Marcus Can Blog

Lately, the news I read from the Sunday edition of The Philippine Star have been so full of negative items that I’d wonder why I’m still addicted to buying it regularly. It may have something to do with my recent obsession to write (i.e., blogs) more that I made it already a habit to read, read, and read no matter how unpleasant the news is. And for me, Sunday is just the perfect time to do just that.

More often than not, when I feel like I’m getting frustrated or depressed by what I’m reading I immediately scan the newspaper section with just one goal in mind – search for the comics section. And every time I see it I’d lazily spend time reading every strip and shut my mind away from the senseless current events. I would even sometimes think that the comics section has more depth in it rather than what they put in the headlines. Ti abi.

Among the comics I’d always read is Calvin and Hobbes. Reading it always fascinates me and it always put a smile on my face whenever I read Calvin’s role playing games or daydreams. I actually don’t know how I got to relate myself to it but most of the times I think that his imagination, frustrations and alibis appear to be the toddler equivalent of mine. I also like how he interacts with Hobbes who in his own world appears as a living individual but in fact is only a tiger stuffed toy. (Isn’t that schizophrenia, by the way?)

Oct 26 Philstar C&H strip.

I wasn't drawn towards the title, but I think it's a bit symbolic.

My fascination with this creation by Bill Waterson somehow stuck into my mind like some sublime Rock ‘n Roll message that allegedly dictates an act to its listeners. Proof of this came apparent when I passed by a book fair stall in our company. I was passing time and aimlessly looking at the books when I noticed a familiar cover just almost out of my periphery – it was a Calvin and Hobbes book. It’s a bit old but I got interested in it anyway. And just after a couple of minutes browsing its pages, I was like a credit-card-happy-wife; I bought the book (There’s Treasure Everywhere) on impulse and went away smiling as if I just made a killing from an auction.

And so tonight, it looks like CSI: NY may have to step aside. And maybe I’d try reading the book with Hobbes.

***

Well, since I’m now talking about the Philippine Star’s recent irritating content (I’m wondering though if they do anything about it but report), this Sunday’s edition has actually a lot of interesting stuff that I can’t help but re-read it on Monday and re-read it again today. Here are some of those worth sharing – both good and bad. Of course let’s start with the good news.

***

A Story from Francis J. Kong’s article, Feeling of Fear:

During Napoleon’s invasion of Russia he was accidentally separated from his men. A group of Russina Cossacks spotted him and began chasing him. Napoleon ran for his life and slipped into a little furrier’s shop on as side alley. Gasping for breath, he saw the furrier and asked the man where he can hide. The furrier pointed him to a pile of furs in one corner. Napoleon immediately crawled into it and the man covered him with more furs.

No sooner had he finished when the Russian Cossacks burst in the door, shouting “Where is he? We saw him come in.” They tore his shop apart, poked the pile with their swords but didn’t find him. Soon, they gave up and left.

Later Napoleon crept out from under the furs, unharmed, just as Napoleon’s personal guards came in the door. The furrier turned to Napoleon and said timidly, “Excuse me for asking this question of such a great man, but what was it like to be under those furs, knowing that the next moment surely be your last?”

Napoleon drew himself up to his full height appearing insulted and angry. “Guards, take this imprudent man out, blindfold him and execute him. I, myself, will personally give the command to fire!” he ordered.

The guards grabbed the poor furrier, dragged him outside, stood him up against a wall and blindfolded him. The furrier could see nothing, but he could hear the movements of the guards as they slowly shuffled into a line and prepared their rifles, and he could hear the soft ruffling sound of his clothing in the cold wind. He could feel the wind tugging gently at his clothes and chilling his cheeks, and the uncontrollable trembling in his legs. Then he heard Napoleon clear his throat and call out slowly, “Ready…aim…” In that moment, he entertained a feeling that he couldn’t describe welled up in him as tears poured down his cheeks.

