consider... subaru

i like cars. i like looking at them. i find cars sexy. im not a technical guy. i only understand enough to appreciate engine displacement, power, categories.

i've been noticing a lot more subarus on the road lately. forester. impreza. and one or two legacies. i actually entertained the thought of getting one. i like that not too many people drive it (then). i like the 'stability' of the horizontal engine. and lately, i've been liking the looks of it. and i read the reviews. really good reviews about performance. on the downside, maybe maintenance costs will be high. and im not sure of resale value.

but if i were to shop for a car within its class, i'd give the subaru a second and third look, and possibly a spin around the block. id have a hard time choosing between this, a toyota and honda.

the beauty of the black swan

amazing movie. dark but triumphant. how do you mix the two? successfully for the director! i love the way she unraveled. yet, it seemed that in the end, it wasn't a decline to madness. it was actually an ascent to perfection of an art.

perfection is liberating, ultimately. bravo.

Love Links Generations Parts 1 & 2

Fabcasters in Cougartown

Story first. PC and I were having dinner with my sister and her family. She is just two years my senior. PC was talking about his mom and mentioned her age. My sister blurted out "Oh my! we are batch mates! i mean, we belonged to same class!" and we all started laughing, me, a bit nervously. then she continued "naku! i can't get over the idea that your mom is my age. I can't imagine having a son as grown up as you!" more laughter. i wanted to take that steak knife and go for her jugular!

yeah. PC could actually be my son, too. i could have had him when i was 20yo. LOL. so we have a love spanning generations. not just one. HAHA. and here is the rest of the fabcast talking about it lengthily not necessarily wisely. LOL

PART I

Download this fabcast (right click and save)


Music credits:
"Fashionista" by Jimmy James
"All Things (Just Keep Getting Better)" by Widelife With Simone Denny
"I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" by Britney Spears
"Bawa't Bata" by the Apo Hiking Society

PART II

Download this fabcast (right click and save)


Music credits:
"Bless The Beast And The Children" by The Carpenters
"S&M" by Rihanna

and there's a third part!

gospel musings

warning: religious post

my mom remarked how much she liked last Sunday's gospel. how we shouldn't worry about what to wear, what to eat. be confident that God will take care of those details. if He takes care of that for the sparrows and the dandelions, He would certainly pay more attention to our needs.

that verse was preceded by the statement that we cannot serve two masters: God and money. we will end up hating one and loving the other.

when we worry about 'the material stuff', where will i get tomorrow's keep, how will i pay for that marvelous it bag i love so much, we are actually serving Sir Money. we are at his mercy. we worry incessantly. we obsess.

and though we may profess faith, do the rites and rituals, our minds and hearts are choked by the worries of the world. we really do not serve Him as he deserves.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness"

if we should worry about anything at all, we should be worried about giving God what he rightfully deserves. seeking how to pay Him back for all the blessings He has bestowed on us. God, through Jesus life and death, has essentially "paid forward". He suffered much for us even if we are truly undeserving so we don't have to be consigned to eternal damnation.

when we seek to do what is right, true and just, it is not to earn 'brownie points' for a ticket to heaven. we seek to do that only as our way of 'deserving' the salvation He has earned for us. of thanking Him for that supreme sacrifice. nothing we do will add to His glory. but we do it because it is the right thing to do. because He deserves it. nothing more.

let's not be slaves to money by worrying about making money, payments. let us be servants of God instead by worrying about how to make each act, each behavior deserving of His love and sacrifice. He has paid forward. Let's think about how to pay back by paying forward to another person!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

cc turned a year older

another year again. halfway through this fifth decade of my life.

physically, im in my best form. the update to my nutrition counseling: i finally attained the 17% body fat percentage goal i set (measured at 17.8%) when i started the program 20 weeks ago. two weeks behind schedule. but it still feels incredible.

i love the feeling and the look of it. particularly when im pumping iron during my weight training days. i actually get to see the muscle striations as i pump and flex. just like the magazines. lol.

downside, even at this body fat percentage, i still have ab flab. yeah. sigh. yes, there are the first two upper abs that have started to show. and the adonis belt, too (pc told me that this is the term for those sexy obliques at the hip area). but the area of my belly button retains the flab. as someone once commented, my belly button looks like a smile because of the flab. that's why there are no pictures to show on the blog.

a reader asked why the obsession with numbers and figures. i think im built that way. i'm extremely goal-oriented. and for a slow-burn project like body shaping, one needs to be motivated by numbers for some immediate progress feedback. results from going from 20% to 18% may hardly be noticeable. but i get motivated to continue since there is tangible (numerical) feedback.

on the other parts of my life. i have reached a level of peace with My Creator. and it came about the middle of last year, when I reconciled internally that mutually consensual sex will not lead me to perdition. when i stopped tormenting myself with guilt over casual sex and learned to embrace it as natural for a healthy biological male.

then it loosened it's grip on me. the idea of casual sex. previously, the concept (that it was mortally sinful) made me more compelled to indulge. i found myself desperately trying to resist then ultimately giving in then going through the guilt trip then the cleansing. that vicious cycle was just so exhausting.

but now, even as i remain sexual, and attracted to beautiful men, the 'pull' of casual sex is less alluring. the emotions still well up inside, but would eventually ebb. and i have found more peace.

and coincidentally (or fatefully), just around the same time, i met a person online (yet again) who seemed much much more than a romp in grindr heaven. even as i was still dating and meeting up, i started a conversation with a very intelligent, refined, cultured law student with the cutest smile. so seemingly out of place in that meatshop. and the rest, of course, is ... ourstory. pc & cc.

re-discovering love and its joys, and some of its exasperations, is a gift of 2010 for me. and as we embark on this journey with our first steps, i am both excited and peaceful.

and because we are still at the infancy of being together, my friends would have to forgive me that i have not been as much in touch as before. they will have to allow me to nurture this first, to a level of comfort and security. then i shall be with them more often.

family and work have always been my biggest blessings. and despite the challenges of the environment, i remain so excited with work. i do love what i do. i love it so that i love teaching it, too. and it has given me rewards to enjoy life with. and enough to share with family and other people i have started to embrace as part of my extended, growing family. and it just fulfills me so that i could have all these people to love and help.

45 years and counting. that seems so old. that IS so old. but i wouldnt't want it to be any other way.

i love my life at 45.

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Running Tour

im discovering a new way of getting around, particularly for seeing sights. running.

it started in corregidor. and did it again here in singapore. where it is safe to just get up and run. yesterday, from my hotel i ended up in chinatown. a short run actually. even saw the gay bars tantric, taboo. haha

this evening, i ran until the marina bay area where the now-famous marina bay sands hotel towers over. amazing.



and i caught their version of sunset at the bay




and i continued my run till nightfall all around the bay. i passed the quays and the fullerton.



it was amazing.

and back in the marina bay shops mall.



from there, i took a cab home. haha. too tired to walk all the way back

sorry for the resolution. all pics were taken by my phone.

i think ill start an arranged running tour back in manila! it's carlos celdran on nikes. haha

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