I read the post, and I read the article that was linked in the post. Just from reading those two things, I already have a lot to say. But I’ll save that for later, because I want to listen to the whole thing first.

For now, I’ll start with this. From that article that was linked, I read a related article about Carolla doing this for attention. Did he do this for attention? I wouldn’t be surprised. As the article mentioned, by giving him attention, whether negative or positive, he’s getting what he wants. And I’m pretty sure he’s going to be a trending topic on Twitter by the end of the day.

If his goal was to bring attention to himself and publicize his podcast, it’s working. I don’t want to give him the attention that he wants. I don’t want to promote his podcast. But I can’t pretend that what he said wasn’t hurtful. I’m not going to ignore comments that insult the Philippines.

Like I said, I’ll probably reply to everything later, but for now I wanna respond to this part of his podcast:

Here’s how you know your country doesn’t have a lot going for it: when everything is about Manny Pacquiao… Get a fucking life, as a country. All you’ve fucking got is this illiterate guy who won’t give up blood, who happens to smash other guys in the head better than other people. That’s all you have, Philippines?

Yes, we’re proud of Manny Pacquiao. Why shouldn’t we be? But that’s not all we have. Who said that’s all we have? The first example that comes to mind is Efren Peñaflorida. Maybe it’s just me, but CNN Hero of the Year is a pretty big deal. So please, don’t assume that Pacquiao is all the Philippines has just because that’s all you know about.

On another note, he says Pacquiao is illiterate. Pacquiao doesn’t have perfect English, but that doesn’t mean he’s illiterate. Besides, English is not the only language in the world, so you can’t disregard his fluency and literacy in other languages. He did drop out of high school due to poverty, but he passed the high school equivalency test a few years ago, which is similar to the GED in the US. So don’t assume that someone who hasn’t finished high school is illiterate. I agree that education is important. But formal education is not accessible to everyone. And even to those that have access, it’s not always affordable. It’s important to remember that education isn’t something that just happens in the classroom.

I’ll save the rest for later. As for Adam Carolla, maybe he’ll get the attention he wants. But I hope that he’s not the only one that gets attention from all of this. By bringing this up for discussion, I hope it gets people talking about the Philippines. And I hope people realize how much we have to be proud of, because it’s more than just Manny Pacquiao. We have a lot to offer as people and as a country.

So, starting today, there’s going to be a new post everyday for the month of April.

And I just realized that I used the spiral model!

I didn’t post yesterday. And I’m barely making it by midnight today But I guess I’ll just try to get as close to posting everyday as possible.

I haven’t watched Lady Gaga’s new video for ‘Telephone’ yet, but I’ve heard a lot about it already. The most common reaction that I’ve heard is “Wow.”

Here’s an article that talks about how the multiple references to pop culture in the video:http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633858/20100312/lady_gaga.jhtml

Before I didn’t understand the purpose of it, but it really does help you find interesting (and sometimes strange) sites online.

If you don’t have an account, try it out: StumbleUpon.com

I’m counting this as post #1 instead of the one that I wrote on March 1st.

Strange. Stranger. One letter apart. But it makes sense. If something is unfamiliar to us, we consider it strange. And strangers are people who we’re unfamiliar with. But when it comes down to it, how different are these “strangers” from us or people we know? The world is smaller than we think. How many people do we pass by or interact with each day that actually have some connection to us through mutual friends or acquaintances?

Ever since this past summer, I’ve been taking the bus almost everyday. Everyday it’s a different set of people. Sometimes you run into people you know, but most of the time the bus is full of strangers. Once in a while, you see a face that you’ve seen before. But they’re still a stranger.

Riding the bus everyday sounds tedious. But it’s different everyday. There are days when I’m too preoccupied with things going on in my life and I spend the whole bus ride thinking about those things. There are days when I just want to listen to music that explains how I’m feeling at the moment.

But then there are the days when I’m not caught up in my own world. Those are the days that I take a break from worrying about my own life and I take a step back. I take in the world around me and the people around me. And it’s on these days that my curiosity strikes. Everyone on the bus has a different destination. Everyone has a different purpose for going from Point A to Point B. Sometimes I look at people and wonder what their life story is and what they’ve gone through. Or even on days when I’m preoccupied with my own life, I take a look around and wonder what everyone else is thinking about. The bus ride is so silent sometimes. It would be so interesting to be able to hear people’s thoughts.

