Add me, add me not.

I enjoy social networking sites because it makes you realize how long and varied the arms of friendship you have established. It also makes you realize people are connected in many ways. The first one I ever signed up for way back in the mid 90s was sixdegrees.com. At that time, the internet was only beginning to flourish in the Philippines so not a lot of my friends were that much into it yet, so the people I connected with were mostly in the US and 'nerds' from different countries who owned computers and were used to subscribing to electronic bulletin boards and chat servers. Six Degrees started charging after a while so I didn't renew my subscription.

A decade later, I can't even count how many free networking sites I am a member of and I can hardly keep up. I get so many persistent invitations to connect with a certain set of friends from different times in my life that I eventually sign up for it. It's always fun to reconnect and know that when you want to reach out to someone, they are only a mouse-click away.

Once in a while though, I get these questionable add-me notices or requests from men that I don't know from Adam. Reading the profile of some can be quite entertaining, and sometimes a little uncomfortable, because you know that they're there for one purpose - and that is to pick-up people. Of course, I just try to ignore these requests and not respond lest I draw more unwanted attention. It can be exasperating though.

I guess there's always going to be a downside to a good thing, huh?

Sledgehammer

Remember this?



I think it's one of the most memorable music videos ever made. It's definitely one of my favorites alongside "Take On Me" by A-ha.

So Long, Teri

Today, God embraced a good friend into His bosom. After years of battling cancer, He has given Teri peaceful rest in His arms.

Teri, we will miss your smile, your affectionate ways, your sweetness and your laughter.

Oh, and tell Monique we said hello. We will surely see you both again some day.

In the meantime, we will strive to live the way you did - in faith, in love, in joy and in hope, no matter what the circumstance.

We love you, Teri. We won't say goodbye, just "...so long!"

Darn Boston Pedestrians

Bostonians take rights very seriously. They abuse one in particular, and that is the pedestrian right-of-way.

Massachusetts Law of the Road, Chapter 89, section 11 says, "No driver of a vehicle shall pass any other vehicle which has stopped at a marked crosswalk to permit a pedestrian to cross, nor shall any such operator enter a marked crosswalk while a pedestrian is crossing or until there is a sufficient space beyond the crosswalk to accommodate the vehicle he is operating, notwithstanding that a traffic control signal may indicate that vehicles may proceed."

Boston pedestrians, however, jaywalk with relish, with no regard to the crosswalk or whatever the nearest traffic light indicates. They expect cars to stop for them, no matter if the traffic light says otherwise. We have been stuck at many intersections going through two cycles of green lights, just because pedestrians here just proceed to go on crosswalks without even looking up while they're on their cellphones or busy talking to whomever they're walking with. And even when they realize that they're blocking the whole intersection, they still take their sweet time to get across with not a care in the world. One time, a car to our right dared to toot their horn to get a guy to move quicker because the light was about to change to red again. The pedestrian actually had the audacity to look offended and scream at the driver of the car. In frustration at one point, I rolled down my window and reminded a pedestrian to look at the traffic light before crossing so she won't get into or cause an accident, and she flipped me the bird.

I wish Boston cops would give jaywalking citations, just as easily as other traffic tickets. Yes, people need to drive carefully, but pedestrians need to cross lawfully and responsibly, as well.