New favorite Songs Lyrics

Artist: Renee Olstead
Song: A Love That Will Last
 
I want a little something more
Don't want the middle or the one before
I don't desire a complicated past
I want a love that will last

Forever
I want a love the love that last
Always
I just want a love that will last
Want a love that will last

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly Lyrics

I don't know you
But I want you
All the more for that
Words fall through me
And always fool me
And I can't react
And games that never amount
To more than they're meant
Will play themselves out

Take this sinking boat and point it home
We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you had a choice
You've made it now
Falling slowly sing your melody
I'll sing along

initiation to the world of wifi, and other rubbish

i've finally succumbed to the latest IT trend called the WIFI. Ever since it came out, i have been resisting it, preferring to use the internet from home. however my circumstances has forced me to become more mobile and since i am a self-proclaimed internet geek, here i am at a coffee shop two blocks away from our condo, cold and listless, and wanting to write.

ironic how staying in a coffee shop would make me want to write, so reminds me of jk rowling when she first started writing harry potter. it is also ironic that i am feeling a bit rambly today, wanting to talk to people…but alas, i don't know many people in this coffee shop. 

i'm now in the confines of my condo, subsisting on dialup. though it's fast, i cannot do voicechat and videoconferencing, something i so long to do with a special someone, and yes, i might have a special someone. note the might is in bold. i met him online, and that s no surprise. i am not my very charming self in person, though people say i have a great personality and i am pretty. somehow i am just blah to men out there except in the internet world. i met an older italian who is doing business in china. he is sweet, kind, open and romantic, a typical Italian you read and watch in movies. i am smitten, and my heart soars at the sight of his name in bold letters, a typical indication that he is online. we videochat everyday, telling each other many stories of our lives, answering questions about each other.

do i trust him? yes and no. 

the thing with online love affairs is that you can never be sure if this will work or not. despite of the technology like videochat, one can't still help but ask herself if love can bloom, though thanks to the same technology, the possibility of it is easier to find out. curiosity is satisfied, and it is easier to detect sincerity.

or is it? 

as it is, it is still online, and as such, a sense of wariness ought to be at hand 30% of the time, so that only 70% of you would get hurt in case something goes awry.

thoughts

i've been entertaining thoughts of writing a novel or a story. i thought i've abandoned that dream along with my dream of being a food critique one day. 

apparently dreams never die, however, time is no longer my friend and i am finding the lack of it to be daunting.  more daunting however, is of having lost my "mojo" of writing and telling a good story in writing. i have sadly gone into this blackhole of nothingness where i am having a hard time putting my thoughts into a coherent sentence.

thus, i've taken  the responsibility of practicing my writing one step at a time. i've taken to contributing into an ongoing fiction writing activity and expressing myself more. i have also revisited my glorious writing past though reading my scribblings and poetry again. ah, to be young and naive, when most feelings were new and raw.

year in review

i'm gathering my thoughts as i write this. the year passed by so fast and with so many surprises–some good, and some bad. both were opportunities to learn from.

words elude me tonight as i write this too, the task of going back and replaying each event tires me, and honestly, it's not something i look forward to. i remember the days when i would write in my diary events flowed easily, memories, good or bad were easily remembered. writing was a gift that i used to have, but now i just generally rant.

gee, what would i write?

perhaps i could write that 2006 was the year i lost my rose-colored glasses and saw the world with extra-critical eyes. yet the same eyes saw a chosen few who are every measure of a child of god that they are.

perhaps i could write that 2006 was the year i felt the most secluded and lonely, yet surrounded by people. there's this unspeakable loneliness that i cannot fathom, that i cannot acknowledge because i cannot describe it.

this new year, just like everybody else, i will have a set of new year's resolutions and goals for the year.

1. Choose to be more happy and grateful
2. Earn money–for an ipod, a mac, an HMO, a josh groban concert
3. Exercise–for good this time!
4. Eat better–i had started that habit and was already doing it habitually, until last year, when i felt lonely being the healthy person out.
5. Stay true to my deadlines
6. Play less games–so that i could read more, do more…THE SIMS 2 IS EVIL! I SWEAR!
7. Do more crafting–and actually finish them
8. Channel my inner author–i used to write a lot, but not much nowadays.
9. Recycle
10. Read more–my upcoming reading is now almost my sister's height, and that's not good. again i blame the distraction of playing games on my computer.
11. Cook more often–just because our housekeeper has learned to cook from Amici doesn't mean i'm not a great cook anymore, after all, i taught her most of the things i know…;)
12. Go more good deeds at random people–and tell them to PAY IT FORWARD.

we'll see next year if i achieved them all.

a new form of terrorism and a dose of dr. phil’s practical wisdom

This post is only meant to voice out my opinion on who are the TRUE TERRORISTS of our country. It is not meant to belittle the threat of terrorism as the rest of the world defines it. Terrorism, if one assesses its meaning from the dictionary, is a use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce. This could simply mean many things to many people, and depending on what country you are in, one gets different answers on who or what is a terrorist. In africa, the terrorists are the tribes who commit genocide and rape women in the belief that their AIDS affliction will go away. For Americans, terrorists are the people who won't hesitate to destroy their freedom and kill their loved ones. In Iraq, sectarianism creates terrorism that continues to divide and bring bloodshed. Same thing goes in our country. The threat is real and imminent, yet, we also grapple with another form of terrorism.

Here in our country terrorists are among us. They are not necessarily the left-wing muslim group plaguing our country today. This kind of terrorist lives near our houses, and is in our very midst. These people are dangerous, not only because they truly embody the definition of a terrorist, they also endanger the overall development of our country.

Our terrorists are the lazy people who would complain about their woes in life and blames it to anybody but themselves. Never mind if it's their fault if their money is never enough, never mind if it's their fault that the garbage problem is never solved, as long as they could blame it on the nearest government body or business entity, they will blame them all. These are the people who always ask "Why me?" and "This shouldn't happen" and needlessly dwell on it, thus creating a neverending cycle of self-pity and non action, because, in their mind, why should they do something about it when it's not their fault?

The grim truth of the matter is that somehow, each one of us bears the reason why our country is in such a huge rut. It is our fault why our government is corrupt, bickering, and generally self-serving. The way our government is the way we are, and we have to change that by changing ourselves first.

Yes, I have written before that the goverment and our politics are to blame for the mess we're in. However, recently, all thanks to Dr. Phil, the curtain of blame has now been lifted and I realize that it's just plain wrong to blame it all to the government. We are fond of being in denial, and the sentence "Let someone else do it." is always in our heads. everybody says that line until nobody is left to actually do something to solve the problem. We have never taken ACCOUNTABILITY the mistakes our country has made and how many steps it has taken backwards. 

How many times has it happened in our country that when someone tries to CORRECT and SET THINGS RIGHT, we crucify and throw stones at them, belittling their cause, their fervor, and their beliefs. We are in a false belief that change doesn't have to hurt. In reality, CHANGE WILL ALWAYS HURT. The more it hurts, the more lasting change is.

Our current goverment faces a problem so great that it alone cannot solve. Even if we put all the Nelson Mandelas, Mother Theresas, and Lee Kuan Yews here in our country, they would all fail if we put everything in under their responsibility and not help them. As the late JFK said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country", As long as we are able-bodied physically and mentally, we should be helping, not just standing in the sidelines watching. 

How many times has it happened in our country that when someone tries to CORRECT and SET THINGS RIGHT, we crucify and throw stones at them, belittling their cause, their fervor, and their beliefs. We are in a false belief that change doesn't have to hurt. In reality, CHANGE WILL ALWAYS HURT. The more it hurts, the more lasting change is.

