Marcus Can Blog

Is It Still Christmas?

Glowing Santa hat, Santa Claus

“Make every day of the year Christmas” and “Christmas is in our hearts” are just a couple of Christmas cliches I’d always remember. In the past years of being an adult, bringing back the same feeling of how it was celebrated during my childhood seems to be getting more impossible with each passing year. These recent days, I yearn for innocence and simple joys that this season should bring.

I still remember my excitement when I was a kid the moments I’d hear Christmas carols playing over the radio which is usually when the “ber” months begin. There’s always anticipation that “Joy to the world” or ”Ang pasko ay sumapit” will once again be heard right after the last week of August. Always the case back then. This is how we Filipinos are known for: having the longest Christmas season. Most tourists and other people from other countries are fascinated by the fact that even in September, Christmas decors are starting to be seen in homes here in the Philippines.

But not for me. I actually didn’t care about putting one up for years already. I seem to have come to accept that times have indeed changed. Since I started working, I’ve surrendered to the unavoidable fact that sometimes Christmas will be spent at work. I’ve likewise accepted that Santa never did exist; that some ninongs and ninangs do intentionally hide from their godchildren; that as we grow old, the chances of getting toys as gifts are fading; and that Christmas after all is just for kids. A few more years and maybe I’d soon find myself as a certified Grinch.

So why am I starting to fret about wanting to feel Christmassy once again? That’s because I want our baby boy to experience it just like we did when we were kids. It’s funny but looking at his wide innocent eyes peering out of the window and being awed by the twinkling of the multi-colored lights makes me mushy and brings me back in time about three decades ago. It looks like those clear baby eyes are silently questioning why everyone is in a hurry; why there are fake pine trees everywhere; why there are groups of kids outside singing jolly carols; and probably why there is Christmas in the first place.

First exchange gift — Our son’s first time to exchange gift.

***

Today, on our way to Batangas, instead of playing his usual Barney CDs I tried scanning the radio stations in search for Christmas songs. To my dismay, none of my preset stations played any of the tunes. All I got were every genre but Christmas carols. And to think that it’s December 25th worsens my disappointment. The spirit of the season isn’t on air already – not until the radio’s auto-tune stopped at 100.3 RJ FM.

The station is playing 48 hours of Christmas music. It cheered me up in an instant. And although I can’t confirm that our baby boy did appreciate it as well, I’m just so glad that at least one station still dedicated two days just for Christmas music. I know the memories of hearing these will embed in the mind of our baby for his first Christmas ever.

Now I still wonder, is it still Christmas? Or did Christmas fade after some of us completed the 9-day misa de gallo; after all the Noche Buena have been eaten; and after all the gifts have been opened? Hopefully, it’s still Christmas…

100.3 RJ FM carols,Christmas songs — The effect of RJ FM’s Christmas songs.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Christmas In All Perspectives

Just as Christmas brings a lot of emotions, activities, gifts, spiritual enlightenment and almost all other sort of things that the past eleven months failed to have, I realized that it would be a pity if one just look at one aspect of this yuletide season. When we consider everything there’s always the chance to see both the good and bad. We’d appreciate the good, learn and move on from the bad.

The lyrics from the song Santa Claus is coming to town “He sees you when you’re sleepin‘, he knows when your awake, he knows if you been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake…” is a good reminder that December is the perfect time to check if we’ve been good or bad all right. Sadly, while some of us are reflecting if we have been good or bad, the latter still continues to be around during this time of the year and sadder than that, it may even occur in the midst of our holiday preparations despite good intentions.

Like some doctors say “I have a bad news and a good news, which one would you like to hear first?” I’d say, give me the bad news first.

Bad news

Road traffic. Everyone has experienced this I’m sure. Whether in a public transport or in the comforts air-conditioned car this scenario is inescapable—unless you’re one of those shameless politicians. It’s during this traffic jams that each driver’s (and some passengers) temperament and courtesy is tested. Often times this is when all yuletide cheers seem to just vanish into thin air. And more alarming lately are drunk driving incidents. These drivers for sure won’t get any more Jack Daniels from Santa.

Long queues. As if after driving from a long tiring trip to the mall isn’t enough, there are more jams waiting inside the shopping areas. Once again, this is when and where courtesies and patience are put to the test. Observing any long queue, one will most likely chance upon someone with Christmas gifts seen smiling at the end of the line but ends up like Grinches when they reach the cashier.

Trashes. I was so glad when I read from the Philippine Star about a reminder coming from Greenpeace (if I’m not mistaken) for everyone to put the environment in mind when planning for their respective Christmas parties. Remember: reuse and recycle. It also won’t hurt to use some common sense when disposing garbage properly. Let’s not piss Santa Claus so much that we’ll soon find our own trashes stuffed inside our yuletide socks instead of gifts.

Recession season. As the rest of the people are anticipating a merry Christmas and a happy new year, others are bracing for the impact of the economic slump which has affected the U. S. Its effect has rippled through the rest of the world already and one of the unavoidable outcomes is the number of layoffs by corporations from all industries. One of the giant employers affected by such is Intel and as a matter of fact several of my colleagues and friends will be jobless by next year (I myself almost lost my own but thankfully I made a U-turn after I applied and got hired for a vacant position). There’s nothing more I can do now but hope their transition and recovery would be quick.

Whew! The list can go on. Does this mean Santa will have lots of checking to do and will have lesser recipients this year? Anyway, I’m not wasting more precious time so this time let me tell the good news.

Good news

Time to give. This is I guess is the key to enjoy the Christmas season. Actually it’s the main reason why there’s Christmas to be celebrated after all. Remember the bible verse “For God so love the world that he gave his only begotten son”? And do you still remember the Three Kings who endured a long and dangerous trip to pay baby Jesus a visit in the manger? These all show that the essence of this season is all about giving. It’s all about sharing. No more, no less.

On my part, especially for this year’s holiday season, the presence of our baby boy must have an effect on how I give gifts. My long standing plan to go green by reusing what I have at home and to put some creativity to good use finally came true. Last year, I started saving the comic sections of the dailies as I see it as a good alternative for Christmas wrappers. I also pay extra attention to tips on TV, newspapers, or magazines that may put some personal touch to the way we give. And so this year, I have already given a couple that I’m proud of.

The first one was when I was cramming for gift ideas for my father’s 75th birthday. After combing SM Bacolod, back and forth, I bought a small cheap plastic Ace Hardware tool box, a silver ribbon and a birthday card from National Bookstore. At home, I wrote in the card and placed some “Ninoy” bills inside the tool box and sealed it off with a lovely ribbon with the help of my wife—presto, a unique gift indeed. Goodbye boring red envelope.

How to wrap a book, Book in a bottle — Book in bottle.

The second one was a gift for our team’s Christmas party. Wondering how I’d hide any hint that it is a book, I arrived at the idea of putting it inside an empty 6-liter PET bottle. Then I stuffed shredded newspapers and wrapped the clear bottle with another newspaper. In the end it appeared more like a bomb than a harmless gift. Well, at least she got what she put in her wish list.

Tonight, we’ll have our own simple exchange gift giving at home. It will be just my wife, our 8-month old boy and myself. I don’t know if they’d like what I did, but then again as the cliché goes, “it’s the thought that counts.” Hahaha. Looks like a good excuse for having crappy gifts and wraps.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Our first Christmas family pic — Our family is now complete.

***

Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Writer’s Block Hits

The most feared writer’s block hits me. I’m beating all the odds just to make time to write and it’s also as if I’ve got all the reasons not being able to come up with a regular post.

For one, there’s the baby who has gotten most of our attention, not to mention suck out our energies. There’s also the mysterious hectic schedule at work—despite the economic slowdown, decrease in demand, people separation, and the upcoming shutdown—that continues to take a large chunk of my time. Lastly, there are also several parties to attend to and the booze that goes with each of it dilutes every blogging ideas and replaces it with a bad hangover.

The irony is that while most of these reasons are sources of overwhelming ideas to write about, everything ends up with a mind full of bright light bulb moments yet none ever gets published. It’s like an intersection of late employees eagerly wanting to drive through it and in the process collide with each other thereby causing a more chaotic and hopeless traffic jam.

But tonight, our baby who has become more energetic and more entertaining with each passing day somehow runs out of steam. It must be the cold December breeze outside or it may be because of the hot bath I gave him. No matter what made him hit the sack early, this is opportunity to write. I’m so desperate to purge those ideas that have been raring to get out of my nutshell.

Writer’s block reminds me of two people. One is Jim Paredes who in his article in the Sunday (Dec. 7, 2008) edition of the Philippine Star wrote Why I Write (also appears on his blog). Another is Saedel Pensoy who I incidentally happen to know after reading his comment on one of Jim Paredes’ blog.

In his article Jim said, ”But sometimes, “constipation” traps the thoughts, feelings and words in the deep bowels of the mind. The more one tries to write, the harder it seems to produce output. And that can be worrisome when one has a weekly deadline…” Then he added, ”And yet, one must write, not because of a deadline or the pay, and not because, like the analogy of the toilet ritual, it can be toxic to keep it all inside. I write because I am one of those cursed people who have been awakened to writing and have been enlisted to do so…”

These are my exact sentiments, Jim just had it in writing. Mine became a bad case of writer’s constipation—for the lack of a better word.

Unfortunately, Jim’s recovery didn’t infect Saedel. Just like me, I find Saedel a writer and blogger in progress. When I learned about his site, I kept on coming back to read his posts. And from it I saw how he has improved a lot in almost every aspect of writing. At some point he even decided to monetize his blog and everything went spontaneous from then on. Not until he wrote 10 Drafts and a Focus. When I read it I knew he’s having the most hated writer’s block. And like helplessly watching a friend die, I soon witnessed its last entry. Currently, the site has become an attraction for spam commenters. I can’t help but hope that he has moved to another blog provider and continued what he does best.

***

Time really flies so fast when I’m in front of the PC. I checked and I’ve been here thinking and typing for a couple of hours already. HBO’s rerun of Mr. Bean’s Holiday has ended and another movie is almost halfway through. My second shot of my night cap has evaporated. Good thing that our baby boy is still sleeping. Tomorrow is the start of our two-week vacation and if time permits, I’d sure be glad to blog some more. Maybe.

Marcus peeks — I’ll be right here when you’re done…”

***

Mood: 5/10 Honks!

Filipino Pride

This is another time I will deviate from my blog rule of not jumping to the bandwagon. I’m so sure that after watching the boxing match between the Golden Boy and the Pacman, the internet is abuzz with the result of the recently concluded match. I can count right now things that boxing enthusiasts might be doing at this very moment—there are just two.

With his English also improving, will the victorious Pacman eventually join WordPress?

The Golden Boy has lost his glitters.

Some might still be reeling from the unbelievable (yet, predictable somehow) ending of the De La Hoya and Pacquiao fight. Mexicans in general I’m sure are disappointed that another of their boxing hero has fallen into the hands of the Filipino sensation and needless to say, most Filipinos are celebrating another victory that our homegrown hero, Manny Pacquiao, has once again stood against all odds and let his hands do the talking inside the famous MGM arena.

On the other hand, there might be another good thing that I’m quite sure of is that whatever camp one is in, and either one is celebrating or lamenting, the chances of being with a beer and a couple of friends to be with is just high. Unfortunately, I’m in no position to be in that kind of scenario right now. I wouldn’t trade any celebration besides one at home with my wife and baby and watch the fight live on TV courtesy of our Barzaga friends – Congressman Pidi and Mayor Jenny.

Efforts by Barzaga — Another “effort” from our Congressman, Pidi and wife, Mayor Jenny Barzaga.

I realized that this is the second time in a row I’ve enjoyed watching live boxing feed (last one was between Pacquiao and Morales) and both of which were sponsored by these friends. I can’t seem to think what to make out of it except to enjoy the free live feed, as the efforts of our friends don’t actually come free after all. I know for a fact that to watch this match live means that some sort of amount of money had to be shed. And that money might have been spared at the expense of our town’s road improvement and/or maintenance. It’s pathetic, but then again who knows Dasmarinas will produce more Filipino pride whom our baby will be cheering for when he eventually gets to appreciate the sports of boxing.

So while I can’t have any influence yet on how our town’s budget is spent, I just might as well enjoy what is presently being celebrated by millions of Filipinos worldwide. Manny, you’re the man! You’re indeed aFilipino pride.

Small boxing fan — Big and small boxing fans (Taken just before the Golden Boy called it quits.)

***

Mood: 1/10 Honks!

Postscript: It’s a coincidence, but I clicked my mouse to Arnel Pineda’s album in my My Music folder while drafting this blog. I’m thankful, that there’s another Filipino pride other than Manny. Lastly, another one I can think of right now is another singer Charice Pempengco (did I get the spelling right?). At least, I got three on my list. Ti abi.

Home Alone with the Baby

“A coward is a hero with a wife, kids, and a mortgage.” -Marvin Kitman, author and media critic (b. 1929)

Today is my first time to be left alone with someone so little yet so handful to be with. I had to skip work just to see and feel how well I’ll do with this tiny living gift. It’s also my way of checking if the baby routines systematically listed by my wife on the cork board would work out fine if followed to the dot by our neighbor whom we asked to babysit while we’re out.

The drowsiness and a bit of headache didn’t keep my enthusiasm to face the day. It’s going to be more than 12 hours ahead with just me and him. The moment my wife closed the gate and headed for work, I was mentally conditioning myself and was trying if I can remember the routines even if I’m not looking at it. There’s breakfast, vitamin and supplement intake, bath time, playtime, and lunch for the first half. The second half shows two more play times separated by two other routines. Wow! Isn’t that overwhelming enough for someone who’ll be left alone with such demanding baby?

Twelve hours later that seem to me like months in the gym–at least there you don’t wipe someone else’s poop–I didn’t realize that I performed everything as listed. Right after I set the innocent and handsome looking small guy in his colorful crib, with his eyes beginning to show his sleepiness, I was so ecstatic that I feel like calling a celebration. However, I can’t shout for joy as I’m so sure it will be like waking a sleeping little giant who’d be so eager to get out of his sleeping pen once again to play like there’s no tomorrow.

jollibee pic — A dad’s mandatory and embarrassing picture with the Jollibee mascot. Taken in SM Bacolod.

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks!

Freewares Online

My mother’s 2-year old PC remains almost in its pristine condition. Until now, the only files that got updated or added are pictures. And normally, it is always us who did the downloading every time we pay them a visit especially during December. The whole year round she uses it only to get connected to us through emails.

Having used it again for this week’s short vacation, I had mixed feelings when I discovered about its almost untouched state. I feel happy that at least she haven’t installed any bootleg software but at the same time I feel a bit frustrated as it still obviously lacks MS Office, photo editors, file compression and other tools that I need to post blog and also share pictures to my distant sister who always craves to see what’s happening back here. So instead of wishing I have another $100 to shed for a genuine MS Office installer, I checked the web for what might be legally free so I can proceed with my business of blogging, editing, and uploading of pics.

Fortunately, my web search became fruitful enough and with the help of my mother’s PLDT Vibe connection I diligently spent some time checking these freebies:

*OpenOffice. This is an underdog with a surprising package compared to Microsoft’s Office. I’ve heard about this before from a friend who is an OSS (Linux) fan. But since I have a genuine MS Office software back then, I ignored the existence of a free OpenOffice. Now, after downloading the 150MB plus file, I became a fan. I never knew that this free software will match that of its Microsoft counterpart. In fact, I’m now using its Writer for this blog post and I find the interface and features not so far apart from MS Word. It has all the basics such as spell checker, formatting buttons and what surprised me most is that it also has an autorecovery feature–no need to worry when the PC shutdowns after the baby has pressed on some buttons in.

*GIMP 2. It’s short for GNU Image Manipulation Program. I downloaded this free photo editor with the intention of just resizing the large image files for an easy Flickr.com upload. It came as a surprise when I saw that this one is almost the same with my Canon photo editor. One cool feature I find is its ability to scale an image just by selecting the scale button and then dragging the corners of the picture. During the process, a window shows the aspect ratio of the file so that one can stop at the desired size. The downside of this software though is that it’s a bit slow and cannot accommodate multiple files in an instant. File size: 15MB.

*VSO Image resizer. Now this one means business when the job is just about resizing. VSO resizes multiple files in a jiffy. Period. This one is highly recommended. File size: 6MB.

With these files I now feel that I’m getting hooked to legit online freewares. I’m now looking for a free screen grabber but so far the one that I’ve downloaded (sreengrabberinstall.zip) seems to be a disappointment as its installation requires another file. Anyway, the three files that I have mentioned may be enough for now. Somehow, this just proves the cliché the best things in life are free.

***

I said to mark the word diligently when using PLDT Vibe’s connection. Why? That’s because it did not perform to my expectation. My mother has a P999 plan and it’s supposed to have at least 500kbps (or even more) connection speed but upon using speedtest.net’s tester it only yields 196kbps download speed. My Digitel connection at home can even match that at some point and my subscription plan is just for 128kbps. I have doubts now if I’ll change DSL provider next year. Ti abi.

***

Mood: 3/10Honks!

Home Again

“Great things come in small packages” – anonymous

This afternoon I woke up from a long nap and being half awake half asleep, I strolled around the yard. Coming from a distance, I heard a familiar music playing that reminds me where I’m currently at.

The music was Life Dance followed by another which I’m quite sure I heard decades ago when both are still the in thing among the youngsters. I hate to admit it but I was one of the fans of these songs. My guilty pleasures, then and now. After catching myself pausing briefly to listen to the music which I know for a fact and based on experience, are all coming from a baylehan (dance/fiesta area) as we call it, I began to remember that prior to my mandatory siesta, we actually just had our son’s baptismal.

This event, thankfully, happened after one postponement due to a problem we encountered when we initially scheduled it in my wife’s place back in Batangas. This time, it was finally realized and despite bits of snags, upsets and confusions before and during the ceremony. Thirty minutes after the baptismal rites and photo ops, we ended at Imay’s restaurant where a simple yet fulfilling celebration with our closest family and neighbors took place.

I’m now still groggy and trying my best not to blame it either to the brandy I had nor the jet lag since we arrived yesterday lunch time. But deep inside I feel happy as after all the excitement from welcoming Marcus to the Christian world, I suddenly remember that also today is our father’s 75th and likewise my 35th birthday. Right now, I can’t think of a better way to be home again in Bacolod.

Baby window

***

Mood: 1/10 Honks!

In English Please

My recent blogging inactivity did not keep me away from English. Instead, what I lacked in English writing was compensated by opportunities that compelled me to speak the language which I always thought has been my forte. I was wrong. I once again realized that English remains foreign.

When I was in grade school, I was among those who would rather speak than compute if I can avoid it. I was always more comfortable filling pages after pages of theme writing compositions than competing with someone else in the mathematical flash cards race. I did well in English than math. I just love words more than numbers.

It wasn’t surprising then when I jumped into the blogging bandwagon right after I got hold of my own internet connection at home. I dumped my pens and paper journals. And although I only rate myself as among those considered average in terms of English skills, it didn’t deter me to post my entries in the form of blogs. Practice, practice, practice was my mantra.

So just imagine how excited I was when I found a couple of perfect excuses to speak English. First, our son’s arrival meant that my much awaited time to teach English to someone came. And I find it funny that while he’s learning the basics—alphabet, words, and vowels — I on the other hand was silently relearning most of it. I correct myself every time I pronounced a word wrong. Second, l attended a training last week wherein our instructor was Tenora—a black American with a doctorate degree. Obviously in this training, interactions were all in English.

Other than learning how to become a good manager by using the Symphony/Conductor metaphor, I also began to make a conscious effort to get my message across by trying to speak up every time I had the chance. And just as I was persecuting myself for the mispronunciations I regularly had, I was quite surprised when at one point Tenora had to write something on the flip chart and seemed to have doubts whether she’s spelling the words right. Sensing that some of us might be looking at her, she admitted that often times she’d falter when it comes to writing. She even joked that someone once said, “Only a wise person spells one word in different ways.” She’s not sure if it was from Thomas Jefferson. Whoever it was, at that point, I was smiling. Nodding. Well, I can’t be that bad then.

