12.15.2006

can questions make you think?

Could the world change in one moment?

Can fans suck air in rather than blow air out?

Are stars really light bulbs so far away in the universe that we see them as tiny lights twinkling in the distance?

Could all the lovers and friends that you have known come back in a flash and all be waiting for you downstairs for tea?

Can time stand still when we slowly take back the words we don’t want to say but still do and wish we hadn’t?

Will roads move into the sky as cars become airplanes?

Can a man write or sing without the fear of being put down by other people around him for their lack of initiative and not doing anything productive or surprising?

Can we avoid not correcting what we once wrote?

Could anger and pain and fear and everything else just be words and not felt?

Can fame touch me in the fifteenth minute of the fifteenth day of the fifteenth-month?

Can the year have 20 months?

Can you not laugh and think this is unwanted?

Is there one huge soundtrack for life?

Can phone calls ring inside your head?

Can lunch be had for dinner?

Can Mondays not be called Mondays?

Can people have a good and bad meter?

When the bad meter reaches a limit and then good takes over?

Can orphans all over the world be called a family?

Can music be played in outer space?

Can sound be heard with a smile?

Can I come back and continue rambling?

Can magic happen?

Can animal be used to describe a person who’s more civilized than a human?

Can we touch sound?

Can water be an intoxicant?

Can pants be reinvented to look more like jeans?

Can lies be detected by loud beep with a red light on the top of your head?

Can kids have their own planet?

Can there be fewer questions?

And more answers?

Can the highway run through the office?

Can raindrops be an aphrodisiac?

Can cancer be a cold that goes away?

Can miracles come in through the post?

Can a question end with an answer?

Is a kid an adult shrunk to fit?

Are dogs nicer people because they have a shorter lifespan?

Why do people fight?

If you were homeless and hungry would you look at the homeless and hungry differently?

Can flowers grow into the sky?

Have you ever heard the sky complain?

Is the sea a place where all your dreams are wet?

In heaven will angels play the blues or rock n’ roll?

Is forever a long time?

Can a reason be no reason at all?

Do animals know they’re naked?

Can you write a long story and throw it away before anyone else reads it?

What if everyone was running to work?

Will tomorrow make a difference?

Is madness a place were people have cable connections but no remote?

Are words parallel universes?

Will you ever read this to someone on a rainy may morning?

Will you buy me a beer once this is done?

Can people be paid for sleeping?

Why are floors cold?

Can you not try to answer that scientifically?

Are beaches portals to other planets?

Did anyone ever reply to that mail you sent?

Did you return that call?

Did Jesus ever do push-ups?

Is anger a joke gone out of control?

Will you publish my book?

Do sad people make funny faces by themselves?

Have you ever wished so hard for something you never got?

Is love the reason we’re here?

Do elephants wear jogging shoes?

Do you need reservations to go to heaven?

Will the parking be full there?

Are all people inherently nice?

Are people with beards bored of shaving?

Do birds take the bus home from work?

Is this boring you?

When the wind whispers in your ear do you listen quietly?

Where do lost things go?

Do they have a heaven?

Wouldn’t everyone on this planet have lost something or the other?

Can paperclips be the answer?

Does never ever come?

Is someone making the world spin?

Is he getting dizzy?

What takes you to the point of no more?

Can dancing give you hope?

Are you trying to be clever?

If it’s the human race then why aren’t you running?

Is the end of a paragraph the start of a new one?

Is stupidity profound if you look at it the right way?

Is temporary a place where nothing stays the same?

Has God commissioned a writer to script out your life?

Is crazy a word that can be used in a sane world?

Do you believe in magic?

Can you be frank without changing your name?

Is patience something that takes a long time to get?

Will a group of people who disagree on everything jointly agree on dis agreeing?

Doesn’t anyone use full stops anymore?

Do animals listen to music and talk to their friends about it?

Do roads really go anywhere?

Can you walk to the edge of the universe and not fall off?

Do plants ever go green with envy?

Will the questions ever stop?

But why should they?

Does anyone really care?

Is this the place where dreams come true?

Can you answer my questions?

Can we share the world that we have?

Are children the ones with the answers?

Why am I like this?

Do I need help?

Are theses words places where thoughts can hide?

Can I go on like this?

Is love dead?

Is love alive?

Is love the reason why we’re here?

Can I stay here?

Can I love again?

Am I in love now?

Are you reading this?

Or have you gone to sleep?

Are you dreaming?

Are angels watching over you?

Have you forgotten to do something today?

Will you do it tomorrow?

Or the day after?

Will you remember to do it?

Or should I remind you?

Did you brush your teeth in the morning?

Did I?

