Batteries feel included.

May 29, 2009

I noticed the blog because a couple of friends posted a link on how to have sex with a friend who has a boyfriend. It involves an intricate web of lies and trickery, beards and tanning beds, a fake wedding ring on your middle finger, and time travel. I found the article serious and funny at the same time. Hence, I read some older posts and was instantly hooked. This guy is brillant.

 

I love his deadpan humor—he delivers his punchlines with the gravity of a seven-year old telling you about a fairy castle in the attic. I love how his twisted logic, how he connects any number of concepts together into a coherent funny whole (like, novels, lizards, and Al Pacino). Most of all, I love how he seems to laugh at himself (and at us) whenever he writes something. It’s a quiet, private kind of laugh, and I like laughing with him.

 

PS - Apparently, the blog is made up of contributions from people around the world. Funny that, because the tone and style of each of them are similar, if not almost identical. 

 

Here’s the blog.

Is the Filipino worth dying for?

May 25, 2009

I was walking along the footbridge crossing EDSA from Ortigas when I saw the inscription at EDSA Shrine. “The Filipino is worth dying for” was Ninoy Aquino Jr.’s immortal words. I, like, totally get his point. Filipinos are special. We have a unique history filled with terrible trials and tribulations. We have fought against the three-century rule of the Spaniards and won. We have been bled dry by the Japanese during the war, but survived. We have co-opted with the Americans and are still paying the price with fresh sweat and even fresher blood. We have fought two bloodless wars against tyrants and succeeded. We have done all of these things together and through the centuries of threats, almost-freedoms, love, sacrifice, life, death, we have grown stronger as a people.

 

Our culture is rich with beautiful songs, complex dances, powerful stories, and lovingly preserved customs and traditions. Filipinos are special in so many ways. Our worth as a people is immense—which is why I believe that the Filipino is worth dying for.

 

However, there are greater things worth dying for. There are lesser things worth dying for. People die for money, food, water, shelter, envy, misery, insanity, love, hate, among myriad other things. The Filipino is worth dying for but worth, of course, is subjective.

Just right before my life changed

May 11, 2009

 

 

I’m home a lot lately. When I’m not home, I’m off trying to score a job or going to fun stuff. My life is completely different, yet exactly the same. I love it. 

The Things I Need To Get By

May 7, 2009

You know what I really need right now? I need a good, hardbound notebook. It shouldn’t be too big, it should fit in most of my hand and shoulder bags. I also need a black sign pen that has a light so I can see what I’m writing in the dark. I forgot to tell you though—why do I need a notebook and a pen?

 

I’ve long given up on being a fancy writer. These days, I mainly write about makeup and other useless drivel online. I never did manage to write a story and I’ve even stopped writing essays which at least tackles important issues like, I don’t know, politics and life and death. Therefore, as far as I’m concerned, I’ve stopped writing. Therefore, I need to start writing again.

 

I wrote because I wanted the world to know what I thought about certain things which I deemed important. I don’t find a lot of things important lately. A lot of things today as so trite and so shallow. If I do find things that are important, I’m busy chasing or ignoring them and I don’t have enough time to sit down and think about what they really mean. When I do find that time to think, I’m already long gone dealing with other newer important things—hence no time to write. Gosh, I need a flow chart for this, don’t I?

 

Anyway, between then and my laptop, I need a way to write down random things, random thoughts which mean a lot to me. I need something I can whip out whenever something occurs to me, be it day or night. I need something to keep track of myself. Blogging is no longer a good option because, come on, you can’t expect me to tell you everything about my life. First of all, you don’t care enough about me to know everything about it. Second, I don’t care enough about you to tell you everything about it. A notebook presents no such limitation. I can tell it everything I want and its only reader, namely myself, would like to know everything about what I just said.

 

After everything is said and done, I think I just miss writing words by hand. It’s such a charming little act, no?