Sungha Jung

I can not believe the prodigious talent of this kid! His name is Sungha Jung, a 12-year-old acoustic fingerstyle guitarist from South Korea. I think, in my opinion, that he is one of the best acoustic instrumentalists you’ll ever see on YouTube! And his young age makes him all the more remarkable! He plays mostly pop covers, but he also has some originals which you can check out on his YouTube site, MySpace site and his website. When I saw him play his covers of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” and The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” I was stunned! I thought to myself that he is one absolutely promising talent who has so much to offer the music world in the years to come! For his age, he plays his chords with stunning clarity, technique and feel! Watch his right hand strums, plucks, taps and subdues the strings with his palm to get the sound he wants. Plus, he does harmonics on the fretboard you’d almost swear it couldn’t possibly be a kid playing those notes! What genius! I thank God for people with talent like his! FANTASTIC!

Ang kahapon ay naritong muli

yesterday once more, 12"x9", graphite and color pencil on Bienfang 70-lb white paper

Ang Kahapon Ay Naritong Muli

Noong bata pa ako
ay nakikinig ako ng radyo;
hinihintay ko ang mga
paborito kong kanta.
Kapag tumutugtog na ang mga ito
ay sumasabay ako sa pag-awit;
at napangingiti ako.
Yaon ay pawang mga
masasayang sandali
at hindi pa gaanong katagalan.
Naiisip ko kung saan na
napunta ang mga ito.
Ngunit bigla silang nagbalik
na para bang isang kaibigan
na kaytagal nawala–
lahat ng mga awiting
napamahal nang tunay sa akin!
Bawat “sha-la-la-la,”
bawat “whoa, oh, oh,”
ay nangingibabaw;
bawat “shing-a-ling-a-ling“
na sinisimulan nilang kantahin
ay talagang kaakit-akit!
At kapag dumarating na sa bahaging
sinasaktan na ng lalaki ang puso ng babae
ay talagang napaiiyak ako
na katulad nang nakaraan…
ang kahapon ay naritong muli.
Sa pagbalik-tanaw ko kung ano ang
nangyari sa mga taon na lumipas
at sa mga magagandang sandaling yaon
na aking naranasan
ay para bang mas malungkot pa ngayon
kaysa noon;
napakarami nang nabago.
Ang mga awit ng pag-ibig
na aking sinasabayang kantahin noon
ay isinaulo ko ang bawat salita!
Ang mga lumang himig na ito
ay napakaganda pa rin ng tunog sa akin–
habang pinaglalaho nila
ang tagal ng mga taon na nagdaan!
Bawat “sha-la-la-la,”
bawat “whoa, oh, oh,”
ay nangingibabaw;
bawat “shing-a-ling-a-ling“
na sinisimulan nilang kantahin
ay talagang kaakit-akit!
Lahat ng mga masasaya kong alaala
ay nagbabalik nang malinaw sa akin!
At ang ilan sa mga ito
ay nagagawa pa akong paluhain
na katulad nang nakaraan…
ang kahapon ay naritong muli.

♪♫♪♪♫♫♫♪♪♪♫

To find out what my Tagalog prose translate to in English, please click the play button of the YouTube video below:

♪♫♪♪♫♫♫♪♪♪♫

The song, “Yesterday Once More,” was written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis, and performed by Karen Carpenter. It was a hit song by The Carpenters from their 1973 album Now & Then.

Love and happiness

love makes the world go 'round, 14"x11", graphite and marker on Strathmore Drawing 400-series, 80-lb paper

Are love and happiness interchangeable? The answer of course is no. As love is a far superior emotion than happiness, they are not equal. Love, especially in its platonic state such as philia, stems from the heart while happiness– as my wise friend tells me– is more a state of mind. I agree with my friend’s reasoning. Love is ethereal and happiness is ephemeral. Love is spiritual and happiness is circumstantial. Happiness is what we feel when we receive our paycheck; love is what we feel when we kiss our parents or our children. And as John Lennon soundly put it, “love is feeling” while “happiness is a warm gun.” On the other hand, romantic love, or eros– with all its carnal connotation– is also rooted in the heart. The reason is because when we experience this intense longing, we get enamored more with the highest ideal or quality of that person we’re attracted to than in any other traits. As such, we become motivated by the best attribute we see in that person, which is usually his/her physical beauty. And as is often the case, this desire grows into passion which then gets ruled by the heart. Moreover, the sexual or erotic notion of eros brings this kind of earthly love down to its basic, primeval nature: lust. And as we all know, lust also resides in the heart (”For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” –Matthew 15:19, NIV). As a virtue, love is the most powerful and rules above them all. It is not hard to believe that it actually is what keeps us all humans fully alive! Indeed, love makes the world go ’round! Conversely, happiness, elevated as a virtue, becomes joy which can only occur as a fruit of true love. This joy, not happiness, is what flows from our soul when God’s grace bathes our own spirit with His love. This divine love will always prove to be the ultimate, supreme kind that is like no other. It is called charity, or Christian love, or by its Greek equivalent, agape. It is the purest form of love. This is the same love referred to in the Bible in such verses as 1Corinthians 13:13 (”And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” –NIV), and in John 15:13 (”Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” –NIV), and in Luke 6:27-28 (”But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” –NIV). This kind of love comes only through the spirit of God and is planted in our hearts by way of His grace. You have to be like Christ to live this love. To experience this kind of love is to truly know God. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (–1John 4:8, NIV).

