My Birthday Greetings

Since I have a habit of making non-traditional birthday greetings for my close friends, they decided to return the favor. Below are three of  the most creative (and my most favorite) birthday greetings I received from my friends.

My Surprise Birthday Cake :)

The Catholic Trademark - A Response to a Satirical Article

The sacraments, the prayers, even the bread and wine have no holiness or power unless properly franchised by the Catholic™ Church.

-Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, President of CBCP Commission on Franchising and Life (COFAL)

The above quote is from an article denoting the recent attempt of the Catholic Church to trademark the term “Catholic™”. Apparently one has to be careful now from using the term haphazardly as he will become liable for intellectual property infringement if he uses the term without care, or without the proper notification to CBCP.  The above quote strikes me as a severe form of hypocrisy and it well suggests arrogance. It puts Catholicism above all other religions. To say that other forms of prayers and religious rites not preceded by the Catholic™ Church not "holy" is morally wrong. And to use the word “franchise” in the same context as with the words “sacraments” and “holiness” suggests lack of tact and insight from the one who said it.

Of Lone Pair Electrons, French Films and Being the Fifth Wheel

The Lone Pair Electron -
available yet  has no one to bond with

Last night, as I went out with a couple of my friends and their partners, I was reminded of the concept of “Lone Pair Electrons” during my college chemistry days. In its simplest terms, lone pair electrons are those electrons which, although readily available, are not bonded with other atoms—hence the title “lone” in their name. ­­­­­­ As they exist alone in conformational space, they are like the mavericks of chemical structures. It made me think that in the macroscopic real life, lone pair electrons are in a way, like the token single friends who are reluctantly tagged along when someone goes out with his or her partner. Although not romantically bonded with any other individual, they are crucial in holding the composition of their respective groups together when going out. Being the only single person in our group last night, I felt like the lone pair electron of my social clique’s chemical structure.

What I Learned (or Not) in College – A Retrospect

A few years ago, I entered college with a dream of becoming a doctor.  I can still remember the exhilaration I felt almost eight years ago, when I received the news that I was accepted into one of the top universities in the country. It was surreal then as it is now. I was dead set on someday donning a white laboratory coat, stethoscope slung around my neck and a matching name plate affixing “MD” after my surname. That was my dream—and I finally had a ticket of achieving it.

Counting Sheeps

Five in the morning and wide awake.

Enveloped in darkness.

Small drops of rain outside yet no breeze.

None today. 

None tonight.

It is as humid as with the afternoon sun.

I perspire.

The gentle ramblings of the fan, steady and soothing,

as it kisses the heat off my moist skin.

In the still blackness I see nothing

Why I Say Yes To Divorce

While reading my daily dose of news, I came across one article that quoted Representative Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro on the legalization of divorce:

 “[If divorce is legal] Children will grow up with only one parent. That’s the worst punishment we can give to our children.”

It is in fact a heartless punishment to let a child growp up with only one parental figure. Kids should be reared and nurtured by two people: primarily, a father and a mother. That’s how it's always been and that’s how it should be.

Tajo Chronicles: A Reprise (Part 2)

I opened the door that leads to my refuge.

As I walk inside my small, cramped bedroom, I see that things are in the usual disarray as I left them yesterday. My clothes are still scattered on the floor and my old books are still arranged chaotically in one side of the room. My tangled bed is still exactly the same. Everything is unchanged as I left the house.

I am still the same, I suppose.

Or am I?

  I plunged myself to bed eyes closed and recalled the night that was and how it made all the difference in the world.

Episode Two - The Night That Was 

My Improvised Friday Night Clubbing

Ugh, it’s a Friday night and I can’t go out. Apart from being too lazy to travel a good hour to get to the clubbing spots, I’m flat broke these days. And when you see your friends’ Facebook updates saying how excited they are to go out, or when they send you SMS invites and you reply that you can’t tag along, it takes frustration to a whole different level.

Being the type of person I am, I am not to be outdone. I decided to make my own clubbing experience tonight in the comfort of my own bedroom.  So I gathered what was necessary, locked the door, took off my shirt and enjoyed myself to my own version of Friday night clubbing - home edition.

The Improvised Clubbing Set-up

Bleed

Tajo Chronicles: A Reprise (Part 1)

Episode 1: Starfish and Snowman at the Movies

I can’t help but notice myself smiling as I hold on to the railings of the train. While my body moves along with every vibration, halts and motions of this silver carriage, I feel the beat of my heart racing as I come closer to my destination. I keep on telling myself to pull it together but anticipation floods over my being.  I feel my limbs trembling, beads of perspiration start to appear on my forehead as I stare on each sign that tells me I’m becoming one station closer to where you are. They are like pale ominous signs of impending doom, ghostly and eerie; but in this case I remind myself that they are bringers of something good. Those station signs bring me closer to you. My tall, thin frame gets squished and shoved by the numerous passengers boarding and getting off the train but I don’t care. I just keep my stare focused on those ethereal plastic signs. At this very instance nothing else matters:  just you, me and those signs.