“Efren Peñaflorida, who started a “pushcart classroom” in the Philippines to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership, has been named the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year.”
Read the full article here. Congratulations Efren and thank you thank you THANK YOU for being the inspiration I was looking for today!
Alicia KeysGarcia - Dreaming
How am I supposed to not have high standards if you’re putting her in front of me?
Mr. Hudson - Stiff Upper Lip
Thinking to myself: “…that was a bluff… right?”
I have been the most productive motherfucker ever since my macbook crashed last week. I guess blessings really do disguise… a damn pretty hella ugly disguise. Like 100GB less prettier cousin of the good-looking disguise. Course I cried. Shoot, the storm outside just tried to compete! I actually took it pretty well. As much as I hate starting from scratch, I think I actually needed that reset. I gotta move on, move faster and move smarter. No more trying to lean back onto something more comfortable just because it’s there to lean on. And woah. Did I just relate my computer crashing to life? I’m becoming more like my dad everyday…
….. …
Sorry I was just counting something. Typing and counting characters on a computer screen seems so much more convenient than counting my actual fingers, when my keyboard has a gravitational pull like it does right now.
APPLE STORE WHY AREN’T YOU OPEN 24 HRS???
:(
Next purchases:
• Macbook PRO
• TIME MACHINECAPSULE
• iPhone
I feel like somebody cut off one of my limbs.
Pendulum - Streamline
Mars is a trip. Those are all landscape shots; not macro shots. Booking my flight. I’m pretty sure a lame Martian house party is still better than clubbing in the rain… or clubbing in Vancouver in general. Fuck, did I just complain? I promised I wouldn’t do that. My Friday was pretty damn productive though. Everything’s slowly falling into place! (photos via Big Picture)
Ben Onono - Tatouage Bleu (Avec Chet)
ANGELES • DIZON ♒ GARCIA • SITJAR
We are the instruments of creation — what we dream, is.
My tat isn’t blue but I have nothing else to write about or new pictures to show so I’m just gonna ramble on about it. I got it almost two years ago. It’s barely noticeable because of the size and placement and I’ve had more than enough people ask me why I got it there and why I had it written almost illegibly. I kinda like how people have to grab my arm and press their noses against my arm to read it. It turns me on. No, I’m kidding. But I do like how only the people who understand the meaning behind the quote know how to read it. Most people stop at the “— is.” and drop my arm and say “I don’t get it.” I’m not trying to make a statement against tattoos that are flashy or anything. I’m still considering a bigger one, but I always knew the first one had to be perfect. I’m happy to say I still haven’t regretted it for a second, and that it looks pretty good with a ton of my outfits. Now, I’ll explain. I wanted it to embody as much of myself in the least amount of copy possible. My history, present and future. My family (nuclear and especially, extended) and what I’ve inherited from them has more influence on me than… most things really. I didn’t put Spanish last names on my arm to give me street cred. I mean, partly, maybe, just in case I accidentally land a career in rap. These four last names are my grandparents’. Many of the values they were taught by their parents, and the values they passed over to my parents are spilled over all of these pages of digital journal entries, and everything I do in 3D.
ANGELES • DIZON
Philanthropic, traditional, stature. That’s what I take from my mom’s side. We come from a city in the Philippines aptly named, Angeles City. I haven’t dug around enough to see if we were the first settlers so I’m not gonna blow anything out of proportion. I don’t exactly remember what the tragedy was, but either a natural disaster or something else devastated a large part of the population a long time ago. So my family stepped up and offered everyone shelter, food, education and other necessities. Ever since then, the Angeles clan has dedicated a huuge part of our well-being to humanitarian efforts. I went along with my auntie the last time I was there so we could visit poorer family friends. I never imagined being in homes like those, but I loved it. This side of the family also runs Angeles University. If I wanted to go to medical school completely free, all I have to do is visit my Tito Manny. He’s one of the most successful and prominent to come from the Philippines. I won’t give away too much (there’s a reason why rich people have bodyguards and semi-automatic weapons guarding them at all times), but he shares a common paradigm with many on my mom’s side. They work hard to “heal” the nation. One of the ways they see fit? Marrying other cultures. He always asks me if I have a Filipina girlfriend. Him, and other relatives on this side of the family make a note of it all the time. I promised him I’d have kids with an Italian/Japanese model. But then again, I promised him I’d study hard to be an architect. I don’t know whether this is a prejudicial thing to be considering, or if it’s actually a legit way of “healing” the Filipino nation. I, honestly, don’t think it has that much to do with it. Besides, aren’t the majority of Filipinos mestizos anyway? Centuries and centuries of inter-racial (sexual) “healing”, and it’s obvious corruption is still rampant in the Philippines. I don’t think it makes a difference. It certainly makes us a pretty attractive, adaptable race but, really? I know some Filipinas who could possibly help fix the nation. They don’t have to be half-something do they? Anyway, if ever you hear the “conservative” side of me, or an ardent plea for aid to a “third world nation”, this is where it partly came from. We’ve also had to endure more than enough losses in my family. We have a history with diabetes, street violence and cancer. And as far as we all live from each other, we can always count on each other to be a phone call and a plane ride away from each other. It’s always a world tour visiting family. Australia, Virginia, and of course, all over California, plus extended family in Toronto, London, Chicago always makes for fun trips and expensive ass phone calls. When something is too difficult for me, I look at my forearm. I attribute a large portion of my strength and resilience to my mom’s side. And now, I’ll never forget it even when my head’s fogged up with not-so-important matters.
♒
This post pretty much explains how some stars at the time of my birth aligned to create such a tripcase.
