“Nollaig shona duit, agus ath bhliain faoi mhaise!”

I sure had a lot of fun and meaningful moments together with the Tolentine Star people at Lakawon. White sands suffice enough to remind me of a white Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, it’s been around three years since we four siblings were together, complete with Kim, Demsen, Malem, and yours truly.

Big bro’s finally back from the Land of the Rising Sun for holiday season. As you can see in the picture, he brought with him a new addition to our family. Asuka-nechan is Big Bro’s girlfriend.

She is decent and quite nice! It’s good that my older brother has someone to be with back there in Japan. And I can also say that it’s quite awesome to have a Japanese big sister! Woohoo!

Well, Jolly Christmas to all! And a prosperous New Year!

<Insert English choir singing “O Come, O Ye Faithful” here”>

NOVEMBER 23rd, A DARK DAY INDEED.

THE BALLAD OF MAGUINDANAO
by Pax Florius

The twenty-third day of November
A sad day we’ll always remember
When the price of truth was justice’s dearth
In the form of bullets, blood, and earth

On the southern island of Mindanao
In the Muslim province of Maguindanao
What began as a political rivalry
Ended up as a macabre tragedy

In a contest of political power
One clan was challenged by another
Mangudadatu will have his CoC filed
‘Twas a move that Ampatuan so reviled

Despite perceived threats due to this move
A request for protection was not approved
Mangudadatu knew that he would be dead
So his wife and female relatives went instead

With his wife, cousin, aunt and three sisters
Were thirty-four journalists and two lawyers
A crowd of fifty-eight were on their way
Will never get to see again the light of day

As they went to Shariff Aguak, from Butuan
A hundred men stopped them in Ampatuan
Even passers-by were never spared
From the trap in which they’ve been ensnared

They were beaten up and mutilated
Some maybe raped, others decapitated
Shot in the genitals, tied and bound
And buried altogether in the ground

What grief, what frustatation we feel now
For the carnage that ensued in Maguindanao
There is no way men could have done this
Those who did this bloody act are savages

The twenty-third day of November
A sad day we’ll always remember
When the price of truth was justice’s dearth
In the form of bullets, blood, and earth

– para sa unang anibersaryo ng Maguindanao Masaker

(Special acknowledgement to “Tolentine Star – The Official Student Publication of UNO-R” for publishing this in their Summer 2010 issue)

“THE DRUMS OF WAR THUNDER AGAIN…”

…Or in real-world terms, SECOND SEMESTER IS HERE! SHOW AND HAVE NO FEAR! ANOTHER BATTLE IS NEAR!

I should probably say farewell to my Nintendo Wii for now. Farewell also to Reggie as he has to return to Manila because his college studies are at UST.

However, I’ll still make the weekly appointment at Kitchen Stadium & Good Eats Industries (or so Alton Brown claims).

I suppose this is hello again to Judelyn, Recon, and the rest of the gang.

5 THINGS THAT KEPT ME BUSY THIS SEMBREAK

5.) 4-A St. Rita of Cascia Mini-Reunion

Chibog, chika, cheveran and chorvahan.
A couple of years have passed but, as the song goes, “high school never ends”. Si Reggie gid ang may pakana sini. Good thing, damo ang nag-ulupod sa Palmas del Mar (or else, nagalapos gid ang gastuhanay namon sa amon mga bulsa).
Lemme see, Celestian and Elvin were there. The “Tribu Galong” pioneering members (Manelle, Bernadin, Karen, Jamelah and Marielle) were there. Some members of the now-defunct (I think) “Nasty Society” like Jommie, Jan Michael, Michael John, Venice, and Wellah were also there. So were Rigel, Robert, Mary Dawn, and Karl.
Nagkadto kami tuod sa resort, p’ro waay gid kami naglangoy. (T_T)
Special thanks na lang kay Wellah for bringing the chocolate cake. (^_^)
A few days (or was it almost a week?) before this, we met at SM City Bacolod. We had lunch at Mang Inasal where Ashraf was given problems by his digestive system and did a “Batman” (“to da Bat(h) Room!”). We also almost had a dispute over which movie to watch (RED or White House?). 
Aware of the pathetic quality of most (not all) Pinoy movies, Al, Phil Ness and I opted for Bruce Willis and John Malkovich over Gabby Concepcion.

4.) Enrollment Blues

I finished it in a day or two, I think. Not much hang-ups here (except for the wait time, of course).

3.) Runrig

Heck yeah! The greatest Scottish band’s songs never fail to entertain me and keep my tense and urging moments at bay.
I could listen to them forever! >_<

2.) Food Network Programs

* Good Eats

* Iron Chef (Ryori-no-Tetsujin)

Did I already mention before that I’m a foodie (culinary junkie)? This is the only way for me to have an outlet for my culinary incapacities.
I could watch these forever! >_<

1.) Harvest Moon – Tree of Tranquility (Nintendo Wii)

 

The ultimate game for capitalist-wannabes.
I could play this forever! >_<
Casualties:
* Three silkworms died from old age.
* Some bell pepper, blue mist, yam, and rose plants perished due to a typhoon
* 6 moles were killed by my gold hammer's pounding.

