16 Funny Things To Ponder About Living in the 21st Century

 1.  The one thing that unites all human beings on the internet, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside we ALL hope that our friends/network will click that "Like" button on our Facebook status.. 

2. There is a very fine line between “Facebook,” "Twitter" and “mental illness.” 

3. The most powerful force in the internet and the whole universe, is gossip. 

4. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one Filipino policeman who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that policeman is crazy. 

5. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she’s gaining weight. 

6. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why your company has not achieved, and never will achieve, its goals, targets or implement plans for salary increase, that word would be “meetings.” 

7. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests and rallies is to annoy people who are not in them. 

8. If God who created the entire universe with all of its glories, decides to deliver a message to humanity, He will NOT use, as His messenger, that guy on IBC 13, wearing red suit with fake smile who wants to be Philippine President. 

9. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them. 

10. You should not confuse your LIFE with career and money. 

11. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the fastfood waiters and salesladies, is not a nice person. 

12. Your friends love you, don't doubt that. 

13. Friends come and go, that's normal. If your enemies is accumulating - that's abnormal

14. Nobody cares if you can’t sing well in a videoke bar. Just get up and sing.. 

15. The battle of the sexes ended a few decades ago, too many already betrayed their own and joined the other side. 

16. A man usually feels better after a few winks, especially if she winks back.

Comments, Thoughts? Any additional points to ponder you might want to add?

Yes, There are Dumb Managers

Once during a Management training program, a team of Managers were given an assignment to measure the height of a flagpole. So these Managers went out to the flagpole with ladders and tape.

They're falling off the ladders, dropping the measuring tape - the whole thing is just a mess.

An Engineer comes along and sees what they're trying to do, walks over, pulls the flagpole out of the ground, lays it flat, measures it from end to end, gives the measurement to one of the managers,
Re-erects the flagpole and walks straight-away.

After the Engineer has gone, one Manager turns to another and laughs …

"Isn't that just like an engineer? We're looking for height and he gives the length!"

Moral : No matter what good you do, Some managers can always find fault in you.

Is your manager or boss a fault-finder (and dumb)? You can [anonymously] curse him/her on the comments section below.

The Chick’s Lesson from Shit

This story is inspired by our little farm in Mindoro during my childhood days.

Hope you’ll like it. Here’s my story:

One windy afternoon, as the mother hen and her chicks are hurrying to return to the farmer's nipa hut to avoid the sudden gusts of amihan (or the strong trade winds), one of the chicks decided he doesn’t want to leave the farm yet. “You are all cowards,” he said to the other chicks. “After all, all I have to do is hide under the talahib grass to avoid the sudden gusts of amihan.” 

Soon, however, strong amihan winds blow and he realized he cannot make it to the talahib grass to hide. The first wind gust throws him nearby a rushing river with grazing carabaos. He realized that, just another wind blow will throw him in the river and will mean instant drowning. 

He just closed his eyes just as he heard the coming wind, buzzing like bees. Just seconds before the strong wind came; a carabao walked by and shits directly over the chick. The carabao’s shit covered the chick’s body, saving his life. 

He was very happy to be alive and he happily chirped and tweeted, until a passing eagle noticed him. The eagle quickly do a deadly aerial dive towards him, clawed him out of the shit and ate him.

So what’s my point here?

• Well first, those who throw shits on us are not necessarily our enemy.

• Second, not everyone who help us get out of the mess is necessarily our friends. 

Do you agree? Please share you story on the comments section.

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Image Credit:  Dmitriy Polyakov's Illustration

The School of Life and My Shoes

I arrived early for my job interview in Makati City and I still got two hours to kill before my scheduled time. Bad thing is I forgot to bring a book and the nearby mall is still closed so I think of something to do while waiting. I decided to take a short walk to buy a newspaper. 

