It Sounds Funny But I’ll Say it Anyway

Up until the last minute, I hadn’t any idea that I would end up going to the Eraserheads reunion concert. I had purposely left myself out of the mad scramble for tickets and the clamor for VIP passes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan. They did after all provide a sizable portion of the soundtrack to my high school and college life. I guess for me that was more than enough, to keep them in the realm of nostalgia. What I hadn’t banked on was how much bigger a fan my wife was. Busy as she was, wind of the concert eventually reached her, so at around midnight, the first few minutes of the date of the concert, I found myself trying to get decent tickets to what I predicted to be a mammoth event. I asked my good friend Juned if he could get me in but alas, he’s given away the last of his free passes. I called and texted friends asking much of the same to no avail. I then hurried home to get some sleep as I intended to be at a ticketworld outlet at the soonest possible time.

I woke up late in the afternoon and panicked my way to National Bookstore in ATC, stood in line anxiously and after over an hour had in my hands 2 patron tickets. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing full well that my sex life was no longer in jeopardy. I rushed home to find my wife practically ready. I showered and got dressed and we were off.

Finding parking turned out to be a bit of a battle. Even my incredible driving skills were tested to near its limits, something which rarely ever happens. After 45 minutes of fighting traffic, I eventually found us a spot. Not the most ideal, no where near close, but ultimately acceptable. The walk to the Fort open field from Serendra wasn’t so bad but felt a bit like an exodus of sorts as we were walking with a throng of people. Considering that we were already late and a majority of the people ought to be already inside the venue, I could predict that the place would be packed to ridiculous extremes. 

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On the Female Reproductive System

It seems to go against reason that I would be in a seminar at the very chi chi Mi Piace Barolo Frascati room At the Peninsula Manila, much more if the seminar in question was about the prevention of cervical cancer when it is a manner of simple deduction that I do not posses a cervix. That however was exactly where I was last Friday and no, it actually doesn’t go against common sense why I would attend such an event. First of all, it’s all about preventing cervical cancer or in terms that most of my readers (yes, you three.) would understand, the preservation of punani. Now tell me, how could I NOT get behind a cause like that? Second reason should be apparent, the seminar would be attended mostly by women. Factor in the rules of probability coupled with my insane luck, I should, and was eventually surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women. Sure, I am one of the most happily married guys you could meet having a wife this hot! (see, I told you I was insanely lucky.) It doesn’t of course mean that I do not enjoy the general feminine aesthetic. Anyway, we also got a free dinner which was absolutely superb. (The veal was to die for!) I mean, when you really think about it, the real question is why WEREN’T you there?

 Some of the pretty women who were there

Anyway, while I may have gone for what can be argued by some as all the wrong reasons, the seminar was actually an eye opener for me. The speaker, Dr. Ricardo Manalastas M.D. of PGH was very informative and was far more entertaining than you would expect anyone who was talking about cervical cancer.

 Dr. Manalastas, saves lives, sees more punani than I do 

The most important things that I learned are:

• every single case of cervical cancer is preceded by an infection of the humanpapilloma virus. (HPV)

• For over 2 years, an incredibly safe and extremely effective vaccine has been available in the country.

• PAP smears save lives, and women should start getting one at least once a year once they become sexually active.

• Not enough people know about the 3 points above.

 Here’s how it is. If all cases of cervical cancer starts out with an HPV infection and the said HPV infection can be safely and easily prevented by a shot to the arm of vaccine, then this particular cancer shouldn’t be as prevalent as it is today. Figures are sketchy at best, this being a third world country after all, but roughly 10 Filipinas die of cervical cancer every fucking day! That’s 70 women a week! Taking probability into account once more, plotting every one of them as either ugly or beautiful, then it follows that at least 50% of those women will be hot. That’s 35 beautiful women a week! Yes, like all cancers, cervical cancer does not discriminate against physical attractiveness. Seriously though, the best thing you can do is tell all the women in your life, if you care about them at all, to ask about HPV and getting vaccinated the next time they see their OB/GYNs and to convince them that the next time be reasonably soon. Why? Because cancer is never a laughing matter. Now get to it! The Mordo wills it!

Yet another beginning…

And I’m not just talking about my blog. I’ve made a couple of major changes in my life and it is both exciting and terrifying all at the same time.

For starters, since mid July, I have relinquished my position as the product manager for i.PH. You may have heard about it from other sources but this will be the first time I’ll be going into it with a bit more detail. The most important thing I need to say is that it was a heartwrenching decision for me. Over the years, I’ve grown to love i.PH and more importantly, the community of bloggers who use it, a community which, I’d like to believe, I played a hand in cultivating. I remain proud of the fact that the community has not only grown but has actually grown closer.  I have also had the good fortune to work with some really amazing people, some of whom I might have actually "discovered."

So why did I leave? Unfortunately, the answer would be much too long and convoluted for a blog post. Suffice it to say that my vision was no longer in alignment with the decision makers in the company and I no longer felt happy in my position. I know that that answer is unsatisfying but it would be tasteless for me to spell it out here. Buy me a beer sometime and maybe I’ll tell you face to face, in confidence of course.

So what now? Well, I have, like my gorgeous wife, taken a life working from home and I have to say it is quite satisfying. More importantly, I am, together with some of the most impressive minds in the industry, in the early stages of putting up several very promising business endeavors. I can’t let too much out of the bag at this point but watch this space and I’ll keep you updated.

Is that it? In a word, no. Not by a longshot. One of the best things about my change in lifestyle is that I actually have to blog again. Ironic as it may seem that I could hardly blog when I was the product manager of a blogging service, the truth is I was then more concerned with making sure that the i.PH bloggers have an enjoyable blogging experience. (To all the i.PHers out there, It’s great to be one of you now. I certainly hope to run into any of you folks one of these days. I hope you will lend me as much support now as you did when I was still working for you. hehe.)  So yeah, blogging became a bit of an afterthought which was a sacrifice for me because odd as it might sound, I actually happen to enjoy blogging. So you can expect this place to be much better updated than it’s been for a really long time. Who knows, this time, I might actually end up being quite good at it.