blabbering hot!

It's hot where I am right now and I think I'd rather hit bed than do anything and sweat. The first chapter of the thesis I was editing is done and i'll be damned if im going to take another look at it. im just sooooooooo bored. i've been doing boring stuff at the office the past week, dragging my mouse on tables and matrices. ive lost my sentimental straight from the heart approach and ive turned super technical. i dont like that. But that is what it calls for.

But I was told it still reads cool if i did it. haha..

well, yeah, people who want to make a difference have a right to blabber too like im doing now. may not make sense, but well, it indicates the human side of the superior. it's called catharictic exercise. u blabber out your trivialities so that u cleanse your guts off useless stuff. then u are able to flow out good stuff again.

anyway, i hope i recover soon. i havent been myself these days. maybe i may even go to bed early. and just wake up get up and work if inspiration strikes.

Children of Divorce

"How can people do this to kids?"

This was my reaction when I learned about an arrangement between a couple who decided to divorce. The kids, aged 7 and 10 are to alternately live with their father and mother at a week each.

Kids are people. They are flesh and blood, not made of rubber like a basketball that u can bounce from one court to another. In between passing, the kids, never know what could hit them, or where and how they are going to land from mid air. It's just too unthinkable for me. It's bad enough that your parents separate. When homes break, either by divorce of by death, there is the risk of a dysfunctional family.

Such an arrangement, though seemingly a fair one for both parents, is cruel to the kids who have to be dribbled from one house to another. It is selfishness on the part of the parents who, wanting to have equal share of the children's time agree to such an arrangement that could result in displacement anxieties.

In displacement anxiety,there is a discontinuity of life's everyday routine. There is no sense of permanence, no root formations, no sense of belonging, no concept of abode.

Children who fall victims to such anxieties tend to be wary of relationships and may harbor doubts of continuity or permanence. The transient nature of their growing up make evey suggetsion of commitment suspect of sincerity.

As such, the law on custody for children of divorcees should be reviewed on the demerits of displacement anxiety.

The Parable of the Lowly Brown Caterpillar

(Shared to me by my high school best friend, Sonia Grace Dagdag-Carlos)

Once upon a time, in a great big forest, at the bottom of a very tall tree, there crawled along in the soft, dirty, dark earth a caterpillar that was brown and fat and squishy. His name was Bumpadoo.

The odd thing about Bumpadoo was that he didn't know he was a caterpillar. He thought he was a worm. That is why he crawled at the bottom of the very tall tree instead of climbing up into the tree and into the branches and out onto the stems into the bright sunlight to feast on the banquet of abundant green leaves.

Bumbadoo had not always lived in the dirt. A long time ago, he had followed his true nature into the tree and out onto the leaves, and as he dined there in the bright sunshine, he grew bigger and fatter and happier, as should happen from eating lots and lots of good green nourishment. But a wind came along, rustled through the tree branches and shook the leaves mightily. Bumpadoo thought he was going to fall. Bumpadoo thought he was going to die. And so he scurried off of the leaves and over the branches and down the bark of the tree to the safety of the quiet, still and dirty earth.

In the earth, he met other creatures who crawled where he liked to crawl. They identified themselves as worms, and since Bumpadoo liked the quietness and stillness of the dirty earth, he began to think that he, too, was a worm. Over time, he forgot how yummy the abundant green leaves had been. He forgot how beautiful the forest could look when viewed from very high up in the very tall tree. And he forgot that there was more to life than crawling around in the dirty earth like the worms.

One dreary rainy day, in the quiet muddy earth, Bumpadoo suddenly heard something bounce with a little plop. He poked his head out of the ground to see what had happened and came face to face with a big worm that looked just like him -- brown and fat and squishy.

"Who are you?" asked Bumpadoo.

"Oh my! Where am I?" exclaimed the stranger. "I was munching on my dinner," she said, "hanging on as best I could to the slippery wet leaf, and a wind came along and it shook me and I fell, and here I am, but where am I?"

"You are with me!" said Bumpadoo. "But I do not know your name. Would you please tell me what it is? I am a worm called Bumpadoo."

"Oh my apologies, I briefly forgot my manners," said the stranger. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Faddawolladee. I'm a caterpillar, and I must climb back up into that tree to the place where I live." She looked up, up, up the side of her very tall tree.

Bumpadoo laughed. "A caterpillar, you say? But you look like me. You must be a worm, just like me."

Faddawolladee turned her gaze to Bumpadoo. She eyed him carefully. "Yes we do look very much alike. That means you are not a worm. That means you are a caterpillar."

Bumpadoo shook the head of his fat and squishy brown body and said, "You and I cannot possibly be caterpillars. Caterpillars are glorious creatures that live in the trees instead of the earth, and they build cocoons in the leaves and become gorgeous butterflies. You are just a worm like me. Come, follow me, and I will show you where to find some dirt that is really delightful to wiggle through."

Faddawolladee replied, "Oh no, my friend! I am indeed a caterpillar. In fact, I was about to start building my cocoon when along came this rain storm and its wind, and I failed to hang on tight enough, so I fell."

Her attitude astounded Bumpadoo. "How arrogant for you to claim to be a caterpillar!" he said. "You are telling me that you're better than I am, and yet we are alike."

Faddawolladee sighed. "You are not a worm, my friend. You are a caterpillar like me. You should be feasting on the banquet of abundant green leaves that are high up in the very tall tree. I'm going to start the long climb up there now. Why don't you join me?"

"How can you say I am not a worm?" insisted Bumpadoo. "Can't you see that I live and crawl and eat in the soft, dirty earth? And you certainly are no better than I. You have no right to claim that you are a caterpillar or by that claim to imply that someday you will become a gorgeous butterfly!"

