Symptoms of Cretinism

As some of you may know, my grandfather passed away recently, and I had to leave the sprawling metropolis of Manila to attend the funeral in Bicol. Funerals being funerals, there in't really much to say - the women with their sobbing and weeping, and the men with their watery eyes and their silence. Listening to the final funeral service, walking behind the funeral car on the way to cemetery - these are normal fixtures of ceremony when somebody dies. Finality comes as the coffin is slowly lowered into the ground, and as the stone lid is placed on top of the rectangular hole and cemented shut, one finally comes to terms with the fact that the person whom you've known your whole life, that adorable and jolly old man who liked to shout "Tsya na!" and "Open, open!" has gone for good. To quote Neil Gaiman from the Sandman Vol. 7 - Brief Lives: "You are mortal: it is the mortal way. You attend the funeral, you bid the dead farewell. You grieve. Then you conti...

Ayos talaga. Astig! All thats left to know is what's on the menu.

Why would you feel sorry for someone who gets to opt out of the inane courteous formalities which are utterly meaningless, insincere, and therefore degrading? This kid doesn't have to pretend to be interested in your back pain, or your excretions, or your grandma's itchy place. Can you imagine how liberating it would be to live a life free of all the mind-numbing social niceties? I don't pity this kid. I envy him. - Dr. Gregory House (House MD Season 3, Episode 4 - Lines in the Sand) In "Lines in the Sand," our brilliant and acerbic anti-hero treats an autistic kid who sees worms swimming in his eyes. The team of course, exchange opinions about the case and the patient in between treatments and differential diagnosis sessions, thus the quote above. House's thing with that ohlala! thong girl is also resolved, much to my disappointment. But all in all, this is my favorite House: MD episode to date. ---------- Subsequently, I recalled a few conversations and ...

People come and go. Its inevitable - a lot of people come into our lives, stir things up a bit and then leave. Sometimes we welcome it, sometimes we don't. What's done is done. And regardless of what I do, it always takes two. -------- Blame It On My Youth Jaime Cullum If, I expected love when first we kissed, blame it on my youth. If only just for you, I did exist, blame it on my youth. I believed in everything Like a child of three You meant more than anything You meant all the world to me. If, you were on my mind, all night and day, blame it on my youth. If, I forgot to eat, and sleep and pray, blame it on my youth. If I cried a little bit, when first I learned the truth Don’t blame it on my heart, blame it on my youth.

Everybody's talking about the storm - the floods, the uprooted trees, and the damn-that-blasted-Meralco- shetwalaparinkamingkuryentehanggangngayon - that I'm starting to get annoyed by all of it. Of course it helps that I didn't get flooded, our mango tree just ALMOST got uprooted, and belatmeronnakamingkuryentenungisangarawpa . Yes, I am evil, I know. On a more serious note, my heart does go out to all those folks who're still in the dark and swimming in rat piss up to now. And all those damned and double damned politicians have the gall to kill each other over charter change and election preparations. -------- I only recently discovered how fun it is to have a double deadline - double work, double effort to put into work, double things to supervise, double the number of errors in proof that I have to look for, and most of all, THE SAME salary. See? I'm having so much fun. Of course, this is just a two-time thing, but its really getting hard to juggle all those ta...