a little patience, if you will
May 31, 2007yes, yes, will update soon. life seems to move faster than i can write about it. (which supports my suspicion that i'm not really meant to be a writer–i can write, but it takes me far too long to do it.)
this i nabbed from peachy, who really owes me a night out so i can treat her to a beer (belated celebratory nonsense):
atheism, shmatheism
May 11, 2007I'm really pooped. I baked three different cupcake flavors today, with three different frostings. That's torture.
Torture that I happily undergo. *sigh* sometimes i suspect that I'm a masochist. Haha. Before you know it, I'm going begin reading the wealth of information about BDSM (bondage, domination, sumbission, masochism) available on the internet.
Kidding.
* * *
I really wanted to write an entry despite my really urgent need for sleep because of this blog entry i stumbled upon today, after i created a wordpress account upon the recommendation of my raket boss. (I need it for my new work assignment, but that's another story altogether.)
In any case, I was really disturbed not so much by the blog entry, but by the comments that people made on it. I get the distinct (and very unflattering) impression that for many Americans–and since this is about Richard Dawkins, a Brit, let's throw the majority of Western people into the fray–there are only two choices in the battle of religion vs. atheism:
either you're a rational, modern, forward-thinking atheist, or
you're a somewhat-uneducated, bible-thumping Christian who firmly believes that the world was created in six days, and on the last day "God" decided to rest.
As a quietly Catholic, formerly agnostic/practical atheist, educated (or so I'd like to think) rational person from an archipelago in Southeast Asia, I'm completely stumped by this dichotomy. I really don't get the war versus religion, nor do I understand the tendency towards fundamentalism that so many American Christians have. What's more, I don't understand the active proselytizing that's being done by BOTH sides of the fence. Seriously. It's so strange!
Why do atheists of a certain kind think that it's their duty to "convert" the people who are still deluded enough to believe in a god? It eerily parallels some fundamentalist Christian sects' mandated requirement to actively preach the "good news" to "save sinners" (sometimes forcing themselves upon unsuspecting strangers). Although I'll have to admit that the atheists certainly have a better-argued, definitely more rational position…I just don't get it. Why fight over it in the first place? At this rate, the war against religion waged by atheists is becoming just another "war of religion:" just another war between two competing world-views that thinks its own position is the only valid one. (I've long been meaning to read Dawkins's The God Delusion to at least get some hold on this way of thinking. A big boo, though, because his book is darn expensive here.)
On the one hand, some atheists may have a point about how religion can be divisive. Why is it that people from different religions can live with each other peacefully and not erupt in any sort of warfare in one country, while burn each other's homes at the slightest provocation in another country?
On the other hand, just take a good look at largely secular, Western, First World nations like the US, where people find purpose and meaning in their lives through eating less calories than normal. Is that the kind of society I want to live in? No thanks.
I have a lot of beef against Western modernity, but there's one thing that I DO like about it–modernity granted the individual the freedom to exercise her reason to figure out what she believes in and to choose how she lives her life, be it for, against, or just completely different from another person's way of life. The ability to recognize, create, and maintain diversity, I'd like to think, have been the greatest gifts modernity has given us.
And in the midst of all this arguing about religion or whether or not there is really a God (which is a question that I am frankly tired of), people are dying in Iraq (war), in Darfur (war, too), in the Philippines (human rights violations galore), in Fiji (tsunami), for reasons that may or may not be related to religion. Whole continents like Africa continue to be poverty-stricken, due largely to past exploitation by the West. Are we doing anything about it? Is the West doing anything about it?
Is it because I 'm a pragmatic Asian, or because I'm from a Third World country, (or any number of convenient cultural stereotypes) that I feel the "god question" is not really that important on a global scale? Does the answer to that question matter to the millions of laborers in China or to the thousands of Khmer refugees in Thailand? Does it matter to the husbands, wives, and children left behind by disaparecidos and victims of political killings?
* * *
Okay, I'm getting off my soapbox now. 
* * *
Anyone interested in webwriting work that you can do from home, with a quota of just 1500 words per day?
Pay is pretty good, too.
Email me or leave a comment if you're interested.
harried, but strangely happy
May 9, 2007This summer has been my shortest by far; before knowing it, it's the middle of May already. My days have passed in a computer blur: if I'm not writing product reviews, I'm editing something or doing some research for two other rakets I've got. (note to self: don't overbook yourself! three rakets is already two rakets too much.) Once I'm ready to shut down the computer, I'm shocked by the time at the bottom-left of my screen.
Needless to say, I haven't gone to the beach yet. And it's started to rain, already.
Despite the constant feeling of having deadlines breathing down my neck, I am pretty happy. I have two orders for mother's day cupcakes, three dozen in all (I plan to take care of them tomorrow and friday). I've met a lot of great new people, and made a new friend. Even though my body just feels tired in the morning, I still find reason to get up–which is a far, far cry from the days that I got migraines just thinking about going to ateneo and facing another day of academia.
* * *
Speaking of cupcakes and baking, I'm really excited about the coming days–I'm going to have a three day baking spree! Tomorrow and Friday I'll be baking the orders that I've gotten. I'll be baking 6 vanilla cupcakes, 12 chocolate banana caramel cupcakes, 6 chocolate-cream cheese cupcakes, 6 extra-moist chocolate cupcakes, AND 6 mango rhum cupcakes. Whew. That's quite a number of cupcakes. What's tempering my excitement is the thought of the backache I'll have after baking them all. Sigh. All that standing up and bending over takes a toll on one's back. Maybe I'll conscript Kapi into helping me bake, since he doesn't have work on Friday. Hehehe.
On Saturday, my friend Elodie will come over to the house and teach me how to make Tart Tatin, a French country-style apple pie, in time for Mother's Day. Yum. If we have time, Elodie says she teach me how to make Ratatouille (spelling?), which I'm excited about: zuchinni (courgettes, to the brits and french) is quickly becoming one of my favorite vegetables.
* * *
Someone I was in line with at the Cashier at the Ateneo asked me this morning: "So, is teaching philosophy really your life ambition?"
I was a bit taken aback. I really haven't given it much thought lately. I answered hastily, "For now, it is. But I have other plans…"
But what other plans are those? Getting a PhD has always been a castle floating somewhere near my head, but recently it's been joined by a lot of other castles: working at the UNFP (UN Population Fund), getting married and having children (though I am deathly afraid of having a daughter, lest I pass on my hang-ups to her), doing something great for Philippine development…
I love building castles in the air: they cost nothing at all, and in the off chance that they come true, well… it's even better.
Gabay Halalan Call Center: spread the word!
May 2, 2007Got this via email. Please spread the word!
The dream of an enlightened electorate may just be a phone call away.
Starting May 1, 2007, access to UNBIASED, RELEVANT election related information is just five numbers away: 101-49.
The first-ever Gabay Halalan Call Center dedicated to helping ur voters make enlightened choices will once again serve the Filipino people this 2007 elections. Callers anywhere from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao can simply pick up the phone and dial 101-49 from a PLDT landline FOR FREE (not even long distance charges) to talk to a tele-educator about:
- candidates' profiles and stand on issues
- party-list information
- your precinct
- information for first time voters
- information on how to get involved in the elections
- inquire about election related legal matters
- report election related incidents i.e. prohibited acts
- other election information which we can look up for you ˆ except whom to vote for :>
This service is especially helpful for Filipinos who do not have access to the internet or cannot read since a live person will be the one providing you with the information you need. Calls will be entertained from May 1 to May 15, 9:00am to 9:00pm.
* Gabay Halalan is still in need of Metro Manila-based volunteers who would like to be
tele-educators. Please call SLB at 426-6101 or dial 101-49 (after may 1) to volunteer and look for Marj.
elections, shmelections: or, why I couldn’t sleep last night
April 30, 2007I'm of the very strong opinion that to be fully human, one has got to be involved in political action.
And I'm sure it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that this year's an election year. Telephone poles and walls are plastered with candidates faces, When you watch primetime TV, political ads can be seen sandwiched between a commercial for laundry detergent and yet another outlandish shampoo commercial out to brainwash women that straight, long hair is more beautiful than other kinds of hair.
Everything's been saturated with election-related material that much of it goes unheeded, at least that's the way I feel about it. Angara's TVC is just as long and just as boring as that new Pantene commercial. It's not something that I pay attention to, much less use to base my answer to the question "Who am I going to write on that ballot on 14 May?"
So, how ARE we going to choose who to vote for, when most candidates just give us one liners ("Pichay, itanim sa senado!") or some really smooth PR gimmicks (see Chiz Escudero's TVCs). Is that enough material to base a decision on?
I guess that's why I ended up tuning in to GMA7 last night, to watch "Isang Tanong," a special show which, according to the network, features the Senatorial candidates answering the toughest and most urgent questions.
In the end, I had mixed feelings about the format, which consisted of the candidates answering 3 questions: first, a question "from the people," second from a distinguished journalist, third drawn from a box and written by a fellow candidate. Sure, the questions were tough, but were not enough, and the incisiveness really depended on who was asking the question. Some questions were too vague and allowed room for politicians to stay within the empty meaningless election rhetoric that we've seen enough of through their TV ads. Others were very incisive, even placing some candidates on the spot, leaving them at a loss for at least 3 seconds.
Of course, the ones asking the good questions were the journalists who have really been through the fire: de Quiros, Maritess Vitug, Malou Mangahas. They asked specific questions that couldn't be parleyed by vague generalizations.
But I realized it was not so much the format of the show, or the show itself that bothered me and kept me from sleeping well. It was, rather, the frightening prospect of seeing some of these people sitting in that Senate Session Hall. My father, who is not one for discussing politics, actually told me: "That Escudero is really a debater, no? He has a way with words, he's really slick [in the derogatory sense]. He's scary." And it's true: some candidates reminded me of people I knew in college, or students I've encountered as a teaching assistant: eloquent, well-spoken, undoubtedly intelligent…
…but willing to use their skill, charisma, and brilliance for anything that would get them ahead.
I'm pretty worried for our country.
. . .
There'll be another one next week, with another set of candidates, I think it will be those who were not present yesterday subjected to a round of questioning.
. . .
I'm also including something a friend of mine wrote, you can read it if you like.
*hugs*
next time…