Okay. Lemme have it. The Australians lost against the Italians last night. BUT it was a great game.
It was nil to nil until the last minute. Imagine my Socceroos, who have only entered the final 16 for the first time in World Cup history, managed to hold their own against the powerhouse Italians who have three World Cups to their belts. The Italians only won by a penalty shot.
Ah it was a beautiful game. It is a beautiful game.
So beautiful that I can't understand why this country is oblivious to the sporting event when the rest of the world is wired about it. One day, one of my future sons (nyahaha) will be in the World Cup in the first ever Philippine team (yes i have faith). I shared this dream with my friend on ym: me: one of my future sons will be in the world cup chris: ? me: and i will be following the world cup me: LIVE!!! me: as in i am sooo going to be a ummm... how should i say it? field mom? me: not stage mom eh. chris: LOL chris: well the equivalent of one on the sports scene me: yes me: grabe i will even paint my face! chris: and if and when your son gets bumped, even slightly, you'll run out on the field and beat the other guy bloody with your shoe me: hahahaha me: pwede din me: i myself will get a red card chris: hahaha
PS. Chris absolutely knows my pointed stilettos are deadly.
Yes I caught the World Cup bug. I got it last 2002 and when Brazil won, I swore I was going to Germany this year for the games, unfortunately, I overlooked the financial factor. Hehe.
This year though, I didn't have a team to support. Everybody was for Brazil. Yeesh. I hate doing a bandwagon, so I'll just cheer for them silently. Germany is still a favorite because Layla loved Oliver Kahn so much, his team grew a soft spot in my heart. Ronaldo, on the other hand, gives me the impression of arrogance so I just leave him be.
However, or should I say howevah, Australia did a remarkable thing that certainly caught my attention. It's a young team, it's their second FIFA ever and they got in the Final 16 Round. Woo hoo! I'm rooting for the underdog Socceroos against Italy. Tough match and it will be one hell of a miracle if they win, but I rooting for them still!!! I have faith in Harry Kewell, that really good-looking Forward. You see, women don't just watch the match because of the footwork.
Friday, June 23, 20062:28 PM something to remind you about life
I would like to share with you the speech of Ms. April Lacson. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from University of Asia & the Pacific’s MA in Political Economy-IRD program last June 3, 2006. (Of course I'm damned proud of my course.)
It reminds me of one of Shakespeare’s sonnets. "Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O no! it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come: Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved."
-Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare
Ladies and Gentlemen, Honored Guests, Fellow Students:
I am not graduating today and neither are you. My graduation came the day
I was told that I could finally bind my thesis after 51 revisions. There were no cheers or claps that day. There were no witnesses. Only a quiet sense of fulfillment and a voice within me that said it was done and I had done it. That was my graduation. When was yours?
It could be the day you took your last exam, the moment you typed that final period in a term paper or the day you saw a "P" beside your student number in the compre results. Whatever or whenever it was, that was your graduation. Not this. And not today.
During graduation practice we were told that this was a show. And, it is. For today, all the pomp and ceremony only serves to show that the world has finally recognized what you knew and earned long ago. Today, we receive one of the most expensive pieces of paper we will ever buy. Valuable not only because we’ve spent almost half a million on tuition fees, books, and allowance, but more importantly, because we’ve given four or five years of our lives to get it. Years we will never get back.
Now, having finished one goal, what comes next?
If you've been keeping apace with the news then you'd know that in the last few days, 5800 people were killed in an earthquake in Indonesia while another 20 lives were lost in the civil unrest in East Timor. But just as graduation is a part of school, death is a part of life. The real tragedy is not that they died but that it took their dying to give their lives significance. So I ask again: having finished one goal, what comes next? Will you allow your life to end the same way? Will you be contented to spend the rest of your life in mediocre existence? In living death?
I don't mean to dampen your spirits. In any case, I don't think that’s possible - at least not today. But when your head is in the clouds, it's best to make sure that your feet are still firmly planted on earth.
Today marks the end of more than 10 years of formal education. Today, we reach the crossroads. We are as barks in the water. Ships which, having left one port, are in the middle of the ocean. Destination: uncertain. We are the captains and the crew awaits. Where do you want to go?
In the midst of your drunken raves, shopping sprees or bar hopping binges, have you stopped to ask yourself: why am I here? Or, while in the middle of cracking a joke between colleagues, paused to wonder if there is more to life?
