sirjonordonez-blog

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So the girlfriend baked a cake and it's just... *bleep*-ing amazing.

[sirjonordonez-blog]

So the boss gave us these treats yesterday. We always get these from him from time to time. (Last time, he gave me a hand sanitizer with eucalyptus whatever that relieves stress...?) Also, I was asked to serenade the pageant candidates for the upcoming acquaintance party. I still don't know what to sing though.

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My girlfriend loves making sketches; and I would ask her to send them to me…even if they’re not finished yet.

She sent me this drawing last night. I thought it was her on my shoulders but I figured that the girl was too small for it to be her.

Apparently, that was me and my future son. –.

[sirjonordonez-blog]

Played with Photoshop and Illustrator and this is what I came up. 

The first image is ink in water with a logo I made.

The second image is just me sporting a burnout look.

The third seems girly but I wanted to try out flower typography.

The fourth one is a request by a fellow English major for their T-shirt’s design. I didn’t have the time and motivation to think of a good concept so I just borrowed a famous line and gave an English major vibe to it.

You may send me a message if you want me to make you one.

[sirjonordonez-blog]

Social Media Detox

Image from freepik.com

Technology is a good servant but a bad master.

The concept of technology has been around us since the ancient times – from the discovery of fire to cook our food, light our way through the dark, and give us warmth through the cold, to the discovery of machines to make our lives better. 

Better.

If there’s one word that can sum up everything these advancements have contributed in the past decades, it’s this. 

When I think of advancement made by these inventions, I would easily think of social media. The mother lode of all that make things better – in the lives of my generation, at least. Thanks to this idea of the 20th century – 1997, to be exact, mankind has finally made a huge leap in the realm of communicating. Gone are the days that parents working abroad will send cassette tapes to their kids and have them listen to it. These tapes even include pre-made answers to questions the kids may have while listening. I don’t know how my dad did it or maybe I was just too gullible at the time. Anyway, people thousands of miles apart can talk anywhere they like – yes, even in the toilet. I know I’m not the only one.

And not just talk, people share photos, a voice message, a video or even a live recording of what they are doing at the moment – yes, even what they’re doing in the toilet. I know I’m….hahaha got ya!

Social media really made a dent on our lives that it created a wide array of culture among our generation – a huge achievement. And as much as this is a blessing to everyone, the dent it made also became its curse.

Have you ever took a good look at yourself in the mirror, not to fix anything on your face, but just to ask yourself: when was the last time you went through a full day without any form of social media? Did you ever get frustrated at someone because he/she cannot or does not want to reply to your long, dramatic message? I know I’m not… *slap! Stop it already!* Have you ever compared yourself to the people you see on your feed and ask, “why am I not like them?" 

Okay, enough with the negatives. But what about this: why do you feel a sudden rush of euphoria when someone liked what you posted? And then you spent minutes, even hours just giggling on people acknowledging your existence in the cyber community. Or the feeling of achieving something huge (almost like what social media did) after posting a humorous tweet? Know what else gives you the same euphoric feeling? Drugs.Yes. Social media can be a gateway to a form of addiction.

Oooookay. So let’s say, you are addicted to social media. You are still a contributing member of our society, right? You still go to school (and hopefully get good grades), You still go to work, pay your bills and taxes, support your family, etc. If it’s an addiction, it’s the safest addiction there is. There’s no harm in being too engaged with a tool for communicating. Why should I be cautious? Well, while it may not strike you on the outside, it will act like a Trojan horse and the addiction affects the quality of life you have. Let’s go back to looking at yourself. 

Was there ever a time that you feel obligated to post something that is different from the reality you are experiencing? Or a time that you answered, ”Kumakain (I’m eating)“ when asked what you were doing when in reality, you’re in the toilet…uh…doing your thing? 

It’s the little things that count. And in the matters of false reality, it’s also true. What little lie you just made will, in time, turn into a creation of a new reality you made for yourself in the cyber world. I’d like to believe that nobody really gives a real view of who they really are as a person based on their social media profile.

Let’s go back to that feeling of cloud nine. When someone upvotes, retweets or likes, and other positive reactions is made to your contribution to the internet, you feel good. You feel rewarded to the point that it consumes you. Now, you want more of that feeling – you want another hit of dopamine. All good things in excess is a bad thing. Whatever feeling you are experiencing from the treatment of these posts may already be narcissism. 

