MEComposing

Well, okay, technically, i'm still only 145 lbs. But I am still really very much overweight now. And yes, this is the most flattering picture of me right now because am really all lumps and bumps and bulge and cellulite and stretch marks.

I need to get healthier asap.

Maybe it's just my in-laws' resthouse. But then again, i've always loved the beach. And after having come back from Marinduque, I find myself daydreaming a lot about living there on my own, for at least a month.

I'd just sleep at the sala or the hammock, with the ocean breeze and the crashing of the waves for company. I'd eat local food and not watch TV. I'd forego cellphones and internet and read a lot instead. And i'd walk miles and miles and miles of it.

I'm thinking, maybe i'd even camp at the Melchor island of the Tres Reyes chain. Wonder though if high tide would mean i'd have to sleep in the cave...or climb higher on the limestone cliffs.

And what would be a typhoon like from the treehouse? And would the sunsets always be as beautiful?

This is such a romantic daydream, one I doubt i'd ever realize now. After all, I can't exactly live an idyllic life there away from my husband and son.

Painted masks, faces and bodies are basic elements of a Philippine fiesta. They inject energy and passion to the festivities, making all the merrymaking and praying and convergence more dynamic, electric and interesting.

This is the eye of a Moriones mask that was being sold in a flea market. I would have loved to have lashes and brows like those, hehe.

We weren't even good friends in childhood exactly. But we played and hung out a lot.

And I wouldn't call her nice, but I'm assumming she's also not that bad. And surely she'd have mellowed out in time.

My most vivid memory of her is that time when we were already in high school. She liked a guy from our street, who happened to be involved with my classmate. She, along with some others who like the same guy, were trying to bully my classmate and she asked me for my classmate's number. I told her I didn't know and she was dripping with sarcasm when she asked, "Classmate mo, hindi mo alam number?" (no cellphones back then)
I was cold with my reply that I really didn't know because I was not in the same peer group. Then one of our friends said that she doubts i'd have told them the number anyway, if i'd known. True enough, had I known, I wouldn't have given it to them. I was not close with my classmate either but I certainly wouldn't let them get to her. And all for a boy who was not exceptional in any way.

Sheesh, no?

But anyway, like what I said, I played a lot with Charlotte. I hung out with her a lot. I grew up with her. When I entered college, I lost touch with all of my neighbors/street friends. All I knew was she was involved with a fellow Paconian who later on owned a computer shop in our area. Turned out, she married him.

Anyway, she is probably two years older than me at most. And now she is dead. I am only turning 32 this October so that makes her less than 35. And she is dead. Of cancer. And I can't express how deeply I was moved by this fact.

I doubt any of us wondered, ten or twenty years after that football game, or that chikahan, or her birthday party, if all of us would still be alive. Especially since she came from one of the richer families in the neighborhood. Some of our playmates grew up to be drug addicts and convicts, some grew up to be whores. You'd think they'd snuff it first before someone who was moneyed and educated.

But she's gone now. And I hurt for the family she left behind. I may not have great memories of her but am sure her family thinks greatly of her, that she will be missed by her friends. I hurt for the knowledge that she's leaving behind young kids.

All I can do is pray... that she is at peace and that her family will find comfort where they can.

This is a picture of my late nephew's cake on what should have been his 4th birthday. His story has been already told and ended, but our memories of him live on.

And the love he inspired in me made me a better Mom, a better person.

Friends are annoyed by Manny Pacquiao's dismissal of DOH's request that they not return to the country so soon, or that they limit contact with other people. But I also see Manny's point that they are also putting themselves at risk by staying longer in the U.S. And the press and the people are flocking to shake his hands and hug him of their own volition.

But I was more offended by Chavit's donation of a thick wad of dollars at Quiapo Chruch during the Mass. I am not offended by the act of donating (after all, it is for the Church) but the manner in which it was given was really atrocious. He knows he's in the front pew. He knows people are looking their way because he's seated beside Manny. He knows there are cameras. But what does he do? He pulls out a thick wad (and by thick, it's at least an inch thick) of dollars which he of course couldn't shoot in the donation basket fast enough.

At least Manny had the decency to write a cheque and put it in an envelope (or it cash too but it was really a very slim envelope). The act of donating was not done ostentatiously.

Chavit's charity became news itself. Tsk. Tsk.

So forget GMA. It is Chavit who is truly the master strategist. He arranged for the Filipino people to crucify Erap while he's now walking free, with fat bundles of cash on him, a percentage of which is most probably ill-gotten.

My Hope This helps You blog is currently how I get my bread buttered. I installed a feedjit there for most popular pages and for months, I was kinda amused that my post on the Crocs Mega Sale is always in top 5. I assumed it only means that "crocs sale" is being googled many times.

It also sort of annoys me because I feel I have more helpful posts that aren't being generated/syndicated. Then again, I know the traffic is also affected by where I promote my posts (which is in message boards usually) and whatever's happening that season. Right now, my travel posts are top posts, maybe because it's the time for travelling.

Sigh. Hopefully I am still really dishing out quality posts. I miss being funny though.