I couldn't stop laughing over this one! Mwehehehehe! Happy weekend everyone!
It's 3:23am and I still can't sleep.
So, rather than just watch TV (nothing good anyway) or play the newest game I got (Borderlands), I hopped onto my desktop and realized that I haven't posted my 2010 resolutions.
As I said in my 2009 review, I didn't come up with a specific resolution for that year, for all the reasons I had mentioned. For 2010 however, given how good 2009 was, I feel that I have to be much more specific now in what I want to achieve so I can keep up this good life, because no matter how good 2009 was, there's always room for improvement.
I ask for forgiveness from my colleagues and friends at my current job, as I'll be using the Principle Based Decision Making framework for my 2010 resolutions. :) Yes yes, geek and all that, I know...
Principle 1: Simplify, simplify, simplify - aka Don't Sweat the Small Stuff (DS3).
I realized that as good as 2009 was, I just took on way too much stuff in my life - as a result, I inadvertedly brought in a lot of unnecessary stress. The line "DS3" is something that my dad always tells us family members whenever we stress ourselves out over things which...well, just won't matter in the long run. And with that as my first guiding principle...
1. Stop the road rage. Seriously. As much as I have improved on this aspect over the past 3-4 years, I still have a long way to go, and I must admit that in 2009 I regressed a bit on this. Let's face the facts: there will always be drivers out there who are a) idiots because they don't know better, b) idiots because even if they know better, they just don't care, or c) idiots because they simply are idiots. As much as I'd love to bonk all of these idiots on the head one by one, I realize that I expend so much energy on cursing these assholes...hence I end up stressing myself for no reason. So, will focus on lessening the road rage.
2. Stop taking on a new hobby unless it's critical. Let's see, right now I have a) photography, b) gaming, c) voracious reading, d) learning a new language (russian), and e) occasionally working out, which is all on top of family and Gail, work, rest, and "me" time. Uh huh. Adding just 1 more to that is just plain crazy and will make me lose focus on the other things I'm already doing. So, will focus on working with my current hobbies rather than taking on new things.
3. Stick to one gaming sytem - and yes, that's my PC. No, I have not decided to sell my Xbox360...yet. But given that I've invested a significant amount of resources on building my new rig, plus the fact that it's performing superbly...why should I spend time on 2 systems when I'm enjoying myself immensely on just one? Not to mention the fact that I've already hooked up the 360's controllers to my new rig...absolutely no need to play the 360 right now.
That is, until Gears of War 3 comes out...
4. Spend a bit more time with the family. Sounds odd to put this under the first principle, but in my experience my folks are super experts in pointing out unnecessary stuff in my life - on that and that alone, why shouldn't I? On another note, I haven't exactly held the World Record for "spending the best quality time with my family" so I figure that it's something worth doing.
Principle 2 - focus more on preparing for the future. The future is fast approaching (yeheess, sounds like a line from a DLSU marketing campaign), and I'm not exactly 18 years old anymore, so I'd rather focus more on preparing for the future - not at the expense of enjoying and learning from the present, of course, but deprioritizing just "living for the moment" as opposed to "enjoying the present but living for the future."
5. Save. Save. Save. And then save up some more. I spent a bit more on myself in 2009 then I had originally planned, so my savings took a dip. Of course, I don't regret a single thing that I had spent on last year - for the stuff I spent on myself, well, my fashion sense did go up a couple of notches from the gutter (many thanks to Gail, Paulo, Anama, Anj, Falqi, Gloria, Jia, and Mars for that!). However, a lot of the things that I bought were impulsive in nature as opposed to a well thought off purchase, so in 2010 I resolve to dump more money into savings rather than buying stuff for myself.
6. Get my back fixed. Yes, my infamous back is...well, back again. I'm not getting any younger, so the earlier I get this fixed, the better. Given my "worst-case scenario" option, I can and should exhaust all possible options before going for that one. And in line with this resolution...
7. Exercise and lose weight via running or yoga. Yes, must stop procrastinating on this. Running is something that I had started in 2009 but since December I had slowed down on this. Must be more consistent - not just to lose weight, but to strengthen my back muscles.
...and yes, you read right, that's Yoga. I was lucky enough to work with Maritoni Tordesillas in one of my current initiatives and she really encouraged me to try 1:1 yoga sessions to get my back strengthened up. So I'll be giving that a shot - again, given the worst case alternative, it's something I'd really want to do.
8. Eat healthily - you ain't 18 anymore. As much as I hate to admit it, I can't eat 15 pieces of kwek-kwek anymore and live to tell the tale (especially since our family's prone to high cholesterol). It's not as if I need to eat like a cow. But proper portion control, down on the sweets, and a little more greens will go a long way.
There you go - 8 resolutions for 2010. Now the only thing left for me to do is to come up with a way to track the progress. :) Hmmm, time to work on another tracker, maybe Falqi can help.....
2009 was the best year of my life.
(Now how's that for a one-line summary of my blog entry?)
Way back in January 2009, when I started this blog, I only had one promise to myself: that I would live life to the fullest in 2009, and with the way the year turned it, I happily declare that I have achieved my promise to myself.
