Froodee

Living. Blogging.

Thank you, 2007. :)

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As the year comes to a close, I would like to do something cliché: be thankful for the past year. 🙂

So while you await the fireworks and I sleep them away, I would like to say my piece just before the year ends.

Oprah is always big on the gratitude memes and she encourages people to make it a point to be thankful. It has virtue in it, because after I recount how thankful I am for things, events, people, realizations, etc., in my life, I forget my pains and complaints. I realize that life is good after all, and that all in all, I am a fortunate, blessed person. I may not seem like that to some people, but the fact that there are things I can be thankful for after all makes me realize that life is truly worth looking forward to living each day. 🙂

So without further ado, let me start… [Read more…]

Misplaced Generosity?

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Have you ever been followed by a street child to be bullied into giving your drink or food or throwing pennies their way?

In these parts, it’s nearly normal to be persuaded into giving something to these poor scruffy kids, even if it’s against your will, sometimes. [Read more…]

Old galaxy found stealing fountain of youth

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While supermassive black holes are fattening themselves with their steady diet of cosmic meals, a theft of cosmic proportions is taking place in a galaxy far, far away, in an effort to claim the fountain of youth.

Yes, Virginia, it’s just like someone is stealing your supply Glutathione, a nutrient recently advertised as the solution to looking young.

NASA announced that it has located a massive galaxy that is stealing a billion suns’ worth of gas from a smaller galactic neighbor. In space, gas is a hot commodity. Really hot. In this case, about 1,340 degrees Fahrenheit (730 degrees Celsius). And it’s great for making new stars.

“We may be viewing the larger galaxy in a rare, brief stage of its reincarnation from an old galaxy to a youthful one studded with brilliant stars,” said Patrick Ogle of NASA’s Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology.

The robber, called 3C 326 North, is about the mass of our Milky Way galaxy, and its victim, 3C 326 South, is about half its mass. They are close enough to perturb each other gravitationally and might eventually collide. Such galaxy mergers are common in the universe: Gas and stars in two nearby galaxies become tangled until they become one larger galaxy. The case of 3C 326 is the clearest example yet of large quantities of gas being heated and siphoned from one galaxy to another.

“This could be an important phase in galaxy mergers that we are just now witnessing,” Ogle said.

The scene of the crime is about a billion light-years away. So in reality, the theft took place a billion years ago, but the light revealing it has only just arrived on Earth.

Like life on Earth, galaxies can “eat” each other and evolve over time. The Milky Way’s neighbor, Andromeda, is currently dining on one of its satellites. More than a dozen star clusters are scattered throughout Andromeda, the cosmic remains of past meals. The image above is from a simulation of Andromeda and our galaxy colliding, an event that will take place in about 3 billion years.

Finding the Inner Child Within

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Remember this rabbit?

Reading has always been a favorite past time of mine. My childhood was spent reading classics, Enid Blyton and all those Nancy Drew books I inherited from my mom. Having playmates weren’t my thing and my parents never allowed me to leave the house. However, if there’s one thing I’m grateful for, it’s that the whole family has a love for books in general. Unlike other kids, I looked forward to reading and writing.

Recently, I stumbled upon a blog that suggested reading children’s books is also good for adults. According to Jen Robinson’s Book Page, there are 10 reasons why adults should try reading children’s books.

1. It’s fun.
2. It keeps your imagination active.
3. It strengthens your relationship with the children in your life who read.
4. It sets an example for the children in your life, making them more likely to become readers.
5. It clues you in on cultural references that you may have missed (both current and classical).
6. It’s fast. Children’s books are usually shorter than adult books, so if you don’t think you have time to read, you DO have time to read children’s books.
7. It allows you to read across genres. Children’s books aren’t limited to mystery OR science fiction OR fantasy OR literary fiction. They can have it all.
8. It’s like time travel – it’s an easy way to remember the child that you once were, when you first read a book.
9. It’s often inspirational – reading about heroes and bravery and loyalty makes you want to be a better person. And couldn’t we all do with some of that?
10. Did I mention that it’s fun?

Another reason why I’m so fascinated with this list is because I’m about to write a script for a children’s drama for my Radio Production class. I realize that as we grow up, we lose touch of ourselves. Our mindset becomes tuned to other “bigger” issues like work, relationships and other adult matters.

However, once in a while, it’s nice to relax and allow thoughts to float back to the simpler things in life. I believe children’s books do provide some sort of therapy, especially for those who are living a fast-paced life.

On My Own

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Remember the Les Miserables song “On My Own”? This, I imagine, must be the anthem of those who are transitioning from University to finally moving out and becoming a working person.

While I am a big fan of independence, I must say that going on my own was no easy task. I have had to struggle with paying the rent, with paying for my utilities like the DSL (broadband) and the electricity, and the daily living expenses were no joke to shoulder.

Because of my spending habits, I have had to put up with going hungry. But more than that, I have had to put up with the frustration of bosses not paying on time, my lack of identification documents, and the fact that I hold nonstandard money transfer and banking accounts.

But despite the struggle and the hardship, I do find living alone a pretty sweet situation. Imagine my glee when, earlier, I got money from something I worked on for two straight days, and I just went crazy in a shopping store here: buying an electric fan, a table I had wanted the moment my eyes fell upon it, kitchen utensils, even trash cans! I never knew buying houseware could be so fun.

Yes, needing to pay the bills is something that is daunting for most, if not all of those who are setting foot upon full-fledged adulthood. I honestly don’t want to wish my situation on anyone, because, man, it’s hard!

But I don’t envy those who are employed in “normal” jobs and whose bills are not as atrocious because they still live with their parents. I really relish my independence, and I’m pretty proud that though there are times that my situation is frustrating, I have actually survived nearly six months of being on my own. Though I’ve only wholly been on my own just now, still, the steps I took toward this big change in my life were gigantic, and I could only marvel at how I’m still sane despite having moved five times, been on an emotional rollercoaster, and basically had so much stress and frustration I seemed to breathe it.

But you know, when all is said and done, I like the fact that I am my own guardian now, and that I need not answer to anyone anymore… Even if I go home at 8am. :p