Today, I am going to be as corny as can be — or corny yet again. If you’re looking for something totally helpful in your career as an EPH writer, then I suggest you just skip this blog post.
These past days the only question in my mind is this: what will I give? We’re talking about Christmas gifts here, of course.
I am not in any way related to Scrooge, but I didn’t grow up in a gift-giving household. While other families had Christmas programs that included dance numbers from the kids and the ever-present exchanging of gifts, my family, well, we cooked. And then we ate what we slaved over for a whole day. Gifts often came in the form of cash, and were given as an afterthought – you know, Tita will hand you 5 crumpled 100php bills and tell you to get a haircut because you look stressed out or buy a new top because you wore the same thing last year. And while in most households there were gifts under the tree, in our house there’s…dust. No kidding.
A Very Belated Adieu, my Dean
The promising life of success and financial security beckons on my young and idealistic mind as an incoming freshman at the University of the Philippines, College of Architecture many years ago. I remember saying to myself “Five more years of hard work and concentration, and I’m done. Just five more years.”
And so I thought.
I’m not a self-absorbed jerk, so I am fully aware of the fact that I am not an expert, and any Top 9 list I make is, by its nature, subjective and biased. Hence, the ‘MY’ at the title. Also, using the phrase ‘of all time’ would be presumptuous and grossly inaccurate if I don’t end the world as soon as I publish this post. Basically, I listened to a bunch of songs this week and these are the nine that I liked the most:
Encountering a fellow Filipino abroad can be a very interesting experience.
You know you’re in the presence of a Filipino when their ears suddenly perk up and they turn their heads the moment they hear you speaking the native tongue or recognize your Filipino accent-laced English. And then comes the question, “Taga-saan po kayo?”
Let me say that Harry Potter and I have a lot in common. It’s not that I am a half-blood wizard who belongs to the wizarding world and attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And it’s not that I fought against the evil wizards and defeated the dark Lord Voldermort (or should I say You-Know-Who). Read the rest of this entry »
“I need to talk to you in private,” Meg said as she grabbed my wrist. Then she smiled at the other guests and politely nodded – a gesture that is meant to excuse both of us from the dinner.
Shabbat Shalom
I had the privilege of working as an executive assistant for a boss who was an orthodox Jew and had no apologies about it. To him, the fourth commandment of the Torah was non-negotiable.
I find it easy to regale people with stories about my time as one of the pioneer EPH writers, but I have never been comfortable when it comes to sharing details about how I became an EPH staff. Primarily because I find the whole thing boring and not worth anybody’s time – it was simply too fast, too sudden, and completely devoid of spectacle or drama, with me earning my position just by being in the right place at the right time.
If you are planning to watch a movie this Halloween and you have the movie White House in mind, you better think twice. I had high expectations after seeing the trailer but honestly, I regret choosing that movie over Paranormal Activity 2. O well, at least we had fun inside the cinema (if you know what I mean). I’ve been really busy with so many things these days – EPH and home-related stuff so for today’s Friday post, let’s give way to fastquill’s blog, which is just perfect for the Halloween.
Essays.ph Papyrus is a collection of thoughts from the staff and guest bloggers related to EPH and freelance writing in the Philippines.
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