Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.
Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.
When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?"
Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."
Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"
"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.
Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you." "Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"
Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.
Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder. So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way. Realizing how much was owed the elder,
Love asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who Helped me?"
"It was Time," Knowledge answered.
"Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"
Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."
My ever-useful e-mail spam blocker is doing well at blocking terribly annoying spam e-mails, scam letters and other Internet garbage. However, today I received an official looking letter via fax (facsimile) from a company called ABC Financial Solutions Limited from the United Kingdom. The letter states that Mr. Anthony Adams, the company chief auditor has discovered an unused account from a deceased foreigner with surname same as mine and offering to help him transfer the amount of $15.5 million.
We commonly use facsimile machines for everyday business. It’s a very useful tool whenever a client requires a hard copy of a document. At first, I thought the letter was legit with its neat introduction, plus it has my correct name and business address but it’s really too good to be true. Therefore, I googled it and found out that it’s a variation of the usual e-mail scams/fraud.
Fax can be simulated using web services, and made untraceable by the use of prepaid phones connected to mobile fax machines or by use of a public fax machine. Thus, scammers posing as business entities can also use fax transmissions as an anonymous form of communication. Yes, scammers can invest some expenses to lure people, as the prepaid phone and fax equipment cost more than e-mail, and to a skeptical victim fax transmissions can be more believable.
We should be cautious not to respond to suspicious letters, especially those requesting for personal or financial information. We should also be aware that a lot of these scams originate from foreign countries, and recovery of stolen funds, if we became victims is highly unlikely.
Here’s the content of the letter:
Mr. Anthony Adams ABC FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED 72 New Cavendish Street, London. WIM 8AU. United Kingdom Private Tel: +447924711015 Private Fax: +44 208 082 5721
Date: 26th July 2010
Mr. ___(My name) Adress: (My Address)
I am Mr. Anthony Adams, the Chief Auditor of ABC Financial Solution Limited, a finance and investment management company in the United Kingdom. In the course of performing my duties in the company as a auditor, I discovered floating money in a domiciliary account which was opened in 1994 belonging to a foreigner Mr. __________ who died in 1999. All effort to track any member of his nuclear and extended family or next of kin has failed. I conscripted the head of my department to the plot (as a deal cannot be successful without his approval) and we decided to divert the fund for our private use. I have been mandated to contact you to stand in as his next of kin since you bear the same last name with him, this will enable us present you to my company as his next of kin. He died without leaving an Heir of a Will.
My intention is to transfer the sum of Fifteen Million Five Hundred Thousand United States dollars (US$15,500.00) in the aforementioned account to a safe account overseas for our private use. I am proposing that you partner with us since you bear the same last name with the late account holder and provide a bank account or open a new one that will serve the purpose of receiving this fund. For your assistance and participation in this venture, we are ready to part with a thirty percent (30%) of the entire funds i.e. Four Million Six Hundred and Fifty Thousand United States dollars (US$4,650,000.00) as your share. On scrutinizing the deceased records and files with our finance company, I discovered that:
(1) No one has operated this account since 1999. (2) He died without any next of kin; hence the money has been floating. (3) No other person knows about this account.
If the money is not remitted urgently, it will be declared as unclaimed fund and converted to the company’s funds, which will benefit only the executive directors of my firm. This money can be approved and paid to you legally once I present you as the next of kin and secure all the documentary approvals and certifications in your name and also guide you stage by stage on how to make your claims applications to ensure its approval and payment.
I came to the Philippines in search of a credible person with the same name with the deceased and would have been back to UK by the time you are reading this letter.
Please reply by faxing back to me a copy of my letter and stating your direct telephone and fax number on it (please buy a fax machine if you do not have because we cannot do the business without a fax number since most of our correspondences will be by fax) so that I can send you detailed information on the modalities of my proposition. The entire process leading to the crediting of your bank with the inherited funds will be completed within 14 working days. I implore you to keep this proposition confidential as it is failure proof, 100% risk free and legal. I look forward to your prompt response as I can be reached on my direct telephone number.
Best Regards Yours truly,
Mr. Anthony Adams Private Phone: 0044 792 471 1015 Private Fax: 0044 208 082 5721
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.
I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.
She said, 'Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?' I laughed and enthusiastically responded, 'Of course you may!' and she gave me a giant squeeze.
'Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?' I asked.
She jokingly replied, 'I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids.'
'No seriously,' I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
'I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!' she told me.
After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.
We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this 'time machine' as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.
Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, 'I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.'
As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, ' We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.
There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.
There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.
Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.
The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.
She concluded her speech by courageously singing 'The Rose.'
She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those months ago.
One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.
Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.
I just want to share here the story that inspires me today, hope you will be inspired too!
A little boy got angry with his mother and shouted at her, "I hate you, I hate you."