After a long period of silence, the furrier heard footsteps approaching him and the blindfold was stripped from his eyes. Still partially blinded by the sudden sunlight, he saw Napoleon’s eyes looking deeply and intently into his own. Then Napoleon said softly, “Now you know.”

***

And here are some interesting tidbits:

*A bust of our national hero – Jose Rizal in case you forgot – is on a shrine somewhere in Juneau, Alaska. It was built in honor of the contributions of Filipinos in that community who in 1904 assisted in the installation of the first telegraph cable linking Juneau and Seattle. (From: What I saw in Sarah Palin’s neighborhood by Julie Cabatit-Alegre)

*Richard Gomez is now writing an article (this must be the first as far as I’m concerned) about photography. (From: What makes me click by Richard Gomez)

Yes, they do make grammar mistakes.

Frankly speaking, he’s got good shots but sadly, this article had a bit of grammatical error. And          knowing Lucy Torres as one prolific writer, she must have blurted out some curse in embarrassment after reading that. I’m quite sure though this is just an editorial fault.

*From Movie sets of evil, its author Scott R. Garceu, made a good article on instances (or coincidences) when actors and actresses of horror movies got into actual terrifying, if not deadly, incidents in their lives after shooting the film. Some that captured my attention are the cases of Bruce Lee, Jr. and Heath Ledger who both died even before their respective movies were finished. I guess it must have something to do with bad make ups? Hmmm.

Lastly, here is some of the bad news (pun intended):

*It’s been a number of weeks already that I’m trying hard to appreciate the articles of Joey de Leon. I know that he’s an artist – song writer, singer, painter, etc – like Jim Paredes. I’m therefore been expecting to read something worthwhile in his Me, Starzan column. I hate to say this, but it seems like I’m starting to see another Juliana Palermo – who sadly, wasn’t able to match her perfect curves with her writing style. I think it’s about time the editorial staff of Star convene and purge more sense from Mr. Joey de Leon. His recent article “Starzan Punta Ilog, Hugas Itlog!” isn’t just appropriate for Philstar’s niche.

*Whoever wrote “Baby can you drive my car?” – which unfortunately made it to Starweek’s front page – must have been cramming to get one good article that however good or catchy the title is, it failed to expound on the topic. And besides, I find the cover photo confusing versus the title. It shows two motorcycle riders with a background of a more motorcycles. I’m starting to suspect there’s trouble brewing among the editorial staff.

Last week, one of the training I attended discussed about job search. And one of the activities was for everyone to write on a card how they got to know our company and how they applied here. Some of the choices are: walk-in, wanted ads and networking (and others I can’t exactly remember). I was one of those who had my card written with networking. And surprisingly I was among the majority who had the same cards as well.

That activity was somewhat an eye-opener as when our instructor flipped the next page of the Powerpoint presentation it displayed the statistics of job search methods. Amazingly, the figure showed that more than 60 percent of successful job search (and eventually becoming hired) was due to referral from friends, colleagues, classmates, schoolmates, neighbors and some relatives. The rest of the methods are divided into the remainder of the pie chart.

Coming out of that session, I began to realize that no matter how busy we are, our network just had to be constantly visited or updated. From then on, I felt the need to open the communication lines – whatever the medium may be. I need to act fast before I become a no-one among my network and become the weakest or at least the faintest – i.e., not visible – among the link.

***

Thinking about my network, I compare myself to a spider that has been in hibernation. Now, I was all of a sudden awakened from my comfortable spot in the middle of the web. The hunger and urge to check on what has happened around so far kicked in. I need to see if some of the webs need repair, or if there are trapped insects that may be enough to serve as a meal.

The reason why I choose this analogy is because the spider and its web have elements that well reflect networking.

The webs are my connections to my contacts. And I’m pondering right now if there was any damage (albeit small) done due to my inactivity? Have I been too busy that led me to forget to check in on friends? Have they eventually took me out of their “favorites” list? Hopefully, it isn’t too late.