I would be remiss in not mentioning the details of what made 2009 the best year of my life, so here we go:
1. Living my life as myself. For far too long in my life I've always tried to live up to the world's expectations of myself - hence the statement of some of my friends that I "grew up too fast." In 2009 I decided to stop trying to live up to what everyone wants me to be and just decided to be myself. It was liberating to realize that people who still like and love me for being just me: a bookish geeky guy-next-door. :)
2. Having a much more personal relationship with God. I may not be as active as my mom is in the Church, but since 2009 I've had a much more meaningful and deeper relationship with God. I haven't changed my outward habits - I still go to Church once a week - but my prayers have been more frequent and have been more of "conversations" with Him as opposed to simple requests for help. I find myself thanking Him everyday, literally, for I was so blessed in 2009 and there's so much to be thankful for.
3. My family rocks. Big time. 2009 was not just the year that I got closer to my parents (though there's still some work to be done there!), but it was also a year that my sister and her entire family visited for the holidays. The last time we were all together was in June 2007 and it was such a blast having them over. We did so many things while they were here: had a trip to Cebu, had a birthday dinner for my brother-in-law in Tagaytay, went to Punta Fuego along with some of my cousins, and had a blast during the New Year fireworks. They just left for home a couple of hours back and I must admit to being sad - the house is so quiet now. Granted that it was super noisy when they were here, and it was quite tiring too - but it was FUN. The house had never been so noisy and full of fun that I miss them all - it's going to be quite a long time before we're all together again, and I'll miss them all till that time comes.
4. Gail and her meeting the entire family. How can I not be utterly happy and blessed with Gail? She's the most thoughtful, sweet, caring, loving, patient, and brutally honest (which I absolutely love) person ever. I've never felt so loved an cared for, and the future has never been so bright and clear for me when it comes to spending my life with her. I'm so happy that my parents love her for who she is, and I'm also very happy that she met and spent a lot of time with my sister and her family. Christmas of 2009 will always be remembered as one of my best Christmases ever not just because my entire family was here, but also because Gail spent virtually the entire Christmas holiday season with our family. I can't even begin to describe the joy I have the my family loves Gail for who she is, and that Gail loves my family for who they are. :) What more could one ask for?
5. My true friends. I can count on my fingers and toes the number of friends that I trust with my life - and I consider myself the richest man in the world for them. They stuck with me through thick and thin, something I can never repay them for. Not just that, but I also love how my true friends and Gail have meshed - I'm done with the days where parts of my life are compartmentalized from each other.
6. My career. Yes, despite some setbacks brought about by forces beyond my sphere of influence, I'm still happy with where I am. I must admit to being super sad in the latter half of 2009 as a lot of my close friends have left P&G for other companies; however, I made the choice to make a long term investment in my current job and it's beginning to pay dividends. Definitely a long way to go, but I like where I am (so far) and I like where its going (so far).
2009 was the best year of my life - but given that all the things that I'm thankful for in 2009 are still present in 2010, I'm supremely confident that by this time next year, I'll say that 2010 trumped 2009 in being the best year ever. :)
Till that time comes, I'm going to enjoy 2010 as much as I can. :) Hang out for my next post: Resolutions 2010!
It's 12:38am and I'm supposed to be working on a business review, but I got the sudden urge to blog and given my current track record on posting, I decided to go for it while I felt the urge. This is mostly on current events, and this is definitely on the "thinking out loud" POV as opposed to a detailed structured analysis (which I'll be doing in a bit anyway for my business review).
The Maguindanao Massacre - did the Ampatuans really do it?
First of all, let me get one thing out of the way: this massacre is utterly deplorable and the assholes who did it deserve to get sliced into little pieces over a period of 24 months till they finally expire. Anyone who comes up to me and tells me the line "they have rights too!" will get a withering stare from me and a scathing question in the form of "so what about the rights of those who were massacred?" Beings like these do not deserve to exist.
Now, the entire world seems to be convinced that the Ampatuans did it. I....have my doubts. In my head they're the biggest suspects, and my reasons for that are:
1. MOTIVE - killing off the Mangudadatus + their supporters would definitely end any kind of political opposition to their continued dynasty in the area.
2. CAPABILITY - of course the Ampatuans have the capability to execute the damned massacre PLUS they have the capability to cover it up locally.
However, a few things bug me:
1. The motive was way too obvious so naturally the first suspects would be the Ampatuans. It's easy to frame them because if you kill off their opponents, naturally the first suspect would be them.
2. I don't think that the Ampatuans are stupid enough to do the following:
a. Bury the bodies in a mass shallow grave - putting all your eggs in one basket eh?
b. Use a government issued backhoe...and leave it on the site. Brilliant.
c. Bury an huge cache of military-grade arms around your mansion (uh huh) or behind the municipal hall of a town where one of your relatives is a mayor. I mean, seriously. The OCEAN is a few kilometers away, and it's so easy for someone to take all these firearms and dump them in the ocean (assuming that they were used in the massacre and needed to be disposed off) OR place them in some quiet unassuming house somewhere OR bury them in a DISTANT place.
