One Minute

“Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.” -Robert Morgan

Away from home you’ll miss all the things that remind you of home. I guess there right when they say, “you’ll miss the grass, the people, the pathways, the food, the traffic jam at times, the boisterous crowd and everything that is home you will miss even the polluting exhaust of a passing pedicab or the occasional gunshot that breaks the silence of the night.”You will miss!

The sight and sounds of the place that made you what you are embed itself deep into your psyche that bound you through life.

I’m a physical person and I love to touch things and I usually close my eyes when I do so. Though my hand is coarse it’s a bit sensitive in feeling the contour and textures of things. Whenever, I go to the College of Business Administration or walk around MSU Main Campus, I have the habit of touching things, I mean the inanimate and sometimes living organism, well excluding female Homo sapiens of course or I will get into trouble. The sense of touch is second only to smell and taste in experiencing the essence of matters.

As I stroke my keyboard it reminds me of the time, I caress the grasses, flowers, and plants that surround the College of Business Administration. I guess I seem to miss everything there is to miss, the cracked paint of the building, the occasional smiles of passing students, colleagues’ laughter or a stare from strangers and even the iron bar of the window in the Dean’s office with its faded paint and rusted texture that sometimes gives a residue of rust in your hand if you hold them longer.

Hmmm…. Sometimes life is just like that. At times you are in one place your comfortable in being then suddenly you have to go in a place to chase something you want only to return to the place you first started and the only purpose to it all is to be a better person when you come back.

You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it’s all right. ~Maya Angelou

Baling – a Maranao word that literally means “go home.”

CANBERRA. In a party I was chatting with a professor emeritus in linguistic when our topic suddenly veered toward the Philippines. He started discussing that all Southeast Asian language has common roots from example the word “bato” meaning stone is the same all over Southeast Asia from Solomon Islands to the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Filipinos he said most likely descended from the Ami – the aborigines of Taiwan – which migrated through the Batanes Island and start populating the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia.

Hmmm… Sound totally different from what I learned in school. Then there is this article which somehow supports the theory that we are indeed from Taiwan and not from Malaysia or Indonesia as earlier suggested by historians.

“A Stanford University study conducted during 2001 revealed that Y-chromosome Haplogroup O3-M122 (labeled as “Haplogroup L” in this study) predominates among Filipino males. This particular haplogroup is also predominant among Chinese and Korean males. That finding is consistent with the theory that people migrated from China south into the Philippines. Another haplogroup, Haplogroup O1a-M119 (labeled as “Haplogroup H” in this study), is also found among Filipinos. The rates of Haplogroup O1a are highest among the Taiwanese Aborigines. Overall, the genetic frequencies found among Filipinos point to the Ami tribe of Taiwan as their nearest genetic relative.”

(link: http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/AJHG_2001_v68_p432.pdf)

Anyway, it may be true it may be not but only evidence will tell us, where did most of the Filipino come from as a people.

My interest nowadays is researching the origin of the Maranaos. Most historians start their writing on the advent of Islam (i.e. the arrival of Sarip Kabunsuan).

What I want to know is before that time, when the Maranaos are not yet converted to Islam. They are presumed to be pagan and believers of many superstitions. What are their ways of life and how did they evolve as society?

“Ang taong naniniwala sa mga sabi-sabi ay nawawala sa sariling bait.” - Kasabihan.

Habang naglalakad ako sa BA papunta sa aking klase narinig ko ang usapan ng dalawang estudyante.

“Alam mo kaya ganyan ang mga guys dahil alam nila mas maraming girls kaya ayos lang sa kanilang magpapalit palit at maging playboy…” pangusap ng isang coed.

“Kaya nga eh… it’s unfair, nagagawa nila yung kasi mas marami tayong mga girls” sumbat naman ng kasama niya.