Why can’t we brush our teeth in the middle of the night?

Or not brush our teeth at all?

Can I keep writing to fill up this page?

Would you really care?

Have you paid money to read this?

Will this whole thing look better if it’s set in a bigger typeface?

Is this the day before tomorrow?

Why do people dream?

Do dogs dream?

Why do we eat food?

Why do we become greedy?

Why are people biased?

Is work the wrong way to live?

Will you ever save the world if you’re stuck in a meeting?

Is money everything?

Are our hands actually legs?

If dreams are sweet why can’t we taste them?

Can you hands be used for walking?

Wouldn’t it be great if all people were blind and deaf and dumb?

Would we help each other then?

Would we lead each other?

Has God dug that ditch we’ll fall into?

Are God and the Devil in cahoots?

Is a spelling mistake really a mistake?

What if the correct spelling's a mistake too?

Don’t you just love the sound of the acoustic?

Why are we so close to other humans?

Are you looking out the window?

What happened to my childhood?

Is it still there?

Can you please bring it back for me?

Is Tull any good?

Do you like the stuff they do?

Is there a copyright on love?

Why don’t people smile at other people?

Would they do it if they got paid for it?

Can people be paid to sleep at work?

Can you imagine an entire office sleeping at work?

Would I be hard work?

Why are all pigs painted pink I cartoons?

What is a movie?

Is it s subconscious attempt at reason in a world filled with none?

Is this the sentence to give faith to all other sentences in a world of unconnected sentences?

Would you start a sentence with and?

And why would you do that?

Isn’t it a crime?

Where is God?

Is he here?

Or here?

And why do you always start His name in capital?

Does He have a Wife?

Are we their kids?

Do you have family pictures?

Can I learn all the chords on the fret board?

Is a new day the start of something new?

What if I woke up early on a Sunday?

Are you drinking enough water?

Would this make one boring book?

Why do people keep secrets from each other?

Do I have to keep speaking to myself?

Are these questions answers in disguise?

Can I have one more chance?

Why do you want to let it go?

Do wishes come true?

Is there love on the other side of the river?

Is there a river on the other side?

Is there another side to the river?

Is there love there?

Is there someone inside you asking you a question?

Can you ignore that question for much longer?

What is it asking you?

Why is there so much air?

Why isn’t anyone breathing?

Why do I feel sleepy all the time?

Do you think I could go on like this?

Am I really any good at this?

What am I good at?

Are empty pages masterpieces that we have to unfill?

Is this already written in the stars?

Did they really land on the moon?

Why am I so lazy?

Is laughter the best medicine?

Have you had it today?

Does a poet really need the pain?

Can’t he have an aspirin instead?

Is purpose a word with ambition?

Is ambition a word with purpose?

Is life an interruption to living?

Is ha a funny word?

Or is ha ha funnier?

Can you?

Seriously?

What?

Do you think this is a waste of time?

Or is it worthwhile?

Why do we try to outsmart each other?

Is a habit?

Is a friend of mine reading this?

Is he or she recommending this to someone else?

Can someone tell me where I am?

Does anyone know where they are?

Do you think I should stop?

Who do you think you are anyway?

Should I write this down or type it out straight away?

Do they have animal police?

Is never a place we’ll never see?

Does a candle lit in one part of the world give light to another part of the world?

Are sleep clouds that walk?

Do dogs talk to each other about taking their masters for a walk?

Do birds play in a band in the evening?

Is magic a reversal of reality?

Can you run around in circles and not fall down?

Are my Parents Gods in disguise?

Is love a drug?

Are all creatures hooked onto to it?

Do cars complain to the roads about going on long drives?

Are cows really jazz musicians?

Would you like to take a walk while I keep writing?

Are they more questions out there?

Do you really think so?

Is wasting time really a waste of time?

Do barbers cut their own hair?

If they do, how do they cut the hair at the back?

Do you irritate people by creaking your chair over and over again?

What if a star fell down into your loo?

Would you flush it away, frame it or sell it to a museum?

If water is running where does it go?

Do you remember all those things you learned in school?

Do you remember the sunlight on your way to the football field?

Do you remember your friends?

Do you wish you where there again?

Do you colour inside or outside the lines?

Do you dance all by yourself?

Is music everywhere?

Are we not really listening?

Should I leave the rest of this page empty?

Can I tap into my subconscious more often?

Do you have the answers?

Can you send them to me?

Can you keep a secret?

Where will you keep it?

Do you think about your old love?

And the promises you made?

What ever happened to those promises?

Where is fame?

Is it around the corner?

How does it look?

Will I know it if it hits me in the face?

Do you need to be lucky to have luck?

