Pounding The Keyboard

       Vice President-elect Leni Robredo will take her oath of office this Thursday, June 30, and included in the merienda fare that will be served to the guests are Choc Nut-filled buchi. Yes, Choc Nut. It is the vice president's favorite, they say. But who doesn’t love Choc Nut? A lot of people consider it tastier than caviar, yes. Now, it will be part of Philippine History. Other food in the VP's menu include sotanghon, maja blanca and pichi pichi        My siblings (niblings included) love Choc Nut and whenever we go to the grocery store to buy, well, groceries, Choc Nut is always on the list. We suffer withdrawal symptoms whenever we run out of Choc Nuts. Made up of roasted peanuts, sugar, milk powder, cocoa powder and vanilla, Choc Nut is a proof that there is forever. I think it predates the dinosaurs. No, I’m not really sure about it, but Choc Nut has been in existence for a very long time and it will probably outlive rock and roll, or at least the music of

       I’ve had this The Shins album, Chutes Too Narrow , for the longest time, gave it lots of spins then, and then forgot all about it. I played it again this morning and was reminded of the gorgeousness of the song "Saint Simon" (beautiful melody, killer harmonies, great lyrics). The song, Beatlesque and my favorite from the album, is about, seemingly,   the rejection of religion and intellectual discourses; meaning, you got to live your life simply, build it around love, shorn of pretenses.        And I am particularly still awed by this awesomely lovely line, “Mercy's eyes are blue, when she places them in front of you, nothing really holds a candle to the solemn warmth you feel inside you…”        We all experience it, looking at someone you cherish, or even at just a photo of this someone or anything that reminds you of this someone, even when you try to ignore, or forget or even hate this someone, you still feel this strange, ethereal, incomparable so

                 The status that was on top of my news feed when I logged on to my Facebook account this morning   was: “You are so annoying, so you’re blocked.”   Instead of just being unfriended, somebody got blocked, which is of course worse. When someone unfriends you, you can still access this someone’s account and see his   or her public posts and activities and you can still send this someone a message. See, somehow, there’s still a link. When someone blocks you, this someone’s account suddenly becomes totally inaccessible and invisible to you (and vice versa). You can turn Facebook upside down but you won’t see any sign of this person.         Back during pre-Facebook days, to show your annoyance to a friend, you either yell at him or curse him, or punch him, throw stone at his house, kick his dog, or his door or his nuts. Back during pre-Facebook days, to stop someone from stalking and harassing you, you either call a cop or hire a lawyer and sue.        Now,