I HATE FRIENDS

"It's true! My invisible bunny friend told me so!"

"Oh that's impossible my dear."

"What? Invisible bunnies?"

"That you have friends."

*******

I don't need you. I don't need your twisted wisdom. I don't need to consult you for anything technical. I have never asked you for anything that I have to work at repaying you back for. What have I ever needed from you? I feel I can really live without you and I have lived without you. But you keep coming back, and well just get me upset with your inane stories and your childish tantrums and your uncouth opinions and your insults. Then when I begin to move away because I have been sick of all your bullshit all these years, you run after me and is suddenly all sorry-like.

You make up for your stupidity with apologies and explanations, which I don't really care for. But because I am by nature "a nice guy," I let you hang around me again. After all, even if you don't realize it, and nor will you admit. YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS LEFT. YOU ARE ALONE.

There lies the reason why you keep coming to me and cling. I can handle being alone. I have been alone so much in my life that being lonely is my status quo. Having to deal with other human beings is a chore for me at times when all I want is to be left alone.

My mother will attest to the truth that the only reason I am a very social person is I studied how to be. Naturally, I am a loner. I'm okay with being alone. You? You can't handle being alone. And, you can't handle treating people right either. I mean if you did something pretty substantial for me, I would remember it right?

Nope. Nothing there. Just annoyance, insults, tantrums, bullying. That must be it. You are a bully, a bully that can't handle being one, so you use arguments, being a brat, running roughshod as your means of keeping relationships. You thrive in the arguments, the conflicts. You are an anger-whore. A hate-eater.

Maybe as a child you were dropped, and when you came to, you decided that to get your way, to get your parent's attention you had to be a screamer, a bully, an emotional blackmailer.

That has been your favorite pastime recently. Blackmailing me with emotions. And honestly, I'm a little sick of it. But I can't tell you directly how I feel either. All you would do is thrive in the resulting argument, throw a tantrum and then blackmail me all over again.

I can't walk away either, because you won't let me. You will track me down all over again and stick like a bad rash. Blackmailing me all along the way.

In short, I am trapped. I know I am, but I think it's time I told you what the hell you have been doing to me. The least you can do is offer me your younger sister as a sex slave as partial payment for services rendered.

Friendship? Bull. This is an act of terror.

ONCE YOU GO BLACK...

Congrats Obama. I keep telling people that you are not black. You are the first colored president that America has ever had.

You see in my opinion, Americans use the descriptive "Black" to refer to the African Americans who are decendants of the slaves their forefathers had.

You are not descended from slaves. You are descended from an African man, but one who is educated and is well-off. Not one who came from slavery. You are thus, colored in my eyes. Brown specifically, just like me.

You grew up in Indonesia and in Hawaii further making you not "Black" You were exposed to a very culturally diverse culture in your youth. Your foster father is an Asian, and that would have given you an insight into the milleniums worth of wisdom that Asia has.

Hawaii is also a great place to grow up in. Hawaiians in my opinion are some of the least racist and prejudiced people in the world. I mean they call everyone cousin! And being an islander myself. I know they mean it when they say that. So again, you are not "Black" in my opinion, you are colored.

As Americas first colored president, there is no one better than you. I say this with no rancor toward the others who have tried. But you fit the bill. No pun intended.

I mean, here you are. Colored, but not "Black" thus you do not carry a grudge for being a slave. You know of conflict but is not scarred by war. You know how to deal with Asians from childhood experience. The Africans consider you a true brother, and for sure the islanders consider you a cousin. You just fit. A world president if I have ever seen one. Sorry Dubya, no offense.

Yet I also feel you are not weak. No one who has survived an Asian school, or surfing in Hawaii can be considered weak. You are also a father. A good one who knows values because your mother would have shamed them into you, and your Asian father would have pounded them into you.

You know of God. Not just the Christian God, but the polytheism that lies in all the other cultures in the rest of the world.

I know you will do good. I've been okay with you since I heard you were the one chosen. I was actually for you, but not Hillary.

True, my opinions don't matter, after all I cannot vote in America, and I would never wish to. But if I had to, I would have voted for you.

I'm not being so arrogant as to say I give you the go signal to do your work. You are after all your own man, not some puppet.

Here is to your win. Here is to your promise of Hope. Which in this Pilipino's opinion you have already fulfilled by simply winning.

Here's my two cents worth. America is colored. It has always been. It's about time that it was once again ruled by the colored. Not by the whites, and not by the blacks either. The conquered when seeking revenge is usually worse than the conqueror.

Let's compare: When a white president wins, the whites celebrate. When you won, the Africans celebrated, the whites celebrated, the Asians celebrated, the islanders celebrated. The blacks celebrated too because you indirectly are theirs also.

All you missed were the Chinese and the Indians! Don't worry about the Arabs and the Jews. There is just no pleasing those snobs sometimes.

Now hopefully you won't be assasinated or impeached or anything like that.

Mabuhay ka!

WHAT IS THE QUANTUM OF SOLACE?

I haven't seen the movie yet, and don't worry, there isn't a spoiler here. Because my source is the printed story. So do read on. I haven't really read anything on the new Bond Movie yet, but I did some research and found in my wife's family's extensive library a copy of "The Quantum of Solace" as written by Ian Fleming. Real books, not online.

Surprisingly enough it wasn't a full size short story like "A View To A Kill" or "For Your Eyes Only" and it is nowhere as long as the "Goldfinger" Novel that I found the book with. The "book" was a tattered, heavily aged fragment of its former self. A compilation it seems of the short stories by Ian Fleming which had "Quantum of Solace" right before "Risico" which I read right after "Quantum of Solace" because it was so short.

Well here is an explanation of what "Quantum of Solace" means according to the short story. The scene is the Governor of Nassau is talking to Bond over a few drinks right after a party hosted by the Governor. They were simply talking about a person that the Governor met during his career that had an interesting marriage. Bond was sitting on a chair across the Governor who was sitting on a low chintz couch. Between them is a coffee table filled with glasses and cups from the other guests who have already left. Both are enjoying Whisky Sour. The Governor is enjoying a cigar while the bored Bond has just sat a little straighter. His interest in the story piqued.

Here is the excerpt:

The Governor paused and looked reflectively over at Bond. He said, "You're not married, but I think it's the same with all relationships between a man and a woman. They can survive anything so long as some kind of basic humanity exists between the two people. When all kindness has gone, when one person obviously and sincerely doesn't care if the other is alive or dead, then it's just no good. That particular insult unto the ego--worse, to the instinct of self-preservation--can never be forgiven. I've noticed this in hundreds of marriages. I've seen flagrant infidelities patched up, I've seen crimes and even murder forgiven by the other party, let alone bankruptcy and every other form of social crime. Incurable disease, blindness, disaster-all these can be overcome. But never the death of common humanity in one of the partners. I've thought about this and I have invented a rather high sounding title for this basic factor in human relations. I've called it the Law of the Quantum of Solace."

Bond said, "That's a splendid name for it. It's certainly impressive enough. And of course I see what you mean. I should say you are absolutely right. Quantum of Solace - the amount of comfort. Yes, I suppose you can say that all love and friendship is based in the end on that. Human beings are very insecure. When the other person not only makes you feel insecure but actually seems to want to destroy you, it's obviously the end. When the Quantum of Solace stands at zero. You've got to get away to save yourself."

*****

How is your Quantum of Solace?