Faddawolladee stared silently at Bumpadoo for a minute. Then she turned around and started to head for the tree. "It's a very long climb back up to the leaves," she said, "but it's a climb I must take. I can't force you to come with me. I can't make you believe that I am indeed a caterpillar and that you are too. I can tell you that up in the tree, a very long journey from here, there is an abundance of delicious green leaves in the bright sunshine, but I can't make you understand how delightful they are to feast upon. It's worth all the hardship of getting up there. I invite you to come along -- but the choice is yours."

Bumpadoo looked high, high, high up into the roof of the forest. "Aren't you afraid of falling again when the wind returns?" he asked. "A worm who thinks he can live there and eat there and not fall off is living in an illusion."

Faddawolladee attached her front feet to the base of the tree. "The fall is not what we should fear," she said. "Staying in the dirt after the fall — now that is what should make us tremble with motivation to do what we have to do to become the butterflies we were created to be." And with one last look at Bumpadoo, she said, "You cannot see the real me, nor can you know the real you, unless you give this tree a good try."

"I know not how to speak; I am too young."

Hey, I am not a very "church person" and I seldom ever get touched by words like those below. And this is one special case where I feel the inspiration to share because it is something that is shared by the spiritually inclined and otherwise. Read on... it could be for you. :)

Book of Jeremiah 1,1.4-10.

The words of Jeremiah, The word of the LORD came to me thus: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. "Ah, Lord GOD!" I said, "I know not how to speak; I am too young." But the LORD answered me, Say not, "I am too young." To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD. Then the LORD extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying, See, I place my words in your mouth! This day I set you over nations and over kingdoms, To root up and to tear down, to destroy and to demolish, to build and to plant.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 13,1-9.

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood along the shore. And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear."

R E F L E C T I O N:

You are a modern-day Jeremiah. God has given you a Word to speak: his holy Word in the form of encouragement, affirmation, faith-building, or healing. You have knowledge about the kingdom of God that will benefit others. You have experiences that can inspire others to grow closer to God. You have wisdom from the Holy Spirit that's meant to be shared.

God appointed you to be one of his prophets while you were still in your mother's womb. Though you might feel inadequate for the task (like Jeremiah did when he thought he was too young in today's first reading), God is the one who will place the words in your mouth. What he shares with you to share with others is more than adequate!

So what's stopping you from doing more? Why do you hesitate? What do you fear? For most of us, the feeling of inadequacy comes from focusing on ourselves and forgetting that God has a bigger role than we do in our ministries to others. He supplies us with everything we need for whatever work he calls us to do.

We've enjoyed helping people in the past, but some have turned away, and so we think we failed. We're afraid we can't make a big enough difference. We've decided that to care so much about people and then to see them reject the wisdom we offer is just too painful and too sad. We don't like being the farmer of the parable in today's Gospel reading, working hard in the blazing sun only to watch the crops die.

To find renewed energy, we must spend time appreciating the differences that we HAVE made. Not everyone has rejected our help. Some have been rich soil, and the seeds we've sowed have sprouted and produced new growth.

We never know when rocky soil is going to become fertile soil or when a new path will take us to a field that has already been tilled and made ready for us. Why should anyone be denied the seeds we can give, just because we've stubbed our toes on the dry or rocky soil of others?

God appreciates us and the hard work we do when sowing seeds, even if the soil produces nothing good. We should take our stubbed toes to the Lord and let him heal us so that the seeds of healing will produce a harvest of courage, and the fruits that grow will produce seeds that can help others find healing too. Yes, some will reject us and the seeds will die, but others WILL accept our seeds.

The only thing that matters is that we are called. We are not responsible for making the seeds grow; we are only the sowers.

Creative people sleep

clipped from www.watoday.com.au Sleep. It rejuvenates. It refreshes. It restores. And while it may seem as if sleep renders us inactive, the truth is quite the contrary. Our bodies, our brains, our minds are accomplishing great things while we slumber. 1. It makes us better athletes 2. It helps us deal with stress and helps us grow 3. It helps us remember 4. It is imperative for safe driving 5. It keeps us from being crabby "If you're awake longer than you should be for a few days, that puts your body under stress, benefits of sleep: we need sleep to restore muscles exhausted during workouts. During sleep, your brain will process a lot and turn it into long-term memory Think how much better you feel after a good night's sleep.

Sleeping is what creative thinkers do. When a think-tank guy sleeps, he is not "sleeping on his job." He is. believe it or not, "working out" on his thoughts. This is an automatic occurrence for thinkers. they dont even know it's happening... sometimes. Then when they wake up, "Eureka!" They start typing in their thoughts and wont stop until it's done.

Workers

clipped from 70.85.145.34 ‘Workers are a nation’s treasure; they create its wealth and forge its progress. But the very people that should drive the nation forward suffer from inhuman conditions, living a life denied of dignity. But no amount of repression can lessen the determination of workers in struggling for their rights for just wages, job security, and decent living. In the end, workers will lead in building a nation where the dignity of the people is given the greatest importance.’

Never have I felt it more than now the essence of the slogans "Sahod Itaas, Presyo ibaba."

Executive Privilege challenged

clipped from newsbreak.com.ph Access-to-info bill challenges Palace on executive privilege The sacrosanct doctrine of executive privilege that has been a consistent refuge by the executive branch in withholding certain information is under serious challenge by the Arroyo-controlled House of Representatives. The measure seeks to give meaning to the constitutional provision guaranteeing the people’s right to information of public concern the Bill of Rights, says: “The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to limitations as may be provided by law.” The measure “compels all government offices including Congress, judiciary and government-owned and controlled corporations to act on request for information within 10-15 days.”

It always escaped me too, why such a privilege should be invoked when we are supposed to be in a democracy.