FOR ME, the five questions to ask a stranger at a party to find out if we are going to be lifelong friends are: his/her true sexuality, political ideologies, religious beliefs, mental issues, and criminal history.
I’m not judgmental in general, but I want to choose my friends at this stage in my life.
I don’t want to deal with people’s bullshit anymore.
I mean, I used to want to be friends with everyone.
Not anymore.
Life is too short to be lived with crappy people.
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My least favorite genre of movies is horror.
Of television, children’s cartoons.
But I do watch horror movies (and children’s cartoons) every now and then just to keep abreast with what’s going on in the world.
As a writer and filmmaker, I want to be updated, and on the loop.
I’m still partial to foreign language, and old Hollywood, films.
I also like the gay films of the LGBTQ category.
But I’m not a big fan of lesbian films.
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Morning coffee with relaxing music, a walk (or run) in the neighborhood when I feel like it, and dancing in the rain are the top three (free) simple pleasures in life that mean the most to me.
If I have to pay (cheaply), then it would be a massage, and alternative content screenings at the cinema (like filmed theatre, ballets, and opera).
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I’m a very lazy person at home.
And I don’t do chores if I can help it.
I hate doing the laundry.
I hate cleaning and dusting the house.
I sort of like cooking.
But with company, or when I’m visiting other people’s homes, I usually volunteer to do the dishes.
And I really like doing the dishes after big parties.
I always tell people it’s my seminary training and experience.
Because I really did like washing the dishes as a chore in the seminary.
More than cleaning the toilet, or gardening.
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I’m proud to say that I’ve prevented a lot of suicides (at least five, and counting), and abortions (at least three, and counting).
I take pride in my work as a life coach.
I’ve given a lot of advice on scholastic and academic choices, on romantic relationships, and the writing life.
But I’m most proud of being with people (I call it my ministry of accompaniment), and giving pro-life advices and perspectives.
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I would really sound presumptuous saying this, but Life (with the capital letter L) is something that I probably know more about than 99% of the world.
You see, at least 99% of the world’s population is limited by the composite of their poverty, morals, education, world experience, and sexual partners.
As a life coach, I’m shocked that most people do not understand the need for balance of love, sex, money, work, and good health.
I know people who are oversexed, but have no experience of real love; and people who seem to have it all, except for a healthy sex life.
I know people who have money, but don’t know how to spend it; and healthy people who are still unhappy.
These people lead me to think that they are clueless about the thing called Life.
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I’ve collected coins, and paper bill monies, in high school.
An uncle was a seaman, and he fed my collection from his travels around the world.
My stamp collection started when I was in the elementary school.
An old neighbor sold me a box of collected stamps for cheap.
Considering we were poor, philately was a most expensive hobby for me because I actually bought sets of stamps in the city.
Usually, these were series stamps of an issue with related design, like a five-butterfly series from Romania, or a seven-marine life series from Australia.
I kept my collection until our house burned down in 1989, when I was about to graduate from the university.
None of my stamp albums survived, and the unmelted coins were so burnt they hurt my eyes, and crush my heart.
I started collecting refrigerator magnets from all my travels since 2006, but my heart is not really into it.
I just continue buying souvenir magnets because I couldn’t stop, and I’m not so poor anymore.
I’m thinking of starting a salt-and-pepper shaker collection, but I’m afraid to start because I’m so purposive about collecting.
Right now, my biggest collections are books (of all disciplines), movies (of all genre, but I’m most proud of my opera collection), and my Audrey Hepburn memorabilia for my own Audrey Hepburn Museum. (500tinaga@gmail.com/PN)
