“People worry about kids playing with guns, and teenagers watching violent videos; we are scared that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands—literally thousands—of songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery and loss.” 
— Nick Hornby, High Fidelity

Serious News

Host: How important is it for us to relax these days?

Guest: Oh, so important, because of the faster ups and downs of life.

Host: So, what works for you?

Guest: For one thing, I don’t watch newscasts anymore, because of the serious of the news.

(from inquirer.net; pic from meapcareers.com.au)

Promise of a Lifetime

I have fallen to my knees
As I sing a lullaby of pain
I'm feeling broken in my melody
As I sing to help the tears go away

Then I remember the pledge you made to me

I know you're always there
To hear my every prayer inside
I'm clinging to the promise of a lifetime
I hear the words you say
To never walk away from me and leave behind
The promise of a lifetime

Will you help me fall apart
Pick me up, take me in your arms
Find my way back from the storm
And you show me how to grow
Through the change

I still remember the pledge you made to me

I am holding on to the hope I have inside
With you I will stay through every day
Putting my understanding aside

And I am comforted...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kutless lyrics from here.

SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH

The honesty's too much

and I have to close my eyes

and hide

I wanna hold you till I die

till we both break down and cry. I wanna hold you

till the fear in me

subsides...

funny grabbed from Hay!Men, Ang Blog ng Tunay na Lalake

Fasting and Ramadan: The Invisible Cloak

I made a very long travel over the weekend considering the distance and the time made for travel alone. I readied myself for this because I knew from the start that I would be wearing my invisible cloak and take shelter from it to drive away the temptation I called friends.

It was a double edged-sword, actually. Imagine, it seemed forever to reach Dumaguete and Siquijor by way of land from Cebu. The whole stretch made me feel so tired. And it was a torture for anyone who, like me, was fasting.

My brother Muslim told me that travelling adults were exempted to fast but I tried my best to do mine and keep it intact until September 21. That was the torture part.

Food of every kind swamped me during the course of the travel. My friends insisted that I break my fast. Food suddenly appeared every now and then. Out of their bags. Out from hawkers. Out of everybody. You know Filipinos love to eat when they are tensed. I was alright.

We stayed at Rex's house in Dumaguete last Saturday. Dumaguete is in fact a good place to break fast. Food choices was not a problem.

Sunday came and we braced ourselves for another stretch. This time, to Siquijor. The mad sea made us groggy. I declared that the ferries going to Dumaguete and Siquijor are not real men. They swayed all thoughout the trip and back. Like some ladyboys we saw everywhere.

I succumbed to temptations when our gracious host in Siquijor offered us fresh buko. I texted my adviser if it was okay to eat fresh fruits and drink fresh juice. He told me that I am not a Muslim and I should not consider myself as one. At twelve noon, I thirstily grabbed the buko juice and had my fill. It was heaven. I broke my fast more later towards late afternoon. The invisible cloak was abandoned.

Despite the same torture on the way back to the route we travelled, I again took my fasting seriously, doning my invisibility cloak one more time.

I arrived home intact. A gift from Azary, waiting for me.