And of course, the insects in the silk trap may be considered as updates from friends, technological development on my field of study or even trends. It may even be job opportunities that my network has offered (yet ignored) to me.

Isn’t it now a good time to spin the web.

***

My recent obsession with Photography may therefore be considered as a blessing in disguise. Why? It pushed me to get active in one of my networks – i.e., multiply.com. It is right there where I get to learn some tips from enthusiasts who have spent time, effort and money to satisfy their craving for at least one nice shot.

So coming back to my multiply.com site didn’t just make me check on my contacts. Re-visiting it actually put a smile on my face when I saw the last photos I posted – prior to the Basic Photography class pics. And to let you know what these photos are, let me tell you another analogy:

Life Is Like A Bullet

Bullets have goals too. That is, for them to serve their purpose they need to be fired – come to think of it, they’ll be the only ones who won’t raise an eyebrow in front of Donald Trump when he says, “You’re fired!”

And to achieve that goal, the way into it must be identified.

Like people, some bullets are real…

..And some bullets aren’t. They are the posers.

Unfortunately, the posers in our midst do have the same ambition like us. Sometimes they may get in our way to reach the goal.

And sometimes, they may even have actually found the gate ahead of us just a step short of achieving the the main objective.

Sooner or later though, someone will find out all about him.

And when the real deal takes over, it will make it to the headlines.

Credit: Spiderweb photo by Jon Sullivan

I can’t think of a better title for today’s blog but this. It’s like any other hobbies I previously had that once I had my mind set on it I can’t help but fidget to satisfy the urge. I’ve seen myself before running around the house like in a CQB (Close Quarter Battle) setting. I’ve seen myself aim the fishing rod on an imaginary fish pond while I’m on the sofa. I’ve played with my wife badminton despite the low ceiling and short space at home. And right now, me and my IXUS are best buds.

Just after yesterday’s photography class closing ceremony, I’ve been seeing lots of things in a very different perspective already. It’s like one of those days when my mind is so full of things that I’d be walking almost absent-mindedly while simultaneously running several tasks at once – multitasking, that is, in geek terms.

And also since yesterday, that my addiction to shoot people, objects – both animated and still, scenery, etcetera cannot be denied. At one point, I actually caught myself talking with some of my colleagues but with my mind wandering around and wondering what angle can I shoot them to show their best side – not to be misinterpreted as if most of them hasn’t got one. Hahaha. Come to think of it it’s a challenge of some sort.

I also had the temptation to spend some extra time at the parking lot after work, with the intention to capture car trail lights. Good thing I still had some sanity (and self respect) to avoid it. Or I could have been seen suspiciously crawling on the parking ground with my IXUS mounted on the 3-inch tripod and pointed at the parking exit.

Reaching home didn’t help either. I entered the gate with my mind thinking about how the gate grills will appear in the morning. And upon nearing the door with my wife greeting with a smile, made me recall if portraits are meant to be captured with an evaluative or center-weighted metering mode – although I know that she’ll appear good whatever the setting is anyway. Ti abi.

That didn’t stop right there. As dinner time did not escape my “photo adrenaline” rush as well. Imagine a 5-year old kid appearing to help arrange the table with nothing but play in mind. I was like that. Last night the red table mats’ lines appeared as if begging to be shot. The buttered bread’s color and texture details just can’t be ignored. Of course, not shooting the mouth-watering pasta was just mortal sin that time. Fortunately, I was stuffed by the end of the meal that shooting the food morsels was spared.

The table mat on macro.

I don’t know when this photography interest revival will end. But for now I’m just full of ideas that if I’d be left alone even at the parking lot, I’d be very busy come rain or shine – although I prefer the latter. So to my friends, colleagues, web network contacts, please bear with me if I’d be speaking about f-stops, lighting sources, perspectives or resolutions in the next days to come. And lastly, expect me to be as pesky as a fly as I’d be all over you in the name of photography. Hahahaha.