***

One of the newspaper clippings I keep until now is a poem which Philstar’s Mary Ann Quioc Tayag posted on her February 13, 2005 article: So what if my English sounds funny? This one is like a year of speech class com- pressed in one tiny clipping. Here it is:

Hints on pronunciation for foreigners (by TSW) I take it you already know

Of tough and bough and cough and dough? Others may stumble, but not you

On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through? Well done! And now you wish perhaps

To learn of less familiar traps? Beware of heard, a dreadful word

That looks like beard and sounds like bird. And dead: it’s said like bed, not bead

For goodness sake don’t call it deed! Watch out for meat and great and threat,

They rhyme with suite and straight and debt. A moth is not a moth in mother

Nor both in bother, broth in brother And here is not match for there

Nor dear and fear for bear and pear

And then there’s dose and rose and lose

Just look them up – – and goose and choose And cork and work and card and ward

And font and front and word and sword And do and go and thwart and cart Come, come, I’ve hardly made a start! A dreadful language? Man alive,

I’d mastered it when I was five.

***

And here’s a hilarious poem I found while searching related topics:

I have a spelling checker

It came with my PC

It plainly marks for my revue Mistakes I cannot sea

I’ve run this poem threw it I’m sure your please to no, It’s letter perfect in it’s weigh My checker tolled me sew

– anonymous

(Source: http://www.etni.org.il/quotes/spelling.htm)

***

Oh by the way, I also tried searching for Thomas Jefferson’s quote related to spelling and what I find is completely opposite to what Tenora mentioned:

“Take care that you never spell a word wrong. Always before you write a word, consider how it is spelled, and, if you do not remember, turn to a dictionary. It produces great praise to a lady to spell well.” – Thomas Jefferson, to his daughter Martha.

(Source: http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_spelling.html)

***

Mood: 3/10 Honks! (Wife and baby sleeping)

We Are Now Parents

It’s been a week already since we welcomed a third member at home. He’s the reason every routine changed completely. On his very first day at home I realized soon enough that despite the long preparation—mind setting, shopping of baby stuffs, reading of articles about having a baby, and other things we did to prepare for such day—we still seem to be overwhelmed by the mere presence of a little boy.

This little boy whom we’ve anticipated–like normal parents would–since early this year has taken charge of our lives. Now our sleeping and waking hours depended on his. My brewed coffee turned cold. Other meals have been skipped. AXN has been traded with Cartoon Network. Mythbusters was crushed by Dora. We’re now out of our comfort zone but we’re not complaining because we’re now officially parents.

One of the things I missed is having the time to blog. There’s no more time to kill. Like now, kid’s now watching TV and sooner will be begging to have his bath and I’d have to cut this entry short. So to end this post, I will leave a touching poem (by an unknown adoptive parent) which was shown to us on the first seminar we attended when we decided to have an adoption:

Once there were two women who never knew each other One you do not remember, the other you call your mother.

Two different lives shaped to make yours one One become your guiding star the other your sun.

The first gave you life the second taught you to live it

The first gave you need for love the second was there to give it.

One gave you nationality the other gave you a name

One gave you the seed of talent the other gave you an aim.

One gave you up – – it was all she could do

The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you.

And more you ask me through your tears, The age old question through the years.

Heredity or Environment, which are you the product of? Neither my darling – – neither. Just two different kinds of love.

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks!

November So Far

The 11th month which happens to be our birth month seems to be totally ours. Although it has not yet reached even its middle part, everything that has occurred after 11 days is like life itself compressed in two weeks. There was confusion, anxiety, boring times, and of course, funny and exciting moments as well.

As previously posted, November 1 was better than compared to last year’s. The days that followed have been spent waiting for results, results that would dictate how 2009 would be for us. And yes that’s right, this month I’m thinking that this may be the conclusion of our 2008 already.

I’m very excited to share the details but unfortunately there are reasons (one is time) as well that hold me back from doing so. Instead, I’ll just be brief about what has happened so far: Yesterday, I’m resetting my countdown to bumhood; And tomorrow, we’ll have one that will complete our family. Needless to say, both of these are blessings that I can never thank enough.

For now, I’m just feeling lucky even if the news coming from our TV is just as bleak as the weather outside.

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks!