Mornings

I've always loved mornings. The problem is I am just too tired to wake up early to welcome the rising sun and wave goodbye to the morning star's fading light.

These past weeks, however, I've witnessed several sunrises during my trips to some parts of the country - while driving a car, while walking in the middle of the field or while washing my face near a well.

How I wish I could share those beautiful sights with someone who wakes up early and walks with me to the middle of the field to recite a poem or just murmur a short prayer of thanks. I did it once, somewhere in Central Luzon, and regretted it years later. My friend took the magic of the morning from me.

Seeing the sun rise - when dawn breaks and darkness turns to light after passing through what seem to be millions of stages of colorful variations - I realized that the sunrise - the bukangliwayway - is still there for my taking. I only have to wake up early. No friend or fiend can steal it from me.

And yes, I was able to write again after seeing a very beautiful sunrise Monday morning. I wrote it on the spot on my new Moleskine notebook (feeling like Hemingway, ha!). I even wrote something for my friend:

Like a pool
of water
on an empty
parking lot
your stillness
makes the engine
of my old car
roar like thunder

And this one's for my friend:

will there still be
color on the horizon
when you wake up
and remember me

Pa-cute moment

Photo by Trina

A New Year's reflection

From my friend and brother, Fr. James Castro, CMF

As we begin the year 2008, we honor Mary, the Mother of God. We begin this New Year with new hopes, new life, and new dreams.

Mary carried into our world the true Hope of our life, the giver of Life, and the fulfillment of every dream - Jesus Christ our Lord. Her simple and generous Yes to God made all the difference.

The gospel today presents Mary to us as a model of that new life in Christ that all of us wish for ourselves in the New Year. There we see that Mary was prepared to do something to realize this goal.

What did she do? We read that the shepherds, when they went to adore the Child Jesus in the manger, told all that the angels had said to them. "Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19).

Again after the boy Jesus was found in the Temple, we are told that "His mother treasured all these things in her heart" (Luke 2:51).

Mary was a woman who valued the word of God, who treasured it and made time to meditate and ponder it. It is true that the holiness of Mary is attributed to the grace of God, but this should not make us forget that she needed to make an effort in order to cooperate with the grace of God.

She pondered the word of God in order to discern what God was saying to her at every stage in her life as the handmaid of God.

We are invited today to stop and listen to God. He talks to us everyday, every moment of our life but at times we are so busy to listen to Him or even to take
time to talk with Him. The new hopes, new lives and new dreams will only come true if we learn to listen to God and ponder His Words in our life. Just like Mary let say Yes to God and make a difference in our World.

Happy New Year to all of you!

New things on the Web

I've been trying several new things on the Web these past days.

I've got already a Facebook account. (I'm still wondering what's so exciting about throwing a sheep at Raffy, hehehe.)

I've accounts in Multiply, MySpace, Classmate Finder, WAYN, etc. Unfortunately I already forgot all my account numbers and passwords.

Still there's the reliable Friendster and my several blog sites that are updated from time to time.

I just opened a twitter account and am still trying to find ways to make use of it in my work. (I've already thought of one, but am not revealing it here, hehehe.)

Recommended reading

Look for a copy of Boying Pimentel's "Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street" at National Bookstore or Powerbooks.

It's a good read and a good tour of the other San Francisco, where Filipino migrants make their lives colorful.

Enter the hearts and minds of Filipino migrants in the United States and experience their joys and sorrows in Boying's first novel.

Satisfaction guaranteed.

Cold mornings

The weather bureau is saying that a tail-end of a cold front is affecting the country.

I don't know if it has an influence on the cold mornings I've been experiencing.

Got to get up early today for work, but it was a struggle to get up and take a bath.

The cold morning was made worse with that early morning feeling of missing/remembering people whose images surfaced in one's dreams during the night.

Some things just refuse to leave one's life despite the many books one read through the night.

Among my "Best Reads" in 2007 (not in order of importance) are:

- Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark
- The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
- Ghost Wars by Steve Coll

What I'm reading:

- Children of Jihad by Jared Cohen
- The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
- The Elements of Journalism (Updated Edition) by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel
- Journalism 2.0

A good year to all of us! Mabuhay!

Most of Metro Manila welcomed the new year in darkness after lights went off minutes before midnight in several areas of the national capital.

There was supposed to be an emergency power interruption, a recorded message on Meralco's hotline said.

I went down the office minutes after the clock struck 12 to start my car and went around the vicinity of the office. The streets were deserted - Timog Avenue, Quezon Avenue, Scout Esguerra St., East Avenue, the Elliptical Circle.

The restaurants, beer gardens, karaoke bars, and the other establishments were closed. Smoke from firecrackers blanketed the city. I imagined people sitting around the table, sharing food and exchanging gifts and greetings.

I wish to thank all those who sent messages to greet a happy new year. Thank you. Thank you to all of you for the support, especially in our fight for press freedom in the country.

The year 2007 has been good to me. Please join me in praying for a good year this 2008. May our tribe increase! Mabuhay!