Adrian Tan is a litigation lawyer at one of Singapore's leading law firms. Outside the courtroom, he is known for a variety of funny things, including The Teenage Textbook, which he wrote in the late 1980s. The book became a cult classic among students of that generation and was adapted into a film 10 years later.
Adrian was the guest-of-honour at an NTU convocation ceremony last week, and this is Adrian's speech to the graduating class of 2008:
Life and How to Survive It
I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It's a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.
My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.
On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.
Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.
And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you've already won her heart, you don't need to win every argument.
Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.
The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You're done learning.
You've probably been told the big lie that 'Learning is a lifelong process' and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters' degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don't you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.
The good news is that they're wrong.
The bad news is that you don't need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You're in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.
I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I'm here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.
You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There's very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.
Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.
So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you'll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.
Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they're 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn't meet their life expectancy.
I'm here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.
After all, it's calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.
Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.
That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.
If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don't need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.
What you should prepare for is mess. Life's a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.
Don't expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.
What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.
Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.
The most important is this: do not work.
Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.
Work kills. The Japanese have a term 'Karoshi', which means death from overwork. That's the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there's nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.
There's a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are 'making a living'. No, they're not. They're dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.
People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan 'Arbeit macht frei' was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.
Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.
Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.
I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn't do that, I would've been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.
So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don't imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I'll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.
Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don't, you are working.
Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I'm not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.
In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.
I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.
It's not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.
One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it's often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one's own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.
The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.
I didn't say 'be loved'. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one's looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.
Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We've taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.
Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth, the worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.
Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn't happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.
You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.
You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.
Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don't, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.
Don't work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.
You're going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there's no life expectancy.
=D
Kakagaling ko lang sa aking regular Wednesday gig-- sa Perpetual Help Shrine sa Baclaran-- para mag-novena. Halos tatlong buwan na namin ito ginagawa ng aking butihing kaibigan na si Cathz (butihin?? haha). Kahit na pagod at puyat sa trabaho, ok lang, (basta wag lang magugutom, haha) masaya pa rin kami kahit mukhang haggard na dahil sa init at dami ng tao. Lalo na pag first Wednesday of the month, naku, grabe ang dami ng tao. Bata pa lang ako, kilala ko na ang Baclaran. Lagi kasi ako sinasama ng mommy ko pag nag-nonovena sya. Naaalala ko pang mabuti ang itsura ng novena booklet nya. Sa murang edad, nakabisado ko ang stations ng LRT. Doon kasi kami lagi sumasakay. At tulad ng ibang deboto, naglalakad din ng paluhod si mommy habang nagdadasal. Hanggang ngayon eh nakakakita pa rin ako ng mga naglalakad ng nakaluhod. Ngayon ko lang narealize, ang laki pala siguro talaga ng problema ni mommy noon, at kinailangan nyang gumawa ng ganung klaseng penance. Kaya lang siguro nahinto ang pagpunta namin dun eh dahil lumipat na kami sa Laguna. Every Wednesday eh "looking forward" talaga ako sa pagpunta sa Baclaran. Ewan ko ba, pero natutuwa ako, na kahit napakaraming tao, hindi nasisira ang concentration ko sa pagdadasal. Kasi once na nag umpisa na ang novena, focused na ang lahat ng tao sa simbahan. Parang sabay sabay talaga sa pagdadasal kaming lahat. At nakakatuwa rin ang mga taong nakikita ko sa paligid. Kagaya kanina, unang humuli sa atensyon ko, pagpasok namin ng simbahan, ay ang isang babaeng hip na hip ang porma. Bata pa, ka-henerasyon ko lang siguro. Naka-dress na uso (yung printed na maraming kulay, hehe) with matching shoes na makintab. Pero mukhang taimtim siyang nakatutok sa novena booklet nya. Hindi mo aakalain na may mga kabataan rin palang pumupunta doon. Kala ko puro "lumang tao" lang. hehe. Tapos sa may kanan naman namin ni Cathz, may isang ale na kapansin-pansin ang novena booklet. Sobrang luma na ito, halos ka-kulay na ng pambalot ng pandesal yung pages ng booklet sa sobrang kalumaan. Parang magkamali lang sya ng paghawak sa pages eh mapupunit na sila. Promise! Naisip ko, ilang taon na kaya syang deboto??? Malamang napakatagal na! Kahahanga-hanga naman ang effort nya. At kamukha ng novena booklet ng mommy ko ang booklet nya. At sa may bandang harap ko naman, may matandang mag asawa, parang lolo at lola ko na. Nakakatuwa silang tingnan kasi sabay pa rin silang nagsisimba after all those years. Praying together...ang sweet naman... mushfest!!! haha...  Parang "going strong" lang ang kanilang pagsasama... Naglaro tuloy sa isip ko, sana eh matagpuan ko na ang lalaking makakasama ko sa pagsisimba linggo-linggo... haha! You know what i'm saying???  Yun lang, nai-share ko lang... Sabi nila, 9 consecutive wednesdays daw ang kailangan para matapos mo ang novena syempre lalo na kung may petition ka. Pero napagkasunduan namin ni Cathz, hindi na namin bibilangin yung 9 days, basta tuloy-tuloy lang kaming magsisimba kada miyerkoles, kasi marami din naman kaming pinagdadasal at pinagpapasalamat. At alam ko naman na hindi lahat ng kahilingan eh ibibigay agad ni Lord. Ika nga eh, may takdang panahon para sa mga bagay-bagay. Ang mahalaga eh patuloy kaming nakakakuha ng lakas at tumitibay ang faith. Naks!!! 
"killer" lyrics... the kind that you'd want to listen to when you're still nursing a broken heart. and some, even if you're over the bad feeling, makes you feel sick again, just for a fleeting moment. hindi ako senti, nagssoundtrip lang!  ****** But it's not so bad, you're only the best I ever had
You don't want me back
You're just the best I ever had
(Best I Ever Had, Vertical Horizon) I'll close my eyes, then I won't see
The love you do not feel when you're holding me
Morning will come, and I'll do what's right
