Oreo in Heat!

Let us all remember the importance of the People Power Revolution that led the Philippines to democracy. Around this time, more than 2 decades ago, the Filipinos rallied the streets of Edsa armed with prayer and brotherhood and won the fight to bring back democracy. Mabuhay ang Pilipino!

I wish. I hope. I want!

An elderly couple walked into the lobby of the Mayo Clinic for a checkup and spotted a piano. They've been married for 62 years and he'll be 90 this year. Check out this impromptu performance. We are only as old as we feel, it's all attitude. Enjoy! They certainly did!

Uso pa ba ang ligawan? (Is courtship still being practiced?)

When I was trying to research a clear cut definition of “ligawan,” which is the Tagalog word for traditional Filipino courtship, I came across a completely different word which was “lugawan,” a fast food place that serves “lugaw,” or rice porridge. I don’t know how this is related to my topic but I just find it funny. And all of a sudden I became hungry.

The research wasn’t that easy. I had to really dig deep to get a formal definition of “ligawan.” I don’t know if this sends me a sign that the traditional Filipino courtship isn’t happening anymore especially if you are a Filipino who hasn’t been living in the Philippines for quite a while. Or is the art of courtship really dead in this fast paced, internet generation?

What really encompasses the “ligawan?” According to Wikipedia, courtship is and I quote "the traditional dating period before engagement and marriage. During a courtship, a couple dates to get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement. Usually courtship is a public affair, done in public and with family approval."

Hmmkk. Wikipedia is an awesome tool. Mental note, I need to make myself “Wikipedia-able!” Maybe then, someone can actually be interested in me and court me. HA! So based on the definition, isn’t courtship a vital stage in establishing a real honest to goodness relationship? I mean, how else can two people get to know each other and really know if they would like to pursue a relationship without going through a dating period?

So I think, it isn’t a question of whether “ligawan” is still in vogue or not, but the manner in which the courtship is done. For some, it’s the time to put their best foot forward. Time to impress. Time to be fake? Of course not, but then again you do have to try to impress, but not to the extent of coming up with a totally fabricated YOU. You just try to emphasize your best qualities first. Then ease the other person to the flaws that you might have (good thing I don’t have flaws! LOL!)

I know some people who skipped the entire process and still ended up being together. But after some time decided that they didn’t really know each other that well and that they didn’t have much in common aside from wild, hot, passionate, mind blowing (you get the picture) sex. Which I think is also important. But after everything else (and I mean orgasm) what else is there to do if you don’t have anything to talk about. Believe me, for some people I know, this could be the most ideal relationship! But not for me.

Amidst the bitter and jaded postings, putting aside the hard shell and ever growing wall that I put into my façade, I still truly believe in… (dear god, I can’t even type it without feeling icky) I still believe in…(ok, I can do this), yes, I still truly and honestly believe in love (whew, and I didn’t even vomit a little bit in my mouth this time!). And with this out in the open, I want to go through the “ligawan” process.

You know that feeling when you absolutely want to call or text but you stop yourself, when you are just dying to see the other person again but you hesitate in asking, when you experience a million butterflies in your stomach every time you see the other person, but you have to play it cool, all these things happen during the “ligawan” process. I know that the end result, if everything works out well, is for the two of you to be together. And wow, that is truly the best feeling ever! But one can’t compare to the feeling that you can experience in the firsts of the pre-relationship phase. First date, first kiss, first movie, first everything! And these firsts will never happen again. There will only be one first date, one first kiss. And that is why I think “ligawan” is so important to making a relationship really valuable to both parties. Thereby helping strengthen the relationship and making it last.

Yeah, fine. You can laugh at me now. Psh.

Obssessed with New York: NY Apartments

Obssessed with New York: Billy's New Apartment

Saving Mankind.

