the freshest oysters

things just couldn't get any better.

there i was with longtime friends, overlooking the thankfully unlit bay of manila. since almost everyone in our barkada had families of their own, it was rare to gather once again for a boys' night out. the difficult thing was convincing their respective wives that we would only go to wholesome and family-friendly hangouts. the next difficult thing was convincing my friends to abide by this promise.

question: what do highschool buddies talk about when they meet up years after graduating from highschool?

why, highschool life of course.

somehow telling the same jokes (that we all heard a thousand times before) and talking about the same stories (in which we were all present when they happened anyway) was enough to make us laugh, turn red and bang the table several times.

the stories were unending. my peers, relentless. everybody had an event to share or an incident to recall. from painful basketball games and sun-drenched C.A.T.'s to near-drowning moments in the swimming pool and aimless bat-swinging on the baseball field. from theatrical english-lit presentations and morale boosting interschool victories to those nerve-wracking highschool dances and the more-often-than-not unsupervised soirees.

each story was throbbing with character, passion and life. no one stayed in the back seat for long. everyone took turns driving our bus down memory lane.

it was such a ride that we never noticed that time -along with several platefuls of juicy oysters, had gone by. in the end, when the stories had been told, when the laughter had died down and the oysters relocated to our bellies, we all gave a collective sigh -- in celebration and thanksgiving.

sigh.

life is so much more meaningful when you have friends.

but here's a secret. our lives can be more meaningful. it's when we realize that all along, all our lives, God wishes to be our friend. more than a King, and a mighty Ruler, God is our Friend.

sounds insane? not really. look up john 15:15-17 to see what i mean.

we are not His servants, but His friends. go on, talk to Him as you would any true friend. He'll be sure to listen to you. in time, you will realize that He has been speaking to you all your life.

heaven is where we'll share stories, jokes and undoubtedly the freshest oysters with our Lord and Friend.

sigh.

===
apart from commenting on the content of this blog entry, feel free to share your stories of friendship with your barkada's or even the Lord's. how and why is friendship important in your life?

waiting...

okay, here's an admission...


i was really excited about creating a blog for our class. i thought that your response and enthusiasm would be so overwhelming, i'll be spending most of my days editing, posting, replying and re-posting some entries and comments.


i even thought that it would come to a point where comments and reactions would be so numerous, i would have to beg you to stop posting more than once in a day.


so i posted our first blog entry on jan10 and even made a sample comment the day after.


then, i waited...


and waited...


and waited...


finally a wonderful comment came in at 3:25am from ms. ging dyosa*, quoting lines from what i'm assuming to be one of her favorite shows, one tree hill.


and then other comments began trickling in. slowly but surely, people are beginning to discover and participate in our online blogging community.


it's not going as fast as i hoped, but hey, it's a start.


a very good start.


so there you go, these are my expectations for the online component of our class.


now, it's your turn to speak.


what are your expectations for our class? what are your thoughts on the class so far? what are the difficulties your encountering as early as the third meeting?


post. reply. share.



====


p.s: just so you know, i have shelved off my dream of becoming an instant online editor. it's currently stacked up with other shelved dreams: astronaut, stealth fighter pilot, stand-up comedian, award-winning cinematographer. but hey, who knows? :)

now, what are your dreams and aspirations?



*further research has unearthed that ging dyosa is a.k.a. (also known as) ms. margarita bartolome.

**photo courtesy of flicker user p2wy. cf http://www.flickr.com/photos/p2wy/359998201/

aha

aha!

so you were listening in class when i was discussing about the blog.

aha!

you may have wondered if i was merely joking (yet again). but your visit here dispels all doubt. there really is a blog.

aha!

we say "aha" whenever we discover something new. we say "aha" when we meet an old friend. we say "aha" when we finally understand a point during discussion. it's the more complete version of the "aaaaaaah!" we utter in a sing-song manner.

this is your blog. (aha!)

feel free to do anything you want. read. react. rant. rave.

but remember the guidelines we set in class.

be honest.

be creative.

most of all, be respectful.

after all, this is not only your blog.

it is also ours.

as it is in life, our choices affect others too. our decisions have consequences well beyond our understanding. our actions affect the world in which we all live in.

for in every moment of every day, we are called to choose. right from wrong. better from best. life or death. every moment of every day, we are at a crossroad. here, in these crossroads we are invited to live life fully.

to live honestly.

to live creatively.

and to live respectfully.

aha.