Pirated DVDs of Our Lives
January 19, 2009
(Notes from YLB : To LovelyStef : Your witty comment/s just goes to prove that language is indeed constantly changing, and maybe the only way to adjust is to embrace such change; To Doc Su Jinghong : (1) we have the mixed blessing of not having a warm body at our side at night, in exchange, ranting and raving ( at an acceptable decibel level ) at the e-group will have to do, (2) we dont think we can advise you any better, you are doing extremely well with your 15-yr old girl (girl pa ba?) just by being there for her, just loosen the leash a bit ; To QueenHedy & PeggyPatches1 : we would like to blast back the clutch bags of the 70s/80s, but what would we do about the shoulder bag? Re Manscaping, the first thing brought to mind were the brows of Billy Zane in Titanic, but we don't think it's (landscaping) for us, not just now. It's tempting, though )
Dear batchmates, batch and kabatch:
We were not lucky enough to venture the roads-less-travelle d on Quiapo, Divisoria, and certain Ortigas / Greenhills malls our last sojourn to the old country but, just the same we feel as if lately, we have been witness to pirated versions of DVDs of Life As We Have Known It. We are drawn to the fuzzy, stop-motion (imagine the up-the-well crawling of Sadako / Samsara in both US and Jap versions of The Ring) and sometimes pixellized scenes of what-could-have- beens for us had we just been a tad more diligent, persevering or conscientious in staying on the straight-and- narrow that our betters had mapped out on our earlier behalf. Yep, the picture is unclear, dreamy and almost ghostlike in transmission, in fact the scenarios are probably products of wishful thinking, and yet we can't help but wonder at the tantalizing what-might-have- beens ( or even what-might-bes ) that the half-light of these underexposed snapshots, if they existed , provides.
FITNESS FLIGHTS OF FANCY
Think we mentioned before that, after a self-rehab from 24 years of tobacco, we were able to pick up the pieces of our shattered psyche of fitness and gradually start a rudimentary program of walking, which evolved into running. We used the residential block as our perennial lap, because there was nothing else and the kiddie dimension of our merry-go-round provided us with early opportunity for an Olympic victory-lap (as soon as our daily quota of laps was completed). We went through nausea (foregoing the warmup) stomach craps (starting too intensely) and the occasional charlie horse (striking at the oddest times at night) and eventually we timed ourselves and tried running around the nearby park, until the time when we could finally call ourselves fun run warriors of the 5k (and sometimes 10k) variety. We still have a long way to go though.
THE PIRATED VERSION : If we had not taken up smoking, stuck to a fitness regimen or even trained ourselves for a full marathon much earlier in life (preferably when we were at our glorious apex of youth and beauty) who knows what heights we couldve reached by now? Who knows what Olympic glory, multi-dinero endorsements and fat-cat contentment we could have attained with our discipline as regards running and fitness? Dream on, Noel. Fitness is one thing, athletic excellence is another. Doesnt hurt to dream though.
GLORY IN SERVICE
You probably wont believe this, but in the State U LLB '90 batch alone (YoungWang will confirm) there has been at least one Court of Appeals shortlisted candidate, a pair of RTC (Regional Trial Court) judges, DOJ Senior State Prosecutors (equivalent of US Attys) and NTC (National Telecoms Commission) & PCGG commissioners appointed, and quite a few members of Congress. For sure, the particular vocation we might have taken leads most assuredly to exalted positions in public service, corporate stewardship and issue advocacy, but its the satisfaction of having to serve in the most fulfilling way that we missed doing. We are not saying we wouldve met the same success had we finished school, but it occupies our imagination just to think about it.
THE PIRATED VERSION: One of the most fulfilling goals in life is to be able to love your work, and to do what you love most. Not all of us reach this ideal, but in a perfect world provided by our fake DVD, we see ourselves applying our fullest energies to sifting truth from facts, justice from controversy, and fairness from strife. Merely by using the strength of our reasoning and our convictions. . . Weeelll, u can't have everything. (Suggested background music : Coldplay's Viva La Vida )
BAHAY-BAHAYAN
Lastly, we can't avoid creating idealized images of what our children have become, or are becoming, had we been a more hands-on or visible parent. In terms of being well-rounded, balanced, and dare we say it, well-adjusted individuals, nothing beats having a solid family life and support group of both parents behind you. Not that we lack in faith in support of the full development of our kids, but how we wish things could have been, well, a little different.
THE PIRATED VERSION: This time, the nice thing about a pirated DVD of our kidz is it is a work-in-progress, a continuing project that can be legitmized, adjusted and molded into the reality of what we want,or would wish them to be. As long as we can be there virtually, in spirit or with the strength of our resolve to guide them to be better versions of us, then this time we don't really mind seeing a pirated DVD of this aspect of our lives, siguro it's more like an advance copy or reviewer's copy that may still be improved.
We daresay that all these pirated DVD versions of Life As We Have Known It are blessings in disguise. It's never too late for us to do some renovation, spring cleaning or overhauling of the flotsam, deadwood and related debris that clutter our families, careers and relationships, and even dreams. . .our lives nga eh. Thank God for handicams, celfone cameras, digicams and all the pirated stuff they shoot.
YLB
NOel
PS. Pasensya na po for the very left-field ramblings today, we were caught in an extremely weird mood