Let’s Get Some Grass

    So Nadal won: 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)

    Although more than Nadal winning it, Federer lost it for himself. He had moments of brilliance during the game (including a point that merited a standing ovation from the crowd), but no one can deny the fact that he almost double the number of unforced errors Nadal had. The spaniard had only 28 unforced errors as compared to Federer’s 51.

    But hey. it’s clay - it’s been the struggle of many top ranked players, most notably Pete Sampras and Roger Federer himself. After winning Wimbledon in 2005, and then the 2005 US Open, and the 2006 Australian Open, Federer had the chance to make history by holding all four grand slam titles at the same time if he had won the 2006 French Open… …I guess now that will have to wait.

    Next up is grass-court season. Rest assured, Nadal - with his accurate power shots and topspin - will not win Wimbledon. Nadal is the king of clay and nothing more - for now. He will continue to play second fiddle to Roger Federer until he proves that he can not only win the French Open, but dominate on grass also.

    So, two weeks from now, grass season starts in Wimbledon… as with Federer’s chase for another grand slam opportunity.

Breaking my Book Backlog

(As of this writing, the TV behind me is showing the 2006 French Open finals between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Nadal is down two games to nil in the first set. I’m rooting for Federer)

    I have this bad habit. I buy books, start to read them, and then never get to finish them. The result of this is a HUGE book backlog… one that I’ve decided to break.

    Not including books needed for school, my ratio of books bought to books finish is around 5 to 1… at best. Then again, maybe if you include books needed for school, that would still be the ratio.
Just to give you an idea:
In “The Count of Monte Cristo”, Edmond Dantès is still swimming after being thrown into the ocean…

…in “The Solitaire Mystery”, a little strange bearded man has just given Hans Thomas a magnifying glass…

…in “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”, Norrell has just fooled the French Army with his armada made of mist…

…in “Scar Tissue” (the biography of Anthony Kiedis, vocalist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Tony - barely into his teens - has just smoked his first joint…

…in “Angels & Demons”, the third papabili has just been murdered…

…in “Two Towers”, Sam and Frodo have just been captured by Faramir & Co…

… and I haven’t even opened “Veron God Little”, “The Life of Pi” and a good number of other books yet.

    So, now that I have all these unfinished books, I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to start finishing them… and to stop buying anymore books before that business is done. I’m not forcing myself to read at all… that would just be an empty cause. I still like reading… and in the past, I used to love reading… it’s just a matter of re-acquainting myself with it.

    I’ll probably pass up on some books though such as “Angels & Demons” and any Lord of the Rings book since the ending to those have been long spoilt. Right now, I’m around three-fourths into Jeffrey Eugenides’ “Middlesex”, and it’s coming along well.

    It’s a refreshing thing to have that feeling again of not wanting to put a book down in spite of hunger or drowsiness, and shutting out the world for a few hours and putting yourself inside a totally different one inside your mind.

(Going back to the French Open… Federer has just won the first set 6-1, but is down to Nadal in the second set 1-nil. Go Federer!)

Screaming From the Sideline of Your Being

Don’t mistake me for being cynical or pessimistic, but realistically speaking, there is only one person who you can count on 24/7 for your entire life… and that’s yourself.

Of course we all have our loved ones ready to give a helping hand whenever possible, but sometimes there are just moments in life where it’s all you. There are times when you have to be hard on yourself because nobody else would: “This is what you gotta do! This is your best play, and you have to play it right! Gut up or get down!” There are times when you have to pick yourself up because that’s what you need at that certain moment: “Fall down seven times, get up eight! Get up man!” There are times when you have to cheer yourself on and listen to that voice inside your head going “Let’s go! You can DO IT!”

As much as everyone is interconnected, everyone has their own lives to live and you cannot go depending on someone else all the time. Sometimes, in the game of life, you just have to be you have to be your coach, your teammate and your cheerleader all in one - all screaming from the sideline of your being.

Perpekto

Here’s a pretty straightforward song… no need for a write-up on this. 

“Perpekto”
by Dong Abay
from his album “Flipino” (hindi typo yan )

Ikaw ay nagdaramdam, puso ay nagdurugo.
Hindi mo yata alam kung saan ka patungo.
Ikaw ay naliligaw, isip ay nalilito.
Ayaw mo nang gumalaw, hindi ka sigurado.

Ikaw ay napupuing, minsan nabubulagan.
Mata ay nakapiring, daan ay kadiliman.
Ikaw ay nadadapa, napipilayan din.
Di makapagsalita, anong ibig sabihin?

Wala… wala namang… wala namang perpektong tao.
Ano ba ang epekto, kung meron kang depekto?
Ano ba ang epekto, kung meron kang depekto?
Ano ba ang epekto, kung meron kang depekto?
Ano ba ang epekto, kung meron kang depekto? 

Ikaw ay nawawala, minsan ay nawawalan.
Di ka naniniwala, puno nang alinlangan.
Ikaw ay nanliliit, ligtas ka ba sa rehas?
Bakit ka nakapiit, bakit ka tumatakas?

Ikaw ay natatakot, parang walang hangganan.
Ang kirot ng bangungot, di mo makalimutan.
Ikaw ang nanglulumo, bilang na nga ang araw.
Gusto mo nang sumuko, mundo ay nagugunaw.

Wala… wala namang… wala namang perpektong tao.
Ano ba ang epekto, kung meron kang depekto?
Ano ba ang epekto, kung meron kang depekto?
Ano ba ang epekto, kung meron kang depekto?
Ano ba ang epekto, kung meron kang depekto?

Ikaw ay inaanod, walang kalaban-laban.
Tuluyang nalulunod tungo sa kalaliman.
Ikaw ay nalulula, agad kang nahuhulog.
Bumabagsak sa lupa, at biglang madudurog.

Ikaw ay nagdurusa, kaya pa bang tumagal?
Hindi na makahinga, lalo pang nasasakal.
Ikaw ay dumadaing, dala mo ba ay sumpa?
Parang kang nililibing at pinagluluksa.

Wala… wala naman…. wala namang perpekto.
Ano ba ang epekto, kung meron kang depekto?
Wala namang perpektong tao….

On Pregnancy…

    “Pregnancy humbled the husbands. After an initial rush of male pride, they quickly recognized the minor role that nature had assigned them in the drama of reproduction, and quietly withdrew into a baffled reserve, catalysts to an explosion they couldn’t explain.” - Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides

    An interesting thing, pregnancy is. That entire process of doing the horizontal tango at exactly the right time, and then nine months later - if everything goes well - getting rewarded for your efforts with a bouncing baby of your own. A baby that’s a genetic hybrid of you and your mate… pretty much like a recipie really if you think about it.

    What’s more interesting is how little us men have to do with it. Techincally, our job entails only an hour or two of work, and then the next nine months falls on the shoulders/in the womb of the female of the species. Of course, once the baby is out it’s a different story, but that critical phase of immense development inside the womb is a responsibility that us men can never bear.

    For such a patriarchal world such as this, it’s pretty weird that men have such a relatively minisclue role in populating it. Really, with all the developments and potentials of science and technology, that male-less world could be a possiblity far off into the future… … …scary. In any case, I think that taking that backseat for the nine months of a woman’s pregnancy is indeed humbling for a guy… but what do I know? Maybe in several years…