Hay! Naku wag kayong magpapaniwala jan. Walang katotohanan yan! Ano nga ba talaga ang totoo. Mas marami bang girls kesa boys? Ang totoo ay mas marami ang lalake kesa babae kaya mga girls wag kayong matakot na mauubusan kayo. Tingnan niyo na lang yung Table 1 halos pareho lang ng dami. Sa totoo niyan mas marami pang lalake kesa mga babae. Nagkataon lang sa mga University mas maraming babae kasi karamihang boys bulakbol kaya di matuloy ng kolehiyo. Sa age bracket na 15-19 lang mas marami ang babae by 0.6 percent. Huh!

Table 1. Population by Age Group, by Sex and by Region: 2000

Source: National Statistics Office

Pati sa mga darating na panahon mas nakakarami pa rin ang boys kesa mga girls kaya walang dapat na ikabahala.  Tignan niyo na lang ang Table 2 para magising kayo sa katotohanan na mas marami pa ring mga lalaki kesa babae.

Table 2. Summary of Projected Population by Sex,

by Five-Year Interval: Philippines: 2000-2040

Source: Inter-Agency Working Group on Population Projections

Teka! Saan ba nanggaling ang idea na yan na mas marami ang babae sa lalaki. Well, galing sa paniniwala na pagmalapit na magunaw ang mundo mas dadami ang babae kesa lalaki. Pero wag kayong matakot matagal pa naman yun kaya rest assured mas marami pa rin mga boys kesa girls sa mga darating na panahon. Hinding hindi kayo mauubusan ng supply…. Hehehehehe…

Pero, pero, at pero ang wala sa data ay ang mga boys na nagiging “gerlalu.” Hindi ba kabawasan din yun sa bilang ng mga boys kasi di na sila katalo ng mga girls. Isa pa kakompentensya na sila ng mga girls sa paghahanap ng boys.

Hmmmm… Ang totoo niya eh wala tayong impormasyon sa dami ng membro ng “Federasyon” kaya mahirap magsalita patungkol jan. Datapwat siguro sa tinging ko di naman ganun karami ang mga “gerlalu” para magkulang ang mga boys. Kaya wag na wag kayong maniwala na mas maraming ang girls kesa boys!

Alam mo ang dami talagang maling paniniwala tulad na lang nung libro ni Gregorio Zaide at ni Theodoro Agoncillo na ginagamit pa rin hanggang ngayon at tinuturo sa mga kolehiyo. Ang nakasaad galing daw tayo sa Malaysia na sumakay ng bangka (tawag Balangay) at pumunta ng Pilipinas. Wag kayong maniwala sa history professor niyo kung yan pa rin ang kwento niya.

Ang totoo niyan eh, galing tayo sa Taiwan. Well, sa susunod na blog ko na lang kukwento kung bakit. Hehehehe….

PS. Ginamitan pa talaga ng data ano… Para naman mas kapanipaniwal di ba? Hehehehe…

“I have a dream, a song to sing, to help me cope with anything… Huh!!! Things are getting tougher these days… I need more than dream and song. I NEED TO PRAY!!!”

Natunaw na ang ekonomiya ng mundo. Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk… Wala pang isang buwan ang daming libro tungkol sa ekonomiks ang nawalan ng silbi. Hahahaha… Lahat ng alam mo na din a pwedeng pagbasihan kasi nag-iba na ang mundo. Ang laking pera ang nawala para mabigyan kayo ng idea kung gaano kalaki. Isipin niyo na lang kung yung buong campus ng MSU – Main Campus (10,000 Hectares din yun) eh tabunan mo ng tatlong metrong kapal na tag-1,000 pesos. Ganun kalaki ang perang nalugi sa ekonomiya ng mundo ng wala pang isang buwan. Huh!!!

Naawa tuloy ako sa mga graduates ngayong taon. Tsk, tsk, tsk… Mahirap na nga humanap ng trabaho lalo pang hihirap. Tapos yung Call Center industry, patay din baka magtangal na sila kasi konti na lang nangangailangan ng “out-sourcing” sa U.S. at Europe.

