The howling of the dead

I have since vowed never to write anything about politics or anything pertaining to the sad plight of the country...

Its not just stressful but utterly depressing and taxing to the soul.

But I have to write it. Yes I have to write what I think if only to keep my sanity.

You know it is a thinking minds' sickness to write and be critical of everything even for the downfall of oneself.

It is a malady for thinkers to give reviews and analyze specific situations and be humbled by his views as well as others.

But most of all a thinkers mind can never be silenced.

I'd die first before having not be able to think for myself and for everything around me.

I'd have to die first before being silenced.

Such is the disease of a thinkers mind.

So now I write.

First I write about our soldiers.

I remember when I was young I was asked by my grand-aunt why don't I become a soldier.

I answered: "Because I don't want to kill people, it is against the bible"

my grand-aunt just smiled and nodded.

Looking back at that episode I can't help but think of what I could've answered if I was asked the same question again.

I have answered time and again that I will never join the military and for a number of reasons.

So again I ask myself "Why not join the military?"

First of all I don't see the need for joining the military because we are not in a state of war.

Second the military still haven't vindicated themselves from their past crimes specially in the martial law era.

Third the military are not capable of critical thinking either they work for the government or they work for a powerful person.

Fourth their definition of what is right stems from what they hold and that being in the end of a barrel of a gun.

Fifth they have yet to prove that they are capable of maintaining peace in our country.

All of the above are from my observations of the situation of the country, everything else are either prejudice or biased towards the civilian.

So I have yet to react accordingly to what Conrado De Quiros' column on his observation on the huge sign nailed to a wall in Fort Bonifacio in the wake of the 13 soldiers killed in Basilan.

“It’s the soldier -- not the reporter -- who has given us the freedom of the press.

It’s the soldier -- not the poet -- who has given us the freedom of speech.

It’s the soldier -- not the politician -- who ensures that we live freely and peacefully.

It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is eventually draped by the flag.”

While De Quiros' article stirs even kinder to what I am about to write I have to give my apologies first to the bereaved and the killed soldiers. Certainly you do not deserve those deaths as is everybody in that war you undertook. Pardon my observations and criticism for I believe that by writing this I may give more justice to your deaths.

Lets' start with the first tribute:

“It’s the soldier -- not the reporter -- who has given us the freedom of the press."

False... Outright false I have never seen or read a single soldier in my lifetime writing anything of the ordinary who has upheld the freedom of the press. They if anything else work only for the good of their company and agenda. Freedom of the press is bestowed by the constitution the soldiers' job is to uphold the constitution nevertheless they of all people are what seems to break it by supporting a false president at that and following a bloodthirsty trail of killings against reporters and freedom fighters.

So allow me to rewrite that statement:

“It’s the soldier -- not the reporter -- who has killed the freedom of the press."

Second tribute:

"It’s the soldier -- not the poet -- who has given us the freedom of speech."

Such a powerful statement... freedom of speech is a universal freedom, who gave them the right to protect it from ourselves or from anybody? Freedom of speech is synonymous to freedom of thinking. It is against human nature to prevent people from thinking their minds out or else give the military the right to safeguard it. For all I know it is them who have prevented this time and again. And the poet is the one who is always at the rescue of the soldier not the other way around. Poets define the world and its reality in the context of its freedom to express words according to how free his/her mind thinks and a poem is a manifestation of that genius not the soldier. Poets are the one who writes their hymns, their war songs, their inspirations and their propagandas. Poets are those soldiers who know how to love their motherland and spun tearful speeches for their aggrrieved loved ones. Poets are the soldiers of the written and un-written word.

So allow me to rewrite that statement:

"It’s the poet -- who's the soldier of the word -- who has given us the freedom of speech."

third tribute:

"It’s the soldier -- not the politician -- who ensures that we live freely and peacefully."

I don't know how soldiers define what a politician is, but all I know is that they have worked under them even if sometimes for the wrong reasons. So permit me to define what a politician is. A politician is voted by the people and with the will of the people passes laws and soldiers are bound to uphold them.
The people choose whom to be made as their leader and a politician is born from the people, it is therefore out of the question that the soldier work hand in hand to protect the people and the law passed by the politician. The work of a politician ergo is different from the work of the soldier for soldiers can never just ensure that we live "freely and peacefully" they can always do the opposite even without the help of the politician or the people. Remember martial law?

So allow me to rewrite that statement:

"It’s the soldier -- not the politician -- who ensures that we live freely and peacefully and sometimes the opposite."

Fourth and last tribute:

"It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is eventually draped by the flag.”

I would like to give some points to consider before closing my arguments. The flag has been for many reasons used for different and countless occassions. And if by saluting to the flag one becomes emblazened to serve and protect ones' country then so be it but relegating that truth to just a few people handling guns and dying by it is just so disturbing. The flag for one is a symbol of the Filipino people. The flag is the symbol of what holds right, just and true to the country it represent. From it stems the rich history and culture of its race. Saluting to it means respecting its authority and living by it.But as for me I have never seen a flag being used arbitrarily and brazenly to jutify on stepping on the rights and freedoms of its constituents except to them who truthfully and deserves to be draped by that flag.


So again allow me to rewrite that statement:

"It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is eventually draped by the flag because he/she justly deserves so.”

Now don't get me wrong soldiers are there to protect us and fight for us, such is their profession. But using that profession to bring this country backward is a clear insult for the people who died in their ranks and are continually dying to move this country forward. It is my sole prayer that this military see the outsome of their actions.

