Moved

Three months ago, I shared a room with about twelve people in the OB-GYNE ward of the hospital where I was admitted for an operation.

Three of them are of the same case like mine. We were all due for an operation to have our ovaries removed.

The night after my operation, one of the patients passed away for some reasons that I'd rather not discuss. What I remember was that she was restless and started to probably feel nauseous and started vomiting; later on losing consciousness and reviving her didn't help.

I was discharged Thursday after being operated the Monday before. I left the other three since they still weren't fit enough to go home yet.

Last Christmas, one of the twelve people's daughter sent us a text message wishing us for the season. Then again, this Valentine's. We were so glad to hear that her mom is okay and back to work and normal life.

This morning, I got a text message from my sister who was on her way to town, saying that she rode the same ride with one of these twelve people's son. His mother was one of those that I left behind, and I heard that she was discharged after two more days. Today is his mother's funeral day. She suffered stroke and didn't make it.

I was deeply moved by the news. My sister and I longed to hear about these room mates with whom we shared a very important part of our lives. But this isn't the kind of update that we wanted.

These are the strangers who became a part of my life for a little while but made deep marks in my memory, since we all shared one common fate. One common fate, at least in each of our own lifetimes.

*There is just something sentimental that I find in this song.

Now Showing

I got a call from a friend more than a week ago. He told me Avatar is showing here in our town's theater. I, then, called the theater for details. No, it's not on 3D.

I recognized the voice on the phone the minute he said hello; but held back just in case I was wrong. But it was he, after a few more lines.

"Will it be extended?" I asked.

"We still do not know. When do you plan to go?" Friend asked.

"I'm still not sure because of conflicts of schedule from friends, but definitely not this week."

"Ok, we'll see what we can do."

And it was extended for another week.

I love being in a small town.

*Image copied from this site.

Orange and Lemon

They're on top of the surveys.

Others follow.

We get to choose.

For the future of our country. Our people.

*Orange image copied from here and the lemon from here.

My Great Expectations

Just about an hour ago as of this writing, I was talking to a friend I met in Dubai during those two years that I stayed there. I was kinda curious about her status that I had to ask. After the casual Hi's and Hello's, I found out that she's on a lay-over on her way back home; here in Pinas.

It is ALWAYS good to talk to old friends... those that we haven't been with for a while. In our case, I lost touch with her since I headed home.

Then, we asked where we each come from.

She told me that she'll visit me when the dust settles.

I felt good.

But I couldn't resist saying what was on my mind.

"Many have promised. But no one ever came. So, don't worry, I understand if you won't make it either."

But I'm still glad they wanted it, said it, promised it.

Considering the travel time from one place to another, time spent travelling is better spent with your families whom you saw only once in what? A year? Two years? Three?

We're friends, still. And I'm always glad we are.

*Image copied from this page.

Bring Me Down

One of my best, good friends was over at our house a few days back. How it's always good to see friends. If you're following my posts, she's one of those many that I have smart conversations with. As usual, we updated and talked about a lot of things; considering that we are 'friending' each other on Facebook and we can see each other's updates, it STILL is not enough. One of our topics was blogs.

I was blogging since 2004, I always know this. I started in LiveJournal and eventually migrated to Multiply and now, here. I was writing on and off and most of the time, the reason is the ability to get online and be connected. When I was just starting in Dubai and getting online was not as easy, I started by writing sometimes with a pen and paper, sometimes on my laptop and saving them to upload when I finally get online.

Then, somewhere August last year, when I am connected 24/7, I stopped. I remember not being able to post for quite some time - the whole Ramadan season. I was intending to update but I had to go back home. It wasn't until we got the DSL connection that I was able to update and some of you, my readers, noticed that I had to kinda look back and write things that happened in summary. There were actually some more details that I wanted to write but I just felt it is not timely anymore; for me and for my readers.

After my friend left, I realized that the reason is not really staying connected 24/7. It might actually have been one of the reasons why I stopped writing. I discovered FarmTown and FarmVille I think back in July and I was into it during those times that I didn't write, couldn't write. There's also Twitter where I spend a lot of time reading a lot about a lot: people, news, crafts, entertainment. I follow people I don't even know because I wanted to know from him/her. Like what are his beliefs, interests, inclinations, etc., thinking of how I will learn from their views.

Then, I remember a friend from somewhere who is still very much into FarmVille. We talked about how a lot of people like her are spending a lot of time. Note that I am avoiding to call it addicted because I know most of them people are not. I have been there, done that. It wasn't an addiction for me, and also for a lot of them. I told my friend that as in my case, it is just a way to relieve stress from things. I am not playing FarmVille nor FarmTown anymore. It didn't bring me down to addiction. And I believe the reason is that I am not that much stressed anymore like I used to. I am trying to get well so that I can start over again.

As for the posts, the destruction was the social media and those fields of onions, green peas, blueberries, pineapples that bear fruits from nails, hammers, haystacks to small ponds, big ponds, summer house, hedges, small houses and mansions.

But it didn't bring me down. Because I am still standing. Still blogging.

*Note: Images are screen shots of my own farm. I blogged about it for a time here.

Ad-On, Ad-Off

I was watching PBB last night. Without knowing that "Habang May Buhay" started, we didn't know that the time slot was changed. So, it was like I watch PBB before going to sleep. When it was finally on, of course, we had to wait for the long commercials in between. I even had it noted on my facebook that I can fall asleep during commercial breaks; very easy for me.

image copied fom this site

Now, looking back, I realized that back then when I was still in Dubai and had TFC, I was looking for commercials. I was actually missing them. My room mates used to comment that I was a bit different because not so many people look for it. But as for me, I look for our culture in it. At times, it sets a trend for young ones [and even old ones] to follow. Other times, it becomes a word-of-mouth between group of friends. There was even a jingle that was made into a ringtone. At some point, it tells us something about our life, our culture, our people. Back then in Dubai, it would have also given me a piece of home.

But, of course, a lot of something sometimes becomes suffocating. Last night, I dozed off in-between the show. Then, this morning, I thought, "Can they come up with a button on your remote control to turn these things off when you don't want them?"

Another wishful thinking brought to you by....