Way over

A friend once drummed up a list of things to do by the time she turned 30. I don’t think she crossed out all the items on that list by the time she celebrated her birthday. But I do remember that turning 30 was a big deal.

I celebrated my birthday just recently, and I’m way over 30. I’ve never done any lists – the only one I ever considered (and not seriously) was that outlined in a saying on achieving immortality: Plant a tree, write a book and sire a child.

What not to do at wakes

I was at a wake recently.

It wasn’t my first, but it did bring back all of these superstitious beliefs that Filipinos observe.

Bawal maghatid. Relatives of the deceased should not show you the door or walk with you to your car. It has something to do with bad luck or ill fortune.

Next, no take-home or take-outs. Should you choose to eat what’s offered, eat up. Don’t bring any of it home. Actually, don’t bring anything from a wake to your house.

Ondoy

I have been watching the news almost the entire day, and I am horrified at what I see. Water rising to second-floor levels, submerging houses and cars, forcing people to flee to their rooftops, where they wait for hours without food -- their fears that the water will rise further, increasing as the sun goes down.

When a win becomes embarrassing

I saw a sports item in Yahoo about this Florida HS football team that had to defend its 83-0 win. As the story goes, it appears that they (the coach especially) are being taken to task for winning by such a wide margin. Like it was solely their fault and that their opponents had nothing to do with it. Or, that there should have been a point when they should have stopped scoring so as not to embarrass their opponents.

Anyone who plays seriously in any kind of sport knows that this is simply not possible. A game is a game. It is not an event to score brownie points with your opponent, or to be voted the nicest person on earth. It is not a PR event. It is a competition.

'Could've beens'

I ran into an old friend recently. It was a surprise running into him on a busy street in Makati City. I knew him way back in college, when I was still in Cebu City.

To say that I knew him well isn’t very true. There were encounters and some calls. Let’s just say that he was a guy who could have been interesting had I been interested and had he been interested enough to make the pursuit. Let’s just say that he was one of the ‘could’ve beens’. Ask any girl. There are almost always one or two in our lives.