"sometimes, being single is much better not because i want to stay away from commitments and be free to flirt or go out with anyone i like, but it is more on accepting the fact that i'm just too tired of believing in and fighting for something that isn't meant to be."

Home » Archives » January 2009

one down, 11 to go

Saturday, January 31st, 2009
and just like that, it’s now the end of january.  it’s just like yesterday when we partied to welcome 2009.  hmmm, i’ll bet that i’ll say that last sentence again when december comes.  but as they say, time flies when you’re too busy to stop and smell the roses…  or something like that.  now comes the shortest month of the year.  and believe you me, we’ll just breeze past it faster than we think.  things to look forward to this month?  for me, there are only two, and both are sporting events.
 
first, it’s now super bowl weekend!  though my favorite team, the dallas cowboys didn’t make it that far, this sunday’s game (monday morning in manila) will still be worth watching.  i’m always for the underdog, so i’ll be rooting for the arizona cardinals to win it all against the pittsburgh steelers.  nothing’s worth spending the first monday of the month more than being glued to the tube to witness all three hours plus of helmet-crashing, bodies-flying, pigskin-throwing, crowd-cheering action.  plus, bruce springsteen will be performing at halftime.  although i haven’t seen “the boss” perform in years, but i guess the organizers could’ve done better in selecting the halftime performer.  but stil, the stadium at tampay bay will be rockin’ and rollin’ once kickoff starts.
 
the next is nba all-star weekend in phoenix.  though that’s still a couple of weeks away, the nba’s version of the pro bowl is actually three days long.  slam dunks, three-point shootouts, and east meets west highlight the festivities.  and compared to past all-star games uniforms, this year’s looks way, way better.  no over-fancy designs and distracting colors, it’s as simple as simplicity gets.  i’m a west coast kinda guy, but i think the east packs more punch in all-star basketball power this year.  the one good thing about this year is that it’ll be beamed live (hopefully) to a local channel, unlike last year when it was monopolized in one cable channel that our provider doesn’t have.  hmmm, another weekend of being glued to the tube then…
 
two major sporting events in one month.  but both something to look forward to.  someone in the background is yelling that valentine’s is also another occasion to look forward to.  what?!   valentine’s?  what’s that?  i’m not familiar with that day…  i don’t recall that there’s a celebration for that.  so it’s not an issue.  by the way, today is one of my cousins’ birthday.  so to my cousin treck who’s based in london, happy, happy birthday!!  wish you all the best, bro!
 
hope everyone has a good weekend.  i know i’ll be having one…
 
Posted by markie at 10:03 am | permalink | Add comment

crossing the line

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

what’s bugging me since last week was what happened to four high school students in quezon city who got their basic right to free speech shot down by their school principal.  the case stemmed from the students writing negative stuff in a blog about the school’s policies brought about by the principal herself.  according to news reports, the principal was humiliated in the blog by being called names and made fun of in songs denouncing her administration of the school.  the end result?  the school principal imposed a 10-day suspension on the students which was supposed to take effect this past monday.  although the division of city schools supported the penalty, the department of education overturned the decision and ordered an investigation of the case, thus the students are still going to school pending the results.

 

as a blogger myself who very openly writes about what i feel about whatever and whoever, i see the imposing of the 10-day suspension by the school principal as a cowardly, irresponsible, narcissistic, and grave abuse of power.  all of us–and i do mean all of us, which includes students–have the right to free speech by saying whatever we want to say.  granted that with free speech comes responsibility, but what if all the allegations of the students are true?  writing stuff about one’s experiences in blogs stems from their own experiences and therefore has merit.  calling people names in blogs is no different from protesters in the streets exercising their right to assemble and call public officials with different names.  as one official in the department of education told a news reporter, “school officials should be open to criticism and not be onion-skinned.”  the school officials in question should broaden their understanding of what was written and not just think of themselves or what people might think of them.  in fact, they should look into these allegations as well.  curbing free speech by punishing people who exercise that very basic right is just the same as being in the 70s when martial law was implemented.

