(Photo taken by my darling wife Vikki during our Mother’s Day Photo Walk at Fort Santiago)

I will try to catch up with my blogging soon as i get the chance. In the meantime you can catch me hanging out at Facebook. You can follow me there.

I have observed inside the mall’s fastfood chains, coffee shops, and usually in the foodcourt, elderly people, some are dressed to the nines, in groups of four to five, are occupied in a seemingly serious conversation. More often there is someone doing the talking while the rest listen attentively. They even have documents, which appears to have an important part in their conversation. Also, one group knows the other group occupying the next table. Some of them have ordered something to eat or drink while the others have nothing but a glass of water taken from the public drinking fountain.

These people are obviously not having a bible study session nor by chance they are in a speed dating event. I suppose its not even a real estate brokering conference or a conclave of believers waiting for the end of the world. What these people are doing is one mall mystery that really baffles me - like why some people like to brush their teeth inside the mall’s comfort rooms, or why some people think the mall is one big nursery ward, where they can display their recently born infant for public viewing.

Here is a collage of Maia’s portraits taken today, February 14, 2009, her Fifth Birthday. Photos were taken by her mommy with her new Nikon D60.

1) I received the news of my being hired for a new Job. At last, after 6 months of vegetating in a sedentary existence, I will now be back to the regular working man regimen starting Monday.

2) After almost three months of waiting, I just got my Supreme Council Order of DeMolay Active Member’s Collar and Jewel.

3) Bambit finally was able to buy the Nikon D60 of her dreams. She got it for a bargain price, thanks to Marlon.

4) My Stepson Xavier’s UPCAT pending case was finally resolved. He now has his UP Student Number and is assigned to UP Baguio.

5) My Baby Maia is celebrating her 5th Birthday today Valentine’s Day.

We will all be together as a family celebrating Maia’s Birthday and Xavier’s UPCAT passing. And this will be documented in our memories and captured on stills by Bambit’s Nikon D60.

I kneel at the Tesselated Border of the Mosaic Pavement, thanking the GAOTU for the manifold blessings that we received. Those blessings which we receive by a faithful reliance on Divine Providence.

I hope and pray that there will be more luck and blessings to come to last us a lifetime.

It was a stroll cum photo-shoot sortie. While Bambit was looking for picture-perfect-subjects, Maia called her up and said, “look mommy, look, it’s a MASON.” Maia found a word “MASON” chiseled on the road cement (inset photo).

Maia pronounces the word Mason as MAAH-SOON, the first time she read the print “MY DAD IS A MASON” at the back of one of her t-shirts. And yes, she recognizes Masonic symbols like the ubiquitous Square and Compasses, and gave all of them, including Masonic events, with a generic nomenclature as “MAAH-SOON”. Like, she would ask me while I am preparing to go to our Lodge meeting, “are you going to MAAH-SOON, Ama?”

Back to Maia’s find. I’m sure this mark carries with it many stories. But I’d like to fancy it as a mark left by one of the Masons who made the road. I guess it was not even his name. I think he just etched the word that instantly came to his mind that can collectively identify all of them - mga MAAH-SOON. This drift is consistent with an ancient practice among operative Masons.

According to WIKIPEDIA: A mason’s mark is a symbol often found on dressed stone in buildings and other public structures. Scottish rules issued in 1598 stated that on admission to the guild, every mason had to enter his name and his mark in a register.

Another: THE subject of Marks forms an interesting episode in the history of Masonry, both Operative and Speculative. A Mason’s Mark is a monogram, a symbol, or some other arbitrary figure chiselled by a mason on the surface of a stone for the purpose of identifying his own work and distinguishing it from that of other workmen.

I find the mark that Maia found fascinating and noble all together. The marker could have written, “Junrhey loves Jonahlyn” or “Carding was her,” for crying out loud, but instead he chose to put a mark that gives due recognition and distinction to their craft - that of him or them being Masons. Proud of their work, proud of of their craft.

More often, the nobility and virtues of Masonry can still be found marked in the hearts of those who truly build roads, buildings and other stately edifices, than those who just proclaim themselves Masons by flashing their fancy decals and titles, but doesn’t know how to build an edifice of virtue in their hearts nor spread the cement of brotherly love.

That was the day when I married Ms.Maria Marina Victoria Kapauan. Yes, its our Fifth Wedding Anniversary today. Five years in the legal count, because years before that we were already - living together and growing together:

Start with a man and you have one.
Add on a woman and then you have two.

Add on a child and what have you got?
Youve got more than three.
Youve got what they call a family.

Living together, growing together, just being together,
Thats how it starts.
Three loving hearts all

Pulling together, working together, just building together,
That makes you strong.
If things go wrong well still get along somehow,
Living and growing together.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Darling! Wub U.

May mga nagtatanong why I get thrilled about Barack Obama becoming President of the US. Simple lang naman sagot ko, I have no illusion that American policies affecting the world will change overnight, even with Obama as President. The US still needs to preserve its global posture as a Superpower to protect its economic interests.

Ang buod lang naman ng aking kagalakan sa pagkapanalo ni Barack Obama bilang Presidente ng US ay dahil sa historical significance na dulot nito. Lalong lalo na sa mahaba, madugo at malungkot na kasaysayan ng pakikibaka ng mga itim sa US. Sa kauna-unahang pagkakataon nailuklok sa poder ng kapangyarihan ng US ang isang African American. Ang lahi na dati rati’y ay bawal umupo sa bus na para sa mga puti. Ang lahi na dati rati’y ay binibitay sa puno, pinapatay at tinatratong parang hayup ng mga puti. In this backdrop, it would be an understatement to say that Obama’s victory is simply inspiring . It is more than inspiring. It is an affirmation that indeed Change can happen, if there is a will. It gave meaning to the early 60’s religio-protest song, “We Shall Overcome”. It echoes the voice of Rosa Parks, of Malcolm X and the illustrious and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. Obama’s victory is not his alone, it is the victory of the long struggle of the African-Americans.

I just hope Barack Obama can live up to the promise of Change the world is anticipating from his administration. Kasama ako sa milyon-milyon ka tao na nananalangin na sana sa pag-upo ni Barack Obama, magkakaroon ng bagong kaayusan ang mundo para sa kapayapaan at katiwasayan ng lahat.

Barack Obama deserves my admiration and respect.

This is the full text of President Obama’s inaugural speech:

My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.

The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began.

Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished.

But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans.

Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill.

Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.

And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan.

With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the fire-fighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new.

But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood.

At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people: “Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations