notes from home

"But don’t forget who you really are. And I’m not talking about your so-called real name. All names..."

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:27:27 +0800

“But don’t forget who you really are. And I’m not talking about your so-called real name. All names are made up by someone else, even the one your parents gave you. You know who you really are. When you’re alone at night, looking up at the stars, or maybe lying in your bed in total darkness, you know that nameless person inside you…Your muscles will toughen. So will your heart and soul. That’s necessary for survival. But don’t lose touch with that person deep inside you, or else you won’t really have survived at all.”

- Louis Sachar (via fuckyeahhappy) (via pineappleupsidedown) (via themorninglight)

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common..."

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:47:51 +0800

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

- Calvin Coolidge (via jnunemaker)

"At least I’ve learned this much: Life doesn’t have to be all poetry and roses. Life can be bus..."

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:32:51 +0800

““At least I’ve learned this much:
Life doesn’t have to be
all poetry and roses. Life
can be bus rides, gritty sidewalks,
electric bills, dishwashing,
chapped lips, dull stubby pencils
with the erasers chewed off,
cheap radios played too loud,
the rank smell of stale coffee
yet still glow
with the inner fire of an opal,
still taste like honey.””

- Julie Alger (1927 - 1994) (via ventisette) (via yearslater)

thisjustin: Asian students under attack at S. Phila. High,...

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:02:35 +0800

thisjustin:

Asian students under attack at S. Phila. High, Philadelphia Daily News

26 Asian students were targeted in just one day in Philly? I caught this story on Angry Asian Man, but I really hope this is making national headlines. If this isn’t an enormous hate crime case, then I don’t know what is.

"And while this story is breaking news around the world, certain political leaders in the Philippines..."

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:37:33 +0800

“

And while this story is breaking news around the world, certain political leaders in the Philippines are pushing for increased taxpayer funding of the Philippine Climate Change Act, a law based on a fraud. The US Congress is opening investigations about “ClimateGate” and English newspapers are calling it the greatest scandal in modern science.

And not a single newspaper here chooses to cover this story. So I will.

The CRU is widely recognized as a leading institution concerned with the study of climate change. It is the organization that supplied a good portion of the data and analysis used in various UN reports and, of course, Al Gore’s famous movie, An Inconvenient Truth.

In September, a striking revelation was made that the data used to create the “hockey stick” of suddenly increasing global temperatures in the last 20 years was manipulated. The basis of the “hockey stick” of global warming that has made Al Gore a multimillionaire was the growth of trees on the Yamal peninsula in Russia. One of the members of the climate group at CRU, Keith Briffa, is the author of the “hockey stick” data that have been used for 10 years to create the climate-change hysteria. It appears calling him an “author” is appropriate since the “hockey stick” and the hysteria may be based on fiction.

”

- John Mangun

Read the entire article here: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/opinion/18980-the-climate-change-fraud.html

there are no guidelines at all

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:39:32 +0800

“There are no exact guidelines. There are probably no guidelines at all. The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this world. In other words, I can only recommend perspective and distance. Awareness of all the most dangerous kinds of vanity, both in others and in ourselves. A good mind. A modest certainty about the meaning of things. Gratitude for the gift of life and the courage to take responsibility for it. Vigilance of spirit.” - Vaclav Havel

I am thankful for the people around me who make laughter easy. During these times, in my line of work, and with the things that occupy my head concerning the country, laughter is very welcome and much appreciated.

"Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as..."

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:31:06 +0800

“Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.”

- Vaclav Havel

"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of..."

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:11:00 +0800

“To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children; to earn the approbation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give of one’s self; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived - this is to have succeeded.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (via janettt) (via quote-book) (via infinitebutterflies) (via thresca)

pinoytumblr: Leigh Recrio

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:09:17 +0800

pinoytumblr: Leigh Recrio

a few big things to smile about

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:31:00 +0800

fresh snow after winter’s first snowfall. night runs with my brothers. long drives alone, with my favorite cds. stargazing. sleeping in and lounging on weekends. the smell of right-out-of-the-dryer laundry. a baby’s chuckle. movies and popcorn with dad. quick trips to the supermarket. driving mom to work. making my little sister laugh. a nice soft fluffy comforter for sleeping in a cold room. hot chocolate. having the train doors open for you. catching the last train home. an unexpected phone call from a very good friend. having at least one very good friend. chance encounters, chance conversations. mentors. learning. baking cookies that everyone likes. the peace and quiet of walking alone, christmas lights lining your road. a book that’s hard to put down. uninterrupted and easy sleep. a pat on the back. a smile. airports. plane rides. really good chocolate milk. really good chocolate shared with someone. beautiful photographs. the perfect shade of blue, or green. coming home. being home. being with C.

I need to remind myself of these things, especially during these times.

In my bus to work, a conversation overheard —- a conversation I strained my ears to hear. The...

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:01:49 +0800

In my bus to work, a conversation overheard —- a conversation I strained my ears to hear. The bus driver took the day off last Sunday and helped his eldest son with homework. They had to go to SM, perhaps buy a book, because the homework had something to do with Ibong Adarna. “Bertday pa niya, kaya nag-Jollibee kami pagkatapos.”

The things we take for granted. A meal that some people don’t put any thought to in buying for lunch is somebody else’s birthday celebration.

"In any man who dies there dies with him, his first snow and kiss and fight. Not people die but..."

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:20:28 +0800

“In any man who dies there dies with him, his first snow and kiss and fight. Not people die but worlds die in them.”

- Yevgeny Yevtushenko (via ontheborderland) (via lastchatwithphontaine) (via dyssonance) (via constantwanderlust)

More than Hope

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:36:19 +0800

It seems wrong, to keep silent and not write anything about the massacre, but it also feels wrong to write about it without being able to do anything about it. What can I do? What can we do?

In the short six months that I’ve been back home, frustrations and disappointments have crept up, along with inspiration, pride, and hope. We all do what we can, and the little things add up to form the big changes, but there is the nagging feeling that there is so much more to be done, and the frustrating feeling upon figuring out how to do them.

It breaks my heart everytime I think of how much power the government has to do good in this country, and how far it is at the opposite end of the spectrum of doing good. From the Filipinos it exports and does not protect, the children it does not educate, the sick people it does not heal, to the social services it does not substantially provide. The democracy it does not uphold.

I do what I do at work and find meaning in it. But at the end of the day, there are stories in this country that are left to unravel on their own, with much deprivation and disempowerment. Stories that need happy endings. Stories of which I would like to be a positive part. Stories that are untold, but are lived every single day, by the person sleeping on the sidewalk, the children tapping your car window at the stoplight, the jeepney driver who stops in the middle of the road to get an additional seven pesos worth of decent living.

What can I do? What can we do?

The elections are coming up, and it seems such a gargantuan task to choose my president and cast my vote. More so, it seems a much bigger task to campaign for a possible president and really influence the turnout of May 2010. What can I do? What can we do? Yes, there are voters workshops to attend and to eventually conduct, there are debates with friends and colleagues on the presidentiables and issues, there are the little things that add up to the big changes. But what happens if the machine that adds these all up is tweaked by the uglier force of corruption and greed? We hope for the best, and while Hope keeps the dream of a better Philippines alive, it is never enough. I want to do more than hope.

"They kill us first before we could even die for our country."

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:52:41 +0800

“They kill us first before we could even die for our country.”

- Raya Martin

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have..."

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:39:24 +0800

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

- Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech 2005 (via tmblg)

Filipino Pushcart educator named CNN Hero of the Year - CNN.com

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:03:31 +0800

Filipino Pushcart educator named CNN Hero of the Year - CNN.com:

Efren Peñaflorida, who started a “pushcart classroom” in the Philippines to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership, has been named the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year.

Apl.de.Ap’s You Can Dream

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:17:31 +0800

Apl.de.Ap’s You Can Dream

"I want to beg of you much as I can to be patient toward all that’s unsolved in your heart, and learn..."

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:02:00 +0800

“

I want to beg of you much as I can to be patient
toward all that’s unsolved in your heart,
and learn to love the questions themselves,
like locked rooms, or like books that are
written in a very foreign tongue.

Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given you,
because you would not be able to live them,
and the point is to live everything.

Live the question now,
perhaps you will then, gradually, without noticing it,
live along some distant day into the answer.

”

- Rainer Maria Rilke

(via omgitsjpax) (via quote-book) (via exiledsoul) (via poetrynews) (via curate)

a thought after dinner

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:52:22 +0800

It seems foolish for me to believe that just as long as there is one person who hasn’t given up on the Philippines, then there is hope for the country. Seems foolish, but the core of me completely and wholeheartedly believes it. Just one person. Because it can all start there.

Love our country, people; Mahalin naman natin ang Pilipinas. And just like loving a person, it’s not all about what the country is or isn’t giving you. It’s not all about your demands. It’s also about what you can give.

Chimamanda Adichie - The Danger of a Single Story

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:34:42 +0800

Chimamanda Adichie - The Danger of a Single Story