Duh...Keep It To Yourself!

I remember growing up in a strict Catholic upbringing and observing holy week as some sort of purging religious experience. The celebration would culminate with the Palm Sunday procession. We used to diligently weave some artfully crafted coconut leaves that we proudly wave as a reenactment to the welcome rites they gave to Jesus Christ during biblical times. Then we proceed to celebrate Ash Wednesday by having ashes rubbed on our foreheads as a reminder of our mortality—“Remember man, you are from dust and to dust you shall return.” It is a humbling experience and a great reminder to all of us to cast aside all worldly desires, after all, we all just vanish from this material world. Then the week-long celebration of the passion of Christ would highlight the Lenten season celebration—Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday, Easter Sunday. I remember our family celebrating this holy week as holy as it could be by observing penance, fast...

Today is a major day in our household. We rallied in front of our TV set and rooted for our favorite team to win this year’s football championship game. We had a feast enough to entertain ourselves during some boring moments of the NFL, and a feast to fill our stomachs enough to drive the butterflies away brought about by the tension of watching a truly magnificent football championship game. As we watched the pre-game show, it was obvious—everyone’s convinced that yeah, the New England Patriots are going to win the game and it’s not encouraging to see how the favor seemed to tilt towards the undefeated Patriots for a chance for history to be made by closing the season with a 19-0 record. But we like to root for the underdogs, and so to the NY Giants we wished our good luck and our hope of hopes that they will make history by delivering the biggest upset in the game of football. And history was made, indeed. The game was the finest sports match we’ve seen in a while bringing moments...

This is more or less a chronicle of unpleasant events that I’ve experienced in my life that really scared the living daylights out of me. Sweet Talk Way back in the early eighties, I was only a little girl. I grew up in a remote city in the western part of Mindanao in the Philippines. Our form of transportation was basically the simplest one. All we had then were tricycles and bicycles and of course, our flip-flops. We would be flip-flopping with our slippers across the town to get from point A to point B. Besides, everything is well within walking distance. One late afternoon around five o’clock I was sent to do an errand because one of my family members was sick and I was more or less the only one who was older and more reliable of all the siblings. I was sent to buy medicine about half a kilometer away from our house. Even if it was getting dark, I did what I was told to do and slowly paced my way to the pharmacy and after getting the medicine, I took the same route back home. The ...

Imagine for a minute that you're in a bubble drifting, and floating away in the vastness of space. Distance yourself from the tangible you. Immerse yourself in total abscence of physical boundaries--no body, no possessions, no nothing. What do you see? You probably say, "nothing". And that makes a lot of difference because you see, there's more to you than what meets the human eye. You don't believe it? You better believe it. You have a soul that dwells within you. Apart from all the horrid mortality of your existence lies a deep chamber of consciousness that only you can nurture and destroy as well. The sad truth is, people are just too consumed with the physicality of things. How you look, what you have, what you wear, how much you're worth financially. That's all that matters. Your world revolves around your possessions and prestige, whatever it's worth. How much do you think you're really worth? Are you worth more than a cup of coffee, ...

Happy New Year one and all! Whew! It's 2008. I am a sucker for real TV entertainment, though I don't really spend much time in front of the boob-tube. Nevertheless, when something captures my attention I am eternally glued to the show until it's over. Over the holidays, I wasn't really able to do much because I caught the bug--the cold virus. I had it all planned that during my vacation I will utilize my time to make up for the tasks that are left unfinished. But what the heck! I was sick, so instead, I opted to fatten my Pinoy ass in front of the TV and what better show to watch than The Wire. The Wire, to me is the closest-thing-to-real-life-drama kind of TV fiction. The storyline is well-crafted; casting is excellent; location is phenomenal; and the plot is just plain genius. I've been a fan of other great TV series like 24, Prison Break, Dexter, The Sopranos but none has entertained me more than The Wire. When I watch the show I feel like I am a part of the...

1. Let there be peace on earth. 2. A pink diamond pendant . 3. Panasonic home theater system with wireless rear speakers . 4. POD by Atlantic CD organizer . 5. Cereal dispenser by Zevro . 6. Carlos Falchi handbag . 7. Nohonon desk character . 8. Sennheiser wireless headphones . 9. Kindle digital reading device by Amazon 10. A trip to the banana republic . Happy Holidays one and all!

Around this time last year, I lost a piece of jewelry, a gold bracelet that is worth more or less $300. The strange thing was, I put it with my other jewelries in an easy access cabinet in my room, and the rest of my jewelries were there and remained untouched. At first I was thinking that perhaps one of my kids played with it and probably misplaced it around the house. So I let the days go by, hoping that somehow the missing jewelry will be recovered somewhere in the house. Then I started getting suspicious with one of my house helpers because she was acting strange. She was actually the most responsible and most trusted of three nannies that I had, and suddenly she wouldn’t even look me in the eyes when we talked. In the Philippines, it is commonplace to resort to black magic and witchcraft and things that are considered taboo and superstitious in this modern world. So it is not a surprise to hear stories about skulls and magic oils or cards and beads that has some kind of spell ...