Haay!!! Buhay… Sa mga graduates! Congrats and may God have mercy on your job search! Mas maganda sigurong mag master ka agad pagka-graduate para at least hindi ka tatambay ng matagal kung may pera ka pa.

Good luck na lang sa lahat! Sana matapos na tong krisis na hinaharap ng mundo… Magdasal na lang tayong lahat…

“SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meets in her aspect and her eyes…” - Lord Byron

Everyone wants to be a star one way or the other we want to be looked upon and admired. I believe there’s no need for that if you only knew that you are indeed a star. I mean your entire body is literally from a star that exploded some billions of years ago predating the formation of our Solar System. This may seem ridiculous but it is true - whether you are an atheist, a scientist, or God-fearing it doesn’t matter as long as you believe in logical thinking you have to be convinced that you are indeed made up of material produced inside a star. The accepted thinking of our time is that the entire creation started from a massive bang – thus the Big Bang Theory.

After the Big Bang there are only elementary particles, which somehow merge into the most basic element – the hydrogen. There was lots of hydrogen that they started to coalesce into a massive cloud becoming bigger and bigger until they reach a critical mass that the gravity in the center of the massive cloud becomes so great that it fuse two hydrogen to produce helium. This releases energy and produce that star we see today. Well, you know the rest of the story. The star will keep producing heavier and heavier element until it started producing iron, then it explode creating all sort of heavier elements in the process.

Huh! For a moment I thought I bored you to death reading my blog. Anyway, from the debris of the star that just exploded it started to swirl to start another process of lumping together and exploding. But somehow for some unexplained reason the outer dust of clouds started condensing on its own forming  a ring and then a mass of clouds. And in one of those lumps of clouds is our Earth, the other lumps form the planets, comets, meteors, etc.

So you see my dear your nothing but dust just like me so there’s reason to feel superior. Well, if you want to be aristocratic, let me call you a Star Dust.

Hmmm… when you look up in the sky, it feels great to wonder that billions of years ago we are once inside a star. Wait don’t look at the bright ones with steady light, that’s not a star, that’s a planet. If it twinkles it’s a star, kaya nga….. twinkle, twinkle, little star how I wonder what you are?

Come to think of it, if you are a star dust and I am star dust maybe just maybe about tens of billions of years ago we used to bump into each other inside a star. That must have been really exciting and really hot. Well, not as exciting as witnessing a star dust using internet, thinking, and blogging… and reading too… hehehehe…

By the way, seeing is deceiving. Absolutely my Dear!!! I mean that stars you see in the sky tonight may no longer be there because the light may have travelled thousands of years before it reached Earth. In short, the light from the star you see is probably tens of thousands of years old and may no longer be there but still you are seeing it - the star.

In other words, you are seeing the star tens of thousands of years ago. Magic isn’t it? Your looking at the past and you are in the present… Hehehehe…

Sabi ko naman sa inyo eh… Seeing is deceiving!!! What you see is not what you get!

Well… Sometimes… sometimes… just sometimes it’s better NOT to get what you see…

 ;-)

Kumakain ka ng adobong kangkong sa Comcen, MSU pero yung mata mo nandoon sa legs nung girl sa kabilang table na naka-mini skirt. Sa isip mo “Wow, legs pa lang ulam na!” Ang sarap tuloy ng kain mo, ano?

Napansin ka nung girl at bigla kang tiningnan ng masama. Nagulat ka at muntik ka ng mabilaukan. Bigla kang nalito yung mata mo kung saan saan napunta, halos maduling ka di mo alam kung saan titingin. Nang matauhan ka pabulong na sinabi mo… “Walang hiya naman Oo… Susuot-suot ng mini-skirt ayaw naman magpakita….”

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Nakatambay ka sa BA… Bigla mong napansin yung crush mo sa malayo naglalakad papunta ng Dean’s Office… Tingin ka bigla doon sa may salamin kung maayos ba ang porma mo. Tapos bigla tingin ulit sa naglalakad mong crush.

