Anything is ART: from the clothes you wear to the food you eat to how you speak and express yourself. Join me in my movement to drive away negativity through art by discussing anything that echoes art in daily life.
“Haven’t you heard? I’m the crazy bitch around here,” declares the ever famous or infamous Blair Waldorf to Georgina in The CW's hit teen show Gossip Girl. I am now an official fan of the show after I rejected it in its first season saying it’s just another teen drama mechanized by Hollywood T.V. moguls. Little did I know that the show had some style and zing and the cast ensemble is ridiculously good-looking and talented.
The show is about the residents from the upper-east side of New York and this gossip central powered by today’s myriad of technology: cellphones, internet and other gadgets that keep you connected all the time. Elite teens, adults and people around them live lives full of fun and zest. Of course, as the title suggests, this show has generated a lot of backbitings, sex, lies and of course gossips. Critics are saying it’s too lewd or it’s over glamorizing the residents in upper Manhattan. Well, in fairness to the show, I think I have seen some improvement from the first season to currently, its third season. Characters are more matured and fleshed out and there has been a balance of bitchiness and blessed moral values. And the interconnection of stories? Preposterous at times but it’s a ton of fun. How can I complain?
I can say that although most of us are not inhabitants of the eternally energetic New York City, the show reflects our lives and how much time we sometimes consume discussing about other people’s lives. Enter the gadgetry we have today which aids us to communicate to almost anyone at anytime of any day. Social Networks are sprouting everywhere in the web and we are forever attracted to socialization that is why we always sign up to these sites. I myself have a Friendster, Flickr, MySpace, Blogger, Twitter and Facebook account and to think I was maybe one of the three unsociable people in High-school. Now, I am highly sociable and very expressive, thus, I have a plethora of social networks, mostly established in the web. These networks help me see more of the world and of course, contact my friends and family. Sometimes, hard for us to admit, we abuse the net by talking about other people and situations they are in. There are already so many victims of social network misuse. These felonies range from petty crimes such as posting something bad about a person on Facebook or something much worse like killing just for some comment posted on the web. I would like to think I have learned my lesson well from this and wish that we all use these hi-tech social systems for the good…but a little fun and gossip wouldn’t hurt now, would it? Then again, maybe yes.
Yes, contest all you want, but we are the gossip generation. With no epic war or no life threatening issues similar from past generations, we sometimes channel ourselves into anything that will not wrap us up in ennui. I myself had been caught up with my lies and deceit and had a fair share of backbiting and volcano-erupting quarrels. It gets tiresome in the end though. At the end of the day, all you really want is peace. After all, you blame others for ratting you out but at one point you’ve also told secrets you shouldn’t have. We are all the same. As long as we always reset our moral compasses then everything will be all right.
You might ask “Who is Gossip Girl?” In the show, Gossip Girl is a cute, little, bitchy voice over. During one episode, almost every character wanted to get even with her and take her down. But they then realized that they were Gossip Girl. The accumulation of all the gossips they’ve sent to Gossip Girl gave her a life of her own. So they all make up, make peace and make something more fruitful in their lives. Or so I would want to believe. And don’t you ever say that Gossip Girl is just a girl. Even G-Dragon from Big Bang proclaims “Pay attention please. I am GossipMan.” XOXO!
It is no longer a surprise that I adore the social network "Facebook." I am one proof that some people do get mature and become more socially capable and inclined. As a Filipino teacher in a small city in Vietnam called Dien Bien Phu, I really love to keep things in perspective in order for me not to get bored. I often say that the internet is our only true window to the world and I believe this statement's "significance" is incontestable. Every time I miss something from my life in the Philippines, I rely on the memories that keep me positive and happy.
Fortunately, with the advent of texting, calling, voice and video chat, and social networks, we are able to get the closest thing to being physically unified with our friends and family, people that matter the most in our lives. It is no wonder that me and my Pinoy friends here in Vietnam are in utter dismay as problems occurred in Facebook in the past two days. "We are doomed," I uttered exaggeratedly. But aren't we? I mean as I've mentioned a while ago, the net is our window to the world and as of this moment, Facebook has been my clearest window to the world. I just hope that Facebook will return to its sanity soon before we lose ours. I've resorted to using my old Friendster account and opened a Twtter account to channel all my need for connecting with people. Still, Facebook is special and is irreplaceable for me at of this moment.
"Breathe in. Breathe out," I mindset myself as I believe that soon enough, everything will be all right. After all, they say that when life closes a window, it opens a door. Or was that the other way around?