GARCIA • SITJAR
Inseparable. That’s how I’d describe my dad’s side. I live 2-3 hours away from my cousins, aunts and uncles (my dad’s brothers and sisters) who all live down in Seattle. I’ve been going back and forth between Seattle and Vancouver ever since I was a kid and I guess I could technically call it my second home. There’s 19 of us kids, with the bulk of us being highschool-aged and older, so of course there’s more than enough inside jokes, traditions (Home Alone 2 & Sixth Man!), cousin days, memories, and trouble. Whenever I visit I feel SO comfortable, and whenever they come up here, I feel like I have best friends sleeping over. It’s weird how I’ve probably spent more time hanging out with other friends, but just because I haven’t grown up with those friends like I have with my cousins, it still doesn’t compare. My grandpa and grandma (we call them Mama & Papa) are the most caring, forgiving and God-loving people I’ve ever known. It isn’t a mystery to us older kids why we have such a tight family. Having family right there to talk to and lean on isn’t something we take for granted. Something else I think my family has that separates us from other families is our colossal appreciation for culture. Marrying into other cultures (Laotian, Mexican, Peruvian-Chinese, Korean-Russian-Jewish??), serving up every single type of food made on the planet, travelling everywhere, appreciating films (classic to foreign), music, dance. Being able to admire every aspect of culture is a major reason why my cousins and I are into what we are, and without a doubt, that admiration came from my grandparents. What else? Starting from the bottom, and reaping the rewards of hard and hella labourious work. We enjoy more than enough luxuries, and we owe it all to our parents and grandparents. The lives us kids have is so privileged thanks to them. And the best part is… they don’t mind “spoiling” us. I’m not saying we’re totally taking advantage of them. We acknowledge it. It isn’t even on a grand scale. But for some reason, it seems like we’ve been raised well enough to understand that being materially-“spoiled” in no way spoils our set of values. We know it isn’t as important as educating ourselves. We know it isn’t as important as having our own ambitions. I never used to notice the level of maturity I see in my cousins and me was abnormal for our age til I met friends’ cousins and their families. I definitely didn’t notice how well I had it. Some of us may have had some idiotic phases, but we bounce back pretty well and having a massive family right there to smack some sense into you, help you laugh it off and get your feet back on the ground is comforting. No drama, all love. I know for a fact that I’ll be raising my kids insanely similar to the way we were raised. It seems almost fool-proof. If you thought the McCallister family had chaotic travel days, you ain’t seen NOTHING.
“We are the instruments of creation — what we dream, is.”
I’m not sure where I got the quote from, but I can’t find it in too many places on the web so I probably got it from some book. The credited… author? sayer?… is Ti’grah. And yes. Antithetical to most people’s remarks, that is where the quote ends. There isn’t a part two coming soon. I didn’t run out of money. I ain’t crazy. If you understand the secret, you understand this quote. And you most likely live by it.
The scar further down my forearm is another story. I wrote that poem with flesh flapping off my arm, A LOT of hostility and an unapologetic leaking vein for plush atlantis sonars and the people who use them to seek and destroy. Why use gel for your frosted tips when you can use your own bodily fluids that comes from humping yourself and your bros right? It’s cheaper AND, just like the height of your spoiler, accentuates your dick size. Score!
I just finished watching the 1st session of TED India a couple hours ago and it’s got me wondering how the hell I’m gonna get anything done the next three days cuz I’ll probably be stuck to my macbook watching the entire conference.
The programme is here, and you can watch live here (well, when they’re on).
THERE ARE SCAMMERS OUT THERE pretending to help victims of the storms in the Philippines. PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THEM MORE THAN A FEW SECONDS TO TALK AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY MONEY.
There have always been people trying to capitalize on other people’s misfortunes, especially in the Philippines. So it isn’t hard to believe people would be doing this in the wake of several natural disasters wreaking havoc back home. I have been approached probably, 8 times since Ondoy created the mess it did over in the Philippines, by mostly Filipina women begging to talk to you “for a second”. They’re VERY persistent, so if you give them more time than you should’ve, they’ll most likely persuade you into giving them a “donation”.
They’ll most likely hand you a “brochure” (it’s more like a laminated card with professional-looking graphics). Then they’ll give you an envelope. If you look carefully, it’s addressed to some house in Surrey (or wherever it is they’re operating from).
For one, they wouldn’t be begging and pleading you for aid. Real philanthropists don’t follow you through two stores to bug you about making a donation especially after you say you’ve already made a donation. They’re in it for themselves.
Two, most Filipinos know that the only sources you should ever trust to handle your money going back to the Philippines have well-established names. And they DON’T have people scouring mall food courts for a donation. They’re more professional than that and they have trusted websites that make it easier to donate. Donate that way.
I have been approached…
• on Main St.
• at Metrotown
• at Pacific Centre
• on the Granville Strip
• in the Skytrain
Some of them are INCREDIBLY nice, and a couple are actually kind of pretty. Their eyes can make you want to talk to them longer than they deserve. SO WATCH OUT. Don’t dole out money because they say they’re trustworthy. If they’ve convinced you well enough to donate for the sake of aid, tell them you’ll donate online. See how they’ll take that. If they say “no, it’s better through me”, that’s your cue to slap them in the face and say “shame on you, bitch”.
One of my all time favourites.
“Hello, what’s your name?”
“Damian.”
“Hi Damian, I’m the bin.”
“Hello, Bin.”
“Damian, you’ll give me some money won’t you?”
“……..yeah.”
Kelis - Millionaire ft Andre 3000
Saks 5th Ave don’t sell affection…
It’s tough now, but one day it won’t be.
Norah Jones - The Nearness of You
A crisp morning in Yaletown to clear my mindd