The grim truth of the matter is that somehow, each one of us bears the reason why our country is in such a huge rut. It is our fault why our government is corrupt, bickering, and generally self-serving. The way our government is the way we are, and we have to change that by changing ourselves first.

instead of digging our own graves by needlessly shielding ourselves from blame, we should face up to the blame and own it. we will never own our bright future if we refuse to take responsibility to the demons that plague our country, whether it's the goverments fault, GMA's fault or anyone else's fault, somehow, it's OUR FAULT BECAUSE WE LET IT HAPPEN. somehow we were irresponsible, we were carefree, we were stupid and we were dependent on somebody else for too long.

Let's analyze and deal with what's wrong and once we've identified our mistakes, let all of us cure them. It is not a government matter, it is OURS to take action on, all 60-something million of us, and let us watch our country rise.

REVIEW: Awake-Josh Groban

When it comes to Josh Groban, I melt. His first two albums has gotten me through stressful times and this one is no exception. The past month has been a trying time for me and my family, and I had trouble staying positive. Heck, there are times when I am bitter to the core.

Enter You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up). This was released as his first single, and I first heard it Before The Great Storm and thought it too pop for The New York Times’ “The New Boy Wonder of The Voice”. After The Great Storm, it’s my anthem. The lyrics are uplifting and if you are a spiritual person, you would say that this song is like God’s song to you. Ah, who else to sing it than Josh, who has thankfully stayed grounded, down to earth and forever grateful to his gift. Unlike Charlotte Church.

But that’s another review entirely.

If a reassuring and comforting hug were to be translated to music, this would be it. Songs like You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up), Machine (Josh’s attempt in funk jazz with Herbie Hancock which turned out great) and Lullaby (his acapella collaboration with Dave Matthews and co-sung with African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo), fits this category.

If sensuality, romance and love were to be translated to music, this would be it. When it comes to these themes, every Groban album including this one is peppered with romantic Italian, Spanish and English love songs that is sure to make you swoon. This is an album that every lonely single woman like me should purchase. In days of feeling unloved, Josh Groban comes to the rescue, and quite fittingly, because he is just so good looking.

A little critic and stab at politics and opression is also present. Enter “Weeping”, a sad, yet hopeful song that chronicles South Africa’s bout with oppression. Josh harmonizes wonderfully with the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who also sang the same song with his favorite singer Paul Simon in the album “Graceland”.

I won’t critic each and every song but instead write down songs which are standouts in its various ways. I will instead also tell you which one I have on repeat.

1. Mai
2. You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up)
3. Un Dia Llagera (repeat)
4. February Song (he wrote it and co-composed the music)
5. L’ultima Notte (repeat)
6. So She Dances (repeat–favorite song because i’m a frustrated dancer)
7. In Her Eyes
8. Solo Por Ti (repeat)
9. Now or Never (with Imogen Heap) (repeat–my next favorite song in which by now i’m in a state of bliss)
10. Un Giorno Por Noi (repeat–added state of bliss)
11. Lullaby (produced by Dave Matthews) (repeat)
12. Weeping (a South African song he sung with Ladysmith Black Mambazo about the turmoil the country was experiencing) (repeat)
13. Machine (a great attempt at jazz funk, IMO, with Herbie Hancock) (repeat because i really appreciate the departure from popopera)

If his 2nd album Closer was a slight departure of his popopera genre, then Awake is one or two steps up the departure of the genre. With collaborations with Dave Matthews, Imogen Heap (lead singer of Frou Frou), and African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo among the usual tandem from his past work, the cd came together musically pleasing and eclectic enough without alienating the classical fans that Groban has and at the same time pleasing those who, like him, would like to spice things up.

I give it 5 stars, because:

1. I LOVE JOSH GROBAN

2. He made a great effort in putting this cd 

3. In appreciation of him “stretching his wings” and exploring new ways to make music.

4. For respecting his fans and his gift and not going all out pop like Charlotte Church.

5. I LOVE JOSH GROBAN

Oh I know he wants to be a popstar, but Josh Groban is too good for that genre and too versatile to be boxed in.

what’s in my inbox

November 3, 2006

Another kind of normal

by John Fischer

“Every time you forget that character is one of God’s purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances.” — Rick Warren

Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that we deserve to have a relatively easy life. We have a very false sense of what should be the norm. If someone asks you how things are going and you answer: “Fine,” that is thought of as normal – the way it should be. If there is anything wrong, and you answer that question with a qualifier (“Fine, but …”), then it is assumed that your life is not normal. If something is wrong, then your life is for some reason not what it is supposed to be.

In actuality, the real thing wrong is this kind of thinking. Until we change our thinking in this regard, life will always be frustrating. We will be preoccupied with trying to fix everything instead of learning life’s lessons. We will always be expecting things to get better around the next bend in the road when “better” isn’t anywhere on the map. Until we learn this, we will just wrestle with life instead of working with it – taking what God sends as our course description, and readying ourselves for each new lesson. Difficulty, surprise, hardship, and trials of every kind are the norm for the follower of Christ.

Paul puts it this way: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9 NLT)

Now that’s normal. If you want to grow as a Christian, expect this kind of treatment. And the reason for this is two-fold. First, life by nature is difficult and hardship produces character in us as we meet life’s challenges with the Holy Spirit; and second, when we go through ordinary hardship and difficulty the reality of the presence of God in our lives can be more easily seen, because the hope and confidence of Christ in our lives is in direct contrast to our situation, making God easier to spot. Or as Paul goes on to say: “Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us.” (2 Corinthians 4:11 MSG)

If normal for you means everything is fine and dandy, then brace yourself, because it’s definitely going to get worse. Count on it. God loves you too much to allow you to get away with anything less. And if life is difficult for you right now, rejoice in your opportunity to grow. We need to all start expecting another kind of normal.

Facing the World’s 5 Giants

by Rick and Kay Warren The world is full of problems. Some are small and some are huge. As Kay and I considered the problems facing the world today, we concluded there are five giants — five pervasive problems that affect billions of people. These are the ones we want to tackle, believing God gets the most glory when we attack the biggest giants. These problems are so huge that they can only be addressed with total dependence on God and with all of us — your congregation and mine, Christians all around the world — working together to confront them. Here are the giant problems, as we see them: 1. The first global giant is spiritual darkness. Here’s a startling truth: Billions of people have never even heard the name of Jesus Christ. Three thousand distinct people groups around our world wouldn’t even know the name of Jesus if they heard it. “Who is that?” they’d ask. “What’s so significant about that name?” These people know nothing about Jesus or about God. If you were one of those who had never heard the name of Jesus, wouldn’t you want somebody to come tell you about our Savior, our Lord? The Bible says in Romans 10:14 (NCV), “Before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them.” The greatest giant in our world today is the fact that billions of people do not know Jesus Christ. 2. The second giant we want to tackle is the lack of servant leaders around the world. Around the world, there are plenty of people in leadership who abuse their power. Many refuse to use their power for the good of their people — instead they choose to use it for themselves. This has created chaos in the world. Leaders must have moral basis. They must have wisdom. Proverbs 11:14 (NLT) says, “Without wise leadership, a nation falls.” Proverbs 16:12b (Msg) says, “Sound leadership has a moral foundation.” And Zechariah 10:2 (TEV) says, “People wander around like lost sheep. They are in trouble because they have no leader.” In the developing world there are 2.1 million pastors and church leaders. Of those, 1.9 million have never had any training at all. Not only have these leaders not gone to seminary or Bible school, they haven’t even gone to high school or primary school. They have no training whatsoever — and yet they lead the church. This must be remedied. 3. The third giant we’re going after is poverty. More than half of the world — that’s three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day. One-sixth of the world’s population lives in slums. Those are heart-breaking statistics. Proverbs 28:7 (NIV) says, “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.” It’s easy to live in a bubble and think the rest of the world lives like we do. When we go about our daily lives forgetting how most of the world lives, we tend to judge people for being poor. Job 12:5 (GW) says, “A person who has an easy life [that would be you and me] has no appreciation for misfortune. He thinks it is the fate of those who slip up.” Tell that to the parents of 10 million little girls who’ve been sold into prostitution in Southeast Asia. Their families exist in such grinding poverty they see no other way to feed their families than to sell their little girls into prostitution. It’s a horrible existence. 4. The fourth giant we want to attack is disease. Billions suffer the effects of famine and drought. They are homeless, hungry, and helpless. They’re ill. We can do something about that. Psalm 38:6-11 (GW) says, “I am bent over and bowed down very low. … My insides are filled with burning pain, and no healthy spot is left on my body. I am numb and completely devastated. … I’ve lost my strength. Even the light of my eyes has left me. My loved ones and my friends keep their distance and my relatives stand far away because of my sickness.” We have seen the effects of poverty as we’ve traveled. We’ve seen the effects of people with HIV/AIDS. The stigma is enormous. People are abandoned by their own families. Their bodies slowly waste away from opportunistic infections. As Christians we cannot ignore these people. Ezekiel 34:4 (TEV) says, “You have not taken care of the weak ones, healed the ones that are sick, bandaged the ones that are hurt, brought back the ones that wandered off, or looked for the ones that were lost. Instead, you treated them cruelly.” 5. The fifth giant we want to tackle is ignorance. Over half the world is still illiterate. How can a country grow and be strong economically when its citizens can’t read, can’t write, and don’t know the fundamentals of math and science that we take for granted? It’s no wonder these countries aren’t strong. Hosea 4:6 (NIV) says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” There’s a desperate need for teachers and schools and materials to help people grow. These five giants can be toppled. We can make a difference. In a future issue, we’ll talk about why the church is the perfect tool for toppling giants.

