Shower in Half-light

He crouched into a corner of the bathroom and let the shower drip. French love songs creeping in through the half-opened door that bathed the room in half-light.

Talking to himself, again, he sought the warmth of words and the company of wine in winter.

Nostalgia leaked through his skin, flooding the floor with images and half-finished sentences in multiple tongues.

It was one of those moments that he found the thought of drowning comfortable and safe to swallow.

Worry Not

He entered the room and calculated on his mind the things he has to do and which ones to do first.

Turn the fan on. Open the windows. Oh, take your shoes off first. Hey, put your bag down. Okay.

Take your iPod out, connect it to the speakers and check the volume. Rest. Listen to the music. Don't worry about the books to be read, the articles to be written, the dirty underwear to be washed, the coins to be saved, the hairs on the bathroom floor, the dry laundry to be folded, dinner.

Don't worry about them. Yet.

Drink water. Lotsa.

ILO3

Angels, Saints and Apparitions.

ILO2

Faces. Fiesta. Friends. Family.

ILO

Old Churches, Same Old Friends, Rainy Days.

MNL2

Motel turned Family Pension House.

Calea

Three friends broke and hungry on a Friday night.
What nicer way to celebrate that than by taking a cab and sharing slices of mud pie, blueberry cheesecake and fruit trifle?



Calea. Sweet.

I just need some sleep

I just need some sleep. If that would mean not calling you for days, please be considerate. It doesn’t mean I would forget about you. It only means that despite my great intentions and extraordinary skills at some things, I still have not found the formula that would enable me to call people while sleeping. Somnambulism doesn’t take skills, not even practice. It is a gift from the universe. And I also doubt it if I can remember your number even if I were a sleepwalker. I also am not good in numbers, you know. And even if, let’s say, I could dial your number, being a sleepwalker doesn’t guarantee being a sleeptalker at the same time.

I just need some sleep. If that would mean being silent for days, please be patient. It doesn’t mean I don’t want to talk to you anymore. It only means that my mouth would probably be shut the whole time. Yes, you have a point there; it would not actually mean that my mind would stop functioning. But, I think, my mind would be busy manufacturing dreams for me. And I don’t usually speak when my mind is full. It is bad manners, I guess, to talk when your mind is a clutter.

Oh, I just need some sleep. If that would mean not checking my mails for days, please be understanding. It doesn’t mean I don’t like hearing anything from you anymore. It’s just that I usually log out before I sleep. And I don’t bring my laptop in bed. And even if I stay online while sleeping, I don’t usually wake up to check after messenger buzzers or message alerts, not even virus alarms. I take sleeping very seriously. And I usually sleep for days. So please don’t call nor expect me to call you. Don’t call even if you need to talk. Don’t call to remind me to check my mails.

Don’t call. Ever.

I need space. That’s it, pancit.

A Silly Rhyme on Jonas' Bday

Jonas, fammi una torta
Dai, fammi due
Una per la tua festa
Un'altra per me.

Jonas, bake me a cake
Oh, make it two
One for your birthday
And one for me, too.

Perche oggi e il tuo compleanno
Io non saro triste
Perche il tuo giorno
E un giorno anche per me

Because today it's your birthday
And I won't be blue
Because your day
Is a day for me, too

Allora, facciamo due
La seconda torta sara piu grande
Perche oggi con me festiggiano
Tutti amici tuoi in tutto il mondo.

Then, lets us bake two
The second cake will be bigger
Because today with me celebrate, too
All your friends, the world all over.



(By the way, I celebrated Jonas' birthday with haribo, milka and wiener wurstchen. Oh, I miss Germany. I miss clean streets, clean cars, clean bathrooms, and beer. Danke Schon!)

Per un amico

Carissimo,

É vero che é gia da tanto tempo. Ma come mi hai detto, questo non vuol dire che ti ho dimenticato giá. Ogní volta che ascolto le musiche del congresso, specialmente quelle di gen revolution e non aver paura, sempre mi fa ricordare quei momenti veramente bellissimi che abbiamo condiviso lí in Loppiano. Forse, non dimenticheremo mai per l’eternita.

Che gioia sentirti anche se solamente attraverso una lettera. Mi hai fatto felice e sorridente tutto il giorno. Sono contento anche di sentire le tue notizie, particolarmente il tuo ritorno al tuo studio di musica. Sono molto geloso sai. Hehe. Ancora, sto sognando di riavere quella banda internazionale che abbiamo costruito in Loppiano. Sognando di un riunione, e poi di fare al meno un album. Mamma mia! Mi mancano veramente le nostre prove e registrazioni.

