Month: July 2024

Friendship · Writing True

Friendship

AinaBalagtas6 Comments

(Personal: With over a decade of blogging, I am fortunate enough to build some friendship with fellow bloggers. Some of them, I still have contact; but most of them I totally lost connection. Though I admit, there’s sadness; I believe in the good side of it. That once we touched someone’s life and established bonds; hardly, we’d lose it).

In the garden of hearts where true friends reside,
Blooms a bond that no storm can divide.
Petals of laughter, leaves of shared tears,
Roots intertwined through the passing years.

A friend is a compass, a guiding light,
Through darkest valleys, in deepest night.
A whisper of comfort, a shout of cheer,
A steadfast presence, ever near.

Through seasons of joy and times of sorrow,
They walk beside us into tomorrow.
Hand in hand, side by side,
In the dance of life, they’re our trusted guide.

For in the tapestry of life’s grand design,
Threads of friendship forever entwine.
Woven with care, in colors so bright,
A masterpiece of love, pure and light.

Writing True

What’s the point?

AinaBalagtas1 Comment

How would you describe yourself to someone who can’t see you?

Why do I have to describe myself?

I am not applying for anything,

Neither, I don’t have to prove my existence.

Isn’t too much information is inclined to narcissism?

Am I filling up a slambook?

I have two active blogs, which are packed with my views and arguments on different issues,

Also, I have pictures of me as I age, and poetry and musings that depicts a glimpse of my soul.

Do I have to strip naked to the virtual world?

What’s the point?

Writing True

Birthday Celebration

AinaBalagtas3 Comments

What traditions have you not kept that your parents had?

My parents always ensured that we celebrate birthdays. It doesn’t have to be grand and expensive. But just to show our gratitude for the life we have been given, is enough.

Because amid all tolls, every life is a blessing; and each person is a gift. Moreover, if you can’t appreciate your life, how can you appreciate the other blessings—be big or small—that comes your way?

So, with or without candles to blow, appreciate each year that you grow and live this wonderful world.

Writing True

Today is special.

AinaBalagtas4 Comments

Was today typical?

You get up to a brand new day:

That’s more than enough reason

To be glad and be thankful.

There’d be possibilities and opportunities

Throughout the day—

Optimism is on green always,

So go!

Challenges and disappointments are typical—

Be encouraged in finding solutions

Rather than staring at them

And be consumed.

Remember, you have today—

Seize it with gladness.

Also, be on the lookout

for the ever promising tomorrow.

Writing True

Awkward

AinaBalagtas1 Comment

How would you describe yourself to someone?

Not unless, we are introduced or for business reasons, I wouldn’t dare introducing myself. Because not only does it sounds bragging, but also as if I am a merchandise. And not to mention, cyber criminals can use my information to their evil advantage.

Writing True

Tyrannosaurus Rex

AinaBalagtas9 Comments

If you could bring back one dinosaur, which one would it be?

A.k.a T. Rex was the largest among dinosaurs during Cretaceous period according to the National Geographic. “Named as the king of tyrant lizards,” it’s the fiercest of them all.

What is so interesting with this dinosaur, is its size of “forty-feet long and twelve-feet tall, and weighing up to eight-ton. Mind you: it’s carnivorous, which makes me wonder of a real time Jurassic era, if we, humans have co-existed with them. It would be pretty scary, isn’t it?

A t.rex skull can be seen at Berlin’s National History Museum.

References:

2024. Why tyrannosaurus was one of fiercest predator of all time?

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/facts/tyrannosaurus-rex

Writing True

Nowhere

AinaBalagtas3 Comments

If you won two free plane tickets, where would you go?

I’d give those tickets away. Perhaps I’d give it to someone who wants to go the Paris Summer Olympics 2024. Because I’m focused on reviewing for my GRE exams for M.B.A. or J.D..

Most importantly, I’m not into the habit of grabbing freebies. There is such an ugly thing called greed. So not unless if it’s for my further education, I am more than happy to let them go. Pass.

Writing True

I have three nicknames

AinaBalagtas5 Comments

What’s the story behind your nickname?

Neng is what my family calls me (exclusively). It’s very dear to me. It’s usually the nickname being the youngest daughter amongst Filipinos.

Aina has been my nickname among my friends and school mates, even to my coworkers and all others. I’d appreciate if you call me Aina.

Tweety was my chat name on a national cable network chatroom in the Philippines in the early 2000s. It was my name behind exposè on donation scam, prostitution and drug rings happening in that media platform. Tweety bird is tattooed on my right hand.

Some Hawaiians or Hawaii locals are uncomfortable calling me Aina, as it means the land, the sacred land here in Hawaii. That they rather sabotage my legal first name, Sabiniana than calling me Aina. But I got the nickname long, long before I got here. And I don’t have any intention of misleading others of my race, as I believe on equity and equality, and inclusion.

Finally, I really do believe that when calling someone by that person’s nickname—whether knowingly or unknowingly—you’re establishing closeness, not necessarily intimacy, but again closeness. It breaks the invisible wall that inhibits closer connections.