Daddy Green

Volkswagen USA's latest ad, The Last Mile | Beetle, brought me to tears. I have a very fond memory of this car. No, I didn't use to own this car, but somebody very close to my heart.

My earliest memory of this car was almost three decades ago. My daddy–that's what I call my late paternal grandfather–owned this car until 2011 ish before they decided to just sell its parts. My papa told me me that daddy bought the Beetle around the 70s. It became their family car, and I was fortunate enough to be the next generation passenger. When I started talking, I can't stop admiring daddy's green Beetle, hence the monicker, Daddy Green. Whenever my papa's not around due to his work, daddy will always come to the rescue, and he'll drive me to school. My memory with daddy and his Daddy Green is nothing but bittersweet. That's just one of the moments that I'll treasure the most. When daddy left us three years ago, I was devastated. I couldn't grasp the fact that he's already gone. It felt like a part of me was missing. I was an almost finished puzzle, and he was the only missing puzzle piece.

Then came this video. All the memories with daddy and Daddy Green rushed through my system, like a strong wind blowing from the sea. It was still painful in my part, and I still long for daddy's presence. I can't blame myself, I was his first grandson, and I was really spoiled by him. He loved me dearly. He was my playmate. He was my attorney. He was my confidant. He was my everything.

I miss him every day. I am sure that he is in a happy place right now. He regularly visits me in my dreams, wearing a big smile on his face, wearing his favorite yellow tank top, and his short shorts.

Anya at 11 Months

Last Sunday, ma, pa and I went to my aunt's house to visit my cutiepatootie niece. I think everyone of you here knows her. I even wrote a blogpost about her last May. She cute, yeah but she's cuter when she cries. It's so easy to make her cry. MEANIE UNCLE.

Princess Anya

Say hello to Anya, the latest addition of our family. No, she's not my daughter (LOL I'm too young to become a father). Anya is my first pamangkin and I'm so hyped with the idea that I'm already an uncle! My cousin gave birth to Anya last September 26 and thank God there were no complications or whatsoever.

I'm going to see my beautiful pamangkin this Sunday! I can't wait!

PS: I really love her name: Francesca Anne. So sophisticated and beautiful!

Sacrifices

Okay, so Happy 16th birthday to my beloved brother. Yeeee.

Also, Happy 20th birthday, Carlo Castillo! Weeee.



---

Last week, I just turned 19. Nothing had changed within my physical looks or in my behavior. In just the same me. But anyway the point is, I wish for eternal happiness despite those unexpected things.


Okay, there are so many things in my mind right now - thesis, experimental design of my thesis, the never-ending saga in laboratory reports, surprise quizzes, long exams, origin-insertion-action of the muscular system of Felis domestica and many more. How I wish time wouldn't be that fast. How I wish. But yeah, there are so many things to consider nowadays.



Every thing in my life right now is very crucial to my future.

Tomorrow, my family and some close relatives will have a family outing somewhere in wilderness. I on the other hand will be at the beach not to relax but to continue with my thesis. Gaaaah. Good thing I have already been to that place. O___O Also, the reason is almost the same on why I don't update my multiply site. You know, I really miss my bffs here in multiply. Hahaha. Original online buddies, per se. :))


Some random thoughts...

Speaking of school, we already have killed two cats. Wanna know the reason? It's quite silly actually. The first batch of cats were infested by those pesky fat-assed maggots. We forgot to submerge it in a 37% formaldehyde solution. Tae. Plus the smell was really... UGGGHHH... pungent. We can still smell that.. ugghhh.. pungent smell of rotting flesh as far as 50 meters! Ewww. Now I have goosebumps. Yuck talaga.

Convenience Stores are so... uhmm... convenient. Last Friday I went to the convenience to buy my own toothbrush, because it's been ages since my last replacement of it. YAAAKKK. Hahaha. So I grab a cool lookin' Oral B toothbrush. I thought it cost 20 pesos. I gave the cashier 50 pesos and she said something. Worse, iba yung pagkarinig ko sa kanya (maybe brought about by stress).

I thought she said "May 16 pesos ka lang sir?"
I replied sternly: "Miss, 50 lang pera ko..."
"Sir, 60 pesos kasi toothbrush mo"
"Ay...Ganon, Hehe. Eto oh (binigay ang exact amount)"

Tae, nawala tuloy ako sa budget nang dahil sa isang toothbrush. But yeah, it was worth it, since I have forced my old toothbrush to extend its life about a hundred times. HAHAHA. Kidding.


So yeah, it's quite unusual to blog early in the morning. Hehehehe.


The geek is about to sign off. Stay tuned.

Teehee! =)

What Is Essential Is Invisible to the Eye

It hurts when a person very close to your heart leaves you all of the sudden. In my part, I can't accept it since tomorrow's going to be my birthday. I know within the past few days my family has been experiencing the most painful event of our lives. The tragedy that struck us was really unexpected.