Because of fear of reprimand, he ran out of the house. He went up to the valley and shouted, "I hate you, I hate you," and back came the echo, "I hate you, I hate you."
This was the first time in his life he had heard an echo. He got scared, went to his mother for protection and said there was a bad boy in the valley who shouted "I hate you, I hate you."
The mother understood and she asked her son to go back and shout, "I love you, I love you." The little boy went and shouted, "I love you, I love you," and back came the echo.
That taught the little boy a lesson that our life is like an echo: We get back what we give.
Is cosplay a cool pastime to hone creative self-expression or a nerdy and expensive way to escape pressures of the world? And do you care either way?
I just can’t help but notice this group of teens and adults in amazing anime costume roaming around SM Megamall. I first thought they are the next level Emo, or the evolution of them or perhaps it is a cool new social trend or “pauso” like the Jejemons. However, I later learned in an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer that they are called cosplayers.
CosPlay 101 for the uninformed and misinformed
What the heck is CosPlay? Sounds like a new online video game or a new Facebook apps like Farmville to you? Well, no. CosPlay is a combination of two words: “Costume” and “Roleplay.” Therefore, a Cosplayer is a geeky, not necessarily good-looking somebody who assumes the role of a character from an anime show, a video game, comics, manga, comic series, movies or TV series. These cosplayers step into the shoes of the characters that have inspired them or they think is really cool and copy their costumes, prosthetics, make-up, hair and uber-cool accessories. Here’s what really surprised me, cosplayers not only have to look like characters, they have to act like, sound like and essentially be the characters they portray down to the last giggle.
Cosplayers at the mall
There is this issue among cosplay elders as to how and when this social phenomenon really started. However, they seem to agree on one thing – the origin of the word Cosplay. Most of the elders agree that the journalist Noboyuki Takahashi, first coined the term in the article “My Anime,” after attending the 1984 World Science Fiction Convention and seeing a bunch of Trekkies (Star Trek fans) strutting their stuff. From there, cosplay has evolved into a subculture among enthusiasts of anime, manga, comics, movies and basically everything fun and fictional under the sun and elevated into an art form and subculture in various countries. In the Philippines, the popularity of cosplay has also spiked in the last few years.
Cosplay and The Modern Escapist
"I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which 'Escape' is now so often used. Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?"
-- J.R.R. Tolkien--
I'm no card-carrying psychologist or sociologist, but I can tell you roughly on the observations I made that cosplay is now part of the modern escapism. Mr. Webster defines escapism as the habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine.
I’m sure you will agree that the world in which we live is full of stress, threats, constant noise, irritating soap operas, unhealthy fast-food junks, dizzying billboards, and overnight facebooking. Hence, we all need to escape – to refocus our attention on things pleasant or enjoyable, as opposed to the hard realities of the everyday world. When we are stressed we want nothing more than escapism, and cosplay certainly offers that for others.
It is nice to add a bit of fantasy to an otherwise boring or stressful world. Yet, translating someone’s fantasy into reality can be tricky. I don’t know if parents should really get worried about their teens’ expressing strong desire to live in fantasy world of anime, perhaps they should consider that as healthy and part of today’s social reality. And that the desire to 'escape' is part of the complicated process of discovering ourselves. I think we are all escapist in different ways.
This is where I got myself into the most trouble-of-judgement. I failed both to understand how important the notion of escape is to many cosplayers and to clarify the exact type of escape I was addressing. I admit that many Filipinos nowadays participate in cosplay not mainly to avoid their own personal wars such as their jobs, relationships, school pressure and other life hassles, but rather to have fun, compete, and even make a living.
The Magical World of the Escapist
"Harry goes off into this magical world, and is it any better than the world he's left? Only because he meets nicer people. Magic does not make his world better significantly. The relationships make his world better. Magic in many ways complicates his life."
--J.K. Rowling--
Is there a difference between healthy and unhealthy escapism? In today’s reality, we cannot do our ancestor’s way of escapism – which is telling stories around the fire or do writing on the caves. We now escape the woes of the world by reading books, watching soap operas and movies, browsing the internet, blogging and so on and so forth.
As I said earlier, cosplay is a new and modern form of escapism. Unlike other forms of escapism, cosplay is much more involved. Other “characters” are directly playing in their magical world, interacting using their assumed personality. Events, such as regular conventions and gatherings, also take place in this new form of escapism that is directly dependent on the authors of the anime characters.
Fantasy Self and the Anime World
Anime cosplayers' photo-op during a convention
Therein causes the problems of the cosplayers. This is just my theory OK. The assumed character, which I will call the Fantasy Self begins to rival the real world. Because of the sheer complexity and magic of the anime world, the Fantasy Self may continue to rely on the cosplay as his or her form of escapism. There is a possibility that the Fantasy Self will treat the anime world as a large part of the person’s real life and may dominate the real world.