I am not against fighting for their comrades who were beheaded I was even one of the angrier one's to rant about it but to use a dead soldier in battle to justify the existence of a corrupt military is just abominable. They are not just doing disservice to the people they serve but also to the people who died fighting for them. I have great respect for our soldiers but I have not a dime happy about the state of our military and our government much less something as arrogant as attacking Mindanao who'm is about to celebrate its beloved Ramadan.

But as I always say and believe; "Not all soldiers are corrupt, and not all Muslims are Abu Sayyafs."

Let Us Stop the Killings... Before It's too late...

Let them celebrate their Ramadan...

Thankful...

photo courtesy of fgdavid.com

ethel said...

Your blog entry was one of 2 that Fr. J Boy Gonzalez, UP Parish Priest, chose to read as part of his homily at the mass he held in observance of Dr. David's 40th day, August 22 at the Psychology Building (PHAN) Lobby.

Having read all blog entries on Dr. David earlier, I agree with Fr. Gonzalez' choices.

However, for the sake of accuracy, I have to make a few corrections.

1) Dr. David was not a chemist or a lawyer. He did intend to study law at UP, but a "chance class encounter with an English professor", as I put it in Dr. David's website, fgdavid.com, made him shift to A.B. English.

2) It wasn't a "first born son" but a daughter who drowned, not in "a fountain in the school where he was teaching", but in the swimming pool of the apartment complex where our family was staying in at the time. Dr. David had just finished his M.A. Psychology at Bryn Mawr College and was just starting with his Ph.D. at Temple University.

3) Our 7 children attended grade school at the UP Integrated School (UPIS); the 8th, at Jose Abad Santos Memorial School (JASMS).

As I told our very good friends, Profs. Pepe & Fe Domingo, I hope the part which says "he loved his wife so much" isn't an unfounded rumor. :)

Thanks for the reminiscences. They lessen the burden of pain, and they serve to reassure the family that my husband's devotion to teaching Psychology had not been in vain, after all.

Ethel P. David

----------------------------------

August 22 was Dr. David's 40th day. In Christian belief it is said that the soul walks
the earth for 40 days before finally ascending
to heaven.

"I ask myself was he also there when I was in front of his office and I held the door and
talked to myself? Did he hear the words I said?"

I hope he did...

I just read the above written comment by his wife and I was glad and sad at the same time.
Glad because my offering to the great person was read in the homily but sad because I wasn't able to attend the mass...

In life we really have this regrets but what are regrets but simple what if's and what not's.
All in all I'm happy... I'm happy for having known a person who always points me to my north star...

All my life I wanted to be a teacher... and most of my down moments I tend to read the sayings of this great teacher...

They helped me a lot Doctor... Yes they helped me lot...

Again Thank You...

On the Malu Fernandez Issue

I never read any of her articles, I get bored easily of how a columnist brags about being there and being that, and tasting this and feeling that.

It's a waste of time for me really, and I'd rather read them who are more let us say "Intellectually Stimulating" than what i consider as literary afternoon showbiz talkshow.

But when I came across other bloggers condemning Malu Fernandez's article on filipinos, to quote:

“The duty free shop was overrun with Filipino workers selling cellphones and perfume. Meanwhile, I wanted to slash my wrist at the thought of being trapped in a plane with all of them.”

“…I heaved a sigh, popped my sleeping pills and dozed off to the sound of gum chewing and endless yelling of ‘Hoy! Kamusta ka! Domestic helper ka din ba?’ I thought I had died and God sent me to my very own private hell.”

“This time I had already resigned myself to being trapped like a sardine in a sardine can with all these OFWs smelling like AXE and Charlie cologne while my Jo Malone evaporated into thin air.”

For one how many people do you personally know who are like Malu Fernandez Fernandez?

I know a lot and they are them who wouldn't eat on food courts and have never ridden the MRT.

Them who had the capacity to ride a taxi from Ateneo to UP and would never for the life of them ride a jeepney, had a yaya and a manong to cater to their every need.

But do I hate them for it?

A part of me says yes another says no. I can't blame them for having been nurtured that way by their families.

There are others who even laugh at those who can't afford original sneakers and even before havaianas were fashionable most of my classmates in High School would never dare for the life of them wear a sandal to school unless its the infamous birkenstock. The same goes for the taste in music. The Bakya and the more sosyal music.

Each particular classes belong to a certain genre and certainly Malu Fernandez belongs to their sort of genre.

Her only crime was perhaps being who she really is. She looks down on maids and domestic helpers as we do before as we look down on japayukis and entertainers. On the local scenario we look down on maids, and yaya's and boy's and drivers... Just look at how many telenovelas revolve around love stories between the decrepit and the filthy rich?

We honor them domestic helpers by lining up the streets just when one of them is going to be executed for a crime they "allegedly" committed.
Afterwards committing them to obscurity.

Malu Fernandez's crime is insulting the workers as is her nature and her society created her to becoming.

I myself condemn her observations and with all due respect to her definition of humor I find it lacking of taste and of low nature.

But one things for sure I know a lot of Malu Fernandez around here and If theres one thing to blame let us not blame the victim but let us blame a system that tolerates this kind of behavior.

There will forever be poverty and discrimination in this country but it only exists if we PERMIT them.

