Forgotten Photos

“Alien Cactus”

Sometimes, in the hubbub of taking pictures, or more accurately SETS of pictures, some photos get lost somewhere along the way.  Maybe they don’t really belong to any set.  Maybe I took a sole photo and couldn’t really put it in any category.  Or sometimes, I just totally forgot I had them.  So as I was sorting through my old snapshots, I realized I had some that I never got to post in any set.  So here they, random pictures from different stages of my evolution as an amateur photographer.  These are my yagit pictures, not really belonging anywhere, but I thought I’d share them anyway.

“Sun Kissed”

“Cat’s Eyes”

“Turning A New Leaf”

“My Shower”

“Send In The Clouds”

“Paper Boat”

The Best And The Rest 183

Like the Avenue Q song goes, “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist”.  I guess we all are, only in varying degrees.  Plus, the difference lies in whether we act on it or not.  Sometimes it’s because of a bad experience with a certain race, and therefore you’ve generalized it.  Or sometimes, their culture is so different that we find them more rude, louder, or more whatever.  You know, how in some countries it’s rude to burp, while in others it’s rude NOT to burp after a meal.  It really just sears to the very bone of your being when you’re on the receiving end. There were so many naughty entries but I couldn’t put them in because they’re just TOO politically incorrect, even for the internet.

January 16, 2009 → The Top Ten Racist Quotes – Jorik/SC

1. Hoiram – I was in an international meeting. During cocktails, a British delegate asked me where I come from. I said I was Filipino. He said “Oh, my maid is a Filipina.” I answered: “Funny, my butler is a Brit.”
2. Toink! – I read in a magazine that a Japanese expert said that if Japan owned the Philippine resources, they could feed the w0rld for 3 years.
3. Pussycat Dull – During a scholarship in Madrid, my classmates, upon learning where I came from, asked: “Do you live in huts?”
4. McMaki – My friends have Japanese and Americans for bosses. When they found out that my boss is Chinese, they all said: “Kawawa ka naman…”
5. CVG1 – I work in a call center. Last night an American customer found out that I’m Filipino. She said: “I think my concern should be handled by an American agent.”
6. No name – When I was studying interior design in Milan, there were a group of guys flirting with me. When they asked where I’m from, I told them I’m from the Philippines. They said: “Oh.” Then they left without even saying goodbye.
7. The Game – In the Indianapolis airport, they have a lane for 3rd world countries, where the inspection is more strict. I felt so discriminated against.
8. Archangel – In Singapore, my friend overheard 2 Filipinas talking about her. Girl 1 said: “Sa tingin mo Pilipina yun?” Girl 2 replied: “Malamang, pangit eh.”
9. McDenzel – Kung mag-aasawa ka rin lang ng matandang lalaki, bisaya na ang piliin, para matigas ang dila.
10. Mr. Perk – My friend once said: “Ang gwapo nung hapon, no?” I replied: “Maliit yan for sure.”
11. Daydreamer – My client in our call center once said: “Can I speak to someone who’s NOT from a 3rd world country?”
12. Garfield128 – In France, there’s a hotel that has a board that says: “No Filipinos allowed.”
13. Techjam- When I was in Hong Kong, I heard someone say: “Okay guys, we’re in the Filipino area. Lots of pickpockets here.”
14. Maximo – When I worked in the Middle East, a nickname for Pinoys is “Ali Baba”, meaning thief.
15. Kresha – My husband’s officemate was in a Hong Kong hotel and he was transferred to the “Filipino floor” — the rooms where the accessories like vases and ashtrays are glued to the tables.
16. Pugong Tagalog – A white teacher told her Pinoy student: “Filipinos are not Asians because Asians are smart.”
17. Mybernsz – My bf once worked in a Korean company. In their cafeteria, there are 2 drinking stations: 1 has a faucet for Filipinos and a water dispenser for Koreans.
18. Teriyaki – In a resto in Las Vegas, when the waiter found out that we’re Pinoy, gave us doggy bags because Pinoys love to take out.
19. Fiona – When I was chatting online, one foreigner was pestering to chat with me. When I refused, he said: “I’ll give you citizenship!”
20. Totski – In SG, my accountant friend was in an elevator with an Indian guy. He asked for her number. When she asked why, he said: “You’re a maid, right?”
21. Jay – There’s this story about a local celebrity at a grocery line in the US. She had a lot of grocery items and a white guy next to her had just a couple of items. When this local celeb put out some bananas fr0m the cart, the American guy said: “So, you have a lot of monkeys at home,eh?” The celeb replied: “Oh yes, and they’re all WHITE!”
22. Raul/Raymond – In U.S. airports, we get always automatically asked where our balikbayan boxes are.
23. Halo – I asked a Chinese colleague what her favorite Tagalog word was. She answered: “Pautang.”

Videos I Like 7 (Funny Kids)

Just to take a break from a stressful week bookended by 2 storms, here are 3 videos that would at least make you smile, if not LOL.  Some are cute, some are funny.  Anyway, just wanted to lighten up your mood in case you’re like me, because I feel drained with everything that’s happening, to our countrymen and some personal stuff.  These made me smile.

Marshmallow Test

Luke and Bahay Kubo

Me Singing I Got A Feeling

The Best And The Rest 182

Just for today, we’ll skip the usual chronology of the Top Ten and I’ll go straight to today’s topic since given our dire situation, it seems timely to do so.  As I write this, we’re expecting Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) to hit land in a couple of hours.  We haven’t even recovered from Ondoy, and already a new typhoon threatens to batter us anew.  Of course we’re still praying that the typhoon won’t be as devastating as we’re all expecting it to be.  Who knows, we still might be spared the brunt of the storm’s power.  So in the light of the situation, I make the exception and bring to you the topic we used this morning.  We changed it from”Victims Of Ondoy” to “Survivors Of Ondoy” thanks to an entry by Abernathy.