For some of my posts this month, I’m going to try to write about a different stranger. A different story each time. It’ll be fictional for the most part, but I’ll use the strangers that I come in contact with as inspiration.

it wasn’t because of a test. it wasn’t because of any of my favorites. it wasn’t because of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. it was just any other tuesday.

usually, i would end this kind of day tired. not today. i was, and still am, on some kind of natural high. and it feels amazing. i’m just happy. i’m in such a good mood, that i felt it was worth writing about. i tend to write at moments when i have strong emotions. and if you can’t tell from my previous posts, that usually means something about love is bothering me. or i feel like i’ve disappointed myself or someone else. or my confidence is low. it’s usually something negative. because when i’m happy, i don’t feel the need to write about it. when i’m feeling down, i have more of a need to vent and get it off of my chest.

but this is the first time i’m so happy, that i feel like i have to write about it. i’m in such a good mood that i can’t help but share it.

i can’t pinpoint it exactly, but i think it was obvious that i was in a good mood. it’s like i was wearing my heart on my sleeve. and maybe i was just imagining things, but i felt like i was able to share my happiness with others. i don’t know if i helped a lot of people today, but i think today was a good day to talk to me. i didn’t give a lot of advice, but i think i was very positive today. so even just talking to people, i hope i rubbed off a little of that positive attitude on others. oh, and i made friends in class kind of. that was unexpected too. but it felt nice to know that i was approachable. i felt productive today too. and i’m just at a good place in life right now.

that’s the best i can do at explaining why i feel so happy today, but just by looking at that list of things it doesn’t seem like enough to explain it completely. maybe just starting the day off with the intention of being in a good mood and spreading that happiness to others set the tone for the rest of the day.

i need to do this everyday. it’s a really good feeling to appreciate even the smallest things in life. i hope everyone has experienced this kind of happiness before. and i hope that people experience this kind of happiness more often. it helped me get through the day easier. i think i lived my quote today: “love self, love others, love life.” i started the day off feeling good about myself. i went through the day trying to help others. and, in the end, doing all of that reminded me that i really love life.

just when i thought i pushed you away, you prove me wrong. it’s nice to be able to talk to you like this again. welcome back, friend

i know for sure that i’m fine with being single right now. this whole thing about being complete and happy on my own without depending on someone else for my happiness is working out pretty well.

but that doesn’t mean i want to be single forever. just to clarify though, i don’t have crushes on anyone right now. or at least that’s what i’m telling myself. i’d say they’re more like…favorites.

what’s the difference between a crush and a favorite? with crushes, you usually have some expectations. and i realized that these expectations, no matter how small, are what may lead to feeling “crushed,” so my solution is to have favorites instead.

with favorites, you don’t have expectations. you don’t wait for an IM, a call, or a text. you don’t expect them to go to certain things or be at certain places. you don’t expect them to treat you differently from any other friends. you just appreciate spending time with them and being around them. you enjoy talking to them, but you don’t mind if there’s days when you don’t talk to them. they make you smile by just being themselves. they’re different from just any other friend, but not so much that you would consider them a crush. it’s that area that’s really hard to define. more than a friend, but less than a crush.

with a crush, you sometimes become hopeful. i don’t mean you’re hopeful that feelings are mutual. maybe it’s more accurate to say that you anticipate things more with crushes. you hope you’ll see them or talk to them. you hope you get to spend more time with them. these are the expectations that you don’t have with favorites.

when you start expecting things, there is a risk of favorites turning into crushes. there’s a risk of putting your heart on the line. there’s a risk of getting hurt. of course, there’s also a chance of things turning out better than you think. but what if you just want to be single for now? what if you don’t want to have a crush on anyone? what if you don’t want to deal with everything that comes with falling for someone yet?

that’s why i choose to have favorites instead of crushes. all the good memories without the risk of getting hurt. it’s working out so far. there was one point where i almost started to have expectations and almost cross that line between favorite and crush, but no worries. everything worked out.

besides, i don’t mind that the guys in my life are boy friends, at most. emphasis on the space between the words boy and friend. because, after all, i am just a girl friend to them. in other words, a friend that just happens to be a girl. when the time is right, and with the right person, the space won’t exist. instead of two friends who happen to be a boy and a girl, it’ll be two friends who happen to become boyfriend and girlfriend.

no rush. whoever it is can take their time. for now, i’ll just have favorites