Saturday, March 26, 2005
some lenten irony
maundy thursday. the radio at our next door neighbor's house was on full volume at 7 o'clock in the morning. normally, this makes me cranky, especially if they start blasting the whole neighborhood with those overplayed tunes by westlife, or worse, michael learns to rock. i was still kinda' groggy, and the station they were tuned to was playing some old music, so i was pretty nonchalant about it. the season being lent, the station then tried to be pious by broadcasting some "words of wisdom". a deep, breathy voice then came out and said, "you shouldn't praise yourself too much, but your praise should come from the lips of others", or something to that effect. then it went, "this message is brought to you by xyz fm, your number one! all hits! super station!". right.
Thursday, March 10, 2005
everything is meaningless
this is supposed to be from the bible. imagine that, the bible!
############################
"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
############################
my point exactly...
############################
"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.
Ecclesiastes 1:2-11
############################
my point exactly...
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
top 10 signs that you're getting old
i'm still 22, but i'm starting to feel... old... like really old. so, in the tradition of david letterman, here is my own top ten list.
top 10 signs that you're getting old
10. people refer to the 90's as a bygone era the way everybody refers to the 80's and 70's.
soon, everybody will be thinking that the 90's is as far removed as the jurassic period. i'm starting to feel like a dinosaur...
9. you start worrying about what you eat
eating used to be one of the greatest joys in life. but now, after a nice filling meal, i can't help but feel like a bavarian cream donut stuffed in a pair of pants.
8. old classmates getting married
you think, "what?! that pervert's getting married?!" then you imagine that old classmate taking walks in the park with his kids and his pregnant wife. he's so... mature.
7. summer no longer means long vacations
it used to be that 3 months out of every year you'd be faced with having nothing to do. now, all i have are 10 measely vacation leaves... the horror...
6. former teachers become coworkers
this is the cool part about getting old. you can now rub it in their face and say "YOU CAN'T FAIL ME NOW!!! BWAHAHAHA (evil laugh)"
5. you can still remember the time when the minimum jeepney fare was still at 1 peso
the minimum is now 5 pesos (5.50 in manila) and some are even proposing to raise it to 7 pesos! what the hell!
4. insurance credit card agents start chasing you with offers
this one can be very annoying. you're in the middle of solving a particularly nasty problem at work, then your train of thought is broken by the sound of your phone ringing. "sir, we would like to offer you BLABLABLABLABLA..." AAAARRGGH
3. the thought of "settling down" has reached your mind
2. you start to get existential angst
only old people are supposed to get this! AAAAAAAHHHH!!!
...
and the number one sign that you're getting old:
1. the music videos you used to watch get shown on classic mtv!
'nuf sed
top 10 signs that you're getting old
10. people refer to the 90's as a bygone era the way everybody refers to the 80's and 70's.
soon, everybody will be thinking that the 90's is as far removed as the jurassic period. i'm starting to feel like a dinosaur...
9. you start worrying about what you eat
eating used to be one of the greatest joys in life. but now, after a nice filling meal, i can't help but feel like a bavarian cream donut stuffed in a pair of pants.
8. old classmates getting married
you think, "what?! that pervert's getting married?!" then you imagine that old classmate taking walks in the park with his kids and his pregnant wife. he's so... mature.
7. summer no longer means long vacations
it used to be that 3 months out of every year you'd be faced with having nothing to do. now, all i have are 10 measely vacation leaves... the horror...
6. former teachers become coworkers
this is the cool part about getting old. you can now rub it in their face and say "YOU CAN'T FAIL ME NOW!!! BWAHAHAHA (evil laugh)"
5. you can still remember the time when the minimum jeepney fare was still at 1 peso
the minimum is now 5 pesos (5.50 in manila) and some are even proposing to raise it to 7 pesos! what the hell!
4. insurance credit card agents start chasing you with offers
this one can be very annoying. you're in the middle of solving a particularly nasty problem at work, then your train of thought is broken by the sound of your phone ringing. "sir, we would like to offer you BLABLABLABLABLA..." AAAARRGGH
3. the thought of "settling down" has reached your mind
2. you start to get existential angst
only old people are supposed to get this! AAAAAAAHHHH!!!