Or will plain luck do?

Where are the angels they promised?

Is one sitting next to me?

Is God invisible?

Can I see God if I try hard?

Do fish dream of a dry day?

Do butterflies every cry?

Does the earth know that humans are going nuts?

Is evolution and extinction the way the cycle moves?

Can it be changed with a little thought and understanding?

How many hours do you sleep?

Do you dream of childhood days?

Aren’t they great dreams?

Why do people screw up other people’s trips?

Do they really have to that?

Why do you always think you’re smarter than the person next to you?

Has it become a habit?

Will I ever finish this book?

Are there any answers hidden in the middle of all these questions?

Aren’t jokes really funny things?

Have you heard the one about the horse and the priest?

Why do people fight?

Why do birds fly?

Does that answer you question?

Does heaven have a pub?

Is there a sea in heaven?

Do people live in clouds there?

What are you thinking of right now?

Why can’t pencils come with built in ideas?

Where do rubbers go when they die?

Are they erased?

Why do you always think so much?

Have you ever stopped to listen at the blind man singing on the road?

Do frogs listen to hip hop?

Do flowers change colour after they inhale the factory fumes?

Why is man the dumbest animal of them all?

What if you’re one of the characters in the video game played by some kid sitting in a video game parlour with a running nose?

Do bats play cricket?

Do crickets know how to bat?

Are sparrows trained fighter pilots in disguise?

Do you really think God has a plan for you?

What if it a re-run?

What if it’s one long joke?

Can I end this question with an answer?

Did you see that?

Does love stay in a lonely hotel room down the road?

What if love and hate are really good friends?

Why can’t words be pictures?

Or are they pictures that are painted in your mind?

Does your name have to be the same everyday?

What if you’re really a child wearing grown up clothes?

Do dreams come for a reason?

Or are they just entertainment?

Can God really help us out?

I think it’s been a while?

How about now?

Will night turn into day and vice-versa forever?

Why does that happen everyday?

What if the sun shone at night for a change?

Do dogs ever disco?

Why are you laughing?

What if we could pick the life we wanted to live from a library?

Have your ever tried sleeping on the wall?

Do you know how to pick a lock?

What if it rained right now?

Wouldn’t it be great?

Have you ever fixed a drink by holding your glass up to the sky when it’s raining?

If you knew the answer to life would you share it with me?

If you had enough to eat would you give you food to someone else?

Is five minutes on earth five hundred years on another planet?

Do you have five minutes to spare?

Is your memory always that good?

Why do we make so many mistakes?

Have we ever learned from any of them?

Must have been a good mistake huh?

Did summer ever spring a surprise on you?

Or was it autumn?

What if God called when you were in the loo?

Would he call you back?

What is this whole thing about?

12.07.2006

bookstore love

i was driving to the mall the other day and berating myself for signing up again for 4 nights of 12 hours work in a row when i remembered that it is going to be on christmas week. meaning, i will be at the hospital christmas eve and christmas night and will be spending christmas day sleeping in my pajamas because there's really no point of celebrating it because christmas for me is being with family and my family is nowhere near me right now. sad, i know.

anyways, i was at borders this afternoon and that kinda cheered me up. i looove bookstores! in fact i love them so much that i'm thinking of working in one or (if retirement money permits) have my own bookstore when i retire. ha ha, i wish!

i don't know, bookstores have this atmosphere that keeps me at ease. they're diffrent from libraries. libraries are constricting, bookstores aren't. i noticed that everytime something is bothering me or if i am getting restless with life in particular, browsing through the racks and shelves of books calms me and relieves my stress. this was even when i was still in pinas. when i have a misunderstanding with a co-worker or with my mom or whatever was bothering me before, it's always national bookstore to the rescue.

when i was in pinas, a mall trip for me is incomplete without a stop at national bookstore or even a second hand bookstore such as booksale or was it bookshop? when i meet up with my friends or with my sister after work, the meeting place would always be at a national bookstore. i don't know why? we probably thought it was less painful waiting up for someone who is an hour late if you're distracted by the books... he he.

i've always thought that i would stop buying books when my bookshelves wouldn't have room left in them. wrong! my books are now piling up on my bedroom floor and i still went home today with a copy of neil gaiman's anansi boys from borders. go figure. when i came here three years ago, i practiced as much restraint not to bring all my books along with me. of course my sister was the happiest because i had to leave most of them to her. she made up for it though because when i came home a year after, i brought most of her books with filipino authors back with me to the states.

i don't know if i'll ever get tired of reading. i guess i won't. but lately my schedule has been so terrible that reading a chapter or two in one sitting is out of the question. damn i miss my books!