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I’ve been so post happy last week, with PayPerPost and BlogToProfit demanding me to blog (okay, PPP didn’t demand me to blog, but I chose to blog because I wanted to get the big paying ones) more than one entry everyday. To be honest, I feel quite guilty filling this blog with ad posts; it’s like I’m violating some code that I don’t know. Even if I do choose which ads to blog about, sometimes I decide to take up something that I don’t really know (like hair replacement, for example) just because of their price. Then again, at least I get some writing exercise — the more ads I post, the more creative I try to be. No wonder I feel kind of drained from blogging.
But I’m still blogging. Obviously the drained part doesn’t faze me.
To be completely honest, the reason I’m blogging right now is because I feel unsettled. I just received some news through email (on an autoreply email, of all things) that got me feeling kind of worried and wondering if I did the right thing at the right time. I seemed like the right thing yesterday, but after reading that email, I was like, should I have waited? However, if I waited, then the opportunity willt pass me up, and I might forever regret that I didn’t take it. But from the email, the technicalities seem to be against me. I find myself saying, “Well, that’s less than ideal.” Ala HRG/Noah Bennett on Heroes.
Less than ideal for me, that is.
So what do I do now?
(More…)
I was never tagged to do this survey (and I was waiting for a tag, hmph!), but since the holiday’s fitting, I’ll have it up now, regardless of the nontag. Today is the 109th year of Philippine Independence, and yes, that is disregarding the fact that the Americans and the Japanese took over our country afterwards. This is a day that we all celebrate, for we are finally free of the 300+ years of Spanish rule.
And because of this holiday, I’ll be stealing the survey that some people has done for the past weeks, 3 reasons why I’m proud to be Pinoy. I don’t know if I can stick to three reasons only, because being a Filipino is something I am really proud of. :)
- Strong family values. I love how Filipinos have strong family values, about how one entire clan can live inside a single compound. It’s not only in the own family, but also in the way other people are treated — everyone of my parent’s friends are my Tito/Tita (Uncle/Aunt), and deep friendships are often compared to brotherhood/sisterhood. Filipino family values run deep, which is a really amazing trait that we have.
- Our ability to find laughter in any situation, even at ourselves. It’s not about making fun of people or the situation, but finding the brighter side of each circumstance. I love how even in the most dire situation, Filipinos can still crack a joke to lighten everyone’s moods. :)
- The Food. I know I’m an Italian food lover, but seriously, nothing beats Filipino food! Filipino meals are a different combination — the appetizer (soup) and main course are put together in one viand, and one can have as many servings as is permitted to him! The colors, the tastes — one cannot visit a Pinoy home without being full. And then dessert comes. :P Yum!
- Our color. I used to dislike my brown skin color, but I realized that this color is something that I should be proud of. For one thing, I am not that susceptible to skin cancer, plus when I go swimming or get exposed to the sun, my color goes darker, but then gradually lightens up. No redness, no peeling skin.
- The flexibility of the language. My friends and I were talking about this before, about how alive Filipino language is. It’s already amazing how many dialects there are in the country, and the other thing is that how the language can adapt to other languages. Like how most of our words are influenced by Spanish words — we got their words and made them our own. Or how we can mix Tagalog and English now without sounding really bad (I’m not talking about those who make tusok-tusok the fishball, that’s different :P). Another thing is how our language is not sexist, by having a gender-neutral pronoun to talk about something (i.e. kapatid = brother/sister, asawa = husband/wife).
- Flexibility of the people. Put a Filipino in any country and pretty soon, he’ll fit right in. I find it funny how some people I thought were locals or Fil-Ams in Saipan and Guam turn out to be Filipinos who can still speak the language. :) Filipinos are hardworking people who can do everything for the family, which is probably why a lot of people sacrifice for their families in other countries just to help. Mabuhay kayo!
- Beautiful, beautiful country. Despite all the traffic, pollution and whatnot, the Philippines is still a beautiful and colorful country.