Call out culture also has been a rampant event in the cyber community. You always see it through tagging a person’s name on a hate post. It has become our culture to pick fights on social media. Heck, even supposedly private matters like those of the heart even made its way for the public to see. While it may not hurt physically, the damage it causes to the morale of a person called out to can be huge, maybe even irreparable.

Lastly, it sucks up time. When I was a student, I had religiously browsed my social media accounts to the point that it consumes almost half of my weekends. Looking back at those hours, maybe months wasted, I would have done something productive if I haven’t committed a huge chunk of my free time on the web, talking about and sharing humorous topics. 

See? A good quality of living is not just exercised on what you do in our community. Nowadays, as a result of our technological advancements, your way of living inside the screen is also a contributing factor to your character. 

Now, this is not me telling you to stop using social media permanently. Like the quote above, social media was built to serve, not to be served. After taking a look at yourself and discovered your addiction, it may be a good time for you to decide on having a social media detox. It doesn’t have to be permanent. I’ve decided on taking a shot at this myself after experiencing the situations above.

The Philosopher, Plato once said, ”Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.” A social media indeed has given us the liberty we need but not the liberty that we deserve. In the event of finding yourself succumbing to its invitation of slavery – or maybe you already have, a detox can help you free yourself enough to be the one holding the chains once again. 

[sirjonordonez-blog]

Shower Thoughts: You, et. al

Hello, friend.

The second-person pronoun, ‘you’ is used both in singular and plural form. 

Back then, the singular form of ‘you’ is ‘thee/thou’. We rarely use the singular form -- except for poems or when deciphering old texts. Other than that, We never use the singular form anymore. 

....

But we’re not here for a grammar lesson. Knowing that ‘you’ is considered plural makes you think: there are actually multiple ‘you’s’ simply because ‘you’ are perceived differently by everyone.

This is why in writing, you is used often. It creates a special connection with each reader. You surely don’t perceive it that way, yeah, you don’t. You...wait...you... Yes, you... (see what I did there?)

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Start the day right with good food and good music. 

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Shower Thoughts: Hedgehog

Hello, friend.

Been reading a few books for the subject, Discipline and Ideas in the Social Sciences.

Anyway, there’s a philosophical concept known as the hedgehog dilemma that is used as a metaphor for human intimacy. It describes a situation where a group of hedgehogs need to cuddle together (aww) closely for warmth during winter season. When they do, however, their spikes prick and hurt one another.

The dilemma is much like the need for human intimacy; one that is often accompanied by mutual pain.

Though the hedgehogs — or people have a mutual desire to have a close and reciprocal relationship, it may not occur due to things that cannot be avoided.

So what is the solution? Is there one? Or will you always hurt and be hurt by the one you are closest to?

I believe that pain is inevitable (remembers that time I gave birth to monster poop…brrrr…good times..) but suffering can be avoided. To be happy means to feel pain too. Our pain indicates the road we need to go so that we can achieve a temporary moment of satisfaction. Prolong that pain and it turns to suffering…which is your choice if you’ll avoid it or not.

For example, you are hungry. The feeling of hunger is bad and if you don’t eat for a while, you start feeling pain. The state of hunger indicates that you need to eat. Once you’ve eaten, you become satisfied for a moment until you feel pain again when you start feeling hungry.

The only question that you need to answer now is, “Who or what is your hedgehog and is that hedgehog worth the spikes you need to endure?”

[sirjonordonez-blog]

Shower Thoughts: Questions and Answers

Hello, friend.

Mankind's existence, from the time he is old enough to create thoughts is bound to question the existence of everything around him. We yearn for answers to every questions we encounter but come to think of it, there will always be more questions than answers. Questions can exist without answers but answers will never exist without questions.

[sirjonordonez-blog]

Shower Thoughts: The Inner World of a Person

Hello, friend. 

