I am sending postcards

It's been a while since I have actually written anything to anyone. The ones I remember was when I was told by my grandmother to write her letters for my uncle. I wrote once in a while for my mother as well but those are a long time ago.

It's been 6 months since I have been writing and receiving postcards from all over the world.

A while ago I sent a postcard to China and Russia.

The postcrossing site: here

May blues

My name day is on May 26th and it is coming soon. It would mark another year of meaningless life of a boring person that will be swept by time and will be forgotten.

Some random thoughts:

1. I would like to have a cake but that would be stressful since it is not economical to have a vegan cake.

2. People will be posting the same greetings on Facebook so I removed by birthday on it.

3. I will see who really knows my birthday, which I am sure is quite a few.

4. I am not a birthday person since I never had a birthday party. There was one but it was lame.

5. Why is there a hype to be happy just because it is your birthday. I hope people just let you feel what ever you feel on that day.

6. I am an introvert and the best gift I can get is maybe a book or if someone is really nice a gadget. But that is impossible.

7. I get mixed feelings of hate, loneliness, anger, frsutation and everything in between whenever it's birthday time.

8. I feel many people really don't care about birthdays but how they can have fun and they have you as an excuse.

and so much more shit...

How to read the Bible?

Seriously? On an atheist and agnostic site? Yes, you are reading this here on this site. I know you seemed irked by this. If you are then I suggest you stop reading by now. Otherwise, I will present to you my way of making the Bible reading and fun and mind-blowing.

Even Dawkins is aware of the importance and the impact of the Bible in human though. It has shaped and has changed civilizations for many years (good and bad).

So why read the Bible? I don’t believe anything in it. It’s too outdated and primitive compared to our ideas now.

Really? I think you are putting the wrong perspective in this small library of books (Yes! the Bible is not a book but a library.). If you put aside your presupposition and hate for things that has been tainted and so misunderstood then you will see that you can also find a good reading in the Bible.

So how should I read the Bible? Here are some simple tips:

1.       Read the Bible like the way you read any book.
2.        Read it as if you are reading it for the first time. Like you never heard the story.
3.       You need to set aside your presuppositions about the stories in the book. Do not bring in ideas and teachings you learned in Church or in Theology class.
4.        Humanize the characters in the book and think of them as acting like you and I would (except God).
5.       Put the stories in their proper context and sitz im leben.
6.       Do not refer to any literature explaining things in the Bible. There is a high probability that it’s crap. There is lots of crap written about the Bible.
7.        Let the text be difficult and contradictory. Do not homogenize them.
8.        Do not assume the Bible will agree with you or that it will agree with itself.
9.       Get a good and honest version of the Bible. If your Bible talks about the Bible referring to Saddam or Osami Bin Laden, stop using it and use real Bibles.  
10. .  . . Do not read into the Bible what you have in mind. Let the Bible tell you its story.

I hope this simple guide helps you since as atheist and agnostics we just see the Bible as another literary piece and a piece of man’s contribution.

Enjoy reading the Book. If you have crazy questions you can ask me at http://twitter.com/bornokyo.

PATAS’ first try of blood donation

It was a quite stormy day to donate. It rained as if there is no chance for me to go out. I saw this as a clear sign that I must not go. But then I must go since I promised someone that I will be there to guide them on how to get to the meeting place.

I went out of the house on the time when the rain seemed to quiet a bit. It’s really annoying when it rains in this country. Nevertheless, I made it to Robinsons Galleria just to find out that I am the only person there. I was thinking most probably people will be late.

And indeed they were late. People came in one by one, until we were able to gather about six people. The last of who must be named —Jay-R.  He was quite apologetic for coming late. We waited some more minutes at MiniStop and decided to head to Medical City.

We arrived at the Medical City despite the rains and small numbers we had gathered. We must push through no matter what.

We went straight to the Blood Bank but the reception was empty. We ended up waiting there while making comments on that noon time talent show and how stupid it is.

It took ages before I noticed that no one seemed to come out to receive is despite me giving a prior notice. So I went to the hospital main lobby to ask why there is no receptionist in the Blood Bank. I was told they are undermanned at that time.

We got all screened first. The five of us were rejected. One had an operation ban, one had menstruation a few days back, one is underweight, and one just donated blood almost three months ago, while the last one can’t donate because of high blood.

There was still one hope for the group to donate—Jay-R. It was his first time to donate blood, the person we had almost left out because he came in late. Then Jay-R passed the screening to his dismay. He said this was a frame-up.

His blood was tested first but before he had the needle in. He called for us for help. It was a funny thought for me. Jay-R a big man scared of needles. I was laughing hard as he held the arms of another of us, like a kid on a dentist trip. And he passed this blood screening as well.

Wow, one guy passed the test and will be letting some blood out. We told him that about 6 liters of blood will be taken out of him since we can’t donate at that time. He was quite scared and I think disappointed. But our hero braved it all. Kinda.

He went in for his blood letting with one of us. He was that scared of the needle. I never dared to go in to check him out. I don’t want to stress our only hope. He was said to be biting his shirt as the needles went in. And it was all finished.

A group activity with a lot of people clicking attend ended up with a chance donator. I am proud that somehow he was able to muster that little strength he had just to give some blood.

Now there will be a second attempt for this. If you are reading this, please try to muster the strength and the will to let out some blood as well.

Thank you and hope that when you click attend. Make sure you come or even just say I will not be able to make it. 

Beauty Pageant Wannabes

So Miss Universe 2011 happened once more. It is another milestone in the eyes and minds of many Filipinos. Many will stay glued even sleep early just not to miss to momentous event in History. Many beauty parlors will close, work leaves to be done, meetings canceled just for the opportunity to watch scantily dressed women on size-one clothing.

People will gather themselves and the whole family just to watch their bet, this or that Country. They will observe and critique every moment that happens. They will point out mistakes, great moments, dresses, the way contestants walk, everything. Suddenly the country is transformed into fashion experts, beauty consultants and logic experts of every field even grammarians.

This would be great if people only apply the same thing with how they deal with life and how the politicians are running this fucked up country.