THE NEXT ACT

How are you? How was your holiday? How was your weekend? How are you? Fine thank you. And you? Nice Weather. Indeed. Did you have a good weekend? Small Chat. Small chat. Blek! Sometimes i feel that way.  Can we just stop here with the small chat? I just want to get a mug a coffee from the coffee machine and i want to get back quickly to my working space.  I got lots of things to do. Sometimes i don't feel talking and it feels awkward to pretend i am interested with what he is saying and to pretend that I know that he is interested with I am saying. It takes few seconds or minutes to bump with someone and to start a small chat. Is it part of of the norm, culture? Or maybe a lot people get it why they are doing it. Maybe if i would know how I can use small chat to my benefit, it would not be so dreadful about the whole drill. And then I realize small chat is a worthwhile drill. Lol. Good first impression. Small chat can be a good ground to make a good...

I cannot deny that sometimes I have been frequently falling from the lure of pride.  This is where I found myself all the more not in good situation of finding a solution to an obvious problem.  It is as simple as looking at the matter of how I can get away from the being trapped.  I stayed in the impression of not being affected and crashed.  In the midst of obvious bleeding I am projecting that I am invincible.  Portrayal of being all right is creating my own trapped.  Get out!  My good soul longs to escape. However sometimes pride is not the factor that pushing me to hide the weakness.  It is not pretentious. It is just hiding where my Achilles Heel is so from the demonic hearts that has the intention of putting me down.  I guess it’s just guarding my body and soul that were entrusted to me the one who creates me.  I accept my weakness and sometimes people work with it to my mishap. On the other hand, being showy about how hap...

I was having my lunch one day with other colleagues in the council.   I had my “pancit” (A quick-to-cook noodle) which a leftover food on my bday celeb last Sunday and two my colleagues in front of me were having instant noodles with all the opened sachets on the table.   I asked, “Did you cook the noodle just in the microwave oven?”   “Yes”, said one of my colleagues, “it was a lazy thing to do.”   “Yeah and some of it popped out and made a big mess inside the oven”, commented the other colleague.   “That is not true,” he objected.   “I have been working on being tidy and organised for a long time and I think I become good at it.   And hearing one comment like that makes everything about me different and my achievement all gone.”   At that moment, I froze.   And then it made me ponder about the power of words.   One word in an instant can change a hundred years of facts.   A word can make a differe...

One good habit that I want to keep at lunch time is spending time reading or meeting up with Claire at the library which is a few walks from the council.   The frequent meeting place is at the library, outdoor in the library garden whenever there is wonderful warm day or indoor on a not so warm day yet occupying a good spot by the huge window overlooking the garden.   Sometimes Claire wouldn’t make it but I keep the habit.   Another habit that I want a keep is to bring a mug of mocha chino which Claire and I enjoy.   Reading by the window is so much amusing yet it becomes more amusing when a glance through the window captures my attention to what’s going on outside in the garden: some colleagues jogging which makes me wonder if I should do the same, a friend who is a mum who takes walk with her baby in a stroller, fellow engineers fixing the rivers, young skateboarders having fish and chips, the yellow leaves in autumn which prompts Claire to ask me to take photos ...

In my past blog I have said that I began to appreciate small conversation with chatty strangers whom I come across in different places. The reason why small conversations with strangers might turn out to be good is perhaps that there is a minimal amount of knowledge of each other and most likely the topic would be limited to things, events and basic infos.   At least it would start that way until the nasty stuff might kick in such as people bashing. But before it happened, time is running out and both of you need to go on with your own separate ways. And you parted happy. I began to realise that if I would just see the person I am talking with in a perspective of what I see him/her now and not he/she was before or what unreliable others say about him/her, the conversation between us might be interestingly good. The Now is the gauge to measure, not the Then and most likely not the Next. If the Now personality is still as bad as you fairly perceive, bail out before. It is a waste...

Two people on my way to Welly tried to have a good conversation with me. O ne was a bloke who was sitting across my seat in a small plane while we had a bumpy ride to Auckland and he happened to have a business in East Coast with Filipino Employees. He has been to Manila, Makati particularly and he used to have a couple of business there. He likes bands and he mentioned that there are good singers in Manila who has not been discovered yet. I agree with him. And so that's how I figured out why he kept on bugging me to small talk with him. Filipinos are close to his heart. A lady made a small talk that turned out to an interesting conversation with me. S he food caters for the Hobbits Cast and Crew. Whadyaknow. She hasn't seen any actual shooting . Well it makes sense that the food would come at break time. Doesn't it? But she has many chances of being on the set with all small houses and enchanting landscapes. I remember when my family went to Matamata now known as ...

The first time I have learned the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob was when it was adopted as a children story in a magazine and I was the one illustrating it. While reading and understanding the story so as I would know how I would deliver the illustrations, I was amazed of the character of Joseph. This guy is super forgiving-to-the-max-a-hundred-folds. And he knows how to turn around an ill fate to thinking that God has a good plan for him. And the plan unfolds and geared towards his greatness. The story of Joseph sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? He was sold by his brothers for twenty peaces of silver. He was imprisoned and falsely accused. Yet he obtained his peaceful perception of everything in the midst of painful injustices. He remained faithful and earned the favour of the Pharaoh. And he was exalted to rule Egypt under Pharaoh. He obtained power and used it not to seek vengeance to whoever had wronged him but used it to get back the long lost love of his fami...

Being obsessed with accolades would mean not allowing anyone to do the job even in the midst of doing another job. The praise hunger fella has difficulties delegating other jobs with the fear that the attention would be stolen. The poor guy tries to do a one-man-band not minding the tension and the time wasted. He tries to afford a frame of mind of all knowing so as not make room for others to grab the stage. I was a victim of these obsession when I was the director, script/libretto writer, melody composer of a 2-hour musical play Darklight sponsored by the community I used to belong. The story was inspired by C.S. :Lewis Book entitled Screwtape Letters. I also used the character of Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood in the story and the situation where Screwtape advising Wormwood how to be an excellent devil. It took almost one year of preparation with some spices due to some difficult interactions among the staff, crew and management not to mention the hang-ups within me who was still...

What is a coin artist?” asked the Chinese who is trying to learn English for the first time. “I never heard of it”, I replied somewhat puzzled by the question. “What I’ve heard of is a con artist?” “Yeah. That’s the one.” “It is someone who plays tricks on you so that he gets money or anything he wants from you.” “O, Those people on the street.” “Yeah. Yeah” “Street performers” “Noih! They are like robbers who play tricks in order to lure you.” Come to think of it!! Hmmm. They’re not just on the streets. People use people all the time in order to get what they want. They are being extra nice to you in order to win their trust and then “Bammm!” they got something that you’ve lost. There were number of occasions that people have stolen credits from me especially in the past when I was just a bit naive. Posters that I painted, songs that I composed, dances that I choreographed, plays that I have written which I wouldn’t careless if I wouldn’t be recognised because I w...

Before I became an engineer I worked as a layout artist/illustrator of a children’s’ magazine. I was illustrating famous children stories of well respected children story writers. My job then has gone beyond being an artist. I got to spend time visiting the houses of the writers to pick up the manuscripts and on the side having cookies and tea with them. We also discussed on how I should illustrate the stories. Even though I was not well compensated then, I enjoyed the work so much that I did not consider it as work. Why I enjoyed it? I guess that was my childhood passion. I used to collect comics in grade school years which inspired me to make my own comics. I remember letting my cousins to read my comics for a fee of 10 centavos. They needed to keep reading everyday because I made sure that every comic book that I made is to be continued. I explored more on charcoals and painting when I was in High School. I remember attending courses on weekends. Father Ben, the school c...

Everyone needs each other. That’s the essence of community. Not so much on Give-and-take kinda relationship. Interdependency is most likely how I describe it. You can be effective in giving when you have so much to give. Some people are sometimes hesitant to give in the belief there is not much to give or they are not that equipped to give. Some people have devoted too much in equipping themselves and never have given. They are still constructing the right moment. The moment is now. There is a reason for whoever you are now. Much has been given and much has to be given. You see, giving is an important part of equipping. Church service or any service to God should be considered a calling and it requires total conviction. Some people forget in midst of dealing with the service whom is it for. They should be reminded that they are doing this not for him, not for her and not for them. That is just a lower calling. In this case, every time you begin to get irritated with him ...

I am happy. I wanna put smile on my face to show the whole universe that I am happy. It is believed that a smile can infect others. Hmmmm. I am not convinced with this. I may flash that big smile that says “Hey! I am doing great!” but there are people who are just so pathetically uncomfortable with it. They think, “Why is he happy and I am not. I wish that he is miserable like me. I got to do something to make him depressed then.” Who’s the loser here? I believe the one who stay happy wins. Coz it’s our choice really. No matter how people create scheme in making our life difficult, it’s still our choice if we want to get affected with it. You want to be miserable? It’s your call. You want to drag others in to your miserable chamber? Does it make you better? (Chuckle) Gees. What a wasted effort if the end result is just accumulating miseries. Go ahead! Line up and sit on a bench all yoh old folks who wanna stay glum for the rest of your breath. It’s your choice. ...

There are times that everyone you know are minding their own business. Sometimes everyone are too worn-out to think of nothing else but their own revitalisation. They got to deal with themselves first before they ought to deal with others. Fix your own sagging tent before you get to be involved in others’ affairs. This goes to show that you can not rely on anyone all the time. It does not mean that they are selfish but they are just not equipped at that time. The bottom line is the only person you can count on is yourself. This does not mean that you lose trust on every human being in the whole world. There are people who still care about you. who loves and who are still willing to lend a helping hand as best as they can but the world is not fair sometimes that may steal away others’ capabilities to give.

I realize that friends of mine have to be friends of my family. That’s how it goes. Me and my family are just one. Our friends understand our situation and that was how we know they are the winners to our hearts. We found our circle friends. They found us. How do I define true friends? I might have no answer. All I know is that we respect each other. If that’s how you describe true friends, I am buying it. Definitely we are not an organization, association, company or league. I don’t even know how we got closer. All I know is that once in while we talk, we barbecue, we dance, we play, and we do all sorts of things that cultivate the circle. Why do we do that? I don’t know. If there is a reason, it should be good and it should not be categorised as ulterior motive. Why do we stick? If you find that being with them does not hurt and sometimes gives you enrichment, you got to stick.