- Bayanihan. It is only in the Philippines that we have this, bayanihan. The picture of people carrying a house to move it to another place is priceless — only Filipinos do this. :)
Gawad Kalinga. And since we’re talking about Bayanihan, I could not fail to mention Gawad Kalinga. GK is started by a Filipino to rid of poverty in the country and also in the world, as GK is already present in Papua New Guinea. Being in a GK community is a really different experience. Even if the houses aren’t as grand as the ones in San Diego Real Estate, GK houses are still beautiful (and no doubt, colorful!) in their own way. :) GK is also not about building houses but also building homes. GK works, and I’m not saying that because I’m a volunteer, but because it is true. :) Don’t believe me? I’ll bring you to a GK site one time.
Well, I went three times the suggestion, but that’s because there is just so many things to be proud of in being a Pinoy. :) That’s why no matter how old and overplayed that Pinoy Big Brother song is, I still feel a kick of Filipino pride every time I hear it. :)
MABUHAY ANG PINOY! Happy Independence Day! :)
I took a Dive today. Ironically, I have not gone swimming this (already ending) summer yet. So what kind of dive is it?
Well, if you know me in real life you probably know. If you don’t, I can’t divulge it yet. :) But it’s part of the much talked about Great Adventure. Which reminds me…I should always read that entry to remind me of what my 21st year is.
Anyway, like I said, I took a Dive. And right now I’m waiting for the SPLASH! I don’t know what would happen to me, if I will be able to rise up from this dive that I took, or if I will be engulfed by the “waters”. I don’t know if I will be disappointed with that will happen or if I will scream with happiness after. I don’t know if I will continue to stay at where I am in my life right now or be given an opportunity that will somehow make me be like George Lindemann…who knows? Only God knows. But the splash hasn’t come yet, so I can’t say anything. Right now, I will just have to wait. You got that right, wait.
I can do that. I can wait. I’ve been waiting a lot all my life.
But Lord, please let this be it.
In the meantime…as I wait and pray, here’s a really nice devotional from Elisabeth Elliot (on a sidenote, it just occured to me that I have been receiving her devotional for three years already. Yes, her devotionals repeat every year, but I have to admit that I don’t always read it, so sometimes some of the entries hit me like that). Emphasis mine, by the way.
Responsible to Praise
by Elisabeth Elliot
A Lamp Unto My Feet, Luke 23:47
We cannot always or even often control events, but we can control how we respond to them. When things happen which dismay or appall, we ought to look to God for his meaning, remembering that He is not taken by surprise nor can his purposes be thwarted in the end. What God looks for is those who will worship Him. Our look of inquiring trust glorifies Him.
One of the witnesses to the crucifixion was a military officer to whom the scene was surely not a novelty. He had seen plenty of criminals nailed up. But the response of this Man who hung there was of such an utterly different nature than that of the others that the centurion knew at once that He was innocent. His own response then, rather than one of despair that such a terrible injustice should take place, or of anger at God who might have prevented it, was praise (Lk 23:47 NEB).
This is our first responsibility: to glorify God. In the face of life’s worst reversals and tragedies, the response of a faithful Christian is praise–not for the wrong itself certainly, but for who God is and for the ultimate assurance that there is a pattern being worked out for those who love Him.
This is the Great Adventure. Have a restful night, everyone. :)
My ex-partner and YFC brother Niki tagged me to do this list in his Multiply so I thought I’d write it here instead of there. I used to have this kind of list I entitled All These Things, which I got from an old online friend but I stopped doing it because…well, because I was lazy. I guess making this list is also a part of The Great Adventure, so some of the items in this list would be the same in my first 5 Great Adventures list.
So let’s do this again, shall we? According to the tag, I’m supposed to write 10 things I want to do before I die, and then tag 5 people after. Here we go!
10 Things I Want to do Before I Die
- Publish a book. Or two. I consider myself a writer as well as a computer scientist/geek, and I still want to publish a book. Preferably fiction, but I like nonfiction too. I think I’ll go towards the young adult/chicklit genre for the fiction. :P
- Travel, travel, travel. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I want to see the world! I’ve got Sydney up for 2008, for the upcoming World Youth Day (I’ll be putting up a blog for this sometime soon, so watch out for it!) but I also want to go visit other places before I turn 30 or get married (whichever comes first). I want to go backpacking in Europe, go shopping in the streets of Bangkok (for the second time) with my friends, explore the beautiful beaches right here in this hometown, visit different Disney parks in the US and drop by the Big Apple to see if it’s really filled with people and if it’s really everything I’ve read about. Besides all that Heroes watching makes me want to see the city, and yes, including the plastic surgery in Manhattan. The world is waiting! I want to see!
