It's more fun in COE.

I remember one of my instructors telling me that in their college, the word "KI-AT" is  justified in the truest sense of the word. Then he went to ask: "Kamo sa COE, unsa mo diha, ga-uga?"

I agreed with him. Yes. It's because "KI-AT" is not justified in COE. What we prove instead are the words "MAS KI-AT."

1. Take for example our sports events. It caters to the sports minded, the athletic, even to those who want to lose weight, wear a tan or stalk their crush.

A postapocalyptic novel to welcome the year.

With all the fuss about the world ending in 2012, I figured it would be a good idea to read "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy before the year ends. I heard of McCarthy as the author of Blood Meridian, whom the likes of Jessica Zafra enjoy very much and when I saw his name on a novel with an all black cover except for the words 'THE ROAD" printed in red, I immediately picked it up. It turned out that McCarthy really is not for the average reader that I am. I have to elevate myself to a thinking being to appreciate his style. In a McCarthy, you don't just react to the happenings and twists in the plot. It is not a page turner in the sense that you just want to know what happens next. Instead, you immerse yourself in the world he creates and leaf through the pages because you want to feel more. I want to call it as curiosity of what you might be capable of feeling, rather than curiosity of what's in store for the characters. 

Reading the first paragraphs can make you feel like you want to throw the book away. But all you need is elevate yourself from your usual reading attitude that serves reading mangas and tagalog pocketbooks well and you'll get through. Pretty much like Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude.

The book did not explicitly mention the cause of the apocalypse (why America, or the world, was burned) but I figured it might be because of a natural phenomenon (eg solar flares reaching Earth) like the one in the film Knowing starring Nicolas Cage. One thing though, McCarthy is very good at describing the world he created and its stark contrast to the world of the man and his son "sustained  by love."

Do we still have a reason to celebrate Christmas?

Photo by

Naderev Saño

One moment we were watching the evening news Christmas countdown with anticipation. The next thing we knew, we were watching ourselves on the news, heartbroken and devastated to the extent commensurate to the damage around us. Just when we were so excited to greet Christmas with a festive mood, we were suddenly knocked down with Nature's fist of fury--tearing us apart, breaking our hearts, driving us to tears.

With the recent disaster and its aftermath haunting us, turning into a nightmare in high noon, reminding us of the sufferings of others and our own, do we still have a reason to celebrate Christmas?

Yes, we do. 

To Christians, Christ itself is enough reason. Our sufferings from the disasters of this world pale in comparison to what He endured for all of us. Surely, no amount of despair could make us let go of even the smallest reason to remember Him. This very act is an act of Hope, that even at our darkest times we fight against that black hole forming in our hearts, sucking all of the remaining light. 

We may not be able to sit around our Christmas trees in our comfortable living rooms now rendered unrecognizable with the filth and thick sediment, prepare a bountiful dinner in our beloved kitchen that now lays destroyed, or hear the sounds of torn wrappers together with peals of laughter as we jump in surprise of the gift we receive. But celebrating Christmas was never about these things. It was not about how loud and merry we get, how inebriated we become from our drunken revelries and how varied the dishes served on our table will be. It is not in the best greetings we speak, but in the quality of our prayers. It is not in the mere physical presence of our loved ones, but in the extent of our remembrance and love which transcends borders and can even get past death. 

Celebrating Christmas is lying in the silent knowledge that despite what we've been through, Life is still worthwhile because Someone cared enough to give up His own in an ultimate expression of Love.

Forget the breeze, the lights and the songs. It is Christmas in our hearts that brings Christmas in the air. 

The Workplace

This is exactly why I need to have a space of my own. Otherwise, roommates would be buried in a heap of scientific journals, handouts, Bato Balanis, and other stuff. The table is equally cluttered, and the bed barely gives space for someone to sleep. When I do sleep I become an instant contortionist, and like a fluid which takes the shape of its container, I content myself with the available space (which I never really took as a discomfort since I only get to sleep for an hour maximum). Oh the life of an academic. 

Ha ha ha.

I don't look good with my poker face. I don't look good when I laugh, either. There was a point in my life when I cover my face when I laugh really hard. As much as possible, I suppress my laughter. But who needs to look good when they laugh? The important thing is, you FEEL good! And probably more important for us, ever curious creatures, is to find out why.

Read  Scientists Hint at Why Laughter Feels So Good at The New York Times.

Life may become so serious it's funny. You have to laugh it out, sometimes. Get those endorphins going!

Ha ha ha.

Eat that.

In addition to scientific journals I have this to devour.

 Finishable, I hope.

How to make an event like a beauty pageant particularly riveting and engaging.

1. Start way behind schedule. In order to do this, choose judges that avail each and every salon service an hour before the show actually starts. Or you could choose judges that simply have the guts to let people believe we have all day to wait for them. Choose those judges who believe they are very important. They are those who do not know that the reason the pageant needs them and cannot start without them is that their valuable subjective judgments play a crucial role, not because they have an unlimited sense of entitlement.

2. Assign a boring host. Choose public speaking veterans who have gained the accolades of their peers with probably a century of experience kicking ass in the hosting industry. Their long experience made them sank into complacency as they are certain that even though they are pulling the flow of the pageant together with their dragging spiels and effortless vocal nuances, they still believe they are doing a great job. Make them introduce the board of judges in a time duration equivalent to one judge per day. This way, the audience which is mostly composed of young and highly-energetic students, will be able to relate to the host because the generation gap is non-existent.