sumbongera

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:24:12 GMT

I won't be writing in here anymore. I'm sure you understand why.

M

Let's Help the Sumilao Farmers!

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:08:45 GMT

Last night I saw The Correspondents episode on the march of the Sumilao Farmers.

The Sumilao farmers are from Bukidnon, and in a bid for justice, they will march from Sumilao, Bukidnon all the way to Manila. Mindanao to Manila.

The story is, Norberto Quisumbing used to own the land in Sumilao, but under the CARP law, he was supposed to distribute it among the farmers. Ginawa nya, he applied the land under the conversion program. The law states that he gets to keep his land provided he converts the land for other purposes. He said he was going to put up a school, a hospital and an agro industrial park.

Well, guess what, years after his application gets approved, walang ni isang building syang pinatayo. Instead, he sells the land to San Miguel. According to the law, in case of a conversion, the land must be converted within the year. Meaning, dapat nasimulan at natapos na ang mga dapat pinapatayo na building sa lupang pina convert sa loob ng isang taon. In case of a sale daw, all the provisions of the conversion should still be followed by the new owner. Kaya lang, San Miguel says wala na silang kinalaman sa CARP law so they refuse to give the land to the farmers.

Fidel V. Ramos actually distributed the land between Quisumbing and the farmers already, but for some reason, nireverse ito ng Supreme Court. The Supreme Court declared their reversal as final and irrevocable, even by the current President.

Wala talagang hustisya sa mundong ito minsan.

At etong official from DAR, forgot his name, sabi ba naman naghahanap lang ng media exposure ang mga farmers for their obviously hopeless cause dahil maski presidente, wala nang magagawa sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema.

This walk, this thousand-mile walk, is all these farmers can do. This is the only way they can make their voices heard. They're starving at home, they can't send their kids to school and they can't live decent lives. Wala talagang dignidad. It's fucking heartbreaking, what they're doing. They brave the heat and the rain, they get sick, they get separated from their families and they have to put up with bullshit from the government and the agencies which are supposed to watch for their welfare. Tangena yan.

Wala tayong magagawang malaki siguro, dahil hindi naman natin hawak ang gobyerno at hindi naman tayo ang nagmamayari ng lupa, but there's SOMETHING we can do. This is a fight for justice, plain and simple and we can't just sit here and do nothing.

Sign this petition and make your voice count!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/sumilaofarmers/

If you want to know more, visit sumilaomarch.multiply.com

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 04:43:29 GMT

So everybody's talking about the Desperate Housewives and Filipino doctors brouhaha.

Last time I saw Desperate Housewives was back in April, during Holy Week, where my cousins and I had a Desperate Housewives/House/Heroes DVD marathon. It's funny and I thought Eva Longoria was a riot. I hate Teri Hatcher's character in DH. So whiny! I'm whiny but even I think she's too much.

Anyway, some people give a shit, some people don't. I got a little miffed. One, for personal reasons, as my dad happens to be a doctor "from some med school in the Philippines." I'm willing to bet my life my dad is just as competent, if not more competent, than any cardiovascular specialist in the United States or anywhere else in the world for that matter. Second, it's a big deal because it's the little, incremental remarks like that, especially through something as powerful as the media, that help form people's opinions about particular races and particular places. We really don't need more slurs like that, especially now that we're embroiled in a nursing exam scandal and ngayon pa kung kelan nagsisimula na nga sana pumatok yung medical tourism natin.

ABC, which airs Desperate Housewives finally issued an apology. Will a public apology change anything? Of course not. At least not right away. Public perceptions can't be changed overnight. The Philippines isn't exactly a paragon of development, not just in the field of health care. Siguro pag first world na tayo, na ilusyon ni GMA na mangyayari in the next few years, baka magbago na yung tingin satin.

Still, that doesn't mean a public apology isn't welcome. Dapat lang talaga mag apologize sila. Totally misinformed. Kung mag resign lahat ng mga Pinoy na nurse at doctor sa States, tingnan natin if their health care system doesn't collapse. Sabi nga sa Breakfast Club, "it'll be anarchy!!!" Hehe. Good luck sa kanila.