Just give me till then to give up this fight
And I will give up this fight
(I Can't Make You Love Me, George Michael) Remember this
'Cause one thing that will never change
Is the feeling in my heart so broken by you
(Broken By You, Jordan Knight) Why, tell me why did you not treat me right?
Love has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight
(I'm Looking Through You, Beatles) I know someday you'll have a beautiful life
I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky
But why, why, why can't it be mine?
(Black, Pearl Jam) ayos!!! 
Repost. Napulot ko sa friendster bulletin, posted by Ms. Jane... Bob Ong fan ako =D Para sa kin, sya ang Pinoy counterpart ni Robert Fulghum. Parang kalokohan lang ang mga laman ng books nya, but it makes sense...read on... 1. "Lahat naman ng tao sumeseryoso pagtinamaan ng pagmamahal. Yun nga lang,hindi lahat matibay para sa temptasyon." 2. "Gamitin ang puso para alagaan ang taong malapit sayo. Gamitin ang utak para alagaan ang sarili mo." 3. "Huwag mong bitawan ang bagay na hindi mo kayang makitang hawakan ng iba." 4. "Huwag mong hawakan kung alam mong bibitawan mo lang." 5. "Huwag na huwag ka hahawak kapag alam mong may hawak ka na." 6. "Parang elevator lang yan eh, bakit mo pagsisiksikan ung sarili mo kung walang pwesto para sayo. Eh meron naman hagdan, ayaw mo lang pansinin." 7. "Kung maghihintay ka nang ng lalandi sayo, walang mangyayari sa buhay mo.. Dapat lumandi ka din." (--hahaha) 8. "Pag may mahal ka at ayaw sayo, hayaan mo. Malay mo sa mga susunod na araw ayaw mo na din sa kanya, naunahan ka lang." 9. "Hiwalayan na kung di ka na masaya. Walang gamot sa tanga kundi pagkukusa." 10. "Pag hindi ka mahal ng mahal mo wag ka magreklamo. Kasi may mga tao rin na di mo mahal pero mahal ka. Kaya quits lang." 11. "Bakit ba ayaw matulog ng mga bata sa tanghali? alam ba nilang pag natuto silang umibig e hindi na sila makakatulog kahit gusto nila?" 12. "Hindi lungkot o takot ang mahirap sa pag-iisa kundi ang pagtanggap na sa bilyon-bilyong tao sa mundo, wala man lang nakipaglaban upang makasama ka." 13. "Kung nagmahal ka ng taong di dapat at nasaktan ka, wag mong sisihin ang puso mo. Tumitibok lng yan para mag-supply ng dugo sa katawan mo. Ngayon,kung magaling ka sa anatomy at ang sisisihin mo naman ay ang hypothalamus mo na kumokontrol ng emotions mo, mali ka pa rin! Bakit? Utang na loob! Wag mong isisi sa body organs mo ang mga sama ng loob mo sa buhay! Tandaan mo: magiging masaya ka lang kung matututo kang tanggapin na hindi ang puso, utak, atay o bituka mo ang may kasalanan sa lahat ng nangyari sayo, kundi IKAW mismo!" 14. "Nalaman kong hindi final exam ang passing rate ng buhay. Hindi ito multiple choice, identification, true or false, enumeration or fill-in-the-blanks na sinasagutan kundi essay na isinusulat araw-araw. Huhusgahan ito hindi base sa kung tama o mali ang sagot, kundi base sa kung may kabuluhan ang mga isinulat o wala. Allowed ang erasures." 15. "Wag magmadali sa pag-aasawa. Tatlo, lima , sampung taon sa hinaharap, mag-iiba pa ang pamantayan mo at maiisip mong di pala tamang pumili ng kapareha dahil lang sa kaboses niya si Debbie Gibson o magalingmag-breakdance. Totoong mas importante ang kalooban ng tao higit anuman. Sa paglipas ng panahon, maging ang mga crush ng bayan sa eskwelahan e nagmumukha ring pandesal. Maniwala ka." 16. "Ayokong nasasanay sa mga bagay na pwede namang wala sa buhay ko " 17. "Hinahanap mo nga ba ako o ang kawalan ko?" 18. "Hindi dahil sa hindi mo naiintindihan ang isang bagay ay kasinungalingan na ito. At hindi lahat ng kaya mong intindihin ay katotohanan. " 19. "Kumain ka na ng siopao na may palamang pusa o maglakad sa bubog nang nakayapak, pero wag na wag kang susubok mag-drugs. Kung hindi mo kayang umiwas, humingi ka ng tulong sa mga magulang mo dahil alam nila kung saan ang mga murang supplier at hindi ka nila iisahan." 20. "Mag-aral maigi. Kung titigil ka sa pag-aaral, manghihinayang ka pagtanda mo dahil hindi mo naranasan ang kakaibang ligayang dulot ng mga araw na walang pasok o suspendido ang klase o absent ang teacher. (Haaay, sarap!)." 21. "Mangarap ka at abutin mo. Wag mong sisihin ang sira mong pamilya, palpak mong syota, pilay mong tuta, o mga lumilipad na ipis. Kung may pagkukulang sa'yo mga magulang mo, pwde kang manisi at maging rebelde. Tumigil ka sa pag-aaral, mag-asawa ka, mag-drugs ka, magpakulay ka ng buhok sa kili-kili.Sa banding huli, ikaw din ang biktima. Rebeldeng walang napatunayan at bait sa sarili."