AT NATAPOS RIN ANG UNANG SEMESTER NG A.Y. 2010-2011

To celebrate the occasion, let us bring out Mr. Ely Buendia and his band for a very timely performance of that college student anthem whenever October comes…

“Bad trip talaga ‘tong CENECO, masisira ang PC kooo… ♪”

“♫…SEMBREEAAAK!!!♪”

Twelve Pieces Of Advice

May these bits of advice be inserted into your coconut shell and make it a bit more pleasant (but not easier) in getting through life:

1.) Never entirely put your life in the hands of other people, whether they are someone you know or not; only two people shape your life: the Lord and you yourself. The people you trust, who are commonly your family, friends, loved ones, role models, and/or inspirations, only help you in shaping this life.

2.) Learn to depend on yourself. The people whom you depend will never be there for you all the time. These people may eventually think of you as a nuisance if you always ask from them or they may become a nuisance to your development if you let them interfere too much.

3.) Excellence is what you must strive for in your own field. Eliminate mediocrity from your vocabulary. If you’re not good at something in the first place, just keep on practicing until you reach the level that you may deem as the best. If you really can’t do it at all, then don’t or else you’ll end up hurting yourself. Perfection is never attainable, unless you’re God. Yet, being the best is only an effort away.

4.) Only ask for help if the task is no longer of your capability. You are only human and you have imperfections. A helping hand from others won’t hurt you but if let them do the task without even a teensy-weensy contribution from yourself, that’s no longer self-distress. It’s laziness already that’s doing the work for you.

5.) Be a workaholic to avoid laziness and make sure that your activities are productive ones. Prioritize what is most important. Do something! Remember that idleness is the devil’s workplace. If you don’t have anything good to do and just do nothing, prepare to face the consequences. As a quote goes, “evil prevails when good men do nothing”.

6.) Learn to maintain originality. Sure, there’s nothing wrong if you let others help along but if you let other people’s ideas prevail over yours, then your work is no longer your work but that’s already the work of other people. Now, does that work for you?

7.) Don’t let the bahala na/que sera sera/whatever will be will be attitude get you. If the situation is already bad, you can’t just let it get worse, can you? Do something to correct or make the situation better. “Evil prevails when good men do nothing”, as this quote has been already said. Omission is a sin, after all.

8.) Choose the best and right decision and make sure that the choice you make will bring about good. It’s much better to choose a good decision but lose your friends than to choose the bad ones but maintain your friends. (Are they even your friends?)

9.) Face your problems and don’t get away from them. If the solution is not at hand, wait for it! If you don’t face these problems you might even lose an opportunity in life that you can’t bring back ever.

10.) Speaking of opportunity, be wary of the opportunities around you. Once it passes by, take hold and make good use of it. Never let it go. Some opportunities are only once-in-a-lifetime. If you let those chances get away, you’ll regret it.

11.) Don’t be too self-centered and ultra-orthodox. Be open-minded, be progressive, be radical, even revolutionary if you want to, but know the limits of your freedom. Being too much “liberated” can be chaotic and may ruin you and the whole system. You can truly express your freedom if you still know how to stick to the rules. Besides, being a bit conservative won’t hurt and may even be life-saving.

12.) Do something for the benefit of the common good. Even if it takes self-sacrifice and has no “reward”, just do it for everyone’s benefit. There may come a time that you’ll receive the best reward of all. Just do it and your efforts will pay off, though not always on the spot.

MARENG WINNIE, ASTEEG [NG LECTURE] MO!

Honor and Excellence (Prof. Solita Monsod’s last lecture to her class)
(courtesy of Youtube user jedoenriquez)

Here are some sensible words of wisdom from her lecture:

“Whether you know it or not, or whether you realize it or not, you are leaders. I mean not just future leaders, you are leaders now.”

“If you failed in this class, it’s not really our fault. It’s your fault, because you have what it takes to pass and nobody’s trying to make you fail, right?”

“Do you know what the university motto is? …Honor and excellence. Honor first before excellence. It’s not excellence and honor, it’s honor and excellence.”

“And what is the fruit of honor and excellence? Is it not competence and integrity?”

“…Cheating in the small things is going to lead to cheating in the large things.”

“…Once you cheat, you are now no longer part of the solution anymore; you are going to be very much a part of the problem.”

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. And with the grace of God, I will do it.”

“…If you are going to help this country, you’ve got to be in the country.”

“So if you turn your back on the country, if you turn your back on the Filipino people, what you are doing, essentially, is you are exacerbating the problem rather than helping in the solution.”

Kudos on her lecture, but I hope that what she talked about could be walked by everyone.

A SUPER-CONDENSED CHRONOLOGY ON MY EARLY YEARS

I am not your average teen who uses the Internet, and lives a “normal” life.

I was born premature (eight months), and got brain-dead for a few minutes in the hospital incubator due to lack of oxygen (because I stopped breathing inside the incubator). Miraculously, I was revived after that.

