If we are to live fully, we must became aware of our death. Ideally, we should pursue not just an awareness, but what M. Scott Peck calls “ a romance with death”.

Not to romanticize it in a morbid, nihilistic way, but to honestly grapple with it and, in the end, make it our friend. It is one of the more profound ironies of our existence that life can only be meaningful in the context of our imminent dying.

Maybe it won’t come knocking right this very moment, but it will come. It is just outside the door. We might as well make death’s acquaintance before we let it in. Read the rest of this entry »

Of creativity, that is.

Actually the title of his new book is “When You Are Engulfed in Flames”, the latest in his collection of first-person essays on his unconventional life. Quite apropos, as he has been described as a “furnace of creativity” when working on a book.

I discovered Mr. Sedaris by accident, when Powerbooks was giving away free books as a promo to loyal customers during the annual Manila bookfair and I received a copy of “Naked”. Sardonic and offbeat, I find Sedaris’ writing a cross between Mark Twain and Haruki Murakami, satirical and surreal snapshots of life as lovable loser, in the mould of Woody Allen. From pictures, he even resembles a youngish Mr. Allen.

I missed seeing him at a public reading and book-signing at Powerbooks Greenbelt two years ago. I didn’t know who he was then, and I was there for another book launch, scheduled earlier in the afternoon. They were ushering us out early to make way for Mr. Sedaris and I didn’t linger. Sayang. It would have been a treat to see and hear the man behind the stories. Read the rest of this entry »

The lone suspect in the gruesome and senseless murder of Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell has been found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Regional Trial Court of Banaue, Ifugao province.

In a 36-page decision, Judge Ester Piscoso-Flor found the accused Juan Donald Duntugan, 25, guilty of murdering Campbell in Batad village, near the Ifugao rice terraces where the victim was hiking, on April 8, 2007, “with the use of treachery and abuse of superior strength”.

It appears that the convicted murderer killed Ms. Campbell without any clear motive or reason. Read the rest of this entry »

The credit card division of the Philippine unit of Citibank has been running a radio and online ad campaign featuring testimonials from purported clients whose lives have allegedly been saved by having their Citibank credit cards handy. The radio feel-good spots always end with the satisfied client saying their names and the final line “…and this is my Citibank story”. A recent post in the Citibank “What’s your story ?” site (”home to beautiful, moving and memorable stories about the Citi Card that beg to be told”) equates God with Citibank.

Almighty GOD is the greatest savior, but so is CITIBANK.

Well, this is my Citibank story. Read the rest of this entry »

Check updated entries:

Ces Drilon is a veteran broadcast journalist who has been at the center of many an unfolding news story, often under perilous circumstances. She was first on the scene during the failed putsch and siege of the Manila Peninsula in November of last year. No stranger to danger, she has done many features on Mindanao, and seemed particularly at home in the Sulu and Basilan areas, where she covered numerous newsworthy events for ABS-CBN.

She is now in the unenviable position of being in the news herself. Yesterday, rumors had been circulating that Ms. Drilon and two of her cameramen, Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderrama, were seized by Abu Sayyaf militants in the village of Kulasi in the town of Maimbung, Sulu. She was with Octavio Dinampo, a professor from the Mindanao State University, who was helping Ms. Drilon in her coverage. They were reportedly taken to the hinterlands of Indanan town. Read the rest of this entry »