everyone's got to start somewhere

You don't need to be a musician to appreciate good music. Neither do you have to be a photographer to take quality pictures.

With that in mind, you don't have to be a writer to write something good.

I just realized, while browsing my Instagram feed, that I've got several friends who are really talented. There's my friend, The Average Snapper (who I recently bumped into at the mall), who takes really good pictures - on a budget. No fancy stuff, no high-end-enthusiast-techie sh*t, just good pictures.

Then there's Super Giles, who writes short prose that are either witty, thought-provoking, or just plain funny, along with the pictures that he posts.

This one below is one of my favorite shots from The Average Snapper. (I just realized how hard it is to post a blog on iOS so just bear with me.)

lol sorry

I apologize for the rant that I've posted earlier today. Haha... I'm not deleting it though.

Anyway, to get rid of the negativity, I'd like to commend my phone for being on it's second day on a single charge. Woot! I never knew that was possible.

Keep it up and I'll never want to replace you.

publicity is publicity

Crap! I am notoriously popular for all the wrong reasons. Haha.

Don't worry, I don't really mind.

damaged ego

You can never be knocked off a pedestal if you don't put yourself on it. It's as simple as that.

Once you get the idea, no amount of humiliation or embarrassment can ever bring you down. We may not agree at first but it is true that one's honor and dignity is best protected with humility.

It's hard to live by this, I know. But these are the facts that we need to accept to make ourselves better.

Whenever you feel embarrased, just be humble, dust yourself up, and move on.

bad decisions

We all know that we don't think clearly when we're emotional.

Earlier today, on my way to work, I saw a very unruly driver who kept swerving and cutting cars off. I noticed him because he once tried to cut me but failed. After trying it for a second time, he was able to get ahead of me. However, for some reason, he kept changing into the wrong lanes and I would go past him again as he got stuck behind a jeepney or a car making a turn. He would then speed up again, swerve, and cut cars to catch up. I know that he wasn't in any emergency because he didn't have his hazard signal on. I think he was just really impatient.

Having a defective car horn, I've trained myself to become a defensive driver. Every time I encountered him, I just let him overtake me. I just kept thinking that maybe he really needs to do a number 2.

Unfortunately for him, not all drivers think like me. So, after I let him get in front of me, he changed lanes and tried to cut off a van upfront. He was able to do so but he did it wrong and he almost hit the van. Because of this, the van screeched to a halt and we drove past it. Now this is where it got exciting. I was in between them so I saw all the action. As it turned out, the driver of the van was also hot-headed. I was watching from my rear-view mirror as the van sped up and recklessly tried to catch up with us. Of course I gave way because I wanted to see what he was up to. The van was able to catch up with the car and he was provoking the other driver by either driving too close or by trying to cut him off at high speed. He did that twice. On his third try, something went wrong. He miscalculated and actually hit the side of the car. I knew this because I almost got hit by the debris that came off of the car. At that point, they were still at it, provoking each other, and I was like cheering "Woooot!" It was like watching a car-chase scene from an action movie. I wanted to see what will happen next but unfortunately, I was already near my turn and I'm already late for work.

I don't know what happened to them but I do  hope they both learned their lessons. We are most likely to do stupid things when we are emotional.

Now, come to think of it... Based on recent surveys, we were ranked as the most emotional country. Is it also possible that because of this, we also rank high in doing really stupid sh*t? Hmmm... It would make sense though.

penny is poison

"blushing a cue for her falsities
advantage is my only masterpiece"

Sometimes we think that we understand the people close to us. Every time they show their vulnerabilities, we think that we know better and that it is our job to help them out. We sympathize and we analyze. We know that we've got things figured out and we have the solution.

"penny is poison but I don't mind"

We act on good intentions. We extend our knowledge, our opinions, our assistance... for we're sure that what we have to offer is what they need.

"gardening malice for murderers
flushes to me are the weeds to her"

But in reality, we don't. We're just intruding, feigning empathy and judging. We force unto them our ideas. We talk but we don't listen. We blame them for not doing the things that we believe is right. We reprimand and express disappointment - never thinking that we are just fueling a flame that causes irreversible damage.

