Like the commercials that show frowning people transformed into smiling, kitten-cuddling normality, technology companies project a happy world of connection where to intentionally disconnect seems freakish, questionable, undeniably an ailment.

Society has accepted connection so well that it takes a step back to see exactly how far things have come. Instead of carrying their entire social universe in a pocket, people used to walk out of their houses and into the world. Today, not picking up the phone for an hour is an act of defiance.

Perhaps understandably, boredom has never caught the attention of the psychological world. Emotions like anxiety, fear and anger have been subjected to a much more thorough examination than merely feeling drab, according to Richard Ralley, a lecturer in psychology at Edge Hill University in England.

"What's gone wrong with the psychology of emotion is that the ones that are easy to do are the ones that have been researched: fear, threat, fear, threat, again and again and again," Dr. Ralley said. "A lot of other emotions that really make us human – pride, for instance – we kind of avoid."

So, Dr. Ralley set out to examine boredom more closely, with the idea that the feeling must have a purpose. Just looking around, it was evident that children quell boredom quite naturally, with creativity. But as people get older, anxious parents and cranky children demand more and more specific stimuli, whether it is a video game or a hot new phone.

As Dr. Ralley studied boredom, it came to make a kind of sense: If people are slogging away at an activity with little reward, they get annoyed and find themselves feeling bored. If something more engaging comes along, they move on. If nothing does, they may be motivated enough to think of something new themselves. The most creative people, he said, are known to have the greatest toleration for long periods of uncertainty and boredom.

"When we're writing deeply, writing thoughtfully, we are often trying to communicate with ourselves and trying to communicate what ultimately can't be communicated – the greatest mysteries of the world: What is truth? What is beauty? What is being?" said Eric G. Wilson, an English professor at Wake Forest University and author of the new book Against Happiness.

Arthur Wright, 55, who works in the travel industry, said that he refuses to carry a cellphone precisely because he has seen the effects every time he ventures into one of the confession booths our public spaces have become.

"You hear these stupid conversations. ... You know, it's just 'I'm bored,' and they'll call and chit-chat on the phone," Mr. Wright said. "'I'm almost there. I'm turning the corner right now.' ... What would they do without it? It's like kids who use a calculator in school, and they can't add."

Connectivity, of course, has serious advantages. Parents can check in with their kids. Friends separated by hundreds of miles can have a conversation. People feel safer.

Still, there has been surprisingly little public discussion of the broad sociological and psychological impact the technology will have. Like much change, it has crept up on people and radically changed behavior and expectations in ways few people could have predicted. At one time, the car was a novelty – things like getting gas and driving on good roads were difficult to do. Today, the modern world is built around an automotive infrastructure, and is almost impossible to navigate without one.

"We set up a society that functions that way," said Rich Ling, a researcher at the Norwegian telecom firm Telenor and author of New Tech, New Ties. "And the mobile phone is starting to work in that way."

But as it becomes more difficult to imagine a world without constant connectivity, the very concept of "microboredom" may begin to lower people's tolerance for even a second of empty time.

Paradoxically, as cures for boredom have proliferated, people do not seem to feel less bored; they simply flee it with more energy, flitting from one activity to the next. Dr. Ralley has noticed a kind of placid look among his students over the past few years, a "laptop culture" that he finds perplexing.

They have more channels to be social; there are always things to do. And yet people seem oddly numb. They are not quite bored, but not really interested either.

That means steeping in uninterrupted boredom may be the first step toward feeling connected. It "may take a little bit of tolerance of an initial feeling of boredom, to discover a comfort level with not being linked in and engaged and stimulated every second," said Jerome Wakefield, a professor of social work at New York University and co-author of The Loss of Sadness. "There's a level of knowing yourself, of coming back to baseline and knowing who you truly are."

Or, just go ahead. Your phone is vibrating with a message, your e-mail is piling up, a hilarious YouTube video is waiting to entertain you.

Me, too.

Carolyn Y. Johnson covers business for the Boston Globe. Her e-mail address is cjohnson@globe.com.

~~ tama tama. T.T

"my goal is not to wake up at forty with a bitter realization that i wasted my life at a job i hate because i was forced to decide on a career in my teens." - daria

`Summer' a clever spin on classic boy-meets-girl (AP)

post from: Yahoo movies
link: http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/summer39-clever-spin-classic-boymeetsgirl-ap

LOS ANGELES - Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to win girl back: It's a tale you've heard a million times before. But it's told in such a relatable, inventive way in "500 Days of Summer," it almost feels like the first time.

