One Hundred Ways

The so-called love month is nearly ending. I thought I could get away with posting anything in connection to it at this time but it seems that I can't. Fine. Pardon my pink font.

Love. I can give you Paul's definition of it but I'd rather you go look it up in the Holy Book instead. Or try Webster's online. Or the ever-helpful Wikipedia. My favorite is the one of Robert Sternberg's. It's not because I'm a psych major ok? Let's just say it's more realistic. His Triangular Theory of Love states that love has three components: Intimacy, Passion, and Commitment. For us to obtain real love, the one we all wish for, the type the hopeless romantics would die for, the three components must be present. Hence, it is called consummate. Without passion, the love would be platonic; Companionate. Without commitment, it would be more of lust; physical. Eros. Without intimacy, it would be plain infatuation. So we ask how do we end up with all three? According to Sternberg, love is neither merely an emotion nor a state of mind. Love is a decision we make. If we want to love, then we commit ourselves to it. Passion and intimacy may or may not be present yet but it will stem out from one's desire to be in love.

When we love, we don't simply fall, we choose to fall. Sometimes we feel so much passion that we think our actions and emotions become uncontrollable but that does not happen. We are given free will therefore, we are always in control of our choices. Don't answer me with, "but I didn't have a choice.." Even Miranda says it in The Devil Wears Prada, "YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE. TO LIVE THIS KIND OF LIFE, YOU HAVE TO MAKE CHOICES."

Likewise, when we fall out of love, it is because we chose to do it. We must also not disregard the fact that in a relationship, there are two people involved. For that reason, in any matter, there are two people at fault, two people responsible. Yes, it takes two to tango. If your lover cheated on you, part of the blame is on you. You may have chosen to let it pass. You may have chosen to ignore it. You may have chosen to not give enough that he ended up finding someone to fill in what's missing.

We choose when to fall in love and we choose when to stop. Above all, we choose to maintain, nourish, and care for the love we have..and to do that, we must choose to act. Someone once sent me an SMS saying that love is a verb as well as noun, to love is to do and not just to feel, so unless you express it, love isn't real. How true. Love is more than late night calls, early morning talks, coffee breaks, gifts and physical presence. Otherwise, how would the love be different from the love shared by friends? Right? You must go beyond that. Extra effort perhaps?

Find One Hundred Ways.

Compliment what she does
Send her roses just because
If it's violins she loves, let them play
Dedicate her favorite song
And hold her closer all night long
Love her today
Find one hundred ways

Don't forget, there could be
An old lover in her memory
If you need her so much more
Why don't you say?
Maybe she has it in her mind
That she's just wasting her time
Ask her to stay
Find one hundred ways

Being cool won't help you keep a love warm
You'll just blow your only chance
Take the time to open up your heart
That's the secret of romance

Sacrifice if you care
Buy her some moonlight to wear
If it's one more star she wants
Go all the way
In your arms tonight, she'll reflect
That she owes you the sweetest of debts
If she wants to pay
Find one hundred ways

Love her today
Find one hundred ways

Borrowed that old lyrics from Mr. Ingram. To any man who might be reading this, be smart enough to read between the lines. Love her today..because today is all you've got.

Rebuttal

I was bored the other day when I thought of going through my cousin/wicked stepbro's blog. I came across one entitled "Eleksyong Tugtog". Each line started with " bakit ka pa boboto.." Basically, it was a litany of reasons why a person should not vote anymore. I beg to differ though. A single vote could and would matter. I could still recall the campaign period back in La Salle for the Student Council Elections. Part of one party's speech was the importance of one vote. The moment I heard it, I knew they were right.

It was one vote that made English America's national language and not German.

It was one vote that made Thomas Jefferson US president over Burr.

It was one vote that made Hitler the leader of the Nazis.

It was one vote per precinct in Illinois that made JFK the presidency over Nixon.

In our country, it was one vote that stopped the Senate from uncovering the truth by opening the envelope during Estrada's impeachment trial.

We may not always make the right choices and have the correct judgments. Our personal candidates may not win. But you see, not everyone is given the liberty to vote. Our heroes fought for our democracy. Other nations are still fighting for it. We are fortunate to have the right. We only have to exercise it. How often do we vote? Once in a couple of years. Why waste it? If you do not vote, you do not have the right to complain about the elected officials.

A vote you don't cast for your preferred candidate is a vote you give away. Don't make it easier for the cheating candidate to win. A vote you cast for a good candidate is vote a cheating candidate would die for.

One vote could and would matter.

When I reached 18, I registered and voted. The president I voted for was not Arroyo. Thank God I am not to blame for that. Haha.

My vote was counted. I counted. That is what matters.

The Real Terrorists

Yesterday was my first time to be back at Glorietta after the explosion that occurred last week. The driver dropped me off at SM so I had to enter the mall from the 2nd floor entrance near National Bookstore. The instant my feet stepped on the escalator, the smell of burnt rubber, wood, metal and what-have-you filled my senses. It was around noon. Normally, people would be scattered everywhere, hurrying to fastfood chains and restaurants with about an hour or so they have to get back to their respective offices. Yesterday was different. The mall was quiet. It was depressing and distressing. I felt being inside a ghost town. There were more or less 4 kids playing at the Activity Area. The fountains were not working. There was no music in the background; only footsteps of a few customers and their voices. The usual fun atmosphere is now quieted. I turned my head to the left only to see the GLORIETTA 2 signage beaming. Staring, rather. The way in was covered that no one would see any trace of the blast except the closed, dark stores that used to entice each one to go in and take a look and the mall's stark smell. I've been to Glorietta literally everday of my life for about a year or so and never was there a time that it reeked of any smell like that of yesterday.

