Question of the Week - 8

This week's questions are the last three among the many questions Nicole had sent some time ago.

6. If there is one aspect of Philippine transportation that you would like improved, what would it be?


I think I would have to choose for all to develop the willingness to think about others first.   If people on the road, be it those driving, those commuting or those crossing, were to be considerate and aware of the need to be kind and helpful to others first, a great deal of the issues related to traffic and delays would be far much more manageable.

Just imagine:
All vehicles would be mindful of how shifting lanes too often actually delays everyone else.  All drivers would realize driving ahead towards a bottle neck, then suddenly forcing their way into the route from the end of dividing perimeter merely frustrates and delays everyone else who is following the law.  People would know where to properly cross and where to properly ask for public transport to come to a halt.   Heck, there won't be any illegal wang wangs who force everyone else aside so their corrupt asses can pass  The willingness to be mindful of other's needs will have so many things go far better.


7. Why does an artist/writer become famous after only he/she is dead?

Because it is only then people actually focus on his work and not on him and their personal biases of him?  A large part of one's popularity is shaped by hype and personal opinion.  More often than not, true genius and creative excellence becomes apparent only after someone learns to see the work as a work and not as the output of someone they know, hate, like or heard of.

Sadly, at times it can also be a matter of how the greater "vocal" group opts to treat other creators and artists.  Many artist groups are clique-ish in nature, and if someone outside their group gains some notice or recognition, often it is ignored in favor of tooting their own horns.    Few truly try to support other groups regardless of their clique affiliations.   So the death of the artist alone becomes the factor when his work can better be given due attention.

I've personally always tried to support people who push the envelope.  People who try to find new or ingenious ways to approach their creative inspirations tend to be the ones whom the cliques tend to overpower, smothering them with cries of how their work is "not right" or "done wrong."  I personally have experienced such pressure and lack of support, with others barely even congratulating me for gaining enough notice of my work to be part of a DVD that's to be released abroad.  I don't hold it against them, but I do wish I was at least given some semblance of support.

Maybe when I finally die, I'll get my due.
Or maybe not.

8. How can you tell a good internet marketing guru from a BS internet marketing guru?

 A good one doesn't use buzz words to sound good.
He simply is.

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One last day before 2010 begins.

I'm just at home here at the Sietch Creare, enjoying the "fourth season" of Dr. Who with the Doctor and Donna.  Rocky is anxious to watch "The End of Time" and been a terribly late bloomer, I'm trying to catch up on all the Doctor Who episodes I need to see to truly appreciate the special.  I find it hard to accept I haven't been able to watch this sooner but then again, for quite some time I was kind of more into horror than science fiction in general as far as television shows are concerned.

2009 was a remarkable year. 

In many ways, 2009 tested my patience, my intelligence, my heart, my passion, my loyalty, my courage, my sanity, my strength and the friendships I hold dear.  In some tests, I failed.  in others, I succeeded.  And thankfully, in the ones that mattered the most, I learned I can be better.

I forged friendships.  I renewed ties.  I lost some friends and perhaps gained some clarity on family, but at th same time, I started to realize how much more I needed to take care of myself.   I gave up on some dreams.  I embraced a few new ones.   And I realized I can tell other dreams, "Not for now" but know they will always be there.

I found love.
I found a love that transcends the romantic, the ideal, the realist. 
I found love in a way that even I myself cannot deny is real, no matter how insanely impossible it seems at times.

And now, at the brink of the coming new year, I find myself looking ahead with excitement and joy.   It is a new feeling - this understanding of having found my place in the world.  It is a strange feeling. 

But it is real.

2010.
Look out.
Things can only get better.