On Seeing

Photography by Suren Manvelyan

Most people would argue that our sense of sight is the most important sense that we humans have. And why not? With sight we are able to do a lot of things - read and write, differentiate form and color, recognize the people around you, discern safety from danger, and many more. Our sight is truly a gift that we should not take for granted.

But sometimes I think that being able to see hinders us in a way.

With our eyes we are quick to judge a person by how they look. From the moment we set our sights on someone we'll take into account their flaws or their beauty. People would even judge someone's character through their looks. Tattoos? Criminal or in a gang. Multiple-piercings? A freak. Brightly colored hair? Weirdo. Fat? Unhealthy lifestyle. Let's be honest, this happens more than we care to admit. And sometimes people who look like society's definition of appealing aren't exactly who they seem to be.

I sometimes wish that our eyes could tell who a person really is just by looking at them. Like some scanner embedded in your brain that tells you which people are the real and genuine and which ones are no good. But then the fascination and risk that comes with getting to know people would be gone and I bet life would be less exciting then.

As the familiar adage goes, we shouldn't judge a book by its cover. People are a layered heap of facets; we aren't one-dimensional and we are not defined by our outer selves. Live by not judging people on the way they look but rather on what they do and how they act. You'll find that the best people aren't always the most conventional.

This has been a Wednesday post brought to you by The Purple Madhouse.

DISCLAIMER: No copyright infringement intended. I take no ownership of the image used in this blog post. Images found on the internet are considered for public use unless explicitly dictated otherwise.

Photo-of-Interest Monday: All Up the Moon

Back in college, I would always jump on the chance to be part of the annual Stargazing night organized by the Science Club. It was a chance for me to hang out with my best friends in an fun yet educational circumstance and, most importantly, learn more about the heavens.

This shot was taken through one of  the telescope the astrologist brought with him. I was very excited to have one of these shots that I was the very first in line to peer through the telescope. I never forgot the wonder and the awe of that night. I thought, "What would be like up there?" For the rest of that night, as we waited for clearer skies and played cards and laughed, I contemplated on the chance to live on the moon. Of course in my imaginings my inability to breathe in outerspace was irrelevant, the appeal was to be closer to the stars and the planets. 

What if we were all able to just travel through space and visit all those vast and wonderful galaxies? Will all the time in the world be enough to see those places? 

The Earth, even the moon, is just a speck to the vastness of the universe. What less are we? In the face of such greatness, how would you be able to deny that there is something greater than all of us?

This has been a Monday post brought to you by The Purple Madhouse.

 

Flashback Fridays: A Song with No Title

Songwriting, 2005 — Aside from writing poems and short stories of melancholic kind, back in '05 I also dabbled into song writing. This is just one of the songs I made at the time. I mostly partnered with a musician friend of mine to create music for the words I write. But I think I never got around to getting some music on this. 

A Song with No Title

Going through my head
Are the words we left unsaid
I know we left things badly
And now it ended sadly

But I know that we can make things right
If you’d give me just one night
If you’d just trust me again
Then our broken hearts could mend

If you could learn
To believe in me again
I promise I will stay
Forever in your arms
Forever in your arms

I can see it in your eyes
You’re afraid I’m telling lies
I’ve missed you so much
I can’t bear that we are apart

All I want is be with right now
I just don’t know how
If this goes on
I might not be able to hold on

If you could learn
To believe in me again
I promise I will stay
Forever in your arms
Forever in your arms

I know we can make it
Our love will grow stronger
But you have to feel the same way
Don’t leave me hangin’

This has been a Friday post brought to you by The Purple Madhouse.

Food Escapades: Puto Cheese

After much debate on whether or not to bake (I was feeling lazy, even for baking), the kitchen saw the resurrection of some goodies last Thursday night. I had been craving for some puto cheese for a few days then and, rather than buy, my usual direction was to make them.

 

The recipe is fairly easy to do. All you need is flour of the cake-purpose kind, baking powder, white sugar, eggs, some water and, as I prefer it, a lot of cheese, cut, beforehand, into half-centimeter thick slices. You begin by mixing the dry ingredients together with water in a clean bowl. Once you’re done with that you can get start with the eggs.

 

For the recipe, you will only use the whites of the egg. Separate the egg whites without harming the yolks in any way you can; it’s very important that you don’t get any yolk into the whites. CAREFUL should be the resounding word in your head when dealing with egg yolk and white separation. You can try the basic technique of catching the yolk back and forth with the egg shells, just be careful not to burst the yolk’s protective membrane while doing so. Since I am a failure at this particular technique, what I do is catch the yolk with my hand and let the whites seep through my fingers into a bowl. It’s messy but it gets the job done. 

Once you’ve completed the egg white isolation stage of the recipe, you’ll need an extra bowl, a mixer, and some sugar. Use the mixer the beat the egg whites while gradually adding the sugar. The recipe calls for the whites to be “stiff and fluffy” so you’ll have to keep at beating until so that when you turn your mixer upside down, the mixture holds into stiff peaks. You can learn about beating egg whites here.

 

By now you’re ready to start folding your egg white-and-sugar mixture into the flour mixture from before. Mix them well until there are no more clumps and you’re almost done. 

Place paper liners on your molds (the molds I use are cupcake-like in shape and come in separate pieces, usually made of heat-resistant plastic or metal) and scoop the batter into them then top with the pre-cut cheese; I opt to put as many as the mold will hold without spilling the batter because the more cheese there is, the better.

 

Now all that needs to be done is to steam the puto cheese for a few minutes, let cool, then have at ‘em.

 

This has been a Thursday post brought to you by The Purple Madhouse.

On Virginity and Sex

Virginity is quite a subject. On one hand, you are teased, even ridiculed, for being one, and on the other you are revered for being novel in a world where sex has become mainstream.

Most religions impress upon the importance of abstaining from carnal pleasures, wait for marriage, they say. Sometimes implying, and sometimes rather blatantly, that being a virgin makes you better than those non-virgin types obviously having sex all the time (I hope the sarcasm wasn't missed there).

I think people just get too invested on other people using their naughty bits for the purpose of fornication. As I am not tied to any religious beliefs, I'm fine with people having sex, as long as it's consensual and that  they very much understand what sex can mean to them and their partner. Mind you, your significance of sex can be different from others. And of course, don't be an idiot, use protection. The modern age is abundant with it.

Being a virgin is no big deal either. It just means you've never had sex and, for the ladies, that your hymen is intact, although sometimes that's not the case, especially for the athletic type. For me, it doesn't mean that you should be held at a different light, positive or negative, just because you are one. It's neither a good nor a bad thing; it's just simply being. 

This has been a Wednesday post brought to you by The Purple Madhouse.

DISCLAIMER: No copyright infringement intended. I take no ownership of the image used in this blog post. Images found on the internet are considered for public use unless explicitly dictated otherwise.