are we to follow our parents’ expectations?

sure, if it makes YOU happy as well.

the difficulty of parent-daughter or son relationships is the notion that one must adhere to the expectations of the parent or set of parents. emotions clash over whether the son should “follow his dream” of becoming a painter or take up accounting like his father. we all have versions of this debate going into our hearts and minds, and it either drives us to depression or mediocrity. one gets depressed over not fulfilling their dreams and having “settled” for what their parents want for them, which leads to the mediocre quality of their work and life, a feeling that one hasn’t done their best, or have reached their potential.

i live and work with my parents for close to two years now. i graduated hotel and restaurant management and the first job i took upon graduating was in a large call center. the college course was entirely my choice, and with my affinity with food and cooking then, i wanted to go to cooking school, which my mother agreed to. concerns rose up when my mother discovered that i would be learning cooking with older people, and the fact that i won’t be able to experience a “normal” college life. thus, i enrolled in the best school for hotel and restaurant management at my time. i wasn’t a great student, my grades weren’t that high, but i had higher grades in the subjects that i was really interested in, which ironically were not major subjects related to my course. imagine getting A’s in women’s studies and psychology. oh yeah, i think i got an A also in tourism. i never lost my affinity for cooking since i usually become one of the chefs in our functions and parties, and it was also in college that i have discovered that i loved to bake more than to cook, having assembled our first cake laden with fondant icing, marzipan flowers, and other cake accessories that are too good to eat. becoming an officer in a college organization became my distraction (as my mother puts it) to getting the grades she would have liked and eventually caused my delay in graduating. at the time, i thought the organization would teach me management skills in which i couldn’t learn in the classroom, and in hindsight, i was right. though i felt it was a moment in my life that i felt i have digressed and strayed away from doing what i had loved to do, i had learned a lot from my years as one of the officers in that organization. it has also served its purpose too in where i am now, where i am managing and leading more, than doing and following orders more.