Today, March 30, 2009, we just found out that a co-worker and a friend was unfortunately one of the many people who died in the Naga accident last Saturday dawn. We, especially the ones who knew him at work, were utterly devastated that we keep on kicking and screaming inside, asking why he had to go. He was a good man and I say this not because he already passed away but because he truly was. I secretly praise him deep inside by saying “Thanks” and complementing about the meal he serves in the cafeteria. Manong Rey was a cook in the school I am working at. Now, it is so hard for me to fathom the fact that he is gone. Still, I am trying to placate the physical and emotional violence that I’ve witnessed and feel. I grieve for Manong Rey and those who died and I grieve with those families who were left behind. As they say, it is hard for the one who leaves but even harder for the ones who are left behind. I, of course, cannot fully feel the pain of those people but I truly sympathize for their plights.
At the same time, I search within and outside me reasons for this randomness. I find some but they are feeble and they don’t hold up to logic. I pray for all their souls. May God bless them, I know He will. Understanding this event is somewhat hard to accomplish. Then again these are the times when we are being asked by our Lord to trust than understand. I trust God. I trust that he has reasons we may someday know. I pray why but I don’t demand for answers. As Truman Capote best quotes it “There are more tears shed in answered prayers than in unanswered ones.”
I was supposed to name this article “Violence,” supposed to scold and yell at those reckless drivers endangering the passenger’s lives. But this I will not do today. I am too hurt. There will be a time of dressing-down but today I wish peace and serenity even with the presence of grief. Manong Rey, wherever you may be now, you are loved by everyone here and may you finally meet our creator in Heaven. Peace out!
Today has been a truly lazy yet fruitful day. I say lazy and not boring because my family and I did a couple of things together in breezy, non-physically exhausting ways which radiated repentance. These activities include eating less (really less), praying, and watching a special live mass on TV.
The mass, aired by ABS-CBN, was unique because it was filled with special testimonies and musical numbers by people from different walks of life. Today is a Good Friday, a particular day in the holy week—the faithful day when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Christians, true to its traditions and culture, were doing certain activities today like attending sober street processions, the ‘Way of the Cross’, a Passion play which is known as the ‘Senakulo’ and of course the remembrance of Jesus’ ‘Seven last words’. The testimonies were about those who have experienced the healing power of the Lord. A segment of the mass venerated on Christ’s last seven words on the cross. One portion caught my attention and it was about Jesus’ 4th words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Even my brother and I cannot understand why Jesus asked this. I told him perhaps it was not a sin to ask God for our misfortunes as long as we don’t blame him. And this was supported by a priest’s sincere sharing of wisdom.
I am not ashamed to say that tears ran down my cheeks as I listen to the priest's story. The said priest was asked by some people during a retreat about certain calamities in the Philippines which ended the lives of thousands of people. “Why has God forsaken them?” cried a man in a group. Soon enough, everyone in the group started raising similar questions. “I honestly do not have an idea. Don’t blame me,” the priest jokingly commented on the group’s nosy and blameful attitude.Nevertheless, the priest shared what he had to say about the matter. “We are not the only ones to ask this. Even Christ has asked this to God.” Possibly, it is at first difficult for us to accept painful events in our lives especially if we are struggling to be really good. If we lost all we had, can we still love Jesus? This question is perhaps difficult to answer that is why the priest said that we are called to pray for courage in loving God. Why courage? Because it is indeed a courageous act to love someone when we feel that love has abandoned our hearts. The priest also said that God has never forsaken anyone. He has only wished for the best even if it meant for the end of us or our loved ones. End in this case is physical for we all know that we can truly begin a new life after we die once we are reunited with Christ’s love.
Things happen for a reason even if we never know or discover them. In the end, love and sacrifice were justified as Jesus’ truly accepted his fate. This is supported with Jesus’ final utterance on the cross. “Into your hands I commit my spirit,” surrendered Christ to his Father. To surrender our lives to God is not an effortless task. That is why we should all pray for wisdom and strength to carry the cross that we bear. I pray that we will always find inspirations to help us carry the crosses that we ought to put up with in life.
High-school was a difficult time for me. It was a particular time that I felt genuinely alone. I felt I was too different from anyone else and I can feel other’s hatred and indifference towards me running through my veins. But knowing Christ made that notion false and void. This was fully confirmed as the priest recited a poem titled “Yahweh. Here.” I will try to recreate the thought of the poem since I cannot find it in the net:
“When I was lonely, tired and weak…when no one would listen and no one was there to comfort me…Yahweh, you were here.”
He was here when I thought ‘Jesus Nowhere.’ I look back at that time, especially that time I ate alone in the canteen and a guy ridiculed me in front of the others. I felt like crying that moment because no one was there to know I was hurt. But now I know I had someone that time. He truly was there, sitting beside me and listening to the aches, the tears and the screams of the heart.
Now, when I experience a cold and dark day, I just remember three words: Jesus. Now. Here. A blessed holy week to one and all!
