I killed my guardian angel – is that OK?

“From being Lucifer, son of the morning, the lightbearer, the brilliant one, the shining one, he now became Satan, the adversary, the slanderer, the accuser, the archrebel, the archenemy, the devil, the destroyer…”

- Angels, we never walk alone, Walton John Brown-

I was born on a date when the feast of the holy guardian angel is being celebrated. My mother always believe that I was saved by an angel when I was six years old when I fall from the balcony of my grandmother’s old Spanish house. I am perfectly fine after the fall, because I landed on my father’s chicken pen, covered by fishing nets. Nevertheless, my mother insisted that I am totally unhurt because my guardian angel took hold of me – that is what they all insist.

Today, I am confronted by two forms of religious and maybe mythical consciousness. On the other hand, there is the form of consciousness that understands all human beliefs through freethinking and logic. And on the other hand, there is the form of consciousness that is inverted, which irresponsibly enslaves the minds through mysticism. Certainly, the intellect has both the authority and the power to follow or resist whichever it wishes to – and I chose to follow freethinking.

This is the point where I felt the need to reorient myself towards the self. I strongly believe that an individual should arrive at his or her own religious beliefs independent of any church.

This is the point where I killed my guardian angel.

I couldn’t care less what happened billions of years ago and whether time began or not. I only care about this lifetime. Time alone is fair and just.

What difference does it make whether you believe in angels or not?

Maybe believing in it is just an opinion, like believing that Noynoy Aquino is the best next Philippine president; or a personal trust or reliance, like trusting a quack doctor; or it can mean part of faith, giving your whole heart, thus restricting the self to that belief because it requires adoration and submission.

As I observe among the faithful, possible reasons why they believe in angels are;

• They need to – it’s like believing in angels will save them when they walk through a dark Metro Manila alley.
• Believing makes them feel good and it’s fun.
• They believe in Angelology or the scientific study of angels, their hierarchy, etc.
• They believe those who tell stories about actually meeting an angel
• They believe they met one themselves.
• They believe it because it’s part of religion.

But I thanked my parents for teaching me to believe in angels when I was a child - like believing in Santa Claus, it gives me the feeling of wonder, fascination, curiosity and excitement. Like those stories about fairies and elves, angels still entertains me.

Do you believe in angels, or you killed it too?

We Survived Typhoon "Ondoy" But Our House Didn't

Our house - Aftermath of the typhoon "Ondoy" - Dela Costa Homes Rodriguez Montalban Rizal Philippines.

This is just a quick note on what happened to our house in Dela Costa Homes, Montalban Rodriguez Rizal because of the typhoon "Ondoy". We visited our house today together with my younger brother and sister to check if we can still salvage something out of the rubble. We were so shocked at what happened to the whole village. The 12-foot flood leaves a thick mud all over the place. The residents are already rescued from their roofs and temporarily staying in nearby schools and church. Some of them returned to their homes to check if they can still save some of their belongings. Their blank and confused faces are reflections of their own horrible story and experience of last night’s deadly flood. 

We are so thankful because we are not there last night to witness and experience that horrifying flood. My sister was attending a birthday in Laguna, my brother and I was at work. I don’t know how many died in our subdivision. Although all our appliances, furniture and almost everything in our house were gone, still we are very thankful because we are all safe.

Below are few photos I took using my mobile phone:

Dela Costa Homes 5 residents trying to visit their homes after the flood

Thick mud left by the flood 

Our neighbors' car totally abandoned to save their lives

Unusable appliances & furniture covered with mud littered our neighborhood's alley

Our own house didn't missed the wrath of typhoon "Ondoy" - This is what we saw when we opened our locked door.

Our neighbor's abandoned motorcycle

 

My brother's favorite pet fish

This Calvin Klein perfume is a gift from my sister, which I am supposed to receive next week for my birthday. Well, I'm happy because I can still have it - wrapped in mud.

For those who are still looking for their relatives in Dela Costa Homes, most of them are currently staying in a nearby High School campus and the St. Joseph Church. They need drinking water, food and dry clothes.

Here are some emergency numbers that you may wish to send out to your friends and family.

National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC)
Emergency Numbers:
+63 2 912-5668
+63 2 911-1406
+63 2 912-2665
+63 2 911-5061
Help hotlines:
+63 2 734-2118
+63 2 734-2120

ABS-CBN Typhoon Ondoy Hotline:
landline: +63 416 3641

How to kill fastfood boredom while waiting for the liars

Fastfoods are everywhere in the metro and oftentimes it becomes the favorite meeting place or a place to stay while waiting for somebody. Of course you have to order something while waiting – or else you will look like a “patay-gutom” (totally broke professional) or you will get that get-out-of-here look from the guard.

Most of the time the long wait is oh-so-deadly boring. Most people are so insensitive and don’t even respect other people’s time. These people are liars – saying “Just stay there, I’m on my way” while in fact they just get up from bed.

I admire those who can just stare blankly at nothing while waiting, like a psychotic addict who can see dead people. But I can’t do that, I have to do something.