Disclaimer. This blog by the way does not promise quality pictures – this one remains yet to be seen. Hahahaha.

***

Other evidences of being photo loco:

After dinner, despite my bulging and stuffed stomach, I pressed on with shooting my wife's cross-stitch yarns - much to her annoyance.

I ditched the brewed coffee over the instant Nescafe this morning just to see how the flames under the kettle will appear.

Never have I been so interested in cooking ingredients. This is an onion, right?

Me, loco?

I haven’t been pumped up and so ready to go since almost a month ago. Today, after a short stretch coming from bed and a short prayer for a good weather, I was like a child eagerly waiting to be picked up at the bus stop for a whole day of an exciting field trip.

A quick peek outside from the bedroom’s window, the reddish dawn sky gave me an immediate confirmation that today we’ll have much sun to exploit with for our photography activity. My wish was answered as quickly as a shutter can sharply capture a zooming F1 car. Now isn’t that photography-speak already?

Topics for today’s session are about exposure, shutter speed, exposure triangle and exposure meters just to name a few. And fortunately, despite the jargons and the technicality behind each topic, my tiny Canon IXUS 70 didn’t fail me. Every moment during the class, I began to discover further the capabilities of this small wonder. I began to suspect that it is an EOS in a small package. And as a matter of fact, I enjoyed using it during most of our activities, both indoor and outdoor.

So let’s get over with the chatter and more of the shutters. Here’s how my day went with the tiny “IXZY” – my IXUS’ pet name. The shooting did continue.

Note: some of the images below were post-processed – cropped and/or enhanced to remove noise brought about by settings in the manual mode. Other than these, everything else is approximately 95% of its original form – i.e., no heavy manipulation was done.

Mr. Benjie Rivera showing a student the point-and-shoot's useful features.

Slow sunny crossing. Abet with his "Beatles" walk.

Boulders by perspective.

Three elements. An experiment with lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is there a future in floral arrangement?

Wet and green. Dew drops captured during the morning photo shoot.

Green long leaves. Another experiment with foliage and lines as well.

Framed macro. Experiment with macro and vertical lines.

No wet umbrellas for today.

It started with one...

...and ended with three. All the coffee it takes to keep up.

Mr. Rivera's daughter/partner, Joyce, showing a student how to focus a shot using a DSLR.

Photographers do get hungry. A welcome food courtesy of my wife.

Well at least the time killer – that’s me – and at least with my camera. For today my enthusiasm with photography somehow led me to finally sign up for a basic photography class as part of our company’s livelihood/upskilling program.

It’s been awhile since I actually got so interested again with our Canon IXUS 70 – a point and shoot. And by friends’ and some of my colleagues’ standard, having one is already considered obsolete – one reason why I secretly kept my distance from it. Shhh. Another reason was because despite having much of the basic photography literature just within reach thru books (I’ve got a couple at home) and the ever trusty internet, I got tired of reading and sometimes the tips I got just doesn’t seem to make any sense. In short I got bored.

But having no other choice other than the gas welding session which I have already signed up for, I decided to give photography another chance. I tried again today if my fate with it will once again develop – pun not intended, I’m just taking digital photography basics. No more films.

The first day of the class with professional photographer Mr. Benjamin Rivera started late. But as he promised, he made up for it and from the time the session began I got so excited that I can’t remember dozing off despite some dragging moments in his lecture. I was either taking notes, or was tinkering with my IXUS trying to figure out what aperture, exposure value or focal length is all about. Of course, I shot several people with this tiny amateur’s weapon of choice – guilt free.

“A picture paints a thousand words”, is probably one of the famous clichés. So with this, I’m ending the text and will fill the blog void with my shots.

Mentoring

Should I get rid of my IXUS for this?

Result of my first photo shoot. (cropped)

Lighting technique demo.

Testing the sephia in the cafeteria.

