Miriam Quiambao Should Know Better

Beauty queens and the LGBT community have always had an open love affair mainly because it takes a village of gay men (and women) to make a beauty queen.  From those gowns to the make-up artists, to the directors and managers, the business of beauty pageants is the domain of the LGBT community.

So understandably, Miriam Quiambao's comments about the LGBT community created such a firestorm this weekend.  I was not able to see the actual TV show where she said those things except this line which I got from one of the bloggers who also commented about what she said.  "Homosexuality is not a sin but it is a lie from the devil. Do not be deceived. God loves gays and wants them to know the truth."

Comments like that foster hate against LGBTs and the people in the community have had to grapple all their lives reconciling the idea that they were created by a God who created them just to spite them.  I mean, I don't get the idea.  God made me gay just to fuck up my thoughts as I grow up.  So si God pala, isang evil joker out to fuck up 10% of the human race as fodder for hell?  Dear Miriam, do you know how hard it is to be a teenager and to be gay and to have priests telling you that you will go to hell just because you are gay.  Ba't Miriam, as 13 year old gay boys, have we sinned that bad na ba for Christian people to tell us we will go to hell, just because we are gay.  Tapos kayo, just because you are straight, kayo lang pupunta ng heaven.  Ano yun, going to heaven is luck of the draw lang?  Kayo lang may K to God's love.  Magreflect ka nga ng maigi, kung why you think God created such diversity in the human race.  Di ba, for the strong to protect the weak, the minority, the ones who cannot defend themselves fully kasi minority nga sila? 

So all the while pala, yun ang tingin mo sa mga baklang nag-aayos ng buhok mo, nagmamake-up sa iyo, tumutulong sa iyo para maging Miss Universe?  Feeling mo, mas mataas ka sa amin, kasi straight ka and sabi ng Diyos mo, straight lang ang pupunta sa langit kasi kaming mga nagpapaganda sa iyo, ampon ng demonyo.  If you translate in guttural Tagalog what you just tweeted, that is actually what it means.  So dear, ingat sa pagsasalita, lalo na't maraming bakla, I'm sure, ang tumulong sa iyo makamit ang runner-up crown mo.

Please be more sensitive with what you say publicly, beauty queen ka pa naman - and you work with many gay people day in day out.  If you were, maybe a real pastor, maybe we can forgive you since you're just doing your job, or whatever you're supposed to do. 

Respect is a two-way street dear - and for a well-traveled, well-educated person to say those things to us and a person that the LGBT community looks up to pa naman - it kinda hurts.  

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Inspired by the Story of Samantha Sotto - Writer

Like any ambitious writer, to have a book published has always been one of my dreams, something which I think I could already in the next few years, if I just put my heart and mind on it.  So I was inspired today as I read the story behind the book Before Ever After by Samantha Sotto.  She just devoted around three hours of her time everyday, as she waited for her son to come out of school and slowly but surely, she was able to come out with a manuscript and after sending it to around 30 publishers, she was able to get a book deal.

In that article, she said that she wrote about 120,000 words which she had to trim down to 85,000.  She said take out the adjectives. Yikes!  Anyhow, I did my own math and found out that if I did one page a day at 250 words per page, I would be able to finish my book in one year's time.  If I wrote even faster than that, I could finish the book in less time!  Now, if only I could just buckle time and really give this endeavor the time - and concentration it deserves!

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Paul Sculfor: Hunky Actor in Psychosis

Psychosis was supposed to be some horror movie but it wasn't too frightening.  However, all the while, I was watching Paul Sculfor, the husband of the lead actress who was being tormented by these ghosts.  He was so cute and dashing and I was wondering what in the hell was he doing in a horror movie like this.  To think it was not even that scary!  By the way, Paul appears in a raunchier movie, Di Di Hollywood where he really gets down and dirty - just the way we like it!
 

