shipwreck

“Well, my dear father, in the shipwreck of life—for life is an eternal shipwreck of our hopes—I cast into the sea my useless encumbrance, that is all, and I remain with my own will, disposed to live perfectly alone, and consequently perfectly free.”

Excerpt from Alexandre Dumas Père. “The Count of Monte Cristo.”

missing blogging II

(a guest post from eks)

Just like Mordsith, I miss blogging about things that are really close to my heart. I stopped writing posts lately because of sudden increase in workload (not complaining! hehehe). There was a time when writing posts are as easy as checking and sending e-mails to friends and colleagues. That was the time when I just needed to hold my phone, type my post in an e-mail platform, and send the article to my blog.

Lately, however, I only write blogs when I need to, not want to (that's why you sometimes see me writing about Whitecraft wicker patio furniture from homeandpatiodecorcenter.com or about other things you really have no idea about). Well, that's life. Hopefully I'd be able to write better article soon!

missing blogging I

It's been quite some time since I last wrote a movie review. Or at least a movie experience. Due to a busy schedule and "kumikitang kabuhayan needs", I tend to write posts on how to speed up XP PCs, how to find the perfect vitamins, and so many other good topics. I would still be busy these coming days (bar review) but I will try to write articles really close to my heart – movies, books, my cousins and pamangkins, and hopefully, a vacation. 

I watched Iron Man a few days ago, maybe I'll write about it soon. Or maybe about a long-overdue vacation or out-of-town trip. Let's see soon.

re-examining life… not.

Mordsith had this post a while back where she discussed what she usually writes about. Truth is, she can write about anything at all when she wants to and when needed – from post about trade printing (akalain mo?) to what is life. I admire how she writes, among other things.  Anyway, below is the post I was talking about:

When I first started blogging, I thought a lot about what to post before I post it. It also entailed a lot of rereading, revisions, and consultations. My first posts were about my favorite book and unforgettable movies. I wrote about pseudo-philosophical thoughts and nationalistic tendencies. Then there came a time when I wrote just about anything, things that, looking back, even I won't be interested in reading. Heck, I even wrote about bead storage, Johari window, and lucky numbers.

Nevertheless, I realized it has been more than 3 years since I started blogging. I've started as eager, then I became lazy, lonely, happy, personal, and distant. I've been so many things in this blog. One thing's for sure, though: all of them are me.

My favorite topic is my thoughts on things. It's probably because there are not that many (exciting) things happening in my life, except for law school and our family's fight against my mom's cancer. Well, I thought of sharing about my love life, especially that period when I was so heart broken after a breakup (which I successfully kept from friends and family for a year or 2! top that!) and not talking to people about it. But I did not do it. Apparently, even online, I don't wanna talk about it. haha. And of course, through the depressing months when we first learned of mom's cancer, well, it was only here that I pour my emotions. And I didn't even tell mom, up to now, how sad I was then.

But mostly, I can talk about life. I like talking about it—analyzing, reanalyzing, and sometimes, even concluding. It's such a complicated thing: infinite angles and various dimensions. It's evolving, or probably just reflecting my own state of mind, just as this blog probably is doing.

And the good thing about life is, I can never really fully understand it. =)

–  what am i talking about? by Mordsith

A guest post.

Eks

preparing for a (not my) wedding

I recently attended a friend's wedding and it was just as great as the other weddings of my other friends. Getting a gift for the bride is easy because she's a friend of mine since childhood, but for the groom? It's a bit challenging. It's not as if you just needed to pick one from so many mens platinum wedding bands in store display. Anyway, I just remembered a post I made a couple of years back. This is a post I made for my cousin's wedding. :-)

I grew up considering my 2 cousins as my brothers. One was already married (keng's father), and the other is about to get married this coming January. Of course, I feel happy for them. But I feel a little more sad this time, knowing that I am the only one left unmarried. At the same time, I feel more excited for the coming wedding. I was still in college when kuyang got married, so my inputs then weren't asked. haha. But now, having attended so many weddings already, I think I had shared with the future couple substantial inputs. hehe.

I am amazed how creative people can be. Several years ago, almost all wedding I attended were traditional, from the dresses, to the venues, to the programs, to the souvenirs. Now, this recent wedding I attended at Tagaytay was so beautiful and so "artistic" that I want my cousins' wedding to be just as enjoyable. And I've emphasized to my cousin over and over that he can cut down on the expenses of other stuff, but not with the photographer and the videographer! Memories are priceless, especially if captured brilliantly.

I told my would-be sister-in-law that the bridesmaids should have simple, almost uniform hairdo, so she could outshine them all. And I've told my cousin to consult me first before choosing whatever songs that would be played in the presentations or in the church. I don't trust his taste in music hehe (and i volunteered to sing!). And I've edited their invitations several times. I wish I could have been more hands-on than just merely suggesting, but I'm sure they understand. Please feel free to suggest anything that would make their wedding unique. =)

And of course, I am preparing myself for the wedding. I am cutting my 1 1/2 cup of rice during dinner to 1 cup. =)

a knock on your door

A post from my now-inactive i.ph blog:

Sometimes, things just happen. Or maybe things are bound to happen. I guess the most pleasant experience of all is when something good happens, when that thing never even crossed your mind. A pleasant surprise, is that what they call it? But what do you do with it? What happens next will determine if serendipity does exist.

Sometimes you are just talking to someone, then you just realize, after all these years, that you are in love. Magic. Then again, sometimes you've been with a person for years already, happy and all, then when you wake up, you've already lost your feelings in your sleep. Tragic. At least you had been happy.

A man is sitting in his porch, watching the seabirds, and finally realizing he has wasted his entire life. I guess he should have listened to what the universe has been telling him: carpe diem.

And indeed, we should stop hiding from our turnout blankets or anything that we use to cover ourselves. There's only one thing to do: carpe diem!

reposting Gandhi's wisdom

I had learnt the true practice of law. I had learnt to find out the better side of human nature and to enter men's hearts. I realized that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby — not even money, certainly not my soul.

 – Mahatma Gandhi, lawyer, peacemaker

indeed, if people only aim for peace compromise for all their conflicts instead of storming courts with complete with lowa renegade outfit, maybe the world would be a much better place. 

re-posting: a fine man

i wrote a post a while ago about my cousin Eduard... how he made me so proud of him, how happy i am for him, and many other things. i'm re-posting it here because he just graduated from grade school, and this time, as the valedictorian. i am so proud of you, Eduard!

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Time and again, Eduard makes me proud. Although he's my cousin by blood, our relationship is more like parental probably because of the age difference. I've already recounted stories of how I am so proud of how he's grown up to be so selfless and how happy I am that right now, he's been very active in the church, serving for masses several times a week (much frequent than the times I go to mass in a month!). How reverend he has become. I can play in a vlc media player all the things that make me proud of him, and much of these things are more than just academic.

But it's more than just a bonus that he's a bright kid, too! Two days ago, I went up with him on the stage and received his medal for being second honor! [EDIT: imagine how proud i am that this time, i went up with him on the stage to get the medal for being a valedictorian] I will never be tired of saying this, I am so proud of you, Eduard. How lucky we are that we have in our family a fine young man.

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he's seriously considering the possibility of pursuing a religious vocation, so, i guess searching for wedding rings for men as a gift for him in the future is a remote possibility. :-)

a certain kind of gift

Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather.

-The Count of Monte Cristo