transposable element

went beaching to stop bitching. ’til next week!

been tagged by cheH, and am just happy to share seven of the songs that keep wafting from my speakers over and over again. they all belong to the kaminAPOmuna album, a tribute to a pillar in the philippine music industry, the apo hiking society. the album consist a revival of some of their best songs, performed by some of the most contemporary bands in the country. i wouldn’t say these new versions are better or worse than the originals, but i loved all of them precisely because they sounded different.

the top two are my favorites (the original and the revival versions) but i can’t decide about the rankings of the rest:

1. panalangin, by moonstar88
2. yakap sa dilim, by orange and lemons
3. di na natuto, by sound
4. ewan, by imago
5. nakapagtataka, by sponge cola
6. paano, by shamrock
7. kabilugan ng buwan, by drip

the tag only called for seven, but let me share the other songs in the album as well:

8. awit ng barkada, by itchyworms
9. anna, by top suzara
10. bakit ang babae, by sandwich
11. batang bata ka pa, by sugarfree
12. bawa’t bata, by the dawn
13. blue jeans, by rocksteddy
13. doobidoo, by kamikazee
14. kumot at unan, by boldstar
15. pag-ibig, by kitchie nadal
16. pumapatak ang ulan, by parokya ni edgar
17. when i met you, by barbie almalbis

thanks mec, for sharing most of the mp3 files! you can listen to or download these songs from soundclick, or you can drop me a note and i’ll email you an mp3 file. i don’t have all of them, though.

what’s your favorite song at the moment?

i ordered some books online and i’ve been informed that they will be delivered today. perfect! i am desperate to have those books before tomorrow morning so the timing is just right. i know that the mailman comes between 10 and 12 am but i would be out during that period, so i left a note on our mailbox, asking the mailman to leave the package with the pharmacy which occupies the ground floor of our building. i came back at 12, and sure enough, the mailman has been there, but with a note saying that the pharmacy won’t accept the package and that i’ll have to pick it up myself from the post office after 10 am tomorrow.

dammit, is it so much to ask to accept a package in behalf of your neighbor? i swear, i am never ever going to buy a single band-aid in this pharmacy even if i bleed to death!

i think i have never been so stressed since 2001, when i defended my masteral thesis and took the comprehensive exam all in a span of one week. each of the last few days sapped my strength to the last drop, such that by the time it was over, on the fourth day, my cortisol level was probably so low, my body threatened at getting sick.

three 1.5-hr lectures in a day. 24 students. all in four days, instead of four months.

the pay was amazing. i was given an hourly rate it would take a miminum wage earner in the philippines more than a week to make. i could already buy a ticket home with the money i’ve earned in four days.

but oh the stress! the mental and physical fatigue. it’s probably not that bad, but i guess i’m just not used to it anymore. and i’m not sure it’s something i’d like to get used to anyway. i know it’s not something i can do 5 days a week, 20 days a month, month after month after month.

i admire working mothers, but these last four days gave me a peek into their lives, and now i admire them all the more. a full day’s work (and in my case, i really worked every minute i got paid for; no internet surfing, exactly 15 minutes for coffee break, 45 minutes for lunch, and no chatting with colleagues as there were no colleagues to chat with) is already back-breaking, but the work doesn’t stop there. in the afternoons, i’d drop my stuff home, change into more comfy shoes, and go out again to pick up jan. playing with a cranky preschooler whose energy is also running low as he had to stay longer hours in the kindergarten is not exactly a dream, but it’s the only chance left for “quality” time (yeah right, quality my foot. by this time, my temper is also on its last straws). then there’s the laundry, and dinner. oh, but the dishes from last evening’s still have to be washed to clear up space on the kitchen counter. and then, of course, the flat needs some tidying, but that’ll have to wait til the weekend. eight o’clock chimes in, jan is washed, toothbrushed and put to bed, and when everything’s quietened, i draw my last reserves to put together materials for my next day’s work. i get a few hours sleep, and am thankful that hubby’s volunteered to take care of jan in the mornings and bring him to kiga. knackered, that’s what i am.

has it been worth it? i don’t know. i still ask myself.

after a rainy and chilly august, we’re having a fantastic summer-like september. but the fruits won’t wait. somebody’s got to pick ‘em, lest they all go to waste.

with over 10 kilos of apples, a basketful of plums, and a handful of pears, it seems like i’d need recipes. what the heck am i going to do with all these fruits? jan and i’ve already made a cake, but we still got, well, kilos to go. any other ideas?

i found this poem in my inbox and it hit me to the core, considering my previous post. guilty on all counts. let me share it with you, too:

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?

When you ask How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time
To call and say,”Hi”

You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift….
Thrown away.

Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

september has barely started but i feel like it’s almost over. most of my days this month have already been spoken for and i am getting rattled. after spending 3 languid weeks with jan at home, i’m now throttling on 5th gear, trying to get tasks done. and yet i’m still confronted with a formidable list of things-to-do that doesn’t seem to get shorter. i’ll be glad when this month’s over.

arrgh, i need more than 24 hours in a day.

for the past weeks, i’ve been trying to get past the 25th page of the latest chick lit i am reading. it’s a true-to-life story of a diplomat’s wife, trailing her husband as he gets posted all over the world living a truly privileged and adventurousl expatriate lifestyle. pretty interesting plot, and it reads like a blog, similar to marian keye’s duvet series. but demmit, if you have insomnia, diplomatic baggage has a pretty good chance of curing you of it. i’ve read dozens of blogs which deserve paper and ink more than this collection of stories does.

i’m pretty sure it won’t be long now and book publishers will be looking into blogs for book-able materials. for pinoy bloggers, for example, the path has been paved.

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