"starving the love of the marvelous
I was the penny to previous"

The outcome we've expected doesn't come. We give up but we don't back down. In our minds we still believe that we hold the solution and that what we're doing is right. We didn't do anything wrong.

And we don't realize what we're really doing until somebody else do it to us.

"We know who we are."

Yes, we know who we are.

* * *


Each good song can have several different interpretations. Although the words that make it up have definite meanings, the totality of it can mean absolutely anything. We, as individuals, are all like the words that make up a song. We know who we are as a person, but once put together, we don't really have a clue what we have formed. We don't really know what we have become together. It may be something good, it may be something subliminally destructive, or it may just be plain nonsense.

You may have an interpretation based on how you relate to it, and I may see it differently.

The Verve Pipe - Penny is Poison

purpose of [this blog’s] being

Everyone loves it when other people read their blogs. I admit that I do too. It may not seem like it but I like the attention that I’m getting from it even if it’s coursed through a static webpage.

However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that I like to talk about what I write. The reason why I keep a blog is because sometimes I feel much more comfortable offloading my emotions on a webpage rather than talking about it with friends and family. Some things are just better off un-discussed (if there is even such a word). Besides, if I wanted a discussion, I would have gone with Facebook. Nothing there gets by unnoticed.

So, if you are reading this, please do continue reading my posts or come back whenever you feel like it. Don’t ever feel obliged to check up on me every time I post something weird, emotional, or even creepy because it’ll just be very awkward for the both of us. You can tell me however that you read my blog often and that you admire my really complex mind and that I’m really such a praise-worthy person and all that. Haha... just kidding.

prolonging the inevitable

I've just nominated a colleague for a very prestigious award. It wasn't like me to do that because I usually think of myself first. I would usually say that it's me who should be nominated for such awards. As I was composing my nomination letter, a realization suddenly struck me. I grasped that I'm no longer motivated to be the best at what I do.

It has been like that since the beginning of 2011. I have been telling myself that I will pick up my pace again, hopefully, before the year ended. Unfortunately, that did not happen.  I wasn't able to recover from my 'series of unfortunate events.' And I don't think I will anytime soon.

Maybe my motivation will no longer return. Maybe it is time for me to quit and start anew somewhere else. Or maybe I should just stop thinking.

a material world

During Christmas, you can tell who among your friends are materialistic… thanks to Facebook and Twitter. Immediately after checking my feeds, I was reminded of why I’m not a fan of social networking sites. I read 5 almost consecutive posts about the wonderful… insert really expensive gift here… that my friends received. At first, since I’m only human, my reaction was to be bitter, saying “Braggarts!” out loud (in our local dialect, of course.) But then, after calming down, I asked myself if maybe these friends were just too thankful for what they got and they want the whole world to know how appreciative they are.

Hmm... Yeah, right.

What say you? If by publicly announcing your gratitude for the new high-end and still-expensive iPhone 4s or the new top-of-the-line SUV you’ve received, are you really thankful? Or do you really just:

• want your friends to be jealous?
• want to satisfy your need to appear financially superior than others?
• insensitive of other’s feeling?
• all of the above.

I'm not bitter. Really.

i.o.u.

You’ve always kept your part of the bargain. You’ve proven time and time again that you always had my back. But sometimes, somehow, doing what you are supposed to do wasn’t enough for me. It’s unfair, I know, and it’s me that’s the problem. I let my insecurities get the best of me. No, you didn’t do anything wrong – I just purposely look away when you do things right. I leave the equations unbalanced and then rub it to your face. And I am sorry.

In time I will learn how to fix this flaw. I just hope that my realization isn’t too late.

Until that time arrives, I will owe you.

i am intelligent

This article claims that Facebook appeals mostly to non-thinkers – or “dullards” to quote it. Based on a study that the authors conducted, they were able to see a relationship between an individual’s “need for cognition” and their Facebook usage. The people who used the social networking site more had lower interest in learning. Since I barely use social networking sites, I couldn’t agree more with the article.

Because I don’t find socializing fun, I can classify myself as a high-NFC (need for cognition) individual, which I think, makes me smart. Haha…

And my logic just disproved that.