Saturday, March 9, 2013
Day 25. Something You're Currently Worrying About
I don't really feel like writing about my worries, so I'm just gonna post this infographic-style thingy that I made instead.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Day 24. Five Words/Phrases That Make You Laugh
For the life of me, I can't think of even one particular word or phrase that makes me laugh, so what I'm gonna do is list down 5 of my favorite Chuck Norris facts instead.
(Incidentally, that Chuck Norris scene in The Expendables 2 had me giggling for nearly 5 minutes.)
And probably my absolute favorite Fact:
- Chuck Norris has counted to infinity -- twice.
- Chuck Norris can slam revolving doors.
- Chuck Norris can strangle you with a cordless phone.
- They're making a sequel to 300 starring Chuck Norris. It's called 1.
- In the movie Titanic, Chuck Norris has a brief cameo as "The Iceberg."
(Incidentally, that Chuck Norris scene in The Expendables 2 had me giggling for nearly 5 minutes.)
And probably my absolute favorite Fact:
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Day 23. Something That You Miss
I miss being a kid...
...when happiness was as simple as finding a good read...
...and the rose-colored glasses were still intact.
Still. Day 1!!!
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| This is Hunter. Di bitaw. |
...when happiness was as simple as finding a good read...
 |
| Mabuhay, the root of my sister's and my wanderlust. |
...and the rose-colored glasses were still intact.
 |
| If you look close enough, you'll see the rose-colored glasses. |
Still. Day 1!!!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Day 22. Your Academics
I was bored to temporary death by the topic of Day 22. Said temporary demise is my excuse for skipping a few days (okay, a whole lot of days) in this Blog Challenge, and I'm sticking to it.
But I'm back! Not because I can't leave a thing unfinished once I start it -- just ask my bargain bin copy of The Horse God Built -- but because, well, in my hazy middle-of-the-night mix of tiredness, hunger, and just a bit of insanity, I've decided something.
The past will always weigh you down if you let it. (And if you think you're one of those lucky people who don't have a care in the world to weigh them down, well, HAH! Get ready, because that's what I thought too.) People will unload all their crap at your door (if they haven't already), and at one point you'll tear your hair out and think, "What did I do to deserve this?" Well, you know what, the starving, HIV-infected kids in places like, I don't know, Somalia, didn't do anything to deserve their lot in life either. And, let's be frank, you might be a decent person overall, but you don't exactly deserve all the good things in your life either. Sh*t happens. Sh*t happens to good people. But you know what? You can drown in self-pity, or you can Chuck-Norris everything and say:
Today will be a good day. And my life will be a good life. And I'm gonna return to my 30-day Challenge just because I want to.
Today is Day 1.
And since today is also Day 22 -- "Your academics" -- let me just say that I'm no longer in school. But I've learned a lot more outside the classroom than I ever have inside it.
Day 1 starts now. (But first let me sleep.)
But I'm back! Not because I can't leave a thing unfinished once I start it -- just ask my bargain bin copy of The Horse God Built -- but because, well, in my hazy middle-of-the-night mix of tiredness, hunger, and just a bit of insanity, I've decided something.
 |
| I remember Kieran always said that drop shadows basically exist to give uninteresting graphics a desperate spark of interesting-ness. Oh well. :-) |
The past will always weigh you down if you let it. (And if you think you're one of those lucky people who don't have a care in the world to weigh them down, well, HAH! Get ready, because that's what I thought too.) People will unload all their crap at your door (if they haven't already), and at one point you'll tear your hair out and think, "What did I do to deserve this?" Well, you know what, the starving, HIV-infected kids in places like, I don't know, Somalia, didn't do anything to deserve their lot in life either. And, let's be frank, you might be a decent person overall, but you don't exactly deserve all the good things in your life either. Sh*t happens. Sh*t happens to good people. But you know what? You can drown in self-pity, or you can Chuck-Norris everything and say:
Today will be a good day. And my life will be a good life. And I'm gonna return to my 30-day Challenge just because I want to.
Today is Day 1.
And since today is also Day 22 -- "Your academics" -- let me just say that I'm no longer in school. But I've learned a lot more outside the classroom than I ever have inside it.
Day 1 starts now. (But first let me sleep.)
