Monday 31 December 2007

Greening your household

Everything in Australia is big. The land area is so vast and the houses are just BIG. When you eat out, you brace yourself to generous portions and horrendous bills awaiting. Yes, am two months old here but I am still into the conversion mode which prevents me from buying anything.

The age made such a big deal on the carbon footprint made last Christmas and it made me feel upset about how slow my project is taking place. However, it gave me the push to work more for next year.

An average Australian household has a carbon emission of 1 ton in a month. The low population rate of the continent is no excuse for such a high emission of carbon in the atmosphere... 'after all, we breath the same air in the same planet.

This leads me to the conviction that carbon offsetting is a logical idea in all these footprints. Next year, bear with me as I go blogging on how green you are and whether or not your household is green already.

We owe it to ourselves and the earth's future to be vigilant. We should do our share of solidarity in all of this.

The Outsider vs The Stranger

I went to the bookstore last week to do last minute Christmas shopping. It was just a breeze as I got only one present for my landlady but I stayed there to commune with the books. I can only do as much as the books were too pricey for my pocket. I crave for home everytime I turn over the prices of those books. Nevertheless, browsing through the pages of the books, smelling the pages are still for free, so I indulged on it.

One book caught my attention and it was that of Camus' and the title was "the outsider". I wracked my mind why no one told me about the book as I knew I covered much of his books. As I tried to reach for a copy, I remembered---translation does wonders.... Yeah, it was indeed another version of l'etranger.

I went home grinning like another silly girl. But it made me think--- the title for me is more appropriate. Being an outsider brings you to the innermost core but detaches you at the same time from the sheer reality of it. A stranger is always outside of it. It is never inside... It made people get angry at Meursault and eventually led him behind bars... and death.

Just how at home are people really at their own realities?

Friday 7 December 2007

Blocked

For two hours, I did not face the computer monitor today. I did something else and that was stamping 500 envelopes with 'postage paid in Australia'. I just wanted to put my mind to rest.
I find it very helpful to do some diversion. It kept me focused on my work.

Others may call this 'blocking' thoughts and actions to encourage creativity and productiveness. I really wonder if this is also the same tactic that the police did when they blocked the Sumilao farmers in going to Malacanang? What higher things did the palace residents have in mind?

When one walks for thousands of kilometers, braving all the heat, rain, aches and pains, would it not be considered 'Christian' to at least, receive them? Or, is it not just another time when the nativity story was relieved? This time, the palace residents wanted to play innkeepers. They really did their part very well, highly militarized and apt for the times.

I just wanted to play 'student' --rereading the story, reflecting, criticizing....