you figure, only in the States.

a Nebraska State senator has decided to sue God.

local pop star Christian Bautista flubbed the singing of the national anthem at the NABF boxing match of Philippine boxer Gerry Peñalosa.  apparently he had missed the two lines in the last stanza of the song.christian has apologized for his faux pas, but it leads me to ask a few questions... usually, it is your national anthem that is one of the first things you learn growing up, next to popular nursery rhymes. 

did his mind blank out?  or, having spent some time in Indonesia and other Asian countries, he hasn't heard the national anthem played enough... which would also mean he wakes up and sleeps at the exact time this is played on local tv, and he watches movies in the middle of the day. 

i'm not really sure if Christian went to grade school in Philippines, which would mean he missed having to hear it in the mornings.  either way, it's pretty hard to not hear your national anthem... i still have the words of Lupang Hinirang and O Canada in my head. :) maybe it's a reflection of the declining importance of nationalism and a national identity in the world...

i really don't know what was going on in Christian's mind when it happened.  but as radio commentators were going on last night: do you know the complete lyrics to your national anthem?

ps: i think in France not everyone knows the complete lyrics to La Marseillaise, but Nicholas Sarkozy's fixing that. bravo!

une autre nuit blanche...

one of those times when the rest of yourself just creeps up on the carefully constructed "you" you've built to keep things simple, manageable.  then one these nights comes to remind you that you have real messy things in the cupboard like, intense emotions, vivid dreams, burning desires, "unreasonable" wants... things that you've been deathly afraid of revealing to anyone else... for fear of being uncool, spazzy, or just plain embarassed.

and you do what you need to do.

and think a little bit about how you've conducted yourself so far.

and decide, "bugger it all".

and live.

:)

been busy learning the skills i need to update the blog template (CSS, html, PHP, etc.), reading a book that will help me with an upcoming film project, and learning how to write screenplays.  i've also been trying to draw again.... busy, busy :)

then there are the trials of daily life... those aren't so bad, except on those times that the mundanity gets in the way of the rest of existence. hahahah!

things have also been going on around me, in this country for example.  our former president who has been tried for plunder was convicted of it after a six-year trial ( which the news papers are saying is pretty fast. really?! hahah )

i hope everyone out there is well.

they say over here in the Philippines, we have, what could probably be, the world's longest Christmas season.  and they could very well be right.  from september to january, with a brief respite in november for halloween, everyone shifts into holiday mode, in anticipation for that great edifice to commercialism. (oh yeah, it happens to also be a religious holiday for Christians. hahaha!)

over the weekend i was in the mall and they were already playing carols.  the morning talk tv programs already had chorale groups that were already doing carols... i imagine the radio will follow suit... and i'm sure a lot of bands and recording artists will probably have christmas albums or singles on the drawing board, and households will be going into their attics or bodegas to dust off the decorations.

i remember when i was much younger when the season would only last the entire month of december and i have seen it grow in to this trimester long 'celebration'.  the expansion of the christmas season seemed to correspond with the worsening socioeconomic situation and now, to a seemingly oblivious younger generation, it became an excuse to have more parties and spend more money.

celebrations seem to be part of the Filipino coping mechanism for stress.  many a times have i seen people on the street living in squalor all of a sudden turn around, grab a bunch of their mates, and get sauced up. not minding at all where they were gonna get the cash to pay for their booze and food. 

i've opinions about that... but maybe they should see light in another post. :)

for now... Joyeux Noël, tout le monde!

Eventually, one thought to ask her to write the problem down, and she complied. "The more I want him — the less I am wanted," she wrote Périer in 1955. A year later she sounded desolate: "Such deep longing for God — and ... repulsed — empty — no faith — no love — no zeal. — [The saving of] Souls holds no attraction — Heaven means nothing — pray for me please that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything."

still learning how do it, but this will be the start of a more "creative" life for me.

and am also figuring what it is i want to do exactly. :)

so i've switched back to the barebones default template, and will be working from there.

keep an eye out!

i woke up at 4am.  good thing some of the regulars are on the tagboard.  now, i don't know what to do for the rest of the day.

this is great. :)

i'm realizing more things now as being early becomes part of my daily routine... not only do most of the people in my section of the office get here early, there seems to be an 'early group' culture in this wing of the floor.  people chat, have their early morning coffee, work a bit. or blog. :)

the other side of the floor (where i used to work) is filled with people who come in just as work is about to start, so they usually don't have any time to indulge in idle conversation.  i'll have to say it may not have been as fun over there as it is here.

ps: a note about the post below.  friend parisian has told me what the right phrase is, but i'm leaving the title as it is so it'll remind me that it's wrong. hahahah!