Speaking of health care, I compiled a few statistics on health care throughout the world. It's a neat, albeit dorky little habit I acquired from Fr.Jack's class on Social Inequality. It's really quite fascinating.

Life Expectancy females:
Japan: 77.7 years
Germany: 75
Philippines: 61.5
Morocco: 60.5
Cambodia: 49.5
Afghanistan: 35.8
Sierra Leone: 29.5

My god! Can you imagine if you were born in Sierra Leone? I'm 24 now, so if I were born there, I'd expect to be dead in about 5 years. Probably from AIDS.

Government spending per person on health care (in dollars)
United States: 4,271
France: 2, 288
Singapore: 678
Brazil: 308
Iran: 128
Philippines: 37
Nepal: 11
Ethiopia: 4

Mas mataas pa gastos ng Iran on health care kesa satin! Whoaa.

Suicide Rates: Males
Lithuania: 81.9 per 100,000 people
Russia: 74.1 per 100,000 people
Latvia: 71.4 per 100,000 people
Estonia: 64.6 per 100,000 people
Belarus: 55.7 per 100,000 people
Hungary: 55.5 per 100,000 people
Sri Lanka: 46.9 per 100,000 people
Slovenia: 45.1 per 100,000 people
Finland: 43.4 per 100,000 people
Kazakhstan: 39.7 per 100,000 people

Halos Eastern European nations sa top ten. Pero biglang Sri Lanka? Weird. Borat's country too.
Japan nga number 21 lang eh, with only 25 deaths per 100,000 people.

Obesity: Percentage of total population with Body Mass Index of more than 30 kg/sq.meter
United States: 30.6%
United Kingdom: 23
Canada: 14.3
Italy: 8.5
South Korea: 3.2
Japan: 3.2

Americans are still the fattest people on earth. I read somewhere British women are now the fattest women in Europe. Hehe obviously mga first world countries halos lahat.

Free Burma!

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 06:06:47 GMT

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the French had written in their papers "Today We Are All Americans." That statement captured the sentiment of the whole world who mourned the evil and the loss of life on that infamous day.

Well, today we are all Burmese.

Essentially we all want the same things. People just want to live decent lives, work, feed their families, send their children to school. We all just want to live freely, peacefully. Not in fear, or oppression. What kind of a world is this when even monks get shot? Anyone with even just the tiniest sense of humanity can't possibly be not outraged by so much injustice.

The rest of the world has intensified calls for the end of the violence and the military dictatorship in Burma. Ex-Czech President Václav Havel, however, still laments the insufficiency of the actions of the international community. Some excerpts:

"How many times and in how many places has this now happened? Worse, however, is the number of countries that find it convenient to avert their eyes and ears from the deathly silence with which this Asian country chooses to present itself to the outside world.

On a daily basis, at a great many international and scholarly conferences all over the world, we can hear learned debates about human rights and emotional proclamations in their defense. So how is it possible that the international community remains incapable of responding effectively to dissuade Burma's military rulers from escalating the force that they have begun to unleash in Rangoon and its Buddhist temples?"

So in my humble capacity as a blogger, in a land where the Internet still works to some degree, I joined this online petition to help free Burma. Please please please post this on your blogs as well or just sign up. It'll only take a second and it's the least we could do.

Photographer Kenji Nagai takes photographs after being shot by soldiers in Rangoon as the Burmese Army fired on the crowd. Kenji later died.

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:57:53 GMT

My foot is getting better, but I'm still hobbling, to the sheer amusement of my family.

This whole thing is still making me loopy. I miss people.

Anyway here's a poem, just a reminder:

Little Things

After she's gone to camp, in the early
evening I clear our girl's breakfast dishes
from the rosewood table, and find a small
crystallized pool of maple syrup, the
grains standing there, round, in the night, I
rub it with my fingertip
as if I could read it, this raised dot of
amber sugar, and this time
when I think of my father, I wonder why
I think of my father, of the beautiful blood-red
glass in his hand, or his black hair gleaming like a
broken-open coal. I think I learned to
love the little things about him
because of all the big things
I could not love, no one could, it would be wrong to.
So when I fix on this tiny image of resin
or sweep together with the heel of my hand a
pile of my son's sunburn peels like
insect wings, where I peeled his back the night before camp,
I am doing something I learned early to do, I am
paying attention to small beauties,
whatever I have -
as if it were our duty to
find things to love, to bind ourselves to this world.