Textbook answers won't do. Nor would replies mimicked from celebrities or quoted from your peers. You must answer. Not your family or your friends. YOU. Because however much society might nag and wail, life is personal and it is best lived according to your choices and your values.
So, if you haven't yet, ask yourself now. There are no wrong answers except one: settling, when you allow your life to be less than what you have imagined or wished it to be. When, having reached one goal, you stop, contented. When, in any endeavor, you hold back, and stand aside satisfied.
The history of mankind is the history of individuals. Just as we forget the armies, but treasure the generals that lead them, society forgets those who follow and remembers those who dare to shape the world according to their own vision
Do you wonder why the Philippines is struggling or why, after millions of dollars in aid and development efforts we remain steeped in poverty? It's because we lack individuals. Not people, individuals. Because too many of our fellow citizens have thrown away their capacity for independent thought. Because too many have abandoned their creative potential in exchange for a pretense at existence. Because we have become a country of superficial imitators.
Have you ever quoted an author without understanding what he meant? Ever parroted an answer to get the grade? Ever watched a show, bought a dress, or joined a club not because you liked it but because everyone else has seen, admired or joined? Then you're as guilty as the bum on the street who refuses to work, and just as culpable for our country's indigence. Perhaps even more so, especially since we have the means and the education to have known better.
Well, today, I challenge you. To become individuals. To get our brains back and start pursuing a goal that's entirely our own. I challenge you to start standing on your own feet and on your own judgment. I know it's scary. And if anything goes wrong, we've no one to blame but ourselves. But I think being wrong a thousand times is worth more than living your life based on someone else's values. Millions are already doing that. They're everywhere. They're people who think one way but act another. They're kids who like fine arts but take up nursing because it's easier to earn that way. They're soldiers who die in battle without knowing why the battle was fought. It's time we started distinguishing ourselves from them.
No one profits from your being ordinary. Dare to imagine. To think BIG. Then, dare to make it come true. Let us push the limits of what is possible, but most of all, let's seek to give our lives purpose. Having fun and enjoying life does not necessarily mean pursuing the stupid, the popular, or the meaningless. Don't look for a job. Look for your calling. Don't find a hobby. Look for a passion. And if you want to study again, forget the diploma, get an education.
Through the years, philosophers have said that man was born with an innate desire to find the causes of things. Well, if you must search for meaning, then why not now and with your life?
Today, we are set adrift in an ocean of possibilities. Do you follow the stars or will you allow the ocean to make the choice for you. It's your life and the clock's ticking. Your move.
Thank you.
* * *
Wednesday, June 14, 200612:47 PM the letter to my boss This is to formally notify you that I am resigning from the Institute of Corporate Directors as Assistant Training Director. July 14, 2006 will be my last day of employment.
While I believe that I am moving for good reasons, I am sorry to leave. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to work in such an outstanding organization. I truly believe in the cause of good governance that the Institute is advocating and while I wish I can still stay, circumstance dictates that I can do more for ICD after considerable schooling.
Since this was my first job, I want to personally thank you for your encouragement and support as my superior and mentor.
I am going to miss the men in uniform...
And no, Mark. Though the idea is tempting, I am not going to bid goodbye by saying that I have had the hots for him these past few years.
I can't believe you and I will be jobless on July 14. Freakish coinky-dinky.
* * *
"There are things out there that I want to discover, that one day this will all make sense... I am searching for the meaning of this cosmic existence that we're in. And
probably when I find the answer, I'll go and look for the anti-thesis."
5 THINGS
1. I sing in the University Chorale of the University of Asia & the Pacific, and we swept four gold medals in Greece for our very first International Competition. I got to do my two absolute favorite things: singing and traveling.
2. Although I am an Alto Two, my range widens up to Soprano One when I am drunk. Think Charlotte Church's Flower Duet. (I think it has something to do with swallowing the diaper pin when I was a baby). Dancing barefoot in debut parties may also be expected.
3. I work in an non-government organization focused on private sector development. It involves sleepless nights in the office and the constant worry of displeasing a former Secretary of Finance. My other two bosses are harmless.
4. I like my men in uniform. The Military has always been a fascination of mine even before when I was finishing a BA degree in Political Economy.
5. I no longer watch The Bold and the Beautiful much to the joy of friends and family.
