Matandang Dalaga

I went back to my alma mater. Since I am moving to another country for a job, I won’t be seeing it for a while. I knew it was going to be a little emotional for me but I didn’t know it was also going to be cathartic. Who Was That Person? I could see myself walking those pavements. I was perpetually in awe of the proud buildings, of those intimidating holy men immortalized through those dreary statues and of those traditions never imposed but always displayed. I remember my routine, the extra-curricular activities I joined and friends I made. I remember where I hanged out, what I promised myself I would become and what I tried hard to achieve. I remember my failures, the people I hated and impressions I made. But I don’t quite remember who I was. It was as though I was reliving someone else’s life, like I was remember someone I knew back when I was in college. I don’t remember who I was then. I wonder if that version of me would recognize who I am today.

Scenario: Me with my two guy friends from college.  Me: So, how was the girl? (asking about our friend's girlfriend) Friend 1: She's okay. They complement each other.  Me: How?  Friend 1: She's very attentive to his needs. She likes taking care of him. He is one of us so he needs to be taken care of.  Friend 2: Oh, she's just like my wife.  Friend 1: She's just like my wife. She takes care of me. 

You ask for donation so you can build a church. Once the church is built, you ask for donation so you can maintain it. The expenses will include your personal expenses like food, electricity bills, clothing and other paraphernalia needed so you can do mass. My friend, let’s call him Ellie, arrived in our usual hang out place proposing we establish the Church of Ellie. “It will be the most liberal religion, ever” he said. We will preach love, living life the “best way you know how” and without judging the way other people live theirs. It’s all about setting your personal moral standards and living by it. That’s the doctrine.

My friend, let’s call him Milagro. Milagro is in a new relationship. We’re happy about it because he has been looking for someone for quite some time now. In fact, one of the reasons he decided to go back into being an employee is to find someone. He said that if he puts up his own business, he has less chances of meeting someone new. The thing is that she’s married, separated but married. I asked him how she feels about it. He said it works for him because: He doesn’t have to marry her If she pursues an annulment, it will still take a long time so more time to be single He won’t be nagged about “the future of the relationship” because she’s the one that is hitched It will justify him looking for someone else because they can’t be a family unless she gets annulled Milagro, you’re such a genius.

33. My parents still can't bring themselves to talk openly about sex with me. Unlike other children, my parents never gave me "the talk". I just remember one time when we were watching a move and a guy went on top of the girl and my mom said "that's supposed to be done by married people". I nodded. Operative word: supposed to be. They never asked me about my boyfriends or whether or not we had sex. I don't think they ever will but my Mom dropped a hint when she told me she watched a celebrity sex tape and said that it's painful to watch for a mother. To your daughter doing it with a "man", the daughter you love and took care of... she said she won't be able to take it. I got the point and I got the message. It's not like I have plans of making one. To watch myself have sex would be totally horrendous. Even I would be traumatized, imagine the others who will watch it. So yeah, I'll do the world a favor and won't make

Do you ever imagine how a guy would propose to you? There are some girls who like grand elaborate proposals, complete with an orchestra, under the sunset, candles and ground carpeted with rose petals. I don't like that. I do want to be swept off my feet but in a more simple but intimate way. More importantly, by the right person. My friend, who fell in love for the first time in his mid 30s, proposed . She said yes. My friends and I are meeting her for the first time this weekend. My friends are asking me to behave. I will but I can't stop laughing when I heard the news. Nope, I don't find the relationship "funny" in a bad way. I was actually giddy and happy for my friend. I mean, here I am in the midst of damaged, broken, traumatized and perpetually pragmatic men as a result of intensely chaotic or oddly steady but unequivocally fittingly painful relationships and one man rises above the rest to prove that love experience need not be painful and relations

You post a selfie on Facebook, open it to the public and then you go all Rambo when someone says something you don’t like. You seek for attention and when someone gives it to you, you get upset. Hypocrite attention-whore. If your only intention is to share to the people who care about you, then share your stuff to your friends ONLY. Facebook made that function years ago. If you post it to the public, expect the public to respond. If you post a photo of you in bikini, expect people to comment about your body. If you want to show the beautiful scenery, get out of the frame. If you want to say something on your status message, say it and don’t leave some cryptic message that’s obviously meant to fish for attention.

