I Really Should...

...dedicate an entire gallery for my nephew. I enjoy taking pictures of him and, at the same time, perfecting my photography skills.



Picture taken by yours truly, using my (sister's) Sony CyberShot DSC-S40. Roxas District, Quezon City. December 25, 2007.

Christmas

Pathetic 'no? It's 2:08am, December 25, and I'm not even partying. Well, actually - I haven't partied hard since, well, I don't even know when. Anyway, I'm not posting here to rant about anything at all. Ranting about anything can wait until the new year. So... Merry Christmas! Logging off till next year ;)

Ghosts of Christmas Past and Other Stories

I didn't enjoy this year's Christmas.

These six words sum up everything I've felt during this past Christmas season. It's not because I didn't have money (on the contrary, I was financially richer this year than I was last year, even with all the aguinaldos coming from ninongs and ninangs). It's not because the family wasn't together even with Kuya getting married (actually they're temporarily living in the apartment next to ours). I don't exactly know how to explain what I'm feeling. It's like my 20 previous Christmases were much more special than this year's is.

Then again, it might be because I'm still having a hard time accepting that I now reside in the real world outside the confines of the university. Or maybe because last year's Christmas was just more meaningful than this year's is.

***

My December wasn't also as enjoyable as last year's was. For the first time, I wasn't able to join the Paskuhan in UST because I had to work (sob). I'm not particularly happy with my work environment because of one particular person (who is so dense that he can't even begin to realize that I'm really pissed off, but then again, he might really be just very dense and stupid --- ooopps, sorry, I promised myself I wouldn't speak out again about his shortcomings, but damn! It feels good to let it all out).

***

Yesterday I bought the Eheads tribute album UltraElectroMagneticJam. Wala lang, ang kulit pakingan lalo "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (Rico J. Puno) at "Alcohol" (Radioactive Sago Project). I can actually imagine Corics singing "El Bimbo" while dancing the El Bimbo wearing the white Elvis jumpsuit. Heh heh. As for RSP, what more can I say? Astig.

Random Ramblings

It's been a while sine I had a working computer at home, so I haven't been blogging much lately. But now that I've had my computer running again (at long last), here are a few things I wanted to get out of my system, since they have been screaming to get out of my brain for days now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Normally my family doesn't give alms to beggars, since in our society nowadays beggars are either shunned upon or feared as members of crime syndicates. But last Sunday, we just had to give alms. We were stopped right around 11:30am on Gilmore Avenue and Santolan Road (I'm not too sure, but it's on the way to Greenhills), when two beggars came knocking at windows. What I saw initially horrified me, but my initial horror gave way to pity. Can you imagine a still-long candle, but with melted wax running down the sides? That doesn't begin to describe the beggar that we saw. He looked like he had walked out of a roaring fire, with parts of his face burned and melted away, his eyelids were almost nonexistent, and from what we could see, he was also blind. The skin on his arms appeared to be scaly and dry, with burn areas visible almost everywhere. He was being led by a young boy from car window to car window, asking for alms. As soon as they reached the cab we were riding, we had the driver roll down his window, and we gave more than a hundred pesos, I think, which was certainly more than what the other people gave (horrified glances), but was certainly less than what the man needed. We drove away, still thinking about the man, and the pitiful state he was in.

I hope this catches the attention of the people who should be able to help him. I don't know whether the man will still be there, but even if he won't, I hope other people will take pity and try to help him as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Behind the chapel in the Greenhills Shopping Center is a religious exhibit of little figures depicting the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, and also a very detailed diorama of a Biblical town (Bethlehem perhaps?) which is nothing short of breathtaking. Words certainly do not do justice to the figures, as one should see the exhibit for himself in order to truly appreciate the artistry of the figures. Admission is free.

Christmas Blues

Well, it comes as no surprise to me at all that Christmas is once again approaching and, once again I face the season as a broke man. Financially broke, in case you were wondering. After fourteen Christmases (the first five having been all but forgotten because I was too young to remember), the twentieth Christmas of my life is by far the bleakest for my wallet.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I should've been more thrifty with my allowance, and all that jazz. But how does a guy like me balance a budget of Php200 per day? Minus Php50 for our class "paluwagan", minus Php40 for transportation, minus Php60 for lunch, minus Php50 for dinner, leaving me with basically nothing for the entire day but cobwebs in my wallet. Don't get me wrong; at one time I had more than Php1,000 for a week's allowance, but that was when I was going to school for a full week. Now, I go to school three days a week for studies, and three days more for my other duties, during which my allowance plummets to anywhere between none and a hundred.

New Year's Resolution: ask for an increase in allowance. Hey, it's my last year of receiving allowance from my parents, so I might as well make the most out of it. Anyway, I'll be paying them back as soon as I get a job.