Dead Letter 1

I used to be part of a LiveJournal blog group called Dead Letters, where bloggers write letters that they cannot and will not send to the recipient.  These letters are considered dead because they never reach the recipient.  Just thought I’d take a load off my mind for this one.

I think you forgot that you are good.  That’s the problem sometimes.  People forget too easily.  And I think you are one of the smartest people still.  But you know what’s wrong with you?  You’re lazy.

You are one lazy ass.  You’re so lazy, the word lazy would be insulted that I dared to attach itself to your name.  You’re lazy and ungrateful.  You have no idea what your mother is going through.  You are lazy and ungrateful and selfish.  You only think the world is unfair to you but you never seem to consider the fact that you’re being unfair to the world.

You can’t even say that poverty is a factor why you’re so demotivated.  There are generations that lived and succeeded in spite of poverty.  Parents were able to put their kids through college by working menial jobs.  And I mean menial.  Jobs that are so simple, people would rather pay them than do it themselves.  But you never seem to recognize that.

I almost want to think you should be ashamed because you belong to a family of survivors.  Fire, almost bankruptcy, bankruptcy, unemployment, debt — you belong to a family who never failed to make ends meet, in every way they know how, without compromising principles and beliefs.  You don’t value your place in this world, and worse, you have a sense of entitlement, as if you deserve better.

Here’s what I’m saying:  a lazy ungrateful selfish ass like yours should be in a much worse position than where you are now.  Because the world has had enough of lazy ungrateful people.  And if this is the contribution you’re giving to a fantastic family of survivors, this laziness, this kind of treatment and self-centeredness, well… I can say your family deserves better.

REVIEW: Tangled

Do you still remember the last time you watched a Disney movie?  Not a Disney-Pixar, just Disney.  Dylan and I couldn’t really recall when was the last time, and judging from the box office receipts of The Princess and The Frog, I had a feeling it was good that we missed that one.

I’ve been hearing a lot of rave reviews about Tangled, especially when it beat out Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I in the cinemas for a weekend.  It has Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi in it.  They’re not really the world’s most loved people, so it was quite interesting when they teamed up for this special.

According to some reports, the original title of this movie was supposed to be Rapunzel. With Princess not really a hit amongst male audiences, Disney decided to rename the movie to attract their used-to-be-interested male audiences.  They also increased the appearance of Flynn Ryder.  It worked alright. :)

Dylan roared with laughter, and the evening was off already to a good start.  We caught it at Greenbelt 3’s 3D theatre and there is no other way to see this movie.

The movie is rich with love, song, and story.  It even has that evil stepmother, only this time the heroine actually thought she loved her.  It was fantastic.

Really.  It’s been a while since we left a theatre in love with a Disney movie.  And Dylan was very courageous to say she is “the cutest Disney princess ever.”

And I couldn’t help but agree. :)

Action reaction

Why is the Catholic church taking it as a personal offense should the Reproductive Health Bill be made into a law? 

This has always confused me.  From what I’ve learned when I was still in school, there has always been a separation between the Church and the State.  The problem is our statesmen have never shied away from declaring their profound beliefs and faiths.  In my head, it was an evident ploy to lure in the followers of the same faith in favoring that politician.  And don’t freaking moral compass me on this one.  You can use your compass without having to declare that you are a Protestant or a Christian or a Catholic.

The lines were blurred because these politicians kept quoting the Bible, passages that they say guide them into making the laws or whatever bullshit reasoning they manage to come up with. HELL NO you do NOT get to bring the Bible on this one.

Our lawmakers create laws that will benefit the REPUBLIC.  Not their faith.  The people.  Not their co-devotees.  I have nothing against religion, but really, you’re delaying a very significant and life changing law because the Bishops don’t like it?  What the fuck is that?

Why are you keeping the Filipinos from being more informed?  It’s not a secret; PREMARITAL SEX IS PREVALENT.  It’s as common as Starbucks, as natural as sugar in coffee.  AND IT DIDN’T HAPPEN JUST IN MY GENERATION.  My generation is just more open to it.  Your generation is just hypocritic to not admit there were sex crazed teens in your time.  Prolly because it was you, prolly because the hippie era was “flowers” to you.  Ever seen the movie Forrest Gump?  Almost Famous?  That Thing You Do?  READ:  sex in hotels, drugs everywhere, not to mention casual flings and more than occasional boners.  Really?  We’re liberated? 

