Textmate Wanted

I'm busy trying to beat a deadline when my phone vibrates. A text message from an unknown number.

"hi. if ur a girl, at least md20s, can we be txtm8s?"

So I replied:"Even if I am, no. This is Gen. Garcia. May I have your parents' name, address and phone number?"

I wonder why he didn't text me anymore. Tsk!

SONA

I have normal lens lang. This was as close as I could get. But I enjoyed being able to cover again. It felt good to see people I shared the beat with. (Most of them are married now) There were too many people the aircon didn't work at all to cool the place.
She's pretty, no? Ma. Rachel Arenas, daughter of Baby Arenas, representing the third district of Pangasinan. I hope she does well.

It was tough to interview and take pictures at the same time. But then again, I LOVE MY JOB!!!

Saturday afternoon in the rain

I saw these kids in front of the office today, playing in the rain.
They found a busted water line and took turns spraying each other with water.
I wanted to join them but I don't think I can write with my clothes dripping wet so I ditched the thought.
The rain left behind droplets on the window sill.

There's no point to this entry. I just wanted to play around with the camera's opening and speed, as I'm not so used to digital cameras yet.

I went bananas

Was out of town a couple of days for a story, which explains the laziness to write and the pain in my legs and back and lower back. Pain, pain everywhere.(Fine, blame it on age, heckler!)
A parade of bananas wrapped in blue plastic.
Blue plastic gone, the naked bananas are taken to the processing area.
Where each banana hand is carefully processed.
And nice ladies smile at the pesky photographer also known as JJ.

Oh, I do remember one funny conversation with a farm worker.

HE: Ma'am, talagang ang mga reporter maraming tanong, ano?
ME: Oo naman.
HE: Pero kayo ma'am, kayo ang pinakamaraming tanong.
ME: HAHAHAHAHAHA! Pasensiya na manong, walang taniman ng saging sa bundok namin.

I'd like to thank Jerome aka Bridget for giving me tips for my next story, which took me to this place down south. Can't say much yet until the story's out. And yes, I have more pictures.

Plop down and read

I remembered this kid again today.

Class, here's our stat for today: Of 100 kids who enter grade one, 66 graduate. Only 58 of them enter high school, and only 43 graduate. Of the 43, only 23 get into college. Of that number, only 14 graduate.

Last year, 64 percent of our six-year olds, some 1.2 million kids, did not enrol in grade one.

Quo vadis, Pilipinas?

Positive

I'm not pregnant. But the scenes are. Sundays in UP are great.
Firetree, I think they call them. I remembered Doc Duke again. He prays for UP's trees.
Next, I'll photograph an ant.
I got hungry. What else to eat but fishballs?

Haaay. UP kong mahal. Isa't kalahating dekada na akong dumadagdag sa wear and tear ng mga kalsada mo dahil sa jogging gabi man o araw.

Don't be nega

"Jay, let's go and stop whining already," she tells me. C is quite adamant about this meeting with R, our gay friend who requested we talk to him. It's probably one of those boyfriend issues, a topic which we've discussed a thousand times over, from all possible angles.

"Jay, you have to be a friend now. He needs us," she says.
"I know, but he's too nega. And I don't like being pushed into the depths of nega force. Besides, I think I'm coming down with a fever," I said.
"An hour at most, please? I don't want to be with him too long, too. He's too nega," she admits.
So off we went and had coffee with him but it was all we could stand. Twenty minutes into the meeting, C stands up, red in the face. R has been saying too many negative things about his ex, who, though not accepted as one of our friends, deserved better. R was mouthing personal attacks too nasty to even recall.
"This is way too nega, R. And this is all we can take. We're leaving." We left.

What is nega?

Nega is when someone can't see anything positive in anything or anyone. It's tiring and black to be around someone like that.

Someone who refuses to see the slivers of light but focuses only on the bleakness of the surrounding.

Someone who refuses to see his own sadness but wants to pull others down along with him.

Someone who can't find happiness in the joy of friends - and spoils it even.

There's an old saying that goes like this: a friend's good fortune is a blessing.

Nega people try to snatch that away from you, instead of sharing and reveling in the joy you feel.

Someone who's so miserable he can't be happy for others but issues one-liners to pull you down while you're savoring your moment. So pitifully miserable.

Do you remember your first book?

I saw this little girl browsing through books like the store was part of her living room. I'm happy when I see parents take their kids out on book dates.

Mine was this tiny, hard-bound book which I defended against my sister and brothers' paws like a soldier to Iwo Jima.

And I could not even read yet.

I think I was barely six. I found it in a barn in Castillejos, Zambales, where my family and I stayed briefly. I asked the old lady who owned the barn to give it to me, and she smiled and said yes. I don't know where the book is now, probably lost during one of our moves. We moved a lot those days. But I still remember how I got hold of it like it happened yesterday.

I learned to read in grade one, probably September, when my teacher FINALLY discovered that I couldn't. I got by by memorizing all the words on the board, courtesy of my classmates who read them out loud before my turn came. And the teacher who was instrumental in starting my reading habit was Mrs. Padilla. She's dead now, but I remember she gave me a watch when the schoolyear ended because I became her poster girl for reading and comprehension later on. Ah, teachers. Public school teachers. Where would we be without them?

Anyway, thanks to many of you who joined the small survey I did about kids' books, for taking it seriously. Here's what I personally deduced from your answers: those early learning tools shape one's mind throughout life, until sunset. Conversely, those who had smart-alecky replies but could not name a book, (I think there were two) I know now why you are who you are.

Read the article here: The survey forms part of the sidebar story.