Just outside the building, an old shoeshine man sitting on the sidewalk beside a newspaper stand caught my attention. He is carefully arranging his shoeshine paraphernalia like those were his prized possessions. He seemed nice and my shoes badly need a little makeover so I approached him to get my shoes cleaned. I noticed the man’s shoes were full of dusts. How ironic, I ponder how a shoeshine man never cleaned his shoes, yet I didn’t bother asking. He silently cleaned my shoes efficiently and with precision. I just sit there, just observing him, enjoying the elated feeling of being served and of being pampered and respected. I paid him, asked for my ten-peso change and stand up without even asking his name. I didn’t even say thank you. It’s his job anyway. 

The lady and the old shoeshine man

I still got plenty of time so I go to the magazine stand to buy a newspaper. I heard the shoeshine man asking a fortysomething corporate looking lady who were browsing some magazines to shine her shoes. The lady just smiled and declined. But the shoeshine man was persistent, almost pleading.

The smiling lady said something to the shoeshine man, and to my surprise, the shoeshine man stand up and sit down on his customers’ chair while the lady took his place.

I realized that the lady turned the table on this old man and offered to shine his dusty shoes – and pay him 500 pesos to do it. They both smiled and laughed while the man seemed to be excitedly telling his life’s story, as the lady sat on the ground at his feet and cleaned his dusty shoes. Some passersby looked at them bewildered. The newspaper vendor and some of his customers smiled too.

But I felt different. A wave of emotion hit me and for a moment I held back. I quickly returned to the building to read my newspaper but I can’t focus. The old man’s face, smiling as if nobody ever shined his shoes before, keeps flashing on my mind. Why did I deny that shoeshine man’s moment of joy?

I kept staring at my shining shoes – assailed by conflicting emotions, there was neither shame nor remorse.

"Change your heart!" said my shoes

To give importance, to treat others as an equal, to appreciate simple things, even if only for a moment which is very easy to give, was that lady’s gift that I will long remember every time I will wear my shoes.

It will always remind me that if we change our heart, then look at the world, the world would be a happy place to live.

By the way, I didn’t passed the job interview, but I learned an important life's lesson.  

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Photo Credit: Monica Jackson - Is That A Shoe?

The Crazy Side of Me - Livin' la Vida Loca

We made this cool video during one of our barkada trip at Enchanted Kingdom. On the left is me, my friend Bar (center) and Stup.

This is my way of telling you people that, yeah, I can be funny and crazy sometimes.

Sometimes the only way to have a life is to commit to it like crazy.

My 2009 in Five Chapters

Chapter 1 

I run into a narrow path under tall trees and thick vines in a vaguely familiar forest. I don’t know what lies ahead but I still keep on running and come to a deep ravine. I fall in; I feel lost – helpless, my judgment became clouded by my foolishness. I feel it will take forever to find my way out. But I feel it is not my fault. I believe I just did the right thing.

Chapter II

I run into the same narrow path under tall trees and thick vines in a vaguely familiar forest. I still keep on running and come to a deep ravine. I pretend I do not see it, and fall in again. I hate myself for being on that same place. I can’t believe I did it again. It will be a long time again to get out. But I feel it is not my responsibility.

Chapter III 

I walk into the same narrow path under tall trees and thick vines in a vaguely familiar forest. I see the deep ravine ahead – but I still fall in. I realize it becomes a habit. I take caution and now my eyes are open. I now know where I am. I get out immediately and take full responsibility.

Chapter IV

I walk down the same path under tall tress and thick vines in a vaguely familiar forest and come to a deep ravine ahead. I walk around it.

Chapter V

I’m looking for another path.     

Starting Today, Be Afraid that Your Life Will Never Begin

As I go on with this crazy life, I learned that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let me down probably will.

I had my heart broken more than once and it's harder every time. I learn to break hearts too – only to regret it because it always reminds me how it felt when mine was broken.

I fight with my friends. I blame a new relationship for things an old one did.

I can’t understand why time is passing too fast: I'll eventually lose someone I love.

So, starting today, I will take too many pictures, I will blog too much, I will laugh too much, and love like I’ve never been hurt because every sixty seconds I spend upset is a minute of happiness I'll never get back.

To those who are taking time reading my posts, don’t commit the mistakes I did.

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

Acres of Diamonds

There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country." And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent because he was unhappy.

