Pinoy love lines

Sinimulan ito nina Julius Babao at Niña Corpuz kaninang umaga; sumali pa si Vic Lima. Pinoy love lines: 
(1) Para kang Google, kasi nasa iyo ang lahat ng hanap ko. 
(2) Hindi ka pa ba napapagod, lagi kang tumatakbo sa isip ko. 
(3) Para kang Pasko, lagi kitang hinihintay. 
(4) Nasaan ka kagabi, wala ka sa panaginip ko. 
(5) Ang pag-ibig parang catsup, matamis pero maraming nakikisawsaw.

At marami pa sa kantang ito:

Jim Lee's Art

Superman #204

Umaga na naman,

Wala na ang buwan.

"Oy, Bongee, saan mo dinala?"

"Aba, Pogi, di ko kinuha."

Ayan, ginawa kong vehicle itong drawing na Superman ni Jim Lee (tingala, please) para sa Gud Morning poem ko kay Bong Raya Leuterio, alias Bongee. Nung 1970s binulabog ang mga comics geek ng matinding presentation ni Neal Adams kay Batman, yung may light and deep shadows. Ito marahil ang simula ng image ni Batman as the kick-ass Dark Knight. Por eksampol, tingnan mo ang Adams cover sa ibaba:

Tapos dumating itong American-Korean artist na si Jim Lee at sinimulan and 12-issue series na Hush mula Batman #608. Siyempre kinomplete ko ang buong series.

Batman #608

At dahil magpapasyal pa ako sa sa eBay, ihahagis ko na lang itong natitirang artwork ni Lee. Sangkatutak pa ang makikita nyo sa http://comicartcommunity.com/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=52 c'',)

Puwedeng gawing wallpaper sa iPad mo, dba?

Meron akong malaking poster nito sa Stamp Room ko.

You're welcome.

Lakbay-Diwa

Batman #608

Minsan... hindeeeh, madalas! -- bigla akong magigising bago bumuka si Liwayway, ika nga, dahil siniko na naman ang naghihilik kong imahinasyon ng mga basurang diwa na nawaglit kong itapon nung gising pa ako. Kaya ayan, alas tres ng saksakang dilim pang umaga eh kinakalabit ako, at di ako patutulugin muli hanggang di ko sinakyan itong bagong topak ng utak. Pipitik ako ng ilang letra at magsisimula ang biyahe. Kung saan-saan sesemplang ang diwang kadalasa'y di rin alam kung saan lalagapak. Eto ang resulta:

Pinasyalan ko nung Linggo si Mang Andy, o Congressman Ferdinand "Andy" Moño. (Siya ang nagturo sa akin na miyembro siya ng "hinayupaks" na House of Representathieves.) Dinatnan ko siyang hawak ang Batman comics, at tila malalim ang iniisip.


"Wow, Ninong, variant cover ng Hush #1 yan ah. Was di problem?"

"Ala lang, napakagara nireng pagka-drawing ni Jim Lee kay Batman -- nasa lugar lahat ang muscle, matipuno siya, tila intelihente pa. Di ko pa rin mawari bakit nasa labas ang brief niya."

"Hebigat nga ng problema mo, 'Nong. Tingnan mo, nakasinturon pa, para di malaglag ang brief. Suspension of the brief, nyehehe.."

"Diyan nakasalampak ang isip ko ngayon, iho, sa dyaskeng suspension of disbelief na iyan. Bakit tila ang buong Pilipinas ay nagbubulag-bulagan."

"I know what you mean, Ninong, ako rin na-shock sa desisyon ng mga judges-- "

"Mga hinayupak na hunghang, mga kusinerong tigaluto ng mapaklang desisyon, manghahabi ng buhanging nakakaduling, mga kilabot sa kotong, mga..."

"Easy, Ninong, easy. At least obvious pa rin, kahit binigay nila ang points kay Pacman, bumaba ang ranking niya ngayon, second to Mayweather na lang ngayon, according to Sports Illustrated. Pero sa Ring magazine..."

"Dyaske! Ala akong pakialam sa Pacman-Pacman na iyan, laging absent sa session, lagi kong nakikita sa sabungan, pumusta pa laban sa Texas ko, grrr... Tapos itong diyosa niyang si Gloria, at ang mga huwes na nasa bulsa ng tiniris na tiyanak, akala mo talagang kagalang-galang na di bulag sa taginting ng malaking lagay, akala mo birhen ang Constitution na ilang beses na nilang ginahasa..."

"Dami ngang pang-utong sound bites no, Ninong? Rule of Law. Nation of law, not of men. Extend due respect to a former president of the land. First Gentleman..."

