Day After the Rain

I planned to get in my car this morning and head south but with hurricane Gustav threatening to slap the gulf coast sometime this weekend, I was not really sure if I should go through with it. And at lunch yesterday, John told me in simple English : "You need to tell us where you're going and where you're staying so we know where to rescue you if something happens." Is my son in-law cute or what. When I was in Costa Rica he told Chat that "Your mom just can't get on the plane, go to another country without telling us then call us the next day that she's in trouble." And I was not calling for money either. I just wanted to excite Chat and hear her say -Mom, you're stressing me and it's not good for my skin.

I took a walk this morning and I just love it when it rained the night before
and the sun is about to come out with the ground still moist. Here's some pictures. While I decide what to do this next 3 days.





My Myers Lemmon and my calamansi-

- Main entrance gate to my apartment- my apartment building just right past the gate.

Where Has All Our Pleasure Gone?

"I can think of nothing less pleasurable than a life devoted to pleasure" - John D. Rockefeller



Four days a week I work to make a living, the other three I use to daydream and squander what I made. But lately my brain is frozen and unable to even daydream or spell squander. I think, from too much excitement over Journey, I have extracted all the adrenalin out of my body. It's my kindergarten explanation to my unexplainable blah. But really, there's a medical term for it, it's called menopause. Men would do well if instead of striving to become a CEO, they quit their jobs and go to school and learn how to deal with the bipolar woman at home. The money only goes to the lawyers and psychiatrists anyway.

Anyway, I'm trying to stay on track here and not let this menopause thing derail me from my point. Or what is my point? I saw this book by Dr. Hart titled "Thrilled to Death: How the Endless Pursuit of Pleasure is Leaving us Numb." The title alone speaks volume so I am ordering it because as I have mentioned before, I am always looking for the next thrill. Thankfully, I have my faith in Christ that gets me back in alignment whenever I stray from the truth. And thankfully, I have a 4 day weekend coming up starting tomorrow.

Marya bewitched me with her Boracay pictures that I want to drive down to Galveston so I can smell the ocean breeze. I was getting restless at work today because I just wanted to get in my car and start heading south. Another thing I don't like about Dallas - no mountains, no ocean. In San Francisco, they have both, plus Arnel Pineda and Ross Valory.

If I live in San Francisco, I would not mind working 5 days a week. At least I'll have 2 days to look forward to; Saturday, I'll stalk Arnel and Ross on Sunday. If the San Francisco police don't like that, at least there's mountains to climb and Goldilocks bakery.
Here in Dallas, there's only 1 Filipino restaurant and it's a 5-hour drive to get to the nearest ocean, that's why I spend most of my days daydreaming than working. My boss kept asking me to work full time, politely I kept declining, (I already gave in and work 4) I explained to her that I don't need to work because I have all the money I could spend in my lifetime. Assuming of course, that my lifetime is only one month.

Dedicated to Everyone

When the pain gets to be too much
When the mind could no longer fathom and the heart no longer understands
When daylight is just as dark as the night before
When God seems so far away, and death tastes sweeter than life

Truth prevails that God is bigger still. Whoever you are, Wherever you are, Whatever you are going through this is for you.....and Me.




Courtesy of Julius-thanks

Of OFW's and... everything else

Am sitting here brooding over the trip that I did not make to Houston. My niece Michelle, a FA for Emirates flew in to Houston and on the ground for 2 days. Chat and I were planning to fly down there yesterday but something came up with her job that she needed to attend to. So I’m here trying to decide where I should eat for lunch and should I go to the library or to Barnes and Noble.



Then my eye caught a glimpse of this postcard that my backpacking friend sent me. I laid it by my pc the other day and it got covered by all the junk mail. As I study this postcard, some things come to mind – back when things were simpler.

Like when head lice were like a house pet. We didn’t want to feed them but they’re there anyway. When we wanted them removed we simply sat tiered on the rickety stairs with 7 opinionated females.

Back then when you went to a wedding you didn’t have to ask or wonder because the couple were really a man and a woman. The only question you asked was –How could you afford all these pigs and chickens? By the way, my head pets were very fat and healthy my mom had to borrow a spoonful of malathion from our neighbor to get rid of it. But the neighborhood women still gathered around my head hunting for something. “No, we need to make sure all the eggs are dead.”