- Sharon Olds

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:39:10 GMT

I am disabled!

For now, that is. (Or differently abled, excuuuse me)

Gaddemit!

I dropped something on my foot. Tangeks talaga. Buti sana if I hurt my foot doing something meaningful, like saving drowning people, or something glamorous, like playing polo. But no, I just dropped something on it. When I woke up this morning and tried to stand up, OWWWWWWWWW!!!!

*Mia hurtles back to bed

So now I am limping. I am practically immobile. I have to hold on to things for dear life. Tsaka ansaket ah. As in ANSAAKKKEEEETTTT!

I hate how needy and helpless I am. And not just in the physical sense! For some reason this whole thing is making me emotionally needy as well. Poor E is getting the brunt of all this neediness. I constantly text him the dumbest things. Like "Tell me something good... I wanna hear something good... like bunnies and fairies and rainbows..."

Get a grippppp.

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 05:04:32 GMT

Nicole and Dennis' wedding was beautiful. It was a very intimate but very enjoyable affair. Nicole looked absolutely beautiful that day. Her wedding gown was gorgeous!!!! She looked every inch a princess. Her train must have been like, 15 feet long. Shet ang ganda talaga. I sat beside her inside the bridal car, her final moments as a single girl, and I'm like "Nicole, this is it...as in THIS IS IT. Sigurado ka na ha? Sabihin mo lang sakin kung gusto mong tumakas... may oras ka pa..." Hehe no go. Nicole and Dennis make a good, solid partnership. Not just in a lovey-dovey you're-my-soulmate love-you-forever way, but in a real-world way.

I was bridesmaid. Yehey! We've all been friends since grade school, the era of braces, training bras and boys we really would rather forget. Now one of us is getting hitched! It was surreal. I was telling Carla, pag ako kinasal, ayoko ng iyakan ha. As in bawal! Gusto ko happy happy joy joy lang tayong lahat. Masira pa mga make-up natin!

So best wishes Dennis and Nicole or more popularly known as Mr. and Mrs. Valbuena! The whole night the host kept harping that phrase "or more popularly known as Mr. and Mrs. Valbuena!" The host, who reminded me of a kindergarten teacher, would look up from her script and robotically intone "Wasn't that dance full of fun and excitement? Let's all give another round of applause to Dennis and Nicole or more popularly known as Mr. and Mrs. Valbuena!" or "I'd like to call on the parents of Dennis and Nicole or more popularly known as Mr. and Mrs. Valbuena to come over and say a few words to Dennis and Nicole or more popularly known as Mr. and Mrs. Valbuena!" Reception was held at Plaza Ibarra, along Timog. Food was overflowing! There were salads, lamb, a pasta station and a dessert station.

During the reception, Carla and I were like, "Omigod, parang I want to get married na!" What is it about weddings that makes girls say such ridiculous things? I think it's just the wedding ceremony. You can't help but get caught up in all the excitement, all the fun and the glitz and the happily ever afters. Blame it also on Sweet Valley Twins and all the fairy tales we read as a child. Dapat talaga ang reading fare ng mga bata ay Nietzsche. Or Sarte. "Remember kids, life has no meaning... everything is absurd...."

Mwehehe.

I really don't want to get caught up in this whole wedding brouhaha. I'll be bridesmaid again in my cousin's wedding in December. Buti nalang 24 palang ako. No need to worry yet. Siguro when I'm 30. Then again I have reserve husbands already, so when we're 40 and still single we marry each other. I think I have about two, so if one of them gets married, meron pa kong isang reserve. Hehe. It's a fair deal don't you think? Para when we're old and we fall down the stairs because of rayuma, somebody will rush us to the hospital.

