Confessions of an overthinker…

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a

stillness
upon them. And with a great voice he said:

When love beckons to you follow him, 

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.   And when he speaks to

you believe in him, 
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the

garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your

growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that

quiver in the sun, 

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the

earth. 
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself. 

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant; 

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread

for God’s sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your

heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace and love’s pleasure, 

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of

love’s threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter,

and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. 

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;   For love is sufficient unto

love.  When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but

rather, I am in the heart of God." 

And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy,

directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself. 

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: 

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully. 

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of

loving; 

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude; 

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of

praise upon your lips.

For those who can relate and who will one day be able to…

What a sap… Haha.

"Bless The Broken Road"
by Rascal Flatts

I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn’t see how every sign pointed straight to you

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I’d like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You’ve been there you understand
It’s all part of a grander plan that is coming true

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

Now I’m just rolling home
Into my lover’s arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you.

For people i know who have been hurt once, and continue to do so;

To those who
do not deserve even an ounce of the pain inflicted by those who they trusted
the most…

I know sometimes you feel like
nothing’s right; you feel alone; you feel that your life sucks; that you messed
up bad…

That you want him back…

That you need him back…

But you don’t.

You just miss the feeling of
caring about someone as much as you’ve had. That wouldn’t be surprising because
you’ve always been like that. You know how to love fully, completely. And let
me tell you how good you are with it. So, do not ever let anything, not even what
happened, make you believe otherwise. It never was your fault.

It’s okay to feel the way you do
sometimes. But, you have to realize, accept and live with the truth that the
love you are capable of giving deserves someone waaay better than the one who
came along, the one who broke your heart and left it crushed without even looking
back. Cliché, I know, but true.

You have great friends, a caring
family. People love you. You believe in yourself and those around you believe
in you. Do not disappoint any one of those people who really matter by sulking
and letting the bad memories ruin you. You are young and promising. There are a
lot more people who can and will make you feel loved, even more than the person
who taught you to fear it.

I know it seems really hard right
now but only Time can get you through this and when It has gotten its way, you’ll
know that you’ve made the right choice all along…

It’s difficult, I know. But keep
your chin up. Cry if you need to but remember to pick yourself up quickly
after, then smile and know that only good things will come your way after this.

So let him go. He is not worth
the agony nor a second of thought.

You never were completely happy
with him anyway. And whenever you were, it was always based on how happy he
was. Relationships shouldn’t be that way. You should be happy not because of
someone else. If anything, that someone should make things simply more
meaningful and life more wonderful but your world shouldn’t end when that
person’s gone. You should know that by now.

Somewhere along the way, you lost
yourself to what you thought was love and who could blame you? But now that you
know how empty those promises were, how all things said were lies afterall, you
have to find yourself somewhere beneath the rubble and push yourself to rebuild
your life because it’s a cruel world out there and it won’t wait for you.

We learn from our past. And sadly, most
of the time, the most painful experiences are the best teachers. These things
make us stronger.

So, think about it…

You were strong once, after this,
you’ll be invincible… He better watch out.

So, strut, flip your hair, feel beautiful and know that life is going to be
great because it will be.  Believe in Karma. You’ll get what you
deserve as he will.

Be
happy knowing that you are with people who genuinely love and care for
you and who won’t ever leave you and betray your trust. Life is good if
only we know where to look. So stop staring at your past. Live your
present and look forward to a better future.

Losing him doesn’t mean your life just ended. It’s just beginning. Make it beautiful.

Good luck!

A couple of hours back, I was
reminded as to why I, and actually most of the people I know, are hesitant to
watch Filipino movies.

It’s damn frustrating.

And considering that I am a
person who usually is easily pleased with generally everything, woah, that’s a
mouthful.

(And the tedious writer that I am
feels the need to put the whole evening into retrospect. Sorry.)

I went out last night with my
choirmates. Sort of a Reunion/Christmas party thing. We usually do not go out
on such occasions (we prefer to “go wild” in some house and do stuff probably
embarrassing enough to get us in jail, thus… Kidding), but no place was
available, so, we had to find something else to do. Sort of by default, we went
to Eastwood.

Meann did well as a coordinator.
Hehe. (Sorry if we stressed you out dear). There were finally seven of us who
could make it because the others, well, had other “engagements”. We left just
before 9 (7, originally). We had to wait for Baby who came from Ortigas and for
a while, worried if we could fit in Joseph’s car because Pay fell asleep (a
serious, panic worthy matter, really when that happens, at least for me).

