Honored..

A song you have made,has reached my ears.

beautiful and glorious,

i listen to it and i hear your heart.

tender and loving, A fitting gift.

I think me unworthy,

not deserving of this honor.

That something so precious to you,

was placed in the palm of my hands.

With words you soothe my soul,

with your touch all the colors pour forth.

WIth a whisper you melt my being.

And build it up again with an embrace.

I look into your eyes and smile,

A smile that comes as often as a blue moon.

You have roused me from my sleep,

and you left a mark that cannot be undone.

You have changed me, 

And I am forever ni debt.

You will always remind me how this life is worth living.

You have honored me with your being.

Bungkal..

Habang ako'y bumabyahe pauwe mula sa trabaho isang araw (lunes ata un), napansin ko nalang na ang isang kalye na madalas kong nadadaanan ay nabungkal na, bitak-bitak, at may ilang katao na nagmimistulang "umaayos" dito. Sinubukan kong tandaan ang sira ng naturang kalsada at wala akong matandaan. Mukang maayos naman cia dati at nagagampanan ang layunin ng isang kalsada. Ilang araw ang nakalipas at napansin ko na nagsimula naring bungkalin ang marami pang ibang kalye sa Maynila. 

Dun ko napatunayan na nalalapit na ang eleksyon.

Ang "pag-aayos" ng kalsada ay isa lamang sa maraming sintomas ng eleksyong paparating. Ito ang isa sa mga biglaan o maagang napupuna sapagkat ito ay nagmimistulang malaking karatula: imposibleng hindi mo ito mapansin dahil apektado ang dadaanan mo. And sunod mong mapapansin ay ang signboard na nagsasabing ginagawa ang naturang kalye (talaga? hindi obyus?) na may kasamang pangalan ng taong nagpagawa nito - Ang taong nangangampanya.

Nakakasuka, kung tatanungin mo ko, sapagkat napaka-garapal lang talaga. Ipinagsisigawan ng mga proyektong ito ang napaka-halatang pagpapakitang-gilas at pagpapasikat. Napakadaming panahon na maaaring mag-ayos ng kalsada. Madaming taong ang lumipas na niragasa tayo ng bagyo at binaha. Maraming bahay ang nasira, maraming gamit ang tinangay. Oo, kasalanan din ng mga taong nagtatapon ng basura sa kalye nang walang pakundangan, pero ano ba naman yan! Yung dahilan ba ng pag-papaayos ng kalsada ay ngayon lang napansin? Kung hindi man baha ang dahilan at kondisyon lang ng kalsada, naman-naman..Matino pa yang kalye na "ginagawa" ninyo! At yan din ung parehas na kalye na "ginawa" ninyo ilang taon lang ang nakalipas - ilang taon, kamo? Ung dami ng taon mula nung huling eleksyon.

Kung tutuusin, magandang istratehiya yan kung gusto talagang mapansin ng mga botante. Pero tandaan, natututo din ang tao. Tumatalino din ang mga botante *crosses fingers* and nagsisimula nang mag-isip. Ako'y umaasa na ang mga raket na ganito ay di na gagana nang basta basta sa mga tao at mapipili na talaga natin ang mga kandidato na taos-pusong magsisilbi sa mga kababayan.

Nga pala, sampol lang ung larawan sa itaas. Di yan ung kalye. Hehe.

Puppy Love..

Her name is Okane. Small. Dark as a shadow. Strong and adventurous. Mischievous, and Loaded with enough energy to power up the whole country.

Oh, and she's my pet puppy, and I love her.

Every time I've been going home for the the past 5 months have been the best each and every time. I open that door and i would always see that light on her eyes as her tail wags unendingly in delight. The way she jumps up and down shows how much she wants to convey excitement that i've arrived. I guess that emotion you get someone misses you and can't wait to show love is a feeling all dog owners have the privelege of getting. All the weariness and stress you felt the whole day suddenly drains off as she starts licking at you and giving you that "face". If they said in surveys that dog owners lived happier and fuller lives, i wouldn't doubt that a single bit.

