Let's Paint!

My Lemon has recently developed an interest in painting. Yay! She's my daughter alright! Hehe... So this weekend we started our series of painting projects by painting plaster figurines at Let's Paint. It's another first for both of us. Unfortunately I chose a relatively complex figurine, which took me couple of hours to finish (nagmadali pa ko sa lagay na yan). There were times when I wanted to smash the darn plaster figure but I was aware that kids were watching me paint. So yeah, I had to be good.

Mind you, I don't quite paint well under pressure. It takes me days to finish a piece. Throw in a dozen pair of eyes (criticizing) watching me make a mess and voila! And to think this was supposed to detoxify me. Haha.. blame it on my OC-ness, darnit.

Look who's japanese!

i don't have the slightest idea why my brows were purplish here. an officemate noticed so too.

Tried this find-your-celeb-look-alike thing at myheritage.com. What I found out made me laugh. :D
Thanks Mike, for sharing!

In Bloom

Start:	Sep 1, '06 10:00p
Location:	Gweilos Eastwood

Lovecore
Salamin
Cambio
Silverfilter
Kinetic Daze
Dong Abay

Cure for sore hearts

Lately we've been having so much stress at work. I, on the other hand, deal with a lot of domestic heartaches as well. And there's no better cure than a cup of coffee, good company, and sugar rush.

*Cakes by Albert of WWAI

on homosexuality

SEPARATE OPINION
‘Don we now our gay apparel’

By Isagani Cruz
Inquirer
Last updated 02:14am (Mla time) 08/12/2006

Published on Page A10 of the August 12, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

HOMOSEXUALS before were mocked and derided, but now they are regarded with new-found respect and, in many cases, even treated as celebrities. Only recently, the more impressionable among our people wildly welcomed a group of entertainers whose main proud advertisement was that they were “queer.” It seems that the present society has developed a new sense of values that have rejected our religious people’s traditional ideas of propriety and morality on the pretext of being “modern” and “broad-minded.”

The observations I will here make against homosexuals in general do not include the members of their group who have conducted themselves decorously, with proper regard not only for their own persons but also for the gay population in general. A number of our local couturiers, to take but one example, are less than manly but they have behaved in a reserved and discreet manner unlike the vulgar members of the gay community who have degraded and scandalized it. I offer abject apologies to those blameless people I may unintentionally include in my not inclusive criticisms. They have my admiration and respect.

The change in the popular attitude toward homosexuals is not particular to the Philippines. It has become an international trend even in the so-called sophisticated regions with more liberal concepts than in our comparatively conservative society. Gay marriages have been legally recognized in a number of European countries and in some parts of the United States. Queer people -- that’s the sarcastic term for them -- have come out of the closet where before they carefully concealed their condition. The permissive belief now is that homosexuals belong to a separate third sex with equal rights as male and female persons instead of just an illicit in-between gender that is neither here nor there.

When I was studying in the Legarda Elementary School in Manila during the last 1930s, the big student population had only one, just one, homosexual. His name was Jose but we all called him Josefa. He was a quiet and friendly boy whom everybody liked to josh but not offensively. In the whole district of Sampaloc where I lived, there was only one homosexual who roamed the streets peddling “kalamay” and “puto” and other treats for snacks. He provided diversion to his genial customers and did not mind their familiar amiable teasing. I think he actually enjoyed being a “binabae” [effeminate].

The change came, I think, when an association of homos dirtied the beautiful tradition of the Santa Cruz de Mayo by parading their kind as the “sagalas” instead of the comely young maidens who should have been chosen to grace the procession. Instead of being outraged by the blasphemy, the watchers were amused and, I suppose, indirectly encouraged the fairies to project themselves. It must have been then that they realized that they were what they were, whether they liked it or not, and that the time for hiding their condition was over.

Now homosexuals are everywhere, coming at first in timorous and eventually alarming and audacious number. Beauty salons now are served mostly by gay attendants including effeminate bearded hairdressers to whom male barbers have lost many of their macho customers. Local shows have their share of “siyoke” [gay men], including actors like the one rejected by a beautiful wife in favor of a more masculine if less handsome partner. And, of course, there are lady-like directors who are probably the reason why every movie and TV drama must have the off-color “bading” [gay] or two to cheapen the proceedings.