Taylor Schilling: She's 'The Lucky One'

This is the first time I've encountered actress Taylor Schilling.  It does seem like she came from out of the blue and snagged that coveted role as Zac Efron's squeeze in 'The Lucky One'.  In my opinion, she does get pretty lucky in her role here since she has several kissing and love scenes with Mr. High School Musical himself!  Taylor is a competent actress and she imbues her role with the enough emotion to keep us interested in her problems. 

What's your favorite comfort food?

I was browsing through a local newsletter in Yellow Cab Timog Sunday night when I encountered this question from it, "What's your favorite comfort food?"  Well for me, it's meatballs, or its variation, the giniling cooked as menudo.  I just can't get enough of them every time our cook prepares them, so much so that one time, I had an attack of gout because I practically ate 90% of her serving - which was about 2 kilos of pork!  After that, I tried to limit my pork consumption since gout is very painful.

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Shortest Route to Chile From the Philippines

For the longest time, I have been trying to find the fastest way to go to South America without having to pass through the US.  As I was reading a travel article by Christine Dayrit today, she mentions of a same day connecting flight to Santiago, Chile via Aerolineas Argentinas from Sydney, Australia, or the transpacific route via Tokyo, Japan on Aeromexico.  Arrangements could be made through Travel Excellence Corp. at 892-6012 or at travelexcellencecorp@yahoo.com.

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Aiming For Customer Loyalty

I have been trying to slowly increase the demand again in my research business for sometime now, and I read an interesting article today from business columnist, Francis Kong, that hits the bullseye in terms of what I have been trying to do.  I want to start this post with an anecdote that Mr. Kong used -

After spending a happy evening drinking together, two acquaintances promise to meet again in 10 years at the same bar, same time.  Ten years later, the first guy walks in, looks around, and sure enough, his friend is there on the barstool.  He clasps the old friend's hand and cries, "The day we left, I didn't really think I'd see you here!"  The friend looks up, stares, sways slightly, and asks, "Who left?"

Well, so between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, Mr. Kong pointed out in that article using that anecdote, that customer loyalty is much better than customer satisfaction - and I think that's what has sustained my research business even through the toughest years.  Now that everything is starting to look up again, I am trying to foster customer loyalty among my customers, to ensure the cash flow - and for now, it looks like it's happening.  One thing that worked is training some of our new staff to become as proficient as the veterans.  And of course, that process of continuous hiring never stops and another batch of five writer-researchers start again this week.  I do hope out of this group, we get to keep at least two of them to work for us through the next year.  That way, by having competent staff, we could ensure that our customers come back to us again and again!

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Appreciating the Sacrifices of our OFWs

Now that I'm playing with Laura and Dylan everyday, I am beginning to fully appreciate the sacrifices parents make when they have to leave their children and work abroad as OFWs.  I couldn't even begin to imagine the anguish and the long nights of decision-making that they have to do before they finally decide to make that big decision.  Truth is, it's much easier to work than to take care of children. There's just no competition!  At work, you can always get out of it when you feel too much heat, but with kids, they're with you till the day you die!  And every mistake, every forgotten promise, they will remember most of the time!

I know it's impossible that it would happen in my lifetime, when OFWs finally become a thing of the past.  The world has become quite fluid and people will continue to immigrate and emigrate between countries.  Some countries, like the Philippines, just do it in large numbers.  But, for the sake of the children, I just hope parents won't have to make that supreme sacrifice, if only also, for their sakes and well-being!

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Making It A Reading and Writing Summer

Global Fiction - December 2010 (Photo credit: Pesky Library)

I am finally reviving my old habit of reading which has become a bit dormant these past few years.  It had a renaissance about some time last year but because of the language lessons, I failed to make it a habit again.  Well, this summer, I am definitely going back to reading again.  I have started with a local novel, Miguel Syjuco's Ilustrado.  It's been an interesting read.  I actually rarely read local literature but since this one won the Man Asian Literary Prize and well, written by a Filipino, I said why not?  Well, soon as I finish it, I will come out with my book review of it!

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Jefren Centeno: Male Model FABE Hotter Than Summer Fashion Show

I love these pants that Jef is wearing. He has apparently modeled also for other clothing lines.