shot through the ♥, 11"x8.5", graphite and pastel on Winsor & Newton 65-lb paper

love is feeling, 11"x8.5", graphite and pastel on Winsor & Newton 65-lb paper

Man:  Happy???
Woman:  Very!!!
Tree:  *sigh*
Bird:  Oh, please!!!

Me:  Get a room!!! LOL!

Man with no horse sense

man with no name, horse with no name, 11"x9", pen and ink on medium-weight white paper

Horse: Hi!
Man: Hello!
Horse: Are you a man?
Man: No, I’m not. I’m a horse. Are you a horse?
Horse: No, I’m not. I’m a man.
Man: Is there a sense to this conversation?
Horse: No.

Moral of the discourse:  If you don’t know who you are, it won’t matter what you are.

i dont know why i doubt, 12"x9", pen and ink on Strathmore 400-series, 60-lb Sketch paper

Motherly concern

Mother Conscience, 12"x10", color pencil on Mead 75-lb drawing paper

Hi! I’m your Mother Conscience! Today, I’m going to give all you humans a favor. Even though you all have taken for granted the importance of a sound, green environment, I ain’t raining acid on your parade just yet. Instead, I’m going to collect every single tear you’d cried from all your grief and then desalinate and use it to water all your vegetation! Morbid??! Naw! At least that’s the solution I’m seeing. The caveat though is, you’ll have to live with sorrow anew just to produce the rainwater necessary to nourish your plants. Unfair? Nope. It could have been worse. This is the toll from all the generations of recklessness you (un)knowingly heaped on your mother Earth! You failed to realize that the reason why hurricanes and typhoons flooded your villages was because you’d been releasing too much pollutants in the air! Inordinate atmospheric pollution in the form of gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and even water vapor, trap heat energy from the sun instead of letting this excess heat escape back into space! The more pollution, the hotter the temperature becomes, the more moisture builds up which then form and agitate heavier rain clouds; hence, the stronger the hurricanes or typhoons! And if this phenomenon isn’t still a cause of concern for you, how about realizing that burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and deforestation can significantly increase the Earth’s average temperature warm enough to start melting ice glaciers?!! As they melt, they cause a rise in sea levels which flood most low-lying areas starting those along the coast. Now, if even that isn’t disastrous enough, this same loss of ice can subsequently harm the ecosystem in the Antarctic, altering its local climate and eventually destroying the marine food chain in the process. This disruption of ecological balance ultimately contributes to the domino effect of calamities happening in other parts of the world.
So, you may be wondering, my dear Earthlings, what you can do to defer, or even totally avoid, this self-destruction? Well, unless you change your indifferent ways and make a bold move, your sorrow lingers on. But as I am your mother conscience (read: mother with science!), I’m affording you another chance! And this is where I’ll do you a favor. I’ll let you in on a secret on how your Earth can environmentally recover: for a start, use energy-efficient lighting and turn the lights off when not in use; walk or use a bicycle for short errands; recycle all your recyclable waste, and plant a tree (or trees) in your lifetime. Now, you do these on a consistent basis and you will have reduced your own carbon footprint already (which is the amount of greenhouse gas emission you create) and thus– in your own way– aided in the cleaning of the environment. Wh-what, wait..! What do you mean you know all these things already??! Well, if you do, then why on earth aren’t you saving Earth yet???

Man in the Mirror (R.I.P. Michael Jackson, 1958-2009)

Despite all the negative things that had been written about the man, there is no denying that Michael Jackson is a true musical genius that only comes once in a lifetime. And just like the rest from my generation, I was fortunate enough to see him rise from obscurity to a staggering iconic peak of superstardom! Among my personal song favorites from his early days are “I’ll Be There” and “Ben.” And of course later on, I would also adore his songs “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough,” “Rock With You,” “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” “Say Say Say,” “You Are Not Alone,” “Heal the World,” and “You Rock My World,” to name a few. But it was his 1987 song, “Man in the Mirror” (which, surprisingly, he did not compose), that is forever etched in my memory as one of the most deeply meaningful social anthems ever written and sung, for its beautiful melody, poignant lyrics and soulful, powerful delivery!
Michael Jackson’s significant contribution to music– popular or otherwise– can never, ever, be denied. He was born to share his talent for music. And, boy, what gift it was! To me, he is a rarity– an original who paved the way for the rest of the superstars of today! He can compose and sing and dance with tremendous ease and skill! But best of all, he can perform! He is called the King of Pop. And for that, there is no objection. He has no equal!
Rest in peace, Michael, and thank you so much for your music!