Tutta la mia unita e tutte le mie preghiere per il tuo studio e anche il tuo lavoro per poter continuare il tuo viaggio fino che i tuoi sogni diventano una realtá. Anch’io sto lavorando e studiando nello stesso tempo. Ricordi i miei piani prima di partire dal Loppiano, no? Vi ho condiviso che volevo riprendere l’opportunita di scrivere per il giornale, lavorare con un gruppo che fa servizio soziale, e continuare il mio progetto per promovere lettura e educazione per i bambini.

Dio non mi ha dato tutto, ma mi ha benedetto tantissimo veramente. Adesso, sto lavorando con un gruppo che fa gli allenamenti per i giornalisti nel senso di essere responsabili e sensibili nel scrivere le notizie, specialmente sui conflitti. E poi, scrivo per alcune publicazione come per i musei, delle cittá, dei giornali e delle riviste. Spero, che un giorno avro il tempo e le risorse per rifare quello progetto per i bambini. Mentre, sto studiando il mio masters nei studi di conflitti e riconciliazioni. E poi, quando sono libero insegno anche italiano per alcuni amici e alcune amiche.

Adesso, sto guadagnando anche per tante cose. Per un laptop, che bisogno veramente. Per poter viaggiare, che sogno veramente. É stato bellissimo il soggiorno di Vince qui e costosissimo anche. Hehe. Ma vale tutto. Un giorno, ci vedremo fratello mio. Sono sicuro. Faremo musica insieme. Cantiamo fino alla fine. E beviamo un po. Haha.

Grazie per l’unitá, l’amicizia e l’amore. Questo legame fra noi non fermera mai basta mettiamo Gesu in mezzo. Oggi é il compleanno di Jonas. Festiggiamo come in Loppiano con tanta birra, tanto cibo, tanto rumore, tanta risata, tanta musica e soprattutto tanto amore.

Un abbraccio più grande per la mia misura. Hehe. Teniamo.

Uno,

Jay

Taking Root (Sculptures by Kublai Ponce-Millan)

So this is what you meant by nice? A house full of art. Too much of it, I feel. Why, all of a sudden like my stomach caving in in anticipation of a punch, did I take a step away from this strange, beautiful, unconventional niceness?

Am I growing tired of the kind of beauty in which you would want me to view the world? Is this really how you wanted me to open up and fly?

You know what, I’m into long walks and long conversations, now. Yes, I still do take time to think. And yes, I still catch myself thinking that I am thinking. But most of these thoughts do not grow wings anymore.

They take root.

And they grow deeper each time I think of them, sometimes like daggers jabbing through the heart. I could not take them out, or else blood would sprout.

I don’t want to take them out because I’m into marking things now. I don’t want to think of it as holding on. Much more like holding up.

And sure, thoughts, indeed, are great pegs marking where the heart is.

So, I’m into this kind of thoughts now. The ones that linger. Great company during moments when I don’t have any other thoughts aside from knowing that I am thinking.

I no longer sink my teeth into thoughts that take the form of expectations for they elope with the wind, and come back empty.

I would like to see a house full of heart now, and take comfort in thoughts warm and tender, the same kind of miracle a hug or a hand to hold could generate. Or a glance that defies its fate of immediate flight after a fleeting look.

Something that takes longer.

DVO

Unconventional. Artworks. And Colorful Food.

I Tawt I Taw Tweety Bird

I always see faces and figures on stains and cracks on walls and floors, on clouds and mountain formations, and by arranging stones, etc. This one I saw in our hotel in Davao.

MNL

Condominiums and Korean Restaurants.

Italian Batchoy?

Tavola Calda (Hot Table) restaurant serving batchoy. Hmm. Opens up arguments on who really invested pasta/noodles: the Italians or the Chinese?

CEB

Fruity(strawberry, kiwi, banana, mango, papaya). The best thing about connecting flights in cebu. 5-a-day makes getting frisked and taking your shoes off too many times seem okay.

Split Personality

CDO2

Metallic Mask, Swirling Stars and Purple Couches

CDO

Secondhand shirts, motorelas, bananas on motorcycles and japanese restaurants

The Third Terminal

I miss traveling. I miss gigantic international airports. I miss the sanitized smell of progress. I miss... what? NAIA Terminal 3? So, I'm still in the Philippines?

Apo Hiking Society

At least, silhouettes of them at their concert.

Exhale

Federer won today. At least, I can breathe normally now for the rest of the season.

What Taoism has taught me so far...

To laugh more
read more
travel more
have more carefree moments...

I must have shared notes with Lao Tzu in my past life. That, or I really am a common Tao.

Free refill for P10?

There is no such as thing as free lunch. Not even free refill. Even at Jollibee´s, the no. 1 Pinoy fastfood chain. Check the promo material, per favore.