Nung nasa malayo panay ang tingin ngayon malapit na bigla kang tumingin sa mga damuhan. Tapos yung dala mong libro bigla mong dinikit sa dibdib mo. Para bang feeling mo na alam niya na crush mo siya at pagtinakip mo yung libro sa dibdib mo di niya malalaman yun.

Bigla siyang tumigil sa harap mo, kinabahan ka ng todo. Feeling mo buking ka na… Nakahinga ka lang nung maglakad uli papasok ng building…

Hello!?! Gumising ka na Bro… Wala kang mapapala kung hanggang tingin ka lang.

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Nandoon ka sa Royale, doon sa may snack-inn at bakery yung Coke mo halos dalawang oras mo ng iniinom di mo pa nauubos. Paano di pa dumadaan yung crush mo kaya hintay ka ng hintay. Sa isip mo naka-ilang libong practice ka na kung ano ang sasabihin mo at paano mo kakausapin.

Biglang dumaan kasama ng friends niya galing ng Gym. Tayo ka agad papunta sa direction  nila nung malapit ka na bigla kang naglakad papuntang 5^th Street. Habang naglalakad minumura mo sarili mo “Huhuhuhu… bakit ba ang torpe ko.” Pero sabi mo ayos lang sulit naman yung dalawang oras na paghihintay nakita ko naman siya kahit 30 seconds lang.

Hahahahah… (Hopeless talaga!)

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Makakasalubong mo yung crush mo… Sa hindi maintindihan bakit palagi kang kinakabahan pagnakikita siya. Kaya hayun sa tuwing makikita mo siya nagkukubli ka sa likod ng mga friends mo. Matapang ka lang pagkasama mo mga friends mo pero pagwala sila “helpless” ka rin. Hahahahah…

Sa hindi maipaliwanag na dahilan palagi kang lumalayo pag papalapit ang crush mo. Ewan mo ba ang laki ng galit mo sa kanya. Lahat na ng paraan gagawin mo para maiwasan mo siya. Pero habang iniiwasan mo lalo ka atang nade-develop sa kanya. Huhuhuhu… (Paradox of Intention, ang tawag jan…)

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Nakatingin sayo si Sir, ang lagkit ng tingin niya sobra para kang binuhusan ng honey. Bigla mong nilagay yung kamay mo sa leeg. Hinihimas mo yung leeg mo para tanggalin ang lagkit ng tingin niya. Hindi ka mapakali kung saan saan ka titingin, kinausap mo yung katabi mo, wa-epek hindi ka sinasagot. Nagkukubli ka sa likod nung student sa unahan mo, wa-epek din kasi nag-change position si Sir. Para kayong naglalaro ng hide-and-seek kayo lang dalawa ang nakakaalam. Sa dinami-dami ng kaklase mo clueless sila kung anong nangyayari.

No choice! Di pwedeng mag-cutting class habang nasa loob ng classroom. Sa isip mo “Walang hiya tong teacher na to ah!!! Ang sama makatingin.” Sa isip ng teacher mo “Ano kayang kasalanan ng student na to… bakit parang may tinatago….” Hahahaha… Pareho kayong mali…

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Nakaupo ka sa MSU Grandstand, nangangarap ng gising, kung saan saan napunta yung isip mo. Nakailang hi, hello, salam, kumusta, saan kayo punta, sa mga dumadaang kakilala mo.  Wala kang load kaya di rin maka-text. Di mo alam ang gagawin at wala ka ring magawa. Bigla kang tumayo naglakad di mo alam kung saan pupunta –  sa Comcen ba o sa Golf Course? Narinig mo pangalan mo, bigla kang napalingon nakita mo yung kaibigan mong mayaman sabi mo sa sarili mo “Praise the Lord, Hallelujah… Makakain na naman ako ng libreng pater… hehehehe…”

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Papunta ka ng Iligan, ng sumakay ka ng jeepney yung nasa harapan mo sobrang ganda. Dilat mata kang nakatingin sa kanya, nirerecord mo bawat guhit at mukha niya mula mata, ilong, labi, kilay, at kung ano ano pa. Napansin niya kaya tumingin din sayo natauhan ka kay biglang tingin sa malayo. Pa-simple ka pa kunwari biglang dukot ng cellphone tapos parang naghahanap ng cell site yun pala ginagamit mo lang yung cellphone mo bilang salamin para makita mo kung nakatingin pa rin siya sayo. Wa-epek kaya, nagtulog-tulogan ka kunwari…

Hello!?! Take your time Bro. matagal naman ang biyahe papuntang Iligan eh…

Which is harder a wood or a solid concrete with reinforced iron bar? Of course a concrete is many times harder than a wood. But why is it that a tree always crack and break any concrete that surrounds it. I noticed it many times and I wonder how a soft thing could break something hard. My first theory was that as the roots increase in size and it pushes the concrete thereby breaking it.

However, I realize that such is not the complete picture. The tree itself is powerless against the solid concrete, there is no way that a tree by its own growth could really push and break a solid concrete. It needed some help. Until I finally figure it that it’s the wind, which pushes the tree shaking it creating a pivot force into its roots that slowly and gradually breaks the concrete.

I’m convinced that without the gentle breeze of the wind every tree will be helpless to break a solid concrete. Somehow, I guess in life we are just like a tree – trying to break away from the solid concrete that binds us. Be it a bad habit, a sour relationship, a bad financial state, a gloomy career, or anything that makes us blue. Most of the time all we need is a gentle tap at the back, a gentle help, a word of wisdom, or a caring hand to free us from the constrained state that we are in. Even a simple chat could make a long way in helping us out.

One thing I learn is that the softest thing could break even the hardest matter. Nowadays, they use pressurized water to shape and design steel and alloy. Water is a bit harder compare to wind. The wind the softest of the thing we feel is usually the most powerful force of all – together with water it shaped the Grand Canyon.

As in life sometimes it’s the soft ways and the gentle things that we see in others that will shape our dealings and feelings towards them. Don’t you think?

We just can’t avoid it – comparing. We compare ourselves with others, we compare others with others, and we compare ourselves with ourselves. Almost in every single bit of our life we always can’t help but compare. Sometimes we compare ourselves with our grade school classmates, or our high school batch, or sometimes our undergrad colleagues, or even those whom we work presently. It’s just a way of life . Then as if that’s not enough those who are close to us will compare us to our contemporaries, aimed at showing us how inadequate we have been.

At times we feel sad when we compare because we feel we are loser or far behind in the race for success while at times we feel lucky and triumphant that we are far better than others. Most often than not people compare in terms of material things they possess – she have a better house or a nice car, she have a better cell phone, she is more beautiful, taller and wiser, she gone to places I want to go. She is a real success while I am here languishing in squalor.

If you have the habit of comparing you know too well that it always end up in gloom. For sooner or later you will find someone far better than you are. Even Prophet Moses thinks that he is the best man alive in terms of knowledge and patient until he met Al-Khidr that prove him wrong. But this one is another story.

Anyway, is there really a reason to compare or are we just comparing apples and oranges. Hmmm… I think the habit of comparing is such a waste of time that always ends up making us feel sorry for ourselves. We can never compare ourselves with others. Put it this way, if you compare yourself to a richer person you will always end up feeling gloomy that you are poor. But wait! In most cases you are far better than a rich person. You see if life satisfaction can be measured in terms of happiness we derive from the thing we consume – then the satisfaction of a poor person and the happiness she derives from most of the things in life far exceed those of a rich person. In other words, she is far happier than a rich person.

Let me illustrate I am poor, well literally poor in wealth, but eating a simple “pater”  that cost around P15 pesos will give me so much satisfaction and happiness that for a rich person to match the same satisfaction and happiness she have to spend thousands (Well, maybe hypothetically!?!).