Michelle was telling me about the places she has been to and the men she has met. An Italian fell madly in love with her, he camped out at her apartment door in Dubai, she had to change apartments. Another guy gifted her with an Omega watch with 30 diamonds. I said, “Let me guess, either he’s a corrupt politician or a rich Chinese.” She said, “Neither.”

We talked about how hard it is sometimes, sleeping in different hotels and cities crossing different timelines. But not as hard as the other OFW’s who are not able to come home at least the whole year if not more. Then I think about the suffocating loneliness for those who does not have access to computers and cyberspace communication.

Wherever you are, whoever you are Thank You, OFW. Give yourself a pat on the back -here’s the latest report from BSP -
Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sent $1.5 billion home in June, the highest ever recorded since 1989, bringing the total remittance level to $8.2 billion for the first six months of the year.

I lost my appetite from talking about head pets but my friend Isaac just called, wants to know if I want to get some Mexican. I said, I don’t do Mexican. “Fool, I’m talking about food.” So got to run.

Remember 9/05?

I have come down from the mountaintop and I don’t feel guilty, after all, it is in the valley that we grow. (Grow up, in my case) The mountaintop experience with Journey/AP was very exhilarating - almost the same feeling I felt when I first got saved and fell in love with Jesus. Am still a loon for Journey but just coasting.

I am very analytical so I always find myself analyzing almost everything. My golf instructor explained “paralysis by analysis” simply: Don’t analyze too much to where you can’t execute the swing.
My psychiatrist's version: Stop analyzing things to death to where you’re incapable of enjoyment anymore.

Which brings me to the point of this rant. I was enjoying but also always asking God why He placed AP (which leads to the rest of the J-boys) before me. I do this in everything because good or bad, there’s a purpose why God allows us to experience it. As I have said so many times over, no one and nothing makes me out of whack...until now.

Is it because AP is Filipino and I just want to ride the bandwagon of the new Filipino discovery? Is it so I can show support to my fellow Filipino? Is it because I can empathize and relate to his rags-to-riches story?
The answer is No. It is more than that, but I can’t put my finger on what it is. All I know is that in everything that happens, it is either because: God allowed it or God caused it for His bigger purpose. Maybe just so I can pray for him?

All that we own - our time, talent and treasure God gave us. And we better know what He wants us to do with it. Before Arnel Pineda, I was quite oblivious and uncaring of the plight of the OFW’s. Now, I pray for them. Just because AP is having fun, does not mean that he is not working. And worse – he has millions of people resting on his shoulder. After the cash and the flash, there’s still a vacuum and the constant nagging voice, “How did I do? “

The fans can only type so much, clap and scream so much. We cannot be there when Arnel toss and turn and feels lonely - wishing for the noise of his family and the unspoken wish for a respite from the noise of the drums and the crowds.

As I write this I also am thinking of Cherry. It's like when someone is sick, we focus our attention on the sick and not much on the caregiver. It is just as hard on the caregiver if not harder. So it is with Cherry. Arnel can comfort her from 10 thousand miles away over the phone but not quiet the same when she could touch him. Or whack him.

So what’s my point? I know, I rambled just to ask you to pray. His birthday is coming up Sept 5, why don’t we do this. Starting now pray, but pray again every 9:05 am or pm, whatever country you’re at just say a prayer for Arnel and his family. The best gift that we can give him is to always pray for him. Thank God for blessing us with Arnel, and ask God to protect the blessing.

Shalom.

Dedicated to All Women Over 40

Here's a quote from Andy Rooney. (If you're under 40 and dreading the years ahead, this should give you hope.)

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, “What are you thinking?" She doesn't care what you think.If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting.

Women over 40 are dignified.They seldom has a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it. Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved.They know what it's like to be unappreciated.

Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off that you are a jerk if you are acting like one.You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her.

Ladies, I apologize for all those men who say, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”
Here's an update for you. Nowadays, 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realized it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

My Other Drummer boy

Mike Haid of Modern Drummer magazine described Deen's stint with Shrapnel recordings as the "training ground for Castronovo, fine-tuning his blazing, syncopated double bass chops and incredible hand speed."
Since I lost Deen to that Nashville chick, I found me another guy with an equally killer hand speed. Watch with sounds please.