My wife and I playing with the long shutter at home.

By the way, if my renewed enthusiasm with photography continues, I might once again be seen frequently on-line in my multiply.com account. And before I forget, I have several colleagues (contacts) whom I look up to. Check their multiply.com portfolio:

Dencio – http://dmbarbaira.multiply.com

Ronald – http://ronald1027.multiply.com

Abet – http://abet913.multiply.com

I have forgotten all about this issue that has created another stir among “majority” of the Filipinos led supposedly by our nationalistic and caring brethren here and abroad. But just as I was about stretching my yet sleepy self out of bed I heard it from the news again.

This is about the discrimination issue being raised when a comedy show somewhere in Europe featured a maid being made to perform an indecent act in front of his British master. This short scene once again made it to our national news; both print and broadcast. Everyone jumped in the bandwagon like ants smelling an open sugar container. Everyone called foul. And once again everyone called for an apology from the British.

This news is not new though. The recent one I can recall was when actress Teri Hatcher’s character made a remark questioning the credentials of Filipino doctors during one of the Desperate Housewife episodes. This one too angered “all” Filipinos. Some even rallied behind to have the show and Teri Hatcher banned here in the Philippines. Of course, do I need to mention that an apology was demanded from Teri Hatcher?

News such as this is like an irritating itch to me. I hate it but I’m amused with it as well. Why? Because most of us are quick to point out discrimination coming from foreigners but have totally forgotten that it has been actually happening here in our country. We’ve stereotyped people coming from the provinces and treated some with less respect.

If someone speaks with thick Visayan accent, most will call them Dong. I learned from a friend that this is an insult especially if used in Cebu – also a Visayan province. And not only that, most shows portray their household drivers, maids or sidekicks as Bisaya. We enjoy seeing them being slapped in both comedy and the dreaded telenovela shows. To everyone, having a thick Visayan accent is synonymous to being illiterate or ignorant. How rude.

So what are we going to do with it? I’m from Bacolod where most will immediately call one coming from there as Bisaya. Should I demand then an apology from the rest of the fair skinned, fluent Tagalog-speaking Filipino? Should I waste my time and effort to get my message across? Unfortunately, I just did. To tell you frankly, I don’t give a damn. Hence, unless we get our acts together here in treating the rest of our countrymen fairly, let’s not be surprised and stop feeling discriminated if foreign shows brand us as cooks, janitors, gasoline attendants, dog-eaters, fake doctors, fake nurses and illiterate sexy maids. Live with it.

 What do you think? Please vote.

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(This is my first poll in my blog. Another cool wordpress feature.)

***

Here’s what I read from yesterday’s Francis J. Kong article that made me relate it to my subject matter:

From the Albany Journal, 1890 comes this material…A true Christian never looks down on anybody, and yet this habit of looking down on the less fortunate acquaintances is common enough to make the following advice given by the Albany Journal to its young readers, very timely:

“Don’t look down on a boy because he wears shabby clothes; when Edison, the inventor first entered Boston, he wore a pair of yellow breeches in the depth of winter.

“Don’t look down on a boy because his home is plain and unpretending; Abraham Lincoln’s early home was a log cabin.

“Don’t look down on a boy because of the ignorance of his parents; Shakespeare, the world’s poet, was the son of a man who was unable to write his own name.

“Don’t look down on anyone; not just because some day they may outstrip you in the race of life, but because it is neither kind, nor right, nor Christian.”

***

Did you know that?

Recently I discovered some fascinating facts:

*There’s a book in the bible called Job. (from my mother who sent me a personal message for my Playing With God blog)

*A man named Expeditus did exist. And guess what, he is the now the saint for people with urgent cases. (seen among the statues inside the humid Dasmarinas church)

The welcoming bright morning sun today seems to have little or no help at all to keep the bleak news from coming out of The Philippine Star newspaper into our breakfast table.

