tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12735362543318209392022-03-02T03:21:10.989+08:00brokering a truce with lifeAngelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.comBlogger1246125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-18358964254061750662021-09-29T17:27:00.002+08:002021-09-29T17:28:16.518+08:00

There are three books that I reread almost every year. These are Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Series, and Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. I absolutely love those books and reading them never fails to give me comfort. It's akin to visiting with old friends that never let you down. The world as we know it has become so unsteady and unpredictable

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-61973130087702586522021-09-26T18:26:00.002+08:002021-10-10T13:15:22.787+08:00

I haven’t written anything here for the past four days because writing means thinking and I didn’t want to do any thinking. When I think about what happened, the pain is almost unbearable. But I know that I have to let go; I have to go through the motions of living even if nothing seems to have meaning anymore.

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-45464824811818317282021-09-16T18:27:00.007+08:002021-09-16T18:59:59.709+08:00

I was compelled to conduct a teacher training via Zoom today, and it felt like speaking into the void. While I was explaining, the participants' videos were turned off and their microphones were on mute. I could hear only myself talking. Because I could not see their faces and I was not receiving any response from them at all, I couldn't know if the teachers were still listening, or if they got

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-44133597510123506182021-09-14T19:16:00.001+08:002021-09-14T19:16:02.188+08:00

"When was the last time she’d gotten enjoyment out of anything? She had always thought of the future as if it were a blinking neon sign: a miraculous exit glowing red at the end of a long hallway. She imagined that if she kept walking toward it, that if she put in the time, she might finally reach the future. But now the neon felt like a mirage, the illusion of the dehydrated in the desert when

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-1415819748299927072021-09-13T17:55:00.031+08:002021-09-13T19:31:56.762+08:00

At least once a day, I think about what I would do when this pandemic is over. I think about getting out of the city to see my family and how delightful it will be to be with them once again. I also dream of traveling to remote landscapes, sacred places, and majestic ruins. When this is over, I'd love to: Hike through the hills of Northern VietnamExplore Bolivia's colonial cities, salt flats, and

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-82488105054399376022021-09-12T16:44:00.009+08:002021-09-12T17:07:04.800+08:00

I attempted to run today and I failed miserably. When I left the building this morning wearing workout clothes, I was only planning to go for a walk. I wasn't thinking of running at all. I don't know what got into me because when I saw that the streets were deserted I just felt like running and so I did. It was awful. I haven't even finished my first kilometer when I was already out of breath. My

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-51935511375324240742021-09-11T18:42:00.001+08:002021-09-11T18:42:01.116+08:00

It's been raining incessantly since early this morning but I willed myself not to feel gloomy and miserable. I feel triumphant for keeping sadness at bay, even if it's just for today. 

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-46198879394398483762021-09-10T17:27:00.007+08:002021-09-10T19:24:42.674+08:00

There's a big shopping complex a kilometer away from where I live. I used to go there on weekends, just to walk around, window-shop, and buy things that I need. But COVID happened and I haven't been there since 2019. I can't find any reason to go there anymore. Because I work from home and hardly go out, my needs have been narrowed down to the most basic. I no longer need new clothes, shoes,

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-40464931180544245052021-09-09T17:04:00.001+08:002021-09-09T17:04:39.981+08:00

It's frustrating to sit in a meeting where you're expected to just listen and not say anything, especially when you know that the speaker doesn't know what he's talking about. It's exasperating to pretend ignorance when someone explains to you something you know more about than he does. 

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-15812889540760863772021-09-08T16:54:00.005+08:002021-09-08T16:54:49.682+08:00

"...I craved the poistcoital talks, the truths told in bed. I ate pain. I swilled tears. If I could take enough in, I’d have no space left to fit my own. In turn, I couldn’t walk five minutes through Noxhurst without hearing a dozen hellos. Faces lit up if I walked into a room, the liking a light I could refract, giving it back. Phoebe, oh, I love that girl, people said, but it’s possible they

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-20722989130234794272021-09-07T18:30:00.002+08:002021-09-07T18:35:35.075+08:00

At around 4 p.m. every day, the Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) releases the day's COVID-19 Case Bulletin. This report contains the number of cases and deaths per day, the cumulative totals, and the current positivity rate. I always open the DOH's website with apprehension because the numbers reported therein just keep getting worse. Yesterday, just when the country recorded its highest

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-59915321410502180302021-09-06T18:17:00.012+08:002021-09-06T20:13:40.524+08:00

A card-carrying scaredy-cat, I believed the horror stories that travelers wrote about Rio de Janeiro: being mugged in broad daylight right on the beach, tampered ATM machines, being held at knifepoint in Ipanema before sundown, stolen mobile phones, credit cards, and passports, the list goes on. Yet I did not experience any of those, and not once did I feel as if I was in danger while I was in

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-8962009289074226632021-09-05T17:42:00.003+08:002021-09-05T17:56:10.590+08:00

I was planning to write a post about my days in Brazil but, of course, I didn’t. I frittered the day away rewatching Downton Abbey on Netflix. It just feels so gratifying to stay in bed, do absolutely nothing, and not feel guilty about it. I deserve such a Sunday, don't I?

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-69071381805521097732021-09-04T17:05:00.007+08:002021-09-04T20:15:16.524+08:00

I've been flouting some rules lately. Ever since the lockdown status of Metro Manila was eased from Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), its residents have been allowed to do individual outdoor exercises such as outdoor walks, jogging, running or biking from 6 to 9 in the morning but only "within the general area of their residence, e.g. within the

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-34149448343828236542021-09-03T17:46:00.001+08:002021-09-03T17:46:32.911+08:00

 "She knew how to be absorbed. That was something else Jack had noticed about people who had attained mastery in a chosen discipline—that ability to be immersed. Focus was one thing, and necessary, but it was active. The energy went from the actor to the activity: Okay, I’m casting now, I’ll focus on casting. I’m painting, I’ll focus on the canvas and the touch of my brush. I’m dancing, I will

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-76232771786111057092021-09-02T15:48:00.003+08:002021-09-02T16:10:34.325+08:00

All I write about are the books I've read, my past travels, bittersweet memories, the dire state of the world, Costa Rica, the pandemic, and being sad. It's boring and pathetic, I know. But that's my reality, my life, given the year that was and continues to be. I wish I could write about more exciting things—new experiences, big events, but there are none of those anymore. It's just a stream of

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-34084863603101820492021-09-01T18:27:00.008+08:002021-09-01T21:14:25.924+08:00

I read an article from Vanity Fair yesterday, The State of the Literary Jonathans, where novelist Emily Gould “takes a hard look at today’s literary landscape—and how things have changed since Lethem, Franzen, and Safran Foer first appeared on the scene.” It’s very funny and reading it made my day. I’ve read some of their works but I'm not really a fan of the other two Jonathans, but I love

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-45512554375022725322021-08-31T18:24:00.011+08:002021-09-01T17:21:48.819+08:00

Tomorrow, September 1, is the unofficial start of the Christmas season here in the Philippines. I was hoping that this holiday season will be better than last year's, but it looks like it will be even worse. I remember the words of the head of the pandemic task force early this year: He said that with the arrival of the vaccines, the country will have a close to normal Christmas. I somehow

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-14744851071429946222021-08-30T15:34:00.005+08:002021-08-30T15:43:56.287+08:00

The road to the beach was jammed with cars that Saturday morning. It was Dia de las Madres (Mother's Day), a non-working holiday in Costa Rica. I was told that ticos usually travel from as far as San Jose, the country's capital, to spend that special day with family and friends at the beach.Many hotels and restaurants in what used to be the touristy beach town of Manuel Antonio were shuttered

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-25809832942419209642021-08-29T15:16:00.004+08:002021-08-29T15:16:42.880+08:00

"There’s a strange contradiction revealed by the naïveté and kindness demonstrated by humanity when faced with the universe: On Earth, humankind can step onto another continent, and without a thought, destroy the kindred civilizations found there through warfare and disease. But when they gaze up at the stars, they turn sentimental and believe that if extraterrestrial intelligences exist, they

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-10768738887799075432021-08-28T16:09:00.003+08:002021-08-28T22:43:53.527+08:00

Yesterday my manager relayed some awful news over the phone: a colleague of ours along with his mom contracted COVID-19. The colleague is under home quarantine but his mom, who is a senior citizen and has comorbidities, had to be hospitalized. My manager asked me to pray for them. Although I don't believe in prayers, I replied, “Yes, I will” because saying the opposite is unacceptable. How else

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-28312418984395390712021-08-27T17:45:00.006+08:002021-08-27T21:21:09.668+08:00

Will my life be simpler and more peaceful if I stop consuming news from TV channels and online news websites? Today, while having lunch, I turned on CNN to know what's happening in Kabul. A guest, an Afghan woman who has been helping American troops, was on Cuomo's show pleading for help. It's so heartbreaking that I can't help but get a bit teary-eyed myself. I lost my appetite and had to force

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-21617742583631507362021-08-26T18:30:00.005+08:002021-08-26T19:16:36.172+08:00

This afternoon as I was sifting through some old files, I saw a yellowed newspaper clipping. It was a list of the century’s top 100 novels released by the Radcliffe Publishing Course on 21 July 1998. I was in college when I cut out that article, and I remember telling myself to read all 100 books on the list. 23 years later, I check the list and find out that I’ve read only 75. Yeah, I’m

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-58623873583753969902021-08-25T18:04:00.009+08:002021-09-15T14:29:18.379+08:00

Of the many interesting places we could've stayed at during our first week in Costa Rica, I chose a cabin on a dairy farm high within a cloud forest in the middle of nowhere. It's for couples who need only each other's company, who can be happy just by watching hummingbirds feeding early in the morning, peacocks roaming around the farm, and cows returning to the barn every afternoon. It's a place

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1273536254331820939.post-53692618633501092752021-08-24T16:18:00.010+08:002021-08-24T16:46:07.315+08:00

"Valuing simplicity is about cherishing the elemental. It fosters clarity, helping us cut through the confusion of our world, weed out the extraneous and the false, in order to see and connect with what’s basic, authentic, and true. Simplicity isn’t a denial of nature’s complexity; it’s an appreciation of its constituent parts. It’s the opposite of more is better—a reminder that less is more.

Angelihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08617309759372512870noreply@blogger.com0