Hello World!!
Whew! When I started this blog September of 2005, I only had one objective in mind - to keep a journal of my thoughts and rants and raves and hang ups and whatever. I never imagined that it would be read by others, or that it would become some kind of a newsletter about myself, or that it would encourage others to blog as well. I also was not, at that time, aware of the extent to which blogging has become a phenomenon.
What do you know. I have started receiving emails from long lost friends and former students who comment on my blog for the day (or week). Some have referred their own blogs or other blogs that they like. Thus, I have started to expand my blog community by visiting other blogs and clicking on their links. And what a huge community of bloggers it is out there!
I am truly amazed at how generous people can be. There are blogs that offer all kinds of advice - from cooking recipes to techno gadgets, to books, to music. And I discovered that many columnists actually maintain blogs of their own.
This got me into thinking...maybe I should also post a visitors' counter in this blog although quite frankly I am scared that the traffic would be similar to the number of passersby on foot at Balete Drive at 2am. But I am trying to reconstruct my links - in a fit of rage, I deleted it because it just wouldnt open correctly. At least my friends can also get to check out the other blogs that I visit regularly.
Anyway.
So what's up?
Woke up today with this muscle pain in my batok. My friends know that I am psychosomatic and will not be surprised that for the best part of the morning, I was actually fretting and was on the verge of having an anxiety attack because I kept on thinking...oh god, I am having an aneurism. But my blood pressure was quite low (100/70). Sigh. Someone told me that the symptoms of hypertension are the same as those for low blood pressure. So I called up a friend, who promptly told me that 100/70 is normal and that it is probably muscle pain. I took some muscle relaxants and hopefully the pain should go away in a while. I hope.
Oh, I actually was up until 1:30 am tuned in to Channel 2. Payong Kapatid was on and their featured "advisor" was my good friend Doktora Margie Holmes. The topic was on sexual problems. Anyone who watched the show for educational purposes and not just to ogle Dr. Holmes couldnt escape the inevitable conclusion that in this country sex education is painfully inadequate. The questions run the whole gamut of basic and sometimes commonsensical questions (oh I know, common sense is uncommon among Filipinos). Does size really matter? Is it okay to have sex when the woman has menstruation? How often should people masturbate? Is Bong Austero really good in bed and available for sex? Just kidding about the last one. As usual, Margie was her usual engaging self.
Today I read in the papers about female fetacide in India reaching an alarming 5 million every year. Whew! I thought this thing only happened in China and that the incidence was declining. Female fetacide refers to deliberately aborting a fetus as soon as it is determined to be female. In China (and in India too as well as other parts of the world), male offspring is preferred because..well, males work on the farm, require less attention, etc. etc. We can all romanticize the notion that children are gifts from God (and I believe they truly are), but the language of poverty speaks more tragic truths.
And finally, FVR and GMA has left it up to the Lakas Congress to decide if GMA should cut her term or not. Hmmm... all that posturing in the media was empty chest thumping after all. And just a thought. The SWS reports that in a survey they conducted last December, more than half of Filipinos agree that GMA should cut her term. I would truly want to know where they conduct their surveys and what type of questions they ask. They have been trundling out survey results for decades now but I still have to meet one person who participated as respondent in any of their surveys.
What do you know. I have started receiving emails from long lost friends and former students who comment on my blog for the day (or week). Some have referred their own blogs or other blogs that they like. Thus, I have started to expand my blog community by visiting other blogs and clicking on their links. And what a huge community of bloggers it is out there!
I am truly amazed at how generous people can be. There are blogs that offer all kinds of advice - from cooking recipes to techno gadgets, to books, to music. And I discovered that many columnists actually maintain blogs of their own.
This got me into thinking...maybe I should also post a visitors' counter in this blog although quite frankly I am scared that the traffic would be similar to the number of passersby on foot at Balete Drive at 2am. But I am trying to reconstruct my links - in a fit of rage, I deleted it because it just wouldnt open correctly. At least my friends can also get to check out the other blogs that I visit regularly.
Anyway.
So what's up?
Woke up today with this muscle pain in my batok. My friends know that I am psychosomatic and will not be surprised that for the best part of the morning, I was actually fretting and was on the verge of having an anxiety attack because I kept on thinking...oh god, I am having an aneurism. But my blood pressure was quite low (100/70). Sigh. Someone told me that the symptoms of hypertension are the same as those for low blood pressure. So I called up a friend, who promptly told me that 100/70 is normal and that it is probably muscle pain. I took some muscle relaxants and hopefully the pain should go away in a while. I hope.
Oh, I actually was up until 1:30 am tuned in to Channel 2. Payong Kapatid was on and their featured "advisor" was my good friend Doktora Margie Holmes. The topic was on sexual problems. Anyone who watched the show for educational purposes and not just to ogle Dr. Holmes couldnt escape the inevitable conclusion that in this country sex education is painfully inadequate. The questions run the whole gamut of basic and sometimes commonsensical questions (oh I know, common sense is uncommon among Filipinos). Does size really matter? Is it okay to have sex when the woman has menstruation? How often should people masturbate? Is Bong Austero really good in bed and available for sex? Just kidding about the last one. As usual, Margie was her usual engaging self.
Today I read in the papers about female fetacide in India reaching an alarming 5 million every year. Whew! I thought this thing only happened in China and that the incidence was declining. Female fetacide refers to deliberately aborting a fetus as soon as it is determined to be female. In China (and in India too as well as other parts of the world), male offspring is preferred because..well, males work on the farm, require less attention, etc. etc. We can all romanticize the notion that children are gifts from God (and I believe they truly are), but the language of poverty speaks more tragic truths.
And finally, FVR and GMA has left it up to the Lakas Congress to decide if GMA should cut her term or not. Hmmm... all that posturing in the media was empty chest thumping after all. And just a thought. The SWS reports that in a survey they conducted last December, more than half of Filipinos agree that GMA should cut her term. I would truly want to know where they conduct their surveys and what type of questions they ask. They have been trundling out survey results for decades now but I still have to meet one person who participated as respondent in any of their surveys.
Comments