Quaere Verum

To all my friends and loved ones...this holiday season, may the spirit of love and giving be in all our hearts, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. A blessed and meaningful Christmas to you and your families....;-)

Things have been quite a blur for the past few days...a mish-mash of parties, alcohol, nights out, weddings and funerals...and a foot unceremoniously run over by a cab...:-) Hardly any time at all to stop and think...then it hits you. Have you ever felt caught between a rock and a hard place? Damned if you do...damned if you don't. Mind games...double meanings...and yet...through a little introspection, things are as clear as a sunny, cloudless morning in the month of May. Sometimes something which you feel you have been looking for all your life is standing right there in front of your eyes...so teasingly close so you can feel it…maybe even taste it…and yet, at the same time, so very distant, so far away. Maybe it’s for the best. I know I don't deserve something this good. Which is what it should be all along...the truth of the matter is: it's just not meant for me. I am only human. With human needs and desires...perhaps one of the basest and most primal of these is the ne

December 15...10 days before Christmas. And what have we got to show for it...? Well, in a span of a number of weeks, we've had a transport strike, numerous dead and homeless resulting from back-to-back typhoons, steadily rising costs of petroleum products, water and electricity, and, just a couple of days ago...a deceased national icon. As I was on my way to work, I heard a news report about a woman who climbed the rooftop of the Quezon Avenue MRT station and was threatening to jump.... Desperate times require desperate measures.... Somehow, though I can't seem to put my finger on it, there's apparently something terribly wrong with the way things are. So much negativity. Hmmm....

At first I thought I was too young to be in a mid-life crisis. Hell, I'm only 32. Yet, when I made a google search for the textbook definition of a mid-life crisis, I came up with the following: 'Mid-life transition' is something that happens to many of us at some point during our lives (usually, at about 40, give or take 20 years). It is a natural process (first identified by the psychologist Carl Jung) and it is a normal part of 'maturing'. However, it can feel very uncomfortable, and you can experience a wide range of feelings whilst it is happening, such as: 1. Discontent with life and/or the lifestyle that may have provided happiness for many years; 2. Boredom with things/people that have hitherto held great interest and dominated your life; 3. Feeling adventurous and wanting to do something completely different; 4. Questioning the meaning of life, and the validity of decisions clearly and easily made years before; 5. Confusion about

A couple of days ago I just finished reading Dan Brown 's The Da Vinci Code . I went through the book in a day or so, compelled by the suspenseful twists and turns of the story and especially the controversial premises the book presented regarding Jesus Christ's life...that historical proof exists that Jesus in fact married Mary Magdalene, and actually fathered children. Also intriguing were the relationship of ancient pagan practices, rituals, beliefs and symbols on modern religion...the alleged suppression of ancient biblical information by the church in an attempt to preserve the status quo , the search for the holy grail, and the cryptic codes hidden in famous works of art. Well, no doubt the book is a work of fiction, but some of the ideas it presented held at least some grain of authencity, having been proposed in the past and backed up from careful historical research. Though I consider myself a Catholic and a believer in Jesus Christ, I don't suppose an interest in

For the past month, I have been on a personal "health crusade" of sorts. Quit smoking, started running and lifting weights regularly and watching what I eat. I don't really know what triggered this renewed health consciousness, it just sort of happened. It's been 25 days (as of this blog entry) since I last smoked a cigarette. Strangely enough, quitting wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, or as others claim. A long weekend of solitude without any cigarettes inadvertently gave me a reason not to smoke for three days. On the fourth day, just thought to myself, "I lasted this long, why not quit for good?" That was more than three weeks ago...and I still haven't given in. There are still some temptations to light up, but it feels like I'm just after the ritual of lighting up and holding a cigarette...not actually a desire for nicotine. Perhaps it's because I have been smoking only for the past three years...and my preference for light and

I'm 32 years old, and I have been married once. That marriage had been over for the past five or so years, and declared null and void for the last two. Yet on occasion...like now for example...I still tend to reflect and ponder over it. Divorce/annulment rates are on the rise, more so in developed and developing countries. I predict a trend: in a about a couple of generations...less than a hundred years...marriage would not be a prevalent custom or tradition between couples as it is today. It's just a matter of time before divorce/annulment rates take up a major portion of the marriage numbers...making marriage an inconsequential and insignificant undertaking. Even now, we see the effects of this trend. Whereas marriage used to be an end in itself...a life decision...with lifetime consequences...it is common knowledge that marriage has not been as durable as a bond between couples as it was in the past. Instead, it is now considered more or less a stop over, a temporary and rev

Hmmm...now what do I do...? :-) Blogging seems to be a popular activity as of late, and as one who always seems to have an opinion or something to say, I guess it was inevitable that I end up making one of these things for myself...so what the hey!?!? Right now am a bit bored...nothing really happening as of late...a number of my officemates seem to be enjoying themselves with watching short porn clips of actresses...Diane Zubiri I believe? Ning (my somewhat "beautiful" [according to her at least...;-)] colleague doesn't seem to have anything better to do than scour my cell phone for forwarded messages that can be recycled....now another one is delivering a somewhat forlorn version of Frank Sinatra's "My Way." We sure paint a pathetic picture of life in one of the country's top GOCCs (Government Owned and Controlled Corporations)...and the funny part is...this is what we do everyday of our lives in this office. Hmmmm....a worthwhile use of taxpayer