Walkman!

My eyes widened with glee when I saw this contraption on the Perrins' dining table. Brought back memories of my high school days when I would listen to my walkman in the bus (Pearl Jam's VS album would play over and over when I was a sophomore) or while cramming for an exam. I had an Aiwa with 6 channel preset buttons for the radio when I was a senior. But when I was a freshman, I used to salivate over my cousin's yellow Sony sporty walkman that came from the "states."

Thanks to Dette and Tito "Norbs" for this great find!

And since this walkman made me reminisce about the 90's (even 80's), I now bring you Retro Junk.

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9 to 5

Okay that was a lie. I don't work in the office from 9 AM to 5 PM. I usually work from home in the morning to beat DC rush hour traffic, then go to the office around lunch time.

Anyway the pic above is just to show you what I stare at for a couple of hours, 5 times a week. My PC (ugh) with the nice color-coded (albeit full) Outlook calendar, my Maryland Terps cup, and the legal pad with all sorts of formulas I try to concoct every time a proposal needs to be sent out.

I like my job. It exercises my brain, especially when I need to do all those algebra and calculus stuff for proposals. It makes me do techie stuff and even creative stuff when an ad needs some minor designing. Plus I have a really laid-back boss who doesnt care where or when I work as long as I get the job done. He forgets to record the time offs I take unless I remind him. This job allows me to have a stable source of income while at the same time serve God (I've even gone on mission a few times during my employment here. It was no problem with my boss).

Just this afternoon though, I was talking with a good friend of mine on Google Talk/Gmail chat. She was talking about how she wants a job that directly serves God more. That made me contemplate about my job.

I work for a political magazine/website based in DC. Most - if not all - of our writers have been fawning over Obama. Their articles and blogs obviously show that they're Democrats, especially when they keep saying negative things about the Republican candidates. Now I'm not saying I'm a Republican or a supporter of McCain (I'm not even eligible to vote), but I feel all these writers, political pundits, etc have in some way influence over the voters. While I don't have anything against Obama as a person, I do have an issue with him being pro-choice and with his plan to have all supreme court judges to be pro-choice. If Obama wins, I fear for the lives of those unborn children. If he wins, does that mean my company had a small hand in that? And does that mean, as an employee of this company, I indirectly helped the pro-choice cause? I helped kill unborn babies? Yet I call myself pro-life? A witness for life?

I'm confuzzled.



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Bidyo

I'm loving this mobile blogging thing. I'm here right now in Delaware shooting a video for my good friends Jericho and Rina's bethrotal reception video. It's an honor to help tell their story to their family and friends. This is the 3rd love story I've helped with, and the funniest. Every time Jericho is involved with a video shoot, the concept is always creative and the acting hilarious. I can't wait to edit this.

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Witness is now mobile!

I just figured out a way to post on this blog through my crackberry, so I can update whenever, wherever. I can even post a pic that I took through the phone's camera (hi David!). Now if I can only figure out how to move it down...

Maybe this would get me to update my blog more often, since my last post was roughly 4.5 months ago.

Slacker! :D

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Womanhood

Guess what I was watching on YouTube last night? The 1994 Miss Universe Pageant. To those who weren't in the Philippines at that time, this pageant was held in Manila. With the country being addicted to beauty pageants, you can imagine the commotion that went on in the summer of '94. So anyway, I watched some clips of that pageant on YouTube. The last interview session for the top 3 contestants had this question: What is the essence of being a woman?

I remember being asked that question 14 years ago. I remember going around in circles, because that's what I do when I have no definite answer. I just beat around the bush, hoping the length of my answer would make me appear knowledgeable. I bet that never worked. So last night I heard the question again, and I asked myself, what is the essence of being a woman?

Easy, motherhood.

It's what sets us apart from men. Women are able to carry a child in their wombs. Christopher West, a renowned Christian speaker, calls women "beautiful tabernacles." Because the womb of a woman is a reflection of Mary's womb. The one that carried Jesus. A tabernacle, indeed.

Now you may ask, what about the women who were or are not called to be mothers? The ones called to single-blessedness? What about the nuns? Well, all women are called to be mothers, may it be biologically or not. An obvious example of a non-biological mother is Mother Teresa. She was not just a mother to the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity. She was a mother to the materially and spiritually poor that she took in. Those people that needed to be loved, she loved. Like a mother.

Recently, news broke out about a "pregnant man" (thanks Oprah). When I first read about it, my initial expression was "Huh? How did that happen?" When I read the whole story, that's when I realized, ah, "he" is a "she."

Now I'm not here to judge. None of us have the right to judge, but all of us have the right to love. So we should love this pregnant woman, who is bringing another life to this world. God created her female, named Tracy Lagondino. Now the name change is her decision. If she wants to be called Thomas or Tom or Jack, you know, more power to her. But I'm sorry, none of us can decide our gender. I like what Christopher West said in one of his articles: "Tracy Lagondino is not a man 'trapped' in a woman’s body. There is no such thing. Rather, she is a person tragically cut-off from her true identity as a woman." Again, there should be no judgement here. Only love.

The identity of a woman. The essence of being a woman. Motherhood is this precious thing that women are lucky to have. And as Mother's Day draws near, I'd like to honor my two mothers: Mama Mary and my biological mom. Both women I highly admire and respect. Both of whom I aspire to be. Even if I could only be a smidgen of who they are, I would be a happy camper. If I could only have a dash of their patience, a sprinkle of their gentleness, a teaspoonful of their ability to love unconditionally, what a woman I could be.

Happy Happy Boing Boing

I've always wondered what attracted my nieces and nephews to the Teletubbies. They are so weird (the 'tubbies that is). Whatever they say don't make sense. And what is up with the red bag? The baby as the sun creeps me out as well.

Anyway, I was reading an article a few days ago that linked to an old Sesame Street clip on YouTube. That made me look for more classic Sesame Street clips that I haven't seen in decad... years. I stumbled upon one of my favorites, the Yip Yip Aliens. Watching their segment again, as a 29 year-old, made me realize that I may not be as different as my nieces and nephews when I was a kid. I mean, what the heck...



Yip yip yip... happy happy boing boing... I don't get it anymore. What was I thinking? And their mouths look weird.

Anyway here are a few classic Sesame Street clips that I did enjoy watching again...

Lower case N
Aww... lower case n isn't lonely anymore. Yay rocketships. This one always made me feel sad for "n" when I was a kid. Sometimes even to the point of making me teary-eyed. I only noticed now that the song is kinda 70's-folksy.

Eleven Twelve
I love love loved this. I could not get the song out of my head at times. Thank you Sesame Street, I can sing 1 to 12. And I've always wanted to have a pinball machine like that.

The Bridgekeeper
I remember watching this either before or after school and I'd be eating something. And... yeah. That's all I remember, I'd always be eating something while watching that. Weird.

Clap Clap Point Point

I used to think this blog would never have anything to do with politics, but this is just too funny...



And since we're talking about politics and late night comedy, click here to find out who "made" Mike Huckabee: Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert? Late night fight! Plus an Irish jig and a cameo from a certain presidential candidate.