Meet My Crutch(es!)

Everyone needs a support group. You know, a group of buddies with whom you can share everything and anything, a group preferably of mixed gender, background, and personality para balanced ang discussions ninyo tungkol sa mga bagay bagay in your lives? This group is my support group. We've been friends since the year 2000 when we were all part of the consulting division of (now-dead) Arthur Andersen and assigned to the same project. Tonight we got together at Gilligan's, a grillery along Pasay Road in Makati. It looks like just a small dinner, but believe me, this "small party" required planning and orchestration that took almost a week to finalize because of their busy schedules (I wasn't that busy yet because school has only just begun).

fort boni project team reunion at gilligan's: edelle, allan, stanley, aileen, joy and yeyet

Ngayon hiwa-hiwalay na kami: I'm teaching at UP, Edelle and Allan are both at PNB, Joy manages her own farm in Laguna, Stanley's with the family business, and Yeyet's at Magnus (where Edelle and I used to work, by the way) and we've all come a LONG LONG way since our Arthur Andersen days. I have to say though that everytime we meet up, either for lunch or dinner or coffee, it's as if time has stopped and it's five years ago and we're once again laughing (usually at joy ;-p) in our small project room at fort bonifacio devt corp (our client at the time).

Hindi sa nagdadrama ako dito pero these five people are among the very few who i feel really, REALLY know me. I guess the feeling is the same among all of us. Friendships like these are rare, I know... I've never met people who are as frank with me about me as they are. Sometimes they make me realize things about myself I was previously blind to. Hindi lang sila crutch, actually, para silang mirrors (mag-Boy Abunda's hiwagang salamin ba?). They ask me questions I would never ask myself, and sometimes they give me answers I don't want to hear but I need to. In the five years we've known each other siguro natanong na lahat ng tanong na matatanong during our conversations and heart-to-hearts... everything but this question: between Allan and Stanley, sino si Charlotte at sino si Stanford???!!

allan and stanley

fun fearless females

yuck mukhang magasawa... remember: hands off kay Stanley, ok?!

Can't Stop Praisin'

I'm excited!! Just finished with Ate Abbie the lineup of songs for the Praise Theme's concert this year. It's been years since our last concert in September of 2000, "Free". That was, I think, the 2nd or 3rd concert of the group. Since then we've been holding Praise and Worship gatherings and mini-concerts organized by other churches or groups or individuals, nothing really of our "own" planning (except maybe for the WORSHIP CAMP which we had December of last year at the Manila Bible Seminary, see pic below... plus more camp pics in the previous post).


The Praise Theme on the eve of the Worship Camp, December 2004

After much waiting and praying, we realized that this year is the year. Our 3rd concert, "Can't Stop Praisin'!", will be in October or November of this year (pending availability of concert venues we're scouting for). We're praying for an audience of a thousand people, hopefully more.

We've created a line-up that includes almost all the songs we've wanted to sing since the beginning (like Avalon's "Adonai" and "Testify to Love", Anointed's "Under the Influence", and Point of Grace's "Hold On"), fresh songs that we hope to introduce to those who will be watching (like "Merciful Rain", FFH's "One of These Days", The Katinas' "One More Time" and Amy Grant's "Imagine"), and not-so-new songs that we would like to present in a different light (like Kirk Franklin's "Lean On Me" and remake of the lounge classic "Lovely Day").

For me it's not just the concert that will be exciting, but also the journey we need to take in planning, and preparing for this activity. We're definitely looking at long rehearsals, possibly some traveling to promote the concert, some belt-tightening to finance our expenses, a lot of saying no to ice cream and cold drinks to prepare our voices, a lot of meetings to sell our tickets, etc., etc. but I'm sure it will be fun and worth whatever physical exertion we need to do according to--or even over and above--our own capacities.

All you who are able to read this, please pray for this activity to be used as a blessing to those who will take part in it: from the audience to the singers to the PA's to the OHP guys... Thanks and we hope to see you in November!

The Praise Theme Worship CAMP, December 2004

The pictures to follow are from the Praise Theme Worship CAMP (Challenging All Musicians to Praise) last December 27-29, 2004 at the Manila Bible Seminary. It was a REALLY memorable time in our lives (imagine not sleeping for four whole days while singing, playing music and still managing a full-fledged camp!!) but we were all the better for it. We hope to follow this up with a Version 2.0 this December 2005 in Bohol (Chocolate hills, here we come!) and Version 3.0 summer of next year maybe in Manila or Central Luzon.

Inspirational message from kuya jo orillaza, the Praise Theme's adviser

Campers remix the hymns

Amazing hands ni nory... Tayabas church is blessed!