Puppy love is very much different from the way people do. It is unselfish, devoted and loyal. Urgent and patient. It is pure. You cannot compare it to anything else, i guess, especially when it is shown with those adorable eyes. I guess that's why they call children's affection puppy love. It is untainted and can never be corrupted by anything in this world. That is why they call a person who's loyalty never falters as a puppy of of another. They cannot be bribed against the hand that raised them. And this is why it's so amazing.

She's 5 months, more or less a child in dog years, but just about to hit her teens. Right now she is always full of energy and always running around and destroying stuff (i admit. I'm poor when it comes to dog training) and i hope, besides the destroying part, she stays that way until her later years.

Ang Huling Paglipad..

Ang Haribon.

Hari ng mga ibon.

Maestro ng himpapawid.

Panganib at kagandahan na lumilipad.

Ito ang aking paboritong ibon at hayop. Para sa akin, ito ang isa sa pinakamagandang nilalang ng ating Panginoon sa mundong ito. Ang kanyang pangalan, pinaikli mula sa mga salitang "haring ibon", ay tunay nga namang naaayon at karapat-dapat na itawag sa kanya. Wala nang mas gaganda pa sa ibon na ito.

 Ang kanyang tuka ay walang kasing talas at dilim; tinatago ng taglay nitong ganda ang lakas ng bawat kagat at ang panganib na dala nito sa kanyang mga biktima. Ang kanyang mga pakpak ay maikli, malapad at matikas - tamang-tama sa pagkilos nang maliksi at walang-hirap sa mga masukal na kakahuyan na siya niyang hinaharian. Ang katawan niya ay malakas ngunit magaan, katangi-tangi sa isang atleta na lumilipad. Ang dilim ng kanyang tuka ay tinatalo lamang ng kulay ng kanyang kuko, na kayang pumatay sa isang iglap ng kahit anong sa tingin niya'y pagkaen. Ang buntot niya ay malakas din at maliksi at gamit niya sa mga mabilisang liko at preno. Ang lahat ng ito ay katangian ng hari na walang katulad..

Ngunit - ang pinaka-natatangi sa lahat, ay ang kayang walang kaparis at walang kasing gandang korona.

Ang mga pluma sa kanyang ulo ay mistulang korona na nagpapatindi sa taglay niyang kamaharlikhaan. Ito'y naihahalintutulad sa balahibo ng leon, na siya rin tinatawag na hari ng mga hayop. Ang Haribon na nakatindig ang korona ay walang kasing dakila at walang kasing tapang ang dating. Kung pwede lang makapatay ang tingin, dun palang ay wala nang natirang buhay sa harapan niya.

Mapanganib. Malakas. Maganda. Maharlikha. Lahat ng ito ay nararapat na salita sa hari ng himpapawid. 

Sa kasamaang palad, ang ibon na kilabot ng lahat ng hayop sa buong pilipinas ay siya rin nanganganib na mawala sa kaharian nito. Ang panganib ay galing sa tanging ibang hayop na kayang limipol sa kanya - ang tao. Sa dami ng problema ng lipunan ngayon, may mga bagay na nangangailangan ng atensyon ng bayan ang tuluyan nang naibaon sa alaala ng buong lahing Pilipino, liban nalang ng iilang bilang na katao. Isa dito ang kalagayan ng ating pambansang ibon, na bilang nalang ang natira sa kaparangan. Kung susumahin ang estado ng populasyon ng Haribon sa pilipinas, masasabing ito ay naghihingalo at halos wala nang pulso. Halos patay na, at nakasalalay nalang sa kamay ng ilang kataong may malasakit and hindi pa nakakalimot.

Nakakalungkot isipin na ganito ang dinadanas ng pambansang ibon. Nakakalungkot. Nakakatakot.

Lumipas na ang panahon na kayang lumipad nang malaya ng Haribon sa himpapawid ng bansa. Maaaring dumating ang araw na dumating ang huling paglipad nito nang hindi manlang namamalayan ng mga tao. Sa kasamaang-palad, maaaring dumaan na pala ang araw na ito.

A Running Headstart..

My first blog for the whole of 2013 has never felt so good!