 

basing on what the reasons the school principal gave on imposing the 10-day suspension, which were “degrading the school and the repuation of it’s officials by malicious statements,” this just goes to show how overly sensitive to criticism most filipinos are.  this brings back similar reactions by “old-school” filipinos to jokes made by foreign television soap operas, talk shows and comedy sketch shows.  looking at all of these, i’m going out on a limb by stating that culturally, filipinos are overly sensitive.  we take jokes about us as insults, and criticism about how we do things as a slap in the face.  no wonder we’re in the state that we’re in!!  we always want to hear the good things.  news flash for all you old-timers who are ultra-conservatives:  good things don’t always sound so good.  in a society that clamors for honesty and transparency, bloggers are slowly being made as the front-liners in making sure that everything that people in power do is in check.  and in today’s age where the minority can be elected to the highest office in the planet, ultra-conservatism has no place here and should learn to adjust like everyone else.

 

here’s a simple message to the school principal and all the officials of quezon city science high school who were “offended” by the students’ remarks on the blog:  let go of your egos.  instead, take criticism as a way to improve or change what’s needed to be changed.  yes, the word “change” might be overused nowadays, but if we want to really have world-class education–the one we’ve been aiming for–maybe we should start listening to those who we teach.  ironically, maybe you can also learn from them instead of what goes on daily in the classrooms.

 

and to the four high school students who wrote the blog, well, you might not be able to read this, but here’s a message to you as well:  don’t be discouraged.  continue doing what you have done.  as long as there is basis in what you have written, and deep down inside you know that you’re right, you’ll never, ever be wrong despite what other people might say.  free speech is the last bastion you can rely on when all else fails.

 

in closing, i would like to reiterate that blogs should be off-limits to persecution, prosecution and censorship.  everyone in the world should have the freedom to say what they want to say about anyone or anything without the fear of being hunted down, alienated, or being “silenced.”  yes, again, with free speech comes responsibility.  so if what is being said has basis or solid truth behind it, by all means, say it to the world.  it’s not like i haven’t called someone a no-good, stupid, social-climbing, paris hilton-feeling, slutty whore-bitch without it being true, right miss candee dela cruz?  or someone a gutless, spine-less, no-balls piece of sh*t son of a bitch, right mister eduardo de jesus jr.?

 

have a good weekend everyone!!

 

Posted by markie at 2:06 pm | permalink | Add comment

sister soul

Friday, January 16th, 2009

on this very special day, i would like to greet my one and only sister a:

 HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

 here’s wishing you all the best!  love ya!!  :D

 

Posted by markie at 4:21 pm | permalink | Add comment

end of the world?

Thursday, January 8th, 2009

2009 looks to be a good year again for movies.  touted as another year of the sequels with such releases as angels & demons, night at the museum 2, transformers:  revenge of the fallen, terminator:  salvation, fast & the furious 4, and ice age:  dawn of the dinosaurs, moviegoers will be in for another banner year.  but there’s one movie in particular that may be a sleeper hit.  little has been said about it, and i just heard about it from my sister.  i went to the official movie website and saw the teaser trailer and i’m quite intrigued and impressed by it.  what makes it all the more something to look forward to, is that the events in the movie will be based on something scientific.  yes, that concept is nothing new to hollywood to make big bucks on such as the day after tomorrow, armegeddon, deep impact, and other disaster movies, but with those movies i mentioned, there is no specific timeframe as to when the events depicted in those films will happen.  with this new movie coming out, there is one.  to share my excitement of anticipating this movie, you can watch the teaser trailer below:

crazy, isn’t it?  i did the google search as suggested at the end of the trailer and i found the scientific basis behind it.  it’s freaky when you think about it that the world will end in three years time.  but as far as i’m concerned, this movie will be one of the screw-you-if-you-miss-watching-it films for this year.  prepare, for the end is coming!!  hahahahaha!!!

oh, and by the way, here’s the official movie website if your still curious:  http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/2012/

Posted by markie at 9:16 pm | permalink | Add comment

here we go

Thursday, January 1st, 2009
first off, happy new year to everyone.  i hope all of you had a safe and wonderful celebration of ringing in the new year last night.  well, if you ask how i welcomed 2009, traditionally i was with family and relatives lighting fireworks in between alcoholic drinks.  we even had my cousin’s laptop on hand, broadcasting our new year’s celebration on yahoo messenger for our other relatives who are in new zealand, dubai and united kingdom.  i stayed up until around past 5AM, drunk but happy.  so drunk that before i fell asleep, i was feeling woozy and had to throw up in the bathroom.  just a perfect way to end the celebration, my head slumped over the toilet puking dinner, alcohol and more food.  hahahahaha!!!
 
so 2008 is finally over and 2009 is here.  will it be a good year or were the bad things that happened in 2008 just a prelude of things to come?  for me, i try not to pre-empt or jump the gun so to speak with what might happen.  all i do is just meet the year head on.  challenges, setbacks, blessings, rewards, i’ll take ‘em all on.  after all, what’s there to live for if you don’t jump into life head first, right?  but of course, just like most of you, i try to set goals for myself for this year.  hopefully, this year i’ll be able to accomplish at least one or two of them.  so as not to set too many things for myself and make me look like an ass, i’ve narrowed my so-called new year’s resolutions down to just three.  and they are:
 
1.  get back in shape - if a filipino male’s life expectancy is 70 years old, that puts me almost halfway there.  but with the shape i’m in, i don’t think i’ll even reach 65.  i guess i have to be pretty aggressive with this one.  though i’m not going to the gym anymore like i did during 2007, there are other alternatives to compensate for having a good workout.  my ultimate goal with this one, to go back to having a size 32 inch waistline (at least; don’t even ask me what my waistline is right now).  that’s quite a tall order, but if i pushed myself like how i did two years ago and achieved acceptable results, there’s no reason why i can’t do it again.
 
2.  post blog entries regularly - in other words, keep my blog updated.  i suppose a minimum of six or seven entries in a month would suffice.  hopefully i won’t be having once-a-month entries like i did during the latter part of ‘08.  believe me, it’s quite hard to have something regular to blog about, especially if the mind just completely goes blank.  but if i consider blogging as one of my interests and hobbies, then i have to be committed to it.
 
3.  smile more - even though i’m always looking at the bright side of things or just thinking positive amidst setbacks, i almost never physically show it.  i mean, a good smile never hurt anyone, right?  besides, people who meet me for the first time almost always see me as a snob even though i’m not.  well i guess here’s where first impressions come into play.  and i just remembered that smiling reduces wrinkles so if i want to continue to look young i better lighten up.  well, my face that is (surprisingly, i still look 28 to most of the people i met last year).
 
there it is.  three simple goals to reach (supposedly).  if you’re wondering why didn’t i set a goal for my personal life (read:  lovelife) this year, well, having a girlfriend has been on the upper part of my list since i got over my ex 13 years ago.  and for that amount of time, nothing came about it.  i hoped, wished, prayed, followed advice, dated, prayed some more, met women in various ways, transferred companies, prayed a little more, went on blind dates, had my friends and cousins set me up on dates, had people pray over me, followed bizarre rituals, and still… zero.  not that i’m already giving up (well, close to), but i just figured when it’s time, it’s time.  until then, i just continue what i’m doing and date women whenever i can, however i can.
 
i’ll be ending this entry with a quote i received some months ago through sms.  i saw it as i was going through all the saved quotes on my mobile phone and i think it’s something nice to think about and consider doing with the brand new year and all.  it reads, “let go of those who cannot treat you right and hold on to those you love you back and/or appreciate your worth.  After all, life is not about meeting people; it’s touching people’s lives.”
 
happy 2009 to all of you!  it’s a start of another one of life’s journeys.  sit back, strap in, and enjoy the ride.
 
Posted by markie at 11:28 pm | permalink | comments[1]