Vanity. It’s my favorite sin
— Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate

It’s the eve of the new Lunar Year and let’s all say goodbye and thank you to the Pig and say hello and welcome to the Earth Rat. It’s always nice to reflect on what we’ve done in the past year and also, check what’s in store for us in the Year of the Rat!

So What Did I Do in the Year of the Pig?

The Year of the Pig will be a memorable year for me because it was in August 2007 when I started blogging. Marc encouraged me to join the Pinoy Blogosphere’s Buwan ng Wika Blog Writing Contest. And so I entered my first post, Ang Mother Tongue at Lingua Franca (along with its English version). Writing that essay made me feel like I was in high school again. It felt great to be able to express my self and my ideas. Blogging has allowed me to write anything and everything I want to write about. Every time I write in my blog, I get to live out my childhood dream of becoming a writer.

I love to write. No words can describe the pleasure that I get from being able to put words together in a sentence or in a verse, the joy of seeing the essence of my quantum thoughts distilled on a page. What’s more is that I can immediately share my writing with others. And here’s the best part - Not only do I get to share my writing, I also get to read other people’s writings and we can discuss and share ideas online. What a concept! No wonder so many people are getting hooked on blogging.

And as I look back on the things I’ve blogged about, I see a pattern. I always write about political change, social reforms, personal development, freedom from religious tyranny, yada yada ya. But I guess this is me. These are the things I love to write about. Maybe, that’s how it is. Maybe we all have our own unique voice and we do what we can to develop that voice. I mean, you can’t expect 50 Cent to do rock songs. And we’ll all be surprised if we hear Justin Timberlake singing country. You know what I mean.

So to check if this is really my “thang”, I took the Political Compass test, as recommended to me by cvj when I made a comment in Manuel L Quezon III’s blog. And here’s the result of my Political Compass Test:

And according to the analysis of the Political Compass, I’m in good company. For in the left-libertarian quadrant, you’ll find the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. And that’s not all - According to Carlos Jugo, most local bloggers are in the same quadrant as me. Now that’s even better company!

So that’s why I blog about those things. You know - reform, changing the status quo, development, progress, liberalism, etc. It’s in these topics that I feel at home. It’s in these topics where I’m in my element. It’s in these topics where I can find my voice. (This makes me wanna do the Little Mermaid song now… Wish I could be, part of your world… I’m ready to know what the people know, Ask ‘em my questions and get some answers, What’s a fire and why does it - what’s the word? Burn?)

Okay, okay. Enough of the singing. Let’s move on to the next part of this vanity post. Checking what’s in store for me in the Year of the Rat. What do my lucky stars and my Chinese horoscope hold for me in the Year of the Rat. But before we do that, let me just remind myself of the age-old adage, You make your own luck. Yeah, yeah! Tell that to Paris Hilton.

Okay, so let’s look into my Chinese horoscope. Gotta trust the Chinese, you know. They invented paper, gunpowder, the compass, money, fireworks, the wheelbarrow, and many others. And let’s not forget that the Chinese community form the backbone of entrepreneurship in the Philippines.

So I checked out the website, http://chinese.astrology.com/.

I was born on the 2nd of September, 1977. This makes me a slytherin, in Hogwarts-speak. Here’s the profile of someone born in the Year of the Snake:

Man, the snake description is spot-on. Notice that it reminded me that I must try to learn humility. I don’t think that’s gonna happen in this post though. Vanity and humility, simply don’t go together.

Anyway, on with the show. My chinese element is Fire:

Wow! It’s all starting to make sense. Now I can see why I write the way I write. Now I see why this is my voice. This is definitely a Neo moment.

Going back to the Year of the Rat, here are some excerpts from www.chinese.astrology.com:

The Rat is the first sign of the Chinese zodiac and signifies new beginnings. This year is thus an appropriate time to start new ventures, especially groundbreakings. This includes new ideas, directions, and ways of doing things. It is a time to experiment and put plans into action, as there will be plenty of opportunities to achieve success. Something to consider is that which is begun now is likely to have long term consequences, so choose wisely to enrich your life. Interestingly this is an equally good time for thinking and all kinds of intellectual endeavors. Planning, scholarship and research, for example, are favorable activities. It is also an auspicious time for the arts; although, under Earth’s influence, applied arts such as design and graphics may do best.

And what’s in store for a slytherin on fire in the Year of the Rat:

The long and the short
Well, this post has been all about me, hence the title. But it’s always good to share the love. So I wish you a happy and prosperous Year of the Rat! I wish you all the blessings and love that this world has to offer. You deserve it, my beloved reader. I hope we can continue to talk about personal and social topics here in my weblog, in your blog if you have one, and in other places. I hope we can be friends (online and in-person). I wish you all the best in 2008! (The year is actually 4706 already in the Chinese world and 1428 for our Muslim brothers who celebrated last October). Again, all the best to you this year and in the years to come!

Before I finish, I’d like to share this with myself, and you, of course. According to About.com, the Year of the Rat is a blockbuster year for Snakes, who will be presented with a wealth of opportunities, both at work and play. Snakes should be quick to strike at new opportunities as success is all but guaranteed.

So it’s a blockbuster year for me. Maybe I should start writing a script for a movie with me as the leading actor. Something like Sylvester Stallone’s mega-blockbuster, Rocky. Umm, maybe not. Maybe, it’ll be something else. Now what can that be? Sometimes, being uncertain about what’s in the cards is what gives life its spice and excitement.

Didn’t do too well with the singing earlier, so maybe I’ll just leave you with a poem from the heart:

What can the blockbuster be
For a fiery slytherin like me
The thrill is in the uncertainty
We’ll have to wait and see

Best wishes,

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Image credits:
http://chinese.astrology.com
http://lifeboat.com/images/neo.matrix.jpg
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/hogwarts/houses/slytherin.html

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