...
and the number one sign that you're getting old:
1. the music videos you used to watch get shown on classic mtv!
'nuf sed
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
weird weather
el niño sure has thrown the weather out of whack. the summer season has just opened, and we officially welcome it with a rainy day:
you may ask, "haven't you got anything else to talk about but the weather?"
... then why are you reading this? get back to work!
you may ask, "haven't you got anything else to talk about but the weather?"
... then why are you reading this? get back to work!
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
stuck
reading an issue of the national geographic last night made me realize that the world is such a huge and wonderful place and it just left me wondering. it left me wondering why five days of every week i have to force myself to wake up early in the morning, ride a jeepney filled with people i don't even know in the middle of rush hour traffic, and spend the rest of the day stuck in an office cubicle getting scolded by my boss and fearing the next mistake that i make could get me fired. it left me wondering why i have to slave away and waste what little time i have on this earth.
why shouldn't i simply resign from this job when i'm starting to despise it so much? why shouldn't i do the things that i've always dreamt of doing? like travelling around the country or even around the world, going to places that i've only read or heard about, meeting cultures that i've only seen on the glossy pages of magazines. or finally having enough time to read all my books and write stories that can make people move and wonder.
but then, reality rears its ugly head and gives me a nice kick in the butt. i certainly won't be getting anywhere without money, much more survive. and i won't have any money if i don't get a job. and getting a job means having to force myself to wake up early in the morning, ride a jeepney filled with people i don't even know in the middle of rush hour traffic, and spend the rest of the day stuck in an office cubicle. whoever said that life is beautiful just didn't know what he was talking about.
its all starting to seem so pointless. you work to live, but when you look at it, you're not really living at all. its like your just wasting your time, for in the end you're gonna die anyway, and what little you have worked for your entire life you won't be able to take with you. it just doesn't make sense to me.
and when you die, the world just goes on. and it goes on like you never really were, like you never really existed. you are simply a name carved on a tombstone. what you've achieved, how far you've gone, is nothing in death. nobody remembers. everybody forgets.
its starting to seem that life is simply a cruel joke. you are born, then you live a hard life doing pointless work in a cold world that just doesn't give a damn, then you die and you're buried in your grave and simply forgotten. and this evil cycle continues, it never ends.
i need vacation...
why shouldn't i simply resign from this job when i'm starting to despise it so much? why shouldn't i do the things that i've always dreamt of doing? like travelling around the country or even around the world, going to places that i've only read or heard about, meeting cultures that i've only seen on the glossy pages of magazines. or finally having enough time to read all my books and write stories that can make people move and wonder.
but then, reality rears its ugly head and gives me a nice kick in the butt. i certainly won't be getting anywhere without money, much more survive. and i won't have any money if i don't get a job. and getting a job means having to force myself to wake up early in the morning, ride a jeepney filled with people i don't even know in the middle of rush hour traffic, and spend the rest of the day stuck in an office cubicle. whoever said that life is beautiful just didn't know what he was talking about.
its all starting to seem so pointless. you work to live, but when you look at it, you're not really living at all. its like your just wasting your time, for in the end you're gonna die anyway, and what little you have worked for your entire life you won't be able to take with you. it just doesn't make sense to me.
and when you die, the world just goes on. and it goes on like you never really were, like you never really existed. you are simply a name carved on a tombstone. what you've achieved, how far you've gone, is nothing in death. nobody remembers. everybody forgets.
its starting to seem that life is simply a cruel joke. you are born, then you live a hard life doing pointless work in a cold world that just doesn't give a damn, then you die and you're buried in your grave and simply forgotten. and this evil cycle continues, it never ends.
i need vacation...
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
how does he get his ideas?
neil gaiman (who is also one of my personal heroes) has got to be one of the best story tellers in recent history (other than tolkien). everytime i get to the end of one of his stories, i always wonder how he makes them out in his head. so here's his essay on how he gets his ideas: http://www.neilgaiman.com/exclusive/essay03.asp
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