A new start, a new year, a new adventure - not to mention a new haircut. The beginning of the year is usually the time when people start making resolutions they know they will break, and setting plans that will never come to fruition. The reason I mention this - is that I, myself, have been very guilty for doing the very same for the past few 26 years of my life. I've always been very good in starting things and not finishing them. These range from my personal projects to my career and even to my various relationships. You can look at my sketchpad and see more than half of the things drawn there unfinished - probably that way forever. You can ask various people in church for the previous ministries i have left hanging. You can listen to the various promises I have made to myself and to others and you might not even witness them come true within this lifetime..

As much as I would like to attribute this to me being an artist, it's become too atrophic and destructive to my life for me to simply ignore and do nothing about. I've already gone past the first half of my life, assuming that I live up to 50, and I've I haven't really achieved any of the things that I've planned for myself at this age. I remember telling myself when I was 20 - and I was so confident about it - that I'd have my own place and my own car by 25. I don't even know how to drive yet, I barely have enough savings, let alone I live in my parents' house (although i believe the latter is something I've no choice on). I personally believe that in my current position, there is no other way but up, and i will not be allowing this old habit of mine to hold me down any longer. This time, things will be different.

How different, you say?

First of all, I've put it all in God's hands. The Lord has said in His word that when you commit to Him whatever you do, and your plans will succeed (Proverbs 16:3). Believe it or not, My plans are no longer mine. I have set things I want to achieve this year, I have prayed for them, but I am allowing the Lord to move them as He wills so long as it's for His glory. These plans are not idle, just so you know, and I am not one to lie on my back and wait for things to work out. The Lord also has said in His Word that He blesses those who work hard (Proverbs 12:11). I will be working hard and doing my part, glorifying the Lord in my job, working towards the plans I have set,l but I will let Him sway my plans as He sees fit.

Second, I've written down my plans this time around. I have learned the past year that "plans" that aren't written aren't really plans, just fantasies. Now that I've had them all scripted down, I am engraving them into my mind and giving the said goals a timeline/deadline. It may seem like a trivial factor, but having your plans in paper can make all the difference.

Lastly, I have involved people in my plans so that I can be accountable to them regarding following through. With others included, I would have constant reminders for me to stay on track and finish what I have begun. As with the Israelites, the nature of man would be to forget what is not always seen or felt. Plans and goals are the same. If you don't have someone reminding you what you're supposed to do and where you currently are, they will soon be lost in memory and you will have changed course long before you notice.

 Things are looking very bright from this angle, indeed, and I'm ready to put it all on the line, not pulling any stops. I have offered this year to the Lord and I know things will be different this time around. All of the things I've mentioned should allow the comes to come into fruition, and I know as long as I remain in Him and abide in His plans, I would be bearing much fruit. And now that I have all these in my blog, this should serve as a last countermeasure to remind me that I, at the beginning of the year, felt this way and was this determined. I will not let myself waver.

All glory and honor be to you, Lord! Para sa inyo lahat 'to!

Oh, and it looks like I'll be blogging once a week now thanks to Kitty. Whew. Let's do this, then.

Chuck Taylors..

Mababaw na post lang. I've been trying to look for really unique Chuck Taylors for the past few weeks to no avail. Wala. Wala talaga akong mahanap. Pinuntahan ko na ang lahat ng tindahan ng nasabing sapatos sa lahat ng outlet sa lahat ng mall na malapit sa aking opisina at bahay.

At ngayong gabi lang, naisip ko. Ang pinaka-kakaiba at pinakamalupet na nasabing sapatos ay yung sariling iyo talaga. Ung pinaghirapan mong pagandahin at angkinin. Ung tipong may disenyong wala talagang katulad sa mundo. I decided to customize my own chucks.

Para din yang pag-ibig.

Minsan (at minsan lang talaga), hanap ka nang hanap sa kung san-sang lupalop ng mundo ng babaeng mamahalin mo, yun pala, kailangan mo lang angkinin at pagandahin ang relasyon na andyan na rin mismo.

Lesson for today?

BUILD UP YOUR OWN IF YOU WANT SOMETHING THE WORLD  HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE AND WILL NEVER SEE AGAIN.

Yehbah...:)

Favorite Person in the Entire Universe..

