Jandrea...so far

            Mama had 2 birthdays. As young children, we always celebrated it on December 12. Then when she applied for a passport when I was about 10 years old, she had to secure a copy of her birth certificate. Lo and behold, on it her birthday was January 31, 1923! How that came to be, no one could explain. My Lola said that she was sure Mama was not born on the date written on that piece of paper. How can that be when all her other legal documents bore December 12, 1922 as her date of birth? But there was no one to ask about the circumstances of her birth registration. So everyone surmised that the clerk must have made a mistake of writing the date when her birth was registered as the date of birth. That would have put the issue at rest but no, my mother could not be comforted by that explanation. She just had to make sure that we didn't miss out celebrating the day she was born.          So, from thereon we would have two birthday celebrations every year.  I preferred going a

At 53    As I get older, it seems that getting friendly with my Id has become less dangerous. It is not as threatening to my Ego as it used to be.I've noticed that not only am I less fearful about speaking my mind, I've also allowed my mind to speak in not so wholesome ways.      I've allowed wicked thoughts to slip through the sturdy and unyielding barriers of yesteryears. For example, when I see people with very unattractive physical features, I think about descriptions that are definitely politically incorrect. However, ehem ... when I see very attractive men of every age, I immediately imagine possible dalliances ( Joke lang, T! ) People who fail to meet my expectations are berated with sometimes unkind words ( Silently, of course! )  Then there's my ever-increasing temptation to butt in when overhearing conversations of strangers. I just have this need to correct errors, offer answers to their questions, and oh, just say anything to "enrich&q

          The loss of very close friends of mine continue to haunt me even after many years. Although I am constantly reminded by well-meaning people that time heals all wounds, I still cannot get to that place where what happened no longer matters. That might be because I have not learned to forgive them for the pain of not knowing what it is I did or did not do to deserve what they put me through.            Lately though, I've imagined myself forgiving them, saying "Ok na ako. Ok na rin sana kayo!"  I've abandoned my idea that in order for a person to be forgiven, he or she must acknowledge his or her wrongdoing and apologize for it.  It is highly unlikely to happen so why should my soul suffer over someone else's  inability to show remorse? Maybe I did deserve to be severed from their lives. Who knows?!            This realization is probably ten years too late but hey, those were really big and deep wounds! Taking baby steps now but I have

           I've always been an APO fan. I love their easy-to-listen to music, the way they seemed to enjoy singing together all these years and of late, their contributions to the political scene. But as a teen-ager,  I was particularly interested in  Jim Paredes. For me, he was the most attractive of the 3 members. I have followed developments in his career and personal life. Even now, I follow him on Twitter and read his blog. I've never paid to much attention to Danny Javier and Buboy Garrovillo except to think that the former seemed to be the smartest and the latter was cute in a little boy way.          But things kinda changed when I met Buboy in person last November 2010. Yes, he was still cute as he didn't seem to be too different from how he has looked since I was in high school. But it wasn't that which struck me about him. He seemed to be just a guy-next-door who wasn't trying too hard to be the celebrity that he was. He trudged through rocky paths and