My Theory of Ghosts and Pandas

19Nov08

Last Friday while walking to the bar down the street from where I work, my co-worker and I started having a somewhat philosophical conversation. Now this guy is smart and practically knows something about everything its crazy. At work he’ll spit out random tidbits here and there. For example, did you know there are only 26 main patterns of house keys? Your house key has a 1 in 26 chance it can unlock a random house door. Now I don’t know how credible this information is and haven’t double checked it or anything, but it’s still cool in my opinion to know.

So we’re walking down the street and I forget how our conversation led to ghosts. Most likely I said something random like, “Hey I think that guy who walked by isn’t alive“. My co-worker turned my way with a face expressing disbelief and said, “There’s no such thing as ghosts and superstitions are silly. It’s all in the mind, psychological.”

I was astonished. A non-believer was in my midst! (Most likely the people walking around us were non-believers also haha) This sets off our little debate on the issue and I start it with my theory.

“The more people believe in something, the more true it becomes.” This is basically my theory which is probably already a theory or a philosophical thought or whatever but allow me to expound.

I grew up in California and pretty much was like most of Americans not really believing in ghosts and such. Most of our society has that “if I can’t see it or touch it then its probably not real” notion. *cough* air, gravity, atoms *cough* (idiots)

It all started when I first started living in the Philippines. Practically everyone there believes , knows, or claims to be able to see ghosts and the like. About 1 in 5 people I meet tell me they have a 3rd eye which means they can see supernatural crap. Don’t give me that bull. You see what you want you loony. (But I wasn’t that mean I just say, “Ohh really? Is that so (uhm he/she’s crazy)”. But after awhile it gets kind of old and I start thinking, so many people can’t be that crazy. I mean, they can’t all be hallucinating or creating things with their imagination.

I have a niece who is 3 years old now. Ever since she could talk she would point up and say “Bobby” while we were having our lunch or dinner. I asked my mom what is bobby. “What” was actually a “Who” as my mom suspected Bobby was her imaginary friend. One evening our suspicions came to a halt with a hair-raising revelation. My niece found a figurine of an angel, very excited and happy saying she found Bobby.

Basically my theory is that the more people believe in something the more real it becomes. In the Philippines mostly everyone believes in the supernatural like ghosts and angels, thus more people there see them.

I was immediately attacked by my co-worker which psychological references and philosophical schools of thoughts and whatnot.

Do YOU believe?

Here is a snapshot my gf took from our webcam session last night to help you believe.

PS: Everyone please keep believing in pandas. Don’t let them disappear!

Filed under: Randumb   |  3 Comments
Tags: belief, ghosts, pandas, supernatural, theory

American Robot

16Nov08

ImaLilEthIopiAn8 : hows work
reyubix : sux of course
reyubix : haha
ImaLilEthIopiAn8 : ahaha
ImaLilEthIopiAn8 : how about the other aspects of life
ImaLilEthIopiAn8 : which arent so routine
reyubix : life has become saddenly routine
reyubix : i am now a robot
ImaLilEthIopiAn8 : haha
ImaLilEthIopiAn8 : you my friend now know how it really feels to be an American

The American dream. Originally this dream meant freedom and liberty for all. It meant opportunity for all to achieve what they are capable of. Any objections. . . ?

You know you like my Paint skills.

Edit:

ImaLilEthIopiAn8 : that is why you should do what you like to do

reyubix : HAHA

reyubix : oh man haha if only I can draw what i have in mind.

reyubix : give me 10 min

ohh yess… I’m a nerd =]

Filed under: Randumb   |  2 Comments
Tags: american, dream, robot, world of warcraft, wow

This is Rrrrrrrreuben

12Nov08

Personal Entry #3

So I’ve been pretty busy lately working and the past weekend I just moved into my new apartment in Sunnyvale. It rained when I moved in. With a 9 to 6 job, swollen stinky feet, and going through the process of moving to a new location, I haven’t really had time or energy to write. I haven’t written anything crazy random in awhile now which makes me kind of sad. I get all these cool (or weird, however you choose to see it) ideas on stuff to write but I end up just forgetting them.