“US recession looms” is today’s headline. And what follows on the next articles and pages are just as frustrating if not scary. “Layoffs spreading across corporate America”,”RP flunks US think tank’s corruption indicator, loses new funds”. Switching to CNN didn’t help fan out the negativity either. It just brought more stories about people expected to be jobless and horrible stories of starvation and hopelessness in Zimbabwe.

These somehow gave me a guilty feeling while we eat breakfast in front of the TV and with me silently counting off another Sunday of being employed. How self-centered can I get when other people faces far more serious problem than I currently have.

Just after several minutes of scanning the papers and watching the news, I realize how still lucky I am to have brewed coffee, fresh hot pan de sal and another perfect omelet courtesy of wifey. That moment someone from the USA is being evicted out of his hard-earned home for not being able to pay it. And much worse, a lot of people in Zimbabwe are thinking where they’re going to get potable water in the next few hours. Others might even just die trying to find one. Literally.

Well that’s just how sad the reality is nowadays. Being jobless is the “IN” thing. Starvation is inevitable. Bankruptcy is as frequent as before. In short, let’s face it, the world is in crisis.

And being in crisis, I can’t help but wonder if the values I personally believe would remain as is. The dilemma roaming inside my head just can’t be ignored.

Will I still have the same morals in which I’ve come to practice?

Will I still continue with my advocacies such as anti-piracy and environmentalism?

Will I still strive to do my best to drive with courtesy in mind?

Will I still continue to use the pedestrian lane?

Will I still refuse to bribe cops and government employees?

These are just actually few of the questions that have lately come into consideration. Someone said before that during the worse situations our true character comes out. And so with this I will commit that I’m standing by with what I value the most. The answer therefore to some of the questions I have will be, Yes.

Yes, I will continue…

…To respect my parents and elders. I will still be around to look after them. I will call them as often as I can even if that means that I have to stop sending nonsense SMS to friends to save on prepaid load.

…To respect and be courteous and rational in treating cashiers, janitors, saleslady, waiters, drivers and other blue-collared employees who offer their services to me. Who knows, I might be working with them soon.

…To say no to piracy no matter how hard the urge to buy these things in the name of saving (at the expense of other people).

…To be courteous in the road. And avoid…or at least try not to honk my horn unnecessarily. (This is another topic deserving another blog entry. I can see wifey smiling.)

…To cross the road using the pedestrian lane even if I’m in a hurry for a job interview.

…To reject the temptation to deal with any form of fixers even if this means delaying the start up of my small business.

Right now it may be easier said than done. But also right now, I’m saying it out loud as my commitment. As much as I hate fair-weather friends, I hate having fair-weather values.

How about you?

dilemma...

I was born with a very pious mother and I can very well remember how much we’ve been taught about religion. And as I’ve mentioned before, I was in a catholic school from elementary grade to high school. Praying had been a part and a way of life for us. So from my mother at home to the nuns and brothers at school, the reminder “Thou shall not use God’s name in vain” echoed.

It may sound blasphemous to most devote catholic but I think that always considering God as a very serious god could sometimes ruin our relationship with him. How many times have we heard and seen people (including our self) get so upset with what has happened and immediately points the blame to God. Most get so uptight in situations– no matter how minor – wherein we feel that God is testing us if we can maintain a resolute faith despite facing a trial at some point of our lives.

But have we really ever wondered if God tried playing with us? Yes, just like having a known strict parent who for no reason at all grabs one of your toys and just try to be really playful with you. Well, I do really wonder right now.

It all started yesterday; when by the afternoon I decided to wash our car when I saw that chances of having rain is already nil. I did the washing in a very diligent manner and I wiped the car dry just short of getting it polished and shined. I was tired and sweaty when I finished the whole thing and was so proud of what I have just accomplished. Unknown to me, just an hour after, rain poured hard like a bad joke coming from the heavens.

