Belated Valentines Date...

2-18-2007 12-01-44 AM, originally uploaded by arleighmac.

A celebration of Chinese New Year at Wang Shan Lo Restaurant, Club Ultima Cebu, February 18, 2006

Thaïlande Lotus

Thaïlande Lotus, originally uploaded by Raoul@.

just one of te nice shots at FLICKR

Survivor... from YOUNGBLOOD of INQUIRER.net

YOUNGBLOOD
Survivor
By Bromhexine
Inquirer
Last updated 01:47am (Mla time) 02/17/2007

All of my life
Where have you been?
I wonder if I will ever see you again.

-- Lenny Kravitz

MANILA, Philippines -- This is a story that begins with an ending. If love means two people getting together, then this is love that never was and never will be. A false start can never ever lead to a fairy tale ending. Tears, pain, hurt -- that's all you get, plus a hard kick in the end.

Aril was almost my first everything. Almost, because admittedly he was not my first love and first hurt. That distinction belongs to my best friend's boyfriend (but that's another story altogether).

They say that you will have one greatest love in your lifetime. If that's true, it would probably be Aril for me.

Why? Well, what else would you call accepting a guy as your boyfriend although he has two kids with a woman he does not consider his girlfriend, and then breaking up with him, only to go back to him after he gets married to another woman? To some that may look like sheer stupidity, but I'm a reborn positivist and I consider it an act of bravery.

Martyrdom and masochism make up a fatal combination, and I have both tendencies. When heaven was pouring such attributes, I must have been suffering a big hangover and I just accepted them without thinking and understanding what they entailed. When I chose sainthood, alcohol probably drowned my senses and so my halo dropped down to my waist. But it did not drop far enough to serve as a chastity belt.

As a result, I stayed in a relationship (oh yes, I treated it as one even if my partner never did) for more than three years -- three years and four months, to be exact.

However, like a mechanical toy when wound too tight, a relationship breaks. You can try to put it together and you can even fix it, but it is no longer quite the same anymore. It is broken, even though the cracks may not show.

Too much is always not too good. When abuse creeps in, even if it is just verbal and not physical, the relationship is shattered. And its effects endure longer, sometimes forever.

Are you willing to face a firing squad? Then be ready to hear the words, "I'm sorry, I cannot offer you anything. I have a kid. I have a wife!" (You should then ask if he didn't know that before he ruined my once peaceful life.)

But then again, I'm an optimist remember? So I set him free, of course without him knowing it. I just took off, leaving no explanations whatsoever. I changed my number and went to another place.

It's been nine months since then, but the feelings have never diminished, not one tiny bit. But the change of environment has allowed me to look at the affair with greater clarity. There are still a lot of questions left unanswered, but this time I know I have to do the searching alone. It is my own self that I need to find.

I'm still a martyr. I have learned the meaning of sacrifice. As R.P. Evans once put it, "Loving something is not desiring it, but desiring the happiness of the thing you love." In plain language, just let go.

Though I am still struggling, I believe this is the right thing to do. Despite all the mistakes and the wrong decisions I've made, one thing is certain: I will overcome. So what if my heart has been broken? So what if I have to keep all these things to myself because not one soul knows about my illicit affair with Aril (well, a few friends have an idea of what's going on but they don't know him)? So what if I cry every night and I have to tell anyone who notes my eye bags that I have overslept? So what if I feel insecure at times? I know and I am sure that I will survive!

If circumstances dictate that our paths should cross again, I wish that Aril will meet the real me and then he can do nothing but look and regret everything that happened in the past.

All of my life, I have been looking for the real me. Now when I look at the mirror, I think I have found her: one tough gal, wearing a big grin and winking, with her halo back in its proper place.

Bromhexine, 27, has finished two college courses but is still looking for her first job.

Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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National Geographic Photo of the Day

Photograph by Michael Nichols Sunlight radiates through the clouds, illuminating the pristine beaches of Loango National Park. The wide, sandy beaches are a haven for many species of wildlife, including the enormous leatherback turtles, who lay their eggs by moonlight every three years between October and March. (Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Gabon's Loango National Park: In the Land of the Surfing Hippos," August 2004, National Geographic magazine)

History of Cupid ~ The God Of Love !... thanks to http://www.theholidayspot.com/valentine/cupid.htm

Cupid is the most famous of Valentine symbols and everybody knows that boy armed with bow and arrows, and piercing hearts . He is known as a mischievous, winged child armed with bow and arrows. The arrows signify desires and emotions of love, and Cupid aims those arrows at Gods and Humans, causing them to fall deeply in love. Cupid has always played a role in the celebrations of love and lovers. In ancient Greece he was known as Eros, the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. To the Roman's he was Cupid, and his mother was Venus.