I still don’t know what the deal is. So you record the most intimate thing you can ever do in your life. You don’t mean it to be public. It’s something you wanted to keep with your partner, for whatever purpose it may serve you. No one can fault you for it because, as they say, whatever you do in the privacy of your home, is your business. Until the sex tape comes out, gets on YouTube and other video uploading sites.  Yes, it should not have come out. Just like Chito Miranda, you made sure no one gets a copy of it except it turns out that you’re not sure because the tape did get out and now the whole world can watch you having sex. It wasn’t supposed to be your fault. It's a personal property and everyone is supposed to respect your property, right? It’s no different from having a  phone. Whatever you put there should be confidential. If it gets stolen, who stole it is held liable. 

How are you? I searched for your name in Facebook . You didn't show up.  You were a grade higher and we never really interacted so you probably don't know who I was or who I am. However, you pursued my batchmate. I was not close to her so I don't know much about your relationship. I just hears a few things about your relationship but never enough for me to know what was going on.  I knew that you broke up and, apparently, it was because the parents didn't want the two of your together. She transferred to another school in our junior year and I suppose it left your broken hearted. I overheard you talking about her one time. You said that you saw her and that she didn't change. She was still bubbly and pretty.  Click here to read "Marrying Age is Getting Older." I thought it was sweet but of course I was a little jealous. If it was me you pursued, you would not have been broken hearted, you would have been a loser.  I barely remember your face now.

I belong to the popular group in high school. It wasn’t because I was popular, it was because they thought I was smart so they befriended me. By the time they realized I wasn’t smart, it was too late. They were stuck with me.  I am not really sure what role I played in our group. We were a mix of beauty and brains. The smartest in the batch belonged to our group. The Ms. Campus on our Sophomore, Junior and Senior year belonged to our group. We had a friend who was also a member of the national swimming team. We had another member who was a great artist. I, on the other hand, was the odd one out.  Click here to read about  the childhood fantasies I still keep. The Pretty One / The Jock As I’ve said, the Ms. Campus for three years belonged to our group. That means we had, at least, three pretty ones in our group. One was tall and dark, one was downright charming and the other one sophisticatedly pretty. They weren’t fashionistas. In fact, they were very simple but their faces

I am leaving in a month. I’ll be gone for some time. If things go as planned, I will be away for at least three years. I’ll be in my mid 30s by the time I come back. It’s a temporary goodbye for me because I do think I will come back. I have no intention to do otherwise. But it is customary to still say a “temporary goodbye” to some people like family, relatives and friends. It’s not supposed to be entirely sad until it is.  Click here for 30, Single and Depressed. I have a friend with HIV. We have been friends since 3 rd grade. I was there when he started getting confused about his sexuality, when he first admitted to someone that he has a crush on another guy and when he finally admitted to himself that he is gay. He was there when I first had my boyfriend and was happier for me than I was for myself to finally feel the elation of falling in love. We were there for each other during breaks ups and make ups. Like many long time friends, there were months when w

Who got fat? Who got hot? Who succeeded? Who failed? Who got married to a prince/princess? Who had babies and skipped the marriage part? What happened to the valedictorian? To that girl/guy who thinks he is smart? To that ugly friend in a group of popular ones? Admit it or not, those are the reasons people go to reunions. The surprising thing is that the answers are rarely ever the expected ones. Even if the valedictorian ends up working a high-paying job, he is most likely working for one of the high school losers or geeks who were bullied hard. Even if the ugly girl remains ugly, she most likely found someone who finds her pretty and makes her happy. Click here to read "Things I Wish I Knew When I was in My Teens". Even if the jock remains hot, there is probably some guy no one remembers who ended up being a model. Our religious valedictorian got pregnant in her junior year in college. She skipped a semester to have a baby. She continu