I just got my first credit card today. Yes, my first. I am 26. I get some things in life much later than the norm. Another example is driving. I learned at age 25. And dude, I have yet to learn how to 'really' swim. It's no big deal. I mean I'm not having nightmares, or suffering from a personality disorder because the first time I held a gasoline nozzle to pump gas on my own was 3 months ago (and other folks have been doing that since age 16). The question that comes to mind though is: why? Why didn't I get a credit card before? Why didn't I learn how to swim when I was 8? is it because I'm lazy? -- and the answer to that question is: "There was no reason." Yeah, there was no reason for me to get a credit card then because the things I need are paid in cash (besides those folks who use credit cards in the grocery store are holding up the line! a pain in the butt!). There was no reason for me to swim, because in my youth, I didn't live close to the sea. And, there was no reason for me to drive because we didn't own a car, and man, there were enough jeepneys and buses that could bring me to places! So I guess what this shows is I usually do things for a reason. There has to be a purpose for me to get motivated. There has to be a goal. If there is no end state for me to visualize, I get lost. So why get a credit card? Because I went though a lot of hassle in the recent past just because I didn't have one! ---- I can tell you about it, but that of course is worth another blog.

I LOVE BADMINTON! It's a game of balance, i.e. it requires strength (the smash!) & softness (the fall...). It also requires agility, strategy, and endurance. It's a lot better than going to the gym (where things are repetitive & boring...). I play every Tuesday at the Metro South Subdivision Gym-- about 10 min away from work. A lot of folks play there on Tuesdays. The really serious ones play 4 times a week(!). Can you believe that? Anyway, I've been winning games from time to time... usually when I play with a really good partner. I mean, I'm not that bad, but when I play with this guy Cocoy, I would feel that "I'm not worthy". When I play against him, I always lose -- just like everybody else. He's unbeatable. Figures, he's one of the people who play 4x/wk. Oops, gotta go! I'll see you in court.... the badminton court, I mean.

Ok is such an ok word. Whenever you say ok--- a nod, a smile, or a good, reassured feeling usually follows. It is very useful too. You can use it when you actually mean any of the following: yes, yeah, alright, sige, even 'sige na nga'. If used in this sentence, "I'm Ok", it generally means "I'm in good condition", or "I'm fine". But if used by a female, it could also mean, "I'm not OK", or "I'm not fine, can you not tell?". For cases like this, context clues would be really helpful in order to generate an appropriate response. Parents also appreciate 'ok' as an answer to questions like "Could you fix this?, Could you cook for us tonight?", or "Come home before midnight, ok?". Ok can also be an adjective. It can be used to describe someone, like... 'She's such an ok gal!', or "what an ok guy!"; or describe events like --- "How was the concert?", "It was Ok." And man, you can spell Ok in different ways! Okay & Okey are both acceptable. In addition to that, because of it's widespread usage in the Philippines, it has become "Filipinized" and now comes in such forms as --- okei, oks, okidoks, and in SMS messaging,simply, "k". I can talk some more about 'ok' but hey, you might not find that ok anymore. So got to end it here, okidoks?

Sleeping through Turbulence. --- If each of the uncanny X-men have his/her own special powers – I too, have one! It’s this ability to sleep through turbulent skies. I have 2 data points to support this claim. One was a plane ride from Japan, and the other, a plane ride from LA. My seat-mates in both flights asked the same question: “How on earth can you sleep through that?” Through what? I didn’t even know. I’m not sure if this special power came with the genes. But I do know that my Father sleeps a lot. It’s his thing to do on Saturday afternoons, the time between getting home from work till dinner, and well, most of his holidays. Now, this special power has some manifestations in other circumstances. One example was a time when I got my Mother upset because I was “Too cool”, about something that she was quite ‘frantic’ about. She didn’t know that I have this special power. One day she will understand.