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 04:06:38 GMT

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:37:58 GMT

My mom's birthday turned out super well, thank goodness, except for a few minor glitches here and there. Ang mga family members na hindi pumunta, bahala sila sa buhay nila. My mom was really touched about the video though. Her closest friends were all there to give her a message, as well as the important family members.

Ang ganda ng mommy ko talaga ha, in fairness. We included pictures of her when she was young at ang ganda nya.

What can I say. Ang swerte ng daddy ko sa kanya. Hehe.

Swerte kaming lahat sa kanya.

Kailangan ko lang talaga i-share ito

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:37:03 GMT

Text message from Brix the stripper: Thank you for the party. Pag mayroon ulit offer mo lang ako. Ang ganda at sexy mo pala may bf ka na ba?

Nyaaaaahhahahahahah! Dyos ko po!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:39:20 GMT

It is amazing how much a mood can change within a day.

I feel great! Everything is set for Nicole's bridal shower. I was able to haggle the room we're renting for the party to a reasonable price. Pati the stripper gave me some sort of discount. Yipeee!

By the way, it was kinda weird talking to the stripper whom we shall hide by the name of Brix.

Me: So um, magkano ka ba? I mean, sorry!! Ibig ko sabihin, magkano ang chinacharge mo?
Brix: Hehe, 5 thousand -
Me: Five thousand?!!
Brix: 5 thousand kung sa club nyo ko nakuha, pero para sa inyo, babawasan ko nalang.
Me: Ah ok... (We discuss price) Teka um, may costume ka ba?
Brix: Costume?
Me: Oo, like um, pwede ka ba maging fireman?
Brix: Fireman ho?
Me: Ano bang meron ka? Sailor? Doctor?
Brix: Wala ako nun eh, pero kung may ipoprovide kayo na costume, ok lang sakin!
Me: Ah kami ang maghahanap! Sige di bale nalang...
Brix: Meron ako yung mga usual briefs -
Me: Sige bahala ka nalang Brix.
Brix: Sige ho!

Lord!

My mom was behind me while I was talking to him. After I hung up:
Mom: "Sinong kausap mo dyan?"
Me: Wala, yung ano, kaibigan ko.. kaibigan ko na duktor.
Mom: Naku ikaw kung ano ano talaga pinaggagagawa mo sa buhay mo ah...

Mwahaha.

Carla's taking care of the games. I can't wait!

I shall stay home and rest tonight. Tomorrow we have a garage sale in the morning too, so I need all my energy.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Let her eat cake!

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 05:17:14 GMT

I'm tired and grumpy and it's just lunchtime!

Hindi talaga ako paragon of equanimity.

Yesterday, I went all the way to our house Cavite because the pics we needed for my mom's surprise birthday video were stored there. I was telling E, who was supposed to go with me but wasn't able to wake up on time, about my little trip ,and out of nowhere he began to sermonize. Something about acquiring negative habits as we grow old that prevent us from seeing things through the eyes of a child.

What the...

Bad move, buddy! Wala ako sa mood para sa mga inspirational hulabaloo.

I told him, Thank you Oprah!

He said, I was gunning for Tyra, but Oprah will do.

At lalo uminit ulo ko.

Today din ang daming mga little annoyances. Hang pa ng hang etong internet namin. As Milan would say "Would it be too much to ask for a little efficiency?!!"

Lord.

Anyway, I just really need to eat something good and all shall be well.

Like a donut from Cello's. Or a cake from Mom and Tina's.

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 02:29:05 GMT

Guilty.

I guess we all expected it.

The promulgation went so fast. I was expecting a 4-hour ordeal. The thing was over in minutes.

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 03:38:39 GMT

Somebody slipped and told my mom about the surprise birthday party we're throwing for her.

Punyeta talaga. Idiot!

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:29:55 GMT

I just got home from Pilates.

"Okay ladies, grab your balls!" goes my perky instructor, Ms. Carolyn.

Huwat?

Yun pala, those little rubber balls that serve as exercise props. Bago yun ah. I only missed three sessions of Pilates at meron nang bagong gimik! Anyway, it was a good workout today, as usual. Ms.Carolyn was ribbing me about missing the sessions but truthfully it wasn't as bad as we both expected. I could still do the basic stuff without too much difficulty. Naks. Siguro except for "the V" position, which consists of lifting your legs and your back into this neat little V-shaped position, as the name implies. Ang hirap! Months of Pilates and I still couldn't master it.

