and so it is, yes

ah, my co-butterball is engaged and my first reaction is one of skepticism. before others may think that i do not believe in marriage, no, not at all. i say go with marriage but not with its institutional baggages. i say marry because it's time and marry because your would-be mate matters to you.

which is why i'm glad she decided to tell the story of how it all happened. yes, there was a set-up and yes, the girl cried. ika nga ni oprah, she went into the ugly cry. that's okay, at least there's only the two of you in the room.

my other favorite engagement story is that of a. and e. what probably made it for me was the fact that the previous decade-long, off-and-on relationship the girl had was quite something (and i don't mean that in a wonderful way).

i guess the big 3-0 does have its way of reminding people to take stock of where they are (if they have their coordinates right in the first place).

the big 3-0 has been a running joke among some of us high school batchmates. we have quite a stellar record - people getting married, separated/annulled/divorced, single parents, high-flying careers, careers running alongside the underbelly of society, what have you. at least we're pretty diverse, not to mention colorful. ha.

i'm looking forward to my big 3-0 in december. it comes a day before the wedding of a. (yes, probably half of our batch's social lives revolve around weddings) in bukidnon and that's something to look forward to. a change of scene and deafening silence to drown one's self into (if it's possible).

i'll end this post with the custom signature i placed to go with my ongoing e-mail messages:

"It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire and many things to fear."
Francis Bacon