The evening was generally great.
We bought tickets to see the last full show of Enteng Kabisote 3 just before going
to Fazoli’s. We had more or less 2 hours to kill over dinner, which we were
pretty much very good at. We hardly even noticed the time, which usually
happens when you haven’t spent time with people you used to hang out a lot
with. Fine, I generally felt old (well, I wasn’t the oldest there (ahem) but I
still had that usual they-used-to-be-just-kids feeling) but first, that’s life,
and second, if rubbing-in-my-age issues mean I get to spend time with them, so
be it.

2240. We headed to the cinemas.

For the record, I didn’t feel
good about the movie to start with but since some of us had seen Kasal, Kasali,
Kasalo (did I get the title right? How embarrassing. To think I’ve seen this, which
is also embarrassing to admit, fine, but well. I did. Haha. In fairness, it was
a good watch. Way better than this one at least) and Shake Rattle and Roll, we
had to choose between Mano Po and the, well, the other one.

And Bad Luck prevailed.

My god. I seriously felt insulted
by it.

It was slapstick, but I’ve seen
better!!

The effects were medieval. The
props couldn’t probably even fool my nephew. The ribcage? The one which
magically transforms into an all-bone creature which, I dunno how
(aerodynamics, anyone?), flies.  What the?
Where have you seen bones which depress upon pressure? I saw that.

The plot was, um… either too
complicated to make something out of or it was just… not there. You pick. I
personally choose to believe the latter. With the subplots and the character
overload, it’s as good as that anyway.

The actors were either dull,
predictable, or embarrassingly pathetic.

Oh my, where do I even begin?

Vic Sotto, god, he’s so stuck in
his era. Same lines, same everything! I felt really bad for the guy who failed
to mature in his field and he’s what? How old? He’s been doing that ever since
I was sucking ovaltine from my milk bottle in preschool! Too bad because I
liked him most among the, what were they called again? Three Stooges? Nah. Those
guys were funnier.

I never was a Kristine Hermosa
fan so, well, what can I say? She was more of a “backdrop” in the film. Unnoticeable.
Almost irrelevant. Except, ofcourse, Vic Sotto has got have a wife, the “fairy”
in the original sitcom blah blah, so, fine, bring her in. And why her, by the
way? Isn’t she younger than Aissa Seguerra who plays her daughter? And Oyo Boy
who plays her son and who probably made moves on her off set (or even on,
fine). Ew. Oedipus Complex on screen? At the end of the movie, they showed the
bloopers (trying to make up for your 2 hours at the last minute)… Notice a
scene wherein Oyo Boy forgot his lines I think while looking at Kristine
differently. Ha! Gotcha!

The kids. They were the best so
far in the cast. No kidding… Oyo Boy was the feeling-gwapo-but-so-not son who
flirted with just about any girl who was within reach. Aissa was the lesbian
daughter (emphasized by Vic himself in the movie so don’t judge me) who wanted
to go to Japan to pursue her dreams as a musician but her dad won’t let her…
zzzz. Then there was the youngest girl, who, following her mom was actually
nothing short of noteworthy, but she did the I’m-so-cute-I’m-annoying role so
well that I had to give it to her. Grabe. Their roles were perfect! So…. Them…
Hmmmm.

G Toengi, and Bing Loyzaga. Great
costumes. Great make up. Um… Yeah. Pretty much, that’s it. And oh! Nobody does
the “hummmmmmmmmmm” better than the original. Sorry G. It wasn’t at all
intimidating. I don’t know how to put it exactly but it was, um, off.

As for the “co stars”, there were
too many of them. I never imagined that a film may one day be able to put in,
not necessarily in coherence, all the “what the” characters  one has ever seen, heard of, or even imagined
but yep, this one did (what? You thought that putting in Star Wars, Harry
Potter, LOTR and what not would make up for it? sheesh. Not with the way you
did, it won’t).

Noteworthy among the not-leads,
however, were the, what were they? Women Snakes?  Not only were they annoying in their slithers
and cheap body paint and belly dance (?) moves, they generally embarrassed me
to the point of speechless. Amazing. How could they have accepted those roles? Seriously.
Why?! And fine, maybe they were just doing their job. Maybe they badly need it.
Maybe they were just really good actresses following orders based on the
director’s standards and the scriptwriter’s (Good for you dears. You will do
well in the industry. Try lionesses next time). Fine. So let’s kill the
director and the scriptwriter. Seriously.