When the anime world becomes part of the their real world, any stress from the anime world will be brought with them when they enter the real world. Now, no longer does the cosplayer have to be concerned with only real world, but also must be concerned with the happenings in the anime world. Such cosplayer are those who come home so stressed and depressed after attending a cosplay convention – when it is supposed to be just a fun day walking around in costume and be someone extraordinary for a day.
The Collapse of the Fantasy Self and Real Self
The other possibility that might occur with prolonged stay in the anime world as a form of escapism is the collapse of the Fantasy Self into the Real Self. I repeat, this is just a possibility, I’m not a psychologist – but I do read psych books – and it’s just my theory. This is the situation when the cosplayer loans money to buy costumes, skip classes or work to attend cosplay conventions, and if they started claiming that cosplay is more than just costumes. Actions such as these are clear demonstrations of where the cosplayer’s priorities lie.
The trouble with this sort of collapse is apparent. As their real lives are no longer the focus of their attention, their grades in school will falter, their health will falter, their performance at work will falter as will their social lives – often sacrificing time with friends and family for time with cosplaying.
The Cut-off Point
I guess the cut-off point is whether it can be a healthy means for not getting completely depressed by reality, and on the other side, in its extreme form, whether it results in obsessive behaviors that make people completely ignore reality to their detriment.
After all, I'm not the final arbiter of what counts as healthy or unhealthy, and more importantly, I can't claim to know everything about cosplay- I am not a cosplayer myself. I just want to give my comments and learn surprising things about what is happening around me. For people who are more extreme than I am, I respect their choice to be that, just as I hope they respect my theories and opinions I make regarding my observations or what I prefer to keep as leisurely pastimes.
I can safely conclude that Cosplay, can be a healthy form of escapism and a great opportunity in developing creativity and self-confidence. Of course, extremes have bad effects.
» Winge, Theresa. "Emerging Worlds of Anime and Manga - Costuming the Imagination: Origins of Anime and Manga Cosplay" MECHADEMIA Vol. 1 Copyright 2006 University of Minnesota Press: 68
Everybody loves posting their “status” on Facebook – I don’t doubt that. We read our friends' post about everything under the sun - from what they are eating, their current breakup, favorite underwear and whatever-what’s-on-your-mind stuff.
However, have you ever posted something, like a random emotional rant and got surprised the following day because of the amazingly inspiring comments from your friends?
I would call it Facebook Awakening. Read this comments thread, it's so inspiring! If your also inspired click "Like" or write whatever-what’s-on-your-mind on the comments section below.
News Update:
Facebook membership hits 500-million mark
Agence France-Presse First Posted 03:01:00 07/22/2010
SAN FRANCISCO—The number of people using Facebook hit the 500-million mark on Wednesday, meaning one in every 14 people on the planet has now signed up to online social-networking service.
"As of this morning, 500 million people all around the world are actively using Facebook to stay connected with their friends and the people around them," Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post.
"This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world."
To celebrate, the California firm introduced an application that lets members of the online community "tell the incredible stories of the moving and interesting ways they've used Facebook."
Examples given by Zuckerberg included NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen jogging with Facebook fans during his term as Danish prime minister and a US woman using the service to battle breast cancer.
"Our mission at Facebook is to help make the world more open and connected," Zuckerberg said.
"Stories like these are examples of that mission and are both humbling and inspiring. I could have never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook when we were getting started 6 years ago."
One rainy afternoon, I finally decided to finish the report my boss was asking a few months ago. I started typing, then suddenly stopped, and gave a big powerful tornado-forming yawn. Then I find myself staring at the cursor like a snake in trance. I didn’t move while the vertical cursor blinked a million times. I suspect Microsof Word is doing something evil to me – the cursor was hypnotizing me. The cool air-con breeze touched my skin. I blinked and then blinked again. The blinking becomes slow and slower and slower like that slow motion scene in the movies. I felt my eyelids turned into leather with my eyes as heavy as bowling balls.
The computer monitor is calling me, whispering “Come inside, they are waiting for you…come my child..forget the report…come..”
The Fight with the Cursor
I can’t help it, my head was slowly leaning forward - slowly slowly. I’m fighting it and managed to sit up straight, but then it happened again. This time the cursor was blinking faster and the monitor was eerily glowing, magnetizing my head. Again, my head slowly lean forward to the monitor, I fight it again but the fight lasted only for a minute. The cursor won. I closed my eyes, and collapsed into the keyboard, ready for a short journey to eternity.
I felt a hand touching my shoulder pulling me back to reality. Like a startled wide-eyed tarsier, I came back to reality. At my back is the most terrifying warlord I ever known – the person I call Boss.
