Black Monday

I'm taking a break. From writing reports for our board meeting, from arranging interviews for a coming researcher, from preparing stuff needed for the coming days, sa pag-e-emote, from thinking about the birds, the bees, the birds, the birds ….

Because …

… the peaceful peasants' campout in front of the Congress was violently dispersed. For 40 days, farmers tirelessly manned the camp to push for the approval of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill. Truncheons and not land, water cannon and not rights, were the answers of House Speaker Prospero Nograles and the government's armed forces to their demand.

… Fil-Am activist Melissa Roxas and her two companions, Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc, were abducted by suspected military elements last May 19 in Tarlac. Melissa is a cultural activist from LA and a member of BAYAN-USA. This morning, Melissa was "surfaced" but there were still no words as to the fate of her two companions. Even migrants and immigrants – the country's so-called heroes – are not spared anymore from human rights violations of this state.

… for the GMA government and her blood-thirsty butchers, it is a crime to be a Pitao. Just this afternoon, news came out that Evelyn Pitao, sister of NPA leader Leoncio Pitao was murdered at her house with her common-law husband. In June 2008, suspected military elements gunned down his brother Danilo Pitao. In March 2009, Leoncio's 20-year old daughter Rebelyn Pitao, a schoolteacher, was abducted and later on was found brutally raped and murdered. They were all civilians. They were all Pitaos.

When will being Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo become a crime?

Nakakainis. Nakakagalit. Lunes na Lunes.

Saka na nga muna ang birds and the bees, and the birds and the birds …

Some endings

Spoiler alert!

***

It's the end of the road for the ex-prisoners of Fox River after running from seemingly endless enemies and unfortunate events. Honestly, I found the whole Scylla storyline (though it was the core of the whole thing) quite dragging and even the twist of the long-lost mother's appearance was a wee bit of a stretch. The first season was still Prison Break's best and I guess it was the one that got me hooked on the show and I just had to follow it through to the end.

If you're a sucker for happy endings, don't watch the last five minutes of its finale.

***

Another day has gone for Jack Bauer of 24. The twist on the life of Tony Almeida was not really that good after having watched his character in previous seasons.

I watch the show for its fast-paced story and the latest season did what was expected. However, if Jack pulls through again from where the script left him – in bed dying – he's really one lucky bastard.

***

Grey's Anatomy has always been one of my favorites. The characters are just so diverse and they always have their own stories to tell. I guess it's what makes it interesting for at the end of each season, you don't only ask what will happen to Meredith Grey but to the whole bunch of Seattle Grace's doctors.

Meredith and Derek appear to be settling down, Cristina has the hottie Dr. Hunt, McSteamy has mellowed down with Little Grey and Dr. Bailey has again shown where to hurt her most: her family.

Meanwhile, Alex Karev's character got more action in the latest season and he showed what he got (too bad, there was not much shirt off scenes of him).

As for George and Izzie, what will happen to them is the biggest question for the next season. Who's gonna die? For me, I love George but for chrissake, can't he play gay next time?

***

I will just echo what many fans have written of Brothers and Sisters' season finale: what the f*ck was that?

***

I am not much into endings because it's tiring to grapple with the question of when you'll really end something.

?

Snobbish-looking, yuppie, pierced, and with an office ID hanging around his neck. Probably just came out of the office and wasting time off before heading home, so I thought.

He went around the crowd, said hi to a few guys and bantered with some more. Another guy, obviously into him, monopolized him for a while. Probably a habitué, so I guessed.

He asked for a cocktail and beer that he drank alternately. Fascinating and a bit weird, so I mused.

I went back to nurse my beer.

Then for reasons I could not remember, probably the increasing crowd, he was right there standing right beside me – still looking aloof, still dressed like a yuppie, still with that ID around his neck, still with a glass of cocktail and a bottle of beer in his hands, pierced and (I noticed) tattooed.

And we talked.

He was not a snob. He was just on his way to work. He only knew the guys by their faces. He had only been there a couple of times. The other guy had been stalking him for two hours already, and yeah, his drinks combo was a bit weird but it somehow kept him from getting sloshed.

So much for probabilities.

We talked, got closer, talked, held hands, talked, got closer and ….

"What's the point of being in a relationship if you can't be physically together?"

So much for possibilities.

Though I don't want to think about it anymore, I sometimes do wonder if I got it wrong. Again.

What happens in Manila, (unfortunately) stays in Manila

"So anong plano mo pag-uwi?"

"Wala. Since I'm definitely coming back here, I'm not planning to do things that I may regret."

Yan ang sinabi ko kay Kiks bago ako umuwi. I planned to be on a break and when I said break, it was really more of not thinking of things that should be done but just playing it by the ear and do what takes my fancies.

Most of the time, I was with my family and relatives. Tumigil ako sa bahay, inikot ang mga kamag-anak, nakinig ng radyo, nakipag-agawan sa mga pamangkin over the internet, nag-isaw, nag-halo-halo at naglaro ng PSP hanggang madaling-araw. Umuwi rin ako sa Batangas, naki-pyesta, nakipag-inuman sa mga tiyuhin at nakipag-diskusyon kung ano ba ang corruption at kung bakit ayaw ko kay GMA - habang masama ang titig ng mga bisitang pulis.

Naki-Mayo Uno rin ako syempre. Pagkatapos ng halos sampung taon, naka-martsa ulit mula uste hanggang LB at mula LB hanggang emba. Sa haba ng lakad na yun, nakipag-reunion na rin sa mga kasama nung bata pa. Nakita ang mga may-asawa, ang mga wala pa, at ang mga nagladlad na. To cap that day, I went to a free concert nina Lolita Carbon, The Jerks, at iba pa.

In between family and politics, I did go out.

Then I met Zeke.

And I thought of what I told Kiks.

… and so it ends, and begins, again

Time does not fly. It just zooms away.

Nineteen days is not a very long time. I can even recite my itinerary day-by-day, blow-by-blow. And I swear, not much blowing was done.

Yes, time out is over. By normal standards though, whenever I go to the Philippines for any length of time, I am not really on an absolute break. But of course, what does constitute a break? Chika lang. I'm not gonna masturbate about breaks.

Anyway, it's not yet time to blog about what happened in 19 days. Suffice to say that I did enjoy my stay, reacquainted myself with some companions of my youth (naks!), spent time home listening to my mom gush about our parish priest (she'll adopt him soon if she can and it's definitely better than urging me to take up THAT habit), and did spur of the moment stuff that I will not regret though will toy with in my mind from time to time.

One thing I am kinda disappointed though is that I never got the chance to meet with some blogger friends. Oh well, next time.

By tomorrow, it's Hong Kong life once again. It'll probably be another 19 months or so before I can take that break again. Or not.

It's fine. Time zooms away. Right?