Prudence and Madness

To the “proud pinay” who emailed me, in response to my post on the Desperate Housewives issue:

I think your usage of the written English language is more pitiful than I could ever be, considering that you are a DOST scholar (that is, if the information in this site is accurate).  And because you cannot even try to present your arguments on why the Desperate Housewives episode was a racial slur, you preferred to resort to pathetic comments such as this:

it’s easy for you to say all of that because you’re not a filipino neh??

no matter how you say it,, if you veiw it
form a filipino’s point of veiw,, it’s really very
dicriminating..what’s wrong with meds who graduated in the
philippines??

oh well,, that’s how “WHITE” people usually are..
they think they’re the best,,…..
duh!!! stupid americans…
RACIST!!!

And like what I’ve said, your comment only beautifully illustrates why Filipinos are racists too.  Perhaps, you were also embarrassed I’ve to point out that you haven’t been reading the post very well because you didn’t glean from it that I’m also a Filipino.  And because of that you email me this:

you’re a filipino??
what a shame!!
i’m ashamed of filipinos like you..
i pity your mother for raising someone like you..
i just hopew our country won’t turn it’s back on you..

It is something that I would have let pass, since such kind of comment isn’t worth any time at all.  But hear me on this: I am annoyed by the fact that you have to insult my mother because of this issue.  Any decent, educated, civilized person would know that to argue or disagree in any given discussion only entails logical presentation of facts and opinions, and not ad hominem attacks.

And for resorting to ad hominem, I pity you.  Maybe someday, when you’ve grown more mature as a person, you’ll be able to hold your own arguments, without having to demean other people just because they do not agree with your views.

But then, receiving such a comment is not my loss anyway.  Actually, it is your loss.

Well, actually, it’s my final 2-weeks vacation (doing nothing but surf, play games, and go malling) before residency starts and it may be another year before I could get a chance at another vacation.  So I’m really going to savor the next few days, sleep all I want and do the stuff I may not be able to do when I start my new hospital duties.  Also, I’ll have to make sure I’ve got all the requirements ready so there won’t be a hassle in getting my meager monthly salary.

A lot of things have been happening in the blogosphere, as I read through the plurks.  I guess, I’ll just list them down:

Somebody needs your help!  Donate Blood!

I got wind of this through Benj’s blog and then surfed into Couchsurfing:

My friend, Sheng Tienza, is in the Intensive Care Unit of Makati Medical Center. She has been continuously bleeding after giving birth to her fourth child. It was her third revival last Saturday. Her condition is critical and we urgently need at least 40 donors of blood per day till the end of this week in order to save her life. She needs plenty of O+ blood, but we can donate any blood type so we could get O+ from the Blood Bank. We are trying to find all the help we can get. Kindly text me if you’re willing to help save a life. My number is 09186091214.

Thank you very much and God bless you.

Sincerely,
Chai

I hope people who’re able to donate blood could help. You won’t really get that much dizzy afterwards, as long as you take some cookie or chocolate or juice after the blood donation and you don’t do anything strenuous an hour after the blood donation. I’ve texted Chai and she said to just proceed to MMC’s blood bank and inform them that the blood is for Sheryll Tienzo.

Laughs & Gasps, Kel & Jay and Ms. Giselle Sanchez

This would be happening at the Vibal Publishing Rooftop (Beside Shell Station) in G. Araneta Ave. street on November 22, 2008, Saturday, from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.  For only P250, you’d be able to help the Giselle Sanchez Scholarship Foundation (a foundation established to give scholarships to brilliant but underprivileged students), plus have a fun night filled with magic, mentalism, music, and comedy!  More details at Marcelle’s site.

ELECTIONS 2010: THE HYPE ABOUT HIGH-TECH (Elections and Automation in the Philippines)

I believe everybody’s starting to tighten up, anticipating what 2010 elections will bring to our country, whether hope for a brighter future or another reminder that we have not been vigilant enough.  I’ve signed up for the forum and hopefully, my schedule will remain free enough for me to attend this.  After all, we’re growing wary (and not weary) and therefore, we must keep all eyes open.

To register, please go to this site.

That’s it for now.  Will have to sleep earlier tonight because tomorrow, my second abode won’t be so wifi-less anymore.  Yay!

It’s November 1 (and I’m not going to say if it’s All Souls’ day or All Saints’ day because, honestly, I’m confused between the two, and I don’t see any difference between them either) and I just got home from Bambang, with a new stethoscope (because my faithful old one already retired) and my money supposedly for hair rebonding gone.  I came home to an empty house, with my mom and dad going to the cemetery with our other relatives to visit the graves of my grandparents.  And to have a seemingly endless chat, for sure.

I’m thankful that my folks are considerate enough not to drag me to the cemetery with them.  Not that I don’t want to visit the graves of my lolo and lola and my bestfriend, who died young, but I’d rather not follow the traditions set for this holiday, seeing that, for a long time, the holiday has really been for the living and not for the dead.  I get more than a horrible headache having to weave through the crowd of cemetery-goers, most of which are groups of youngsters, in their best gimmick clothes even, who’re milling around, having a look at which of their friends have come to visit their dead too and soon enough, the group gets bigger as they round up their usual members.  I find it such a nuisance too that most can be so inconsiderate, chatting and laughing so loudly, unmindful that a neighboring grave, with its own set of visitors, is very near and may be saying their prayers for their dead.  I hate how a beautiful tradition of remembering the dead devolved into a yearly fiesta/picnic.

Perhaps, the reason for the hate is because of my preference for solitude and solemnity, when it comes to matters of the dead loved ones.  For how can one truly remember and talk to the dead, when preoccupation is with the living?  Why the need for setting only a single day in a year to visit the dead, when we could see them any random day, as our schedule permits, or remember them in our minds?  Why the need to be physically near their graves, when actually, they’re always with us, in the air we breathe and in the earth which walk on everyday?

So, tonight, for my dead grandparents, I lighted a white candle.  Could be some other color, but white, I think is a safe color because I don’t know which color they preferred.  For my bestfriend, I lighted a little blue-colored candle for her.  Well, she likes blue, so I find it appropriate enough to have a blue candle for her.  And maybe one of these days, I’ll just pass by their graves and leave some flowers, red roses for my grandparents and white roses for my bestfriend, ‘coz she liked them like I do.  I don’t think they’d really remember the things they like, though.  But I do.

Perhaps, they’re partly right; it is a holiday for the living.  For the ones who’re left behind, those who could still remember how some people have come and gone.  For me, though, it should still retain a measure of solemnity and respect.