After a couple of seconds of being offended, I ended smiling. Why? Because I had this funny imagination that God must have been staring down at me and was observing me the whole time I was washing the car. I feel like he was trying to have some light moments with me to break the series of serious yet silent “discussions” with him for the past several days already.

That short and witty moment got me thinking until I went to sleep late that night. It added another “What if God….” questions in my mind. It opened a new perspective of how God can communicate to us. I think that sometimes it may help a lot if we view God in a different aspect from what we’ve been taught about him. Sometimes to make his presence known to us, he sets aside (maybe) being serious. And sometimes we need to consider that he may be trying to reach out to us in a lighter way. This way, it lightens the burden we experiences and through this, we communicate to him more candidly and it creates a more effective way of discussion – in the form of prayer, of course.

The questions now linger. What if God wants to play with us? How do we deal with it? Will our short temper flare? What if a divine clean joke may be what we need to improve our relationship with the one we’ve always known as God? Are you game?

***

I got a forwarded email from one friend today and required me to forward it to 10 persons. Guess what it is? If you answered spam, give yourself a pat at the back. It reminded me of my Chain Game blog.

***

The frequently used words for me lately are God, jobs, baby, food, money and yes, also “words”. So I’m once again amused to find out when I saw that Monday’s AWAD (A.Word.A.Day) had this:

epeolatry – noun: (ep-i-OL-uh-tree) The worship of words.

I’m imagining someone kneeling in front of the word, WORD. Now that’s just weird. But weirder is Tuesday’s AWAD entry:

univocalic – noun: (yoo-niv-uh-KAL-ik) A piece of writing that uses only one of the vowels.
adjective: Using only one vowel.

And also included in that daily mail is this: “CONTEST: Imagine you are a headline writer for a newspaper back in the days when metal type was used. You have run out of all but one of the vowels in the large type size that is used for the headline. What univocalic can you come up with? Email your univocalic news headlines (real or made-up) to (words at wordsmith.org).
Selected entries will be featured in the weekly compilation AWADmail and the best entry will win an autographed copy of my latest book DORD. Deadline is Friday Oct 17“

I was so eager to try my hands on this contest and I was surprised how easy it can get. Here are some of my own headline creations for each vowel:

A.

Man And Angst = War.

E.

Sheep Herd Entered Cells. Press’ News Went Berserk.

I.

City Inn Hid Tiny Mic. Irks Indy Kid.

O.

Moon Got Odd. Only Old Owls Hoot.

U.

Gypsy’s Hut Shuts. Urn Put Up.

Oh, before I forget. I sent one of the made-up headlines above. I want that DORD book. So please make your own headline in case you want it too. Do not copy.

I’ve been one of the subscribers of wordsmith.org and last week’s theme has been quite interesting. Last week is about words that surprisingly refer to something you thought never existed. The words are so new that even MS Word 2007 does not recognize it; hence the red crooked line underneath it when typed. Here’s a couple:

hypergelast – noun: (hy-PUHR-ji-last) One who laughs excessively (like me?)

skeuomorph – noun: (SKYOO-uh-morf) A design feature copied from a similar artifact in another material, even when not functionally necessary. For example, the click sound of a shutter in an analog camera that is now reproduced in a digital camera by playing a sound clip.

serein – noun: (suh-RAN [the second syllable is nasal]) Fine rain falling from an apparently cloudless sky, typically observed after sunset.

This week’s theme is getting more interesting – Words about words, it’s like work about work, which reminds me…

Working for the unemployed

I learned some time last week that there are actually jobs that cater to the unemployed or soon-to-be unemployed. Now how cool is that job especially now that the U.S. economy is on a rapid decline. And out of my wild thoughts, I came up with some other jobs that may thrive during this economic slump:

1. Psychologists (or shrink) that help people recover from one career transition to another.

2. Lawyers who assist to employees’ case.

3. Plastic products manufacturer. They cater from cling wraps, bubble packs and other packing materials to safe keep machineries in warehouses. I believe they also make hard hats.