The Day itself will be just an ordinary one. (i like celebrating before my exact day)  some thoughts came to mind while i was riding a bus going to ilocos norte... ***** I am 4 years away from being 30. geez. geez. For people expecting me having a married life soon, I don't effin care as of the moment. haha. One realization: I am not so worried anymore whether I marry or I stay single for good. Friends and family know that I am independent enough to worry about being alone in the future. ***** Being kind of a late bloomer, I have to confess that I just learned to wear make up this year. =D concealer, blush on, eyeliner, the works... Cathz and May were amused, but Jacq was puzzled. ***** Feelings fade. This is the fun part. He messaged me last week for no freaking reason at all. But I didn't feel anything anymore. Heck, I even don't care whether he still remembered my birthday or not. ***** I love surprises. Not material surprises. It can be just simple greetings from friends and family, especially from those whom you don't expect to remember your birthday. (thank you to all who remembered!)  ***** Danix greeted me 2 days in advance. (daya!) Here's the thing: being a very busy person, this very good friend of mine has a record of forgetting to send birthday greetings for three years in a row. I even message her to remind that my birthday has passed... LOL  ***** Mindoro sling is not a really good buddy. The first time I tried it got me half-dead. Second time, it didn't do me any good either. ( or maybe my friends were too much in a hurry for the next round ) Good thing I maintained composure. When it's your birthday, you should be the host. Not the performer. If you know what I mean. hihi.  ***** How would you tell someone how happy you are because he brightens your day?  ***** Oh wait. Just as i am writing this blog now, I got a message from Danix. She's greeting me on time! Hahaha. ( Thank you tsong! ) ***** I read this somewhere: "Live apart from people long enough and you will forget that they exist." Take it figuratively. ***** Another confession: I feel in love whenever I listen to selected great music. Or so I think. Probably it's not necessary that only a man can make me feel in love... *****
'found it! It's true, God may not always answer your prayers the way you want Him to. although i am still hopeful, i'm pretty much convinced that this is the answer. my alternative to "meeting my alleged soulmate" -- This book entitled All About Me (by Philipp Keel) is the ultimate "slum book" (haha). Not just the "oh so cliche" questions are here in this book (what is love? what is your favorite color?What is your zodiac sign?), but what's great is that you will find very interesting questions that you might havent thought of asking others or yourself! it's a whole new way of rediscovering yourself--it's just like answering never-ending surveys from the friendster bulletin, only better and more fun. (hehe) Seriously, i do believe that this book would fill my alleged soulmate's position. I may not be able to talk to him again anymore, but that's fine. For the meantime, i'll just share my thoughts with my Book. (As I finish the book... I also wish that I'll soon answer the other version of it-- "All About US"...)
Call it crazy-- basta! 
it was a great great morning that i always longed to experience. i am pretty much prepared to come back to work after my 4-day vacation (though i'm still a little jittery about work!). but right, i knew that in one of these coming days i would get a message from that person. talk about receiving the same old, and not to mention, lame excuses! so, needless to say, my so-called good morning was a little ruined, though i know it shouldn't be. i wish that one day, i would be totally apathetic about this issue. Bru was right, i have to change my prayers.
After quite some time, I came across this article again... written by Karen Kunawicz (you rock!). OUCH! a great (but heartbreaking) read... What is the sound of a heart breaking? It is the sound of someone curled up in a tiny ball crying softly in the night, the sound of the first unwanted teardrop touching your skin, it's the sound of a telephone that doesn't ring, the sound of regret pounding inside your brain with every heartbeat, it's the whispers of the toy animals he gave you. It's the shuffling of feet walking away from you, the sound of your soul shattering into a million pieces at recognizing the word "goodbye," it’s the soundtrack of memories torturing you, it's the sound of feeble hands trying to push back the obstinate hands of time, it's the sound of a cherub's dying breath, the sound of all those years disappearing in the vortex of Cupid's kitchen sink, it's the unrelenting plaintive baby meows of an abandoned kitten outside an ignoring door. It's the sound of the rain that doesn't ever stop, the sound of all the doors shutting and closing in your face at the same time, of raging, howling storms in the night when there's no one there to hold you, the sound of your voice as it screams back at you, the echo of "I love yous" burning holes in you, the sound your heart makes as it tells you to lie still because nothing you will ever do will matter without love. The sound of the waves of the polluted beach you went to as it moves from the shore and crashes inside your mind, of the sniffles that make up your pathetic "SOS-to-the-world," the cracking of the brittle black-red petals from the sidewalk vendor roses he gave, the sound of the music he used to make going to your gut. The sound of things in your room being thrown around and landing on the floor, the caress of kitchen knives on skin, the sound your throat makes as you swallow your saltiest tear. It's the sound of your own voice calling out to someone who isn't there, of dying birds getting splattered on a city pavement, of terms of endearment used a hundred times a day struggling to crawl into a vacuum of forgetfulness, it's the sound of your own sobs keeping you company, it's the cold, uncaring stillness of the air you share your space with. Destruction isn't always as noisy as bombs exploding. Sometimes the ultimate catastrophes are as quiet as a feather falling on the floor of a Zen monastery. No one else can really hear your heart breaking except you.
