RUDOLPH THE RED NOSE-TALGIA

          Yep, you guessed it. This post is about Christmas and how I've been spending it with my family.

          When we were little, on the day before Christmas, my cousins in my dad's side and I would practice dancing or singing so that by night time, we can give our parents a "Christmas show" that they will truly adore. After that, we eat and we can see Dad's own version of the famous Spaghetti, my grandmother's Baked Macaroni, and we even have cake! It was a blast, then while we wait for midnight, we run over to the terrace to play games, to share stories, and to laugh at silly jokes. Then when the clock strikes 12 (sometimes 11 'cause we just can't wait anymore. HAHA!), we greet a very joyful "Merry Christmas!" to everyone in the house and that's the time where we distribute gifts and open presents! I receive a new shirt, a toy car, a piggy bank, and many many more! Then when I get to my presents, I often see maybe 4-6 presents from my parents (and I love them for that but thank God, it didn't lead me to being a spoiled brat.) and happily tear the wrapping and just be in awe with the gift Mom and Dad got for me. To be honest, they never fail to surprise me every year! Plus, we all had Christmas stockings that was full of candies, chocolates, and other num-nums from "Santa." I actually figured it out on my own that Dad was the one putting candy in our stockings when I caught him one Christmas eve (but I never told him about it so that I won't ruin the fun. HAHA! How mature at a young age.) Same events happen with my cousins in my mom's side, well except for the dancing or singing part. All I can remember is that I had the time of my life.

          For over 17 years, it evolved from preparing dance numbers and gifts that will blow us away to getting cash and just chatting and eating. Oh, no, I have nothing against it. You see, for almost 2 decades, how we spend Christmas changes. The cause could be sudden death of a love one, a culture shock where you live in a new house or you're going to spend it alone in your dormitories, or maybe even conflicts and problems that you and/or your family had for the past few days, months, or maybe even years.

          Yeah, maybe things were not like they used to, but what only went missing were the quantity of material gifts and the performances. To be honest, I still love spending Christmas with my family and I look forward to another great time next year! I don't really expect much for next year but I wish that we can spend Christmas together until midnight and we can do more stuff together, like team building and other stuff.

          Merry CHRISTmas to you and your family!

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A POEM FOR PROM DATE WAS NEVER TOO MAINSTREAM

          This is a poem that I published in my old blog. This was one of my 'secret-ish' ways to ask someone to prom with me. I published this on the 25th of January 2011. Unfortunately, I never got to give this to her on time. While I was reading this just now, it made me smile and feel embarrassed as well, but nevertheless, I'm proud of my work. So, here it is, I hope you like it!

CAN I TAKE YOU TO THE PROM?

An original by Jedd Francis De Luna
(as seen on Facebook)

Can't I be yours for just one night
To see you smile and to hold you tight
Your eyes glitter more than the starry night
Whenever we dance in the middle of the spotlight.


You are more sweeter than chocolate dips
There's nothing more luscious than your red ruby lips
Since when I first saw you, a wonderful glimpse
I have fallen for you, now my heart jumps and flips.


It makes me sad when I see you cry
A ravishing face that got teary-eyed
This night is just for us, no need to be shy
I'll be tender to you, cross my heart, hope to die.


My heart for you is pounding like a drum
And I always knew where that sound is from
So now I beg that you would truly come
For me to take you to our Junior - Senior Prom.

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IF THERE IS SUCH A THING AS A CENTIPEDE, WHY IS THERE NO SUCH THING AS AN "EMOPEDE"?

Photo taken from: http://memebase.cheezburger.com/gocryemokid/tag/insects

          When I was young, I would usually spend more time with girls than boys. Sure, I have my own guy friends but I'm much more attached with girl friends when I was young. No, I wasn't evolving to become a homo, but the real reason why I spend more time with them is because ever since I was a kid, I was always being bullied. And since I've been keeping all these emotions inside of me, I became weaker and weaker. Until, I figured out that girls were more fond of expressing themselves than boys were.

          Ever since then, I would somehow find myself talking to one and asking them about emotional stuff. But since I now spend more time with them, I often get teased as "loser", "gay", and other words for me that are tacenda (better left unsaid).

          But to be honest, it made a positive turn as I grew up. Yeah sure, I may not be popular but many people seek help from me like I'm some sort of psychologist. Maybe this was the reason why I wanted to pursue Psychology if I wasn't taking up Journalism.

          Many people started asking me for advice, just like Arnold from the Nickelodeon show, "Hey, Arnold!" which was actually one of my favorite Nick shows when I was still in my elem days. Many came to talk about love, their relationships, their family, and some even cried in front of me.