4. Paper manufacturers. Do termination papers and envelopes sound familiar? Yes they make those.

5. Paracetamol manufacturers. These days to come will surely be headache days.

6. Bloggers. I rest my case.

7. Hobby and Sports shops. With some severance pays coming in just like winning lotto, flocks of new-unemployed person will come in throngs to check what’s for them to kill time while on a job hunt. Hmmm…I think I need new badminton rackets this time…

Last Smashing Tournament

“Smashing”, huh!?…At least I’d like to believe so but it wasn’t the case though.

Also last week, we joined what seems to be the last badminton tournament for our company. No wonder most were smashing their way to victory. It was like seeing pent up energies turned into the form of whipping racket hits. Although I had my own reserved energies supposedly to be unleashed during the game, my partner and I fell short of expectations and got smashed instead.

We’ve been playing for quite some time but not as partners in men’s doubles game and to mention that we’re placed in level B (reasons, reasons). Additionally, I paid the price for my 3-week layoff from badminton. We just did not have the chemistry; we did not have the play; and we got in the zone too late to win a game. But don’t get me wrong, as surprisingly we enjoyed the later part of the matches despite losing twice in a row. Next time we will do better. We promised to play under the “BUM” team. Is 365 days of practice, enough?

The next day of the tournament was better. My partner played again, this time in mixed doubles game. They played well enough that they scored a couple of points higher than the other team by the middle of the first game. Unfortunately, the game pressure took its toll and both committed more errors as the game progressed. The other team eventually won. Good thing that the second game was another story. They soon found their coordination and that made them win it. Not bad. After all, I was their self-proclaimed coach. Hahaha.

Level A flight? My colleagues in action.

Baptismal…by Rain (Duh!)

Thursday. I commute to work on my motorcycle. Unfortunately, when the time came for me to head back home the sky went dark and the threat of rain soon became a reality – my first time to get caught while on a motorcycle. I was almost soaked by the middle of my trip and the laptop in my backpack forced me to seek shelter. While waiting for the rain to stop, I was unconsciously having flashbacks of days when times like this don’t seem to matter. As long as we’re with our bikes, sunny days and rainy days seem to be just the same. I miss the carefree days when we’d be racing in the rain and bunny-hopping puddles oblivious to the dangers such as riding without a helmet or any other body protection. Back then it was just our bikes and us, no worries. No pain, no gain.

Safety is an alien word.

 Star Toll way

Noon time?

Will Max's chicken taste better here?

Sta. Rosa Exit

Believe it or not, this is South Luzon Expressway.

That Friday wasn’t made to be SSDD. After dropping Noel and Lani back in Sto. Tomas, we took another route home to Cavite. I’ve had enough of bad roads and I actually won’t mind another long drive as long as I know the way. So we took the Sta. Rosa exit instead of Carmona – this one has been in construction for a couple of months already and even to those familiar with it may seem dangerous especially at night.

Segment of Carmona Road. Road repair almost invisible at night. Beware.

Somewhere in the middle of our trip and while tuned in to Magic 89.9’s Friday Magic program, I heard a familiar name greeted by another familiar name. Hahaha. My wife sent an SMS greeting for me over the radio. I always find that sweet and that seems to keep my cool while driving. She’s done that several times actually but at a random interval which surprises me every time.

The last time we passed the Sta. Rosa route was more than a year ago and we had our cute Kia Pride that time. Nothing has changed so far but at least it’s better than keeping my eye open for road under repair signs (or the lack of it) in Carmona. An obvious improvement though is noticeable right after we reached Tagaytay. Now, at least large parts of the road have a dividing line between two lanes. Years ago, one has to drive with wide eyes open and lights in full beam to “survive”. At least, some of our public works officials finally (!) acted upon this problem. I’m just wondering though who (or how many) got into an accident for this to happen. I just hope he’s a politician.