I go to Glorietta to shop. I go there when I need time off. I go there to watch a movie with Rey or with friends and colleagues. I go there with Atchi for our sister-bonding. I go there when I have no other place to go to. I go there to play at Timezone. I go there to satisfy my sweet tooth at House of Silvanas or Dulcinea. I go to Glorietta 2 for the cookies at Subway. I go to Glorietta 2 for the gowns at XY. I go to Glorietta 2 for the dainty dresses at Plains and Prints. I go there after work to have dinner with Tita. We pass by Glorietta 2 to get to Park Square 2 where the shuttles going home are when neither one of us brought a car. We eat at Luk Yuen for my favorite Lemon Chicken and Peppercorn Ribs and Ultra-yummy Fresh Strawberry Shake. I never imagined that the place we simply "passed by" would someday turn into a huge pile of rubble.

I know Glorietta more than the back of my hand. No matter how big the Mall of Asia is, no matter how new Trinoma is, even though the great stores, bars, and restos are in Greenbelt, Glorietta was my favorite for some reason. I still could not believe nor imagine the injured and bloody people during the explosion. I could not even imagine the explosion.

I am not sure if it is my loyalty to Ayala, but I honestly do not believe that the blast was caused by methane gas combining with diesel. I agree with the chemical engineers from UP. It could not have been possible. The blast caused too much damage to be attributed to methane. I say too much since 11 people died and more than a hundred were wounded. Go figure. Only the police are saying that methane and diesel caused it. I trust the Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering from UP. Why wouldn't I? They are the experts on the matter. Would anybody think that the fact that diesel doesn't explode or that it would take a big amount of methane plus a bigger amount of heat plus a spark to ignite it is given emphasis in Criminology?

I also doubt that the Ayala management is to blame. I worked with them for quite some time and I know how they do things. High-quality. May it be a person, a document, an office, a meeting, a building, food, it must pass a high standard. They critique and criticize every little detail to give the public the best. I do not think that they would overlook a malfunctioning sewage system. Compare their restrooms with that of other malls. The flush is always working and the cleaning people are always there. Ayala is not just a company neither just a corporation. They own banks, hotels, malls, water companies, residences, and many others. They have a strong, reputable name in the country. I don't think they would risk their business by missing on a maintenance in one complex of Glorietta. Seriously.

I'm sorry but I trust the Ayalas [who, by the way, are also anti-Arroyo] more than the government. Heck, I don't even have any trust with the government at all!

Why would I trust a government that says that they found RDX, a major component of the bomb C-4, a military explosive and then change their statement the very next day? Why would I trust the government run by a short president denying her very obvious voice in the Hello Garci recordings then make phony calls to the media pretending to be a member of the Muslim group to claim to be at fault for the explosion only to be falsified later on? Why would I trust the government run by an orthodontist-needing president who is so nonchalant about the ZTE deal as if she hasn't heard of it?

For all we know, the blast was not done by any Muslim group. Look at how perfect the timing of the blast is--just right to take our attention away from the ZTE deal and the bribery to a number of government officials controversy. Otherwise, why would Senator Trillanes even bother tell the nation that he had witnesses against that pins the blame on non other than the government for the blast? He has nothing to gain even if he speaks up. He is still detained for crying out loud. Only the Philippine government would benefit the bombing.

Arroyo and her allies are belittling Filipinos by placing the blame on "Al-qaeda" [not sure of the spelling] links. Hello Gloria? Don't you think they have already learned their lesson from the Pentagon attack? The architecture of Glorietta and Pentagon is so similar! If you want it to go down and scare the country, you will not plant the bomb on one complex only. Hello Gloria? Didn't you have a chemistry class at Georgetown with Bill that taught you that diesel doesn't explode? It causes fire, but it doesn't explode. You should have said that to your PNP before giving instructions to blame it on simply methane and diesel. Gosh. I think I know what the Hello Garci speaker wants to happen. Divert our attention through the incident and then show all of us that 'hey, I am anti-terrorist, let's hunt them down'!

Arroyo is right. The explosion was caused by terrorists. It was not a Mulsim group however. It was a group of terrorists that is headed by the person that gives the State of the Nation Address, acquits and pardons Estrada. The terrorist group constantly harming the country need not be hunt down. We know where they are. Their leader lives in a palace called Malacanang. The members lurk in the Senate, Congress, City, Municipal, and Barangay Halls to mention a few. They do not merely bomb down a mall's complex. They take down the economy as well. Isn't that a bigger terrorist attack? The government is the very reason there are groups terrorizing the country. The government's actions are the worst terrorist attacks we are experiencing.

So what do Arroyo tells us about what to do with terrorists? Take them down. Yeah, take them down all right. President, why don't you start being the perfect example by stepping down your throne?

Oh yeah. There's another thing you are good at--lying.

For the meantime, can somebody tell me where I can find another Luk Yuen branch where I could have my favorite Lemon Chicken, Peppercorn Spareribs, and the Ultra-yummy Fresh Strawberry Shake?