There was a time when people appreciated literary genius. There was a time when Filipino movies were actually art. There was a time when journalism was an actual profession. And there was a time when dumb people don't get to have a say.

The thing is, good writers are nearing extinction. And it's not even because we're running out of mojo here. I mean come on, there's hardly a completely original thing anymore. Everything is partly derivative.

I have always dreamed of becoming a prolific writer. I mean, it doesn't even have to be to the levels of Stephen King (sheer volume) or JRR Tolkien (Legendary!). I mean, just a published trilogy would be nice (come on, if it's in the fantasy genre, there's no way it'll be finished in book one). Then again that might be asking for too much. Fine, a one-hit-wonder like JD Salinger is really a dream in itself (Don't hate me Salinger fans, but really, do you expect anyone else who knows anything aside from Catcher in the Rye?)

That dream is gone. I say I have let that one go, but I know there's a part of me that still dreams of creating that fiction masterpiece. So I admire Ramon Bautista, who's living my dream of a fantastic webisodes series. I admire Macky Cruz who's still on her way to writing that novel of hers. I envy JK Rowling because of her rags to riches success story. What was it really? Did they take a swig of some mead of poetry? Deal with the devil? There's no way to know how genius occurs.

But I can tell you how success happens. Take the names Stephanie Meyer and EL James. between those two are millions of revenue for extremely bad writing. This is proof that there's no need to be a good writer when you are trapped in a sea of BAD READERS.

This limiter to artistic heights is also evident in television and cinema (here in the Philippines at least). The reason this country still has sappy soap operas on primetime TV is because the better TV shows never get ratings for the masses who simply can't comprehend anything more complicated than tears and vengeance.

So kudos to real writers out there, who continue to improve the craft despite not getting financial success. In behalf of the country's population, I apologize for them dimwitted fools.

There's the clickety-clack of keyboards.
There's the discussion on how to implement a feature.
There's the funny banter.
Then there's the "shhhh" from a power-tripping douche.
There's that annoying but strangely catchy ringtone.
There's a man with a French accent on the speakerphone.
There's that person on the phone again.

There's the weird printer beep.
There's the shockingly loud landline ring.
There's a conversation on Parental Guidance, then the Grand Prix, then kids' Taekwondo.
Nothing makes sense. You put your earphones back on.
The music stops and you listen again.

A few corporate lives ago, we had an officemate who before us, has never taken public transport and has never crossed a street. A few days ago, I read an interesting piece at 2BU (no surprise there). And of course, it brought me back to a few years ago when Tracy Isabel Borres made herself an instant Internet celebrity. (Transcript here grabbed from Pinoyexchange.)

Ah. The Simple Life.

Paris Hilton and ex-BFF Nicole Ritchie

Yeah, the same reasons make the above examples funny. However, the Simple Life lost some of its charm when it started to feel like they were deliberately trying to be stupid (not that they're not). It is still amusing to see how people glorify their state of--to put it in a nicer way--not knowing.

The problem comes up when it goes beyond the charming, and goes for glorifying the cluelessness (it would have been harsh and hopefully incorrect to go with the word stupidity).

Nicole Ki should appreciate the fact that she can afford NOT to ride jeeps on a daily basis. Tracy Isabel Borres shouldn't have put her rants into writing.

We all make mistakes. Some dumber and funnier than others. Sure, blog about first experiences, those are always nice. But try to write well for crying out loud. Wag yung nagpapaka-deep ka!

So, you're rich and missed out on a lot of experiences. Ignorance is bliss. Then you think you're better than seemingly interesting people just because you have rich parents. Meh.

Christopher Lao should have been informed.

Robert Blair Carabuena is pudgy and he's wearing purple. That's why witty Internet residents call him Barney. Also, he bullied that MMDA guy.

L-R: Tito Sotto with brother Vic, and pal, Joey at a time when he still had credibility.

It probably sucks to be insulted by anonymous people on the Internet. They should do a Maricar Reyes. Shut up, disappear. Keep quiet. We've already established that people are dumb panicky animals with the attention span of fungus. When you're a victim of cyberbullying, take it from the Internet: STFU.

Please, stop humiliating yourselves.

Habang lumalaki ang sweldo mo, lumalaki ang tax. Dapat matutuwa ka. Pero hindi, kasi lumalaki din ang nababawas sa 'yo. Sa mga empleyado, tinatawag itong withholding tax. Wala kang takas dahil kinakaltas kagad ito sa sweldo mo.

Mahirap ang kalagayan ng mga empleyado. Paano sila yayaman kung sila lang ang nagbabayad ng tamang buwis? Yumayaman ang mga mayaman, dahil naiiwasan nila ang mawalan ng pera. Pero eto talaga ang mas malungkot, yung mga nakikita nating squatter, yung mga taong nang-aagaw ng cellphone, nandurukot, nanghoholdap.... HINDI SILA NAGBABAYAD NG BUWIS.

Pero saan ba nakukuha ang pang-pondo ng pang-relocate sa mga squatter? Pag may nahuling holdaper, san kinukuha ng gobyerno ang pambayad sa gastusin ng kulungan? Doble ang sakit nito sa mga kawawang biktima na tapat na nagbabayad ng buwis. Dalawang beses silang nanakawan. Nakakalungkot dahil kahit pwede silang mag-ingat para hindi na pisikal na manakawan, ay wala silang takas sa buwis.

May malaking problema tayo dahil sa paraan kung pano nauupo sa pwesto ang mga taong nagnanakaw ng ating buwis. Ito ay dahil halos 90% ng botante ay ang mga taong hindi nagbabayad ng buwis. Kahit na magkaisa ang lahat ng mga taong may utak at may malasakit sa bansa natin, hindi kayang labanan ang puwersang masa. Ang puwersa na laging binibili ng mga pulitiko. Pero bahala ka na, kung gusto mong maniwala na every vote counts. Hindi naman ako eksperto sa statistics.

Paano nga ba makaka-angat ang mga middle-class? May pag-asa pa ba na manaig ang mga matatalino at may silbi na populasyon laban sa mga walang kwentang salot? Mga mahihirap ang pinapaboran ng mga pulitiko. Boto kasi sila. Madaming boto. At yun lang naman ang mahalaga.

Kung umabot ka pa sa talatang ito, alam mo na rin dapat na wala na pag-asa. Mas mahirap ang solusyon pag TAO ang problema mo. Hindi mo naman sila pwedeng ubusin lahat. Dahil sinubukan na yun ni Hitler, at alam natin ang nangyari sa kanya.

SM is currently in hot water for two shooting incidents. The first happened in SM North EDSA where a disgruntled wife shot her husband (who supposedly left her for another woman) then "accidentally" killed a security guard who attempted to stop her from taking her life. That news has barely subsided when another news of a shooting that occurred in an SM Mall surfaced in Twitter. This time, a 13-year old boy shot a 16-year old boy who was supposedly his lover. 

Paninirang puri. An often misused cry when someone points out your mistakes. I think the closest translation to paninirang puri is Slander, but with the frequent misuse, we might have to change that to "speaking the damn truth."