believing in God is cool

September 30, 2006

Okay, excuse the really silly-sounding title to this post. I just feel so strongly about what I believe–about the kind of God I believe in and the faith that I try to practice, even though (in one of my friend's words) it's so difficult to be a real Christian–that when I find an artist who isn't ashamed of what s/he believes in I just can't get over them. Not that I'm not discriminating about music–it still has to be good music, dangit. I am not shelling out 400pesos for a CD that sounds like a fundamentalist-televangelist-preacher set to half-arsed 'rock' music. Some artistry, please.

In the aftermath of Typhoon Milenyo, it's been tough to feel good about the world–everything seems so grim and dreary, and there's so much devastation. What's been getting me by is Matisyahu's music. There's such a positive spirit animating his reggae-dancehall songs that I can't help but believe that we'll all make it through dark days.

FIRE OF HEAVEN / ALTAR OF EARTH (Matisyahu, from the album "Youth")

Fire descends from on high in the shape of a lion
Burn the sacrifice of pride and ride on to Mount Zion

Rub me the wrong way, taking the highway
Rubbing sticks together but your fire’s man-made
Capitalize on hot air, soar like an airplane
Yearn to rise in the sky quick high like cocaine
False pride is suicide but you’ve got nothing to gain
Babylon’s buildings raise like flames
Drowning in their Champaign
Explosion pulled the pin in the hand grenade

Soul stain blowing up
In your own domain
Fire crackers ooh and aah
But they never maintain

Fires burning
Flames are dancing
Don’t burn the house down
Heavenly fire
Only resides
On an altar made from the ground

Fire descends from on high in the shape of a lion
Burn the sacrifice of pride and ride on to Mount Zion

One pair of eyes
But see two different things
One person cries but the other one sings
You walk around like everybody owes you something
Take what you got, thank G-d for all that life brings
The poor man has it all but not content with anything
While the rich man’s hands are empty but he’s sitting like a king

Backpack’s getting heavy, moving at a steady pace
Carrying bricks on your shoulders and lead around your waist
Making way, run in haste
There is no time to taste
what you ate
We should be grateful
Got a plateful
Fire burns like ice morsels falling fire like rain
Just a Man

quizzes chenelyn

September 29, 2006

Saw the "What Kind of Lover Are You? Quiz" on my kapi's blog. (Mahal, Casanova? Hehe, pwede. I wouldn't like the philandering part, though. But the suaveness, go ako dun. hehe.) So, you know me. I can't resist taking silly things like that. And, while I was there, I found the "Greek Personality Test." For the Greek in you. Haha.

(more…)

after the storm

As my dad and I were driving to Ateneo this morning, we would point out to each other each new, visible casualty of yesterday's typhoon. Almost everywhere we passed, broken branches and fallen leaves littered the streets. The roof of a Caltex gas station along Boni Avenue was blown off. Billboards along EDSA that were not prudently rolled up were reduced to shreds flapping in the wind. Trees uprooted, blocking streets. Lampposts broken like matchsticks.
Our own house was not spared: a broken window in the stairwell, the glass from a glass-topped wrought iron table (it flew before it shattered into little shards on our porch). The macopa tree which has been there since my childhood, steady and constant, split in two, and fell on our neighbor's roof.
I wish I had a camera. For some strange reason, I want to record the carnage. The bare roots of trees. The bright red flesh of macopa wood–who knew that under that dark bark lay such bright flesh? The shards of glass that litter our porch.
When the sun started shining this morning, at a bright and early 5 AM, I realized that it makes complete sense, the kind of schizophrenic personalities Filipinos have. It's the only way to cope with the weather.
. . .
I worry for the people who don't have real homes. The people who live in kariton under overpasses. Are they alright, too?

lazybones

September 27, 2006

The First meme on this blog. Because I'm too lazy (and frankly, too intimidated) to work on my paper.
Nabbed from Val.

1. Last person for whom you wrote a testimonial?
Gio. Hehe.

2. Last movie you watched:
The last one I watched in a movie house was The Devil Wears Prada. With Kapi, on a double-date with Javie and Den. On DBD (what the folks at the Philo dept fondly call pirated DVDs), I last watched Pride & Prejudice.

3. What do people first notice when they see you?
How young I look.

4. Do you like peanut-butter?
YES!

5. Most memorable place?
In what sense?

6. Do you read comics?
Yes. All kinds. From the comics page in newspapers to graphic novels.

7. What's your favourite restaurant?
Sa ngayon, pagtatawanan ako ni Kapi pero paborito ko yung C2 Classic Filipino Cuisine sa 7th floor ng Shangrila Mall. Super astig. Pinoy food pero hindi baduy yung presentation. At last!

8. Do you have enemies?
Someone is sitting behind me right now, waiting for the right time to stab me. With a carrot.

9. You like to go out grocery shopping?
Yes. I love it. It's where I expend all my housewife-ly tendencies.

10. Can you dance?
If forced. Or if I don't give a F*** who sees me, which is usually when I'm half-drunk and listening to reggae

11.Do you believe in God?
Yes, I do. Seriously.

12.First thing to do when you wake up tomorrow?
Groan. Then take a piss.

13.Where are you right now?
In the philo department. Ancient, Medieval, and Metaphysics Research Desk.

14.Your name spelled backwards
Alemap. Sounds like a guide to pubs in the UK.

15.Where were you born?
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, in Sta Mesa. Dangerously close to the Sta Mesa Motel Strip.

(more…)

indecisive

September 26, 2006

My affliction, really. Lately, I've had the most difficult time deciding on anything (what to write for my Heidegger paper, whether to watch TV or surf the internet) without resorting to asking advice. What the heck? Hindi naman ako ganito. Well, not usually.

Minsan nayayamot ako sa buhay-akademiko.

Buti na lang, I'm not indecisive when it comes to food and what to eat. At least I know what I want, on that count. Hehe.