I Wanna Be Yours

by
John Cooper Clarke

let me be your vacuum cleaner
breathing in your dust
let me be your ford cortina
i will never rust
if you like your coffee hot
let me be your coffee pot
you call the shots
i wanna be yours

let me be your raincoat
for those frequent rainy days
let me be your dreamboat
when you wanna sail away
let me be your teddy bear
take me with you anywhere
i don’t care
i wanna be yours

let me be your electric meter
i will not run out
let me be the electric heater
you get cold without
let me be your setting lotion
hold your hair with deep devotion
deep as the deep atlantic ocean
that’s how deep is my emotion
deep deep deep deep de deep deep
i don’t wanna be hers
i wanna be yours

pakshet!!!!

lakas ng ulan kanina at habang sinusulat ko to eh basang basa ang pantalon ko.

putek namang buhay to oo...

lahat basa pati sapatos ko basa ang masama pa nito di ako pwedeng mag-absent dahil ngayon ang araw ng sweldo jusme!

heniweys tinatamaan nanaman ako ng pagkaasar sa mundo di yata mnaiiwasan yun dahil sa mga nasa paligid natin.

oo nga pala pati paa ko at medyas din basa at ang masakit pa nito ngayon biglang umaraw na parang walang nangyari uninit pa grrr

if theres somebody to blame it is the US mga punyeta sila dahil sa kanila kaya nagkkaleche leche ang climate natin.

Please everybody watch "An inconvenient truth" sobrang informative at totoo.

-------

anyway sa kabilang dako pa roon hindi ko maiwasan mag isip tungkol sa sama ng loob ko sa bansa ko.

May kaibigan kasi ako... Ubod ng galing psych graduate at matalino talaga!

She studied In UP and took her masters sa labas ng bansa tapos nag-jesuit volunteer pa yun talagang gusto nyang tumulong pero turned out after all these mapipilitan siyang lumabas ng bansa dahil di siya maafford ng mga skwelahan dito dahil "Over-qualified" daw siya.

Malaking kagaguhan!

Ang ibang bansa ang kumukuha ng mga magagaling na teachers natin at tayo napagiiwanan ng panahon haay...

We drive them away and we expect na may magandang mangyayari sa mga tao sa pinas?

It is worse than brain drain it is what you call stupidity at its finest.

She applied in all the great schools in the country at ang sweldo ubod nang liit naman jusme La-salle yun magkano ba naman ang tuition ng mga tao dun you mean to tell me hindi nila afford bayaran ang isang UBOD NG GALING na teacher???

nung nag summer ako sa UP diliman nuon may ubod ng galing na teacher akong naging teacher sa Social Science si Sir Palis. Siya ang isa sa mga tao na nagbugay buhay sa pag-aaral ko sa UP at dahil din sa kanya kaya mas naappreciate ko ang mag-aral ngayon san na siya nasa US na...

we push the good people away and we let ourselves rot in the process...

poor poor poooooor filipinos...

------

Last night our groups (PlayRiders, yes may grupo kaming mga biker na ang presidente eh si julien) tumambay kami sa UP inabutan kami ng ulan in the process at nag cramps si manong joey while si master al ang lupet mag bike ng walang preno at tigas ng upuan hehehe IDOL

heniweys pagkatapos namin makakain ng matalinghagang fishball sa vinzons eh nakitambay na rin kami muna dun.

May mga nakita kaming malamang mga LFS at andun sila kumakanta ng mga revolutionary songs nila.

haay kung alam nyo lang ang sinasalihan ninyo...

heniweys pagkatapos nun at pagkatapos matakot ni julien dahil ayaw nyang tumambay sa educ building at dun magpalipas ng ulan dun kami tumambay sa Psych building dumaan ako sa room ni Dr. David yung room 124 may nakita akong nakasabit n tuyong sampaguita sa may doorknob nya.

hinawakan ko ang pintuan at sinabi ko "sayang di kita naging tacher rest in peace sir"

huminto na rin ang ulan at 9:15 na kami nakaalis
di naman na sumakit ang hita ni manong joey at im sure masarap nanaman ang tulog ni bossing Al.

----

kaasar parin ang ulan at ang pakiramdam ng basang pantalon sa aircon na opisina grrrr

p.s.
by the way alam nyo ba na inanounce kanin lang na wala nang pasok dahil dadating ang bagyo mamayang 3 pm?

>_<

Buhay na ulit si Kidlat Tahimik!!!!

Last weekend tinulunan ako ni ju buuin ang aking mountain bike na si kidlat tahimik (kidlat tahimik ang pangalan nya kasi mabilis siya parang kidlat pero dapat tahimik ka lang kundi makakalunok ka ng langaw o lamok sa bilis)

Ok na sana yung pag bubuo namin ng mga pyesa yun lang nga ninakaw ng nagpack ng bisikleta ko sa cebu na yung drayber ng landlady ko dati ang aking gear aba ponyeta talaga kailangan ko pang mangutang kay ju ng pambili para lang makapag bike ulit its a staggering 500 pesos plus yung pagpapaayos ng mga rayos ko grr kasi yung ponyeta ko ring landlady inilabas at nilagay sa kitchen yung bike ko buti na lang hindi ninakaw pero kinalawang siya ng sobra nakakaiyak nga nung nakita ko eh.

1400 lahat lahat ang nagastos ko jusme nagiipon nga ako ng pera di na nga ako nakakapag jujitsu waahhh hirap talaga ng buhay ngayon grrrr.

heniweys yung ninakaw pala eh yung pang adjust ng gears sa likod na part ng bike ko shimano yun mahal ayun ninakaw kaasar talaga di sana sya makabuo ng bata grrrr

pero naayos naman si kidlat at nagamit ko na iya aside from the occasional clicks sa may gulong sa harapan palagay ko ok naman siya na miss ko talaga yung bike kong yun haaay

kung san san na kami nakarating nun di ko nga maimagine na makakapagkita pa kami eh.
haay para sayo kidlat welkam bak hehehe

^_^

Words of wisdom from Dr. F.G. David

Dr. Fredegusto David
(August 1, 1937 – July13, 2007)

1. *"Earth is the only heaven we can know."

2. "When others deliberate to take the first step, you just take it."

3. "Beauty is symmetry in complexity."

4. "Beauty is symmetry and simplicity. That's boring!"