It is the first time for director Marc Webb, who puts his music video and commercial background to good use with stylish tactics that are lively — a cheeky dance sequence, perfect song choices, a clever use of split screen — but never feel gratuitous.

And the script from Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber keeps things moving by jumping back and forth in time between Day 500, Day 1 and everywhere in between; the structure also creates a feeling of curiosity throughout, because we know this relationship is doomed, we just don't know how it falls apart.

We watch it all unfold with bemusement and dread through the lovelorn eyes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Tom Hansen, a would-be architect toiling away at a greeting card company. (So maybe it's a bit convenient that Tom, who has immature, idealistic notions about love, should make his living writing facile platitudes on the subject. Surely an education is in store for him.)

Tom thinks he's found the perfect woman in Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel), his boss' beautiful new assistant who's just arrived in Los Angeles. One look at those big, blue eyes and he's instantly smitten; this is the lovely Deschanel, after all, so who could blame him? Her alluring, mysterious presence is just the right fit here.

"500 Days of Summer" allows Tom to regale us with memories of this life-altering romance — and because they're his memories, told entirely from his perspective, they're more than a little romanticized in both the highs and lows. But that's part of the film's charm: the spot-on observation that everything seems magnified and it matters more when it's happening to us. (Tom's closest friends and sounding boards, played by Geoffrey Arend and Matthew Gray Gubler, aren't particularly helpful — or funny, for that matter.)

Summer has fantastic taste in everything — all the same stuff Tom likes — but there's also a classic femininity to her, with the bows and headbands she wears in her long, dark hair and the girlish frocks in her signature color of pale blue. But again, this is the way Tom remembers her. The downtown L.A. production number he and a bunch of strangers burst into after his first night with Summer — to Hall & Oates' "You Make My Dreams Come True," of all songs — is infectious and inspired. Later, at a dark point, the Smiths' "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" captures his emotions just as precisely.

Why she turns suddenly cold is baffling to him, and to us; she told him at the start that she didn't want anything serious, but it all seemed to be going so well. Then again, she's meant to be an elusive concept. Like the season she's named for, she clearly can't stick around forever.

Through every moment of jubilation and anxiety, Gordon-Levitt makes us feel for him; he's still so appealing even when he's miserable, you almost don't want to see him succeed. You could imagine John Cusack playing this role 20 years ago: Gordon-Levitt, co-star of TV's "3rd Rock From the Sun" and films including "Brick" and "The Lookout," has a similar everyman likability and determination, but he's just as adept at showing a deeper, more vulnerable side.

Unlike the whirlwind romance of "500 Days of Summer," this is a career that's clearly made to last.

"500 Days of Summer," a Fox Searchlight release, is rated PG-13 for sexual material and language. Running time: 96 minutes. Three stars out of four.

quota quotes

men are weird. either they talk too much or they don't talk at all. but when you're having a conversation and they do talk, they suddenly try to change the subject.

the worst thing that can happen to you in a relationship is to fall into second place.

we can never be what we think we are unless people see us as we see ourselves. which almost never happens.

it is a crazy world. but the people are even crazier. and they themselves don't have the slightest idea.

PERO.

alam mo, kung gusto mo talaga marinig ng ibang tao ang music nyo, gagawin nyo kahit ano para magawa yun

yun na nga, yung mga pagpasa ng mga kanta nyo sa kung saan saan

hindi mo naman malalaman yung mga ganyan kung hindi mo maeexperience e

PERO. hindi mo rin maikakalat yung music nyo kung hindi kayo magrrisk

is it not? :)

-sinabi ko lang sa kabanda ko dati. nag-uusap kame. ayun. gusto ko lang i-post.

my must see movies (sa ngayon)

just click the images for the trailers.

Ganito na ba tayo? wag naman sana.

Gising, Tol.

Tumatanda ka na, tol.

Nasa Friday Magic Madness na yung mga paborito mong kanta.
Nakaka-relate ka na sa Classic MTV. Lesbiana na yung kinaaaliwan mong
child star dati. Nanay na lagi ang role ng crush na crush mong matinee
idol noon.

Dati, pag may panot, sisigaw ka agad ng "PENDONG!". Ngayon, pag may
sumisigaw nun, ikaw na yung napapraning. Parang botika na ang cabinet
mo. May multivitamins, vitamin E, vitamin C, royal jelly, tsaka ginko
biloba.