3. With Gloria declaring martial law in Maguindanao and charging the Ampatuans with rebellion - why the need for this? If it was really the Ampatuans, then there's no need to charge them with extra matters that won't hasten or increase the punishment. Does Gloria need them to be a mere scapegoat, and since she knows that the murder charges won't hold, she has to hit them with something else?
a. Of course, there's a counter argument to this - Gloria KNOWS that they did it BUT since she needs them politically, she comes up with a charge that's not as heavy as murder OR something that distracts the public from the murder charges.
My reasons for doubting the guilt as enumerated above are based on the simple premise that the Ampatuans are not, executionally speaking, stupid. I mean, sure, we all know that criminal forensics in this country is pathetically close to zero, but still, the government could get lucky. The crime and the succeeding cover-up was done very sloppily. I mean, I despise the Ampatuans...but are they THAT sloppy?
I don't know. If I were on the jury (assuming we used the jury system), I'd be convinced BUT not completely - the government has not yet convinced me with evidence "beyond reasonable doubt." I need to know more before I can sign their death warrants.
The very nature of this massacre has elevated this incident from a mere criminal case to a political case. Yes, as disgusting as it may be (and I most certainly am disgusted), this is no longer "just" a case of 57 men and women who were killed in cold blood. EVERYTHING has been put on trial here: the government's capability to SOLVE crime, CHARGE the right people, CONVICT them, and JAIL them; the government's political will to go after warlords with private armies; the country's tolerance for the LACK of sustainable action on the government's part to stop violence against journalists; the Executive Branch's power to declare martial law; and freedom in Maguindanao itself.
Adding the fact that the 2010 Presidential elections are fast approaching, and you have something that barely resembles a criminal case anymore. I sincerely pity the men and women of the NBI and the PNP who are working tirelessly to build the case while trying to ignore all the pressure brought about by the politics of the event. It must be tough.
Will this ever get completely resolved? Maybe. I don't have high hopes...but I have my hopes. Will the TRUE guilty parties be punished for this? Maybe so. Will the Ampatuans get punished for this? Definitely. Are the Ampatuans guilty of doing this crime? Most likely...but right now I'm not 100% convinced.
That's what politics does - it muddles up everything.
I started my foray into gaming with a PC - my folks never believed in buying a console beyond the Atari 2600, so when my dad got a PC for the first time for "schoolwork" I got busy learning how to play games on it. I started on Tetris then moved on to old-school RPG classics such as the D&D "Krynn" series (Champions of Krynn FTW!).
As I started to work, I bought my first PC from Dreamchum Computers (yes, I was an idiot back then for believing in their "value" PCs), then I bought a more powerful rig (Pentium 2.8e with HTT) which lasted me a good 6-7 years. However, when "Gears of War" came out, I joined the bandwagon and bought an Xbox 360, and for the last 2 years I've been playing mostly on my Xbox while my aging PC just sat there, serving its purpose for the occasional RTS game or World of Warcraft.
Lately however, I've just rediscovered my love for PC gaming. And I chalk it up to 3 reasons:
1. A slew of great PC games. Yes, PC gaming is cyclical: it's a long drought of lousy games, followed by a period of great games, and I'm fortunate enough that this period is one filled with great games. In the past MONTH alone, we've seen the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (I played the 1st one on the Xbox 360 and I must say that it's such a sweet feeling to go back to playing FPS games on the PC!), Left 4 Dead 2, and Dragon Age: Origins. In the next quarter or so we'll also be seeing Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Assasin's Creed 2, and Starcraft 2 (sequels much?). Oh man, so many games, so little time.
2. My new rig. Yes, I finally purchased a brand new rig, and it's working just beautifully. For the 1st time I'm playing games on 16xx anti-aliasing with ultra high settings all through out with nary a stutter. I find myself replaying old games just to appreciate the beauty of the game (such as Dawn of War 2 and Assasin's Creed). I'll also be playing the mother-of-all-high-end-rig-game, CRYSIS.
3. Windows 7. Yes, Microsoft's newest OS is working wonders on my new 64-bit rig. Some people (especially Mac diehards) may dismiss Win7 as a mere copycat of Snow Leopard, but I beg to differ. Win7 may have similar features to Snow Leopard, but you get with it out-of-the-box functionality with almost ANY kind of hardware configuration (yes, Apple claims the same with a Mac; however, Snow Leopard works great out-of-the-box with a Mac hardware configuration - achieving the same with Win7 using the literally billions of potential configurations out there with a PC is nothing short of amazing). It works well, and for the first time in my life I had to spend some time learning about how a new Microsoft OS works.
It's a great time to be a PC gamer nowadays, I tell you!
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On a small sidenote, I am apalled at the unmitigated gall of some people. To do something and to blame alcohol is just pathetic. Being drunk is not an excuse, it's an alibi.
I wish some people would be brave enough to just stand up and say "I made a mistake and I apologize" rather than trying to weasle their way out of it through half-ass explanations and illogical self-contradicting statements and then resort to threats of violence when everything else fails.
Wishful thinking, most of the time. Wishful thinking.
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