I woke up this morning feeling awesome and inspired, as the Lord has been embracing me with His overwhelming love for the whole length of the weekend. It's an amazing feeling being in love with your Lord, your Dad, Your best friend all in one. He has never let me down, and has been faithful no matter the circumstance. He is all that I will ever need.

At the middle of the day, though, one thought started to bother me. It all began with the thought on how a friend of mine called her best friend her 'favorite person in the entire universe"...I started wondering.

Whatever happened to my best friends?

I have a best friend named Chot, my best bud who's been with me even while we were in diapers. He's my cousin, best man, blood brother, name it. He's the awesomest dude to ever grace the planet, other than me. haha. But yeah, He has a girl now, and the usual case would be for Him to lose track of everything that's been happening around him and focus on that one person. It's been a long time since we really talked. Like REALLY talked. It makes me wonder if he's ever gonna start hanging out again, let alone noticing everybody else in the world. I pray that time will come that he'll be living a balanced life and he's gonna have time to rock out again.

I had a bestfriend way back my elementary days named Deng but that's mostly because we shared the same passion and we were like the twin artists of our batch. We we're unstoppable when it came to contests, and we hung out pretty much all the time. I even go visit their place alot and i got really close with the rest of the family. But come university days, we sort of drifted apart - i became focused with my other friends and *slight choking* the ladies, while he focused more on his very demanding course - Medicine. We still hang out every now and then along with my high school gang, but yeah, I guess we were just really really good friends.

I have a bestbud back in high school, Val was the name. Funny thing is, He was part of the same group that me and Deng were in. But the fact that we really got along in everything makes him one of my..howdoisaythis..closest best buds ever. Up until now we can talk about anything and everything under the sun, and when we talked it was usually about the finer things in life. Plans. Ideas. Ideals. All that stuff. He's still a best bud, although time really got the best of us and we rarely get together now. He works in the government so just imagine how demanding his workload is. I blame myself partially, though, because i could have stayed in touch more with him. Then again, i'm the guy who keeps messing up, so it's not really a surprise that I had the wrong priorities.

College came and with it came the ladies. College was the period of my life that really shaped me as a man. In my decisions, in my niche, in my confidence and in my style. I quickly came to discover that I have this natural affinity with girls, thus most if not all my friends were female. I became a quintessential BFF to many girls and i was the one they ran to ask for a guy's point of view and such. Also, I started to use the "best friend strategy" to get close to girls that i liked, and mostly it did work. Not always as smoothly as you'd think, but I usually ended up getting good results. Then again, this put a very vague line between friends and lovers, so eventually i stopped doing it, or so i thought.

I have 2 college best friends, both named Irene, both of whom became a special part of my heart, if you know what i mean. We are still close and we still hang out every now and then, but because of the nature of our friendships, it's not exactly clear where they stood in my life before. We still are awesome friends now, but now that i think about it, it took awhile before we really got a "genuine" friendship - without the blemish of any romantic attachment. They are still best friends, but maybe, just maybe, I am looking for something more.

Time passed by and i guess i just stopped looking for a best friend, knowing all full well that it is for naught. best friends, especially with the ladies, is a very big question mark. Unless the lady already has a lover, in which case, you are then ousted as the best friend. It is very difficult to work out. As for the guys, I guess yeah, i still have to reach out to them to really revive the friendship to how it was before..

As it stands, though.. I miss having a favorite person in the entire universe.

• Someone who can be the best brother or sister even if they aren't. 
• Someone who will also strengthen you in the Lord and will be one with you in worshipping Him.
• Someone who will not hesitate to tell you off openly if you do something stupid or when you get in trouble.
• Someone who sends off the feeling that they love you even if the only things they mutter and "goodness, you look ugly today,"
• Someone woith whom you can be yourself , and have moments of silence with and not feel feel awkward about it.
• Someone who will laugh with you or laugh at you openly, but can knows when you have to be sad as well and they are just there to be a shoulder to lean on.
• Someone who goes out of way just to hang out, no matter how busy they or you get.

Yes, i miss this kind of friendship very much. I know one day my wife will be my best friend, wherever she is, but i really wish there was something like this in my life as well. A brother. A sister. Whatever. Anyone who can be all these.