OUR CHRISTMAS CAROL [with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore and Charles Dickens]

‘Twas 3 days before Christmas, when Bulan rapped the door
But not a soul was astir at the Center;
The Infirmary nurses asleep on the counter,
To Premiere we pranced through St. Nick’s sleigh...

Bulan was nestled snug in the hospital bed,
While visions of whiskey and lechon danced on my head;
But we had hospital fare for Christmas lunch,
Before brothers took me to a holiday schnapps...

Out of the hospital finally the day after Christmas,
I sprang out Tanduay Ice from the ref to the trash.
Away to trails we flew like a flash,
But the bill tore the tire and threw up our cash...

Goat head on a bowl of a newly boiled broth
Croc’s meat gave luster to a wet and chilly night,
When, from crumpled blankets Gollum appeared,
“Kiss Me, Kiss Me” danced the reindeers on a Sunday…

THESIS, ANTITHESIS, SYNTHESIS

THESIS is a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved (Google).

Bulan's college thesis is on stories of vulnerability and resilience focusing on the narratives of older women in disaster, and I was pretty sure he can handle the research but the emails he sent to his proposed study sites remained unresponded so decided to step in.

As such, I had a city mayor fetch his CDRRMO who was instructed to assist Bulan, re-introduced him to his Ninong who happened to be the CDRRMO of another city, facilitated his access to the data base of an MDRRMO through a kumpadre, and sought a fraternity brother who accompanied us to the office of another CDRRMO.   

ANTITHESIS is the contrast or opposition between two things (Google).

This is best illustrated by one particular program of a company who projects itself to be a caring rights-based organization --- a program whose aim is to "transform" but afflicted with a confused and chaotic management system that indeed transform simple transactions into a journey through the gates of hell where caring does not exist and self-esteem gets violated.

Another example is the holiday season turning out to be a hospital vacation with Bulan ending up at the Premier Medical Center for an emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy that razed our wallets and savings.       

SYNTHESIS is the combination of ideas to form a theory or system (Google).

But before the gates of hell and the surgery, Bulan came home on a Sunday to pre-test his college thesis during the holdays but it was not until Wednesday that were able to really come together for our first serious family dinner at Thyme Street in a long while, and I was able to ride my bike from Monday to Friday, alternately with Bulan and Balong, which is as good as it can get...   

RATSADA

Naramdaman ko na nang makumbida akong dumalo sa isang ASEAN conference sa Maynila na makikipagkarera ako sa darating na linggo, at pagkatapos ay kakaliskisan ako ng GRAISEA PMU sa hindi pagtalima sa compliance rules dahil sa kakagyatan ng imbitasyon.

Pero mahirap pakawalan ang pagkakataong ibinigay ng AWEN kaya nagpakundisyon ako sa magarang So Fit Gym ng Sofitel, nag-yoga sa unang pagkakataon, at sumakay ng bisikleta sa aming anibersaryo upang mapaghandaan ang mga latay na magtatangkang durugin ang aking katawan at basagin ang aking kaisipan.     

Sa ganitong pagkakataon, hindi masamang magpamanhid ng tig-P450 na serbesa sa Snaps Sports Bar at Sunset Bar ng Sofitel, at tuklasin ang misteryo ng bagong bukas na 8 Seas Food Park Adventure sa may Timog.

Nakatulong din sa pagpapakatatag ang pagdalo sa pulong ng Munoz Bodies n'ung Biyernes at ng Model Court n'ung Sabado, lalo na ang pag-inom ng madaming "tunay na beer" pagkatapos ng mga nasabing pulong.

Dumaan ang aming ika-21 anibersaryo bilang mag-asawa na hindi namin namalayan dahil kami'y naging abala sa panlilimos ng mga raffle prizes para sa aming District Christmas Party na sinundan ng matinding inuman sa bakuran ni Kuya Egay na kararating lamang mula Amerika.

Ganyan natapos ang ratsada ng isang linggo at ako ay handa nang muling makidigma sa kahit sino...

UNA MANANA DE INTRIGA

Ang INTRIGA ay salitang Espanyol na nangangahulugan ng "pagsasagawa ng isang bagay na nakakapinsala sa reputasyon".

Sa kasalukuyang panahon at konteksto ng wikang Filipino, ang katumbas ng salitang INTRIGA ay tsismis o fake news at paninirang puri.

Maaaring kasuhan ng libel ang paninirang puri na ang katumbas sa aming matandang kapatiran ay unmasonic conduct. 

Kadalasan, ang INTRIGA ay nag-uumpisa sa inggit, kamangmangan o sadyang pagkawalanghiya.

Kaya para sa akin, ang mga intrigero ay mga kaawaawang nilalang dahil sila ay mapag-imbot [galit sila sa meron ang iba na wala sila], mga walang muwang [hindi nila naiintindihan kung ano kanilang pinasok] o sadyang maiitim ang budhi [ang misyon nila sa mundo ay manira ng kapwa]. 

Walang libre sa mundong ito. 

Respect is earned not demanded, and credibility is based on track record and not on what one thinks of himself.

Kung mahirap intindihan 'yan ay magbisikleta na lang muna at magnilay. 

THE BIG BANG THEORY

Amy went to outer space and left Sheldon grappling with the last string of their work on Super Asymmetry, a black hole that their bestie Leonard and Penny tried to fill with theoretical astrophysics and pharmaceutical analytics.

Howard could have helped too until he disappeared in his aerospace engineering laboratory with Bernadette whose bio-chemistry experiments suddently started jumping simultaneously. 

Fortunately, Friday's lechon and river snails fueled a miracle of mitosis that multiplied Raj the selective mute and Stuart the comic bookstore owner, and Leslie the physicist and Emily the dermatologist too, who all then dressed in green on Saturday to feast on gilled tilapia and pork barbecue, then changed to yellow on Sunday to serve Spanish rice and fried fish shanghai.   

The residents of 2311 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California are certified Trekkies and I am some kind of it too although I don't ride a Trek but a Giant, and my journey is not to the stars but to the trails...