Weep, weep, weep

God have mercy on us all.

I will post something more substantive about this tomorrow. Right now, though, I have an unbelievable headache and I seem to have caught the flu, too.

Disgusting

Young mother's fury as video of her gang-rape ordeal is posted on YouTube

Please excuse the somewhat pessimistic tone of this post.

I know this story is not exactly new, and I'm fairly certain it has been posted in other blogs before-- but the sheer disgust I feel for the perpetrators of this execrable act is simply too much. Has the West sunk so low that acts as barbarous as this are becoming more commonplace? What has happened, and what is happening to society? Sometimes, I feel utterly hopeless for the future of humanity, and this, I think, vindicates my feelings.

Frankly, whoever said that Europeans are more civilized than Americans has been fed a ton of bullshit. I'm sorry for being so pessimistic, but how can one possibly defend something of this nature? Granted, things like this are not exclusive to Europeans or Americans; I have known my fair share of truly outrageous a-holes in my life. One guy I went to school with blew up the school bathroom for fun, another tried to set the building on fire, and almost succeeded in burning it down. But at the end of the day, rape remains a personal transgression in the purest way. This video was done out of sheer malice against a person, in front of her own children, even. That is just WRONG. That is just INFURIATING. And it is utterly DAMNABLE.

Perhaps it is because Filipino culture places grave importance on the person of the Mother that I am so incensed. Where I come from, the strongest insults are always those that concern one's Mother-- but even if we say such things, violence against mothers is the ultimate sin once can commit. Murderers come and go, but patricides and matricides (and all those who commit violence against parents, whether one's own or those of others), I am convinced, have a special place reserved for them deep in the boiling recesses of the Devil's s--thole. I'm sorry for the strong language-- it is not customary for me to have such a salty tongue-- but I just feel so very strongly about this.

Let me end with a rather ominous comment from an Italian priest who visited a chapel I frequent; in America, sin loses its sinfulness because decadence is firmly grafted into society. But in Europe, sin loses its sinfulness because it becomes a philosophy. I did not understand what he meant until now. God be merciful to us all.

What You All Need to Know About Me

Dear Readers,

I'm afraid I haven't been entirely honest with you. Truth be told, the real (or at least, the most pertinent) reason I have taken a break from blogging is because I have felt nothing but complete and utter hatred for myself lately. To cut a long story short, I have very severe self-esteem problems, which have only worsened as of late. It does not help that I have rare, but extremely potent tendencies to slip into deep depression. I guess you could call me somewhat bi-polar, though that is not an official diagnosis (yet?). I can't help but blame God for all of my problems lately; and I can't help but feel like shit, too. Please pray for me and all my intentions, that I be able to overcome this period of darkness. Perhaps it would be best if I learn to accept myself for what I am or what I am not; I will probably never be the ideal me I've always pictured in my mind, and this is something I have to accept, however much it burdens me. Again, please pray for me; I really, really need it right now.

Life is Beautiful

"So many adventures couldnt happen today,
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams are swinging out of the blue,
We let them come true."

Tagged

It's been ages since I was last tagged, so I'm answering his one with great gusto! Thanks to Andrew for providing me with something to work with and killing my boredom.

The Rules:

a)The rules of the game are posted at the beginning
b)The blogger who gets tagged must answer the following questions about himself
c)After this has been accomplished, the blogger tags five more to answer the meme, and leaves a comment at their blog to answer it

1) What I was doing ten years ago:

8 April 1998 - Enjoying a trip to the beach in sunny Puerto Galera. I remember my little inflatable rubber boat got caught in a very powerful gust of wind, and I had to chase it for around 300 feet before I finally caught it. Then it got blown away again.

