As the month of August about to run its course yet again, so are the days leading up to the most important day of my life. Such is the time for me to wanna wish for something that I would like to have for my special day. It can be tangible and otehrwise, something from the heart and something that I truly deserve because I earned it.

Megan Young posing for a picture with me

Speaking of  “deserve”, the word is something that really help in justifying my fantasies of getting the things that I want and need. My wants are not of selfish manifestations due in part that the things that I want could really help me in realizing my needs.

Thus I came up with my birthday wishlist of what I want/need to have which I vow to realize for the next twelve months:

1. First Job-It’s important that I must not remain idle after graduation for too long or else I lose whatever freshness I have off of graduating. I’ve had several job interviews since May but none of them have yet to come into fruition. I’m hoping my last few ones could help me land myself my first job ever.

2. Closing the Leak in my Room-My room has had a problem with a leaking ceiling coming from a hole in the rooftop for close to 9 years now but it has worsened for the past few years due in part with my dad’s refusal to fix the roof to close-off the leak. The leak had already permanently damaged part of my room already (especially during the rainy season) and even that didn’t convince my dad into fixing the roof. Only time will tell when he will or else I will have to move out if I manage to do so in a few years.

3. My Own Laptop/PC-Since losing my laptop to muggers, I’ve been borrowing my mom’s laptop for my school projects. But I long to have my own laptop again especially for work-related purposes. I want a personal computer that can handle what I do, hindi yung naghihingalo tuwing may nirerender ako sa After Effects.

4. Camera Bag-I want a bag for my dSLR. Not a small bag which can only fit my cam when disassembled first nor a bag they got from some one which can barely carry the weight of the camera. My parents are still freaking out whenever I tell them I want an actual camera bag due in part with the mugging incident but it’s partially their fault anyway why I got mugged anyway.

5. Workshops and Seminars-As I go on with this list, I feel like a lot of what I want have been more of the intangible side. I wish to enroll in several workshops and seminars related to graphic design and photography so I could hone my skills and better prepare me for more career opportunities. I have so far attended one seminar post-graduation but I wish to go for more, even those held abroad.

6. Camera Equipment-It’s a given that camera equipment is expensive so for now, I only wish to have a couple of lens, a tripod and a portable flash to go with it. Despite being limited with what I have, it is certainly an advantage to capitalize with less of what you have. And I intend to do that. awts

7. Cellphone-I want a new cellphone and that’s the most selfish thing I ever want in the world. It’s okay if it’s not the latest model but as long as it have a text messaging service, a built-in portable FM radio, a mobile camera and an extra wi-fi feature to go with it, I’m fine with that. I call this a “selfish want” because I already have and lost 6 phones for the past 8 years and I’m currently using my seventh. Nothing’s wrong with my seventh except I already have busted earphones which I use activate my phone’s FM radio feature.

8. A trip to Enchanted Kingdom-The first and last time I was in EK was way back in January 1998. I still vividly remembered being there and it sucks that I haven’t been back here for quite a long time now. I sure wish my friends could invite me for one of their occassional EK trips.

9. Do Wakeboarding-I have a fear of drowning but I’m really curious into trying out wakeboarding. Several people I know are already into it and many of them already do them frequently either in Laguna and/or in Camarines Sur.

10. Learn Philippine Sign Language-I always wanted to learn PSL but never had the time to do so. I hope that by the next trimester, CSB offers PSL classes again while I’m still on the unemployment line. My curiosity into the world of the deaf got a major boost when I started watching “Switched at Birth“, a show which prominently features members of the deaf community in frontburner storylines. I only know a few signs but I intend to learn more.

11. Get into ABS-CBN-This has been one of my ultimate dreams since time immemorial. One way or another, I will find myself into the halls ELJ and hopefulyl work my way up through the corporate ladder and help redefine TV programming that echoes the need for a balanced media platform (but that’s wishful thinking).

12. Learn to play Sax-I made a huge mistake choosing the baritone over sax 10 years ago so I wish I could enroll myself in basic music lessons teaching me the ropes of playing a saxophone. I wish to be the next Dave Koz someday. Besides transitioning between baritone to sax won’t be difficult, except I spent a good number of years learning violin so this could be tricky.

13. Get clients for my freelance gig-I’m slowly putting up my freelance service. Despite the desire to get clients, I have to take everything one step at a time. I have to assure them and to myself that what I provide is of the best quality.

14. Getting a fit and healthy body-I’m not obese and technically not overweight (by my age and height, I shouldn’t be already) but I do want to achieve a very fit and buff body. I’ve been going to the gym  consistently for nearly a year now and although I have seen a few gains, I want to maximize it. I know that I need to ensure that I eat right, that I do my exercises in proper form with quality in mind thus I really have to step up my game if I am to achieve this. Plus, a little six-pack abs would be truly rewarding. Hehehe.

15. Finding The One-So now that I’m out of college, maybe now is the time for me to get into a relationship or at least find the perfect girl for me. I already want a scenario similar to what they do in the movies: 1)I bumped into her for the first time and we look each other in the eyes, 2)My world starts to slow down by 70%, 3)A love theme plays in the background, 4)and sparks between us fly. I know that says much but it doesn’t hurt to wish for something like that to happen right?