Now that I think about it, I remember one today. So I ask the customer withdrawing a couple thousand, “How would you like your cash?” She replies, “Large.” Now at that moment I was pretty bored and tired and I couldn’t help but entertain myself. I imagined handing her over sized bills like those big novelty checks you see in game shows. I laughed through my nose. Ahh those big over sized checks, gotta love ‘em.

Oh and what was also somewhat “Twilight Zonish” was some old lady and I mean pretty old looked at me in the eye and said I looked familiar. Interestingly enough she asked me if i was from Manila. My nostrils flared with amazement as I confirmed that I was in fact in Manila. I have no accounts of meeting an old lady but that was quite randomly cool and weird.

But I digest err digress. The past week I have had Virtual Training. Now when I say virtual, I do imagine wearing like helmet with 3d glasses, attaching cool gloves, and entering a virtual world but sadly it wasn’t that awesome. It was in fact a conference call while on the computer running a classroom type program with a facilitator and classmates of course. There were buttons to signify raising your hand, laughter, a green check to agree, and a red X to disagree. The whole time I wished they had a button to show, “Hey I’m goddamn hungry.” Or better yet, “self destruct“.

All in all the training experience through the virtual classroom was alright. Most of the time it was boring but we had cool upbeat facilitators. There was also this classmate who, everytime he’d talk, he’d start by saying, “This is Rrrrrrrobby.” Like he was a DJ of a late night radio show or something.

At times when we were idle or waiting, the facilitator would let us doodle on the screen. The whole week I seriously was waiting for someone to draw a cock but people would always draw it incomplete. It’d either be an 8 or a U or maybe a P. Hahaha those doodling  times were good. I swear at some points I was so bored, they’d ask draw what you had for lunch like we were preschoolers or something. I drew grass. Someone labeled it rotten moldy french fries. Uhh, fries don’t rot, they last forever! Haha. Supersize Me anyone?

Another side note from work, some co-workers suspect one of our customers to be a drug dealer / money launderer. Coincidentally, I befriended her immediately. (Haha)

Oh and info on the apartment I moved into. Its next to a mortuary. Interestingly enough, my job is also next to a mortuary. Hmmmm (play twilight zone music). And NO I was not scared to sleep alone.

I had the lights on =] haha

Filed under: Personal Entries   |  3 Comments
Tags: cash, manila, money, mortuary, personal, supersize, training, twilight zone, virtual, work

Condos

03Nov08

Kudos to your condos, those towering skyscrapers

Built by the top cats, the entrepreneurial lamers.

Give me a teepee, a kubo, or cave

Let’s bring it old school and spirits we’ll save

The higher the tech the less the ghosts

The more the ghosts the less the hosts.

People are scared of what they don’t know.

With knowledge comes more unknown to tow.

Maybe we can integrate this modern situation.

The ancient magic, spirit and automation.

Maybe people will come together and proudly say

Kudos to your condos, so many spirits that play.

Filed under: Poetry   |  1 Comment
Tags: condos, poem, Poetry

Note to Future Self

24Oct08

Personal Entry #2

Today I had an adventure. . . and now I’m back. Tired. Then I thought, I should write my about my experience today so that my future self could look back on it and be like, “Haha oh yeah huh.”

I woke up way too early, 5:40am to be exact. Truly a horrible time to wake up. I could feel my bloodshot eyes and body yearning for an extended slumber. The only thing nice about waking up today was that I had a wake up call from my girlfriend. Yeah, she’s sweet. When we were together in the Philippines, we always had ant problems due to her sweetness (har har har). I’d occassionaly spray her down with bug spray. “Baby you’re so sweeeeeet!” But I’m drifting from the story of my adventure…

I quickly made coffee, ate a roll of bread, then took a shower. Taking a couple steps backward to yesterday, I recieved a call from the HR Department saying that my orientation would be the next day, Friday the 24th. The location? Downtown San Francisnotcool. I live in South San Jose near Los Gatos and bringing my ass over to SF for an orientation already made me tired just thinking about it! The schedule, 9am-6pm. omgwtfbbq. How will I survive? Me who wake up somewhat late, eat 5 times a day, and takes afternoon naps! (haha I don’t suck my thumb I swear)

It was about 6:30am when I finished my shower and I previously planned to leave the house at 6:30. Yes, I was running late. I still had to drive all the way to Fremont. Luckily there was no traffic but when I got to the BART station, the parking lot was practically filled and I ended up parking at the very end which was a good 5 minute walk. That’s far. . . very far.