And what is up with the
endorsements?! Why?! What do they think are they doing? I was seriously pitying
the Philippine Movie Industry at one point. They’re THAT desperate? Okay. You
need money to fund your film, fine. But could you perhaps do the promotions
discretely? Try not to ruin further the already ruined film? How selfish could
those consumer companies get? And how stupid could the producers be to allow
that? And if they think it was anything close to funny or amusing, it is so
not! It was so off! So low. Nakakainis!!!!

And there goes the frustration.

(And the sarcasm, and the bitterness
against the world, which are part of my resolution list… But one, it’s the 30^th
so technically, I don’t have to do my list yet, and two, you would get this
insanely infuriated too if you’ve seen the movie yourself!)

In fairness to the movie, it
affected me in ways that no other movie has done. Not even Dawn of the Dead and
that movie by Jennilyn Mercado and whatshisname (Haidee, do you remember his
name? haha) have drawn from me the same rage as I have for this one. (For one
thing, this has probably been the longest movie ranting I’ve done. It was
bottled up inside after the movie. There was dead silence in the car on the way
home)

The most frustrating part about
this, I guess is the fact that its an entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival,
for crying out loud. Isn’t that supposed to showcase the best? And this is what
we show people? Damn.

Fine. The times are tough. Producers
have to squeeze in full blown films in their small budgets to render
entertainment to people. But quality films need not be (that) expensive. We may
not have the money but I know Filipinos have talent. Maabilidad. Find people
who could make the best out of the little that you have. What you can’t do for
effects, for props, try making up for with a more sensible plot, better
scripts, more talented actors. Squeezing in endorsements in the movie is definitely
not they way

Fine. Majority of the Filipinos
prefer these types of movies, fantasy-comedy, they’re loyal fans of the actors,
etc. And what? You insult their intellect and give them this, claim your work
is box office worthy, when you know you could have done better but did not
because the people are going to “buy” it anyway? In the first place, you think
they prefer these sorts of movies because its worth watching? I say they watch
them because that’s what’s in theaters. It’s a cycle of subquality film making
and buying. Stop it.  

And don’t give me the colonial
mentality argument. That’s so highschool. Grow up. Movies need not be in English
to be good. A couple of films have proven that. Go ask them how.

So I just tired myself out, not
for school, but for the benefit of my peace of mind. Good.

I didn’t mean to be mean nor
nasty (although it seemed that way, I know), mind you. I’m not the type. But I just
had to let this out. And I couldn’t get myself to be nice and twinkly about it.
I wish I could at this point, but I just can’t.

I’m frustrated and sad. Tired
mostly (the movie, and ranting about it, was mentally draining).

Basically, I just wish things get
better from here, and I mean noticeably better, and not simply because the
producers and the actors claim them to be because usually, they’re not and
ofcourse, they would never tell you the truth otherwise.

So anyway. So much for my last
few days out of school and for the last few days of MMFF.

Has anyone seen the other films?
I sure hope they’re good enough to redeem their, um, competitors.

I’m going back to sleep.

<<<To Meann, Joseph,
Mer, Baby, Jhe, and Pay: still had fun guys. and I’d gladly spend another
100+ bucks for a stupid movie with you guys, anytime. But lets just find a
place to watch dvd’s na lang next time, ha? Or hanap tayong ibang movie, ha? Hehe. >>

Happy New Year!

Less than a week and its reality
check.

I’m a med student. Oops. Almost
forgot. Bet everyone almost did forget what they did for a living, too. Bet
that the winter fairy dust is so powerful even the bums forgot that, oh, they
kill time with nothing. Hehe. Well, the christmas rush has that sort of effect.

Amazing really. Everyone was so
high strung. Actually, some still are (my mom, for example).

You should do what my sister and
I do sometimes, usually at the peak of last minute Christmas shopping: people watch at the mall. Hilarious. The
world suddenly transforms into a colony of arthropods out to take the first crumb that falls within territory,
thus, they speedmax to malls. The atmosphere is intense with everyone thinking
they’re doing what’s supposed to be done this time of the year: Stress
themselves out. But well, it’s the sad price to pay for “giving love” on
Christmas. Or is it? Sakit sa ulo. I can’t reconcile it myself.  Could you? Or maybe, I simply refuse to…
Parang it doesn’t fit with the, um, weather… Chill? Remember? Ugh!

corny.

Lucky those who see Christmas as
it really is. They usually work for the spirit as much as everyone else does
but they appreciate the season more. Unfortunately for most of us who simply
see it as sort of an annual ritual, at the end of each day, if you haven’t
noticed, we simply realize that we haven’t really done much except empty our
wallets and fill our tummy’s to belt max… Well, I’m not perfect. I’ve had my
taste of the season bankruptcy while earning more around the waist, but at
least I love Christmas enough to overlook that; and I like giving (and shopping
and wrapping) gifts; I basically love making people feel appreciated especially
at this time of the year, so good for me.

But anyway.

January 3. 

So there goes the tension brought
about by pending papers and exams itching to take their toll as soon as classes
start next week. Parang wild felines ready to pounce at good-as-dead prey. That
basically explains why I’m up as early as 530 today despite having slept at 230
in the morning (which does not necessarily mean that I was able to accomplish
anything of relevance except give my basal ganglia a few kicks with
overthinking). The adrenaline’s pumping na and the effect, obviously is not for
the books but for ranting. Harhar. 

Grabe. Happy New Year talaga.

The break’s short. So what’s
new?? But, seriously, I’d go for this anytime than for nothing. Just before
Christmas break, which for me started the Friday right before Christmas (what
masochist), I think I caught myself (a couple of times actually) breathless.
Maybe it’s psychological. I save time by not breathing and doing something else
instead. Smart noh? Ha!

Looking back at my week, it’s
been packed. Out every lunch. Out every night. Last evening, my mom and dad
threw a fit about the (days and) nights out. They wouldn’t let me go! Great
timing considering its my highschool barkada dinner at stake and I basically
haven’t spent time with them (except Jac who I get to talk with and, duh,
Tinie, who’s my blockmate. Hehe). True enough, they had to kill me as soon as I
went “I need to go home” (my mom’s mandate: go out but be back by 12. Hello
Cinderella). But I had to retract my horns and be a good girl last night, and
today actually. There’s still later and tomorrow to ask permission for. J

Sure it’s tiring, but at least
I’m with (significant) people and not books.

I’d gladly spend literally
sleepless nights with my highschool and college friends, my cousins and my
sisters than school stuff. The back ache, the eyebags, the empty wallet and the
pairs of pants I think I will outsize in a few days time are absolutely worth
it!

There’s so much to talk about but
the lazy mode’s got the better of me. Argh. Besides, some stories have been
days old anyway. And some are probably only for myself to know of. Hehe. But
anyway, just the thought of this week’s more than enough to plaster a smile on
my face and probably, hopefully, keep me going for the weeks ahead. That’s
that.

Hello Shifting Week.

Enjoy your New Year everyone!!

So someone I know’s been sending me fragments of this music
(which I didn’t know of. Surprise surprise) for about a week now and each time
I read one of these random-so-i-thought-quotes, I go “Ummm… Nice, but where the
hell?”… And finally, I wake up to this song by Daniel Powter.

Love You Lately

Daniel Powter

You packed your last two bags.

A taxi’s ’round the bend.

You used to laugh out loud,

But you can’t remember when.

You lost your lies.

It’s like your moving out of time,

And the whole word crumbles right beneath you.

So, I might’ve made a few mistakes,

But that was back when you would smile,

And we would go everywhere,

But we ain’t been there for awhile.

And this I know,

There’s a place that we can go-

A place where I can finally let you know.

‘Cause I’m the one that loves you lately.

You and me, we got this great thing.

We’re the only one’s that around,

We’re the only one’s that around this Babylon.

I hope you find whatever you’ve been lookin’ for.

Just remember where you’re from and who you are,

‘Cause there’s a thousand lights that’ll make you feel brand
new,

But if you ever lose your way,

I’ll leave one on for you. ‘

Cause I’m the one that loves you lately.

You and me, we got this great thing.

So, come back and you sit down.

Relax.

Everything’s to see that you’ve come a long, long way,

And it’s the place that you should be.

‘Cause I’m the one that loves you lately.

You and me, we got this great thing.

‘Cause I’m the one that loves you lately.

You and me, we got this great thing.

And we’re the only one’s that around,

We’re the only one’s that around this Babylon

Fine, I was wrong about it being random (like I said,
loser), but not about it being nice… and amazingly (or not so), I saw its video
playing just now at 6ish in the morning. (sacrcastic) Woah. Imagine? It has a
freakin video na? Woah. (sheeesh)

I just had to track it down. and yeah, post it as if you
guys don’t have access. Waha!

Dear God. If my sister gets to read this blog (hopefully
not) and knows this waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before I did (which she probably does),
I better ready my pride for the mocking. Ha!

Anyway, I’d love to go into my senti/hopeless
romantic/almost pathetic mode but… nah. hehe. :p

aga pa e.

Saturday. December 1. 2006. 321 am.

Its past 3 am and I’m still up. I could try sleeping again
but what’s the use of trying to go back to bed now? In a couple of minutes,
anyway, I’d have to wake up again to prepare breakfast. Sounds so, um,
domesticated? Nah. Aga aga kaya ng 4 am to cook. Haha. J I’m
doing this for our Physiology Experiment. Damn. I don’t know how to cook tocino
pala. Kat, bakit ba kasi tocino? Hehe. But anyway, I’ll worry about that later.
I better. Poor subjects if I don’t wehe. Grabe. Excited na ko! Haha. J

Anyway, the week’s over. Ang bilis. Just ages ago, I was
dead worried about hosting this event, bothered like hell about other issues
and almost always ranting about school. Earlier this week, I could have asked
myself to be left in Tagaytay. Unbelievable. I seriously was running out of
breath just thinking of what was coming to me this week on the ride home. But
now, it’s over. Whew. Can’t thank God enough for that.

Yesterday was among the worst days of my life. I don’t
remember the last time since I was uncontrollably crying (discretely as much as
possible) in a public place, say a mall. Haha. J While I was at the parlor having my
hair done, the hairdresser was freaking out kasi he didnt know what was wrong.
Hehehe. He kept on asking if the dryer was too hot or if he was pulling my hair
to hard. Hahaha. J Kawawa naman. Feeling so guilty
about something he had nothing to do about. I wanted to laugh kaso I can’t get
myself to. Thank God Ate Bing was there, if not, I would’ve looked like a total
lunatic.

Ang funny no, how things could be so perfect one time and
really bad the next? And sad, that no matter what other people say, what other
people do to get you out of the sulky feeling, there’s just no way out of it. And
worse minsan, that when you actually need someone to be there, when youre ready
to be “helped”, there just aren’t anyone around… Pero well, that’s not their
fault either, so you end up not knowing who to blame.

But I remember that line in Tuesdays with Morrie. Something
to do with letting the feeling penetrate you and then letting go after. It works, actually, but the key phrase is
“let it go”. What if you can’t?

That’s when good friends take their place, I guess.

I was just at Starbucks with Eugene and Lawrence (no,
Marvin, he didn’t drink any), and as soon as we stepped out to go to Nam’s unit
to meet up with other classmates, I realized that briefly, I forgot that
terrible day that just happened. Ang galing how the mere presence of people
could do that.

And just this evening before lights out (the volunteers
need to be in bed by 12mn), super fun din. We played Pinoy Henyo. The laughter
was unstoppable. Daming bentang questions! Hehehe. I got to guess Balakubak
(ano Paolo? Kala mo no? :p)…

Anyway, what’s my point again? ah..

Wala lang. They’re my brief dose of morphine against life’s shit.

And if only I could thank them now for making my day worth
getting ready for again. Pero they’re sleeping. Hehe. And I guess it’d be too
cheesy anyway. Ew.

But for those who’d get to read this, thanks.

Thank you to everyone who came to the party last Thursday! It really means a lot that you guys came despite the typhoon and the hassle of staying despite the suspension of classes.

And believe me, it was more than just the tickets that you bought or the filling in of seats in the audience. It was a very very bad day for me but you guys made things so much better just by coming.

Ate
bing, super love kita. I can’t tell you enough just how much. I
would’ve willingly had myself run over by the first truck that drove
through if it werent for you. Thanks for having kept me sane and for
still doing so. You’re damn good at it. Love yoU!

Marvin, Suji,
James and Cesar. It was really sweet of you guys to have come. James, Meldz
is really nice. O, wag ka na mailang. haha. Sama mo sa Christmas party. hehe.

Lyn, Emong,
Neya, Jones and Steph! Grabe. MAhal niyo talaga ko!! and i love you
back just as much!! Thank God that not even med school could take you
away from me. haha. thanks again for coming. Christmas Break, swear,
were going out.

