Overcast skies

The avenue to the university campus grew dark. Rain clouds started to envelop the mid-afternoon sky as the sun hid its rays behind the gathering clouds. I saw them descending upon the college building where I had to meet with my former professor for a possible project. The darkness hung above the horizon for a moment while students started to run for shelter, anticipating a heavy downpour.

Overcast skies. Rain clouds still hanging in mid-air. You await the rainfall. You anticipate the downpour.

A phone call. Several text messages. None of them made the day appear brighter, for they do not contain any answers. The sky only grew darker, and the rain clouds heavier. I ran towards the building and went directly to the Research department. I heard a heavy downpour outside.

Two hours later, I walked around the campus. The heavy clouds have precipitated, soft rays of sunlight began to peak from the behind clouds. Leaves and grass sparkled with raindrops in the faint sunlight. A fresh scent filled the afternoon air. The birds started chirping their gentle melodies above the trees. Joggers commenced their late afternoon routine around the oval. Life flowed back into the surroundings. Everything was simply beautiful.

When rainclouds come, you can only wait for the rain to fall. For the matter to be concluded. Only then can you discover that the sun still shines behind overcast skies. And realize that things are always lovelier after the rain.

Oh Brother!

This print ad actually caught me by surprise. I remember receiving a call from Ford several weeks ago asking for Rick's contact number, but knowing my geeky melancholic brother, he's not the type to pose for print ads. I'd imagine our youngest, Raymond, doing so -- being the social sanguine that he is. But Rick? Nah... It takes a lot of effort for this guy to even make an appearance at parties or socialize with visitors at home.

But I gave them Rick's number nonetheless. I can still remember him telling me that he didn't want to show up for the Ford pictorials, but he might do so for the P10,000 worth of free gasoline incentive. Well, I guess free gas won him over. And I think I should ask for a cut for giving them his contact number. =)

Okay, okay... I'm posting an entry!

Due to insistent popular demand (first by Beng, now by Bong) I am posting a blog entry!

Now some of you may be curious why I have not been blogging for a while. Here are my reasons:

1. When writing has become work, it ceases to become leisure. I've been doing too much writing at work that my favorite past time at home has switched from blogging to playing DOTA (blame it all on my brothers who introduced me to that game).



2. There are less significant events but more significant expectations. But I'd rather write about things as they happen, so as not to disappoint my readers - or myself - when things do not happen the way we expect or want them to.



3. The most interesting of stories are better told in person. Now for those who want to be updated about my life, and can't find the more interesting or juicy stuff on my blog, all you have to do is invite me for a chat over coffee. ;)

There. I've a blog entry na ha. =)

Text Discoveries

“Ang profound naman ng discovery mo,” was Pastor Bong’s response to my text message. The limits of SMS messaging is not enough to show the sarcastic tone in his message – though knowing Pastor Bong, I can tell for sure that it was (hehe). But that text was not the discovery in itself – for the real discoveries came in with responses I received. Let me explain.

Having been swamped with so many social gatherings and interactions over the week, I decided to spend time alone in Makati on a Sunday afternoon. While having a solitary dinner at Greenbelt 1, I felt I needed some conversation. So I decided to use the unlimited Globe-to-Globe text promo I availed of the day before. So I typed in this message:

“M here havng diner alone at Thai in a Box in Greenbelt.
Solitude is good, but after a wyl, u realyz havng company is beter. Hehe.”

I then sent it to a dozen of my friends, partly to find out how they would respond to my musings, and mostly to just use up my free alone time and maximize my unlimited Globe-to-Globe text. Here are their responses...

• Four of them thought I wanted company that particular time, and even said they'd join me for dinner had they been free that time. These responses really caught my attention, since I did not intend to invite them to join me. Knowing the hospitable nature of us Filipinos, however, I guess we simply can read between the lines and are gracious in offering our company to someone who seems to need it.
• Three people asked “Why are you alone?” – two of them were simply curious what drove me to spend alone-time on a weekend, while the other one found it unusual for me to have dinner alone in Greenbelt.
• Two out of twelve knew that the text was just one of the outlets of my self-expression: Olive (who, perhaps having known me for almost a quarter of a century, just knows that it was one of those days when I would text my thoughts out loud); and Pastor Bong (whose response made me laugh out loud because of its sarcasm)
  
• And, there was one very different response – Jun, one of my cellgroup mates in IVCF, said: “Hehe… wrong send!”

Now I feel like I have done a text survey. I guess, I now have shifted to the researcher mode, and published a small research work on my blog.

By the way, it might interest you to know that I did a quota sampling of the respondents who were chosen based on their level of intellect and profundity (read: those whom I texted are people whom I consider intelligent and profound). And of course, they have to be a Globe subscriber. Hehehe...

Pause

It’s that blank page in between chapters. The rest between the musical notes. It’s that pause. That much-needed pause that form part of a masterpiece.

The absence of words does not connote emptiness. Silence is not synonymous with insignificance. For some things are just left unwritten. Events that are better left untold.

Write them all down I tried, but words escape me. It's like staring in silent admiration at something so beautiful that no words can aptly describe. Or maybe it is just a prolonged case of writer's block -- but until now I have not found a cure.

And so now I shift from writer to reader. The Author is beckoning me to re-read the past chapter in my life -- see the details of His matchless love – then sit silently as I behold a new one unfold. I have no idea what the next chapter will contain, but one thing’s for sure – the story will have a happy ending.

Soon I will share anecdotes with you, as I always have. But as of the moment, allow me to read first. Allow me that pause. I shall write again later.

Till my next entry.