I get to the station around 7:15am, not bad. Bought a ticket, then proceeded to pay for my parking. I wondered to myself, “How does this parking payment system work. My car’s already parked so how would they know?” Then I found out from the payment machine when it said, “Please enter stall number.” This was my reaction…

MOTHER #$%%& ……………………. walk walk walk walk stop leg cramp walk walk walk walk

As I power-walked my fat ass to and from my car I contemplated my inability to comprehend what the number on my parking spot meant beforehand and was ever more mindful of the clicking clock. I ended up boarding the train to SF 7:52am.

I was a virgin to BART and was kind of excited getting on. That feeling quickly wore off. So I rode rode rode, and I got sleepy sleepy sleepy. The tunnel from Oakland to SF was scary. Makes me wonder how they even dug a tunnel under the water! Crazy stuff. When I got off the train, there were so many people I quickly thought of the New York subways on TV. Upon reaching the street level, first thing I saw was a homeless person. Then some guy playing an instrument on the sidewalk with a hat in front of him. Yes I was in San Francisco baby!

I quickly walked to the very tall building and proceeded to the 20th floor. The rest cannot be disclosed due to a trade secrets agreement and confidentiality stuff that I signed. But overall my orientation was a great experience. I met some good people, learned a lot and realized the financial industry is where I want to be right now.

To add, during lunch break I couldn’t finish my food and I gave it to a nearby homeless guy. I made sure the food was very presentable and told him I didn’t touch the parts I was giving. He was real appreciative and I felt pretty good doing a good deed I suppose. Good karma.

At the end of the orientation going back to the BART station, a homeless lady was sitting near the escalator holding a RAT. As we passed her, she said, “I got no children that need health care, but this rat and me sure do.” I thought, wow that rat was pretty big… and cute for a rat!

On the train ride back, I was very inspired and impressed by a fellow orientationee by the name of Francisco. Very cool, intelligent guy who is about to graduate with 3 bachelor degrees all at the same time from SF State.

As I drove, I realized I was famished and ate a lot of rice when I got home. Kicked off my shoes. Yes my feet stink. Today was a long day.

What an adventure.

Note to future self: Never forget you are where you are because of your decisions and actions.

Filed under: Personal Entries   |  6 Comments
Tags: adventure, BART, bloodshot, fatass, future, karma, san francisco, sweet

Mangoes

21Oct08

Wherever man goes, man sees and changes

The world around us to best suits our needs.

Some landscaping here, some factories there,

Who cares about the animals, air, and weeds.

And yes this poem sounds so Green Peace

Yet the rest of the world seems so indifferent.

I’ll just grab a mango, peel it, and eat it

Its sweet and it meets the purpose it was meant.

For everything has a purpose, a goal, a destiny

If people want to harm Earth than fine.

Where man goes, man sees and changes.

What suits your needs? A mango suits mine.

Filed under: Poetry   |  2 Comments
Tags: greenpeace, mangoes, poem, Poetry

Homesick

15Oct08

Personal Entry #1

Mood: Sad

I intentionally started this blog for my random, humor infused writings with a dash of poems and possibly serious philosophical stuff, but right now I’d like to just write as if it were a normal personal blog.

My sister’s a sweet girl. Somewhat too innocent for the real world but heck so am I (more like I’d rather shield myself from this thing called “the real world”). She’s currently in college in the Philippines as is my brother. We have a house in a place called Tagaytay, known for the town with an overlooking view of the world’s smallest volcano, Taal. Its a small rural place where city dwellers own rest houses and vacation nests to relax and unwind from the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila, the most populated area of the Philippines.

She sent me a text message saying that our house caught on fire. Living here in California, fires have been rampant and my imagination ran wild. When you read something like that, you just don’t want to believe.

To anyone reading this, rest assured my family and our house are alright. I called my mom and she comforted me telling me they’re okay and that it was a part of the garage that set on fire. My family’s shaken up but thank goodness they are alright. This is what made me want to write.

I can’t help but feel sad due to the fact that I am 7 billion* miles away (Google Maps cannot calculate directions on how to get there. I really just had to try and see if Google Maps could calculate how long it would take to drive there. They have additional options where you can select walk instead of drive, but why is there no option to swim?)