From one of my favorite blogs - Break the Illusion

Interested in saving the world? Me too! Here are some of my best and favorite ideas for saving humankind:

1.If someone cuts you off while driving, offer them a prayer or a blessing instead of anger.
2.Recycle.
3.Whatever you want for yourself, want it more for other people.
4.Use energy-efficient light bulbs.
5.Drop your grudges. (They serve only to poison you.)
6.Concern yourself with your actions and thoughts more than you concern yourself with the actions or thoughts of others.
7.If it’s yellow, leave it mellow. If it’s brown flush it down.
8.Smile.
9.“Never underestimate your power to change yourself. Never overestimate your power to change others.” - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
10.Give whatever you want more of.
11.Create what you want rather than resisting what you don’t want. Mother Teresa refused to attend an anti-war rally. “But as soon as you have a pro-peace rally,” she replied, “I’ll be there.”
12.Exercise.
13.Eat grass-fed beef. Or become a vegetarian.
14.Create peace through peace. “Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.” - Wayne Dyer
15.Dream more.
16.Work less.
17.Eat dessert first.
18.Use your talents in a way that helps other people.
19.Volunteer.
20.See yourself in others

Quotable Quotes...

"Passion can be used to describe the beauty of an earth-shaking meeting between two people, but it isn't just that. It's there in the excitement of the unexpected, in the desire to do something with real fervor, in the certainty that one is going to realize a dream."
-Eleven Minutes

British Columbia

I haven't been. I haven't even heard of friends telling me great stories about the place. All I know is that it exists. I'm sure there's a ton of great places to see and a lot of great things to do as well. I just haven't really planned on going. But maybe when the right time comes, I'll be able to visit, experience life there and who knows. I might be pleasantly surprised. It might change my life. And by that time, I'd have a BC story to tell my grandchildren.

Hope sucks...

but not all the time. sometimes you have to give it a chance. that maybe hope can be a good thing. that maybe it's good to hope. maybe.

HI. My name is Francis...and you are?

It's been over 800 years ago since my last posting on here. I think everyone was still listening to their walkmans and people are still wearing their acid wash jeans the last time i blogged. thereby, i am forcing myself to blog once again.

To say that a lot has happened within those 800 years would be an understatement. I had fully uprooted myself from downtown los angeles. Sadly. I love living in DTLA. Its reminiscent of New York City. Well not really. But its the closest i can get to remembering the streets of glorious Manhattan. I now live in the wonderfully happy world of West Hollywood. But not that close to the gays. Just the right distance. Still, its a nice neighborhood. An assortment of gays, lesbians, old folks and wannabee hipsters that got lost from the silverlake area, walking an assortment of dogs in the morning. I must say, most of these people are really nice. They take time to say hi, good morning and how are you, sometimes with real, genuine sincerity!

I also launched my non profit the past few months. Layers of Love has gone through the usual and expected ups and downs of a start up organization. But thats for another blog entry. check it out - www.layersoflovela.org

In terms of love life. I am still single. That's it, enough said.

4th State to Legalize Gay Marriage - Vermont!

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont on Tuesday became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage _ and the first to do so with a legislature's vote.

The House recorded a dramatic 100-49 vote _ the minimum needed _ to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto. Its vote followed a much easier override vote in the Senate, which rebuffed the Republican governor with a vote of 23-5.

Vermont was the first state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples and joins Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa in giving gays the right to marry. Their approval of gay marriage came from the courts.

Tuesday morning's legislative action came less than a day after Douglas issued a veto message saying the bill would not improve the lot of gay and lesbian couples because it still would not provide them rights under federal and other states' laws.

House Speaker Shap Smith's announcement of the vote brought an outburst of jubilation from some of the hundreds packed into the gallery and the lobby outside the House chamber, despite the speaker's admonishment against such displays.

Among the celebrants in the lobby were former Rep. Robert Dostis, D-Waterbury, and his longtime partner, Chuck Kletecka. Dostis recalled efforts to expand gay rights dating to an anti-discrimination law passed in 1992.

"It's been a very long battle. It's been almost 20 years to get to this point," Dostis said. "I think finally, most people in Vermont understand that we're a couple like any other couple. We're as good and as bad as any other group of people. And now I think we have a chance to prove ourselves here on forward that we're good members of our community."

Filipino Domestic Helpers in HK

MANILA, Philippines - A congresswoman yesterday called on a Hong Kong magazine to apologize to the Philippine government for offensive and defamatory comments on Filipinos in an article on the country’s claim over the Spratly islands which China also claims.

Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros voiced strong protest over the article of Chinese writer Chip Tsao published in the HK Magazine of the Asia City Publishing Group, where he called the Philippines a “nation of servants.”

In his article, Tsao protested the Philippine claim over the Spratlys, urging his compatriots not to bow to the Philippines because there are “more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as $3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong.”

“As a nation of servants, you don’t flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter,” Tsao said in his article.

He also mentioned that he employs a Filipina domestic helper named Louisa and warned her that should a war erupt, “I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day.”

“With that money, she would pay taxes to her government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings,” Tsao added.

“I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell every one of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China,” Tsao wrote.

The Chinese writer likewise said the Philippines should stop threatening China.

“The Philippines may have a Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout ‘China, Madam/Sir’ loudly whenever they hear the word ‘Spratly.’ They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout ‘Long Live Chairman Mao,’ at the sight of portrait (sic) of our Great leader during the Cultural Revolution,” Tsang said in his article.

Hontiveros took strong offense at this and said the magazine should apologize immediately.

“This disgusting, derogatory, and vile remark can only come from dim-witted and mediocre writing. The magazine should apologize straightaway. The article reflects the kind of attitude that promotes abuses against Filipina workers,” Hontiveros said.

She said Tsao’s story should not have been published, owing to its defamatory nature characterized by racial discrimination against Filipinos in general, and domestic helpers in particular.

“Chip Tsao should find another profession. He should leave the Spratlys issue to the diplomats and writing to real writers because clearly he has neither competence nor talent in foreign affairs and in writing,” Hontiveros added.

“When you make fun of a particular group, you expose them to abuses. Wittingly or unwittingly, you end up supporting acts of intolerance and abuses,” she added.

“Filipina domestic workers should hold a one-day strike to tell the likes of Chip Tsao who’s the real master of the HK economy. If all Filipino workers in HK would strike, the HK economy would grind to a halt without us having to invade the territory,” she said.

She said Filipinos are not asking for political correctness, just professional treatment.

“Domestic work is a decent job. It’s not just done by hired Filipina domestic workers, it has also been the function of mothers of all nationality, in Hong Kong and China and elsewhere. It should be treated with respect,” she said, adding that by insulting Filipina domestic workers Tsao has also insulted his own mother.

HAHAHAHAHA!

Standing motionless in the shower this morning, letting the water just cascade over my head down my body, I had a realization. The worst thing about dating isn't getting rejected. It's allowing yourself to hope. Hope is the absolutely worst thing you can do when you're dating. Oh, I know hope is supposed to be this great sustaining emotion. Everybody always says, "Don't lose hope." Fuck that. Hope sucks. It's because I hope so hard that the disappointment is always so great.

It's about time I simply accepted the fact that there is no one out there waiting for me. Mr. Right doesn't exist.

- Men Who Love Men by William J. Mann

Hope sucks. It never fails. Whenever I start hoping, everything just starts crumbling down, everything fails. Its actually starting to be funny now. I used to get depressed about all those failed dates and prospective love interests, but I guess after it has happened to you a dozen gazillion times, you kinda feel numb already. Almost dead inside. And it becomes funny. And I just laugh.

Woohoo. So much fun. I don't really know why it hasn't happened yet. I tried going out on dates, putting myself out there, not looking, tried hooking up, laying low, and all sorts of different styles, still there's no one. I really feel that there is no one out there for me anymore. I am thinking that my soul mate, the one true love, my partner in life does not exist anymore. By some weird twist of fate, i was left out and was missed in that careful planning of pairs.

Hope sucks.

Enough.

Yesterday was a mess. To borrow lines from Project Runways 2008 Winner, Christian Siriano, it was a "hot tranny mess!"

Woke up late. Wasn't feeling well. Had to bring my friend from Boston to LAX. Traffic was bad (as usual). Work was overwhelming from start to finish. Had a late night meeting until 9pm. When I got home, the house was also a mess. There were unwashed dishes in the sink. Empty bottles and plastic containers were all over the place. Trash was overflowing and is started to stink. At the same time, I had to clean my room. Do 3 full loads of laundry and work on my event on Saturday.

SO, i started to tackle them one at a time. Put in my first load of laundry, which are my sheets and pillow cases, followed by whites then coloreds. Tidied up a bit in the house. Then arranged the recycling. And then washed the dishes. As everything was going well, i dropped a bowl in one of the plates and broke it. To further mess up things, I cut myself right between the thumb and the pointer finger (ouch). And then people started dropping out from my event which is two days from today. Yey!

So after I finished clearing the clutter in the living room, putting the dishes in the dishwasher, folding my clothes, cleaning my room, throwing the trash, walking and feeding my dog, putting away the recycling, i showered, watched porn and jerked off.

And everything was fine.