Being Someone Else
In the spirit of the upcoming Search-In retreat, it's time for Object Rep. Copy and paste, then fill it in with your own answers.
IF YOU WERE A _______, WHAT WILL YOU BE, AND WHY?
1. An ulam/ meal
Rack of lamb stuffed with garlic and fresh rosemary. I can't explain why. Not everyone likes it? But those who do really like it? Dahil masarap ang taba?
2. A furniture piece
An old wooden treasure chest, like the one in our lanai.
3. An item of clothing or apparel
Black turtleneck cashmere sweater. Simple, elegant, comfortable.
4. An album or a song.
I'll be more specific. I would be this particular line from Sting's We'll Be Together:
"My love is a flame that burns in your name."
5. A fruit or vegetable
A persimmon. It looks ordinary (it's often mistaken for a tomato), it's not too sweet, is best with white wine, and is a rare find in this God-forsaken country. I'm not rare, I'm not sweet, but I'm a lot of fun when there's wine around!
6. An animal.
A dolphin (thought I'd say "dog", didn't you?).
7. A place.
Hanauma Bay in the spring/summer, Napa Valley in autumn, Yosemite Park in the winter, Terrazas de Punta Fuego all year round. Such contrasts! I can't choose!
8. A cartoon character.
Asajj Ventress from Star Wars: Clone Wars. On my better days, I'm Buttercup from The Power Puff Girls.
9. An office item/ equipment
An HP LCD monitor. Have you ever noticed how clear everything on it is?
10. An international celebrity/ personality.
Wow. I don't know. I wish I were like JFK or Audrey Hepburn. I'd really like to be Bono. "We don't need to agree on everything. We just need to agree on one thing." Right now, I'm just Hugh Laurie's character on House, MD.
11. A book.
A Neil Gaiman or Jeanette Winterson book. Probably something as whimsical as "Stardust" or as irrational yet passionately cerebral as "The Passion".
12. A movie.
I wish I could say, "'True Lies', man, yeah!", but Dondi already said that. If I'm not Before Sunset ("I was fine until I read your f---ing book!"), I'm The Usual Suspects. You've got to know me to know me, if you know what I mean ;-)
13. A mode of transportation.
An Aston Martin DBS. I was watching Casino Royale with the XBs last week and we all noticed the same thing when Daniel Craig stepped into that car: the stitching on the leather console. Such a simple yet elegant detail. Fantastic! And I'm all about the details, honey.
Hope to know more about you if you weren't you!
Late Night Snack for Thought
I just read this on Jeanette Winterson's online journal for November."The kindness of strangers is a wonderful thing, and renews faith in the world, and defies the scientific hocus-pocus of selfish genes. Not everything we do is for personal gain, thank god, or even because we hope one day that someone will be kind to us in return. Sometimes there is love - a very unscientific emotion that is always surprising."
"...I suspect that love has a number of different speeds. Sometimes it will belt the universe as fast as light or faster. Sometimes it will take a slow train through France."
"It may be that love is a good speed selector, and teaches us the right movement for all that we need to do, Maybe love, the most unscientific of criterion, is exactly the yardstick we need to make our judgements.
"I don't what else can get you out of a Black Hole."
So that piece was kind of a nice way to end my very tiring day (and a very sad episode of Grey's Anatomy). I've been up since 5.30 AM. It's now close to midnight, and all I've been doing is working! It's been a Watson Wyatt Data Services day! Can't wait 'til this all ends on Friday. Then I'm off to the Ministry of Sound
in Clark Quay with my classmates Rit-rit, Jolee and Geia, the kind souls who have been humoring me all week. Too bad our schoolmate, upperclassman Mia, can't join us.And so I bid you a warm "Good night" from my very comfortable room at the Intercontinental Hotel in Singapore. I really miss Max, my unexplicable savior from an unfathomable Black Hole. Dogs do that, you know. And being away from my dog is the worst thing about travelling. Seriously.
RIP, Bro. Rafe
A message from Search-In LSGH. Please pray for the repose of the soul of Bro. Rafe. I had the good fortune of meeting him and working with him as a facilitator of the La Sallian Youth Congress back in college. His passing is a huge loss to the La Sallian community.Brother Rafael 'Rafe' Donato, FSC, passed away yesterday. He drowned while swimming along the coast of Morong in Bataan. He was missing early afternoon, his body was found several hours later.
Brother Rafe is the Auxiliary Visitor of the Brothers. He was also the former Brother Visitor of the Philippine District, and served as President of La Salle Green Hills, De La Salle University in Taft, De La Salle Bacolod, and De La Salle Lipa.
Although Brother Rafe was never directly involved with the Search-In community, it was through his intervention that the Search-In survived two critical moments in its history. First, around 1986, when there was a move by an authority in the school to put an end to the Search-In, it was Brother Rafe, as President of LSGH, who took our side and allowed us to continue. Then again in 1991, wherein certain persons wanted to change the Search-In program into something totally different, it was Brother Rafe who once again came to our aid.
Brother Rafe celebrated 50 years of being a Christian Brother just two weeks ago. It is a terrible loss to the La Sallian Family that he has departed this life. Yet in faith, we know that he is called home by our Lord, whom he has served well. Please pray for the repose of his soul and for all those who are in grief over his passing.
We have no details yet regarding the wake and the funeral as of this moment. We will keep you udated.