"Pweh! Pweh! Pwehpwepwepwepwe! Dinuduraan ko ang duwendeng masiba sa pesos at poder, pati na ang asawa niyang mataba, isama mo na ang sagradong Constitution na ginagamit pala makatakas ang kutong-lupa at tulisang kamag-anak, para magmistulang tama ang mali. Kung paluluhurin ako ng ganitong batas para igalang ang mag-asawang mandarambong at bayaring appointees nila sa hukuman, susunugin ko sa harap nila ang nilapirot na Constitution. Ba't takot silang ma-contempt of court?! Malalim ang contempt ko sa tarandadong Supreme Court na yan. If this be contempt, make the most of it! Pweh! Pwepwepwepweh!..."

At diyan ko iiwan itong latest escapade ng imsoniac kong utak. PwepwepwePwehehe... Wish me sleep, fans.

The thing about kittens

Three cuties, Jobs, and me

Tabby gave birth to three cuties more than two months ago. Now one of them is trying to snatch the cursor on the screen as I type this.

At birth, Ragdolls are white, thin-furred kitties who suckle and sleep all day, not very different from us at all. After two weeks their eyes open, and a few days more they crawl about, their lifelong curiosity in bloom. A few more weeks they jump on the bed, chewing the tissue papers and book pages, making scratch post of my arms and legs to sharpen their growing nails, or claws.

Now, about those nails: at certain length they curl at the end, obviously to hook into my moving toes and my other body parts that move. As Leena says, "If it moves, it's prey." I know that too, after bottles of betadine through the years. It is not unusual to find repaired patches on my arms and legs when kittens come. I have grown used to surreptitious glances at my scratches -- and Mickey Mouse band-aids -- from salesladies in mall shops and bookstores.

However, there are times when the sudden although playful digs of claws into my flesh make me curl up and shout for Melay to take away the particular "gremlin" preying in my bed. Last week, all three siblings climbed aboard and wrestled, chewed, clawed -- bits of tissues, some of paper and some from my flesh, were torn. To save what's left of my body -- I always save some parts for the next generations of kittens to come -- I moved to the other room to continue my reading or my Angry Birds game.

Being human more or less -- less, I think -- sometimes I get irritated, even mad (in all sense of the word), when claws suddenly dig  deeply into my leg. One such time,  I threw a pillow at one of the kits in startled reaction to a bite on my toe (it moved).  Fortunately no harm was done. That's my first and last pillow-throw. I don't want to experience again the great alarm and anxiety I felt as the pillow winged its way toward its target.

Tuesday this week, October 25, one of the kittens got sick. Early in the morning Melay noticed the kit became sluggish, had stopped eating, and went frequently to the litter box to relieve herself. Diarrhea can be fatal to kittens if the resulting dehydration is not cured in time. The kitten was forced to ingest water mixed with brown sugar every 30 minutes to give her energy -- and the much needed time to survive until the vet arrived.

It was touch and go for the kitten that day. The vet observed severe dehydration and injected electrolytes into the weak kitten. It was a painful process, for the kitten, whose piteous meows made Tabby jump onto the table to see what was happening. And no less for me as the inserted needle sent the kitten, although weak, struggling and emitting purrs of pain. Cold hands clutched my heart, already full of fear, and of thoughts that if I could only bear the pain and danger for the kitten, I would.

I cannot fathom the depth of despair when a kitten is lost to us. Too many, loving and loved, are already interred around the mango tree in our garden. Time numbs the pain, distress, and helplessness against the crazy ways of the world, but a kitten in danger refreshes the feelings, and fear is never diminished.

Melay, who feeds and play with Tabby's brood, yesterday noticed the kitten playing with its siblings, running, jumping, climbing, eating -- mundane activities in normal times, but not in my home, not in my person, made coward by the loss of little heartbeats. 

Yesterday Leena gave me a new book -- "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson. And the kitten played on. My silent joy is equivalent to a prayer. Happy birthday, indeed.

Julius

This is one of two photos we have of orange Julius -- to remember him by. He quietly passed away in the early morning of 2011 March 30, Wednesday. He did not even get to feel the warmth of another sunrise. He was buried near the mango tree, joining other kittens that also were not given the chance to grow and frolic in our hearts. He was with us for a measly two weeks, yet his death stings like hell. It almost makes me believe in souls and heaven, so he will have a place to go, where no ill star can touch him anymore.

We don't know why he died. One day he is calling for his adoptive mother, Tabby, for milk, for warmth, for licks of affection, playing with Tabby's five kids, his squeaky delight filling the house; then on Wednesday he is gone. Just like that, he's gone. For ever.

