I Have AIDS

Provocative title huh?

Actually, AIDS here stands for Acute Income Deficiency Syndrome. 

Papa coined the term last May during my niece's baptism and surmised I'll be suffering from this later. Back then, I was fresh from my resignation and was still enjoying my honeymoon phase.

But yes. It did strike me. I got sick.

Pentatonix

First time I heard them sing was when I saw their Youtube MTV "Radioactive". First reaction was, "Hmmm. Okay."

However, this new video, discovered by my father, blew me away. It's so unfair that among the billions in the world who cannot sing (like me), five individuals loaded with such talent would find each other and...you know. Blow other people's minds. 

Check out the video and try to tell me I'm lying. Try.

Feedly

I have been using Feedly for some time now and I'm feeling quite comfortable. 

I relocated to Feedly last June after Google announced it was discontinuing Reader. The relocation was seamless thankfully and, after which, I became a fan of the service. 

Feedly, like Google Reader, "is a news aggregator application for various Web browsers and mobile devices running iOS and Android, also available as a cloud-based service. It compiles news feeds from a variety of online sources for the user to customize and share with others". - Wikipedia

Check out how neat the interface is and you'll be perplexed why other websites cannot be aesthetically appealing like it:

Plus, it's fun to use.
There you go.

"Some Men Just Want To Watch The World Burn"

Bruce Wayne: Criminals aren't complicated, Alfred. Just have to figure out what he's after.

Alfred Pennyworth: With respect Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man that *you* don't fully understand, either. A long time ago, I was in Burma. My friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones. But their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So, we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never met anybody who traded with him. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away.

Bruce Wayne: So why steal them?

Alfred Pennyworth: Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

- The Dark Knight (2008)

As a Mindanawon, a citizen of the Island, I am frustrated. 

The past weeks have been filled with bad news, particularly the bombings (And would you believe it? These happened during Ramadan!). The authorities are still investigating these incidents but everyone knows who the perpetrators are: Muslim terrorists. 

Since time immemorial, these groups have been the bane of Mindanao. Where others strive for elusive peace and development, there are elements which root for power and destruction. Where others hope for unity across cultural diversity, some dream of a xenophobic utopia. 

Many authors have dwelt on the various factors motivating these individuals and fueling their evil intentions. Still, it's freakin' frustrating that when peace is almost at hand, incidents like these happen in clockwork fashion. It's infuriating to witness meticulous and hard-won steps in gaining peace being swept away by the anarchist deeds of the deluded Moro.

That begs the question: what's wrong with these people?!

Job Hunting For Life

Allow me to correct something I mentioned to a manager several months ago.

Earlier this year, I misquoted something from Richard Bolles' book What Color Is Your Parachute? During my exit interview, I had told her  that an average professional will change jobs at least eight times in his career (I can't recall why I included this in our conversation but I think it was related to her being connected with just one company during her entire career to date). 

The right answer is three to five times. Here's the entire passage from the book:

Here is the overwhelming, overarching truth: you 

Are going to have to go job-hunting

Many times in your life.

Lucky you, if that is not the case!

But the odds are overwhelming that it will be.

According to experts,

The average worker, under 35 years of age,

Will go job-hunting every one to three years,

And the average worker over 35 will go

Job-hunting every five to eight years!

And, in this process, so the experts say,

We will each of us probably change careers

Three to five times, as we go.

My superior must be very lucky indeed. She's with the same company since her early twenties. As for me, I've just been through my second job hunt and I don't know if there are more to come. 

Still, even if I have to live those moments again, I'll still do the same things. I'll take that job in Taguig City. I'll leave it to go back to Davao. I'll take my second job and leave it again like I did. 

Each resignation was a leap of faith, a flight to uncertainty, and every job hunt built my character.

The hair-splitting anxiety of not knowing where to go and the excitement of the hunt are things I cannot regret. The life lessons from those times are indispensable.  

Still, some are lucky enough to be already content with their first company. 

Some of us, though, want to grow some more.