On a serious note, I miss my family terribly. I have a feeling of helplessness knowing I’m just too far to do anything. California is where I grew up and its definitely where my hometown is, but its true what they say,

“Home is where the family is.”

*Note:
Its actually around 7,000 miles away. Plane flights suck.

Filed under: Personal Entries   |  1 Comment
Tags: california, family, fire, google, helplessness, manila, presonal, sad, taal, tagaytay, volcano

Live a Dream

13Oct08

With hesitant thoughts
But an adventurous heart
I took a step forward
So my journey could start

I walked down a path
then swam across a river
I climbed three mountains
Without stopping to shiver

For Winter rolled along
In the absence of the sun
Yet I was too busy
To realize what I had done

I went on a quest
without a destination
And the Fates ironically willed
I end up in the same location

Filed under: Poetry   |  1 Comment
Tags: dream, fate, irony, journey, life, live, poem, Poetry

80% Optimistic

08Oct08

To follow up on my poem I recently posted, I swear I’m not THAT pessimistic. Actually I’m 80% optimistic. A couple people messaged me saying I destroyed their light of hope or that if you were to lose hope in the world, what else is there? I’m glad I was able to stir you enough for a response!

To move aside the clouds of despair and have the rays of light come shine through, I write this new poem entitled “Happy”.

Happy happy happy
lets all be happy happy
flip flappity happity doo dah
I am so happy yay!

Ok that was just uhm, not cool. Sickening in fact. As I typed that I envisioned a dragon come flying around having a nice day deciding to swoop down and behead people with it’s sharp talons. It thought out loud, “Wee this is so fun!” Yet the only thing being heard was the loud bellow of a roar coming from the monstrosity as people cried and screamed in chaos.

People scattered like ants as they frantically tried to escape death. A mist of blood forming as more and more people were gashed open, spraying blood like a sparkler sparking.

“Look everyone! We’re saved!” Springing forth from my 80% optimistic mind, a knight in shining armor appeared atop the legendary Pegasus. Surrounded by an aura of light that defeats all evil, he raised his mighty sword into the air! Behind him an army of tanks rolled forward.

“Ha ha ha! Why if it isn’t my arch-nemesis, your name burned with hatred in my soul. Damn you, Knight in Shining Armor Riding Pegasus with an Aura of Light. Are you surprised I know your name?!”

The knight looked puzzled. Was the abomination trying to talk to him? He signaled the tanks to fire. These were no ordinary tanks. They were green… and big too! They were even bouncing up and down with hydrolics! But what really set them apart was the logo on their sides.

RAID
Dragon & Flying Demon Killer
Quick acting formula kills dragons and flying demons; residual keeps killing for up to four weeks.
Pine Scented
-shake well-

The people rejoiced as the dragon fell from the sky in agony. The knight stood on top of the fallen enemy in pine scented glory. Pegasus neighed and thought, “Man I didn’t even get to like fly around and look cool and stuff. Stupid temp hiring agency.”

————————————-

reyubix: some friends of mine told me that maybe a lot of people wont get it
reyubix: cuz most people don’t get that kind of humor
Pao Pao: well, maybe you can downgrade a bit
Pao Pao: so the lesser beings will “get” it

( Downgrade? Like Windows XP to Vista ??? )

Filed under: Randumb   |  3 Comments
Tags: agency, chaos, demon, dragon, happy, hiring, killer, optimism, optimistic, pegasus, Raid, tanks, temp, vista, windows, xp

The Pessimistic Reality

06Oct08

Love, Hope, Destiny, Fate
As if all these words need to relate
I’ll tell you now
I’ll tell you this
Our world is simply full of hate.

Heres some chicken soup for your thought
Humanity is on a road to rot
Like a drought to be endured
Many have fought to be cured

Yet the results are the same
To try is insane
And hope reveals its falsity
Fate is not meant to be
Destiny is a hipocrasy.

-Reuben James Platon

(I wrote this poem about 2 years ago I thought I’d recycle it here since i haven’t posted anything yet!)

Filed under: Poetry   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: destiny, fate, hipocrasy, hope, life, love, pessimism, pessimistic, poem, Poetry, reality