5. "The aim of human life is integrity."

6. "Success is defined by its context."

7. "There is mystery and beauty in the unknown."

8. "There is excitement in variability. There is excitement in the unpredictability."

9. "There is nothing absolute in the universe. Everything falls with space and time."

10. "When the inertia against acting is strong, the will must also be that strong."

11. "Live with a high mean and low standard deviation."

12. "Allow the variable to show its effects by introducing it in different amounts."

13. "Lead them according to what they want to become."

14. "You read behind words. You think."

15. "There is nothing absolute. The only constant thing is the speed of light."

16. "To be born is to die. In between they grow and multiply like flies. 6.2 billion people in the world. Kadiri, ano?"

17. "Why not life? Why call it soul? Call a spade a spade."

18. "If you are the universe and you keep on expanding indefinitely then everything will be you. Kadiri!"

19. "Religion is a successful economic institution"

20. "The religion of the universe is to be one with it."

21. "Laziness is not an excuse to delay things that should be done at the time it should be done"

22. "Morality of females is pragmatic because they carry the egg of the species. Females invest in the next generation."

23. "Be a parasite of somebody."

24. "Religion is an economic empire. Establish a religion to become rich."

25. "'Diyos ko! Tamaan mo naman ng kidlat ang lintik!' Will God ever do that if he is God? Ask Satan to do that as Satan."

26. "I don't know if I even believe in what I say or if it matters ultimately."

27. "Genius is obsessive. Laziness is contrary to genius. Kung tinatamad ka, hindi mo kaya. Rationalization lang iyon."

28. "Live from moment to moment."

29. "Man can hear the sound of a falling feather in a vacuum."

30. "Alisin mo yung balahibo ng manok. Di ba mukha na syang dinosaur?"

31. "We are nature creating new life as if we are 'God'"

32. "Man tried to influence his future by writing about his past"

33. "Poetry is different from Science by means of using feelings and metaphors to represent reality."

34. "Our greatest enemy now is ourselves. We can endanger any kind of animal, driving it to extinction."

35. "We are king of the animal kingdom, except that we cannot dominate viruses and germs."

36. "You cannot override a super power. You can only sway with it."

37. "We do not need an enemy from with out."

38. "Bakit kailangan pa mag mate? Hindi ba pwedeng hipan na lang katulad ng Diyos?"

39. "We can only see as far as 40km in a very, very quiet night."

40. "Rutting female: naglalanding babae"

41. "In humans, there is rape. In the animal kingdom, wala non. Bihira yon."

42. "You don't just grab a female and deposit your sperm in her. Those who do cannot control the beast within. And with low EQ, go to prostitutes. And do not graduate, much more with honors."

43. "When others are hesitant to take the first step, take it."

44. "When the resistance is very, very strong, then the will must be stronger."

45. "Competence and persistence will make you the last one to fall."

46. "Open the door that is shut and refuse to be opened."

47. "Turn opportunities to your favor."

48. "Ano’ng mahaba? I-specify mo. We're talking about sex here." (referring to the length of mating bonds formed in monogamy)

49. "Mitochondria - they are like the Meralco of the cell."

50. "Namulaklak ang cerebral hemispheres ng tao kaya nagkaroon ng temporal lobes"

51. "Imagine if we need a large surface area. Para tayong trumpo. Paiko- ikot na kapag lumalakad."

52. "A thoughtful man doesn't act upon nuance alone. Binubuo ang kilos niyan ng nakaraan, at ng kasulukuyan."

53. "Past and present integrated into the future so it seems like destiny."

54. "Oneness of thoughts and emotion. Not reptilian instincts. When 2 become 1 that man is a classical man. One dictated by his head and not his penis."

55. "I felt so small and humble for my arrogance" (on his resignation letter and Dr. Lagmay's confrontation)

56. "What's a measure of a man as a social being? The measure of a man is how many doors he has opened to other people, especially to those he doesn’t know, to those who refused to open the doors for themselves and to those who cannot open the door for themselves."

57. "Don't aspire for it. Earn it."

58. "A man is rich not because he is greedy but because he needs it."

59. "The presence of a strong father image greatly correlates with EQ."

60. "Domestification of the human male is one of the greatest achievements of the human race."

61. "Kapag nanliligaw gusto makita ang magulang to see the future."

62. "It is better to view the future with chance and probability...with randomness."

63. "If only God knows, then let me ask him why. Press God to answer."

64. "Eugene: eu-happy, gene-beginning"

65. "When beautiful ones go together then you'll have a miss universe!"

66. "300 million sperm in one ejaculation. Talagang overkill, noh? Tapos isa lang makakarating doon."

67. "Intelligence allows us to inhabit any place on the earth."

68. "You have no right to destroy what you did not create." (regarding suicide)

69. "Philosophy is the unscientific study of the mind."

70. "Human mind investigates the nature of itself."

71. "Pinaparusahan ako ng buhay. Huwag pagpapahingahin ang matandang iyan. Madaldal kasi." (regarding his retirement)

72. "Madaya mga iyan eh. Madaming bunga. Mabunganga rin." (regarding females)

73. "The females inherit the earth. And the suffering thereof."

74. "Mathematics is simplification and contraction of notations"

75. "The μ is the most democratic measure because it gets from every value."

76. "Psychology is the greatest of all in CSSP. Mayroon bang Experimental Sociology, Experimental Economics, Experimental Philosophy? Only Psychology offers empirical evidences from experimental Psychology."

77. "Come baby, run." (how to make rats effectively run the maze, with matching pat-on-the-head action)

78. "It's easy to terrorize students. One is being an unforgivable bastard."