Anyway, Ms.Carolyn has really gotten into the habit of using me as her little scoliotic specimen. "You think you're scoliotic?" she says to this girl, who was wondering if she had scoliosis. "Look at Mia! See how curvy her spine is! How many degrees is that, 40?" Actually 36 lang, but it's still bad. Sometimes she goes "No you don't have scolio! Mia here has scolio! Look at her back! It's so tabingi!" Oh well. I suppose it has made me quite the popular kid in class, but nobody wants to be known as "the scoliotic girl." Of course I would prefer if she says "Look at Mia! See how perfectly she does pushups! And not the sissy pushups either but the real pushups!" Right now though, I can do maybe five pushups at the most. Nyaha.

Pilates has done wonders for my back. As in wonders. Of course it still hurts once in a while but I don't wake up in the middle of the night in pain anymore. And when I do, there are positions to help remedy it. Hehe positions. If I were a guy, I would sign up for Pilates. The whole class is designed to make people more limber, more flexible and ultimately stronger in the core area, which basically means a lot of moving the hips, lifting the butts and bending the legs. We even have what we call "the big O." Hehe, it's this big circular prop that's made of rubber used to tone arms, legs and back muscles.

In my six months in Pilates, I've only been in three classes where there were boys and usually it's just one boy. And not even a boy if you catch my drift. I suppose that's a good thing. Boys probably won't appreciate the times when Ms.Carolyn would say "Okay girls, this exercise will target your chest area! Think of your breasts as headlights. Nobody would buy a car with droopy headlights!"

Well in fairness, may point naman sya.

MC /2: Weddings and birthdays galore!

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 15:06:32 GMT

Whew. It's been a flurry of birthdays and upcoming weddings.

Thursday Met up with my cousin Tish's wedding gown designer, Eric, at Piedra, Fort Strip. Eric had a fashion show that night. "How swanky!" were the first words I uttered as soon as I stepped inside with Gino, Tish and Ferdi. I'd never been to Piedra before. Di naman ata ganun kamahal yung drinks. I didn't check, as it was open bar that night, hehe. Hooray for free stuff! Astig yung sounds though, which gives the place plus plus points. It looks like a bit of a cave, with its high ceiling, its ambient lighting and its furniture. Too bad we didn't catch Eric's fashion show. Super late na nagstart. Tish and I ended the night munching away on Jollibee Chicken Joy instead.

Friday First phase of the pre-birthday party for Carla at Ponti. Despedida din for Anca who is going to London, so I saw old blockmates, Auds (who is getting married in a year or so also!) Idda, who left within five minutes of getting there. Carla and I must have said "I love this song!" a hundred times throughout the night, thanks to the amazing skills of United-In-house DJs, DJ Siojo and Jay. Guys and girls, do try to listen to Beautiful Things by DJ Tiesto and Andain, available at your p2p file sharing software of choice.

Saturday Stage two of Carla's birthday bash at Fiamma and later on at Fig and Olive with the usual suspects. Interesting night to say the least. Especially with sparkling conversations like:

me: Let's go shopping, girls!
girlfriend: Let's not go shopping, let's just fall in love!

Mwahaha. Wasakan blues.

Caught the first few rays of the sun at Nicole and Dennis' pad in Wilson.

Thank god for my room. The window shades I had installed to block out all light any time of the day are really so handy. Such a worthwhile investment! I am convinced those window shades are solely responsible for the fact that I am still functioning relatively well despite these shifting sleeping patterns.

Sunday Met up with the cousins to discuss the gowns with Eric and have the measurements taken for Tish's wedding. Tish and I are setting up Eric with my good friend, lighthouse_hero. A lot of my friends know I love setting people up. This latest "project" will hopefully redeem my not-so spectacular track record when it comes to playing Cupid. Also caught my cousin Pao's capoeira demo in Glorietta. Ang galing ng capoiera, but surrender na talaga ako at hindi pa rin ako marunong mag cartwheels until now. I wanna try poi instead!