However, I was diagnosed with athetoid cerebral palsy when I was two years old. My physician said that there is a delay in my motor development since I could neither walk, nor crawl, nor even lift my upper body up during my infancy. From then on, I got treatments of physical and operational therapy at the rehab center until I started schooling at seven years old. When I became a bit older, I found it hard to feed myself or get a drink without spilling anything. My manual writing was slow. I stumbled, bumped into something, or fell down often. Heck, I constantly jerked all the time because of my uncontrollable musculature and involuntary movement.

I never had much of a social life during my elementary years. My handicap hindered me from gaining playmates and my classmates often teased me. I could never be able to come along in adventures and power trips. I thought I was a weakling…

Then, off to high school where people somehow had a certain level of tolerance for people like me. It was during high school that I ‘became a person’. It was here where I had my own beliefs, ideals, ideologies, dreams, and ambitions. I was not a stock character anymore, and I tried to carve a niche of my social existence on those four years of my secondary education. And yet, the flaws of human nature (to be specific, favoritism, backbiting, preferential groupings in cliques, apathy, selfishness, romanticism and pessimism) toppled my optimism regarding high school life. I plodded on through those four years of highs and lows until my day of graduation.

My college days came. I had high hopes of self-redemption. I could never be able to redeem myself if I never made a new set of comrades, while maintaining my relations with not-so-old but time-tested high school buds. Although I also had my low moments, my first year in college had fruitful results due to my determination in academics, optimism from my hobbies and interests, and solidarity with my comrades.

Until now, I still find it hard to handle liquids. Writing by hand is still slow. I stumble, fall down, or bump into something occasionally, but if I ever do, I still have the guts to stand up again and keep walking. Regarding my uncontrollable jerking and twitching, I could only say, “Someone get me a Richter scale!” Bwahahaha… never mind.

Revision of Introduction

(NOTE: Revisions are both italicized and in parentheses, OR merely italicized. The revisions are due to the new phases I'm going through in life recently, as of 2012.)

“A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.”
 -- Frank Herbert

Well, at least that is what Frank Herbert said about beginnings. Though exciting, beginnings make me feel awkward and occasionally queasy. Beginnings require introductions…
…and I’m about to give one about myself.

Hello. I’m Peace Flores (yes, that is my actual name if you look at my birth certificate). If my name seems “groovy” for you hippies out there (“Peace & Flowers, man!”), wait ’til you hear about who and what I am.

I am…
…a teenage guy (I was only 18 when I wrote this). Now I'm in my 20's
…a Negrense from the City of Smiles, Bacolod City
…taking up Bachelor of Secondary Education here in UNO-R. (I shifted to AB Psychology due to personal reasons)
…a Catholic (and I’m not ashamed to admit it) and I'm doing what I can to put my faith to life.
…a writer (who often has a major case of writer’s block)
-and-
…a campus journalist for the Tolentine Star (I’m the Feature and Opinion Editor at the moment). (I got upgraded to Associate Editor)

I like to…
…listen to Gaelic music (whether it’s Scottish or Irish)
…get addicted to Japanese culture (sushi, anime, taiko drums, kabuki warriors, ninjutsu, samurai, etc.)
…watch informative shows (Beakman’s World, Good Eats, Mythbusters), travel shows (Feasting on Asphalt, Planet Guide/Lonely Planet)
…laugh at British comedy (Monty Python, Blackadder, Adam and Joe) and old school Pinoy humor (Tito, Vic, and Joey, Rene Requiestas, Redford White, Jon Santos, etc.)
…read fantasy genres (Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms, Tolkien, Narnia) and socio-political books (Lualhati Bautista, Jun Cruz Reyes, etc.)
…eat anything edible and palatable (especially dessert and anything with tomato sauce, cheese, and meat)
…get informed with the latest news
…write poems, essays, articles when I’m in my literary zone
…drool at 90′s (or even older) animated cartoons and kid’s TV shows
...cook occasionally for self-practice of culinary learnings

What you might want/need to know about me are that I…
…love being socially aware and patriotic, and fighting for what is right as an advocate for genuine social change
…am a shinobi junkie for anything ninjutsu-related (Naruto, shurikens, katanas, concealment, martial arts, etc.)
…am a foodie; thus, I am so addicted to the culinary world Food Network shows (Ryori-no-Tetsujin/Iron Chef, Alton Brown, Bizarre Foods etc.)
…love puppets (Sesame Street, Muppets, Batibot, etc.)
…am a child of the 90′s
…am constantly bothered by problems
…have athetoid case cerebral palsy since childhood (Seriously. More on this later on.)
…sympathize for society’s underdogs (the poor, oppressed, exploited, and disadvantaged)
…scorn and loathe society’s scum (the corrupt, greedy, despotic, exploitive, power-hungry, and vainglorious)
…want to do something great for humanity
…just want to write something out of my mind (whenever I've got something to say)

With this not-so-plain introduction finished, I welcome you to my world my personal literary zone, whose name is a homage to that "place where no Truthsayer can see. [They] are repelled by it, terrorized. It is said a man will come one day... He will look where [they] cannot..." (And that man is me.)

Good luck, godspeed, God bless!

P.S.: Hanep sa Frank Herbert's "Dune" references! :D