79. "Genius nga. Yung madumi, bagong laba, sama-sama" (regarding organization of clothes in the cabinet)

80. "Knowledge is fundamental pragmatics of life."

81. "Art is beyond definition of science."

82. "Mga babae cannot be trusted. Wala silang bayag. Wala silang pang-testify. Wala silang testosterone."

83. "History is written by men to get back at their mothers (women)."

84. "Christ is a chauvinist. He said 'My father is in heaven' and called his mom 'woman'."

85. "Perfect correlation rarely exists in nature. It only exists in force."

86. "So when given the chance to be an actor, he took it to escape calculus" (on Erap being forced to take engineering and hating it)

87. "This my Jet Li – The One!"

88. "What is the meaning of my life if I will live alone? Not only is my species a species but also a social species."

89. "Keep on agreeing and you will get a good grade. Fortunately, I forget your goodness."

90. "Accept choice as fundamental"

91. "'Kahit hindi ka na magkaanak basta at your old age, may companion ka."

92. "Ano’ng kakainin mo pag gumaling ka? Eh di mamatay ka na lang!" (regarding a person with a grave illness becoming well again and bankrupt after paying the hospital bills)

93. "Everybody else dies if you don't die."

94. "Marry a rich man kahit matanda na. Tapos sakalin mo and inherit the money. Then marry a younger one."

95. "First test if wisdom of Socrates: you should know what you shouldn't know."

96. "A leader does not debate with the people he leads. He understands the feelings of those without a leader."

97. "I do not know many. I only know enough to teach my classes."

98. "Hold it as high above God so that everyone can see."

99. "Love is the procreative feeling that arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is beautiful and desirable in the universe, and unites the lover's mind with its object."

100. "Do that [fall in love]. You're still young. That's the beauty of youth."

101. “You do not fall in love. You rise in love. That's how you love rationally...”

102. “Meanings we find are the meanings we make.”

103. “What you learn in UP is to go on and never give up. That if there be one person left standing, let it be me. Let Ateneo fall first before UP...”

104. "Beauty fades but ugliness does not. So mag-asawa ka na lang ng pangit."

105. "I wish I could write a poem that would be the song of my race. That would be the most beautiful song."

106. "Morality is to allow a form to go on as it is."

107. "The poor will inherit the earth."

108. "An instant is to time as a point is to a line."

109. "The soul is the memories you leave behind."

110. “Education is the process of leading oneself out of the dark.”

111. “Education is a liberating, equalizing institution.”

112. “Education is truly liberating if it can free you from the fear of ignorance.”

113. "In this harsh world that we live in, education is a right just like food on the table. education is the only way and means that could help us survive. Without education, we would die. Therefore, like a right to have food and a right to live, the right to education should be experienced by everyone.”

114. “The last domesticated animal is the human male.”

115. “Man is a pleasure seeking, vain, hedonistic creature.”

116. “It’s expensive to transmit your genes.”

117. “It is expensive to be human.”

118. “Men who use steroids get muscular for nothing.”

119. “Leonardo di Caprio... what does he have to do with us? And yet a long time from now we remember him.”

120. “Beware of a small guy who cannot lift the world like Atlas. He might try something else.”

121. “Life is serious. Life is funny. Life is comical.”

122. “Just be observant. Divine comedy is always happening in our midst.”

123. “Eat to live and not live to eat.”

124. “A liberated mind knows little fear, especially fear of the unknown for he keeps pushing the unknown farther and farther into the horizon.”

125. “The ultimate fear of man is the fear of the unknown and the inevitable.”

126. “There are times when you cannot control events. The solution there is to accept it.”

127. “Wisdom is better gained when one is young, to better use it.”

128. “Most young ones do not survive premature recognition of success.”

129. “A rational man doesn’t extricate himself and blame it on the environment.”

130. “There stands a man who is immovable except by himself because he is a free man, a rational being.”

131. “Meanings we find are the meanings we make.”

132. “Science is logic in action.”

133. “Theories are just empty boxes. Stuff the boxes with science.”

134. “Once in a while you have to boggle the mind to face reality.”

135. “We are entrapped by our consciousness.”

136. “Your freedom stops where another human’s freedom begins.”

137. “It is one thing to say something is bad when you want it but can’t have it and another to say something is bad when you can have it but you don’t want it.”

138. “There is no predestination. Only a matter of probability or chance.”

139. “Happiness is the desire to preserve, not to destroy.”

140. “No one can cast a stone in this world until he has been in the shoes of others.”

141. “The Filipinos will conquer the earth by marriage to other nationalities.”

142. ”We can't go back to ignorance, we must move on.”

143. "We should carry the burden of the proof."

144. "Knowledge is universal."

145. "What is the purpose of a baby? Nothing; parasitic."

146. "Why am I suffering and not my neighbor?"

147. "... raging hormones, sizzling like... fat!"

148. "I still pursue my north star."

149. "My last love is Psychology. I was raped by Psychology."

150. “Curious people are led to a life of uncomfortable state of not being certain.” (on the persecution of heretics)

151. “Courtship is a subtle mating game... Why don’t you say love is f*cking?” (on courtship displays of peacocks)

152. “You don’t have to believe in a life thereafter just to do what is good.”

153. “Even great men make mistakes…which may be great mistakes, too.” (After explaining Aristotle’s mistake regarding the brain’s mechanism for regulating temperature)

154. “When the Romans crucified Christ, they gave birth to a God.”

155. “Knowledge is liberating!”

156. “God must forgive us for knowing more.”

