atin-atin lang

our office has been reconnected to the internet for over three months now (thank goodness…and myself too for all the effort); but i haven’t tried posting a new blog entry until this evening.

well, i just wanted to make it known that i’m still alive and kicking albeit squirming might be the more apt term (at least as far as this blog is concerned). i’m not ready with any entry just yet, sensible or otherwise. this one will have to do for now.

in the meantime, i’ll be reading YOUR blogs and hopefully get inspired to write anew.

yeah, that’s what I am right now. since our college moved to our "new" building, I’ve had no direct access to the Internet for more than a month now. (un)surprisingly, the buildings (yes, there are two) are not yet complete; but since we had to move in to force the contractors to work, we had, rather have, to live with the present conditions there — meaning NO AIRCON, NO INTERNET, NO CANTEEN, NO engg people to see and appreciate.

bummer. and because of that, I’m gonna have to postpone writing longish, detailed entries here and just maximize my rented internet time checking emails and other important stuff. so until then, I’m taking a blogging break.

see you around.

the title of "Architect" is usually supposed to evoke a feeling of a certain stature, knowing that one spent at least five years in college and another two more preparing for the licensure exam. i mean, it’s supposed to be a well-deserved appendage to one’s name after the grueling years of preparation and torture.

last night, i heard that title being mentioned quite too much for elation or comfort. i was attending my first-ever UAP (United Architects of the Philippines, to those scratching their heads) Chapter meeting last night and i had no idea what to expect. i wasn’t actually a member of that chapter, or the UAP for that matter. i was just observing and "feeling" the crowd with my friend Alan, who was going to be inducted as a new member that night.

being the first time for both of us, we were a little queasy and self-conscious when we got to the venue (w/c was hard to get to of you didn’t have your own car). we went by cab from Alabang Town Center to Dencio’s in Brittany Bay, Sucat. we got there just in time for the supposed 7pm start. voila! there were just about 3 guys there who we weren’t sure were our co-attendees or not. after observing them for a while, we decided to occupy the table next to them and waited.

after more than 30 mins, the rest of the members started to arrive. kahit pala sa mga ganito late pa rin dumarating ang mga "professionals." i was really feeling uneasy since i didn’t know anybody there aside from my friend. i was also hoping that there’d be familiar faces from UP Arki as well — nada. When some oldies noticed us newbies, they sent someone over to "welcome" us. This past chapter president named Joel made a little small talk and told us to feel comfy there. yeah sure. we were even feeling cozy, not! maybe it was because we didn’t have any contemporaries there and the crowd was mostly senior. add to that, we didn’t have any schoolmates except for this guy named Joseph that didn’t look a bit familiar.

minutes past and my stomach started to grumble. i couldn’t wait for the free dinner! hehe. i was told by Ma’am Elaine that chapter meetings usually consist of an informal induction of new members, free dinner, then the evening’s agenda. when it was almost 8pm, the waiter (who seemed to have a problem — nagdadabog sya) started to serve dinner. sa wakas!

i was about to give up that night when an interesting chap was ushered to our table. after the necessary introductions, we prepared to eat our dinner. my friend recognized him as the topnotcher of the board exams of his batch. hmmmm. interesting. he wasn’t from UP so i didn’t know what to expect. but fortunately, he was no disappointment. this guy carried himself well and was actually a good conversationalist - his uber macho one-liners notwithstanding. bwhahahahahaha!

when everybody was scooping the last amounts of melted ice-cream that we called dessert, someone grabbed the mic and announced that the program was about to begin. so he went:

"Good evening architects, welcome to the . . . blah-blah-blah"

"For the opening remarks, let’s welcome Architect so-and-so…"

Opening Remarks: "My fellow architects…"

"Thank you very much Architect…"

"Please remain standing for the invocation to be led by Architect…"

Architect this, architect that…blah-blah-blah.

TAMA NA!!! Why do we have to be constantly reminded that this guy or that guy is an architect? Aren’t we all?! This is the UAP for crying out loud! And all of us are architects. The repeated mention of the title "architect" somehow diminishes its value and becomes irritating even.

Another thing, I learned last night that exchanging pleasantries can become unpleasant at times. I felt compelled to socialize and mingle with the people there (at least those whom I shared the table with). But don’t get me wrong, they were nice, but the act of introducing yourself and extending a hand for a handshake can be such a chore when you’re tired & sleepy and you’ve been waiting for almost an hour for the program to start. Maybe it’s just me.

I also noticed that the atmosphere in events dominated by men, or at least attended by mostly men, tends to be more tense, artificial even. Men seem to be so full of themselves when they congregate and do their own grandstanding when given the opportunity. Thank goodness there were at least a handful of women there to dampen the oozing machismo in the air. They somehow managed to steal some of the attention. And how about the homos? What about them? They were either among the "alpha males" who were competing for attention (closets in tow of course) or just trying to blend in quietly with the rest.

When the event wrapped up, I still hadn’t made up my mind if I wanted to join that particular chapter or any chapter for that matter. I watched their AV presentation about their activities and I wasn’t perked up just yet. Maybe I need more exposure to this architects’ organization or stay in my shell a while longer. I guess it’s on to the next chapter then…

"Wala bang chicks dito?"

~Dance Like No One’s Watching~

We convince ourselves that life
will be better after we get married,
have a baby, then another.
Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old
enough
and we’ll be more content when they are.

After that we’re frustrated that we
have teenagers to deal with,
we will certainly be happy
when they are out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete
when our spouse gets his or her act together,
when we get a nicer car,
are able to go on a nice vacation,
when we retire.
The truth is there’s no better time
to be happy than right now.
If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges.
It’s best to admit this to yourself
and decide to be happy anyway.
One of my favorite quotes comes
from Alfred D Souza.

He said, "For a long time it had seemed
to me that life was about to begin -real life.
But there was always some obstacle in the way,
something to be gotten through first,
some unfinished business,
time still to be served,
a debt to be paid. Then life would begin.
At last it dawned on me that these
obstacles were my life."

This perspective has helped me to see
that there is no way to happiness.
Happiness is the way,
so, treasure every moment that you have.
And treasure it more because you shared it
with someone special,
special enough to spend your time…
and remember that time waits for no one.

So stop waiting until you finish school,
until you go back to school,
until you lose ten pounds,
until you gain ten pounds,
until you have kids,
until your kids leave the house,
until you start work,
until you retire,
until you get married,
until you get divorced,
until Friday night,
until Sunday morning,
until you get a new car or home,
until your car or home is paid off,
until spring, until summer,
until fall, until winter,
until you are off welfare,
until the first or fifteenth,
until your song comes on,
until you’ve had a drink,
until you’ve sobered up,
until you die, until you are born again
to decide that there is no better time
than right now to be happy…
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

So, Work like you don’t need money.
Love like you’ve never been hurt and
Dance Like no one’s watching.

~Author Unknown~

Totoo diba? I wish it were really that simple and easy to practice. Then there’d be less problems.

AT LAST! The blog bug has bitten me and I’m taking my first crack at this online journal thing. The future looks interesting though I can’t think of anything to write at this particular moment.

So just hang tight my loyal fans. The juice is soon to come.