- Receive sunflower(s) on my birthday. My favorite flower is a sunflower, and every year I wish for someone to give it to me on my birthday. Still no such luck, but I’m young, I can still wait. Even just one sunflower would be nice. :D
- Put up a bookstore/coffee shop. My mom and I have been playing with this idea and I threw this idea to my best friend as well. I love books, I like coffee — so why not start a business that has both? I have yet to think of a way to make that bookstore different — or maybe I should put it up in the province or something. Not a remote province, of course, but on a semi-remote place where there’s no close access to Powerbooks or any bookstore not counting National Bookstore.
- And since we’re on the topic of provinces, I want to have my dream house built. My dream house, as I envisioned it a year ago, would be in the semi-remote province (Tagaytay?). It’s a two-storey house with spacious rooms. No TVs in the bedrooms, only in the family room and there’s going to be a library/study and a prayer room. The house will be built on a huge yard where there’s room for a flower garden on the side (with a big sunflower patch!) as well as a swingset for the kids. And surrounding the house should be white picket fence. :P
- Fall in love, get married and have a beautiful family. Enough said. :P
- Raise enough money for a GK house and help build it.
- Be a missionary. In what way, only God knows. :)
- Send a kid to school.
- Be surprised on my birthday. As in the Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you went through all this kind of surprise. :P
.
There’s more, but I’ll stop here or else I might blab the whole day. :) Anyway, I’m tagging…well, I’m really not in the mood to tag anyone. :P If you feel like getting this survey, then consider yourself tagged. Come on, it’s fun to write things like this. :P
Now I’m off to help my mom clear up on her just concluded dinner with her CFC friends. :) Good night!
Technorati Tags: BlogToProfit, meme, 10 things, goals, great adventure, sunflowers, birthday, travel, dream house, Gawad Kalinga, surprise
Yay Friday! Finally! And a not-so-stressful day too, for some reason. But who’s complaining? I also got myself a new book to reward myself this month and last month: Charmed Thirds
by Megan McCafferty. And there’s no work on Monday because of Proclamation No. 1211 for the Independence Day celebration. Three day weekend, hello! How fun. Sorry I’m so hyperactive, I just love Fridays. Who doesn’t? I know everyday is a blessed day, but Friday seems to be extra blessed, don’t you think?
Say it with me: Thank God it’s Friday!
Anyway, since it’s a Friday, it’s time for another feast!
Appetizer
What do you consider to be the ultimate snack food?
- Popcorn! Specifically, kettle corn. I love Holy Kettle Corn. I also love those microwavable popcorns because they’re so quick to cook. I also like those really cheesy/salty popcorns in movie theaters. And white cheese popcorn from Taters. What else? I’ve never been to San Diego, but maybe San Diego restaurants have good snacks too.
Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), about how popular is your last name?
- Uh, 1? Only a few people have my surname (and most of them are from Batangas). My surname is what my professor in college called “katutubo”, or native. Apparently, the Batanguenos are very stubborn people that when the Spaniards asked them to change their surnames, they didn’t follow because, “We had this surname since birth, we’ll have this until death.” So there. In Chamorro, our surname means “Fish Eye”. :P
Salad
Who is your all-time favorite sitcom character, and why?
- Maverick and Ariel from Misadventures of Maverick and Ariel. It’s a local TV show with two guys who just go through the typical Filipino life. :P
Main Course
Do you shop online? If so, name some sites you like to browse for goodies.
- I shop, but my dad pays and he gets the package. :P When there’s a hard to find book that I am just dying to have, I’ll go on Amazon, pick the links and send it to my dad. :P I also shopped in Booksale and in National Bookstore Online. Can you see that it’s all books? :)
Dessert
Fill in the blank: I think ___________ should be ___________.
- I think three-day weekends should be mandatory every month. Don’t you think? :)
Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the long weekend for those in the Philippines. =)