157. “Shame on us! Shame on our leaders!” (After discussing the miserable condition of the country)

158. “But do I help the poor? No. So my expression of sympathy is just bullshit!” (After a litany on how the poor are suffering)

159. “Pseudoproblems that have no answers end up in beliefs.” (Expounding on the falsifiability criterion for hypotheses in science, in particular refuting the existence of a Deity)

160. “I just come to class to tell stories, and when I remember, I teach.” (After realizing that he has strayed quite far from the topic)

161. “Thinkers are absent-minded because they focus on their thoughts.”

162. “Our words lead us to where we would go.”

163. “The future does not exist. What is important is how you create it.”

164. “Life is not a means but an end. The end of life is life.”

165. “At the end, what matters is that behavior is in accordance to the service of life.”

166. “Death is as sure as being born. Delay it as long as possible and make the delay a happy one.”

167. "Do not live long enough to be worthless."

168. “One hopes that he has done all once he shuts his eyes for good.”

169. “I’m not a wise man. I’m just a plain teacher, and I’m happy with that. My life is an anecdote. Just one big joke.”

170. “How do you know if something or someone is significant? 1. It is different. 2. You did not expect it.”

171. Sir: "It was my boyhood dream to be a sabungero.” Student: “It's never too late, sir.” Sir: “It's very, very late.”

172. “Most probably 9 out of 10 songs are all about love..”

173. “Life is a complex arrangement of proteins.”

174. “We should always rationalize, so that we always look good in front of the mirror.”

175. “The penis is highly vascularized. Kaya pag naputol yan, madugo.”

176. “Delayed gratification is for the successful ones.”

177. “Yung iba may asawa na, gusto pa ng lima pa at ng malalaking bahay... And we call these people... Congressmen of the Philippines.”

178. “Just like other professors (in UP), they (professors from other universities) just croak... ‘croak-croak-croak.’ ”

179. “It doesn't matter if there really are ‘OTs’ (old testaments) going around, my students grades never really improve.”

180. “It’s one thing to know and another to blame.”

181. “We perfect life as we know it.”

182. “Mind travels instantaneously.”

183. “Greatness gets better with age.”

184. “The earth is alive – we are expressions of her life. We fit to her, it doesn’t fit to us.”

185. “Life hates repeating itself. Life abhors boredom. It wants to experiment on changes.”

186. “You don’t have to transmit your genes, you can transmit your memes!”

187. “What may be presumably pleasurable now may be painful tomorrow.”

188. “Happiness is a disappearing horizon.”

189. “The future is formless, you form it.”

190. “Human life without a dream may be devoid of a future.”

191. “I am not born to make people happy or sad. I’m just born.”

192. “When you feel alone, it’s nice to invent a god.”

193. “If the realm is not in your awareness, you cannot control it.”

194. “The world never stays the same.”

195. “I convinced my wife that when I die, my brain would be donated to the psych department, to the PPL…”

196. “Romance happens once a while… (When) two better halves can’t find each other, until you find him/her, you remain listless and restless.”

197. “Why do you always enjoy jokes at my expense?”

198. “Not because I own her, but deep down, I feel she owns me.” (on changing surnames)

199. “You must have some romance with life!” (on tasting perspiration)

200. “Mag-aral (kayo) nang mabuti, so you’ll know who to choose... (Look for) a man/woman who would make your heart beat like hell.”

201. “I’m doing something on Saturday, I’ll write a long letter to my wife (she was in Illinois then)... She misses me like hell.” (on moving an exam on a Saturday)

202. “Be observant, kaya inaantok kayo eh.”

203. “Sometimes I have to impress my wife... I’m that lovable.”

204. “Respect is much better than fear. Respect doesn’t stop, fear stops at the door of death.”

205. “All my students are my adopted grandchildren.”

---quotes compiled by:

Patricia Oreta (‘08), Abby Maralit (‘08), Fao Gansatao (‘08), Emm Loreto (‘08), Elaine Salansan (‘08), Ria Verdolaga (‘08), Jonas Pimentel (‘08), Charisse Peña (’07), Noelle Nalvar (‘07), Angelica de Chavez (‘07), Nico Cabrera (‘07), Francis Cua (‘07), Margaret Yarcia (‘07), Alex Ibañez (‘07), Mariko Franca (‘07), Regina Quiogue (’04), Ruben Ayson (‘03), Tin Teodosio (‘03), Ceejay Estrella (‘02), Annabellemarielat, Marivic Doctor
[brought to you by Mandala 2008, last updated July 21, 2007]

Pix of the tribute to Sir David
From here

For Dr. F.G. David...

Fredegusto David, Ph.D.

"What's a measure of a man as a social being? The measure of a man is how many doors he's opened especially those who refused to open the doors for themselves and those who cannot open the door for themselves." - F.G. David

I never knew F.G. David, but then when I came across another persons' blog it flooded my memories on almost about everything, everything about this great man.

Weird as one may call it but this person permeates most of my lifetime in awe.

I only heard bits of stories about him, but I never knew him personally.

I always thought about intelligent people to be most of all snub, I mean not all but then coming from their era I learned not to traverse the untrodden path of being able to have a conversation with them. Intelligent people have this way of being too ahead of you that even if you ask them something you'd feel stupid afterwards (or is it just me?) either way I also learned that once they made an impression of you they eventually take away the probability that perhaps there's something more to you than that moment he/she talked to you. But anyway that just almost about it coming from a deliquent student.

Anyway I just learned today that he was also a lawyer, aside from being a good mathematician, poet, writer, english lit major, prolific chemist, all his sons and daughters studying in Pisay, and that he loved his wife so much.

I learned of him from my second year in college when I foolishly took Math 11 (and eventually failed it) not knowing that i can take up another subject rather (isipin mo ganun ako ka engots di ko alam yun) I took it in UP diliman. At that time my bestfriend Julien just recently shifted to psychology after being summarily disheartened from taking up computer science while I in an infinitesimal being took up the cudgels of Mass communications opting to shift to psychology afterwards being rebuked because of the onslaught of "5" on my records.