Dati, laging may inuman. Sa inuman, may lech on, sisig, kaldereta,
inihaw na liempo, pusit, at kung anu-ano pa. Ngayon, nagkukumpulan na
lang kayo ng mga kasama mo sa Starbucks at oorder ng tea.

Wala na ang mga kaibigan mo noon.

Ang dating masasayang tawanan ng barkada sa canteen, napalitan na ng
walang katapusang pagrereklamo tungkol sa kumpanya ninyo. Wala na ang
best friend mo na lagi mong pinupuntahan kapag may problema ka. Ang
lagi mo na lang kausap ngayon e ang kaopisina mong hindi ka sigurado
kung binebenta ka sa iba pag nakatalikod ka. Ang hirap nang magtiwala.

Mahirap nang makahanap ng totoong kaibigan. Hindi mo kayang
pagkatiwalaan ang kasama mo araw-araw sa opisina. Kung sabagay,
nagkakilala lang kayo dahil gusto ninyong kumita ng pera at umakyat sa
tinatawag nilang "corporate ladder". Anumang pagkakaibigang umusbong
galing sa pera at ambisyon ay hindi talaga totoong pagkakaibigan. Pera
din at ambisyon ang sisira sa inyong dalawa.

Pera. Pera na ang nagpapatakbo ng buhay mo.

Alipin ka na ng Meralco, PLDT, SkyCable, Globe, Smart, at Sun. Alipin
ka ng Midnight Madness. Alipin ka ng tollgate sa expressway. Alipin ka
ng credit card mo. Alipin ka ng ATM. Alipin ka ng BIR.

Dati-rati masaya ka na sa isang platong instant pancit canton. Ngayon,
dapat may kasamang italian chicken ang fettucine alfredo mo. Masaya ka
na noon pag nakakapag-ober-da-bakod kayo para makapagswimming. Ngayon,
ayaw mong lumangoy kung hindi Boracay o Puerto Galera ang lugar. Dati,
sulit na sulit na sa yo ang gin pomelo. Ngayon, pagkatapos ng ilang
bote ng red wine, maghahanap ka ng San Mig Light o Vodka Cruiser.

Wala ka nang magawa. Sumasabay ang lifestyle mo sa income mo.
Nagtataka ka kung bakit hindi ka pa rin nakakaipon kahit tumataas ang
sweldo mo. Yung mga bagay na gusto mong bilhin dati na sinasabi mong
hindi mo kailangan, abot-kamay mo na. Pero kahit nasa iyo na ang mga
gusto mong bilhin, hindi ka pa rin makuntento.

Saan ka ba papunta?

Tol, gumising ka. Hindi ka nabuhay sa mundong ito para maging isa lang
sa mga baterya ng mga machines sa Matrix. Hanapin mo ang dahilan kung
bakit nilagay ka rito. Kung ang buhay mo ngayon ay uulit-ulit lang
hanggang maging singkwenta anyos ka na, magsisisi ka. Lumingon ka kung
paano ka nagsimula, isipin ang mga tao at mga bagay na nagpasaya sa
yo. Balikan mo sila.

Ikaw ang nagbago, hindi ang mundo.

-Anonymous

another :)

"for my part i know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream."

- vincent van gogh

welcome to **** city

habang nagbbyahe sa kahabaan ng slex, may makikita kang lugar na kung saan may gagawing subdivision o business district (alin man dun). bandang kanan kung manggagaling ka sa maynila. nakakatawa kase imbis na matuwa ako dahil sa pag-unlad ng lugar na 'yon e mas nakakalungkot kase ang dating malaking lupain na tinutubuan ng mga halaman at puno ay nagmistulang espasyo na lang ng lupa na kulay brown. swerte ka na kung makakakita ka man ng isang puno. iniisip ko, ano kaya ang nasa isip ng mga tao nung hinuhukay nila yung lupa at pinapatay yung mga puno at halaman habang pinapatag nila muli ito para pagtayuan ng malalaking gusali. nalulungkot kaya sila habang ginagawa nila yun o wala silang pakialam at ang iniisip lang nila ay yung pera na matatanggap nila sa pagtatapos ng kanilang trabaho? para sakin, kung ganon ang itsura ng sinasabi nilang industriyalisasyon, e mas mabuti pang wag na lang.

hindi ko na pahahabain 'to. naisip ko lang bigla kase nakakalungkot makita 'yon kase dati ay mga palayan, ngayon parang bundok na mininahan at iniwanan kase wala nang makuha. oo sige, isang batayan na umuunlad ang isang lugar. pero sana hindi dumating yung araw na imbis na mga puno e mga poste na lang ng kuryente ang dinadapuan ng mga ibon.