The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona River and committed suicide.

Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling.

He asked, "Is Hafiz back?" The new owner said,

"No, why do you ask?" The wise man said,

"Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one."

The man said, no, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show you. There are many more."

They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.*

The victim of my own blind self

Today, before daybreak I had a dream...

I was standing alone, in a solitary waiting-shed. Its roof is rusty and full of holes supported by dilapidated concrete posts, the supporting steel bars are exposed, protruding like broken bones.

It was the only structure in that old one-way highway which seems to be leading nowhere – to eternity I supposed.

I looked at the horizon hoping to see where the highway ends, but it just converged into a tiny dot, unmoving against the dancing dusts on that gloomy day.

I am calmly waiting for the bus. I just stand there motionless, anxiously staring at the other end of the highway, hoping for the bus to come, occasionally looking at the setting sun - or was it rising?… I don’t know.

Then a boy with a backpack, wearing a school uniform suddenly appear as if he just get off a school bus, smiled at me and said, “Tatlong beses ng dumaan yung bus!” [The bus passed by three times already!]
I was shocked because I didn’t saw any.

Then I woke up, drenched with sweat and confused.

_________________
Epilogue

I always admire the patience of the river snails and the tenacity of the cogon grass – qualities that, I believe was the result of a long period of time spent waiting. Hence, I programmed myself to wait.

I always wait; for things as mundane as waiting for the bus, the fastfood queue, for the water to boil, for the heavy rain to fall, for my hair to grow; OR for grand events like the Noche Buena, a perfect relationship, a son, and a final chance to hold those I love…

What if those very important things, I hold most dear and longingly waited for is already here or already passed by, repeatedly presenting itself to me. I just don’t recognize it, refused to recognize it or just plainly ignore it – because ambition, pride or whatever WTF blinded me.

Or maybe because I just don’t really know what I am waiting for. Letting life slip by without noticing the important but very simple details.

Now I know why I always felt I’ve waited long enough – because I am a victim of my own blind self.

Have you ever felt that way too? Or maybe I am just tired and bored.

Face-Off, What will you look like when you grow old

While thinking of a blogpost idea today, I came across this site (The Face of the Future), aimed at exploring the latest advances in facial computer vision and graphics. You can transform your face to a different age or race. I tried it and it’s really cool.

This is me, looking bored, imprisoned by this face: feeling like a fighter without a cause. I read a research study, (I’m sorry I can’t recall if it’s in a news article or a book), which concludes that women can look at a photograph of a man's face and assess with high accuracy whether he's the kind of guy who likes children, and thus shows good potential as a long-term mate. Hmmm, what do you think of me girls, u-hmmm.

Conversely, most women who participated in the survey identified correctly the men who had the highest testosterone levels and most suitability for a short-term fling. Whew, that is a really tough research eh. I guess men can also identify a short-term-fling-type girls. Peace!

Below is my face, transformed as a child and as a teenager (I can't remember I looked like that.)

The last picture is my supposed look when I grow old. Hmm, I don't want to look soooo sad like that - scary, scary.... I want to grow old but happy. My only wish is to have my complete teeth with me 'till death.

There's also a cool face transformation option if you want to see your Afro or Caucasian look. Here's mine:

Hmm, I like my Caucasian look, but the best look I really like is my manga version on the right. Super-duper cool. I instantly love it. I guess I should use it as my avatar.

Despite the old adage 'never judge a book by its cover' and despite the prevailing belief that attractiveness does not matter once we know a person, being confident neat and attractive still is an advantage.

Happy blogging! Looking forward to see your future face!
Always Smile!!!

The Taste of Banzo's Sword

Matajuro Yagyu was the son of a famous swordsman. His father, believing that his son's work was too mediocre to anticipate mastership, disowned him.

So Matajuro went to Mount Futara and there found the famous swordsman Banzo. But Banzo confirmed the father's judgment. "You wish to learn swordsmanship under my guidance?" asked Banzo. "You cannot fulfill the requirements."

"But if I work hard, how many years will it take to become a master?" persisted the youth.

"The rest of your life," replied Banzo.