"Floyd di ka pwedeng mag shift ng psych masyadong mababa grades mo muntik ka na ngang ma-dismiss eh" talk about being a freshmen in a place where you dont know their culture and language and that is cebu couple it with teachers who honestly and openly dislikes manilenos but that is another loooong story.


Anyway going back to F.G. David I also learned that he lost his first born son. It drowned on a fountain in the school where he was teaching. He talked about it at length in Juliens class. When I heard it I felt sorry or him but then perhaps it is also one of the reasons why he had 8 children afterwards. His brilliance and the thought of a genius having suffered such made me think that perhaps he wanted to bring back that child he lost thats why he loved and nurtured the other nine afterwards.

Without knowing I was immersed in a series of questions about him but I dare not approach him. Whenever I get to encounter a Psych major in Diliman I always ask about him "Terror daw siya pero mabait and if makapasa ka sa klase nya ibig sabihin may utak ka."

Julien got a 1.5 or 1.75 which earned him the respect in the psychology department of U.P. Cebu heralded by Ms. Generalao and eventually made him to be able to shift to psychology "Pare ubod ng hirap ng klase nya buti nga binigyan ako ng mataas na grade." Julien said.

Even Ms. Generalao was said to have taken some classes under him as I heard and he remarked "She (Ms. G) Knows her craft well"

At the back of my mind it made me ask what would he think of me if I get to meet him or be his student?

This curiosity amongst others led me to drift more to psychology than my course. It made me more want to be brilliant like him (I have this certain affinity to brilliant people, I collect books about them and try to learn about their stories.) Perhaps I thought then that it would rub some to somebody like me, as of the moment I don't know if that theory really does work hehe)

Eventually I get to be friends with more psych students, teachers, even my thesis was also rooted in psychology.

Afterwards I get to take my masters in Social Psych in USC but wasn't able to finish it. I was asked by my professor Ms. Edna Lee to discuss about Sikolohiyang Pilipino by Virgilio Enriquez and gain I was so happy to read some things about him.

Nonetheless when I got back to manila I thought of continuing it and becoming his student.
But alas my best friend named poverty and the call of "Serving the people" came and I was again back to just hoping about it.

By the way there was supposed to be a chance na dapat makikilala ko siya but then I was working kasi at that time in Cebu.

F.G. David went to Cebu to talk about statistics, he was escorted by my Kuya Mike and Ate Wensy (both psychology professors in UP Cebu, the two are now married by the way) and before F.G. David left for Manila he hugged Sir Mike. Ate said he (F.G.) liked him (Kuya Mike). That form of endearment for me is just so humbling. How much more can you thank somebody who just toured you around Cebu and ate with you in its restaurants and put up with you all the time, yes hug them ^_^

"Such a sweet man." I said to myself.

It was only yesterday when I learned about his allergy to the divine but its the irony of it that made me laugh, he's more humane than all the things I read about people in history being closer to the divine yet killing thousands in the process.

All he did throughout his life is to share and love knowledge.

"Its a massive first time stroke, last month... sayang noh?" Ate Wensy texted me.

At that moment I felt a sense of loss. I wasn't able to reply back. I just stood silently afterwards I told Julien about it.

"Tsk, Tsk, sayang..." He said

I also said sayang but at the back of my mind I'm thinking maybe it's not.

He lived his life at its fullest and loved as much as he could perhaps that is his last greatest lesson we should all learn from.

Perhaps it is the real lesson I should learn from him.

Have a sweet rest my Dear Professor.

p.s.
I just learned last night that all his children were home-schooled in elementary afterwards enrolling them in pisay... he apparently used his psych skills to teach all of them WOW!

F.G. Davids' daughter write up click here
for F.G. David Quotes click here
other students and admirers here here, here, here and here

Isang paglilinaw

isa lang paglilinaw... bakit pala di nako nagsusulat ng tungkol sa gobyerno sa blog ko?
Dati kasi lagi akong nagsusulat patungkol sa kung ano anong bagay na mapulitika.

Call me indifferent or whatsoever the truth is i've made more enemies than friends because of my point of views regarding politics.

So i created a different blog for it.
But so just so may idea kayo bakit di ko na rin na-uupdate yun eh dahil siguro sa laki na ng pagkadismaya ko sa gobyerno at sa pinas.

like look, andyan pa rin si GMA, ayoko nang mag rant ganun naman din ang ginagawa ng mga to sa paligid ko paulit-ulit na kahirapan nakakasawa...

if talagang wala nang chance gumanda ang buhay ng mga tao dito dahil AYAW din naman nila then why bother di ba? Pagandahin ko na lang buhay ko.

Which brings me back to my original idea which is aayusin ko muna buhay ko bago tumulong sa iba.

Sabi nga ni Ayn Rand selfishness is a virtue.
Very true! how can I give of myself if i'm not even complete myself?

walang mangyayari, besides palagay ko kailangan muna natin hintayin mamatay ang mga nauna sating sandamakmak na mga gago at tanga before tayo mag move forward and to think na napakalakas ng "magulang" factor natin sa bansang ito.

Pansin nyo yung mga umaangat na bansa are those that give way to new ideas? to the youth? to the ones on the streets?

tingin ko sa matatanda ng generation natin eh mga empleyado ng San Miguel mga sleeping logs o yung mga nanggagatas na lang sa bansa at sa mga inaani ng bansa.

Hvae to admit malaki ng bitterness ko sa mga matatanda like if gusto nilang mabulok kasama si GMA wag naman nila kaming pigilin pagandahin ang bansa dahil gusto naming mawala yung kriminal na yun gets?