We’re not any more liberated than you were during your decade.  We just talk about it now.

My reaction to this piece of news is this violent because I find it so stupid to delay something as important as this.  Do you not see the number of children in the streets?  Or the number of families living under bridges, along creeks and sometimes in road islands?  OKAY LANG KAYO?  How can you think that additional beings in the country is actually beneficial to us?  HINDI NA NILA MAPAKAIN MGA SARILI NILA, GUSTO NIYO PA SILA MAG-ANAKAN? 

Some people talaga are so hibang!  Volume in manpower is only beneficial when they are HEALTHY AND EDUCATED.  The children we have now ARE NOT.  And we no longer have homes to put them in.  Adoption is not as widely promoted here as it is in Western countries, mainly because middle-class to upper-class families CANNOT AFFORD ANOTHER MOUTH TO FEED.  HOW MUCH MORE THE POOR?

My gehd.  I am so annoyed.  Obviously.  PASS THE RH BILL ALREADY.  MAKE FILIPINOS SMARTER AND MAKE THE FILIPINO FAMILY MORE ABLE.  GIVE THEM THE ELBOW ROOM THEY NEED TO PROVIDE FOR THE REST OF THEIR MEMBERS.

Hindi yung anak lang ng anak everywhere and we’ll all sing that the children are our future.  Wala ngang bahay o damit o pagkain, future future ka pa jan. 

Leche.  Mga bobo.  Ugh.

The challenge of keeping the faith

It’s all over the news now.  Another bombing has left the Filipinos in a state of disbelief.  I’m going to be honest:  when Lala Flores’ daughter Danica Magpantay won the Ford Supermodel of the Year 2011, I had hopes of the Philippines being the highlight of southeast Asia, having natural beauties and unaltered realities win competitions like this.

Then I remember the carnappings.  Then the oil price hike.  Then the fact that another journalist was slain, the 142nd media killing since 1986.  Then the littlest and biggest of issues in cyberspace, where apparently opinions are paid for.  Then the hope fizzled.

For those who follow me on Twitter, I bet you would notice that as each tragedy is reported in the news, my automatic response is that I am saddened that this is the place I have to bring my kids to.  And this is not to say that I am pregnant (because I am not) or that I am planning to be (because I am not).  I say so because it is the fact:  this is the world we are going to bring our kids to.

And it’s days like these when it’s so hard to keep the faith.  That the human being, the person, the individual will exercise his free will and choose intellect and wisdom over misdirected passions.  That the government will fund better education so this kind of thinking — blowing up buses and shit — will not be the main exhibition of dismay and disagreement. 

But sometimes, faith can just take you so far.  I am seriously afraid that my niece Chuchi will grow up at a time when buses just spontaneously explode and prices spike overnight and her necklace will be snatched as she walks to school and her favorite broadcaster will die before she ever gets to meet him/her.  I am afraid that my future child will have questions as to why people kill people, why Mindanao is the richest in natural resources and yet we can’t find peace with them, why the government is richer than the people, why she is in so much debt at the very moment she’s born.  And I won’t have the answers.

I used to find equanimity when Oscar nods are announced, thinking that the arts is something that people can still count on, that bodies like the Academy will always celebrate the good in people.  But last night was extra difficult, especially when at 2 in the morning, the bus bomb death toll rose to 5.

So you see, it’s really challenging… keeping the faith.  Right now, my only prayer would have to be for the strength to rise to it.

Regrets, I’ve had a few. Have a few.

I always challenge myself in evaluating people as they come in my life.  I know they say I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but let’s face it:  the judging is a natural activity in our selection of accomplices, acquaintances and friends.

So I always try to see both the good and the bad in people, even on our first meeting.  Then, in my head, I debate whether the good can outweigh the bad, or if in time, the bad would be bearable enough for me to highlight the good.

I wish I debated longer.