Posts Tagged Character

SUNDAY

April 28, 2008 at 2:17 am · Filed under The Author ·Tagged

 

Sunday is not really my favorite day.  Sundays make me sad for some reason.  I do not know why but Sundays turn me blue.  I will find my tears falling from eyes and I will always end up sobbing from melancholy. 

 

What is up with that? Is it because I am alone? Is it because I am thinking of something or someone? Is it because of mom’s music? Oh, my mom.  She tunes in to this radio station every Sunday which plays Tagalog songs from the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s.  She loves Imelda Papin songs. She sees to it that the stereo volume is in the maximum level when they are played.  Oh mom, I love you but your music is killing me.

 

I remember, of course it was Sunday, when I lost control and wept to death because of this old song I heard from the same radio station mom was listening to.  It is a Tagalog song sung by a man and the lyrics go something like this (in English translation):

 

 

FIRST VERSE

 

How are you?
You have not changed even a bit.

You looked that way the last time I saw you.

I still remember when I was about to go,

I was looking back at you until you were gone.

 

CHORUS

 

It has been a while since I have waited,

To see you, to hug you, and to kiss you one more time

And now it happens and yet I stutter

The only thing I can say is “How are you?”

 

What a song.  It hit me and I felt it.  Sundays drive me to think a lot and reflect about my life which I avoid because I tend to get depressed.  I would not like depression to take over so I stay out of home and spend my time with something else like working out in the gym.  Sigh…  Sundays…

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THRIFTY OR STINGY

April 28, 2008 at 12:50 am · Filed under The Author ·Tagged

I was with a friend yesterday and we were on our way out of the office.  My friend should be grateful because I spent my valuable time waiting for him after he had been requested to render an extra hour of work.  To keep myself busy, I borrowed his PSP and played two games:  one is an arcade and the other is an RPG.  Man!  Both games bored me to death.  Oh well, I am just saying that because I am not a gamer.  I just do not enjoy hitting buttons for combat combos or driving a virtual character solving puzzles and mysteries – not my type.  I do not have fat fingers but I really cannot hit the right combinations to defeat the enemies.

 

Anyway, we logged out, we took a taxi cab, and we traveled along the usual path on the way to Cubao.  I asked my friend what I will get from him after waiting for an hour. I do not expect much, knowing his sarcasm, but I have wanted to hear him say that he will treat me in Taco Bell or he will pay for my enrollment fee in the gym where he is working out.  He looked at me and then gave me the most derogating stare I have never seen from someone who knows me well.  It was as if he was telling me to be ashamed of myself for what I have uttered but he did not put it into words though – his facial expression said it all.

 

He asked me, “Why are you so stingy? You have lots of money but we never tasted even a portion of it.  I cannot believe we supported you in the contest yet we have not felt that you won.”

 

For my defense I answered, “I am not stingy.  I am only being practical on how I can take advantage out of my earnings.   Is it not what we call being thrifty?”

 

And then I said, “So when are you going to treat me?”

 

My friend said nothing but rolled his eyes.

 

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WELCOME TO THE CHARCOAL WORLD

April 26, 2008 at 1:17 pm · Filed under The Author ·Tagged ,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charcoal, as defined by the dictionary, is a black, porous, carbonaceous material, 85 to 98 percent carbon, produced by the destructive distillation of wood and used as a fuel, filter, and absorbent.

Uling, the Tagalog word for charcoal, is the preferred cooking fuel in many Filipino households for dishes such as roasted meats, grilled sea foods, and rice cakes such as “bibingka” and “puto”. Charcoals put in native stoves accounts for the very tangible flavor of these Filipino foods.

So what is with charcoal that caught my attention and I dare to name this blog right after it?

Charcoal or “uling” metaphorically pertains to none other than me. But why is that? Is it whimsically strange for me to compare myself to a burnt wood among all other things?

Well, there is a story behind this metaphorical description. For one, I did not choose coal for analogies. No, not even in my dreams would I find myself comparable to a residue. So how did it happen?

Here goes the story.

My best friend and I were discussing about a certain topic, which I could not recall anymore, until the conversation became absurd and then we started trashing our faces out. We tried to outdo each other with the best name calling we could come up that time. I was about to win over him when all of a sudden, a song from a television show gave him the idea to pull off the worst bash I have never ever heard in my entire life. The song goes like, “uling, uling, uling, uling ling ling…”. Then he stared at me with a grin look on his face and he called me “ulingling” thereafter. Arrgh, just so you know, I am not the fairest guy you will ever meet. If you have the idea that a charcoal and I are separated at birth by way of the skin color or tone, then you hit the jackpot.

I am so grateful that my best friend got me used to the tag name which I end up liking. I do not know what is special with the word “uling” that it made so much impact to me. I think “uling” and I have a deep connection. I feel it so much. Thus, I arrived at the thought of naming my online diary The Charcoal World. I know, I know. I am starting to sound cheesy so let me just end this up.

So, there it is. Welcome to the Charcoal World!!! Welcome to Boy Uling’s world. Welcome to my world.

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