Eternal and Current Passions

When something seizes my attention, my obsessive-compulsive tendencies take charge and sometimes I just have to pour myself into it. Below you will find the interests I have kept through the years, as well as those that I am currently engrossed with.  

Classical Music. My childhood was filled with music. I remember coming home from school at lunchtime with the radio tuned in to 98.7 DZFE-FM, the classical radio station. My grandmother also used to play records of the great operas. I guess that's partly why I developed an ear for the classics. To my Uncle Bert's horror, however, I acquired an intense liking for the heavy pieces of the "heavy Germans". Guess who captured me heart and soul.

Comics. Only my closest friends know that I'm an avid reader of comic strips. Now, with the internet it's easier to follow them online. I confess that I do that even when I'm abroad and in a rush to check my e-mail.

Environment. A keen interest in environmental matters is something I have both on a professional and a personal level. They say that people who are environmentally-minded are those who spent their childhood near nature. That fits my bill since I grew up in the province surrounded by trees and rice fields were just beyond the backyard.

Family Pictures. Coming from a large clan, simple gatherings tend to become big fiesta-like affairs. We always find a reason to have reunions. When our uncles, aunties and cousins come from abroad, we troop to one house and have story-, laugh- and food-fests. Of course, implicitly we want our little cousins, nephews, nieces and children to keep the tradition.

Gardening. Growing up in the province has instilled in me the love for plants. Even when I was living in the university dormitory, I kept pots of plants in the veranda of our room. Now that the apartment I share with friends has a bit of gardening space, we have tried composting. To date, we have been able to grow an ampalaya (amargozo or bitter gourd). Though we're still in the middle of summer, we're trying to grow onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, capsicum, carrots, chili peppers and some herbs.

Literature. The many books on my mother's bookshelf introduced me to the joys of reading. I can only marvel at the beauty of words, and how they are able to depict scenes or emotions as effectively as that on a painter's canvas.

Michelangelo Buonarroti. Another (long-dead) person I admire for his passion and the results of such. One can only marvel at what he was able to accomplish in his lifetime. The Agony and the Ecstasy and Michelangelo the Florentine, the books inspired by his life, make for very good reading.

Theology. Any Atenean who had fifteen (15) units of this subject in university will not forget it easily. After several years of being in the 'secular' world, my interest in Theology has had a renaissance. Stay tuned for further developments.

Sunday, 12 October 2003 07:58:14 +0800