a Muse story

Qotd [Reblogged from My Musical Influence]: "Which friend or acquaintance most influenced your taste in music?"

That would be my Papa, Dennis Jose Dario. Not only in taste, but also in listening habits. I remember watching him get ready for office in the morning, with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass blaring out "Tequilla" on his [semi] built-in speakers in the bedroom. He had a collection of 8-track cartridges in the bedroom. Then in his office-cum-den in the basement, he kept his collection of vinyls: Sergio Mendez and Brasil '88, Ray Conniff, Burt Bacharach, Carpenters... Finally, he had his cassettes in the car: Donna Summer, plus the kids' choices. Sundays were spent browsing music stores to buy "one" (more like four) more for his library.

Guess what? I married someone just like my dad... Music is here to stay.

Love you, Pop!!!

A Sunset Season of Goodbyes

sunset 2, originally uploaded by jeweled.

It's mystifying that each day ends with a sunset, the visual tail of an ongoing spiral of time. And although we do expect to see that same view the next day, each dusk brings a nostalgia. “Love makes us poets, and the approach of death makes us philosophers.” And what is sunset, but the death of a day... the passing of time we will not encounter again.

Salawikain

There's a famous Filipino proverb that goes "Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan [ay] hindi makakarating sa paruruonan." Roughly translated, it says that those who do not know how, or are unwilling, to look back to where they came from will not reach their destination.

Our friends like to joke about it too, changing the ending to make "patama" (barbs). So we've heard: "Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan [ay] may istip neck" (stiff neck). Funny, yet equally true, bringing to mind images of people we know (our past selves maybe?) who keep going "like flint", rail-roading all who would get in the way for fear of opposition or dissuading voices. Sadly, many relationships are ruined, and good-meaning people lay by the roadside.

So I guess, that's what I'll be blogging about till the memories run out. I think this journey back in time will be informative and hopefully therapeutic. Coming out of a fog means we need to gather our bearings. It takes courage because, many times, we need to face old ghosts. These wandering souls need to rest in peace. Ghosts, souls, shattered persona, whatever the term, they're always lurking beneath our skin, needing attention and oftentimes, healing.

Re-awakened

run, originally uploaded by tanned.

There’s a stir
A rustle of life
A fluttering ‘neath the rubble of my heart

It’s faint, it’s near
Yet quite undaunted
Rising, urgent
The surface crinkling

Winking, squinting
Through the haze
Vision forming
Word –transforming my soul

Out of time
Done with waiting
Time has come
Weathered-crust broken

You’ve made it
Here
You’ve made me
Here
[Written to accompany Jon's garageBand composition, 10/17/06]