What is A Friend?

Chris took up the presentation training
They were given this piece to dissect
And read out loud... Touching...
This is my version of dissecting the piece
But somehow it reminds me of a Menguin class. lol

What Is A Friend?
C. Raymond Beran

What is a friend?
I will tell you.
It is a person, with whom,
You dare to be yourself.

Your soul can be naked with him.
He seems to ask of you,
to put on nothing,
only what you are.

He does not want you
To be better or worse.

When you are with him
You feel as a prisoner feels
who has been declared innocent.

You do not have to be on your guard.
You can say what you think,
so long as it is genuinely you.

He understands those contradictions in your nature
That lead others to misjudge you.

With him, you breathe freely.
You can avow your little vanities and envies
Your hates and vicious sparks
Your meannesses and absurdities
And, in opening up to him,
They are lost,
Dissolved on the white ocean of his loyalty.

He understands,
You do not have to be careful.

You can abuse him,
neglect him,
and tolerate him,

Best of all, you can keep still with him.

It makes no matter.

He likes you.

He is like fire that purges to the bone.

He understands.
He understands.

You can weep with him,
Sin with him,
Laugh with him,
Pray with him.

Through it all --,
And underneath --
He sees, knows, and loves you.

A friend?
What is a friend?
Just one, I repeat,
With whom,
You dare to be yourself...

hideous!

This hideous thing is ibm's web mascot. freaky

It Wasn't Excellent, But It Was Good Nonetheless

Nothing should have gone wrong.
After all, it was a birthday.
It was my birthday.

I came home from Serendra the other night still feeling a little bit tired from the all nighter at the hospital last Friday. 11:30, I was out like a light on the bed, following my usual custom of being asleep before the midnight of the 12th.

I like waking up to the "your message memory is full" note that flashes on the phone screen. So, I see a couple of messages and some missed calls. A smile curling on my lips, "aawwww, thank you guys and gals, you remembered" Anyway, really, thanks so much for remembering. I appreciate it a lot.

So, wakey up, take a bath and go to church. Saw Tiffie and Charles (thanks for my cutie gift), and then attended service. All was normal. Until, I butt in. Or so, that was how it was placed. I prefer to call it being opinionated, and not liking the feeling of being stuck in the middle when you think the sides shouldn't even exist anyway.

So, I cried. Yes, on my birthday. And the funny thing is, I cried because I thought it was wrong. Ironically, I wasn't crying because I hurt, I was crying for someone else. Crazy, funny, yeah, but then, eventually, it stopped around early afternoon, after the third time. When did I get to be like that?

And so, "it's my party and I'll cry if I want to, You would cry too if it happened to you..."

My day starts again after all the misunderstandings have ended...

We start by visiting the hospital, taking a peek at grandma who was suddenly craving lechon. She was awake today and was talking fine. She threw out my cousin who was on duty with her last night. Threw him out at around 4 AM and he came back at around 6AM. What could he do? We watched The Buzz and enjoyed the latest chismis..

Oooohh, Yilmaz is back to fetch Ruffa. And Angel Locsin shares all about her move to the Kapamilya network. Amazing how Boy Abunda does that with Ateneo's Philo Pagmemeron under his belt. =p

Packed up to leave and tried to decide where to eat. Oh I had my choices...

President's at Ongpin
Penang Hill at Greenhills
and "somewhere" in Cubao so we can also watch Ratatouille with my sister's movie passes.

We ended up in Cubao, Cibo in Gateway (yum pasta) and did watch Ratatouille.

Remy was indeed cute. But when there were hordes of Remys (or Mickeys), oh God, different story.

So, there goes my day.

A little rocky at the start but went quite smoothly towards the end.

It wasn't excellent. But it was good nonetheless.

What would make it excellent, a friend would say?

I gave a pretty cheesy, honest answer (ask me if you want to know)

with a voice at the back of my mind shouting, "it's been quite a day, should I just say it to get it over with?" (if you want to know, ask me again. if you know, good for you, i overshared. lol)

with another voice saying, "are you OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

So, I guess the 2nd one won for now. But I think I did get my answer through or my thoughts.

My smallest wish for my birthday wasn't fulfilled, but it doesn't matter now.

I think I'm fine and it was a good birthday.

Not too many frills, and more tears than usual. I wasn't able to see a lot of my friends, but they remembered and I got a share of their exclusive time, whatever they may be doing.

So, thank you. It wasn't excellent, but it was good nonetheless.

And it wouldn't have been good without all of you.

Rain

I've always been a sucker for rain. And it's not going to be the first time I say or write about it either. Just days ago, the newspaper was asking the nation to pray for rain. Despite attempts to seed the clouds with salt and force stubborn water down on earth, the dams that control Manila's supply of water remain dry, while of course, it floods in South Asia and hundreds of people were displaced and became homeless.

God sure can be ironic sometimes. So, about a week after, here comes the rain that everyone has probably been praying for. Our windows here at the office are quite thick, but you can hear the wind carrying the water and the water pelting on the window panes... Strong rain. How I wish I can open the windows to smell it without bothering anybody.

The sight of rain is especially comforting if you're indoors and watching it. You can watch it fall and reminisce about good moments. You can watch the wind rage along with it and think of how you can associate your thoughts and pains and all your strong emotions with it. You can just watch the water flow.

Ok, I lost my train of thought. Later! Think I'd go watch the rain first. :)