At my age I have gone through a lot, but I am still bewildered by the death of the innocents. I understand how powerless we are against the force of nature. No amount of petition or prayers can stay the execution of fate, no tears of pity or shouts of rage are considered. Such is our world.

Let me put on record Julius' existence: On 2011 March 17, before noon, Julius, thin, dirty and hungry, was seen crawling near the street where Leena was waiting for a ride to work. So Leena phones home and Joy went to get Julius home, where he was given a bath in warm water. Two other mother cats were approached to see if they will give Julius their life-saving milk. No. We understand the No of nature. So, it's obviously Tabby again, who we were trying to spare from feeding another kitten with her present brood of five. Any kitten is Tabby's kitten, and acceptance was immediate and unquestioned.

 

For the next few days I would be startled from my reading by a sharp squeals from Julius. Joy said Tabby's kids were wrestling again, including Julius in their play. 

"So why the loud meows?" I asked.

"Jinujudo siya ng mga anak ni Tabby, gustong-gusto naman."

Squeals, thuds, crashes (sometimes resulting in broken glass and vases) and noises caused by pets you love do not distract me (whom slight rustles are irritants) from reading or writing. Even old age accepts new facts of life. I can easily accept death now, after so many colleagues and a few friends have preceded me. What I cannot learn to accept is the death of young kittens.

I quote from Leena's blog -- Tears for a kitten, http://www.catlovertalaga.com/2010/08/sometimes-i-wanna-get-my-hand-on-god.html -- "Sometimes what tears our hearts is not the terrible thing that happens to us, but to the ones we deeply care for."

Our Tabby

Tabby accommodates Julius while one of her kittens looks on.

Ragdolls are invariably white-furred, blue-eyed amiable cats -- like Tabby in the photo above. An orange stray is suckling hungrily, minutes after the kitten was picked up in a street corner. Tabby is the only mother cat of any breed in our home who is willing to succor any kitten in distress. And this is not the first time she has saved a kitten thrown to die, either by hunger, exposure to the elements, or to be squashed under the wheel of a passing car. People can be cruel if they are ignorant. I like animals more than people.

Back to Tabby and the new foundling, which, due to his orange color, has been named Julius. Tabby -- named after Stephen King's wife, Tabitha -- has given birth to five kittens almost two months ago, but that doesn't matter -- any kitten of any breed, color or origin is welcome to join her brood anytime. In the photo, one of her kids is looking on as Julius clings to his adoptive mother.

Julius' hunger is not limited to milk; he also needs the comfort and warmth of a mother's presence. A squeaky meow indicates that Tabby is away from his side. So, sometimes Julius, eyes still unopened, will crawl until he finds a warm body to cling on. Tabby's kids, who turn two-month-old today (2011 March 20), have acquired the amiability and gentleness inherent to Ragdolls; they let Julius cuddle them.

Julius climbs on his new "brother" for warmth.

This is not the first time Tabby has succored and saved other cat's child. I remember April 2009, when Eric, a friend, brought a baby Ragdoll to us because the kit's mother could not produce milk. Eric came to us, hoping to find a way to save the feeble kitten, which was already weak from starvation.

Here is Leena's account of the incident:

"I hoped that our Tabby, who recently gave birth to three healthy kittens, will succor a fourth. If not, it’s just a matter of a few hours before the weak Ragdoll dies. Hoping fervently, I placed the scrawny kitten’s fate before Tabby.

Without hesitation, Tabby nipped the kitty’s nape and added it among her brood. The small one, eyes still closed, instinctively found a teat and sucked weakly as we watched. A few minutes later we relaxed a bit when the baby continued feeding. At least a spark was kindled.

A few days later, our tiny refugee was crawling about the room. We gained something precious – this world, so sordid, could not be so intolerable if from time to time it allows a spluttering life to go on.

Then the allotted weeks passed, and the kitten opened an eye. We waited for the other eye to open, but it remained shut. When Eric visited his kitten, he was elated to see the improvement. When he saw the closed/open eyes, he said the lovely rascal looked like a bandit." (So the survivor's name became Bandit -- a cute bandit who stole our heart.)

[ http://www.catlovertalaga.com/2009/03/bandit.html ]

Then in October 2009, Ondoy devastated Metro Manila, including our neighborhood. Two days after the super-typhoon, Leena found three newborn kittens thrown in front of a pastor's house. Naturally the three became a part of our household. And Tabby, who had just given birth to six kittens a few days earlier, tried to bring one of them to add to her brood. But that is another story.