"I cannot wait that long," explained Matajuro. "I am willing to pass through any hardship if only you will teach me. If I become your devoted servant, how long might it be?"

"Oh, maybe ten years," Banzo relented.

"My father is getting old, and soon I must take care of him," continued Matajuro. "If I work far more intensively, how long would it take me?"

"Oh, maybe thirty years," said Banzo.

"Why is that?" asked Matajuro. "First you say ten and now thirty years. I will undergo any hardship to master this art in the shortest time!"

"Well," said Banzo, "in that case you will have to remain with me for seventy years. A man in such a hurry as you are to get results seldom learns quickly."

"Very well," declared the youth, understanding at last that he was being rebuked for impatience, "I agree."

Matajuro was told never to speak of fencing and never to touch a sword. He cooked for his master, washed the dishes, made his bed, cleaned the yard, cared for the garden, all without a word of swordmanship.

Three years passed. Still Matajuro labored on. Thinking of his future, he was sad. He had not even begun to learn the art to which he had devoted his life.

But one day Banzo crept up behind him and gave him a terrific blow with a wooden sword.

The following day, when Matajuro was cooking rice, Banzo again sprang upon him unexpectedly.

After that, day and night, Matajuro had to defend himself from unexpected thrusts. Not a moment passed in any day that he did not have to think of the taste of Banzo's sword.

He learned so rapidly he brought smiles to the face of his master. Matajuro became the greatest swordsman in the land.

Life Struggles

A man found a cocoon of an emperor moth. He took it home so that he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon. On the day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the moth for several hours as the moth struggled to force the body through that little hole.

The moth seemed to be stuck and appeared to have stopped making progress. It seemed as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. The man, in his kindness, decided to help the moth; so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The moth then emerged easily. But its body was swollen and small, its wings wrinkled and shriveled. The man continued to watch the moth because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to and able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the little moth spent the rest of its life crawling around with a small, swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. The man in his kindness and haste did not understand that the struggle required for the moth to get through the tiny opening was necessary to force fluid from the body of the moth into its wings so that it would be ready for flight upon achieving its freedom from the cocoon. Freedom and flight would only come after the struggle. By depriving the moth of a struggle, he deprived the moth of health.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets, and don't forget the power in the struggle.

SEVEN THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU TURN 30

Turning 30 represent a chance to right wrongs, settle scores, start fresh. It is time to build on past successes while creating new ones. The following may not be applicable to everyone in making the most of it, but among those who asked who were in the cusp of 30, these are the things they wished they had done sooner.


1. TRAVEL - Most young people should have the opportunity to see that the world is bigger than Megamall.! If you are lucky enough to be sponsored in making a big trip around the Philippines or out of the country,treat it as a learning experience, not just a great opportunity to buy things on discount. It is a cliche but true: travel makes history come alive and opens up the mind to countless new experiences. Make sure you can learn from it while you can.


2. BUY LIFE INSURANCE - it is a fact of life that in your 20s, life insurance is seen as cumbersome, morbid and not worthpaying. Insurance agents on the other hand are weasels, vultures and vermin that don't have enough rocks to crawl under. The reality is accidents happen. Buses ram into cars. Planes crash. Boats sink. Anything can happen and it's too late to sort out a potential financial mess when your family and relatives are in mourning. This is not a pitch for insurance companies, but if you'd stop blowing off that agent, you'd find out what you can get out of life insurance, namely peace of mind.


3. GET FIT - at 20 losing pounds is like sneezing. There's hardly any effort involved. At 30, just budging the ripples of fat on your thighs would involved a crane and fork-lift. Generally, the younger you are, the easier it is to reach and maintain optimum fitness. Getting into the habit early on primes and conditions your body so that by 30 at a time when couch potatoes start discovering mysterious aches and pains, you're in the pink of health. Start living healthier sooner and the benefit will remain with you longer.


