Mental Blabberings

I just re-affirmed that I thrive in high pressure situations where the requirement to deliver is compelling and the problem being tackled complex. I feel most challenged and therefore more motivated to actually deliver. This trait of mine I don't think is in-built (or in my genes). Rather I'd think it was a result of years of training starting from my elementary days -- where being exceptional was rewarded while mediocrity was shunned. In High School though, it was the competition in sports, the belonging in a band, playing a role, and the chance at leadership which branded its way into my personality. In College, it was about realizing potential and equipping myself with the necessary skills and knowledge to make it in the real world. When I started working though, there were a few setbacks which caused me to look back at my life more than a handful of times. There were times when I was tempted to ask 'is this what it was all meant to be for?' or 'is this really wh

I know it's really hard to deal with headaches. But I've always asked myself, why headaches hurt. I'm not a doctor, but watching enough Grey's anatomy has led me to believe that the brain doesn't really feel "pain". That's the reason why open brain surgery can be done while the person is awake. However, the nerves that do feel pain are in the skin, and the immediate area around the brain just near the bone. So now I ask, why do headaches hurt? Why is there pain inside the head when we don't have nerves there that should feel the pain? Like I said, I'm not a doctor. But I do have a headache -- and it's really painful right now. I think they call it a migraine. I just call it pain.

If you've seen me talk in front of a crowd before, you'd know I live for that kind of activity. It makes me feel really alive when I do presentations in front of people. Maybe it's because of the early exposure to public speaking engagements, but I think it's just in my nature to want to be heard and listened to. Maybe it's the same reason why I like blogging so much -- that the thought of getting myself and my point accross to a wide audience really makes me feel alive. Earlier today I spoke about "C++ and Your Future" in front of a crowd of maybe 60 people at the University of the Philippines Los Banos in a career orientation event set up by the UPLB Computer Science Society. I came as a representative of Friendster, but I talked more about how learning C++ can be a good thing for a graduating computer science student as far as career goes. I was technically the best example to show how a career doing C++ is possible even here in the Philippines -- becau

Electile dysfunction, FIRST PERSON By Alex Magno - Tuesday, January 22, 2008 : Most remarkable is what we might call a phenomenon of inverse effect: the more some politicians attempt to convince us that they are the ones who will save this nation, the lower they rate in the public opinion polls. The harder they try, the deeper they sink. “Electile dysfunction” appears to be affecting more Filipinos that we might be prepared to admit, what with all the contrived media stories about old horses preparing to run the 2010 race. I know of several meetings being held the past few weeks among concerned individuals, groups and networks seeking to uncover a path to a new mode of electoral politics: one that begins from genuine popular movements and responsive to grassroots expectations. I'm not normally a political blogger, but I'd like to think it's time we change the way politics works here in the Philippines. There should be a better way of choosing leaders short of changing the

So every 21st of the month my girlfriend and I commemorate the day of the month we decided to become a couple. We were officially together June 21st, 2007 -- and now seven months later we're still going strong. Is it just in the Philippines where monthsaries are important to couples just starting out? Or are monthsaries generally still being celebrated by couples? To date, this relationship has been the longest I've been in -- and my current job is the longest I've been at. I started work with Friendster on the 5th of February 2007 and that's just a few days away. The February 5 would be my 'Empoyment Anniversary' at Friendster -- not that it would make a lot of difference, I'm betting it's bound to just be another day at the office for me. For the first time tonight though I've tried to commute from my girlfriend's place in Manila to the condo at Makati at night. There I was in one of the usually busy thoroughfares and spots in Manila 10 PM in t

... always a blogger. So I'm re-activating this blog, not for the benefit of the world at large but rather for the benefit of me. I've tried writing my thoughts down on a private journal, and I've tried keeping things to myself. But at the end of the day (or past few months) I realize that I need feedback -- and the thought of me being heard/read by anybody is more comforting than just being able to write. So now I'll make it a point to really share insights with the world in an effort to relieve myself of the misery of keeping my thoughts to myself. Not that I'm doing anybody a favor, but because as the blogger that I am, I need to be able to say my piece. There will be some things I will keep to myself -- some details of my life which I found better not to share with the world at large. Some intimate things I find I'd better write about in my personal journal. But there are things that happen around which I have always wanted to react to publicly. I found that