caterpillar talk

“No amount of worldly success could ever compensate for a failure in the family.”

the last three (3) entries were posted merely for the sake of posting something. this entry is like those previous entries. please bear with my yakkity yakkity yak.

:: society’s measures of success: high-paying job, big house, expensive car and gizmos, smooth-running career — these are the “conventional” measures of success which my friend and i would say “duh” to.

i like what she said in defense of the unconventional measures of success: “these unconventional successes are well worth my ‘poverty’ as the world would call it and well worth the pain i had to endure just because i fell in love with the stars and everything else essential but not easily seen.” i find her statement pretty bold and noble. no wonder, we’re friends.

:: here’s for reggie! reggie who? fans of prison break would surely recognize him as secret service agent bill kim. i was able to watch seasons 1 and 2 of prison break again (a clear sign of addiction!) and i found bill kim so pro and so annoying that i ended up checking him out. as a result, i found out that the actor who plays the part, reggie lee, is not korean american like bill kim is in the series. reggie lee is a filipino american who can speak tagalog, english, and cantonese.

:: once, when my labmate and i were walking around the campus in diliman, a korean pair stopped us and asked, “do you know the way to the sexy station?” what a question to ask in broad daylight! hala, taymsa og sa dihang naskandalo jud mi sa pangutana — ding, red light district thoughts. we gave them the benefit of the doubt though. so we had to beg their pardon before we could say something off. it turned out, their question was actually: “do you know the way to the taxi station?” ehehe…

:: my art mentor shared this:

What Money Can’t Buy
by Daniel Olsson

Money Can Buy
A job, but not accomplishment.
A house, but not a home.
A pet, but not a friend.
Medicine, but not health.
Decorations, but not happiness.
A ring, but not love.
A book, but not a story.
An education, but not knowledge.
Glasses, but not sight.
Toys, but not fun.
Clothes, but not beauty.
A piano, but not a song.
Paper and pencil, but not words.
A bed, but not sleep.
Food, but not a meal.
A window, but not a view.

:: those who really value the concept of home and family know that flirting with wreckers, in whatever form they come, is a no-no. things that will most likely bring forth the erosion of good relations in the family are not worth it. no matter what one gains, for as long as he/she ends up with a wrecked family (or wrecked family relations) because of his/her actions, he/she ends up losing.

:: we may not always have much but we would always have enough because we have LOVE and FAMILY! and that is why we do great things! with much love, we can do great things.

:: from phd comics: “in academia, never say you have problems. it is a sign of weakness. call them challenges or issues but never problems.” uhmmmm… makes sense. renaming problems “issues” or “challenges” will make you feel better and on top of the game. but then again… a problem, by any other name, is a problem.

:: no wonder my labmates wanted me to join them in their naruto craze! but i only got into the wagon just recently, thanks to my sister who borrowed the dvds from our cousin. naruto, the character, is sooooo annoying. i find him so annoying but i always end up rooting for him episode after episode. hahaaaay, the great irony. in this case, “the more you hate, the more you love” applies. my sister and i are planning to watch bleach and one piece next.

:: the most viewed photos in my flickr account:

673 views: yey, they love herbie!*

363 views: indulgence!

:: i managed to accumulate so many pictures in just a short period of time. this is what i realized when i finally got around to organizing my online photo albums in photobucket. i already uploaded close to 2000 photos and i still have to transfer the photo albums i have in friendster and those i hid in multiply and flickr. hala, so now i still have to labor for the fruits of my and my friends’ labor (read: “posing and picture-taking”).

*about the image: i merely added the texts that say “1960s” and “herbie” to the original herbie photo i found somewhere on the net. the image was used among with images of other 60s vehicles for our dorm’s open house early last year.

Does money really buy happiness? No. Because happiness is not for sale. When it comes to happiness, only people you love, and who love you, can bring it. If you have enough dough to buy yourself a luxurious yacht, but no real friends to sail with, you’re sunk.”
– Reader’s Digest Asia, May 2006

you’re timeless, i’m time-bound — i could never win if i competed against you…

you and your endless journey and your different colors,
you and your lure and the thousand and one stories you write across the skies,
you who don’t always look happy, but always fascinating, always beautiful.

i’ve gone from here to there, lived through then, now, and tomorrow just by watching you.

you are probably the first real thing i ever saw.

you do spectacular battles against impending darkness,
you quash the creeping gloom with a burst of life,
you hold me in awe and you are what i want to be…

because you remain luminous… in hues of yellow, orange, and red and blue and green and hints of them

because you remain boundless, always sowing inspiration, always reaping every fighting chance.

because you give me something and something more,
i’ll try and i’ll keep trying, anyway.

about the image: it’s somewhere just off manila bay. the photograph was taken by jr3 while on board the boat, st. joseph the worker (bound for iloilo), on october 24, 2005.

“Stories were full of hearts broken by love,
but what really broke a heart was taking away its dream –
whatever that dream might be.”
–Pearl S. Buck

once there was a heart. it choked. it broke.
once there was a dream. it died.

i once had that heart. i once had that dream.
one broke. one died.

i stepped in too late to save one or both of them.

i now have a new heart. i now have a new dream.
i’m taking good care of them.

the dream, it did not really die.
it only got the fate that befell the heart.

i didn’t get a new heart. i didn’t come up with a new dream.
i couldn’t. my hands’re full –

it’s like having a new heart, it’s like having a new dream
nursing that broken dream that the broken heart still sustains.

about the image: multi-colored sky as viewed from corregidor island’s battery grubbs. photo taken by val.

“Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write, for example,’The night is shattered
and the blue stars shiver in the distance.’
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings…”
– Pablo Neruda

tonight is your last night for tomorrow i’ll let go. it’s weird that i don’t seem to miss you anymore eventhough part of me still wants to. it’s easier to let go now. i’m no longer afraid to lose what i never had. i don’t have to cry, there will be no tears for me to shed. the world has shown me a million smiles — maybe they’re all yours, maybe they’re all reflections of mine. who cares if they’re yours? i don’t… well, at least, not in that way that i used to. i guess it’s the right time. i feel some sense of peace. every memory i was able to keep from what i can now call ’so long ago’ shall stay with me. i don’t have to throw them away nor leave them behind so i can forget. i know now that they won’t hurt me like i once naively thought they would. you, you can’t be with me. that’s not anymore the saddest thing i’ve ever known. you made your choice. i am ready to forge mine. without bitterness. without pain. without sadness. with a hope. i hope this is right, i hope i’m not lying.

p.s. you’re still my friend.

“you are here because…”
-=- vkpm, 05-19-05 -=-

on a virgin shore i walk
hand in hand with my barefoot self
the mysterious wind trails along
catching my breaths, listening to my thoughts

from sunrise to sunset
from moonrise to moonset
time hops with footfall after footfall
and the sea sings a comforting ancient cry

my soul sings back and the wind joins in
the sky hears and echoes a message across
the stars and the cottony clouds join the chorus
the world knows, the world feels

wave after wave silence breaks
step after step my soles caress the sands
and as the shore stretches more and more
it beckons, it whispers “…you deserve us”