Here's something I learned during my last LLFP (Lasallian Leadership Formation Program) that I'm putting to practice. I emailed my Congressman asking him to rethink his stance on the RH Bill. I'm publishing my email to him in the blogosphere for easy access. =D
BTW, my congressman is Amado Bagatsing. I'm hoping I get a reply since I posted my email address, plus I think my letter to him is very civil.
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Tuesday 24 May 2011
Super special awesome ultra special sexy transformation sequence, go!
"I'M BACK, BABY."
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, I owe you one.
Ladies and gents, I give you the camp post.
Galatians 2:20
That verse pretty much sums up my entire camp experience. It was absolutely WRONG for me to think that it was the typical clean fun camp that I experienced during the camps that TFCA held for us. It was dirtier, messier...and I'm still not inclined to say that it was more fun XD. If they told us "This is like CAT/COCC camp" then I would have prepared myself mentally as well as physically.
I was not ready for mud.
In the previous post, I said that camp was a traumatizing experience. It was so much so that I completely broke down (as in waterworks talaga) on the last day. I had lost my voice, I had no wit left, and barely any reserve power to even will myself to eat. But somehow, I survived.
But more than these experiences, that verse really applied in the fullest force possible when it was time for altar call counselling. I had training (but I admit that I did not listen as well as I should be, HAHAHAHAHA!), but it still felt like I was coming into a battle that I wasn't prepared for. Yet, as I said in the post prior to this, I was fully aware that it wasn't me who was ministering to these people anymore, like...I became a vessel, and my self took a back seat. It seems unbelievable, I know...but it's an experience that one has to feel for himself, I guess. =D
Now that's been said, it's off to my personal best (and worst) experiences.
Sunday 22 May 2011
Between two realities
< OBLIGATORY GLOATING PART OF THIS POST >
I survived the NON-DOOMSDAY/RAPTURE of May 21, 2011.
Need I say I told you so? XD
< / OBLIGATORY GLOATING PART OF THIS POST >
--- --- ---
I'll reserve camp talk for another post, simply because it deserves its own post, and I want to have pictures to show when I write about it.
In a nutshell, however, it was traumatizing. Yes it was generally great...I had fun being myself (more specifically being pasaway) and everything, but the emotional toll on myself was just so much that I completely lost my wits at one point. Oh, and my voice too...that I completely lost by Friday.
Nevertheless, beyond my feelings and dealings I am so overwhelmed with what happened in camp. It definitely exceeded all expectations. At a point in camp I thought the sensation of having mud thrown on my face will be a feeling that will haunt me for the rest of my life...but the mind has its way of dealing with these things. XDDD I just wish I had a moment to watch all the awesomeness unfold, but my job in camp was to fight a battle that was supernatural in nature and minister to kids who were hurting and lost. It was a test of mental toughness in many ways, and I'm glad I survived (although barely).
Let me just say that there were a lot of stuff that I didn't know I had in me that showed during camp. What surprised me the most that there were many times that I was completely aware of my "mind" or "soul" taking a backseat, while someone (or should I say Someone...yup, that's more accurate) completely takes over. It gets better: the takeover was so complete that I could barely remember what I said, or rather, what my mouth uttered to a specific person I was praying for at a certain time. So, I know I was standing, I know my hands were on a person, I know I was speaking, but the words...just...wow. On a normal day or conversation, I wouldn't be able to say them.
Today, my voice is back, yet I sound hoarse still. I'm trying to keep quiet as much as possible since I have two job hunting appointments tomorrow, and I definitely need the trusty throat to be well enough in order to impress.
--- --- ---
I am officially a grad student of De La Salle University.
Since it was a requirement, I attended the new students' orientation yesterday afternoon (which was basically like undergrad LPEP, only many notches down in terms of execution). I enjoyed more the program-specific orientations, to be honest.
Here's the stuff that stuck during the four hour-orientation:
1. I cannot get a grade below 2.0 (which is basically anything below 80%),
2. If I want to pursue a doctorate degree, my chosen program will not cut it, and
3. I have eight years to finish the program.
Number 2 is something I'm content about at the moment, cause I honestly don't want to do a thesis by my lonesome. Plus, for the life of me, I cannot imagine attaching a "Dr." salutation to my name XDD.
Number 1 is something I am a bit nervous about. Then again, during undergrad, I only got two 2.0s. But that was undergrad. So yeah. XDDD
Number 3 I found very amusing.
--- --- ---
When the orientation was over, I felt obligated to see for myself the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf branch inside the University Library.
I saw it, and inside my head the Hallelujah Chorus played. The moment was glorious.
Now the Library will have the aroma of coffee mixed with old man smell. That's definitely an upgrade. XDDDD
I survived the NON-DOOMSDAY/RAPTURE of May 21, 2011.
Need I say I told you so? XD
< / OBLIGATORY GLOATING PART OF THIS POST >
I'll reserve camp talk for another post, simply because it deserves its own post, and I want to have pictures to show when I write about it.
In a nutshell, however, it was traumatizing. Yes it was generally great...I had fun being myself (more specifically being pasaway) and everything, but the emotional toll on myself was just so much that I completely lost my wits at one point. Oh, and my voice too...that I completely lost by Friday.
Nevertheless, beyond my feelings and dealings I am so overwhelmed with what happened in camp. It definitely exceeded all expectations. At a point in camp I thought the sensation of having mud thrown on my face will be a feeling that will haunt me for the rest of my life...but the mind has its way of dealing with these things. XDDD I just wish I had a moment to watch all the awesomeness unfold, but my job in camp was to fight a battle that was supernatural in nature and minister to kids who were hurting and lost. It was a test of mental toughness in many ways, and I'm glad I survived (although barely).
Let me just say that there were a lot of stuff that I didn't know I had in me that showed during camp. What surprised me the most that there were many times that I was completely aware of my "mind" or "soul" taking a backseat, while someone (or should I say Someone...yup, that's more accurate) completely takes over. It gets better: the takeover was so complete that I could barely remember what I said, or rather, what my mouth uttered to a specific person I was praying for at a certain time. So, I know I was standing, I know my hands were on a person, I know I was speaking, but the words...just...wow. On a normal day or conversation, I wouldn't be able to say them.
Today, my voice is back, yet I sound hoarse still. I'm trying to keep quiet as much as possible since I have two job hunting appointments tomorrow, and I definitely need the trusty throat to be well enough in order to impress.
Since it was a requirement, I attended the new students' orientation yesterday afternoon (which was basically like undergrad LPEP, only many notches down in terms of execution). I enjoyed more the program-specific orientations, to be honest.
Here's the stuff that stuck during the four hour-orientation:
1. I cannot get a grade below 2.0 (which is basically anything below 80%),
2. If I want to pursue a doctorate degree, my chosen program will not cut it, and
3. I have eight years to finish the program.
Number 2 is something I'm content about at the moment, cause I honestly don't want to do a thesis by my lonesome. Plus, for the life of me, I cannot imagine attaching a "Dr." salutation to my name XDD.
Number 1 is something I am a bit nervous about. Then again, during undergrad, I only got two 2.0s. But that was undergrad. So yeah. XDDD
Number 3 I found very amusing.
When the orientation was over, I felt obligated to see for myself the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf branch inside the University Library.
I saw it, and inside my head the Hallelujah Chorus played. The moment was glorious.
Now the Library will have the aroma of coffee mixed with old man smell. That's definitely an upgrade. XDDDD
Sunday 15 May 2011
Don't come looking for me
Just when I thought that I have had my fair abundant share of camp experience during high school, I find myself preparing to attend this year's youth camp at church - not as a participant, but as a worker.
Funny also that I can barely remember my own youth camp experiences back in high school (btw all my youth camps were high school-initiated. I never attended the church youth camps when I was studying). Only fragments remain...such as the awful accommodations we got (the cabin smelled of cat poo cause there was cat poo inside; plus we were expecting rooms with air conditioning but all we got were said filthy cabins and an exposed shower area) and the feeling of being set on fire with the heat coming from within, and then I was taking a plunge to a deep recess that I know I'll never get out off...and then I woke up sweating...
Oh, and I don't remember if it was the same camp or another one from a different year, but it was also during camp when I had my first encounter with a live snake (outside a zoo). It was in the pool that we were all swimming on. One classmate had a tremendous fear of snakes that he freaked out when it was lifted out of the water. And to think I was freestyling-breaststroking-pretending-to-drown with the rest of my classmates with a snake lurking just nearby...
SO. YEAH. YOUTH CAMP. AT TWENTY FIVE. This ought to be interesting...
Oh...this also means that I'm out of the radar (i.e. NO INTERNET HOHMG) from Tuesday until Friday...and probably Saturday too, cause that's enrollment day.
--- --- ---
I am back in Manila. I won't be coming back to Laguna tomorrow, or the next day.
I won't be coming there for a while.
Like I said a few posts back, I want to depart from my style of blogging now - which is, well, pretty random and slice-of-life with a kick - to one that is more introspective and journal-like. The way to do this, I guess, is to write more, as in notebook-pen writing. My tendency is when I'm doing the journaling online I get distracted with a lot of stuff that there's absolutely no room to do some real thinking. In one article I read about writing, the author recommended disconnecting your computer from the Internet in order to write. But for me, the fact that I am in front of a computer means instant distraction. If there's no Internet I have my video files, my iTunes, my photos...