Lyrics to "Everybody is free to wear sunscreen"

by Baz Luhrman

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97,

Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term
benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or
reliable then my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice....now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind, you won't understand the power and
beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of
yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous
you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra
equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides
you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is
long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. (if you succeed in doing this, tell me how).

Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people
I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of Calcium. Be kind to your knees -- you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll
divorce at 40; maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half
chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body: use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it's the
greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance...even if you have no where to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions (even if you don't follow them).

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings: they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in
the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but what a precious few should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps
and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you
were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old; and when you
do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children
respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse,
but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia;
dispensing it is a way of wishing the past from the disposal--wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and
recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me, I'm the sunscreen.

:)

i suppose leadership at one time meant muscles, but today it means getting along with people/

- mohandas k. gandhi

life in three hours

i had a conversation with a friend through facebook im and i remember how long the conversation went. it wasn't supposed to take three hours for us to discuss his short story in progress which he asked me to give insight and give comments to but we did and ended up talking about topics regarding life in general.

his story is about a man, desperately searching for someone whom he can share his thoughts on and understand him. so he sent a message, put it in a bottle and threw it in the ocean in order for him to know that there is indeed that someone. apparently, he got a reply after years and years of waiting. and it struck me how this man actually waited for so many years just to find that one person. our conversation wound up covering the story and some other topics that are implied throughout the story. we talked about the human spirit and how amazing that one can persevere even with just a tiny glint of hope. we talked about how the world is so corrupted that everyone's thoughts have been meddled upon through the years without even knowing it that sometimes it is really difficult to find that one uncorrupted person whom you can talk to.

it's true that people when people grow old, they change. change, after all, is inevitable. but when or how can we really know if it's time for the change? if we really should change? true, that when we grow old and start to live our lives, we somehow become this different person, much different than who we were before that it becomes sad and tiring because sometimes when you suddenly stop and think about everything, you realize that you just lost a part of you. a part of you which was once the most important thing and the thing that you have been protecting the most from the world. but... we also come to realize that everything is transient so there are times that we just shrug it off and just say "oh well" which sometimes is quite the opposite thing that is supposed to happen.

some people say that it is the reality and there is no way of escaping from it so you might as well do it in which they do have a point. but what is reality? how can we know which is real when everything in this world is based upon perception? this may be the reality that we are living in but what if, WHAT IF, the things that we perceive as reality is entirely different from what we have been used to? because of the reality that we are in, my friend said that happily ever after does not exist. he asked me what if when the time comes that he would just want to live in a farm (or was that the countryside?), with a beautiful woman that he loves, with their children and live there for the rest of their lives happily ever after. the end. he said it will not happen. why? just ask yourself why. we all know the answer. the thing is, it's how it was supposed to be. because it's the reality that we grew up in. it's the reality that we know. it's the ONLY reality that we know for that matter.

so no matter how hard we try not to conform, human nature takes over and before we know it, we're already one of them. we're much like wolves and sheep. we try to be the best we can to fit into the group. because if you're a sheep and you try to fend off wolves by pretending to have fangs like them, the herd disowns you because according to them, it is not in your nature to be that way (read the parable of the sheep by charles riggs). but some of us are wolves in sheep's clothing while some are sheep in wolves' clothing and we do that not because we like to. we do it so that the herd will not disown us. we do it in order to survive.

in truth we are like the man in my friend's story (click here for the story - too bad for those who don't have facebook accounts); constantly at search for that someone who thinks the way we do. someone who understands and says "yes. i know." and when we find that person it's like a big sigh of relief. an affirmation that we are not alone.

as far as happily ever after is concerned, i hate to burst your bubble but it really does not exist. what's sad is that we have to wear our wolf costume or sheep costume sometime. then again, happily ever after is subjective. our lives are ours. not something that is dictated by some kind of system or an idea of reality whatsoever. after all there are so many ideas to choose from; why just choose one? whatever that is, live. and it's up to you how you make the most out of it may you be a wolf or a sheep.

pagpasok mo sa entrance, derecho lang. sa may bandang kanan ng jollibee.