And the schools are now fertile ground for the gay invasion. Walking along the University belt one day, I passed by a group of boys chattering among themselves, with one of them exclaiming seriously, “Aalis na ako. Magpapasuso pa ako!” [“I’m leaving. I still have to breastfeed!”] That pansy would have been mauled in the school where my five sons (all machos) studied during the ’70s when all the students were certifiably masculine. Now many of its pupils are gay, and I don’t mean happy. I suppose they have been influenced by such shows as “Brokeback Mountain,” our own “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros” (both of which won awards), “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” and that talk program of Ellen Degeneres, an admitted lesbian.

Is our population getting to be predominantly pansy? Must we allow homosexuality to march unobstructed until we are converted into a nation of sexless persons without the virility of males and the grace of females but only an insipid mix of these diluted virtues? Let us be warned against the gay population, which is per se a compromise between the strong and the weak and therefore only somewhat and not the absolute of either of the two qualities. Be alert lest the Philippine flag be made of delicate lace and adorned with embroidered frills.

* * * * * * *

A friend posted a link in his journal leading to this article. You can find the article at: http://opinion.inq7.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=14837

A very satisfied victim of Conspiracy

As usual, against all odds na naman ang drama ko. Thanks to my unbelievably stubborn spirit, I made it last night to Lovecore's gig at Conspiracy Bar. And boy what fun I had!

One by one, I picked up my companions for the night: my seatmate Jeyaiy (who celebrated her Nth birthday last monday), WWAI friend Gen and Anne Rice/Smashing Pumpkins co-follower Jon Earl. I've decided to keep this group small. Anyhoot, it's a weeknight. I shouldn't even be out. Hehe...

We arrived just in time for Lovecore's slot. Though the drummer was sick and therefore absent, and the setup didn't cater well to Lovecore's brand of noise (or maybe it was just lack of quality souncheck, huh Cy? :D ), it was a swell performance nonetheless. Their music is a reflection of their passion.

Bonuses galore: Stonefree, Cambio, Indio I w/ Karl Roy, and Salindiwa played that night too. Cinderella Jeyaiy had to leave after Stonefree's performance. Boo!

I really enjoyed bonding with Carl and Ephraim (guitarist and bassist) of Lovecore. They're really just ordinary guys with great talents and a healthy sense of humor. Cyril, who was busily fluttering about all night, was the most cheerful creature last night. :D

And now, my most overused sentence: Too bad the night had to end. Oh well... haha..

I give this night:


See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

Pictures of You

Resembling Robert Smith, I love him more tonight!

Last Saturday was Cure Night @ saGuijo. I'm so glad I came, amidst the downpour. The Cure is probably my 5th favorite band and one of the first bands I got addicted to (no, I'm not that old). Watching bands play Cure songs in a cozy little place was a real treat for me. I simply had one of the best saGuijo nights ever.

But I guess the real treat for me here, aside from Skies of Ember's Just Like Heaven, is Pin Up Girls playing Pictures of You, my most favorite Cure song. They were the last guys who played, and I'm ever so glad I stayed.

Ces came with her funny little bro. My dear Louis made it as well. Man I've missed him so. Saw BK and together we had a little camphone-whoring. Met Larry and his friends too, and I should say I enjoyed their company.

With all these great friends around me and a lot of Cure songs playing, it's too bad the night had to end.

And now, the words from my favorite Cure song.

* * * * *

Pictures of You

I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real
I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel

Remembering
You standing quiet in the rain
As I ran to your heart to be near
And we kissed as the sky fell
Holding you close
How I always held close in your fear

Remembering
You running soft through the night
You were bigger and brighter and whiter than snow
And screamed at the make-believe
Screamed at the sky
And you finally found all your courage
To let it all go

Remembering
You fallen into my arms
Crying for the death of your heart
You were stone white
So delicate
Lost in the cold
You were always so lost in the dark

Remembering
You how you used to be
Slow drowned
You were angels
So much more than everything
Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes
But I never see anything

If only I'd thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart
If only I'd thought of the right words
I wouldn't be breaking apart
All my pictures of you

Looking so long at these pictures of you
But I never hold on to your heart
Looking so long for the words to be true
But always just breaking apart
My pictures of you

There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to feel you deep in my heart
There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to never feel the breaking apart
All my pictures of you

*corrections?

A new reason to smile

You all know I love brushing my pearly whites. And when you think there's no way I can get more obssessed with brushing - *sigh* Hahaha... I can't even finish my sentence.  Haaay... 

And I used to think dentists are the meanest creatures ever.