October 2, 2009 → The Top Ten Quotes Of Hope For The Survivors Of Ondoy

1. Abernathy – “Instead of saying ‘I’m a victim of Ondoy’, say ‘I survived Ondoy’.”
2. Wnadering Eneri – Bob Ong: “Hindi ka bayani dahil sa kaya mong gawin. Bayani ka dahil sa ginawa mo.”
3. Mr. Perk – “If what’s ahead scares you and what’s behind hurts you, just look up.”
4. Mameski – Bishop Fulton Sheen: “Look into the mirror and you shall see the person most responsible for your happiness today.”
5. Wandering Eneri – “The rain doesn’t fall on one roof alone.”
6. Simply Jewel – When I asked a friend, whose house was flooded, if she needed anything, she answered: “Yes, a 2nd floor.”
7. Marioh_Caryo – Mother Teresa: “To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.”
8. Marioh_Caryo/Cutiechie/Hannah_bananahh/Johnlang – Christopher Reeve: “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”
9. Angel17raine – “We shouldn’t count what we lost but what is left.”
10. Wandering Eneri – “Broken mirrors make beautiful mosaics.”
11. Astroboy – “It is a comforting thought that when you help someone up a steep hill, you get closer to the top yourself!”
12. Kidlat Isidro – “When the world brings you to your knees, you might as well pray.”
13. Cats – “We don’t know what the future holds, but we know WHO holds the future.”
14. Lynx – “Life is not waiting for the storm to pass; it is learning how to dance in the rain.”
15. No name – “In tough times, stay motivated by looking at how far you’ve come, rather than how far you still have to go.”
16. Ana Herrera – “I survived, I’m alive, and I will thrive.”
17. Mirage34 – “When it comes to moving on, just find a starting point.”
18. Capt’n – “If you’ve lost a lot, maybe it’s God telling you to make space for something better.”
19. Tito41 – “If all good things come to an end, all bad things will eventually end too.
20. No name – “A broken spirit is worse than a broken body.”
21. Louise – “Leave the misery, bring the lesson.”
22. Cutiechie – Eleonor Roosevelt: “He who loses money, loses much. He who loses a friend, loses more. He who loses faith, loses all.”
23. Hannah_bananahh – Albert Camus: “In the midst of winter, I found within me, an invincible summer.”
24. Anjiedy – “The first step towards getting somewhere, is deciding that you are not going to stay where you are.”
25. Dynajane – “Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can.”
26. No name – Mahatma Gandhi: “You can be the change you want to see in this world.”
27. Ninka – Lyndon B. Johnson: “Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.”
28. No name – “Sometimes, the answer is given when we stop questioning.”
29. Cutiechie – “No storm can ever be stronger than the power of the human spirit.”
30. Dru – “We have a surplus of POLITICIANS, but a shortage of PUBLIC SERVANTS.”
31. No name – Jamie Sullivan, mandy moore’s character in “A Walk to Remember”: “Maybe God has a better plan than I have for myself.”
32. Astroboy – “Being defeated is temporary; giving up is permanent.”
33. Gracia/Infrared – “Every survival kit should include a sense of humor.”
34. Dark Chocolate Boi – “Not being able to do everything is no excuse for not doing everything you can.”
35. Abernathy – “Someday, we’ll just look back at Ondoy as just another trial we survived.”
36. Randy Jackstone – Rudy Giuliani: “When you confront a problem, you begin to solve it.”
37. Astroboy – “Most of us are praying for mountains to be removed, when what we really need to pray for is the strength to climb them.”
38. No name – “Instead of seeing life as a series of endings, see it as a series of new beginnings.”
39. No name – “Doing your best at this moment puts you in the best position to handle the next.”
40. Polar Bear – “Prayer is the bridge between panic and peace.”
41. Polar Bear – “Trust God to move mountains, but in the meantime, keep climbing.”
42. TwistdSaint – “There’s no education quite like adversity.”
43. TwistdSaint – “God decides what we go through, we decide how we get through it.”
44. Anjiedy – “The windshield is larger than the rearview mirror because the PAST is not as important as the FUTURE.”
45. Sashapurse – Charles L. Allen: “When you say that a situation is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.”
46. Kalsjr – When my mom died, a priest told me: “God doesn’t give you courage; He gives you a chance to display what you already have.”
47. Blitzkrieg – No matter how dark the situation, let hope light your way.”
48. Dei – “The impossible is often the undone.”
49. Markalap – “When the world says: ‘Give up’, hope whispers: ‘Try it one more time’.”
50. Derickcreme – The Dalai Lama: “If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.”
51. Jao423/Uhija – The Dalai Lama: “Kindness is my TRUE religion.”
52. Bobok083184- “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”
53. Jhack_arceno – “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice that urges you on.”
54. Capriciosah – Albert Einstein: “Learn from yesterday, live for today , hope for tomorrow.”
55. Sashapurse – “Those who wish to sing always find a song.”
56. Reinh24 – “The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.”
57. Swindoll – “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”
58. KimyKimyMore – “Don’t ask GOD, ‘Why me?’ Instead, ask Him, ‘What do you want me to learn?’”
59. KimyKimyMore – “If you have a reason to live, you will never have a reason to quit.”
60. Dynajane – “Never lose faith during times you need it the most.”
61. “Maximo – “Wag matakot sa Pepeng malaki.”