2) Five Things in My To-Do List

2.a) Get my grades from school (I got two B+'s! No A's, though :( )
2.b) Fetch my cousins
2.c) Clean my room, it's just an incredible mess
2.d) Read a book
2.e) Pray, and pray hard

3) Things I Would Do if I Were a Billionaire

3.a) Build the biggest church in the world, which I will personally furnish hahaha
3.b) Donate a significant sum to the Vatican
3.c) Build a resthouse near the Tubbataha Reef in Palawan
3.d) Build schools for the needy
3.e) Buy exceedingly rare books

4) Three of My Bad Habits

4.a) Pride (I can be a very arrogant person)
4.b) Lust/Impurity (Sadly, I can be very susceptible to the wiles of the flesh)
4.c) Backbiting (There was a time when all I could say about a person was gossip)

5) Five Places I Have Visited

5.a) The Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA (It was quite hot! I've never had bigger sweat stains in my life, LOL; but the view was incredible ['02])
5.b) Manhattan, New York, USA (We went to the Empire State building, FAO Schwarz, the Museum of Natural History, Liberty Island, and passed by the WTC [this was back in '00])
5.c) Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines (some VERY beautiful beaches, great people, and I got to see Baclayon church, second oldest in the country ['07])
5.d) Victoria Peak, Hong Kong (I was with my siblings; we then proceeded to Ocean Park afterwards ['96])
5.e) Singapore (I've been to Singapore a lot of times, so much so that I've visited all the major sights there; also shopped at Orchard Road. I bought a pair of shoes ['05]).

I've been to a lot more places, but in the interest of time, I just listed the above off the top of my head.

6) Five Jobs I've Had

Hmm... This is difficult, since getting jobs while in HS here in the RP is an alien practice. But thankfully, I've had my fair share of experience.

6.a)Facilitator for a summer camp (entirely pro bono; '06)
6.b Assitant for my mom's business (an on-off thing; '04 to '05)
6.c)Part-time tutor (for some of the younger kids in school, but I saw this as voluntary work; '05)

7) Five Snacks I Enjoy

Though this category was not in Andrew's list, I've seen some versions of this meme that included this, so I might as well add it. Besides, snacks are awesome! Yum! (Be forewarned, though, that the things I'm about to list are unhealthy as fudge).

7.a) Chicharon (Fried, crispy pork rind, best enjoyed by dipping into spicy vinegar)
7.b) Toblerone (I really like it)
7.c) Smores ( A guilty pleasure)
7.d) Chocolate mousse cake (A favorite of mine since time immemorial!)
7.e) Mentos Spearmint (LOL)

I also want to try a snack called 'Filipinos', which are, apparently, a kind of biscuit in Spain. I hear they're terribly tasty. LOL.

8) Five Places I've Lived

I've lived in Quezon City, Manila, all my life. We have had three different houses, though, but always in the same city.

That's it. It took some time, but in the end, it was quite enjoyable, really. I tag the following people, should they choose to accept:

Arturo Vasquez of 'Reditus'
Jeffrey Smith of 'The Roving Medievalist'
Eegahinc of 'The B-Movie Catechism'
Ken of 'Hallowedground'
Mark Scott Abeln of 'Rome of the West'

La Perla del Oriente

Sunset at Manila Bay

Now that I have more time on my hands, I hope to be able to blog on things closer to home; there are so many things in Manila that deserve their own posts, including the city's many churches, its quirks, and of course, the horrible traffic jams. And yes, even that can have some spiritual meaning. I've also been meaning to post more about Intramuros, the 'Old Manila', and its famous churches: San Ignacio, San Agustin, Santo Domingo, and many more. Sadly, only the Augustinian (which is to say, the second, LOL) church survives to this very day-- the rest were destroyed in WWII, along with priceless other structures (did you know that Manila was the second most devastated city in WWII?). These should be interesting, to say the least.

Summer

It's summer already in my part of the world, and I'm enjoying every minute of it!

I'm sorry I haven't been around lately-- the last few weeks of school, followed almost immediately by the freedom that summer brings, can prove to be a very potent potion. I've visited museums, spent hours in bookstores, and numbed by butt to movie marathons of Godzilla and Hammer horror-- a very enjoyable thing, I assure you. Of course, all this couch potato slouching will take a toll on my body, hence I'm also doubling my time at the tennis court (it's great that I have my cousin over to indulge me, plus her cute friends are also a boon, LOL).

Posts soon; for now, I have to get back to watching 'Conan the Barbarian'.