Live? Love? Life?

He broke the silence with a high-pitched cry. He was the only source of sound in the gloomy room. He should’ve not been born, she thought. He shouldn’t have the right to avail the air the rest of us breathe. He is an unwanted person. He was the product of an accident. He must not live. But still, she carried the child in her arms…but she felt nothing; no connection. As if the kid was a total stranger. Maybe that was it; he was a mere nobody to the mother’s life. Then her thoughts wandered to her past.

The sky was overcast; threatening to rain. They were outside the school, waiting for a jeepney to ride them home. Then droplets started falling. Students ran to the only shed which became jam-packed immediately. She was quite unlucky. She was situated in the middle of the crowd; in the middle of a mixture of scents, some fragrant and some you wouldn’t want to smell.

Why English?

(Note: Delivered 13 June 2011, this is a talk about the importance of the English language and what makes it important. Talk presentation can be found here.)

A few weeks back, I have been replying my friends with the word “kiitos”. As expected, nobody understood it until I translated it. “Kiitos” is the Finnish word for “thank you”.

Last Friday, we were asked the question, “Why is the English language important in the business world?” Apparently, we have answered the question with the aforementioned anecdote: for us to understand. Moreover, English is important because of internationalism. Internationalism was first coined in 1995 in Time’s Cycle and Military Strategy:

“Once again the opposite poles of isolationism and Wilsonian internationalism appeared as alternatives that split the liberal and conservative camps.”

It means a political, economic, and cultural cooperation among nations. We have to take note of the word “cooperation”.

Ilocos Norte Badges

Boredom meets productivity. :)

Note: Is your note genuine?

Last Thursday, we had a nine-hour chat/gossiping at the city Dap-ayan and at McDonald's. It was around 9PM when we decided to continue our talk at a friend's house three kilometers away. Jeepney's weren't available that time so we resorted riding on a tricycle. Besides, there were a lot of them outside the fast-food chain. However, there was a slight commotion. But we never bothered until we finally rode our way to the nearby town.

"What happened, kuya?" asked a friend. The driver mumbled something we didn't quite comprehend. So we asked once more. Turns out that a guy or two boughtlechon manok in a nearby store and paid a counterfeit 1000-peso bill. Good thing somebody caught them.

I am disappointed that Filipinos, much more Ilocanos, use fake money just to gain, well, goods and real money (i.e. change). But I was still proud that some peopleknow how to detect such. Which leads to the point of this post: how do you recognize genuine Philippine notes? The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas presents 16 characteristics and features: (Note: may or may not apply to new generation bank notes)

Boredom Killer 1: Tee-pography

I always experience boredom overdose during summer. Ergo, I resorted graphic designing shirts for each of the colleges of my university.

P.S. I love minimalistic typography :D

College Pride VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

HOW TO VIEW: Click “View Slide Show”. If you don’t have Microsoft Silverlight installed, Click “View this album on Windows Live SkyDrive” (lower left).