          I was stunned by the overwhelming response.

          I have seen almost all of my best friends cry right in front of me (from elementary up 'til now, here in college) whenever I give them "the talk" and you know what, they thank me afterwards. It felt good because I know I helped a few people smile again! Because most people I know can't even give a good advice on simple things.

          And that's how I became who I am now: a shy, sensitive guy who's ears is open 24/7 -- except for frustrated singers (just kidding). And this helped me in my art of poetry writing, singing, composing songs, with my music, and my friends. So should I thank the bullies?

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU "FAKE IT"

When I was a Junior back in HS. This was for our Book Interpretation Contest.   Photo taken and edited by Kenneth Sepagan

           A smile can never express true emotion.

          Whenever we see a person smiling, we can guess that he or she is happy. Or if we hear someone shout, we immediately conclude that the person is angry. But is it what they really feel? Many people are very good at hiding emotions. They're so good at hiding it that they can feel when others are just "faking" theirs.

          That makes me wonder, why do we love to "fake it" and hide our real emotions? Is it for us to test who can really understand us deep within? Is it because we're to scared and/or embarrassed to show it to anyone (and might think of us as overacting)? Is it because we don't want to influence or persuade others with our emotions?

          But how come those people, who can feel what others feel, are quiet? I mean, how come they don't talk to these people and ask them what's really going on in their lives? To be honest, I am one of those people who can easily hide emotions and can sense others. Only a few people know me very much. I'm the guy in class who wants to befriend everyone. I may be shy at first, but once I get comfortable with someone, I can chat all day with them as long as the topics are very interesting and/or very timely.

          For me, I don't tell others what's really going on with their lives because I just don't know what to say. I don't want to dictate what they should choose, because the biggest thing that I can do is either push/force them or support them. Each and every one of us is different and we can talk to whom we want. Not everyone is strong in keeping something. Not everyone can keep a secret, even a single tear can change many, many things. I remember a famous line that says: "Lahat ng sikreto ay nabubunyag. Hindi lang ngayon, pero sa takdang panahon ay lalabas rin ito." (All secrets are revealed. Maybe not now, but in the right time, it will be.)

          Many of us might wonder on what would happen if we hide our true emotions? Well, that's simple. For instance, if we have a problem about the lesson that our teacher is discussing and we don't tell them, we might not fully comprehend nor would we understand the lesson. Another example is that if we lack a few coins for our transportation fee and we don't tell anyone, we might not get to our place of destination, or worse, we might walk all the way home, which would be a problem if you live far away.

          A good example is about love. Even though using love as an example is very overrated, I will still continue. If you have a crush on someone for maybe a year or two already, and yet you're hurting yourself because you might fear that your friendship with him or her might die, would you take the risk? If you just keep your feelings, you might over think and you will just carry more burden. But if you take the risk, you might either get the person, or you won't.

          But who knows, right? Taking risks may be a part of life, but remember that taking risks is different from stupidity and selfishness. Remember that it's not bad to be an open book, but don't let your life be very open like your wall on Facebook. We have emotions to express ourselves. We may not be "easy-to-read" when it comes to our facial expressions but gestures, body language, even how we look, is based on what we want to tell others and because of this, people can still see us. The reason why I can tell and predict emotions clearly, other than my reasons above, is because I don't look just on the face, but I include the way he or she talks, the movements, the eye contact and the flow of their speech.

          Our emotions can either be the key or the barrier in our communication. So, how about you? Will you still "fake it" or will you break it and try to express what you want to express, what you want to say, what you want to feel, and what you want others to know about what you're feeling right now? True emotion is never in the mind, but in the heart, but it is up to us on what would we listen to. Will you still hide your 'scars' with your "I'm fine" line?

          Nicholas Sparks said in his book, At First Sight, that "the emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it..." An anonymous writer said that "if you can't understand my silence, how can you understand my words?" So take time and observe. Observe them and ask yourself: "Would I really fake it? Or would I be honest?"

          A smile can never express true emotion.

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THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM!

          After moving my blog from Blogger, to WordPress, and now it's back to Blogger again! I started blogging again because of a few classmates of mine whose English is improving because of it. And even though only a few read my blogs before, I wanted to start off fresh and this time, I just hope that this is going to be different. I wanted to blog everyday before and I realize that due to a very busy schedule, I just can't. So now with this new blog, I hope to update at least 2-3x a week with Personal Stuff, Features, or just anything that I can think of.

          So if you see this, HELLO! My name is Jedd Francis De Luna and welcome to my personal blog, where I think what I think, I write what I write, so whether you like it or not, this is my true freedom!

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À bientôt et bienvenue!

JEDD FRANCIS™