Yesterday was indeed a concoction of bitters and sweets. Manong Rey, one of our cooks, (as mentioned in the blog entry named 'Peace. Please') died in the tragical Naga bus accident which brutally took the lives of 13 people. Three days after we have known this fact, we still feel a tinge of sorrow—perhaps this is an understatement. Nevertheless, life had to go on in the office and we did our job like before but we decided to spice things up a little bit.
Miss Maricris, our academic director was stunned by a message that her friend sent her. "I'm engaged," says her friend. Maricris was utterly astonished since that friend of her never had a boyfriend since birth. It was later found out that her friend was just pulling a stunt because it's April Fool's Day. Provoked, but in a graceful manner, Maricris decided to pull everyone’s leg as well, with the help of yours truly and Michael, our head teacher. The stunts include telling everyone in the electronic grapevine (a.k.a. the net) that she’s pregnant, telling Michael she lost her cherry, and telling an HR member how disappointed she was with the rumor the HR guy was spreading bout her. Hilarious. But all these are nothing compared to the ‘Rena stunt’ we cooked up. Rena, our assistant head teacher, has had troubles with her romantic relationships (Cough! If ever there was any. Cough! Cough!). She sort of channeled all her hurts with that one ‘special guy’ into another guy she met in through text messaging. And so, we machinated this act that will surely take her breath away…literally. Mission: to make Rena hate us and even cry (even for a few seconds). Accomplices: Me, in charge of telling Rena the ‘hideous’ secret about her text lover, Michael, the one who will back me up by adding side comments to the set-up and finally the Queen of Practical Jokes, Maricris (who thought of this plan (I’m giving out this information in case you people say we are very cruel, at least you know who to blame! Heehehehe!)). Maricris began the play by letting Rena sit at the center of a relatively small room and allowing her to settle down first. She started telling Rena that since the Lenten Season has begun, we needed to ask forgiveness, as Roman Catholics, to those people that we have hurt. “We are so sorry Rena,” added Maricris with innocent yet devilish eyes. “For what? Why?” remarked the bewildered Rena. Every accomplice started wiggling guiltily (of course this was just fine acting). “We actually…Umm…ordered…So Sorry…It was Mike’s fault!” I stammered (another fine acting). I then paused and gave her the bomb “Your special text mate (or text lover) was Arnold.” Now, Arnold was a staff at our school in charge with keeping our student’s room clean and he was also an on-call technician, electrician and repair man. Aside from the fact that Arnold already has a lover, everyone cannot imagine Rena and Arnold crossing each other’s path with a wave of awkwardness. Why awkward, you might ask. This is because Rena and her text lover (which now is presumably Arnold) had been exchanging “I love yous” and other diabetes-emitting sugary-lovey-dovey quotes and endearment. Suddenly, Rena was completely crestfallen. She looked at every one of us and then she began to cry. Her face morphed into a dreadful formation resembling that of a rotten cabbage (okay overstatement). What I’m trying to say is that she cried and we were sorry but it was so damn good (Forgive our being an ass). We immediately asked forgiveness to Rena, only this time truthfully. She smiled and then wiped her tears. Rena was fine with it; at least her text mate remained a mystery. For her, it was better that way.
Night came and we went to the wake of our dear Manong Rey. There, we shed tears and grieved for him but thanks to the small talk the priest gave, we were optimistic to live our lives again. We were reminded that time that these lives we have are not ours to keep forever. Life and death is and will always be a package; a package that cannot be separated by any force here on earth. This parcel comes in two and from the moment we are given life we are also given death.
As I munched the ‘Rosquillos’ (circular biscuits) and drank the juice when we were at the wake, it dawned on me that life is truly strange. Like the ‘Rosquillos,’ life and death is full circle everyone must complete. There is always a time for everything. Good times and bad times collide even everyday and we are forever in the sequence of laughs and tears. I just pray that we may find enough laughs and smiles to forget all our tears.
There are many rumors circulating that Britney Spears will extend her ‘Circus Tour’ here in Asia, specifically in Pinas. I'm a big fan and I would love to go and see her even if it will cost me thousands just to witness her lip-synching, panting and whoring out on stage. But then again, I changed my mind when I saw a video of her in her ‘Circus Tour’ singing 'Piece of Me' (one of my faves) in a cage. The dancing, excellent. But the lip-synching? Dang, Brit if you're gonna lip-synch anyways, do it well! But hell no she didn’t. She forgot some lyrics to the mock rap portion of the song! So, I said no, I won't see her.
However, if she does really come to the Philippines, (no pun intended for ‘Piece of Me’) I think I'll reconsider. I still want to see her! You see, I changed my mind about the whole thing (rechange actually (if there’s such a word!)).
Britney is not just a singer or dancer. She's an entertainer. In fact, I compare her to a tourist spot. Tourist spots like the ‘Taj Mahal’ or ‘Boracay’ doesn’t really have to do anything for you to be entertained right? Silly me. So Brit, bring your Circus to the Philippines and let's all have some fun!!!