Hence, it's time to go back to the roots of writing. The pen is mightier than the sword, so goes the saying, and a sword can definitely do major pwnage on laptops!
--- --- ---
Two of my last pictures of very familiar sights in Laguna. The first one is my final sunset, less the sun, and the view of the familiar empty dorm hallway, the first door is the one that led to my room. The second picture is very interesting (to me, at least). I always see maya, but this is the smallest one I've seen in my entire stay, and this was taken on my last day. I was hoping that it wouldn't fly away while the camera was focusing on it, and it didn't. =D Both were taken using Dylan, so excuse the 5MP quality. XD
Here's a transcript of what I wrote during the eve of my last day in Laguna. A lot of things were on my mind then...when I tried processing all these by myself, I became very emotionally charged, and I knew that there was no other way to wrestle with it other than to write it all down.
Funny also that I can barely remember my own youth camp experiences back in high school (btw all my youth camps were high school-initiated. I never attended the church youth camps when I was studying). Only fragments remain...such as the awful accommodations we got (the cabin smelled of cat poo cause there was cat poo inside; plus we were expecting rooms with air conditioning but all we got were said filthy cabins and an exposed shower area) and the feeling of being set on fire with the heat coming from within, and then I was taking a plunge to a deep recess that I know I'll never get out off...and then I woke up sweating...
Oh, and I don't remember if it was the same camp or another one from a different year, but it was also during camp when I had my first encounter with a live snake (outside a zoo). It was in the pool that we were all swimming on. One classmate had a tremendous fear of snakes that he freaked out when it was lifted out of the water. And to think I was freestyling-breaststroking-pretending-to-drown with the rest of my classmates with a snake lurking just nearby...
SO. YEAH. YOUTH CAMP. AT TWENTY FIVE. This ought to be interesting...
Oh...this also means that I'm out of the radar (i.e. NO INTERNET HOHMG) from Tuesday until Friday...and probably Saturday too, cause that's enrollment day.
I am back in Manila. I won't be coming back to Laguna tomorrow, or the next day.
I won't be coming there for a while.
Like I said a few posts back, I want to depart from my style of blogging now - which is, well, pretty random and slice-of-life with a kick - to one that is more introspective and journal-like. The way to do this, I guess, is to write more, as in notebook-pen writing. My tendency is when I'm doing the journaling online I get distracted with a lot of stuff that there's absolutely no room to do some real thinking. In one article I read about writing, the author recommended disconnecting your computer from the Internet in order to write. But for me, the fact that I am in front of a computer means instant distraction. If there's no Internet I have my video files, my iTunes, my photos...
Hence, it's time to go back to the roots of writing. The pen is mightier than the sword, so goes the saying, and a sword can definitely do major pwnage on laptops!
Two of my last pictures of very familiar sights in Laguna. The first one is my final sunset, less the sun, and the view of the familiar empty dorm hallway, the first door is the one that led to my room. The second picture is very interesting (to me, at least). I always see maya, but this is the smallest one I've seen in my entire stay, and this was taken on my last day. I was hoping that it wouldn't fly away while the camera was focusing on it, and it didn't. =D Both were taken using Dylan, so excuse the 5MP quality. XD
Here's a transcript of what I wrote during the eve of my last day in Laguna. A lot of things were on my mind then...when I tried processing all these by myself, I became very emotionally charged, and I knew that there was no other way to wrestle with it other than to write it all down.
Saturday 14 May 2011
Doomsday
If you're like me who passes by the intersection of Osmeña Highway and Buendia on a semi-regular basis, you must have seen the Judgment Day billboard that hung above the PNR. The same ad was also placed in the Pasay Road PNR; I'm pretty sure it's present on other areas as well. (I wish I had a picture, but you'll simply have to imagine it for now, hehehehehe)
I usually do not pay any attention to rapture predictions, especially those that specify a date. I think there are more pressing matters that require immediate attention, such as the RH Bill. There was a time (I think, in high school) when I took these kind of things seriously. It probably didn't help that I studied in a school that was so gung-ho about these things that, being a teenager, I was easily dragged into the craze.
But last time I checked, this same person who's saying that the world will (start to) end on May 21, 2011 made a doomsday prediction sometime during the 90s as well. Obviously, it didn't happen, and said person attributes it to a "mathematical error". It also doesn't help that pretty much every prediction that the world will end on a specific date or in such-and-so month/time have passed without so much of a sign of God putting an end to all things. =/
I guess...what I'm trying to say, is this: will the world be a different place if we knew when the day or hour will judgment day be? Will this mean that people will try to live godly lives? Will crime rate go down? Will we not be fighting over the RH bill and instead foster unity?
But honestly, it doesn't matter if we know when the world will end, because these things should be the pursuit of every individual, because we already are in the end times. I'm no Bible scholar but if you've read your Bible, Jesus has mentioned the signs, and He himself said that we should be alert and on our guard, because no one will know when that time will come. (Mark 13:33) Thus, now is the time to prepare.