my first love had always been to write, i did a lot of writing when i was a teenager and wanted to become a journalist or a novelist, though such careers don’t bring home much money unless you’re one of those shady journalists. my second love was food and creating food, either baking or cooking, but where am i now? 

i’m doing neither. perhaps because of serendipity and the fact that i have been without a job for a year, i ended upbeing with my parents, learning the ropes going from one department to another, learning the systems, analyzing the shortcomings in their systems and guiding our people to do things the right way. it is really challenging and fulfilling to be working in the family business, you get to mee the best kind of people and also the worst kind of people. there are times that you are so filled with hope and promise on what is to come and on the growth and development of the company, and there are also times in which you think that hope is all gone and that pinoys are all hopeless because of many reasons.

am i happy? sometimes, but i am not going to look for something that makes me 100% happy, because i’ve realized that there is no such thing. as for what will happen in the future of our business, i will just try to learn whatever i need to learn, change whatever i need to change, and grow and grow and grow while i have the opportunity to. being the daughter of the owner has its perks, you never get fired, you can take your time to know the business and you can make changes to the systems and make it better. the only downside i could think of is that you don’t own your time especially when you are living with your family, but that’s just a personal problem than the norm.  

i have indeed followed my parents’ footsteps, but i am also making my own mark.  

You Are an Old Soul

You are an experienced soul who appreciates tradition. Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone. Down to earth, you are sensible and impatient. A creature of habit, it takes you a while to warm up to new people. You hate injustice, and you’re very protective of family and friends A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others. Extremely independent you don’t mind living or being alone. But when you find love, you tend to want marriage right away. Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

book review: Why Do I Love These People? By Po Bronson

I declare Po Bronson to be my favorite author. I’ve finished reading his latest nonfiction book, Why Do I Love These People? and enjoyed it immensely because of its honest to goodness approach on family life and its dynamics. The book as some reviews call it is a sociological approach to the evolution of families. It tackles stories of mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, traditional families and the not so traditional families, how some of them remained together despite all odds, and how some of them inevitably fell apart, all of them real stories from careful research and compassionate interviews of real, ordinary people, a signature style that is so truly Po’s.

Po’s work is overridden with compassion and understanding towards the people he interviewed in this project, and to the readers, he offers a fresh point of view that makes you understand your own family more and see it through different, more compassionate eyes. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, families are a part of you and the nuances and indiosyncrancies that they bring makes you the you that you know and have a love-hate relationship with.

This book is a must-read.   

from Po’s website: http://www.pobronson.com

WDILTP Wins Parenting Gold Award

From Po:

I learned last night that Why Do I Love These People? is a winner of the National Parenting Publications’ Gold Award for Best Books of the Year. This is a wonderful honor to receive, especially because I know darn well that the committee had to go out of their way to crown WDILTP - it’s not a traditional parenting book. They actually mentioned this in their commendation, which reads: “While not a typical parenting resource, this amazing book recounts the struggles and joys of real families who have shown incredible resilience. Every member of every family has experiences that they have never spoken about, or perhaps have never even allowed themselves to think about. This book can lift the weight of those secrets by offering a deep and caring look into the tensions that threaten to pull families apart and the bonds that hold them together, even in the face of terrible injustice, hardship or suffering. You may not agree with all of Bronson’s assumptions or conclusions, but chances are good that this moving and beautiful book will change how you think about yourself, your own family and all families.”

I hope this helps bring the book to more parents. I am working with Random House right now on the plan for the paperback edition of the book, which will land in bookstores January 2007. The book will have a new jacket image, looking like this:

We went with this jacket because as we, the audience, is walking in that door to that house, we understand who “these people” are - the people in the house, the family we’re going to visit, and whatever trepidation or anticipation we might be feeling.

Which foreign guy should you date?

Which Foreign Guy Should You Date?
 
 
cuz i was bored….. 

A gene for rebelliousness?

what’s next, a gene that could explain why i am so bad with math?

This article makes one think about how much we are actually in control over ourselves. Upon reading the article, something struck me about reading the statement “It’s the hand you’re dealt”. How very apt in describing the human condition and how genetics can actually make your life easier or harder.

 It is in understanding how and why we are the way we are that will make the struggle to manage and compbat our imperfections easier.

which friend am i?

You’re a bit like Monica!

Which “Friend” Are You?
Brought to you by Tickle

the celebrity matchmaker

Your match is Brad Pitt!

The Celebrity Matchmaker
Brought to you by Tickle

wow…..not bad! 

which desperate housewife are you?

You’re most like Bree

Which Desperate Housewife Are You?
Brought to you by Tickle

which queer eye is right for you?

You need a date with Ted

Which Queer Eye Is Right for You?
Brought to you by Tickle

i wouldn’t mind ted if i were a gay guy…but kyan is ubercute! 

the mess we’re in…

i live in cavite, an urbanized province that is also like an extension of metro manila. we have our own manufacturing business here. we employ people close to our community as possible, but the quality of work is very erratic each time we hire new people, and we would get bad batches of workers. we thought it was people being “pasaway”, or rebellious. it turns out that they are just hard in understanding basic instructions. we have an IQ test that is high school level, and sadly even those who finished high school couldn’t pass it. so we adjusted our IQ test, made it in a way a sixth grader could pass it. still people fail.
 
imagine how you’d react if one person answered that a bangus is an insect.
 
imagine how you’d react if one person couldn’t answer how much money you’d need in order to buy 4 candies worth 5 centavos.
 
my dad started our company to help out the people in his community. he believed, and instilled in me that the best help you can give to people is to give them job opportunities. he’s a proud caviteño through and through, so when he learned of this weakness, he felt really bad. to think he built a thriving business that can employ steadily hundreds of people, he couldn’t hire them permanently and help them. what if someone has an accident in our company because he wasn’t able to follow the safety instructions properly because he lacked the reading comprehension that schools are supposed to enhance? what if we lose our business because of people who keep on doing things the wrong way? reworks in our line of business are expensive and things like this would harm the reputation of our company, and we have rivals from other countries who would be very glad to get our client’s job orders. it is extremely important in our line of work that workers follow process to the letter, be creative and be able to think through a whole range of problems. we have had several incidences already in which people do not seem to use their common sense…not reading directions, not able to comprehend their supervisor’s instructions.
 
it leads me to think that there are jobs out there, heck, it’s not much to work in manufacturing or in factories, you still need some common sense and you still need some basic math and reading skills, most people shrug factory work as easy, or demaning, but it’s not. there is no such thing as an easy job, and even if there is, with the way our education system has been deteriorating, other jobs that are easier to do would be impossible to get into, because people’s brain would turn into useless mush.
 
the mess we’re in is that we’ve got too many uneducated, poor people we can’t empower through jobs. if they do, chances are they drop out of work and the factory is left with statistics of high employee turnover. they can’t get into jobs through local factories which contributes to the gdp growth of our country, thus attracting our foreign investors to create better quality jobs for the middle class so that these people would stop going abraod and finally end the brain drain the we are experiencing. 
 
now saying that proper education is the backbone of a country is an understatement. saying that we need proper education as much as we need food and water is also an understatement. this world is getting to be too complicated to live on that our people need something to arm themselves with, or they’re dead and useless.
 
furthermore, proper education should not be limited to the middle-class or the rich. they won’t be the ones working in offices or being employed in factories where good IQ is an asset. with the exodus of those with better education to other countries, who will fill the desks of offices, callcenters, schools, factories and other businesses?
 
the exodus of the better-educated has robbed most industries like us of thinking, capable workers. nowadays, it is slim pickins for the hr people in industries like ours. we are left picking the lesser-educated and ignorant of our race. i don’t like to say they are ignorant, bumbling idiots, but they are and it isn’t their fault. it’s the fault of horrible education system and the trapos who refuse to change the system.

 
sadly, the poor is the most prevalent group in this country, and they also have the most number of children. when these children grow, they will be the ones whom our businesses will employ.

 
we’re definitely been left behind in the race towards progress, and you wonder why, then shake your head in disappointment when you suddenly remember why.
 