“Sa madaling salita mababaw ang kaligayahan ko. Dahil mababaw siya mas mataas ang antas ng aking kasiyahan kumpara sa mayamang mataas ang kaligayan. Ang suma total mas masaya ako sa lahat ng bagay kumpara sa taong mayaman.”

It may sound like “sour grapes” but isn’t it that what we want in this life is some sort of happiness and contentment. I think that’s what everyone seeks for at least in this world. To be happy with what we are and where we are. Em I right or em I right?

Let me leave you a nice story:

“One day a girl asks her father to buy her a nice pair of shoes. When the poor father arrived home he has no shoes to give to his daughter. The girl was so upset the she started crying. Then the father appeases her daughter by sending her to the park and showing her something that stop her tears.

What the girl saw is crippled girl happily playing and enjoying her times in the park.”

 So next time you feel like comparing always look back and appreciate how lucky you have been compare to others.

“A feeling of sadness and longing that is not akin to pain, and resembles sorrow only as the mist resembles the rain.”  - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 
I love the rain, its rhythm that rhyme with the ticking of my thoughts reminding me how far away from home I am. Rain makes us feel nostalgic and increase our longing for the things we miss. The way it trickles through the roof awakens the senses carrying our thoughts to lands of dreams far kept within ourselves. Every rain drops sound seems to echo in our heart reminding us of memories we have with rain.

Rains can sometimes make us gloom, makes us smile or make us sigh.  I love it when it rain because it always bring me home – at least for the moment as I close my eyes and be at peace, imagining to be home again. Somehow it washes away the homesickness even for a short moment.

 I love to feel the passing rain as it quenched the thirst of land so parched. There I walk upon the garden and feel the earth come to life. The smell of dead leaves, the fragrance of fresh flowers, the smell of wet soil, the odor of tree barks, a diversity of sensation that can only be truly felt as we close our eyes and inhale the breath of Mother Earth. It always feels the same wherever you go be it at home or abroad. The droplet of water clinging in a leave sparkling like diamonds whenever struck by light, the chirping of the birds, the sound of flowing waters, and soft gentle breeze of wind overwhelmed the senses that we often gaze at the splendor we behold.

At times the beauty is overwhelming that words cannot describe it. It’s only within our soul that we can give appreciation as we thank God for the beauty we enjoy.  I love it when it rain because it wash away the pain.

“Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

I’ve heard it somewhere. It kind a stick somehow. Always doing the same thing hoping, wishing, praying, that somehow, a miracle may happen and a different outcome will finally arrive. However, to my dismay the same result pop up again and again. Hmmff!!!

Come to think of it? In life we wake up each morning expecting someone to make us happy or somebody to do us a favor. Usually, we return to bed dismayed that the thing we hope for never materialize - that people are so insensitive and unkind for our feelings. Most people do go through life thinking that this world owe them something - they better not. One thing I learn, I was lucky, I learned it early that this world couldn’t careless of what you feel or who you are. You only need to read Darwin’s book on evolution to figure it out. It’s all about survival of the fittest.

Life sucks most of the time. Wait, before I get off topic, let me return to the concept of stupidity. Why do people keep doing the same thing and still hoping that somehow a glimmer of hope will come their way? I’m not sure about others but as for me I believe its one of our best traits as human. To keep believing, to have faith, to hope, and dream after repeated failures, that somehow along the way things change or someone does change and answer our prayers.

Hmmm… I realize that doing the same thing over and over again and acting like idiot in the face of others has nothing to do with stupidity. It’s actually the act of doing something, that effort that we exert, the attempt we execute, the trial that we did, which actually give meaning to our actions irregardless of the outcome.

In other words, we keep doing the things we do eventhough we know the result will never change because we love doing it and we enjoy doing it not because we are hoping that someone will change or a miracle will happen. The mere act of doing it gives us so much joy and happiness that we risk being stupid.

I think you can call me stupid. But aren’t we all?