There Goes Deen

I was cruising around YouTube again and found the video of Deen supposedly *finding a girlfriend in Nashville. After watching it, I started to feel territorial like, hey, the J-boys are mine!!!
Then I consoled myself: Oh well, I don't like tattooes anyway.

One thing that I have observed and come to accept is that people really do like to write commentaries whenever they are given the space. Read the comments on this video and on the magazine. I appreciate the comments as long as they are not vulgar or vicious. To people who just have to vent out your criticism, may I suggest that you don't write it?
Instead : Just point and laugh.

But don't do it to your partner in the bedroom. OK?

*Journey management has asked for the video to be taken off.

No life After Journey?

I have been down in the dumps this week because my friend Paula who has been battling cancer for the last 4 years was finally told by her doctor that there's not much else they could do anymore. But Paula and I are at peace with it. Because of our personal relationship with Jesus, pain and suffering are easier to understand; we understand that God allows pain and suffering not to destroy us but to strengthen us. We understand that if God does not heal us in this world, it's because He wants us home sooner. God did not promise to get us out of trouble but rather, He says, "In your worst days I will get you through it and in your best days, I will give you great joy."

These last 4 months I struggled to explain in words the joy, the exhilarating feeling I had and in some ways, I have in part conveyed it. Scientists struggles to explain energy - yes, they can tell you what it can do, they can give you the mathematical equation of it but not the "being" of energy.

I can tell you what Journey is doing to me, but I can't tell you why. Then I wishfully say, I don't want this feeling to end. But we all know that this too shall pass. Yesterday, I had a taste of what life would be like without Journey. I was like a sick, lost dog!!!
The mountaintop feeling was not there....uh uh, this is going to cost me some money.
Imagine, instead of being glued to YouTube I will be shopping or hanging around at Starbucks and Barnes and Noble. And moving on and have a life? I thought there's no other life besides Journey.

To be continued.....

The Beatles in Manila

The day after my 9th birthday -July 4,1966, while I was perched on top a carabao to graze, people in Manila were giddily scampering around to watch the Beatles that night.

The Beatles performed and on their day off, understandly they just wanted to chill out. But Imelda didn't think that musicians needs rest too. In fairness to both parties we have to try to understand where it went wrong. Rejection does not make anyone feel good, but she should not have made a big production of her being snobbed by the Beatles. They were not impressed by her gold, so she sent out the goons.
The Beatles experience in the Philippines made headlines then and thanks to bloggers and YouTube, we can still be reminded of it now. It shames the crap out of me but fact is fact - you might as well read it here.

LET JOURNEY PLAY THE NFL HALF TIME

I am not a Football chick. I am a Golf chick. But by golly, it is about time that Journey and Our Arnel Pineda make some history. So how about it friends, Let's get Journey to the Superbowl. Let's do this simple procedure: EACH ONE WIN ONE.

Do the math : Each of us knows at least one person. Ask that person to sign the petition and that person in turn ask another person and on and on...

Let us be professional and gentle on this ok? We are not going to be mad if they don't want to do it. Ask nicely and just simply say that it means a lot to you. Even if they are not Journey fans, they will do it if we ask them nicely and sincerely. Make it easy on them by providing the link- get their email address and give them the link. (if they are not on your email add already)
Here's the link:
http://petitiononline.com/SB43HT/petition.html

and email them also: http://www.nfl.com/contact-us

I have emailed them directly already and have signed the petition also. And could we please do it now, Superbowl is February.

This is not my idea, but I like the idea so I am trying to help. I have emailed the author of this petition asking if we have enough time considering that there's only 5 months left.

Update: 1801 hrs 8/12/08- just heard from Dan Weiner, author of the petition. He just found out that Bruce Springstein is already booked for 2009, but we can still try for the next one.

Thank ya'll.

Me? Starstruck?

Chat, having grown up here in America is very Americanized in her approach to life, but thankfully she still knows to pay for mama's lunch and still prefers Asian foods. Today, we went to eat at a Vietnamese restaurant. She prayed over our food, then she said, "Mom, I really prayed hard for you today." Oh, thank you. (Don prayed over everything and he taught Chat to do the same.)

"No mom, I read your blog yesterday. What were you doing looking at Arnel shirtless? How far are you going with this mania? Are you just starstruck or what?" I had to remind her of my disclaimer on my very first blog of AP. Nothing and no one makes me go crazy; no athletes or celebrities. And how soon did she forget?

Several years back before she got married, she dated a basketball player in Dallas, a very famous MVP. (All I will say is he's white.) Believe me the guy was wonderful and decent but Don and I prayed hard that God would get her out of that world. The world of fame and fortune is not for everyone. It can be daunting and oppressive. Chat would know what to do with the money but the media? They'd have to ask her the right question or she'd whack them in a heartbeat. (But not with her bag or shoes but with a broom.)

Because he's a famous athlete he introduced Chat to his world and she ended up meeting and befriending other famous athletes. They had a friend from the NFL who didn't fit our front door, he had to come in sideways. Not really but you know what I mean? Huge felon. Chat was horrified when I called them National Felons League. Well, look at the papers, every week one of them is herded to prison. Basketball is fine but still. One time I told Chat to leave the MVP in the car when they came to church because some church people started losing their religion -"So, how about a free ticket?" I never asked for a free ticket but one day Chat came home with 2 VIP tickets from the team owner - with a note "for mama alter". I was impressed with the private elevator but Starstruck? No.

My ex, NJ, is American but lives in Malaysia because his business interests keeps him there. He comes to the Masters Golf Tournament every year because he is best buddy with another Masters champion. (Not Tiger.) He rents a house for the Masters week and entertains friends and golf people. Last year when NJ took me there, I was hobnobbing with the who's who in golf. I did not write or talk about them. I don't do that. I won't do that. My own golf instructor is a personal friend and coach of last year's Masters Champion. Starstruck? No.

This feeling I have for Arnel is more than that. These feelings I have for Journey and Ross are more than that. Starstruck is like you're stunned then you recover and remember your name again. Mine is like, I go to bed obsessed and I wake up still obsessed. Then I barely remember how to spell my name. And when I do it comes out like this: Ross Arnel.

At least I still remember my initials. How far am I going with this mania? Don't know. Marya said: Why quit? We're in a happy place.

Four Months Ago....

Before I got the Journey/Arnel Pineda bug.

1. I used to have intelligent conversations - now I just giggle.

2. I used to have a clean house - now vacuum cleaners don't go well with Revelation and Ipod

3. I used to go to the library for intelligent research -now I just google for 1 particular subject

4. I used to be kind to my friends who does not share my Christian and political convictions - now I can't forgive them for saying that Arnel is short and Ross is a twig.

5. I used to visit a lot of intelligent websites - now I only visit 2 : YouTube and YouTube

6. I used to travel a lot - now I only travel between the refrigerator and my computer

7. I used to read books - now I only read threads

8. I used to have a boyfriend. But I am not sure how I lost him. I think I lost him somewhere between the intersection of Journey and PMS. But he has been calling again and told me I can keep PMS, but I have to lose Journey. Guess who's got to go.

My Brush with Art -Part 2

The French impressionist painter Degas said "Everyone has talent at 25; the difficulty is having it at 50."

This is in reverse for me. At 25, the only talent I can remember I had was being good at dodging creditors and trying to make my "paysos" pay so much. Art exists around us and in all of us but I hardly noticed it then; I was busy surviving.
But when I turned 50, I started to notice the things that I didn't bother or have time to pay attention to before. Like art and artists. (I am struggling here not to get to the artist part, but ..)

Anyway, I just got an email from my friend D. She wants to shake off the Journey/Arnel virus. (Let's call it virus not an addiction) With a husband and toddlers and a business to run, I can understand. To enjoy the music and the man is one thing. But to be oppressed by it is another thing. I myself have been trying. Every other day, I quit. And yet Every other day I blog about Journey/AP. And I say to myself "This is insane, this is oppressing me, I have to quit this."

And just before I got D's email, I made a concentrated effort not to come straight home from work so I can stay away from YouTube. Then I come home and look at YouTube anyway before I could shake off my shoes from my feet and look at this. We didn't have this in Dallas, I need my money back.

Wasn't I talking about Degas? You follow what I'm saying of what I have become? Well, if Michaelangelo's David is art, so is a shirtless Arnel Pineda. I really need to quit this.

My Brush with Art

I could not wait to share this scratchboard drawing sent to me by Marya and Dawn, readers who have become good friends of mine. I like to analyze people but I am very slow in analyzing and interpreting art, but this one I got!!!


The title is "Journey" and copyright protected by Mark Justiniani.

My first brush with an artist was very meaningful to me- he was an inmate at Huntsville serving life in prison. He did it in pencil and gave it to me as his way of thanking me for visiting him. Don and I used to go visit prisons to stand in the gap for the inmates who are abandoned by friends and families. I would love to share those stories and my other 'art stories' but it will be for later.

For now ya'll have fun interpreting this drawing, while I go clear my head of the you-know- what CD stuck in there.


(Mark, Marya and Dawn --stay uber-cool)

Vanity Rare

In the early days of my blogging, I had 1 devoted reader - Me. Only when I bribed Chat to read it that it would go up to 2. One day she said she wasn't going to read it anymore. "Why?"
"Because you don't talk about me. I don't care if you talk bad about me, just so you talk about me." Vanity, all is Vanity. I wanted to but I was busy talking about important stuff...me.

One day it was her turn to bribe me. " Mom, now that your reader count is in the 5-digits do you think you can talk about me now if I give you one of my LV bags?" I agreed right away, but when she came to deliver it, it came with a warning, " Don't wear it when John is around, ok?"

Ok, I will wear it stealthily and I will talk about you stealthily, I thought. As you can see in my blog I have started talking about her but it's still not enough for her. Vanity all is Vanity.
Since she can't get me to talk about her the way she wants me to --she talked about me.

My Long Journey

When Don died unexpectedly in Cebu 5 years ago, my world turned upside down literally overnight. Even though I knew I was in God’s hands, I felt like my world was spinning beyond my control. I blacked out from everything, hardly remembering anything except that God is still in control. After the funeral, I flew back to the US with Chat. She was really worried about me because I could not get up and when I did, I would not talk but just cry.

Chat made an appointment for me with this world-renowned Christian psychiatrist here in Dallas. Chat will not let me go back to Cebu unless I gave in. I agreed because I didn’t want her to worry but also because in spite of me being catatonic, I was lucid enough to know I was pretty useless if I didn’t get any help.

Dr. M is not cheap but was worth every penny I paid; he was very soothing and comforting and showed me utmost compassion when all I could do was show him pictures of me and Don. In between sobs, I would tell him – “Don’s not here anymore”. “ I know sweetie., he is with Jesus”
Now I know how psychiatrists lose their license - their patients fall in love with them.

That was 5 years ago. This year, Chat wants me to see Dr. M again. "What in the world for?"
" Mom, You need to sleep." How do you know I'm not sleeping? "You're blogging too much."

So, here's the vision of the visit to Dr. M.

Dr. M: Hey, good to see you again, how are you doing? Not looking at me but squinting at the chart in his hand.

Me : I must have been here so many times before for you to recognize me. I was trying to analyze him.
Dr M: The chart shows you’ve been here one time 5 years ago, but hasn’t been back. The meds I have prescribed must have worked.
Me: I took it for 2 weeks but I stopped, I didn’t like what it was doing to me.
Dr M: What was it doing to you?
Me: I was driving alone on 75 and I went for 2-3 miles just laughing and giggling. I could not stop being giddy.
Dr. M : Well, that's good. That’s how anti-depressants are supposed to work.
Me: I understand that Doc, under a different circumstance that’s good, but not when I just buried my husband two weeks prior. He squints at the chart again.
Dr M. So what can I do for you today?
Me: I am well, but I need sleeping pills. I just need to sleep.
Dr M: Why do you think you’re not sleeping?

Me: Well, I think it’s this voice I keep hearing. I think it’s a lyric to a song but it won’t leave me. So I hum it. I hum all day and at night. Way into the night.

Dr. M: Do you think this voice or lyrics belong to a singer or a band you know?

Me: Ooh, Doc, you probably know the band. Do you know Journey?

Dr M: Of course, my parents grew up with Journey, are they still alive?

Me: Oooh Doc, they are more alive than ever, and they have this new frontman –Arnel Pineda, I think that's "the voice". But it would take me more than an hour to tell you about them. So tell you what, let me give you the Youtube link so you can watch them when you get home. Their Revelation CD is out. Does your wife shop at Wal-mart?
Dr M pretends he didn’t hear me and scrawled something on my chart.

Me: Another thing Doc, is it normal to fall in love with 2-5 men at the same time with equal intensity?

Dr M : The hour is up, will talk about that on your next visit.
He laid down the chart to look for his prescription pad. I peeked at what he wrote.

Dx = obsessed. Rx = straight jacket

So ya'll understand if you see less posting from now on, is because I have to sleep. So Chat won't drag me to see Dr. M again.

My thoughts on Music, Fame and Steve and Arnel

God in these last few months has given me a glimpse of how my life can get out of control if I let it. When I woke up yesterday morning, I was determined not to go near my computer. I prayed, read my bible, took a walk, showered and went to a quiet brunch. Then I went to the library –I used to live there. Things have been so hectic lately that yesterday's visit to the library was a treat. When someone asks me what I love about America, the first on my list is The Library. I will walk in to any library and my heart just pitter-patter.

But while I was there I could not concentrate reading Vaclav Havel because I had so many questions that kept popping up in my head. But mostly these are questions about music, music fans and famous people, nothing significant. Now, am back at my computer and still ponder about these questions.

1. I don’t understand why my co-workers looked at me cross-eyed when I said, “They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, no.no.no. I is brown but I won’t go down. Just so you kno”

But if you add drums, guitar and extra hair, David Letterman lets you sit in his couch. (Leave Amy Winehouse out of it –Ok?)

2. I wonder if it’s the breast cone that attracted A-Rod to Madonna.

3. At last Sunday’s concert, I wonder why it’s ok to shine those fog lights at me but when I took pictures of Neal Schon and forgot to turn off the flash the security people threatened to deport me back to Vietnam. I had to explain that I am a Texan not Vietnamese, thank you.

4. The weather in Dallas last Sunday was at least 98 degrees, but (Heart ) Nancy wore a heavy black top and Anne, a black cape. Is it expected by the fans of the performer to continue the symbolism, (act, costume,etc) when they were first starting out? Will the fans stop loving them if they stop? Now I worry about Arnel Pineda’s twirling.

5. I wonder if Ross Valory were a ditch digger and not Journey would women still be in love with him. My friend Sam said she wouldn’t give him the time of day even if she was standing by Big Ben.
I would. We would be poor but I'll have plenty of gas- from laughing at his antics.

Now this last one not only bugs me, but is riding on my last nerve. People from everywhere emails me as if now I am the Dalai Lama or the Terminator. Their emails are about fans on 2 sides - the Steve Perry fans and Arnel Pineda fans. Let me get this off right here.

Arnel worships the ground that Steve walks on. He admitted that from the beginning from his little world in Asia (HK and PI) and he admits that on the worldwide web now. Ok? Arnel is very grateful that Journey hired him. Arnel IS NOT AND WILL NOT TRY TO COMPETE WITH "THE VOICE". ARNEL IS VERY WISE TO KNOW THAT HE SHOULDN'T. STEVE PERRY IS HIS HERO. Arnel Pineda does not need defending. God got him where he is; God will not fail him now. And Steve Perry is not asking his fans to defend him. He is a bigger man than that. You can speculate any way you want it, it's not going to change but for the better. The SP knows when to turn down the world and when to walk away. That's the great Steve Perry.

*When Mark Knopfler was asked about the dissolution of Dire Straits, he said ,"It got too big than what I expected." So he knew when to walk out of fame before it walked out on him. And I admire men who knows how to do that. And when Arnel's borrowed time ends, he too will know how to walk out gracefully. That is My Arnel.

So guys, the fighting is very uncouth, uncultivated and very Unlike Arnel. You claim to love Arnel? Stop wasting that energy on defending him -it only makes him look bad. Pray for Arnel and shield him from bad press. Use that energy to build up, not tear down someone.

But if you're still oozing with extra energy, go join the US Army. As for me, am going to be a groupie. Shalom.


*Rolling Stone Aug '08 Issue