Merry Christmas!!! The word Christmas comes from “Cristes Maesse”, an early English phrase that means “Mass of Christ.” It is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ (not the birth day itself which could be any one of the 365.25 days of the year). Jesus is about peace, love, and understanding (what’s so funny about that?). It’s the time of the year when we set grudges and ill feelings aside that we may have accumulated for the past year (or the past years!). Such things are sometimes unavoidable but if we clean the slate even just once a year then it make for a better world. Unfortunately, two millenniums later, it’s still far off.
Certified True Copy vs Certified Xerox Copy
Here’s a puzzle. Michelle was following up with their HR regarding the requirements for claiming SSS maternity benefits and they responded with this one interesting item: Certified true copy of child’s birth certificate (Please take note: It should certified true copy and not certified xerox copy from the original).
So how do you make a true copy (by itself already an oxymoron) prior to it being certified? Apparently not by photocopying. But how else can you make a copy? Laser printer? Doesn’t that use the same toner and drum technology? Offset printing? By hand? Really beats me. The sad thing is that this stupid bureaucratic mumbo jumbo probably have some twisted meaning somewhere.
Languages
I was cradling Jeanne when my dad, who was visiting us, suddenly started talking to her in Tagalog. I struck me how alien it sounded. It’s not that I don’t use Tagalog, it’s just that it was all Tagalog. I guess it really sounded alien to me considering that my first language is a mix of Cebuano and English (ceblish?) and my second is a mix of Tagalog and English (taglish). English, my third language, is always there in the mix. Looking back, it must have been really confusing growing up with so many languages. You get spoken to in Cebuano, English, and later Tagalog. And all the while your reading materials are all in English. Luckily, I turned out reasonably well (or did I? :P) And here I am still aspiring to learn yet another language (French).
9/11
It’s September 11. A day that lives in infamy. And here I am in NYC (across the water at Jersey City actually). Outside my hotel room window, I can see twin beams of light shooting upward to the sky, part of the city’s memorial activities. May we always remember this day, may we always remember that the enemy is still out there, and will always be there for as long as intolerance exists in this world.
Murder In Broad Daylight
I just learned that Beng Liwanag, who was a supplier to my previous company, was brazenly shot while driving to work, in broad daylight, and in a busy street intersection at that! It’s quite clear that criminals these days are not afraid to commit crimes because law enforcement is so ineffective.
Reminds me of when I was at the canonical interview. The interviewing priest, upon learning I hale from the south, commented how dangerous it is there. I wanted to say that the city is just as if not worse but I held my tongue. But yes, it is.
My condolences to Beng’s family.