It was really hard.



And know I've realized a few things.


One, life is indeed short and full of surprises. If it's already our time, then we have no choice but to accept it, anyway it's already listed on God's huge planner.

Two, cherish every moment of life, no matter how insignificant it seems. But there's no such thing as insignificant moments, it's just... we human beings fail to see and appreciate life. We opt to concentrate with caprices and vices instead of the most important ingredient of our life, our family.

and lastly this quote from The Little Prince touched me.

"Voici mon secret. Il est très simple: on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

Kuya Yayo, wherever you are, I hope you're happy.
Remember when I visited your house two weeks before your sudden demise?
You said that you're already tired.
It's so sad that you left us all of the sudden.



We will miss you, really. =(


This is going to be the most memorable birthday of my life.


Cheers to the 19 years of my existence, well in the less than an hour.

Wrinkled Forehead

Old people are sometimes cranky that you end up thinking of giving them up on an institution that takes care of them. But no, Homes for the Aged aren’t that prevalent in our country due to our culture. Sometimes, they do not comprehend on today’s generation. They are fond of giving sermons to the younger generations and apparently, their ideas are a little bit far-fetched and already impractical. They sometimes pass their frustrations (like being a doctor but failed med school on their era) to their sons/daughters or even to their grand sons and daughters. Luckily, my grandparents aren’t like that. Phew.



We often shout at them because we have to. It’s not because of being rude. If we speak in a normal voice, they tend to accuse us of being uncouth because they thought we’re just whispering to them and they can’t understand what we are talking about. Take note that as we grow old, our body reflexes slow down and our five senses start to dwindle, but not entirely - the qualities of the five senses are just becoming dull.



We often take them for granted, believing those words coming from their mouth are pure rubbish. But let us be considerate sometimes. Old people are very lucky since they have existed for more than sixty years. If they give sermons, just listen. If you’re uninterested with their puritan behavior, just don’t show you’re apathetic. Let their “words of wisdom” enter your left ear and exit to your right ear simultaneously, unless if it’s important. But I tell you, I find it enjoyable when listening to their sermons. You can really see how the gradual changes in the society had changed and shaped our beliefs.


They may be annoying due to their infuriating behavior. But old farts should be treated fair and square no matter what. Let them enjoy life to the fullest.




You know, life can be compared to one of the basic principles of thermodynamics:

In the irreversible process the initial state of the system and surroundings cannot be restored from the final state.

So as life. You can’t return to the past and fix those mistakes.



Let them live to the ripe age.
Let them breathe.

Let them relish life up to the last second, up to the last drop of it.

Lovesick Mu-sick

To be with a lovesick brother is a disaster.

Spell DISASTER for me please.


Since last year, I’ve been suspecting that he’s up to something, something significant in every man’s life. And now, my hunches are right. I’m happy for him and the girl is wickedly perfect – pretty, a Math and English genius and knows everything, almost everything.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bitter. And mom and dad are happy about it too.

The predicament only arises when he’s armed on the following weapons-of-ears-destruction:

1. Guitar
2. iPod
3. His oh-so golden voice

Accck. I ain’t a big fan of listening to acoustics unless if it’s sweet, slow and mellow. He’s fond of playing and converting a mellow OPM love songs into a rock one. Imagine his ingenious fingers strike the guitar strings heavily while playing the rock version of Closer You and I. The song was originally performed by the almighty Gino Padilla. Try listening to the original version and compare it with Sponge Cola’s. You can easily discern the big differences between the two. The once beautifully written and arranged song turned into a zombie-like chant, thanks to the modernized rendition.


It really hurts my ears so much. UUGGHH.

Well, this simple nuisance has led me to rant something about our music.

Nah, I do not totally detest OPM. The new OPM generation is way different if we compare it to the 90s. Who could ever forget the late Francis M.’s Kaleidoscope? How about EHeads’ Fruitcake? The Huling El Bimbo of a Paraluman-look-alike? Rivermaya’s 214? Those were the bomb. Those were the classic ones. And now, everything’s a disaster, well in my own opinion.


Each and every one of us has different tastes on music.
Too bad, my brother’s taste of music is the total opposite of MINE.


He doesn’t like to listen with Enya.
He keeps on rambling this: WHO THE HECK IS IMOGEN HEAP? IS THAT A BRAND OF PEANUT BUTTER?
He thinks Coldplay and The Killers are too boring.
He thinks The Fray is corny.
He claims that Gregorian Chant is evil.
He thinks Enigma is scary.


Sad to say, I’m not into this modern OPM era. Siiiigh. This is so exasperating.


AT LEAST he’s not digging with JONAS BROTHERS. We come up the same conclusion whenever we hear some JoBros hits in the radio, YouTube or some pesky profiles in the cyberspace.



And probably you’ll have the same conclusion as ours. LOL.. Peace!

Father. Papa. Dad

This morning, mom woke me up frenetically. My eyes were still heavy, my voice was so deep, thanks to my never-ending phlegm marathon and I was puzzled at that time, thinking of some emergency situation or what. Then she handed the phone to me and my grandfather was on the other line. He was a little bit worried since my classmate’s father had contacted him (my grandfather) and classmate’s dad was a little bit worried since classmate didn’t go home after my friend’s debut party. I just didn’t mind, thinking that classmate had just slept at my other classmate’s luxurious house. So I just told daddy that I went home at around 10.30 in the evening and I really don’t have even the faintest idea of what went wrong.


Minutes later, classmate’s dad phoned us and I had a chance to speak with him. I just told him that maybe he just slept in one of my classmates’ house and his cellphone went off or what. Then, I just messaged my classmate to confirm whether he really was spending an overnight stay in the luxurious house.


The truth is this: classmate intended to switch off his cellphone to avoid the prying eyes of his father.

No matter how hard we try to avoid our father, trying to be dependent, they are still worried with our state. Take note we’re still young. Even if they’re sterner than Miss Minchin, they still love us and they do not want us to experience those trials that they have committed when they’re still young.


Dads are human beings that are genetically programmed to love, protect and nurture their children. They always have this protective stance and we often misinterpret this. Apparently, we tend to assume that they’re just overreacting. But take note, they knew more things than us.



And yes, I admit that sometimes I feel that I’m suffocated with my father’s wrath, but I guess this is for my own good, for my safetiness.

There’s nothing wrong if we ask permission to them if we want to go somewhere or do some important things. :)



Smile. Hug your father every day.
An affectionate father is already considered as an endangered species of the world.

BIG Brother

No. This post is not intended for the Pinoy Big Brother, a worldwide, unparalleled, divisive and conflict-ridden television series of ABS-CBN. Just read.

Being an eldest in the family is not an easy task. I mean, you take all of those heavy responsibilities in home, in school and in your family, most especially to your younger siblings. A minor mistake would mean a disaster to us. Even if it’s our sibling’s fault, our parents often blame us. Such arduous task made me realize that being a “kuya” could be a disastrous and tiring one. I’m not complaining about my status in my family, but I just want to point out things that are crappy, especially if you deal with your younger siblings.

I consider my brother as my alter ego. He is my total opposite. We rarely talk the same language, idiomatically speaking. We often fight even for the simplest things. He’s EMO and I’m not. We don’t have any similarities on physical looks except on our figure – we’re both thin. He’s very athletic and I’m not. He abhors math and I love math. I’m quite serious with my life and HE’S NOT.

One thing for sure, we always argue on a regular basis. My mom’s getting tired of us. I’m not saying that I hate him or what, but sometimes, this mayhem can’t be avoided. I am really disappointed and frustrated with him for the past few weeks. I just observed that as he grew older, he gets more stubborn and hard headed than before.

These frustrations had led me to write something about him because I’m really tired of his behavior. Sometimes when he needs help, especially on his math assignments or simply he wants to clarify things about algebra, he would be the nicest person that I’ve ever met in this muddled planet. Sometimes, he would be very fastidious to me ‘coz makigamit siya ng cellphone ko para makatext niya ang kanyang crush and the next thing I knew he would be mean to me. Take this situation as an example. He will not allow me to use the computer because he’s still playing FREESTYLE – an online basketball game. “Wait lang beh! Pa level up muna ako” – he always said that statement to me many times in an irritable manner. Well, talking about being petulant. I just wanted to use the computer because I need to search something important for our Bio 3 Lab. I just waited for four and a half grueling hours (while doing my homework in a traditional way, that is through books) until he finished his DAILY RITUAL. Man, he’s an ADDICT. Everyday, he opts to play online games rather than studying. I just waited like a moron and I don’t want to start another disturbing fight. Sometimes, when I grumble about his addiction, he would just curse me with foul words. I want to tear his left ear lobe using his sharp earring and bind his mouth using soldering iron. But I can’t. All I can do is to control my temper. Ooooh, and I’m not playing Saint Renzy Benzy in this annoying situation. Sometimes, my brother and my mom would end up shouting and fighting because of his ruthless behavior. I also consider myself as ruthless, but I know the limitations on it. The problem is, he’s very uncontrollable but not violent (like Baron Geisler, hehehe). I could partially understand this particular behavior because he’s fourteen and he’s living in a chaotic teenage environment.

Yes. I consider myself as an imperfect brother to him because I know, I had some weaknesses. But what I am trying to point out is that he must change his behavior, well at least I could see some minor improvements on to him. I don’t hate him. I just want him to change his negative attitude. It’s already 2008 and he’s going to be fifteen this year. And I’m just afraid that he will be wilder than today. All I can do is to talk with my mom about his unusual behavior because talking to him would be unnecessary and pointless. All I want is to respect me as your older brother.

I know you can do it. Sana baguhin mo ang bad attitudes mo (ako rin). Peace.