Nowadays, it's not about whether you can write well, but whether you're street enough.
Dee introduced me to that term a few months back. Street enough. She never really needed to explain it to me; I just got what she meant. And since then, I've been using that term whenever applicable, thus that tweet I wrote last night.
It is true, after all. Nowadays it's not whether I can make sense of what I see, what I know and what I perceived, but whether if I'm savvy enough to actually be in a position to perceive these things. Nobody wants to understand anymore. Everybody just wants new things, new experiences - and the fact that it's novel and out there is enough to make it worth a check.
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4/29/2012
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4/28/2012
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Apparently, there are certain rules I should follow if I'm to become friends with you.
One, I should share your interests.
Two, I should adapt myself to you.
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One, I should share your interests.
Two, I should adapt myself to you.
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4/24/2012
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When I was around ten, I had a songwriter streak. I just composed my first song - a terrible campaign jingle that's all vote for me, I'll do well, I really will - and felt that I could do it again. All I could muster was a similarly terrible ditty where I complain about the fact that girls have to get things first before boys. It's terrible because I only had the last two lines of the chorus. I never finished it.
Not that I completely disagreed with the "girls first before boys" thing. In fact, as a ten-year-old who badly wanted to impress girls in school, I believed in it. Girls are generally weaker and more vulnerable, so boys, as the stronger gender, must yield to them at every opportunity. Open doors for them. Let them sit first. That kind of thing.
Of course, now, that assumption will not fly. Girls are not the weaker and more vulnerable gender. Sure, they may be more capable of showing compassion, but that doesn't make them wusses. We've had female presidents and female CEOs and female athletes, not to mention all you mothers out there. Just as well, boys are not the stronger gender; just look at me and how much better I could've done things all those years ago.
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Not that I completely disagreed with the "girls first before boys" thing. In fact, as a ten-year-old who badly wanted to impress girls in school, I believed in it. Girls are generally weaker and more vulnerable, so boys, as the stronger gender, must yield to them at every opportunity. Open doors for them. Let them sit first. That kind of thing.
Of course, now, that assumption will not fly. Girls are not the weaker and more vulnerable gender. Sure, they may be more capable of showing compassion, but that doesn't make them wusses. We've had female presidents and female CEOs and female athletes, not to mention all you mothers out there. Just as well, boys are not the stronger gender; just look at me and how much better I could've done things all those years ago.
Read more »
4/21/2012
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One day I found myself in a packed elevator with a handful of foreigners. One of them, an old guy, likely an American, maybe a European, probably in his sixties, is obviously taller than me.
Now, I'm an inch under six feet (if you believe most records) and most people already consider me tall, excluding basketball players, of course. And Jan. He's tall. Anyway, so imagine being told that you're taller than most, and suddenly you're beside someone who's taller than you. It's like you're literally shrinking.
But then again, the guy in the elevator is American. Maybe European. Definitely Caucasian. They'll always be taller than you. That's one thing you'll have to give up. But you'll always look younger than them. Take this example I'd always cite to Icka. Twilight stars. Robert Pattinson. He's 25. He's British. Compare him alongside his co-star Justin Chon. He's 30. He's Korean. Who looks younger?
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Now, I'm an inch under six feet (if you believe most records) and most people already consider me tall, excluding basketball players, of course. And Jan. He's tall. Anyway, so imagine being told that you're taller than most, and suddenly you're beside someone who's taller than you. It's like you're literally shrinking.
But then again, the guy in the elevator is American. Maybe European. Definitely Caucasian. They'll always be taller than you. That's one thing you'll have to give up. But you'll always look younger than them. Take this example I'd always cite to Icka. Twilight stars. Robert Pattinson. He's 25. He's British. Compare him alongside his co-star Justin Chon. He's 30. He's Korean. Who looks younger?
Read more »
4/20/2012
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Am I being a hypocrite if I declare, insistently, that I like Katy Perry's eyes?
Well, no. I do like Katy Perry's eyes. They're expressive and fun, and she has gorgeous eyelashes.
And, well, yes. I do like Katy Perry's eyes, but I look down. To her breasts. Partly the reason why I bought a magazine with her on the cover. She's topless, she's obviously covering her assets, and the whole thing's blown up a whole page. Closest thing to life-sized, safe to say.
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Well, no. I do like Katy Perry's eyes. They're expressive and fun, and she has gorgeous eyelashes.
And, well, yes. I do like Katy Perry's eyes, but I look down. To her breasts. Partly the reason why I bought a magazine with her on the cover. She's topless, she's obviously covering her assets, and the whole thing's blown up a whole page. Closest thing to life-sized, safe to say.
Read more »
4/14/2012
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It's been a terrible week if you're the Philippine government.
And I'm not just thinking of domestic troubles - the Mindanao power crisis, rising gas prices, you get the idea - but ones that put us in a much more compromising position. You'd think that, despite the problems we're facing, we're doing just fine, and then something would come along and you'd realize that the slightest provocation would leave us dead.
There's the controversial North Korean rocket launch, purportedly an observational satellite to mark a hundred years since Eternal President Kim Il-Sung's birth. International observers feared it's actually a missile launch. Upon realizing that we are in the projectile's path, our government begged the Koreans to stop the launch. Nobody budged, and they resorted to stopping people in affected areas from going to sea on the day of the launch. It was pretty depressing hearing a defense official admit that we do not have the means to intercept the rocket, missile, whatever it is.
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And I'm not just thinking of domestic troubles - the Mindanao power crisis, rising gas prices, you get the idea - but ones that put us in a much more compromising position. You'd think that, despite the problems we're facing, we're doing just fine, and then something would come along and you'd realize that the slightest provocation would leave us dead.
There's the controversial North Korean rocket launch, purportedly an observational satellite to mark a hundred years since Eternal President Kim Il-Sung's birth. International observers feared it's actually a missile launch. Upon realizing that we are in the projectile's path, our government begged the Koreans to stop the launch. Nobody budged, and they resorted to stopping people in affected areas from going to sea on the day of the launch. It was pretty depressing hearing a defense official admit that we do not have the means to intercept the rocket, missile, whatever it is.
Read more »
4/09/2012
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It's the fifth day of a five-day weekend. Only I don't want to call it a weekend. It's five days long. It's a whole work week spent doing nothing!
And that's exactly what I did. Nothing.
Given, it's Holy Week. Everything pretty much shuts down on those days. Add to that the fact that today is another national holiday, and you have five days of trying to look for something substantial to do.
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And that's exactly what I did. Nothing.
Given, it's Holy Week. Everything pretty much shuts down on those days. Add to that the fact that today is another national holiday, and you have five days of trying to look for something substantial to do.
Read more »
4/07/2012
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Here are some things I am not supposed to know about Hazel.
One, she was a student DJ but she isn't talkative.
Two, she has a messy backpack. Or so she claims.
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One, she was a student DJ but she isn't talkative.
Two, she has a messy backpack. Or so she claims.
Read more »
Niko Batallones writes The Upper Blog.
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