nakita ko sya nun. long hair at medyo may edad na pero hindi parin maikakaila na magaling parin at hindi man lang nanginginig ang mga kamay habang iginuguhit ang isang litrato mula sa isang magasin palipat sa karton. gusto ko sana kausapin at tanong-tanungin tungkol sa kanyang napiling propesyon pero mukhang abala sa pagguhit at mukhang ayaw paabala. kung makikita mo ang mga naiguhit nyang mga larawan na nakadisplay sa kanyang tindahan na tila isang stall lang na nakatayo sa gitna ng pasilyo sa isang mall e hahanga ka din. pero kung mapapansin mo ang "tindahan" nya eh meron pa syang kahati na ale na nagbebenta ng mga kung ano-anong borloloy. si ate yung nakabalandra sa harap habang si kuya yung nasa bandang likod. hindi ko mapigilan na panoorin sya dahil magaling talaga sya. kung hindi lang puro artista ang mga iginuguhit nya at nakadisplay sa stall, mas matutuwa siguro ang mga tao at mas matutuwa sila. mas maaalala rin nila siguro sya.

siguro nakita mo na rin sya. pagpasok mo sa entrance, derecho lang. sa may bandang kanan ng jollibee. yung isang stall sa mall na may mga portrait ng artista. oo, sya yun. seryoso at nakatungo habang may iginuguhit na larawan. hindi ka rin nya siguro masyado pinapansin pero siguro naman naintindihan mo kase alam naman natin na hindi madali ang ginagawa nya. may mga tao rin na kumakausap sa kanya pero konti lang kase medyo mailap din sya sumagot. napansin ko, kakaunti rin yung mga tao na tumitigil at tinitingnan ang mga naiguhit nya. parang mas madami pa yung lumalampas at hindi sya napapansin kesa dun sa mga tumitigil. hindi ako naaawa. dahil alam ko na hindi naman rin nila gusto na kinakaawaan sila.

pero bakit ganon? kung sino yung mga magaling at may karapat-dapat na maipagmalaki e sila yung mga dinadaan-daanan lang ng mga tao na para bang wala lang. na parang napaka-ordinaryo ng ginagawa ni kuya. oo ordinaryo man pero hindi lahat ng tao kayang gawin yun. pag dumadaan sila sasabihin nila "ay ang galing.", sabay lakad naman palayo at hindi na ulit maaalala kahit kelan. tsaka na lang ulit nila maaalala pag nakita nila ulet. pero hindi parin nila maaalala na sya mismo yun. na sya yung long hair at medyo may edad na at seryosong nakatungo habang may iginuguhit na larawan. sana pagbalik ko, andun parin sya.

Salamat Kiko. Paalam.

walang bagay sa mundo na panghabangbuhay. tulad ng tao. lalo na mga tao. kahit mga tao na naging diyos na sa mata ng iba. nakakalungkot pero ganun talaga. dahil kung hindi panandalian ang buhay, mawawalan ng saysay lahat.

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bata pa ko nun, grade school. nakikisabay lang sa mga trip ng kapatid ko. nung naging sikat ang "mga kababayan," bumili si ate ng casette ng album ni francis m. na "Yo!" pinakinggan ko. nagustuhan ko agad. hindi dahil pogi sya, hindi dahil sikat sya, kundi dahil sa mga kanta nya na kung papakinggan mong mabuti ay tatatak talaga sa buong pagkatao mo. mga problema ng bansa, ng mga tao, ng mga pilipino. mga katotohanan. malinaw nyang sinasabi sa kanyang mga kanta ang mga gusto nyang iparating. walang pasikot-sikot. sa kanya ko natutunan ang pagmamahal sa bansa at sa sariling wika. kaya isa sya sa mga naging inspirasyon ko hindi lang sa larangan ng musika kundi pati na rin sa buhay.


Salamat. Salamat sa musika. Salamat sa inspirasyon. Paalam Kiko.



http://francismagalona.multiply.com/

got ink?

someone once told me that "a tattoo is a reminder that once in your life you have been temporarily insane."


...WHAT THE HELL?!


i don't know if i am going to be angry about it or just laugh it off. it just goes to show how some people regard having a tattoo as what only "insane" people do and that "normal" people won't. that's bullsh*t because number one: how can you determine if someone is in fact insane or not?; number two: how can you say if someone or something is "normal?"; and number three: does a "normal" person still exist today? the fact that evolution and adaptation has changed the way we think has made me doubt that a normal person still exist. well to tell it straight, "normal" is just a state of mind (also a statistical term, but that's another story). if you think you're normal, then you are. but are you really?