There is a very interesting story about Cupid and His mortal Bride Psyche in Roman mythology. Venus was jealous of the beauty of Psyche, and ordered Cupid to punish the mortal. But instead, Cupid fell deeply in love with her. He took her as his wife, but as a mortal she was forbidden to look at him.

Psyche was happy until her sisters persuaded her to look at Cupid. as soon as Psyche looked at Cupid, Cupid punished her by leaving her. Their lovely castle and gardens vanished too. Psyche found herself alone in an open field with no signs of other beings or Cupid. As she wandered trying to find her love, she came upon the temple of Venus. Wishing to destroy her, the goddess of love gave Psyche a series of tasks, each harder and more dangerous then the last.

For her last task Psyche was given a little box and told to take it to the underworld. She was told to get some of the beauty of Proserpine, the wife of Pluto, and put it in the box. During her trip she was given tips on
avoiding the dangers of the realm of the dead. She was also warned not to open the box. But Temptation overcame Psyche and she opened the box. But instead of finding beauty, she found deadly slumber.

Cupid found her lifeless on the ground. He gathered the deadly sleep from her body and put it back in the box. Cupid forgave her, as did Venus. The gods, moved by Psyche's love for Cupid made her a goddess.

Today, Cupid and his arrows have become the most popular of love signs, and love is most frequently depicted by two hearts pierced by an arrow, Cupid's arrow.

The Story of Valentine's Day... thanks to http://www.holidays.net/amore/story.html

The Story of Valentine's Day

The holiday of Valentine's Day probably derives its origins from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalia. In the early days of Rome, fierce wolves roamed the woods nearby. The Romans called upon one of their gods, Lupercus, to keep the wolves away. A festival held in honor of Lupercus was celebrated February 15th. The festival was celebrated as a spring festival. Their calendar was different at that time, with February falling in early springtime.

One of the customs of the young people was name-drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man drew a slip. The girl whose name was chosen was to be his sweetheart for the year

Legend has it that the holiday became Valentine's Day after a priest named Valentine. Valentine was a priest in Rome at the time Christianity was a new religion. The Emperor at that time,II, ordered the Roman soldiers NOT to marry or become engaged. Claudius believed that as married men, his soldiers would want to stay home with their families rather than fight his wars. Valentine defied the Emperor's decree and secretly married the young couples. He was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and put to death

Valentine was beheaded on February 14th, the eve of the Roman holiday Lupercalia. After his death, Valentine was named a saint. As Rome became more Christian, the priests moved the spring holiday from the 15th of February to the 14th - Valentine's Day. Now the holiday honored instead of Lupercus.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Diamonds before me. from YOUNGBLOOD of INQUIRER.net

YOUNGBLOOD
Diamonds before me
By Rayah Dizon-Maniago
Inquirer
Last updated 01:45am (Mla time) 02/13/2007

I envy people who can forget the arguments and pains of a relationship by just looking at their engagement ring. They say that looking at the ring seems to make the world stop and sends musical notes floating in the air.

It is not so me! I cannot stare at a diamond and suddenly be transformed into a blissful mood. If there is an issue to address, we need to talk it over. When I am not in the mood, I would not think twice before throwing a diamond ring into the river, I swear.

It all boils down to the fact that although I appreciate gems, I am not really a jewelry person. I didn't develop strong guilt feelings when I lost most of the gems I got from Mom. For me, pieces of jewelry just seem to pop like bubbles in the air.

An engagement ring is not an exception. It is a big responsibility, a burden to keep that teeny-weeny thing. When we got engaged, Jim and I had a big argument over whether he should get me an engagement ring.

I want to be free of any jewelry, especially when I am doing yoga or swimming. And why not give me a car when it has the same monetary value anyway? To me, anything bigger than a minute stone, like a good book or DVD, is better.

I cannot see the point of wearing an engagement ring. If it is supposed to announce to everyone that the big day is coming, why should the woman alone be carrying that momentous message on her ring finger while the man remains free as a bird?

If the ring is supposed to be a gift, I would much rather have a nice painting. If it is supposed to be a reminder of his love, I would rather that we spend special time and do things together; it is safer to keep those moments in my memory than on my ring finger. If it is supposed to signify commitment, then let the blessed matrimonial ring be the symbol.

People assign values to things. What is precious to one may not be worth much to the rest of the world. Not all women love diamonds.

I love Jim dearly. As we prepare to celebrate Valentine's Day as husband and wife, he has been telling me half-seriously that he would buy a piece of jewelry for me to keep. No, please!

Rayah Dizon-Maniago, 27, is taking up her Ph.D. at Aichi Shukutoku University in Japan.

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