One Moment More

Hold me
Even though I know you're leaving
And show me
All the reasons you would stay
It's just enough to feel your breath on mine
To warm my soul and ease my mind
You've go to hold me and show me now

Give me
Just one part of you to cling to
And keep me
Everywhere you are
It's just enough to steal my heart and run
And fade out with the falling sun

Oh, please don't go
Let me have you just one moment more
Oh, all I need
All I want is just one moment more
You've got to hold me and keep me now

Tell me that someday you'll be returning
And maybe
Maybe I'll believe
It's just enough to see a shooting star
To know you're never really far
It's just enough to see a shooting star
To know you're never really gone

Oh, please don't go
Let me have you just one moment more
Oh, all I need
All I want is just one moment more

Oh, please don't go
Let me have you just one moment more
Oh, all I need
All I want is just one moment more
You've got to hold me
Maybe I'll believe

So hold me
Even though I know you're leaving

by Mindy Smith

First Person Demonstrative

by Phyllis Gotlieb

I'd rather
heave half a brick than say
I love you, though I do
I'd rather
crawl in a hole than call you
darling, though you are
I'd rather
wrench off an arm than hug you
though
it's what I long to do
I'd rather
gather a posy of poison ivy than
ask if you love me
so if my
hair doesn't stand on end it's
because
I never tease it
and if my
heart isn't in my mouth it's
because
it knows its place
and if I
don't take a bite of your ear
it's because
gristle gripes my guts
and if you
miss the message better get new
glasses and read it twice.

from Frances

Dissecting Harry Potter

nabasa ko na ang harry potter 7!!!
as usual libre pa rin hehehe pdf file kasi
to think na di man lang ako bumili ng maski isang harry potter book sa buong buhay ko im proud na nabasa ko siya lahat nyahahaha

reasons bakit ayaw ko bumili ng harry potter:

1. POTEK ANG MAHAL!!! Ikakain ko na lang kesa bumili tutal may mahihiraman naman ako nyahahaha

2. For me di naman ganun kaganda ang Harry Potter pang bata lang talaga siya not comparable to the classics like Lord of the Rings nung nabasa ko yun bumili ako agad ng libro eh hehehe

3. Hinihintay ko muna yung kumpleto na sila sa paperback at mas mura na mga 5 years from now sale sa cubao hehehe

so far yun lang yung reasons bakit ayaw kong bumili ng Harry Potter series.

Sa kabilang dako pa roon spoilers lang nyahahaha

how do I find the latest installment of Harr Potter?

Ok lang naman siya

Maganda well written ang ending and as usual Rowling style lahat ng mga nangyari nag memerge sa last part ng libro.

Its a good read by the way best served if ayaw mo nang gumising sa trapik at usok ng tambutso.

Dare to be Average

Talked with my best friend Gerard and I Asked him about work.
See, he works in a call center being that he was able to overcome endless days of lack of sleep.

I asked him:
"Pare hows' work?"
"Ok lang"

"Kelan ka mareregular?"
"This August sana"

"Eh okay naman ba achievements mo?"
"Ok lang"

"Wala ka namang awards or whatever?"
"Wala yung sakto lang"

"Eh pano yan diba dapat lagi kang nag-eexcel sa ganun? I mean pakitang gilas?"
"Hindi ayoko gusto ko yung di masyadong magaling para di masyadong napapansin, yung tipong average lang hindi ubod ng galing at hindi ubod ng pangit ang performance"

Then It hit me.

There is a grain of wisdom in those words that I even asked him
"Sandali kaw ba nagsabi nyan or narinig mo sa iba?"
"Ako lang"

After ng conversation na yun para akong nahimasmasan, nakapahinga, na-relax.
napa-isip ako nung sinabi ni Gerard yung mga yun...

Pakiramdam ko kasi na acculturated tayo na lagi dapat mag-perform and if nag-peperform naman eh nabibigyan ng pansin usually other people pull us down.

May mga taong exceptionally gifted at may mga taong talagang pursigidong gumaling at pag napapansin na umaangat na siya sa iba eh tinutulak siya pababa.

Ang daming facets na pwedeng i-offer ng ganung ideology.
I think It applies to most filipinos like ok na tayo sa kung ano yung position natin sa buhay basta wag lang tayo makabangga ng isang malaking tao, change the status quo or whatever para lang mapaganda ang buhay natin.

Naisip ko na nga ang isasagot ko dun sa professor ko nung high school dati na walang ibang sinabi sakin kundi "Let GMA do her job"

If tatanungin nya ako if asar pa rin ako kay GMA sasabihin ko: "Hindi nako asar sa kanya alam ko naman kung kelan siya mawawala sa pagka-presidente eh or kung kelan pwedeng gumanda ang buhay dito sa pinas, yun eh kung lahat ng katulad nyo eh patay na"

I'm sure either mumurahin ako nun or maasar sakin (milagro na lang if ngingiti yun)
Di nako titingnan nun the same as before hehehe pero totoo naman di ba? di nagbabago ang banang ito dahil sa mga matatandang walang ibang sinabi kundi "Mas madami kaming pinagdaanan kesa sayo kaya makinig ka na lang"

And thats just "PONYETA!"

------------

Sa kabilang dako I just can't stop myself from not blogging this.
The reason kaya nawala yung blog ko dati eh dahil sa isang kaibigan ko dati na nakaaway ko.

She thinks na its just good and well to use my words against me in that effect even using those knowledge about my past to further strengthen her line of argument.

The reason ladies and gentlemen is because of an AHAS.

Anyway with all due respect to my ex-friend who chose to be on the side of the ahas.
Guess who's got the last laugh now?

heto oh ----> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA