‘The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar, and familiar things new.’ Samuel Johnson
No, I am not the blogger with a published book. Meet 66 year old Annamanila, who blogs at ode2old.blogspot.com. She used to be the editor of my work when I was a researcher at the UP Institute of Small Scale Industries till 1986 when I got fired by the new director. Twenty years passed me by and one day in 2006, I received a comment from Annamanila because of my Philippine Idol post. I was glad to hear from her. A few weeks elapsed, she announced that she started a blog. I groaned. “Oh no, she will read my blog regularly now” but I learned to shrug my “writing skills’ insecurities” off and taking up the challenge to equip myself to be a better writer.
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“We can’t call him an animal because I have pets and they are tame. No, he is a monster. They are monsters” Mangudadatu on Ampatuan Jr. and his gunmen.
Photo Credits to Reuter
View Slideshow of Other Photos
I see it in Twitter, Plurk, Facebook and blogs. The outrage is all over the internet. No to Maguindanao Massacre.
Pat Dayrit a Twitter Follower gasps: Oh my god. The politics of this country is appalling.
A facebook friend posts at her wall: Mangudadatu told reporters, referring to Ampatuan Jr. and his gunmen. “My wife’s private parts were slashed four times, after which they fired a bullet into it,” he added. “They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth. I could not begin to describe the manner by which they treated her.”
I condemn this brutality. I feel so much for the families who lost their loved ones in the Maguindanao massacre. I weep as I see the mutilated bodies in photos . How do they even begin to comprehend the immensity of their loss? Such unfamiliar territory . There are no words to express my utter disbelief that this could happen in a democracy.
Continue reading my commentary on the Maguindanao Massacre at blogwatch.ph
“The friendship that can cease has never been real.”– Saint Jerome
You would think 50-year olds act maturely in the face of adversity. I am sure most of us can. A recent misunderstanding among old friends (including myself) jolted me. We are talking of years of friendship. It started with a gossip. If there is gossip among friends, clear the air instead of being defensive and ignoring the issue. What’s funny is that they chose to place the scapegoat on the ““informant” which is immaterial because the issue is the malicious gossip. A mere explanation or an apology would have cleared the issue.
The reaction was “anger” . Feelings of anger is normal if it leads to a positive resolution. Instead of talking like two mature individuals, the angry friend including others involved in the gossip removed my friend (let’s call her Alpha) from Facebook including myself. Friends are supposed to exert all efforts to resolve matters, if they were friends to start with.
Consider my other friend, whom I will call Yadda. A similar misunderstanding happened. Sure there were hurt feelings on both sides but Yadda chose to talk it over and over like a broken record until we were both satisfied with the resolution. The friendship is still there.
See the difference?
You cannot say you’ve lost a friend. If a friendship is capable of ending, it is because it never existed.
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Our children are our most cherished possession. In their early years we must make sure they get a healthy start in life – President Gloria Arroyo, SONA 2009
It is 1984 and the Marcos regime is getting shakier as Anti-Marcos rallies are all over the place. This was my conversation with my then boyfriend (now husband)
Me: Do you plan to marry me? if you have no plans, then I am leaving for the United States to be with my sisters and start a new life there.
The Boyfriend (now husband): Yes, I will marry you next year. (of course he got pressured).
I felt like leaving the country then because the peso-dollar exchange rate dropped drastically. I wanted to be with my sisters.
No, this is not a love story.
See, I got married at the time when the political situation was so unstable. Was there a future for me and my husband? When People Power removed the dictatorship, I was ecstatic. I felt the future seemed promising for my children. My sister sent me immigration papers in 1987 and wanted me to move to the USA with my family. I declined. I wanted my children to stay here and work for the future of their country
our choices of food determine a lot of things from politics to economy – wendell berry
I think most of you know that I have a Food Recipe Blog ( with over 6400 subscribers. I like to keep in touch with my readers so I invite them to add me in my facebook and the Facebook Fan Page for the Pinoy Recipes which has around 3,185 fans.
Everything was fine and dandy until I posted a link Join the Manolo Quezon For Senator a group for people who would like to see Manuel L Quezon III elected as senator on 2010. Of course I know, it is a food fan page but I forgot other facebook members can join. I took for granted that the members were also my readers. It didn’t help that the profile photo of the Facebook Fan page was Leche Flan.