POLITICIANS. 
 
 

oh the depressed soul…

there are times indeed in one’s life that no matter how much one say one is happy and content (and one should be), a gloomy wave of depression will come over and rain down on one’s sunny outlook. today is the 15th day of my battle towards depression. it’s not depression as in i-want-to-die-take-me-now-lord kind of depression, but a kind of depression that hits you that asks you point blank:

IS THERE ANYTHING MORE THAN THIS LIFE?

ah, that age-old question….

Of The Da Vinci Code, The Gospel of Judas, and other heresies

I’ve read and watched The Da Vinci Code and watched National Geographic’s presentation of The Gospel of Judas, and I find nothing changed of my basic faith and belief in Jesus Christ as my one and only Savior. I believe that the apostles are there to help him propagate His message and His teachings. I believe that He will come again and will be reigning humanity, and He is coming sooner than you think.

The topics raised by the popular book, The Da Vinci Code have been around for thousands of years after Jesus’ death and ascension to heaven. It is nothing new that he “might” be married to Mary Magdalene, the former repentant prostitute, or that He might have had a child, or that His descendants exists. It is nothing new that apart from the traditional Christian sects existing after His days on Earth, there exists a sect called the Gnostics, who is reported to have an “alternative” view of Christ’s earthly existence and His death and resurrection. Whatever archeologists and experts dig up, it is nothing new. These ideas and alternative stories are already here for us waiting to be revealed, dissected and analyzed. Only now it is now longer exclusive to those who study Religion or Archeology or History, it is now being propagated to the masses and to the curious.

The proliferation of alternative information and ideas, I think, should be considered by all Christian churches to be an opportunity, a mixed blessing, because the mass appeal and the fact that it sells reflect a need of the many to know more about Jesus, the greatest Being who ever walked the face of the earth. Two thousand years later, the enigma that is Jesus Christ still continues to be famous and influential, and Christian leaders and priests should take advantage of the current rage to help spread his teachings to those who do not know it by heart. Debate with their flock, instead of dictating what they should or should not believe, patiently explain to them who He is and what miracles He did to those who follow Him. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

In terms of whether we ought to believe in it or not, I believe that choice is not for us to make. For instance, it is one thing to read current gossip pages or tv about a celebrity that we absolutely adore and see the version of the celebrity in question in another newspaper or tv. You see the words come out of him saying whether the gossip is true or false, and you believe him, and that’s that. In this case, we don’t have Jesus himself explaining what really happened, so we don’t have the luxury of practical discernment, and we don’t have the choice of not believing it either, for not believing in it will make the events impossible, and all Christians profess that with God, nothing in impossible, and anyway, God and Jesus Christ are free to do whatever they want with the world.

So, what are we, poor sinful ordinary flock to do? When we are flocked by things like this that boggle our brains?

We turn to the heart, and then we ask ourselves 2 questions:

1. DOES IT MATTER?

2. WHO IS JESUS CHRIST TO YOU?

When I asked myself those two questions the first time I finished the book, my answers were these:

1. NO. So if these allegations and alternative happened to be true, it doesn’t matter. Following Him should be my business, not his personal and private life here on earth.

2. In my times of trouble and self-doubt, He is the one who brings me back up. When I am downtrodden and ill on my luck, He is there to makes things ok. I acknowledge His miracles, big or small, in my life. He is my anchor, my refuge, my strength, my confidant. He will still be these things whether those “alternative” theories are true or not.

 We shouldn’t be afraid to tackle and ask ourselves hard quesions when it comes to our faith. It is in tackling the tough questions in life that makes us better and stronger people. Dare to ask and dare to be curious.