Next attraction: Nicole's Bridal Shower/Godskitchen event and Mom's birthday party!

Coming soon: Tish's bridal shower, Cream and Armin van Buuren!

Note to self: take more pictures!

It's been a good weekend all in all. Have a good week folks!

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 03:49:41 GMT

In my heart of hearts, my perfect night consists of staying home, watching DVDs and eating pizza.

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 05:32:03 GMT

I have friends who belong to a fraternity. Some of them lawyer for labor union workers, some of them work in PAO for ridiculously low salaries, some of them graduate and go on to quietly establish their own private practice.

"Initiation?" asks G, when I asked him about it. "Ano yun? Sasagot ka lang ng questionnaire."

We both laugh.

"Ano nga, kwento mo na sakin!" I insist. Visions of Mike De Leon's brilliant film, Batch '81 run through my mind. "Did they paddle you? What?"

"Wala nga, questionnaire lang," G continues, laughing. "Tsaka interview, kung ano mga hobbies mo, extracurricular activities mo, ganun lang."

"Hobbies ampucha. Hay nako!" I give up. Asking him what happens in the frat is an exercise in futility. These boys guard frat secrets as if their mothers' or their girlfriends' lives depended on it.

The death of Cris Mendez, the student who supposedly died from the hazing of UP's Sigma Rho fraternity must have struck a chord in every frat man's heart. So too with anyone who knows someone who died in hazing, someone who's friends with frat men, someone who's thinking of joining a frat, someone who will never ever join a frat. Everybody.

I do rage at the tragedy of those people who lost their lives in such a violent manner. I sympathize with their loved ones and I can only imagine the pain they must feel at the loss of a son, a brother, a friend. I also think somebody must answer for the deaths on those who died. Loyalty can never be measured by the amount of blood that you spill in the name of the brotherhood. I also don't think hazing, especially violence in hazing, is a necessarily evil. I think men can still engage in a brotherhood without it.

What I don't find myself vehemently condemning is the very concept of fraternities. Maybe I feel this way because singling out fraternities is so futile. It's not just hazing or violence. Condemning violence doesn't seem to go deep enough. You can ban hazing in fraternities, you can even ban fraternities in general, but I don't think it can actually stop the vicious, institutionalized cycle of violence. These frats are embedded in a whole macho culture. The violence involved in hazing extends beyond mere brotherhood or loyalty to the frat. It's a product of a systemic, ideological set of principles which perpetuates male dominance in a society. Of course violence is arguably gender neutral. Anyone can be violent. But if we're talking about violence in the context of fraternities, it gives it a gender dimension. I can't bring myself to condemn hazing and at the same time condone gender inequalities. I can't say "violence in the context of fraternities" is bad and at the same time neglect to pay attention to the grander sexual abuses happening everyday, everywhere.

Belonging to a frat doesn't make someone more or less of a man. Hazing violence is but a symptom of deeper beliefs and practices which are the ones that should be given more rightful examination.

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 12:21:11 GMT

There comes a point when we just have to tell ourselves, YOU HAVE TO STOP.

That came last Friday night.

Strangely enough, I feel relieved.

I'm ready now.

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 03:58:40 GMT

I got myself a new piano teacher. Yey! He's this old, grandfatherly guy who bears a striking resemblance to Kuya Bodgie. I'm glad. That previous teacher was such a dud. I should have known better than to trust a piano teacher whose background is the rondalla. Well, that's what she said when I asked her where she studied and stuff. "My background really is the rondalla. Alam mo yun, yung mga banduria?"

Oh Lord! Banduria? I haven't heard that word since music class in grade school.

Anyway, this new guy, Sir Ed is fantastic. He played some jazz songs and I swear I could just listen to him all day long.

So life is back on its everyday hum. I just had a meeting with my thesis adviser, Dr. Saloma. At one point, she glanced at my thesis report and asked "What's Scalopini?"

"I'm sorry?"

Apparently, I wrote Scalopini Migration Center instead of Scalabrini Migration Center. Wahahaha. What was I thinking? Baka nagugutom ako non.