In the eyes of a child

Cute boy and painting by child prodigy Hamzah Marbella

In the eyes of a child
the world is young, where play
and slumber have no hurried pace.
The child, like the world, is rich beyond measure
because time has no meaning,
truth is not burdened by falsehood,
a marble is gem enough, bugs and dragonflies
fill the days: happiness abounds.
Age, casually tossed into eternity's heap,
cannot exist
in the eyes of the child.
--William the Henry

 

Mau's babies

This is Mau, or Maurin. Because she looked like her father, Mau, she was named Mau rin = Maurin. Credit for the fun name goes to Leena. 

On December 2, Mau gave birth to four cuties; however, the first one to come out was dead. She was not named before she was buried in the shelter of the mango tree inside the wall of our home. The lack of name lessens the heartbreak.

And this is Mau's daughter, Dasher. Leena, who had been wrapping gifts for Christmas when Dasher and her siblings were born, was obviously thinking of Santa's reindeer. I could name only one when asked -- Rudolph. Sneezy and Grumpy are Snow White's dwarfs, Leena said.

Dasher sometimes perches on my tummy, which turns warm on the small spot occupied by her. I have learned that if a small cat can trust and like me, then I'm not so terrible after all.

 Dasher on my slipper

Mau Jr. is a small and cute male version of Mother Mau.

 Mau Jr. on my other slipper. Either my feet smells like catnip 
or they are mouse-flavored.

  This is Sky, the big brother. In cat language, his color is blue -- like, the Sky is blue.

 

Facebook names

In a very limited way, principles of Graphology or Handwriting Analysis can be applied to usernames in Facebook.


The username, somewhat equivalent to a handwritten signature, project one's public image, how someone wants to be known or perceived. This, of course, is very different from the real person behind the name.


Here are some ways in which people present themselves in Facebook:


1. Name plain and simple: Straightforward, has nothing to hide, usually happy with who he is and doesn't really care whether you like it or not. What you see is what you get. Ex. Berto Licungpaco.


2. So far, only Leonardo da Vinci had been known to write using mirror-image of the Italian alphabets, wherein each letter is flipped. The simplified Facebook equivalent is the name spelled in reverse; e.g. Oniuqa Yonyon.


Basically, the user has something to hide and he doesn't want others to know the truth about him. What he presents in public is different from the secret person he dares not show.


Also, the user may prefer events in his life to flow in the opposite direction because the present course is uneventful, unhappy, or problematic.


3. Graphologists agree that including the middle name or initial is a sign of pride, because it's a very formal (and official) way of presenting oneself. Edith Galang Lacanilao, Roland M Chiapoco (the lack of a dot after the middle initial "M" has a significance Roland might know or he is not aware of).


(I add here Roland's explanation: "Thanks for analyzing my facebook name. I was thinking of putting the 'M' in front of my first name just to be different. Naunahan lang ako ni M Night Shyamalan. With regards to the '.' period after M. just like in M Night's movies... I will let you draw your own conclusions.")


Every initial or name appended beyond the required ones is a sign of affection for the one linked to the additional name or initial. On the other hand, middle names or initials that create unhappy or uncomfortable thoughts are omitted. So what looks plain and simple may not be so at all. Nothing is really plain and simple, black or white, about people.


4. Nicknames are not exactly simple; they can be considered as substitutes or preferred forms of address. Anything that goes beyond the plain and simple is an embellishment, usually a ribbon to adorn the ego.


The "Pogi" in William Pogi Chua is obviously a modest attempt to conceal his real middle name, Cute. Yes, William Cute Chua makes him blush. Another reason for adding unusual second name is that people with Chinese surnames, which are very common, are sure to have namesakes all over this planet. When I was taking an exam permit in UST years ago, there are four other students named William Chua, although each of us have different middle initial. I recently heard my name mentioned in TV Patrol. Of course it's my popular namesake, the lawyer. One solution to this is to avoid regular first names if you have a very common family name. I don't think anyone has thought of naming his son Judas Chua, or Hitler Chua. Attila Chua will not have any namesake problem too.


Bong Raya Leuterio is presented in Facebook, instead of the rumbling Guadalupe (lightning flash) Raya Leuterio, because... well, I'm guessing it's short for bongabilya, the vernacular for the flower with the exotic French spelling bougainvillea.


Many years ago, I learned from an old client that the nickname of Ferdinand is Andy. But he did not want me to call him Mang Ferdinand or even Mang Andy; just Andy, he said. I was writing a political spoof then, and I thought of him. Eventually Congressman Ferdinand "Andy" Moño of the House of Representathieves came into existence.


Any alteration -- whether you add, remove or change -- from the plain and simple name indicates image enhancement, concealment of flaws, a wish for options, and thousands of other reasons within the complex human psyche.