Kay, Eug, and Ads, hehe.. sa susuonod na. Marami pa kayong utang sakin. wahaha.

Jac,
Katz, Eva, thanks for being there. I’m sorry we werent able to spend as
much time as we may have wanted pero it was enough knowing that you
came.

Again, thanks guys!! Love you to bits!!

After two weeks of pre-Sunday Mass Stress, I decided to tell
my parents last night that from then on, I’m hearing mass alone… I remember
telling a friend about it one time and he went “grabe, salbahi ka”… a totally expected reaction. yeah. I understand.
I would basically react the same way if I hear my friends say the same thing. But
there are just some things you do alone simply because its better done that
way.

I proved myself right when I heard the 7 pm mass in our
village last night.

I’ve never felt so at peace in such a long long time…

And while on the road to the sentimental, I realized the so
many things that have happened to me this year, and damn. When they said in pre
2006 shows that the Year of the Dragon was a bad year, I should’ve known better
than to have mocked them in disbelief.

So now, I wait and join the countdown in bidding this year
goodbye.

Hmmm… but thinking about it, wasn’t that what I did last
year and the year before?

But anyway, like they say, “when you’re this low, there’s no
way but up”. Now, how’s that for positive thinking Mark. Phhhhhhhhbt.

Its 1 am and what was initially an email-check-while-I-finish-my-last-cup-of-coffee-for-the-day
break is now at its 3^rd cup. Hmmm…  Maybe I have talent enough now to start my own
coffee shop…

Anyway, I just got back from my cousin’s house. Wow. As if
we didn’t see each other earlier this morning when we met up to visit our lolo
and a cousin for All Saint’s Day, not to mention we live just a couple of
blocks away from each other so were virtually neighbors. But well, its sort of
tradition (?) so it just felt right to finish the day over at their house.

While others think of November 1 as a routine obligation to
commemorate the dead (something like “visit them or else they’ll visit you”), I
think for me and my cousins, its really sort of a reunion, literally and
figuratively speaking. Aside from the heat and the crowd, I must say this day
of the year is quite enjoyable for us. Bonding time really. Food and games
galore.

Last year, I remember we played charades. This year, it was
Taboo. Hah! Super fun. We were laughing like crazy and we didn’t care if people
stopped to look at us "kids" acting like, well, crazy. The great part about this holiday
is that there’s really nothing else to do there except if you have a portable
PS unit like kuya jing does (so basically, he just sat there playing while
laughing at our booboo’s on the side) or you’re a total geek and brings a
couple of journals to read while waiting (ahem. At least I put them down as
soon as the game was proposed). So basically, everyone has no choice but to
join. Hehe. Desperate measures, I guess. Harsh but effective. And we always
await the moment when the uncles and aunts, our moms and dads, get curious about
the commotion until their curiosity gets the better of them and they “join” us.
Annoying sometimes, really, especially when they blurt out clues which are
total giveaways (bias to their children’s cause ofcourse) but they actually add
half of the bulk of the fun. Hehe… Most times, they have absolutely no idea
what the hell is going on. haha.

Going home’s the most difficult part, especially when were
at the middle of an intense game. I tell you, we lost kanina because one: there
wasn’t any more light (it was almost 6 pm), and two: time pressure… we actually
let you guys win because we’d hate the moms to start nagging about us having to
hurry up. haha. we’ll get you… rematch!

Even after we reach our respective homes, we meet up again.
Wala lang. I just noticed. Tradition? We never actually gave it much thought. It
just is. Last year, we were huddled together infront of the television watching
this documentary on M Night Shyamalan. Henry? Freaky man. There was a point
when all of us jumped all together towards the sofa while screaming our
respective cusses out of fright. Freaky, super. We were kinda hoping to catch
that again kanina but we didn’t. Just spent the night huddled on the bed this
time watching

Hollywood

gossip. Fun really. Hehe.

Well, it really is a good thing my mom and her sisters
decided to live in the same village. Wala lang. A lot of help in terms of their
children (me and my sisters and our cousins) growing up together and building
that familial bond. Ate Bing and I hope to keep it tight till we all grow old. Were
crossing our fingers. But no, the whole “sisters living in the same village”
thing. I don’t intend to do that when I have my own family if you do plan to
ask. I mean, I love my sisters and I think it has its quirks but it has its
downsides too. The cousins know why. J I think I’ll just go with the regular visits and reunions instead. I think they will too.
Hehe.

Oops. Coffee’s done. Off to bed.