it's just unbelievable that in an age where tattoos are considered as an art form and a form of expression, there are still those who consider it as taboo. are they born yesterday or what? tattoos have been around for centuries and are used in many tribal groups around the world and is a part of their culture. click here, here, or here for more info. but apparently, some people still regard those who have tattoos as criminals, excons, drug addicts, people who have nothing better to do, crazy, etc etc. why? can't good people have tattoos? hmmm... come to think of it... hahaha

well, as for me, getting inked is something sacred. it's your body, for crying out loud! who would want to get a tattoo just for the sake of feeling the pain and nothing else? unless you're a masochist. but not every tattooed person is one. for some people, having a tattoo is like materializing (for lack of words) a part of themselves and showing it to the world by having it tattooed on their skin. a tattoo is another way of telling a story and the main character is the person who owns it. it's his story. his life. and it's sad that other people say negative things about it. [unfortunately, there are those who wants to have or already has a tattoo but they want it just for the sake of having one. adds to the "coolness factor." whatever. it's just irritating and funny. at the same time. and this post is not made to defend them.]

my point is, so what if some people have tattoos? that doesn't prove that they are much less persons than those who are uninked. that doesn't mean they're evil *evil laugh*. it's just unfair to label those who are tattooed as "insane" or what have you just because you don't understand it (it also applies to anything that people usually don't understand). but then again, we're only human, and humans have a tendency to judge something most especially something that they know nothing of. you can say i'm insane, fine. or you can say i'm not normal, that's okay. but are you?

let's face it, even if, that's IF we had become temporarily insane even only once in our lives, different poeple have different ways to cope with it. may it be having a tattoo, or drinking tons and tons of coffee, or shopping, or whatever; all of us are in it. maybe you have been temporarily "insane" too, you just didn't realize it. an insane person would never admit that he is insane. but who am i to judge? it's a crazy world after all. and the people are even crazier.

bagong taon nga ba?

bumulusok ang 2009 ng bonggang bongga na tila naging malaking fireworks display ang kalangitan ng buong pilipinas. lumabas ako para tingnan ang maraming fireworks at namangha ako sa ganda nila na kahit na ilang beses ka nang nakapanood, mamamangha ka parin.

bagong taon, bagong buhay, bagong pananaw. yan ang mga nasa isip natin tuwing na lang papasok ang bagong taon. pagdating sa new years resolution, may mga natutupad, merong taon-taon naman ay yun nang yun parin ang resolution. wala namang problema kung meron o wala kang resolution, ang importante ay natutupad nila ang mga kelangan nilang tupadin at magawa ang mga kelangan gawin.

nung bata ako tuwing bagong taon, ang mga nakikita kong fireworks eh pa-isa-isa lang. ngayon, nalilito na ako kung saan titingin sa dami ng fireworks na parang tinalo pa ang fireworks display ng enchanted kingdom (well, hindi naman) at mahihilo ka sa kakaikot ng 360 degrees para mapanood ang mga ito. nitong mga nakaraang araw, pinakita sa tv ang mga pilipino na bumibili ng mga paputok. naging kasama na sa tradisyon, hindi lang sa pilipinas pero pati na rin sa buong mundo, ang paggamit ng paputok sa pagsalubong ng bagong taon. pero natawa na lang ako nung nakita ko sa balita na ang ibang pinoy ay inuna pa ang pagbili ng mga paputok kesa sa pang media noche ng pamilya nila. yung iba naman ay mas mahal pa ang nagastos nila sa paputok kesa sa kakainin nila sa hatinggabi. nakakatawa. akala ko ba naghihirap na ang pilipinas? hindi naman ata totoo yun eh. kung naghihirap ang pilipinas, hindi ba dapat mas maging mapili tayo sa kung ano ang mga gagastusan kesa sa hindi? hindi naman nakakain ang paputok pero mukhang tuwang-tuwa ang mga tao sa pagsindi sa mga mitsa at marinig ang kaboom ng mga ito. siguro nga naging tradisyon na, wala naman din masama sa pagpapaputok. pero alam ba talaga natin kung bakit nagpapaputok pag bagong taon? o sumusunod lang tayo kase naging tradisyon na nga? gusto lang ba natin magpaputok dahil maganda sha panoorrin kase nakakamangha yung mga ilaw? o ginagawa natin to dahil alam natin kung ano talaga ang sinisimbulo nito?

wala lang. naisip ko lang.

ewan. ilang bagong taon pa kaya bago tayo magbago? bagong taon, bagong buhay, bagong pananaw. sana nga magbago na.

histsory of dreadlocks

http://thebutterflytribe.com/articles/historyofdreadlocks.html