And here I leave all theology (cause I'm notone a theologian [ETA: epic typo fail LOL] myself), and go back to (Christian) practicality. There is no use fussing over doomsday because (1) it will surely come and (2) there's no reason to fear it if you know God in a personal way.
If May 21 passes without so much of a major miracle that could only be attributed to the end of days, then I'll probably be blogging an "I TOLD YOU SO" post, just for the fun of it.
I usually do not pay any attention to rapture predictions, especially those that specify a date. I think there are more pressing matters that require immediate attention, such as the RH Bill. There was a time (I think, in high school) when I took these kind of things seriously. It probably didn't help that I studied in a school that was so gung-ho about these things that, being a teenager, I was easily dragged into the craze.
But last time I checked, this same person who's saying that the world will (start to) end on May 21, 2011 made a doomsday prediction sometime during the 90s as well. Obviously, it didn't happen, and said person attributes it to a "mathematical error". It also doesn't help that pretty much every prediction that the world will end on a specific date or in such-and-so month/time have passed without so much of a sign of God putting an end to all things. =/
I guess...what I'm trying to say, is this: will the world be a different place if we knew when the day or hour will judgment day be? Will this mean that people will try to live godly lives? Will crime rate go down? Will we not be fighting over the RH bill and instead foster unity?
But honestly, it doesn't matter if we know when the world will end, because these things should be the pursuit of every individual, because we already are in the end times. I'm no Bible scholar but if you've read your Bible, Jesus has mentioned the signs, and He himself said that we should be alert and on our guard, because no one will know when that time will come. (Mark 13:33) Thus, now is the time to prepare.
And here I leave all theology (cause I'm not
Tuesday 10 May 2011
Overcast
Interestingly enough, the current storm strengthened when it made landfall this weekend. Imagine that. Out here in the bundoks the storm has not shown any signs of letting up, which means I am, once again, in for a bug-filled night.
And by bug-filled, I mean hallways littered with dead (and near-dead) insects, some that aren't so dead climb up to me feet, hands, arms, legs...and just now I flicked a near-dead bug out of my hair! Grooohohohohooossss...
--- --- ---
I have not been blogging. I'm looking for my box that's filled with a bunch of excuses for making myself absent here, but it seems to be lost for now...
But in light the change that will come, there will be room for more blog posts (yehey~), and probably I'll use this point of my life to practice writing, cause I have neglected this majorly because of work and all...
I'll probably get a notebook after all is said and done, and start writing...or maybe I can graduate (if that's the appropriate term) from this kind of blogging and do something different...
--- --- ---
Why is it the same people on FB/Twitter who complain about the weather being hot are often the ones who also nag about about the weather being cold. Um, can you not make up your mind?
I like it when it's cold. I love it when the rains come and you smell the sure scent of petrichor. What will make the moment perfect is a hot cup of champorado and a bed to roll on to. XD
And by bug-filled, I mean hallways littered with dead (and near-dead) insects, some that aren't so dead climb up to me feet, hands, arms, legs...and just now I flicked a near-dead bug out of my hair! Grooohohohohooossss...
I have not been blogging. I'm looking for my box that's filled with a bunch of excuses for making myself absent here, but it seems to be lost for now...
But in light the change that will come, there will be room for more blog posts (yehey~), and probably I'll use this point of my life to practice writing, cause I have neglected this majorly because of work and all...
I'll probably get a notebook after all is said and done, and start writing...or maybe I can graduate (if that's the appropriate term) from this kind of blogging and do something different...
Why is it the same people on FB/Twitter who complain about the weather being hot are often the ones who also nag about about the weather being cold. Um, can you not make up your mind?
I like it when it's cold. I love it when the rains come and you smell the sure scent of petrichor. What will make the moment perfect is a hot cup of champorado and a bed to roll on to. XD
Monday 9 May 2011
Who are we fooling?
So we're back here again
Tiptoeing round the edge of the end
Wondering who will be the last to admit
That we're finally over
Turned twenty-one on the day that we met
Terrible shoes and plausible threads
It's funny how sad the funny things get
As you grow older
Better or worse but what else can we do?
And better or worse I am tethered to you
If it's not either of us tell me
Who are we fooling?
I love the art of biting my tongue
I tired of trying to guess what was wrong
Both agreed on where we should go
But not how to get there...
--- Brooke Fraser, Who Are We Fooling
One of the most beautiful songs in this album, and a song that I can definitely relate to at this point in my life (except for the beautiful tangle part, but I still find it beautiful...).
Thank you God, that at this point in my life, my happiness is something that you consider valuable. I will take hold of that truth. Today is the day.
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