Naturally, I got a few violent reactions
I remember my first TV interview.
I was not prepared to talk in Tagalog. First of all, MOMS is an english word so I thought the interview was in English. When I saw the script, I was horrified.
I asked the writer: So I have to reply in Tagalog? I don’t speak Tagalog so well.
It can be Taglish. the production staff said
Taglish is just as worse. So throughout the interview, I struggled for the words, figuring out what the Tagalog word for grief….feelings…etcetera.
Suffice it to say, I had a Take 2.
It was a pain to speak in Taglish. My first language is English (Blame my parents) and spoke Cebuano with my peers. I spoke two languages as a child and never mixed cebuano and English in one sentence. When my daughter was once an active blogger, she received a deluge of criticisms for being more fluent in English. At least she can still speak in Tagalog. Shouldn’t we choose the first language that is best comfortable to communicate?
How come Cebuanos don’t mix Cebuano and English in one sentence? There is no such thing as ““Cebualish”“. People would gush with admiration at how we, Cebuanos didn’t have Cebuano accents whenever we spoke English. The Cebuanos from UP or Ateneo studied from top-notch high schools in Cebu with the same high standards as those of exclusive schools in Manila. So what made the difference? It was only much later that I found out that the taglish originated from the ““yayas”
Yet, I think it is really wrong to speak in Taglish so I forced myself to learn to speak Tagalog. So far so good especially if it is a radio interview since I have a cheat list in front of me and I can concentrate on my train of thoughts.
I accept the plea of the people. I accept the responsibility to continue the fight for the people. I accept the challenge to lead in this fight. I will run in the coming elections, Noynoy Aquino
The Noynoy’s ad is just brilliant! Well, technically it is. The support given in this ad from the entertainment and advertising professionals is just inspiring. The star-studded cast will surely attract the masses.
Video Link
It’s beautifully made with an all star cast including two TV station’s talents such as Sharon Cuneta, Kris Aquino, Boy Abunda , Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Bea Alonzo, Dingdong Dantes, Marian Rivera, Aiai delas alas, Mariel Rodriguez, Bianca Gonzales, Eric Santos , James Yap , PBA Players and more.
It certainly has mass appeal, but wait do we know noynoy’s platforms?
Two years ago, Cartoons Network commissioned a survey on Filipino Kids and their lifestyle called “New Generations” because they believe that such study is an integral part of its on-going quest to learn about kids, their lifestyle , opinions and behavior. TV is the number one choice for kids among various forms of media consumption. Quite disappointing really. The 2009 survey does not differ much in TV consumption and preference.
Irrespective of who wins, I believe the biggest winner tonight is the blogging culture in the Asia Pacific itself– Ming and Tim, Founders of Nuffnang.com
It’s 1:42 AM and I have just uploaded the photos of the biggest blogger event I have ever attended. I loved it. The event was well organized, food was great, and meeting bloggers from 3 other countries is something different from other blogger events attended so far. The Nuffnang Asia Pacific Blog Awards gathered over 400 bloggers from Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia. Around 31 Pinoy bloggers flew all the way to Singapore.
Photo via Ada Lajara. Glamorous Filipina bloggers gather at the Link Hotel before proceeding to the Pan Pacific Hotel for the Awards Ceremony
After 2 years of community building, Nuffnang.com presented the first ever Asia-Pacific Blog Awards at the Pan Pacific Hotel.
with Nuffnang co-founder Tim
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“I don’t consider myself a survivor; that’s someone who has gone through something terrible.” Geraldine Ferraro
Of course, you know our home suffered the Ondoy Flood Damage. My husband is traumatized about it already that he obsesses on the weather report. Friends ask me how it has been. I feel guilty that we didn’t really suffer that much damage, I mean comparing our situation to the Ondoy victims in Marikina and the Pepeng victims of Northern Luzon. I have to give credit to my husband who took a week’s leave of absence to clean our house. All I did was call insurance companies, service centers, and internet providers. My husband had to live in our flood damaged home for a week while me and my two daughters had it good in my sister’s home in Quezon City.
A week after Ondoy, we finally returned to our Pasig home. Internet connection was back. As a fussy homemaker, let me share you some tips I learned from the damage.
BEFORE before the floodwaters reached waist deep. My husband and two househelp try to save as much as they can to the second floor
