"Somehow when we are in the process of making some kind of self-transformation--pushing ourselves out there further, maybe taking some risk that we never believed we would take before--sometimes a poem will come to us by some sort of magnetic attraction." --- Adrienne Rich, in her 1994 Interview from The Progressive by Matthew Rothschild

and for me, this is one of those poems...


Prospective Immigrants Please Note
Adrienne Rich

Either you will
go through this door
or you will not go through.

If you go through
there is always the risk
of remembering your name.

Things look at you doubly

Naaawa sa sarili ang mumunting alon-dagat.
Siya'y patak na luha lamang sa namamayaning dagat.

Sa dadalawang lugar lang nakikita ang 'sang bangkay:
Ibabaw ng mga alon o sa ilalim ng dagat.

Maliligo na nga lang ba sa banyo at tubig-gripo
Kapag hindi makayanan ang alat sa tabing-dagat?

Sugat na dulot ng katig, ulit-ulit mang dumantal,
Nahihilom rin sa t'wina --- likas sa pagiging dagat.

kailan pa man
kevin roy

di ko maintindihan
pangakong magpakailanman
nagsinungaling ka lang diyan

look who's here...


hehehe

wish you were here
pink floyd

"It's an irony to know that it takes hours for someone to have guts to say hi to the one you like. Days to admire. Weeks to miss him/her. Months to love, but with just a blink of an eye to say goodbye."

I don't remember where I got this quote.  But "just a blink of an eye to say goodbye"?!!! 

Hmm... maybe just literally. Or it could refer to that exact moment when it just hits you: you've got to say goodbye. But I do think knowing this is a world different from actually doing it let alone embracing it. I've had my share of goodbyes and they definitely were not over in a New York minute.

we lost again, dammit. and to our arch rivals, no less. pakshet.

the first half of the game was okay. we were down by 5 pts and it certainly was not a lead figure to worry about. it was a running game. kung sinong unang pipikit, siyang talo. at the halftime break, i told tetet and ninio (who, like me and a great number of others, took a leave from work to watch the game) that all the team needed to do was to get fired up and gain more confidence enough to take the lead by the end of the 3rd canto so they could concentrate on following it through at the last quarter as they did with their win against feu.

but no! the exact opposite just happened. i just don't get it! the blue eagles have awesome talent but their tenacity wavers down when they start to falter execution after execution at a time the archers would eventually build its breakaway. it has almost always been a mental game between the two and it's so frustrating to see our team intimidated and rattled. it showed when they played such LOUSY DEFENSE as they did yesterday, not to mention wasting those free throws that should have kept us alive while trying to gain back that doggedness to win.

the team should have attacked from the inside. they should have driven more and driven hard. kayang-kaya naman e. getting points from the arc is well and dandy pero kung di naman hot ang perimeter shooters, wag na kasi pilitin. besides, mas nakaka-build pa ng confidence sa team when they get to sink the ball in from the shaded lane.

be that as it may, i just have to mention one unforgettable moment. (no, it's not arana's taunting dance. that's something expected from the gallery, not from a player!) it was that "in your face!" double-handed dunk by japeth over big men cabatu and aquino early in the first quarter. that was just spectacular! maierhofer's double-handed slam on a fastbreak in the second half, though spectacular also in itself, paled in comparison.

oh well. the season is not over yet. we're still part of the final four. the path to the finals just got steep.

to my beloved blue eagles, there's no turning back now. we have to win two consecutive games to get to the finals. and in order to win, let us do the things we were willing to do in our winning streak this season but unfortunately not in both dlsu elimination games: SINK those charities, RUN back to set up defense instead of jogging, COVER the passing lanes and DIVE for those loose balls! it doesn't matter who we face next. we must keep our eye on the ball and our mind on the championship goal.

personally, i'd rather we get to face the archers again, if only to validate our winning the finals should the Lord grant it to us. revenge could be oh so sweet. :) let's go, ateneo!

a toast to the blue eagles and the coaching staff for winning the game against FEU yesterday.  what a spectacular game!

unforgettable moments:

-- that sensational pass by LA to Doug. LA passed the ball in between the legs of an FEU defender (i forget who) whose back was right in front of Doug. Doug was just right under the basket but unfortunately turned the ball over. had his hands been in the right position at the right time to receive that pass (which could only have happened by luck), it would have been an easy shot. sayang! ganda sana nun!

-- coach Norman sent in 3pt shooters Jai and Magnum at the last seconds of the third quarter. anticipating attacks from the perimeter, FEU left its shaded lane quite unguarded by the time LA penetrated through the center for an easy layup. FEU was literally caught off-guard! :)

-- Japeth's crucial blocks. he had two on Arwind but that big swat that stopped Arwind from scoring on a fastbreak was just awesome! SUPALPAL!

-- the Arwind-LA 3pt showdown at the last canto

-- the LA "in your face!" drive against the towering Arwind

Collide
Howie Day

The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
You're barely waking
And I'm tangled up in you
Yeah

I'm open, you're closed
Where I follow, you'll go
I worry I won't see your face
Light up again

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find
You and I collide