Here are the things I do to kill boredom at a fastfood while waiting for those liars:

• Forward text messages (the forward-this-or-you-will-die type), quotes and jokes to my contacts – I love annoying them.
• Escape the noise by turning my ipod full volume – and swing my head like that silly puppy in a car dashboard. (in jeepneys it is often place beside that gold feng-shui cat, forever waving. – I hate those stuff.)
• Make an ice barbeque – place all those remaining ice tubes on the straw, hang it between cups and watch it melt.
• Play straw pop -  trap the air at the center of the straw by simultaneously rolling both ends and let your friend pop it. (maybe I should make a video sometime)

• And of course the classic – Play-with-the-leftovers. Like the following pictures. I admire the one who made this:
  

  

  

 

 

 

Any other cool ideas how to kill boredom in a fastfood? I'll appreciate if you can share it in the comments section!

Happy weekend!

The Carpenter's House

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family in Diatagon.

He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house, he said, my gift to you."

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

The Legend of Sex

I was amazed by this legend about sex from the book Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho, also the author of the famous book "The Alchemist" [I am a fan of this author by the way], and thought of sharing it here on my blog. I also made some notes about that book around January this year and posted it in my book review blog. I'm not a fan of romance-love-story novels but I never thought sex, as presented throughout the book, could be that philosophical and poetic.

Here's the story:   

According to Plato, at the beginning of creation, men and women were not as they are now; there was just one being, who was rather short, with a body and a neck, but his head had two faces, looking in different directions. It was as if two creatures had been glued back to back, with two sets of sex organs, four legs and four arms.

The Greeks gods, however, were jealous, because this creature with four arms could work harder; with its two faces, it is always vigilant and could not be taken by surprise; and its four legs meant that it could stand or walk for long periods at a time without tiring. Even more dangerous was the fact that the creature had two different sets of sex organs and so needed no one else in order to continue reproducing.

Zeus, the supreme lord of Olympus, said “I have a plan to make these mortals lose some of their strength.”

And he cut the creature in two with a lightning bolt, thus creating the man and women. This greatly increased the population of the world, and, at the same time, disoriented and weakened its inhabitants, because now, they had to search for their lost half and embrace it and, in that embrace, regain their former strength, their ability to avoid betrayal and their stamina to walk for long periods of time and to withstand hard work.

That embrace in which the two bodies re-fuse to become one again is what we call SEX.”

So, what do you think, have you already found your other half?

Have a nice week!
yodz
____________________

Source: (story lifted from the book) Coelho, Paulo. 2004. Eleven Minutes,.New York ,New York:HarperCollins Publisher Inc. ISBN : 0-06-072675-X
Photo Credit : Yuroz "The Touch" Serigraph on Canvas

The Only Sign That You Maybe A Blog Addict

Can you guess what is he blogging about?

Well, that is not me okay, I haven't gone that far. But I want to share some signs of my mild blog addiction. Here it is; 

• My google reader is constantly open on my desktop,
• Always excited to check my e-mail for new blog comments,
• I periodically dream that I am blogging,
• In order for my family and friends to keep up with what's going on in my life, they have to read my blog,
• I'm feeling a little disappointed when my favorite blog isn't updated when I expected it to be,
• I want to read more books and watch more movies for blogpost ideas.

But I think when you're blogging while taking a shit, that's a different story.

How about you, are you a blog addict?Do you believe there's really such a thing as Blog Addiction Disorder?

yodz

_______________________________

Image Disclaimer: Source: Forwarded by a friend via e-mail. If you're the owner of the image please contact me.to give you credit, link it to the original source or remove it on this blog.      

Do you really need that shit? – A lesson on impulsive buying

Last Sunday I tried window-shopping and end up buying a few items on sale. When I woke up the following day, I realized how foolish I am. It was a mindless purchase – my hard earned money (but not so hard, I guess), spent on damn shits. We’ll this is not the first time I did this, but this one totally ruined my day.

My brain feels kind of empty. Under the emptiness, I am fuming at myself. Well, it was a lesson learned on mindless buying. I realized that there’s no point in growling to myself and there is no point in further fuming about it.

Instead, I make it a blogpost inspiration and made a flowchart about mindless buying. Here it is: 

Sometimes, mindless buying is my way to improve my mood. This urge to spend, often on items that are unnecessary, can give me a temporary feeling of satisfaction, but ultimately leaves me feeling worse when I got short on my budget.

Basic Lesson Learned: (for me and I guess for you, my non-millionaire reader) Think twice about any purchases before buying. Only when I am sure that I need and can afford an item, should I buy it.

Also, here are my personal tips I want to share:

• After salary, don’t go to the mall.
• As much as possible, don’t talk to a gorgeous saleslady. (he he he, if you can)
• Say no to credit cards and have minimum cash in wallet.
• Don’t get fooled by funny advertisements.
• Never get swept away by the “Uso” phenomenon. (Spending because of trends)

Well, that’s all I can think of. Got any other cool tips or any same experience you want to share? I love reading it in the comments section.
Thanks!

BTW, my blog is nominated for the Filipino Blog of the Week Awards, Check out the sidebar of  The Composed Gentleman and look for yodi967 to vote. Thanks in advance!