30 Day Challenge, Day 6: Your favourite superhero and why

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They were my favourite superheroes growing up and to this day, I have a soft spot for them. (Yes, even Kimberly. Especially Kimberly.)

However, if I were to pick my favourite superhero based on why, it would have to be Batman. He wasn’t born an alien with superhuman skills like Kal-El/Superman or as the Chosen One like Buffy. Unlike Kimberly, he wasn’t given a power coin that enabled him to tap into the power of the Pterodactyl and enabled him to command an oversized robot. 

He’s just a regular man who chose to defend and protect people as redemption of sorts.

He chose to be a hero, although reluctant to be labeled as such. There’s darkness in him and yes, quite a few undesirable characteristics like brooding and being a playboy. But despite this darkness, he makes the effort to fight through it so that others may live in light and love. His is a story born from loss and took flight in the wings of vengeance, but ultimately ends in redemption.*

*Christian Bale’s portrayal of Batman is bang on. He’s truly the best actor of my generation.

Quote of the Week

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 This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without wings. 

--Mevlana Rumi 

30 Day Challenge, Day 5: A picture of somewhere you've been to

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ISCHIA, ITALY

30 Day Challenge, Day 4: A habit you wish you didn't have

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Code switching . 

30 Day Challenge, Day 3: A photo of you and your friends

Spring 2009. L-R: Mischief (a.k.a. R), me and my BFF Bliss (a.k.a. J).

Quote of the Week

Some people are afraid of what they might find if they try to analyze themselves too much, but you have to crawl into your wounds to discover where your fears are. Once the bleeding starts, the cleansing can begin.

--Tori Amos 

Thank you and farewell, Steve Jobs

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Quote of the Week

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We are all pink on the inside. The beauty is in our differences.

--P!nk 

Quote of the Week

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Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content. 

--Helen Keller    

"Alive" (P.O.D.)

Everyday is a new day
I'm thankful for every breath that I take
I won't take you for granted (I won't take you for granted)
So I learn from my mistakes
It's beyond my control
Sometimes it's best to let go
Whatever happens in this lifetime
So I trust in love (So I trust in love)
You have given me peace of mind

I, I feel so alive for the very first time
I can’t deny You
I feel so alive
I, I feel so alive for the very first time
And I think I can fly

Sunshine upon my face (Sunshine upon my face)
A new song for me to sing
Tell the world how I feel inside (tell the world how I feel inside)
Even though it might cost me everything
And now that I know this, so beyond, I can't hold this
It's like I can never turn my back away
And now that I’ve seen You (and now that I see You)
I can never look away

I, I feel so alive for the very first time
I can’t deny You
I feel so alive
I, I feel so alive for the very first time
And I think I can fly

And now that I know You (I could never turn my back away)
And now that I see You (I could never look away)
And now that I know You (I could never turn my back away)
And now that I see You (I believe no matter what they say)

I-I feel so alive (feel so alive)
for the very first time (for the very first time)
for the very first time, and I think I can fly.
I-I feel so alive (feel so alive)
for the very first time and I think I can fly,
and I think I can fly, and I think I can fly

30 Day Challenge, Day 2: The meaning behind your blogger name

the UNchecked other refers to both my being hapa and ethnicity/race identification government forms.  In some forms, there is a box called other in lieu of multiracial/multiethnic or mixed. It may sound silly to some and maybe something only fellow hapas can truly understand, but I've always rebelled against the checking of any of these neat little boxes. Most of the time I write hapa or mixed, but sometimes I simply write in HUMAN.

To be hapa is to live in the borderlands, and to exist in these amalgam lands means that I refuse to check one box in those optional race questions on forms. To choose one race over the other would be to negate the other parts that make me, me. If I check other, it would imply that hapa people such as myself have no place that warrants being named. In my cultures—Native or otherwise—not having a name means that you neither exist nor matter. Unseen and unheard, you are a ghost, stripped of the dignity of what it is to be human.

Conversely, I refuse to say I am a quarter this, half that, or part these. Hapa identity is a whole identity that is made from whole ethnicities, races, cultures, traditions, and people. I refuse to be divided into neat little fractions. My ancestry comes as a whole and manifests its influence over me in a uniquely all-encompassing hapa way.

With my held held high, I choose to be the UNchecked other.

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30 Day Challenge, Day 1: A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

Partly to get my 'okole on the blogging groove again and mostly because one of my friends has hounded me on FB to do one of these things, I've decided to hop on the 30 Day Challenge bandwagon. So here goes...

I attempted to go for the "pensive" look, but ended up with "constipated." Duuuuuuude....

1. As the sidebar of this here blog subtly declares, I'm HAPA, or mixed race. The short version is that my da was Hawaiian-American and my mom's of Spanish, Filipino, AmerIndian and Chinese descent, but was born and raised in the Philippines.

2. I can speak 8 languages fluently and about a dozen if you include the languages that I can speak at an intermediate level.

3. Like dear ole Harry Potter, I look like my dad but have my momma's eyes. 

4. When I was a kid, I was afraid of Santa Claus. I always thought the notion of a stranger keeping tabs on whether you were naughty or nice was stalker-y. Then there's the whole sneaking into the house through the chimney. Yeaaaahhhh....

5. I went to a Catholic school almost all of my life, and I constantly got in trouble for saying that Jesus was a zombie because He rose from the dead after 3 days.

6. I also got in trouble for saying Catholics are cannibals with the whole drinking the blood and eating the body of Christ.

7. It's been about 16 years since I last played the mandolin and bandurria, but when I picked up a mandolin at a music store, it was as though no time has passed. I can still play Church songs from memory. 

8. I cannot whistle or snap my fingers.

9. I'm afraid to light a match or a lighter...totally the opposite of a pyromaniac. 

10. In addition to a shoe and bag addiction, I also collect fountain pens, Filofaxes and angel figurines.

11. My hair used to be almost knee-length, but now I'm addicted to short hair. 

12. My momma is one of my best friends.

13. My other bff and I met in Tibetan Buddhism class.

14. My ultimate goal is to start my own non-profit organization that offers livelihood programs and education for honour crime and conflict survivors. 

15. I really, really, really wanna move to Turkey. Like, right now. But realistically, it'll have to wait until at least next year or so.