Friday, December 20, 2013

Article: The mega 'negas': Dealing with cobwebs in our closets

The mega 'negas': Dealing with cobwebs in our closets

Not everyone has big rattling secrets – the skeletons in our proverbial closets – but all of us admittedly have those little, nagging reminders and repressed memories. These things don’t really eat us up with hatred or regret, but all the same, they prick us, sometimes at the most inopportune times.

Some of them can eventually molt into larger issues, becoming the skeletons we love hiding from our friends. Some of them seem to disappear from our lives, practically. However, every now and then, they kick back into life, and keep us preoccupied as we try to forget them again.

So how do you deal with these things? Well, here are some tips that may help.

Click here to read more at the Philippine Online Chronicles

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Article: Reflections on immortality

Reflections on immortality

When we are young, we don’t think much about when our lives will end. We only know that we’d like to die in a fitting way, and hopefully far in the future. However, as we experience accidents, injuries, diseases, or simply experience how it is to get older, the concept of our own mortality becomes a shadow that we don’t like to see.
After all, medical science still hasn’t discovered the secret of immortality, and to be honest, I don’t think that current human society isn’t ready to handle the consequences of people living forever. And since I don’t think I’ll be having children any time soon for personal reasons, I do have a stake in finding out how I can “live past my death.” What would I have to do to be remembered by the future generations, without having the benefit of children?

I’ve recently lost quite a few college batch mates to Mr. Death, and it has given me much to think about, particularly about how I would like to be remembered. It’s a very uncomfortable thing, knowing that you will one day be dead and stuck in the ground (or, in my case, be a few pounds of ashes in a jar, as per my current will). Here are some ideas on how to become immortal; you won’t be alive, that’s true, but the idea here is that your name and reputation should live on.

Click here to read more at the Philippine Online Chronicles

Monday, December 16, 2013

Article: Remembering George Harrison: The quiet Beatle that could

Remembering George Harrison: The quiet Beatle that could

My family had always been known as a very musical one. It was a running joke that our house had as many radios as it did rooms. Each room had its own era: My mom and dad were the ‘50s and ‘60s, I was the ’70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, my older sister was 80s but more of pop while I was for new wave and rock, and my younger sister would be the one to listen to metal, and, later on, hip-hop. Even my grandmother got in on it, as you could hear her listening to ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s music.
Most of my family also knew how to play musical instruments – my grandfather could play the piano, My mom was a drummer, my dad a guitarist and singer, my older sister a singer, I was a bass guitarist, and my younger sister is a singer, guitarist, and songwriter.

And yet, when the Sundays came in and all of us were in the house, it never failed: at least some of the songs would be from the Beatles. That’s what the Beatles meant to our family, it was an agreed-upon common ground for everyone’s preferences. Of course, my dad would not be able to understand the later Beatles albums, but we all loved the early ones, the ones indelibly marked by their mop-top hair and Pierre Cardin suits.

It was a given that much of our time was talking about John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but then, that’s because they had penned the most number of songs. However, my dad, the guitarist, always had a soft spot for the Quiet Beatle, George Harrison.

Click here to read more at the Philippine Online Chronicles

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Article: Cubao hideaways

Cubao hideaways

The idea of finding nice quiet places in the Cubao commercial center (SMART/Araneta Coliseum area) sounds like an unnecessary thing to do, but for people like me who live nearby, it’s become a bit of a game finding pockets of relative peace and quiet where one can just observe people as they pass by.

Click here to read more at the Philippine Online Chronicles

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Article: Gift-buying for your guy: Finding that one Christmas toy for the big boy

Gift-buying for your guy: Finding that one Christmas toy for the big boy

For all the women out there, be you moms, wives, daughters, or girlfriends: Here are some (hopefully) useful ideas for Christmas gifts for the men in your life. Now, you have to understand, some of them will sound… more childish than childlike, but well, some guys are like that. Let’s divide the men into some basic types, so we can focus on particular gifts more. It’s almost for sure that your men are a mix of one or more, and that’s good! At least you’ll have more gift ideas.

Click here to read more at the Philippine Online Chronicles