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 05:58:27 GMT

I've been wanting to take piano lessons again so a few days ago, I searched the net for piano teachers who do home service.

The ad said "Learn to play like a pro! Beginner to advanced students all welcome!"

It sounded promising enough so I called her and set up a date.

First day of lessons, she was one and a half hours late. Fine, I decided to let it pass.

"What do we learn?" I asked her. In my head I was thinking, Chopin's Nocturnes? Tchaikovksy's Serenade? What about Shostakovich's Preludes?

"Let's play Born For You!"

"Born For You?"

"I was born for youuuuu/it was written in the stars..." she sang. "David Pomeranz!"

"Ahhh.... um, kasi hindi ako masyado familiar sa song na yun eh..."

"Madali lang yon! Kung ayaw mo nun, My Heart Will Go On nalang. Siguro naman alam mo yon. Evverrry night in my dreams, I see you I feeelll youuuuu..."

"Umm... "

While I was thinking of another excuse, her cellphone rang.

"O Dorothy... asan ka? Kamusta ka? Kelan ka pa nakabalik....?!

Meanwhile I sat there starting at her. I suppose I could do the finger exercises on my own.

A few minutes later she went back to the piano bench. "Sorry ah, sister ko galing abroad.."

"Ah ganun ba."

"So ano na, My Heart Will Go On?"

"Teka siguro mabuti kung aralin ko yung notes ulit," I said. I pointed to a note I wasn't sure about. "Anong note ito? Fa ito diba?"

"Ah yan? Ano yan, um, sol."

"Sol to?"

"Oo, sol yan."

"Eh sige..."

I started playing the note as she instructed, which felt oddly weird. I was pretty sure it was the wrong note but hey, I wasn't the piano teacher.

"Ay mali, teka fa pala yan, fa."

Before I could say a thing, her cellphone rang again. "Dorothy, may studyante ako! Tatawagan nalang kita ulit... ano? Hahahaha talaga...?!"

Lord, grant me patience... grant me the serenity....

"Sorry ulit ha. Kasi yung sister ko galing abroad, eh yung mother ko gusto dun muna sya samin... eh sabi naman ng husband ko ok lang daw para may magalaga sa daughter namin..."

"Ah ganun ba."

"Sorry fa pala yan. Sige ulitin natin ha."

So I was finishing the piece and was thinking whether to mess up the notes on purpose just to see if she'd notice. In the end I didn't have to pretend to mess up on some parts, I just did.

"Pwede bang pahiram ng mga piano pieces mo?" she asked, rifling through my piano music sheets.

"Ah sige, kuha ka lang..."

"Ito," she points out to Ballade Pour Adeline. "Pahiram ha, mahirap ba ito?"

"Hindi naman, madali lang yan."

"Sige nga, tugtugin mo nga...."

So I played the piece for her. "Itong part na ito," I said when I got to the middle part. "Bilisan mo lang ng konti..."

"Ah tama!" Eh etong chord na to, paano ito ipiplay?"

I showed her the chord progression as well as the corresponding fingers. "Basta pag dumating ka na sa chord na to, switch ka na ng fingers kasi hindi abot ng kamay mo. Instead of index finger, use the thumb..."

"Pakita nga..."

At the end of the session, she was already halfway with the Ballade.

Me, I was five hundred bucks and a piano piece short.

Oh well.

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 05:34:34 GMT

I will write about Davao.

But not yet.

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 05:41:18 GMT

This morning, I decided I've had enough.

I need to go away. Far far away.

So in a few hours I'm leaving for Davao.

Hahahaha.

Bahala na si Batman!

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:35:33 GMT

Sometimes I can only deal with life in small, manageable doses. I think that's why I gravitate towards songs, poems, lists. Chopped up in neat little pieces like that, life becomes less overwhelming. Good songs start well and end just when they're supposed to. Beautiful poems never have a single word out of place. Life just isn't quite the same. There are too many things to say, too many choices to make, too much of too many things all at the same time.

First, a poem for a rainy day

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 01:29:01 GMT

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

by Mary Oliver

.... Meanwhile the world goes on.