I always find myself staring into space especially during flag ceremony. I mean, there's nothing else to do but to stand and listen to the coordinator and from time to time, 'bully' students who are not complying with the different ceremonies. It's during these moments where I just stare at something — whether it's the tree, the sky or the cats that I find myself staring at reality while exploring myself at the same time. It's when I stare at something and my mind just goes to another dimension, exploring my inner sanctum and tap on different thoughts far from what part of reality I'm currently looking at. And then, it struck me. I'm not special. Nobody really is. We all believe we are unique and knowing that the concept of uniqueness is innate in all of us, then that means that we are all, in a way, the same. The irony... Everybody is living in their own world; the inner world I go to whenever my mind just goes on auto-pilot and every bit of external sensation shuts off. I mean, look at a tree for a few minutes and what happens? After a few minutes, that tree brings up memories, thoughts, and feelings and you find yourself not looking at the tree anymore but your 'idea' of it. So although you and I are both looking at the same tree, we see it differently.

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ShowerThoughts: Strength and Weakness

Hello, friend. 

So a question popped out while in the shower... "What is the weakness of strength? And how does weakness influence strength?" I have found the answer after some thought on the movie, Doctor Strange. CONFIDENCE...though a positive trait, can result to negligence. IGNORANCE...though negative, can welcome intelligence.

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Shower Thoughts: Do people need religion to be good?

Hello, friend.

It has always been a popular belief that if someone is known to be religious, then that person is believed to be good. But I’ve known of some people who are active in the work of the church and yet do not meet the standards of ethics.

In my contemplation while spending my last minutes in the toilet, I have come to think that people needed religion to know what is good but it has never made people be all that good.

Ethics is liquid. Just like how water takes the shape of whatever container you put it into. Often, religious books are written vaguely and can be interpreted however we like so that its contents will always be aligned with whatever the ethics of the day is. This is usually the cause of argument among religious leaders; their different interpretations of the Holy Book.

Therefore, religion does not play any role on what is to be considered good or not good.

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Shower Thoughts: Introduce yourself

Hello, friend. 

So, I was having a chat with my student and she said this. "I'm a nice student, sir." It's a usual line in every introductory remarks on the first day of class. But how does one really prove that one is indeed, "nice?" Isn't it that when you tell someone about yourself, somehow, you're indirectly asking them to stay with you for this lifetime? Only then will you be able to prove their claim to be right...or wrong.

[sirjonordonez-blog]

COCONUT SESSIONS WITH A COCONUT

Hello, friend.

Why coconut sessions?

Well? Growing up Filipino, my lola would always tell me, “use your coconut!” (along with other words that must not be put here) whenever I nag on how something is way beyond my level of cognition.

Okay, so my mom asked me to get the juice from this coconut. That means endless whacking using a dull cleaver (we don’t have an ‘itak’ at home ) along with thoughts of murder and every gore movies I’ve watched.

Splitting those hard shells was never new to me. We always get coconut from our relatives and I will always be the one to split them open (the coconuts…not our relatives.)

And as if the Universe heard me, mom handed me an 'itak.’

“Wew…saved me from an aching wrist,” I grabbed the 'itak’ and the coconut.

You know how most of the time you’re on 'auto-pilot’ and you’re repeatedly doing an action (like whacking those coconuts), your brain, as if bored of your boring routine, starts to look for something to do, like thinking of useful (but most of the time, senseless ) things so the day will never end with it never being used at all?

So as I pummel those shells, I started thinking of how easy it was to split them open. (Itak, you da real MVP) I didn’t exert much effort unlike before when I was using an ancient cleaver that probably was from the Ying Dynasty or something.

Just goes to show that sometimes, the message need not be shouted for it to be effective — by effective, I mean, be understood, not just heard. Most of the time, you just need the right tool…or the right words. Shouting just tires your vocal chords and in the end, you didn’t really get the message across; just a primitive act of socialization.

I often come across a quote that goes like, “don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.” And it’s true on this matter.

In splitting coconut shells, for example, the ancient Chinese cleaver and itak do not really differ with each other, they’re both use to cut something.

The same with arguing, we use our voice and our words. But the thing that makes the difference is not how we use words, but how we choose words to split open the minds of who we argue with.

Oh here’s one thing I found on the net: Turns out, buko is node in English and niyog is coconut.

Ciao! ^^,

[sirjonordonez-blog]

Shower Thoughts

Hello, friend.

So…yeah…

This is my new blog and will start to commit myself to this “Shower thoughts” series.

Here’s to longer shower time.

Cheers! ^^,