from "June" by UdD... the sun has gone with the dark. the rain is steadywaiting in line. when you're high and dry, go in between your ground and the sky... my eyes are seeing visions of June, the tears are forming, flowing too soon. when you know there's nothing stopping pain, nothing stopping pain again. when you know that your eyes are crying those tears that i used to cry, just remember i've been there, right where you're standing. the enemies of june trapping itself in your space... the enemies of june walking across the surface... trapping itself in your space... i'm fighting for you...
..while browsing through a pile of books at my fave bookstore, keeping myself busy to forget that I am again WAITING for someone to arrive (for God's sake!), i found a little collection of short stories written by Paulo Coelho. Thinking that I may be sprinkled a little wisdom from it, i decided to read the book. ...yah, i was really furious (since the last blog entry) like i wanna raise hell for that bastard to learn his lesson... but talk about Divine Intervention... I found a great prayer from Coelho's writings that stopped me: "when something undesirable grows in my soul, God, give me the courage to mercilessly pluck it out..." ... short and simple indeed. but i felt HIS comfort right at that time. the first time again since the day my head was hit by a deadly hammer.
"The paradox of life continues, maybe it makes life real. Sometimes there are wounds that do not heal, and memories that wish to stay. To live in the creepy shadows of the past would be an insult to the present ans a threat for the future. As I gaze the stars tonight, I have realized that certain things have to end. My hands are too tired of gripping something that already disappeared. But the fight isn't over and I don't plan to quit. Just, you wait."
-
Clair Marlo - iPod
- Lacoste
- Mcnuggets
- Sbarro
- Truth by Calvin Klein
- N6610i and the robotique ringing tone
- Da Vinci code
- Yahoo Messenger
- Restless Heart's I'll still be loving you
once in a while... memories make me sick. 
I wanna share this to everyone... The whole speech was enlightening indeed. "Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle." -- Excerpt from the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.
Screw unlimitext! unlitext! alltext! etc! etc! kidding...hehe Sometimes i get annoyed by a lot of forwarded messages...i really mean a lot! like one person can send 10,11 messages at few seconds interval! (whew!) and I usually end up deleting these messages without reading. But hell, come to think of it, there are some messages that really make sense... Of all the gazillion messages i have received in my entire life as a Globe subscriber, here are the few ones that created a great impact on me: "I like Dead end signs... At least they have the decency to let you know you're going nowhere..." (by Robert Frost) -- so much a favorite that i made this my shoutout! if only 'IT' can read this... Never underestimate a woman with a broken heart, because her heart heals fast. She may appear fragile but you will be surprised how strong you made her become. And never trust her comforting words because you will never know whether those words are sincere or carefully crafted to get even. (The Beast in Her) -- hence the title of my site! "Leave someone, you have that right. But the least you can do is tell them why. Because what's even worse, what's even more painful than being abandoned, is knowing (that) you're not even worth and explanation." (Peter Parker)  "One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself, "how did i get through all of that?" "Why should I bring happiness to those I loathe by obliterating myself, when i can make them miserable just by existing? (Jessica Zafra) --cool, huh? "The highest courage is to dare ourself in the face of adversity. Choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, truth over popularity. These are choices that measure our life. Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for there is never a wrong time to do the right thing." -- o ha??
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