Serious talk about corporate worship with kuya erap, ate millet, kuya val, bro. mel and kuya ted with aileen as mel, and jerome (not in pic) as jay

Kuya rolly the UNBELIEVABLE guest drum instructor... notice how the sticks are blurred in this pic

Composition class with lowell

Music discernment class with aileen (pisngi ni darvin at foreground)

Kayo naman!! Campers lead worship (with ayen)

Mga dakilang secretary

Acoustic jamming at 3am... jerome.ja.ronald.kuyawayne

My weapon of choice... wala lang hehe.

Kaya pa namin to ano! (the camp staff, 2nd to the last night... sooo tired!)

Praise Themers: chrizelle.ayen.joann.anabelle.jocelyn.tj

Kahit puyat, mag-sunrise devotion tayo!!

Thanking the One: "sing with me now... put your hands together and let's praise..."

The day after... people left at the seminary after everyone else have gone home the night before...

"I Am David"... I Am A CRYBABY!

picture from www.killermovies.com/ gallery/iamdavid/poster.html
Bawled my eyes out at this movie! Adapted from a novel by Ann Holm, this movie is about a 12-year-old boy (an endearing-despite-zero-smiling Ben Tieber) who escapes a German or communist (unclear in the movie) concentration camp carrying a sealed envelope with instructions to get to Denmark. The interesting plot in the movie is that the boy, David, has known nothing but life inside the camp, having been separated with his parents and kept in the camp since he was a 4-year old.

picture from www.theflickchicks.com/ flick-chicks/pages
David travels from East Europe towards his destination completely on foot, carrying only a compass and a loaf of bread, with communist soldiers, dogs, and bratty schoolboys at his heels. All the things that he sees, the people he meets, the stories he becomes part of--they all figure in his newfound struggle in the "free" world, a world that, although "free" or outside the camp he grew up in, is still, for David at least, as much to be mistrusted as the prisoned world he has grown into.
picture from www.themoviebox.net/. ../main-page.html
Not just about David's escape and running through forests and fields or away from soldiers of several nationalities, the movie is also about finding hope and help even in the darkest of places. It reminded me of a line I heard in a (of all things) Harry Potter movie: "Happiness can be found even in the darkness of nights... If only one remembers to turn on the lights." Most touching is David himself, starting out with nothing but fear and distrust in his eyes, he unfolds before our eyes as he learns how to smile with his mouth, and later on allow this smile to reach his eyes. By the end of the movie I was crying like a baby. It didn't help that it was 3 o'clock in the morning.
picture from www.hollywoodjesus.com/ movie/i_am_david/11.jpg
Oh, and the movie has Jim Caviezel in a special role, too. But with everything that's going on, what with the boy running, the grass on the Italian fields swaying, the whole European scenery in all its splendor on your screen, it would not be hard to totally ignore any Hollywood powerhouse in this movie. A "little" movie this may be called by some but in my book it's a giant. Best to watch it with girlfriends, girlfriends, and with a box of tissue close by.

Allow Me To Be Senti

Got this in my email from a good friend, Lynn Rodriguez. I'm seldom sentimental but this short paragraph really tore at my heart. So allow me to be "senti" for a bit here and indulge me as I share this ka-senti-han with you.

When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part, because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness; it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day, it's not laying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every part of your body. No, that is just being in love, which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love, itself, is what is left over when being in love has burned away. Doesn't sound very exciting does it? But, it is.

Suspended Animation

finally, i'm home! it's SO HOOOOOTTTT! as in parang may heater sa labas. but that's okay, i'm super-happy to be home though too tired to stretch my lips and smile to show it. i arrived yesterday noon and my parents picked me up at the airport and drove me home through terrible manila traffic. my cousin was taking pictures all the way... i looked like a mess so i doubt i'll post thsoe pictures here. maybe, maybe...

i arrived home to a house full of RELATIVES!!! although a bit surprised as i was looking forward to a quiet afternoon sleeping, i was nonetheless happy they were all there to welcome me. i'm sure my cat was the most super-excited but he was hiding it... as he always does, and im sure he's beside himself because he loooooves me so much though he never shows it (faker)! i havent slept 6 hours since i boarded the plane at CDG... :(

im back at work already, enrolling and updating my school materials. feels like nothing has changed around here. and like nothing is happening... you know the feeling of "suspended animation"? thats how i feel TODAY. hope this is just the jetlag talking and that after the weekend i'll be as good as new... check back on me next week to see what happens. sya... CIAO, people!