4. SAVE OR INVEST MONEY - saving is rarely a priority in your 20s, shopping is. There are many young bright things out there with signature bags, and debts that are shoved into a drawer in the hope they would evaporate. Around 30 or thereabouts, the shopping plateau hits. There are life changes: a shift in careers, a marriage, a baby. Follow your mother's advice and pay yourself first every payday by deducting a percentage that gets debited straight into an account you can't touch. Not doing without it will train you to live on what's left. At 30, you'll be glad you made that early sacrifice. While your peers will be struggling to put something away, you can be secure in the thought that you had a headstart. ** try mutual funds


5. LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE OR GET ANOTHER DEGREE - the best time to learn another language or get another degree would be when you're encumbered by job and family responsibilities, with the extra time and energy to work and study at the same time. Acquiring relevant skills and knowledge add up to your value as an employee or manager and brightens prospects for the future.


6. LIVE ON YOUR OWN - some people think independence means not borrowing the car on Saturday night. That's admirable, but moving out is much more of a learning experience. Paying household bills you've racked up, learning how to clean up after your own rubbish without a squadron of maids, even cooking your own meals are lesson well learned far from home. So many young people claim they are the masters of their own destiny but fuss when the maid doesn't turn the hot water on. Perhaps, the best lesson one can learn in this life is that Nanay and Tatay are not always there to pick up after you. Living on your own will teach you that in ways no textbook can and will equip you better for the time when you start a family.


7. EXORCISE YOUR GHOST - during your 20s, it's okay to blame your anger on deprived childhood, cruel friends and traitorous boyfriends. During your 30s, the same excuses sound pretty lame. At some point or another, you will have to be responsible for your own actions. So your parents broke up? So one of your boyfriends jilted you for your friend? So bloody what? Using these creaky skeletons as scapegoats for a miserable existence hardly counts as looking forward.


Do you have a friend who can't forget her break-up? Did it scar her for life? Probably, since she can't seem to stop talking about it. Get rid of those ghosts that have stubbornly hung over you. They have no place in your tomorrows except as references to periods in your life. Turning 30 means moving on, not pestering with old grievances.

Strive to have the capacity to overcome grief and carry on.

And carrying on is only the start. Better things are yet to come – just wait until you're 40.

Any additional things to do you might want to add? 

Being 8 Years Old Again

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult. I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year-old again.

• I want to go to Jollibee and think that it's a four star restaurant.
• I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make a sidewalk with rocks.
• I want to think Cloud 9 Chocolate bars are better than money because you can eat them.
• I want to lie under a big Santol tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day.
• I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.
• I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good.
• I want to believe that anything is possible.
• I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.
• I want to live simple again. I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.
• I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.

So, here's my cellphone and my laptop, my credit card and my ATM cards. I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to find me first, and recite... "Tago-taguan maliwanag ang buwan.. tayo’y maglaro ng tagu-taguan… isa.. dalawa… tatlo”

Life is the Coffee

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and in life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:
"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.

"What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and do not change the quality of Life. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided. So, don't let the cups drive you ... enjoy the coffee instead."

______________________

Source: forwarded e-mail (unknown)

Nice Reminder About Living Our Life

A very nice reminder to all of us....

Along time ago, there was an Emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he likes, then the Emperor would give him the area of land he has covered.

Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible.

Came to a point when he had covered a substantial area and he was exhausted and was dying. Then he asked himself, "Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am dying and I only need a very small area to bury myself."

The above story is similar with the journey of our Life. We push very hard everyday to make more money, to gain power and recognition. We neglect our health , time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding beauty and the hobbies we love.

One day when we look back, we will realize that we don't really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have missed.

Life is not about making money, acquiring power or recognition. Life is definitely not about work! Work is only necessary to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and pleasures of life. Life is a balance of Work and Play, Family and Personal time. You have to decide how you want to balance your Life. Define your priorities, realize what you are able to compromise but always let some of your decisions be based on your instincts. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of Life, the whole aim of human existence.

So, take it easy, do what you want to do and appreciate nature. Life is fragile, Life is short. Do not take Life for granted. Live a balanced lifestyle and enjoy Life!

Watch your thoughts ; they become words.
Watch your words ; they become actions.
Watch your actions ; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character .
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny .