NO TV FOR SOPHIA

My desire not to let Sophia watch TV until she's seven grows stronger everyday. TV corrupts the mind. Aside from its unfiltered content that could teach my baby violence and malice at an early age, the constant and abrupt shifts of ideas in TV makes the mind loose its thinking unity. The TV juxtaposes too many unrelated ideas in a small period of time that can thereby damage the ability of children to make sense out of what they perceive. It is also proven that TV decreases our ability to concentrate. It makes us hyperactive, doing multiple things at the same time, not being content on a single activity--another effect of the ever-changing flashes of thought in TV. Furthermore, I want reading or any form of art to be Sophie's main source of leisure, not TV (Please).

But my mom is against this. She told me that I have to let Sophia watch TV. And she even went to say that when I was a child I loved watching TV and I grew up smart.

NOT. In truth, I had a hard time weaving ideas in college. Coherency was my weakness. A minute of reading makes me sleep. I was only good at math because it doesn't require too much mulling and attention. You get your results fast. But I was taking up Humanities. So obviously, absolutely everything requires time and attention to details. I only survived because I practiced and practiced. I don't remember the last time I opened the TV when I entered college. I don't even know Paris Hilton until she was discussed as the most popular Hollywood hedonist in one of my Philo subjects.

So, what do I do now? I don't want to disobey my mom, as that will really upset her. But at the same time, I want the best for Sophie.

Well, I should just probably let Sophie watch full-length films. No brain damaging pop-out commercials. Plus I get to filter the content of these films. (This will also save me money because Sophia will not be a consumerist baby, those whose first words are "buy me that barbie I saw on TV")

When she gets to the age of reason, she could argue about what she like. She could watch TV if she wants to, but I'll still be beside her to guide her. We'll discuss what she watched after even. But before that, I am the boss. (hehe)

PS:

Saw this article about the effect of computer and surfing to the human brain. It inspired me to write this article. (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google)

Sophia Sophia

6am. Awakened by a bad dream, my eyes open in an unexplained agitation.

I suddenly see this angel staring at me. Her eyes damp with the innocence of youth. The morning sun kissing her chicks aglow. Her hands is in a struggle to create a meaningless motion.

The nightmare ends.

For some reason, this makes me want to pray.

Humdrumming

Humdrumming

The desk lamp stares at
the ruins of a dead constellation lost
in the vast piece of
nothingness.



The light suddenly burns out.

Incredible Hulk On The Loose

I hate myself when I get jealous. Insecurity is my worst nightmare, really. It makes me succumb to my baser instincts. Or rather I succumbed to my baser instincts first that's why I get green. I'm not really sure. Which came first the chicken or the egg? Wait, but which is the egg and the chicken in the first place?

I think the egg is the succumbing. I imagine it similar to impregnation. Jealousy is the chicken, or rather, the chick.

The Sex: I yield to my baser instincts, entertaining the possibility that the skin-deep shrimp deserves my envy. I open his account and check if he visits her page. And I discover that he does and he even comments on her pictures. Unfuckinbelievable.

Labor and Abortion: I fight its birth as I don't want to stoop down their level. Reason tells me that what they had is over. But I also know him well enough to know that he is flirting with this lower life form. My friend Aurora once told me that I shouldn't be jealous with women that is not at par with me. But then, I can't help but feel this strong pang of annoyance and animosity within me because the girl is just so puke-provoking. A bone-headed model? Come on! He should have picked a beautiful girl or a smart one at that. She failed to fill both qualifications.

Even though I keep on battling the labor, the chick persists on coming out for reasons that transcend my intellect.

The Birth: So now, here's incredible hulk on the loose. She cyberstalks, rants and sourgrapes. It makes me ugly.

I can't believe I just made this whole article just to talk about her.--Incredible hulk on the loose.

My self-esteem and self-respect? Bermuda triangulated.

I hate her.

But I hate myself more for hating her.

Exploration Of The Gray

I've been thinking of quitting my new job after a week of doing it. I find some of the tasks given to me unethical and even illegal. I don't want to go to the nitty-gritty, but trust me, it's like cheating in exams. But because they pay well, I continue to cheat. The 9 units of Theology I took in college--gone. 9 units of philosophy--gone. My school's Credo, mission and vision--all gone. They're like stars that exploded into the darkest of black holes.

I need this job. I have a baby to raise. His father's salary is not enough to feed us. I'll only do this for a couple of months anyway. I'll have a real job next year in Australia. So I think this could do no harm.--I can keep telling this to myself forever but it won't change the fact that I'm cheating. I'm cheating. I'm cheating. And I can't deal with it. It's eating up my nerves every freakin' day.

By mere chance or by destiny (can't possibly know), I encountered a blog that has this phrase on it: "These people need to realize that just because you can do something, it means you should...." Timely, right?

After having read that, I found myself in deep contemplation.

Morality or practicality?
My soul or my child?

To hell with this. I have 4 more articles to write.

No time to waste.

A Pledge

Finally, I've convinced my alter ego to blog again. Skills get rusty when not used--this dawned on me when I began writing my first assignment in my new job. After several months of not "romancing my muse", I surprisingly found myself running out of things to type in the blank page of MS Word. Ideas that came easily evaporate like damp footprints on a shore. Words seem like strangers sitting beside me on the LRT. Now, I don't know how these metaphors fair in the mind of a good reader. Oh I think that's my problem! I'm too conscious about how my words would be judged by readers. It's the fault of that dumb seminar I attended and paid for last summer. An apparently renowned writer gave the talk. She's alright. Fluent. Seems professional. She was in a corporate attire during the two sessions, I think. She's fine. But she's a god damned magazine writer. Women fashion magazines. But I learned something about passion from her and about risking. Pursue your passion even if you're not sure where you're going with it--you might be surprised. Well, I give her that credit (but she didn't even put it as beautiful as I just did haha)

Well, the point is that I got the virus she was spreading. I wanted to be a profit writer. I wanted to write for magazines because apparently, they pay well and they make you popular. I wanted to be published even if it means I'll write sell-out uncreative shitzits. Thus, I stopped writing in this blog because the stereotypical reader might not buy it.

Aside from this, I'm pressured because I was pregnant. And, if you get impregnated, unprepared and unmarried, expect the worst, even from your family. The pressure would be everywhere like zombies. On the one hand, I have my sister ridiculing me, telling me that I can't achieve anything anymore because I got knocked up. On the other hand, I have to live side by side with my boyfriend's family. Don't want to go into details, but trust me, you don't want to leave your home when you're pregnant. I was really at an all-time-low at that point. So I stupidly decided to make myself famous and get myself a normal job on a big well-known company just to taunt these animals.

And it was a big failure. I didn't actually fail. But since I was unhappy pursuing something I deem useless, I stopped. I used to be passionate with my otherworldly dreams and crazy ideas. And then I turned into a bitch bandwagon. Because of what? Because I wanted to belong. Because I wanted to be respected. I need to end this futile sojourn.

I realized that if I don't start respecting my unique weirdness, others would not start respecting me as well.

Today, after seeing my rather eccentric tattoed friend accepted in society, I got really inspired. I visited her fan page in facebook. Yes, she's now popular and is an upcoming teenage role model. I realized that as long as you stay true at what you are, you'll belong.

So now, I pledge.

I pledge that from now on, I'll be true at what I am oblivious of the approval of the unpeople.

I pledge that I will regularly write in this blog, whether it's a perfectly thought entry or just some brain fart.

I pledge that I will freely write with my soul as my pen.

I pledge that I'll not care about what the shrimpheads might comment about what I write.

I pledge that I will write and write and write and write and write...and never stop something that I believe defines who I am.

My 1st Published Article (Published in Manila Bulletin)

People would often blame media for the apparent moral decadence occurring in Philippine society. The distorted values media projects are said to have effectuated negative repercussions in society as they greatly influence the actions, dispositions and principles of people. However, these assumptions seem to hold no water for they undermine other factors that form part of a people’s culture, such as, the family, school and environment. These facets of society equally contribute to the formation of a culture. Hence, media should not to be seen as monster eating the sound values of the country. Before judging if it really causes ill effects to Philippine culture, perhaps it deserves to be studied objectively.

Does media dictate the substance of Philippine culture or it is our culture which dictates the substance of media? Such is the question we ought to ask.

Thirty five university students from different universities in the country conducted a rigorous research study to address such issue with media. They were convened by UNIV in its Final Paper Presentation held at Tanglaw University Center.

The UNIV congress is an international gathering of students organized by Istituto per la Cooperazione Universitaria (ICU), an Italian non-government organization that promotes social projects and developmental activities on an international scale. UNIV annually conducts a research study on a particular issue besetting present day society which is deemed to hold great impact on human development. University students all over the world are invited to take part in the project and are given the privilege to research on the chosen issue in the light of their respective disciplines and cultural backgrounds.

This year’s theme is "Projecting Culture through the Language of Mass Media". Eleven groups of students coming from different universities participated in the event. Four groups concerned themselves on the role of media makers and media consumers in the shaping of the Filipino culture. The titles of their papers were "Media Watch: The Filipino Parents’ Role in Mass Media", "Parental Guidance: Using Television as a Tool to Teach Children", "Towards Multi-People Perspective: Resuscitating Indigenous People in the Filipino Consciousness Through Mass Communication" and "Women Journalists Towards Empowerment: Strengthening the Media Industry for Society". On the other hand, three groups tackled the so to speak, "filipinization" of media, that is, how has the Filipino culture permeated media and eventually transform its language into the "Filipino language". These were the titles of the papers that delved on this topic: "Thinking out of the TV Box: The Unconventional Telenovela—An Anthropological and Historical Study of Philippine Telenovelas", "Redefining Beauty: The Philippine Advertising Media’s Portrayal of Feminine Beauty" and "The Filipinization of Mcdonald’s Television Commercials in the Philippines ". Moreover, two groups zeroed in on the impact media hold in shaping ethnic identities in the country. The papers on the subject are "Race, Ethnicity and Solidarity: Filipino Ethnic Youth Groups in the Waves of Migration and Globalization" and "Dinagyang: A Kaleidoscope of Ilonggo Culture". Finally, two papers explored the so called "alternative media". The paper entitled "Youth’s Apprehension towards Internet and Information Technology and Mass Media: An Exploratory Descriptive Survey of University of the Philippines’ Students" focused on the cultural significance of internet and information technology in Philippine society, while the paper entitled "A Study on How Texting Affects the Youth and Their Relationships" zeroed in on the effects of mobile phones in human relationships.

The participating universities were: Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Davao University, De La Salle University, University of the Philippines – Diliman, University of the Philippines – Visayas, and University of Asia and the Pacific.

The event was also graced by Rachel Khan, Executive Director for Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, who gave the keynote speech.

Tanglaw University Center in Quezon City served as a "laboratory of ideas" where the papers were presented. A rather intellectually enlightening research convention occurred there that time. By searching for the objective truths about media, the researchers were able to liberate media from myths, prejudices and misconceptions. They were able to see media through an enlightened glass, through a positive light.

After the UNIV Final Paper Presentation in the Philippines , UNIV International Congress will be held this Holy Week of 2006 in Rome , Italy .