Monday, February 18, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Day 19. Five Items You Lust After
1. A trip around the world with my family
2. A spacious house with a spacious porch in a spacious lot
3. An enjoyable, profitable business
4. Another trip around the world with my family
But I would forgo all of the above; all I really need is:
5. A happy, healthy, comfortable, peaceful, secure family
2. A spacious house with a spacious porch in a spacious lot
3. An enjoyable, profitable business
4. Another trip around the world with my family
But I would forgo all of the above; all I really need is:
5. A happy, healthy, comfortable, peaceful, secure family
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Day 17. Something That You're Proud Of
It's funny how timely this topic is. I was just sifting through the documents in my old drawer, looking for receipts, and I came across my college and med school diplomas, still in those folder-like thingies that they give you during graduation. I suppose I should have them laminated or something--if for no other reason than to preserve them in case I need proof that I actually graduated--but I'm not sure where I can hang them in our already cluttered house. (I've settled for scanning them in the meantime.)
I'm actually rather proud of my UP education, and the Magna Cum Laude written crookedly in my diploma, and giving the speech at graduation, and all that. I could try for a bit of false modesty, but there are so many things that I can't do--act, dance, do an au batido, et cetera--that I feel a bit justified being proud of the things that I can do and have done. And, anyway, I've always thought that modesty isn't saying, "Aw, shucks, that was nothing," but, rather, knowing that you did well in something and realizing that it doesn't make you a Capital Person who is Better Than Everyone Else.
I've noticed that I'm most arrogrant when I'm under attack. Say, someone might point out that psychology isn't exactly rocket science. I might then go, "But, dude, I was an Oblation Scholar. I could have studied anything. Even rocket science." Which isn't even true. But that's one of the good things about accomplishments. They're like balm to wounded egos.
I'm so underwhelming in person that I probably couldn't get people to believe I had accomplished stuff if I didn't have the documents to prove it. I actually remember, during orientation for med school, one of my classmates glanced at my NMAT result slip and was, like, "Whoa! You got 99+! Unbelievable!" And I was all modest, saying it was nothing, got lucky. (Which is true--a lot of these tests are susceptible to luck. Idiots rarely get lucky, but all that proves is that I'm not an idiot.) But, anyway, three years later, the classmate and I ended up being groupies, and he was, like, "Nah. I don't think it was you who got 99. I think it was Sheila." And I was secretly pissed off, thinking, "No, it wasn't 99. It was 99 plus." So much for modesty.
For the record, I am proud of stuff like being magna cum laude, and being an Oblation Scholar, and getting a 99+ percentile in the NMAT. And I'm not ashamed of being proud of them. But I've managed to keep things in perspective. I still really suck at acting, and I'm not as quick-witted as I want to be, and I got denied a US visa. And I'm writing a blog in the middle of a workday, for heaven's sake. I'm kind of a loser, actually.
 |
| If I needed a reminder that being Magna Cum Laude wasn't that big a deal, at least to UP, it was the way they added the notation: crooked, like an afterthought. |
I'm actually rather proud of my UP education, and the Magna Cum Laude written crookedly in my diploma, and giving the speech at graduation, and all that. I could try for a bit of false modesty, but there are so many things that I can't do--act, dance, do an au batido, et cetera--that I feel a bit justified being proud of the things that I can do and have done. And, anyway, I've always thought that modesty isn't saying, "Aw, shucks, that was nothing," but, rather, knowing that you did well in something and realizing that it doesn't make you a Capital Person who is Better Than Everyone Else.
 |
| One of my first reactions: OMG! I got a letter from Emil Javier! He had been featured in a couple of Salaguinto issues when I was in elementary, and I was thrilled to have received a letter from a Scientist (wth a capital S). |
I've noticed that I'm most arrogrant when I'm under attack. Say, someone might point out that psychology isn't exactly rocket science. I might then go, "But, dude, I was an Oblation Scholar. I could have studied anything. Even rocket science." Which isn't even true. But that's one of the good things about accomplishments. They're like balm to wounded egos.
 |
| Something that you're NOT proud of: perceptual acuity. |
I'm so underwhelming in person that I probably couldn't get people to believe I had accomplished stuff if I didn't have the documents to prove it. I actually remember, during orientation for med school, one of my classmates glanced at my NMAT result slip and was, like, "Whoa! You got 99+! Unbelievable!" And I was all modest, saying it was nothing, got lucky. (Which is true--a lot of these tests are susceptible to luck. Idiots rarely get lucky, but all that proves is that I'm not an idiot.) But, anyway, three years later, the classmate and I ended up being groupies, and he was, like, "Nah. I don't think it was you who got 99. I think it was Sheila." And I was secretly pissed off, thinking, "No, it wasn't 99. It was 99 plus." So much for modesty.
For the record, I am proud of stuff like being magna cum laude, and being an Oblation Scholar, and getting a 99+ percentile in the NMAT. And I'm not ashamed of being proud of them. But I've managed to keep things in perspective. I still really suck at acting, and I'm not as quick-witted as I want to be, and I got denied a US visa. And I'm writing a blog in the middle of a workday, for heaven's sake. I'm kind of a loser, actually.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Day 16. Something You Always Think "What If" About
"What if" was exactly the thought going through my mind the other weekend.
I had a job I loved, something that was right up my alley. My work let me combine medicine with writing, a rare opportunity. And it provided me a decent income, which is important for anyone who has a child.
But things were not going well. Conflicts of interest made impossibilities of freedom and objectivity. Flying under the radar was key. There were irregularities that could not be proven but nevertheless contributed to the disquiet. Certain things didn't add up: A would be told this, B would be told that--separately, of course, so no one would be the wiser. Truth was sometimes sacrificed at the altar of convenience, in the name of "leadership." We were actually on the verge of going into a pitch with bogus credentials for three-quarters of our management team. As I scrolled down the draft of the pitch deck, a still small voice inside my head sadly asked: is this what we have become?
I walked away. Because the answer was yes.
I used to think that it was just my imagination that the company had changed and turned into a shadow of its ideals. But a few others who had been there with me when the company started had had the same feeling. Maybe we were just naive. Maybe we were so enthralled with the stars in our eyes, we forgot that even stars had life cycles. Black holes were stars once.
Over a hundred times that weekend, I asked myself: what if I hadn't written that email? What if I had just stayed on, for a couple more months, or a couple more years? What if all the companies in the world were like that, or even worse? What if I could still change things? What if I was doing the right thing, but at the wrong time? What if I was letting people down, my family most of all?
The priest that Sunday was kind enough to address my dilemma, albeit obliquely. "You have to take a stand," he said. And I was reminded of another saying: if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. And still another saying, a prayer: grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
I still don't have a firm answer to that saddest of questions: what if. I do know that I had reached my tipping point, that I had had enough. Come what may, I've made my stand, and perhaps the answer is in the peace that is slowly starting to settle in my soul.
I had a job I loved, something that was right up my alley. My work let me combine medicine with writing, a rare opportunity. And it provided me a decent income, which is important for anyone who has a child.
But things were not going well. Conflicts of interest made impossibilities of freedom and objectivity. Flying under the radar was key. There were irregularities that could not be proven but nevertheless contributed to the disquiet. Certain things didn't add up: A would be told this, B would be told that--separately, of course, so no one would be the wiser. Truth was sometimes sacrificed at the altar of convenience, in the name of "leadership." We were actually on the verge of going into a pitch with bogus credentials for three-quarters of our management team. As I scrolled down the draft of the pitch deck, a still small voice inside my head sadly asked: is this what we have become?
I walked away. Because the answer was yes.
I used to think that it was just my imagination that the company had changed and turned into a shadow of its ideals. But a few others who had been there with me when the company started had had the same feeling. Maybe we were just naive. Maybe we were so enthralled with the stars in our eyes, we forgot that even stars had life cycles. Black holes were stars once.
Over a hundred times that weekend, I asked myself: what if I hadn't written that email? What if I had just stayed on, for a couple more months, or a couple more years? What if all the companies in the world were like that, or even worse? What if I could still change things? What if I was doing the right thing, but at the wrong time? What if I was letting people down, my family most of all?
The priest that Sunday was kind enough to address my dilemma, albeit obliquely. "You have to take a stand," he said. And I was reminded of another saying: if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything. And still another saying, a prayer: grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
I still don't have a firm answer to that saddest of questions: what if. I do know that I had reached my tipping point, that I had had enough. Come what may, I've made my stand, and perhaps the answer is in the peace that is slowly starting to settle in my soul.
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