Tears

smoke gets in your eyes, 11"x8.5", pen and ink on Roaring Spring 60-lb paper

Do your eyes tear up when there’s secondhand cigarette smoke around you? Do you get teary-eyed when you’re chopping up onions? Do your eyes well up in tears when you choke up on your emotions every time you’re reminded of a failed relationship? Or do you go bawling when a loved one dies? If your answer to all these questions is yes, or to the majority of them, then you’re very lucky. Because you are, from the looks of it, a normal human being! If not, then you may be stressing your eyes too much by spending so much time in front of your computer screen; you need to ease up on your online life once in a while as it is clearly ruining your emotional response to stimuli. Or, you may be suffering from what is called a “dry eye syndrome” (DES). This means that there is not enough tears to lubricate, moisturize, and wash the eyes to keep foreign bodies or particles from doing any harm. The solution to this, of course, is to consult an ophthalmologist who can best help you to treat this problem. My suggestion though is simple and it won’t require you to make a trip to your expensive doctor. All you need is a different trip– a trip down memory lane! How? Try recalling any occasion in your life when you felt happiest or proudest. Oftentimes, the most joyous instances in our lives will never fail to bring tears in our eyes! It may be the day you graduated from college, or the day you learned you passed the board/bar exam, or the day you won a much-coveted prize, or the day you lost your virginity (I know, this is sad to some), or the day you got married, or the birth of your first child, or the first time you held your first grandchild– whatever it is, joy will surely overwhelm you to tears! If any of these still didn’t work, then…GO TO YOUR DOCTOR– for crying out loud!!! (Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you…now, you’re crying. See, you’re cured already! Forget the doctor then!)
As for me, I guess I’m pretty normal. Tragic events can make me watery-eyed. And even a sad song or a sad movie can move me to tears (now that’s just some errant, wayward estrogen acting up, right?)! Sure thing, a regretful past easily blurs my eyes tearily. So much so that I almost always cry myself to sleep…(awww…*sob, sob, sniff, sniff*)  Which brings me to ponder: How badly dehydrated would I be if those were tears of joy instead?

kayrami na'ng matang pinaluha, 12"x9", pen and ink and acrylic on Strathmore 400-series, 60-lb Sketch paper

NOTE: As I’m posting this, I learned of the passing of two American icons: Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. What a sad, sad, sad day…My sincerest condolences to the families they left behind and may the souls of these two great artists rest in peace!

Drag on, human!

what a real drag on human, 12"x9", marker and crayon on Canson 80-lb Drawing paper

Ahh…today is a good day to live! Beautiful earth, beautiful creation! What breath-taking miracle! I feel so alive and free! The monkey is finally off my back and I am now ready to fulfill my destiny. There is no reason why I should falter again. I feel sooo good!
Oh, but looky what I got in front of me?!! A human! A hard-headed human being! A homo sapiens who can’t live up to his “wise man” or “knowing man” attitude if he were left alone to his own devices! No. I am not quite ready yet to trust a creature who takes me as I am with open arms one moment and then clenches his fist the next breath!
But, on second instinct, I’m willing to coexist with this primate– as long as he looks over my safety and keeps the monkey off my back! And then he can scratch my dorsal scales.

Say it loud, say it clear

My Father and Myself, our last photo together

My father passed away a little over a year ago, of a heart attack (on April 12, 2008).
I remember the last time we were together, we were happy. And the last time we spoke on the phone, I told him I love him. But still I wished I had held him more, hugged him more, spent more time with him, and told him how much I’m proud of him and how deeply I love him. It seems it is never enough to say “I love you” to someone you owe your life to. I owe him all the good things that I am. When he passed away, I had never been lonelier.
Even if you don’t hear me now, I love you, Dad…so much!!! Thank you for everything!!! GOD Bless you always!!!
Happy Father’s Day, Dad!!!

♥♥♥

To everyone whose father is still alive, you are so lucky, because you still have the chance to tell him how much you love him– and, best of all, he will get to know and hear you say those words…in his living years. And when– and every time– you tell him you love him, say it loud, say it clear.

Wordle

I was toying with wordle’s tool for generating “word clouds,” and I came up with mine (shown below) when I entered my blog’s URL on its “Create” page. You can also copy-and-paste in a bunch of text from any of your blog posts, or enter your (or someone else’s) del.icio.us user name (to see their tags). I just love fonts and typography and it’s pretty mesmerizing to see how you can easily configure your “word clouds” to your own artistic liking. Thanks, wordle!