“What are you doing? Where is the report?” the towering Mr. Boss growled.
I checked the computer monitor and I magically saw that I already produced 5,6987 pages. But it was filled with unintelligible characters like Russian codes or an Egyptian ancient curse, because my head hits the @!$%*&))==_ keyboard keys.
The Attack of the Absent-minded Hapontukin
Lost for words I thought of saying, “Oh, hi Boss, I was trying to pick up my contact lens without my hands."
But I saw my left hand holding my eyeglasses, so I just continue staring. Mr. Boss saw what’s on the screen and took a very deep breath, gathering all his magical powers to blow me into pieces. My mind rummaged for some magical spell to counter my impending doom.
While my off-white phlegmatic saliva was still slowly falling down the side of my mouth, I thought I whispered “Boss, I was testing the keyboard for drool resistance."
Mr. Boss just gave a deep-frustrated sigh and left.
I succeeded in sending the warlord away, but I know deep down in my pitiful slave heart that the battle has just began.
Are you a Hapontukin Too?
I am a certified Hapontukin (palaging inaantok tuwing hapon) or always sleepy in the afternoon. It’s a condition where you don’t have enough energy to last you through the day. Maybe you are also experiencing it once in a while.
The most obvious reason for afternoon drowsiness is lack of sleep, which can have a variety of causes. In my case, it is because of too much Facebooking or late night blogging or a mild hang-over. I know that’s bad for health, so I’m trying to limit those activities in the evening. However, sometimes we really need to stay awake late at night to finish some important stuff, which causes a terrible Hapontukin moment the following day.
In the corporate world, we always have Mr. Boss who always have their noses smoking with rage if they see a Hapontukin employee because, of course it’s a business and they didn’t want to pay the price of our on-the-job-snoozing in the form of lost productivity. Also, it will badly affect our performance evaluation, hence we have to do something to stay awake and finish our deliverable. We also know that sleeping on the job can be risky to the point that it can cost us our job.
Therefore, it is a must for us to do something to help us get a steady energy and avoid Hapontukin moments.
7 and ½ Tips on How to Avoid Snoozing on the Job
Here are my personal tips on how to beat Hapontukin Moments:
When hapontukin sets in, Itake funny pictures with my co-worker, make a quick video clip, do some clean-up, engage in a quick chat – the spiderman style, and take a magic pill.
1. Grab your camera and take funny pictures – Pretend you need graphics for the company brochure, newsletter, company website or a powerpoint presentation and ask co-employees to take a pose for you. Of course lots of them will be more than willing to help you. Here are some of our samples.
Yodz babysitting an emo accountant
May the best girl win
Where have you been slave dwarf?
Arrrgg!!! I'm giving birth to a witch!
2. Create your own version of “Sadako Movie” or “The Matrix” - or whatever movie or painting you like. Be creative. A quick brainstorming about it will definitely make your hanpontukin moment go away.
Where is Sadako?
The Matrix
3. Help the cleaning lady - A little courtesy help in sweeping the floor would not hurt your pride. If you can’t do it, at least clean up your cubicle.
The Matrix superstar turned janitor
4. Quick chat “The Spiderman” style - Prefer quick chatting and gossiping face to face, do not do it via e- mail, phone, SMS or Yahoo Messenger when you can easily jump up to your co-workers.
Hey buddy what's the new chismis?
5. Photocopy yourself – Well, yeah, you can do it once in while but I’m actually not recommending it. But it’s fun – give it a try.
Can you please make 500 copies of me?
6. Create a quick video clip using your phone camera – Ask your co-workers (who are sleepy too) to join you in making a dance clip. Some caution: shoot it in a place where others will not be distracted, such as the elevator or in the office pantry.
Please watch our short video clip entitled “Ang mga pokpok na lumilipad, minamahal ni Yodz”
7½. Take a magic pill - Most of these previous tips are just temporary solutions to afternoon Hapontukin. Nothing beats regular exercise and a balanced, nutritious diet in keeping our body healthy and lively. Also, taking multivitamins has always provided us with essential vitamins we need to help maintain good health and energy. But not all vitamins are alike, what we need is a Multivitamins with special combination of vitamins called Steadi-Energy Complex which can provide us with lasting energy (tuluy-tuloy na energy) throughout the day. This steadi-energy is important most especially if there are so many things to do at work. By the way, that 1/2 is for extra energy.
If we treat our body properly, it will work like a well-oiled machine whether day, night, or afternoon. It may even help us in our early promotion.
I definitely agree with Enervon’s campaign “More Energy, Mas Happy.” In this stressful and fast-paced city life, I definitely need Multivitamins Enervon – of course because of its Steadi-Energy Complex vitamin combination. It’s truly a magic energy pill for me.