So over-all, my wishlist is mixed with tangible and intangible wishes which can be achieved but I have to work extra hard to make them all a reality.

Happy Days are ahead of me and I’m going to live the 21st year of my life with such.

10 Years Online, 10 Years of Yahoo! Mail

With 10 days left before my special day, I thought it makes perfects sense that I write something about this thing.

So basically, I’m celebrating the 10th anniversary of my email address which I’ve been using since before I turned 11 years old (August 2001). Back then, I’ve been begging my mom to set up my own email account so I could send messages to my friends back home in the Philippines. But thinking about it now, it didn’t really made sense to have one under my circumstances because, since I was living overseas at the time, none of my friends back home have their own email addresses yet (and the Internet was not as widely accessible to a lot of people in Manila as it is now today).

But still, with my own email account, I formally started my lifelong relationship with that thing called the Internet. I used my account to sign myself up on ZOOM (a popular children’s program on PBS) and NeoPets. One of the first email conversations I had was with my ninang/godmother and my old 4th Grade teacher, Mrs. Shoemaker. Things went off from there.

A lot of things happened but my account have survived through the good times and the bad. Yahoo has since introduced changes into their mailing service including a optional layout which may no longer be optional anytime soon (as there are plans to make the layout permanent). AOL was the in-thing back in 2001 but Gmail is now the one Y! Mail have to beat in 2011.

You see what I mean?

I still keep a lot of messages in my inbox, a lot of them I treasured a lot due to sentimental value. However there are a few that I’m just too lazy to delete but nevertheless, all these pile of oldies tell a story of someone’s life.

10 years of an active email account, who knew? How long can I keep this? Probably for the rest of my life.

The Cyberbully in us

I’m a bit late to tackle the issue but it’s never too late to address something of an eye-opener for me and for every one else: The continuing digital drama of Christopher Lao and the CYBERBULLIES in us.

By now, you guys may already have heard about this incident that was aired on GMA-7‘s primetime newscast, 24 Oras, about a guy who drove his car to a flooded street which did not end so well. The guy, Christopher Lao, was being interviewed by a news crew who caught the entire incident by video. Of course, with all the emotions seeing his car getting flooded and all, Lao blew up steam and all that. All his rants got filmed and eventually aired on national TV. Soon, right after GMA posted that segment from the newscast on the internet, it quickly went viral. GMA yesterday (August 4, 2011) released a statement of apology but the damage has already been done.

The rest, as you say is history: Hate pages started popping up on Facebook while #ChristopherLao became a trending topic on Twitter, at least in the Philippines I hope. For the past few days, Chris Lao was and probably still is the center of conversations among the Philippine internet community.

I must say, we’re quite the sadistas aren’t we? We find pleasure through other people’s misfortunes, we poke fun on people’s mishaps, and we take pride on harassing a guy we don’t even know personally.

Yes, I understand that it was his fault that he drove himself into that situation. He already paid for his actions but because, in part of GMA-7 News’ apparent irresponsibility, Christopher Lao has become an internet “celebrity” with more than just 15 minutes of unwanted fame. People online has liked his hate pages, with one page already reaching more than 60,000 fans. Those same fans are flooding those pages with messages poking fun at him, at his actions, at the way he spoke during the interview…Hell, even his personal and academic backgrounds has been given unwanted attention as well.

Becoming the center of much ridicule is a lot for a person to handle. He recently released a statement where he aired a very public apology and a plea for people to stop with the hate. Seriously, have we come down to a level where people’s misery is what we live by? Such public humiliation he doesn’t deserve only for something he did on a rainy day.

Why have we become cyberbullies? Even if the World Wide Web allows us to be free from the bounds of any law, it does not give us the right to hurt innocent people in such a way that we degrade them like some scum outcast. You know that there have been widespread reports about people committing suicide because of being bullied online through social networking web sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

A friend who liked that 60,000-member hatepage told me that what they’re doing is just “teaching a douche a lesson“. What he said sounded so wrong, he doesn’t even know the guy. Those 60,000-plus hate page likers don’t even know him. Even I don’t know him so why should I feel the need to harass him like what everybody else seems to be doing? (It’s sad also to know that 54 of my Facebook friends have in a way become cyberbullies as they are among those who liked that hate page.)

Let me ask you this: How would you feel if you were in his shoes? If you were the one driving that car to that flooded street and it ended up floating? If you were interviewed by a news crew with so much emotion after all that has happened to you at the time, you just blew it? And that filmed interview ended up becoming an overnight internet frenzy with you as the center of unwanted attention? That includes unwanted harassment, bullying, hateful and insulting messages, public humiliation, and degradation of your self and dignity in the eyes of others. The only thing that could ease is how you are helped by two good Samaritans who lend their hands in pushing your car to safety.

Tell me you’re not gonna feel all that if everything that happened to Christopher Lao on that rainy August day because I don’t think you won’t be able to handle that much stress put unto you and your family?

So sad that we turned into cyberbullies…Bullies who adds to a person’s digital drama. Holding the power we harness from social media to only hurt and attack people. GMA-7 unknowingly promoted the culture of online flaming, trolling, and everything ad hominem without thinking the consequences. And we gladly enforce ourselves being such. Is that what we really are online?

To conclude everything that I have said: Life will be the price of our actions.

DELETE DIGITAL DRAMA!