Edmund

Why I (still) study the Torah

We won’t always be young, beautiful, strong and healthy. We won’t always have money, jobs and security. So we should always cling to Ha Shem and embrace His goodness.

Deadma revisited

Deadma was a popular Filipino catchphrase in the ’90s. I think—like most colloquialisms that are coined every month or so in Manila—it has already been “accepted” as an actual word in the ever-expanding Filipino vocabulary. I believe it’s Jessica Zafra who first wrote a “study” on the word deadma, defining, conjugating and giving examples of its usages in the now-classic essay entitled Deadma 101:

Dedma is the attenuated form of the English words “dead malice.” “Dead malice,” in turn, is the literal translation of the Tagalog expression, patay malisya. It is conjugated thus: dedma, dinedma, dededmahin.

If I’m correct, the essay can be found in the first anthology of Zafra’s newspaper column, Twisted. The article is now gone from the Internet, so I’m not really sure if the following definitions are from it:

1. To completely ignore/feign ignorance of the existence/presence of someone/something.
2. To snub, reject, or toss in the trash.
3. To pretend deafness or blindness in order to escape a sticky situation.

I’d like to focus on Definition #1, because I believe it’s the most cruel and inhumane form of deadma. Sadly, I know a lot of people who have mastered the art of that particular shape of deadma—and these are people who do not even speak Pilipino! There’s another Pilipino word for the cause of them inflicting deadma (Definition #1) on others: inggit—envy.

A song of ascents

It was awful driving through the Gros Morne area this morning. I was scared—very scared. But then I remembered my favorite psalm:

I lift my eyes to the mountains—from where will my help come?
My help will come from the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot falter;
your Guardian does not slumber.
Indeed, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
The LORD is your guardian;
the LORD is your protective shade at your right hand.
The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will guard you from all evil;
He will guard your soul.
The LORD will guard your going and your coming from now and for all time.

And so I made it home safely.

Broken vow

Out of reverence for Gabriel García Márquez’ El amor en los tiempos del cólera, one of my all-time favorite novels, I have promised myself that I will never see its film version. I found the DVD in the bargain bin at Zellers today and I finally saw it. I was right all along: the movie is awful.

Song of the day

Stranded by Heart has been playing inside my head. The snow squall wouldn’t let me go anywhere.

. . . and starring __________ as Holden Caulfield

Now that J.D. Salinger is gone, The Catcher in the Rye could finally make it to the big screen. Read all about it here. The big question: Who will portray its hero-slash-antihero? I’ve always imagined the pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio being expelled from Pencey Prep . . .

Vagabond

My temporary space:

Torture(d)

Movies shown at the bus during the very, very long trip: Snow Buddies (shown twice!—the puppies were really cute, though); Imagine That (I kept reminding myself as I saw the atrocity: “What doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger”); and According to Greta (with Hilary Duff). I kinda liked the last one—but “kinda” should be emphasized. I’ve always thought that Hilary Duff is a spitting image of Ai-Ai de las Alas.

The hills are alive . . .

Remind me to put a copy of The Sound of Music’s soundtrack in the car, so that I could put it on the CD player every time I drive through the Gros Morne National Park:

Pardon the blurry picture, though. It was taken from inside the car, through a very dirty windshield. I was afraid to come out. The wind was so violent.

Signs

I’m fast becoming a fan of the (interesting) slogans posted regularly at our neighborhood Pentecostal church. I check the billboard every time I drive by. Though I sometimes disagree with what most slogans say, I find most of them cute and really inspirational. Last week it was “No God, no peace. Know God, know peace.” This week’s sign really uplifted my drooping spirit: “God answers knee-mail.”