ｈｅａｄ ｎｏｉｓｅ．

performance task; ©2019

[blessydbe]

𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝔂 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓵.

Writing is the one thing I could only ever wish of being good at and could never have the drive to actually start doing and initially, this blog was made solely for the purpose of compliance to requirements. But along the way, it started to hold things that I could only ever say to myself and never out loud. Quality-wise, it’s still rough around the edges; but if that’s something you won’t mind reading then  ⁠— welcome anyway.

[blessydbe]

KAPE

ilang kape pa ba // para mamulat at lumaya

[blessydbe]

Fire Exit

The jeepney finally stopped after Ramona almost screeched multiple “Para po!” at the driver, and while she hasn’t even fully gotten down of the vehicle, it already started moving. This sudden force caused her to lose hold of the stuff bound by her right arm. Pissed off, she gathered her things and let out a loud curse after she saw her newly bought journal dented on the upper right of its cover. It only had one entry so far and it was yesterday March 17, 1996.

In annoyance, Ramona took the several miles walk towards the thrift store. She runs her hand along the guardrail as she pushes its door inwards. Most infrastructures in their area had doors that open that way in accordance with feng shui practices, doors that open outwards supposedly drive away good feng shui. Upon entry, the overwhelming variety of clothing selection and random second-hand relics greeted her. It smelled like a thousand homes at once. Her purpose was to find something to wear for her night out the next day; the only event she was anticipating the whole week besides her graduation. Their local disco has a 50 percent off promo for the grad season.

She made her way first to the clothing rack nearest to the door. To no luck, the clothes were all crappy, archaic clothes her grandma would probably wear. She wanted tie-dye shirts, jumpers, and just anything artists she sees on MTV videos would wear. But her keen search was interrupted when she caught sight of something from the relics’ divider. Her hand freezes midway as she starts to make her way towards the other side of the store, and as soon as she arrives, she grabbed the leather journal on the first row, more worn out and dented but it was just like her own. The first page wrote two entries under the date yesterday and the day after it. The latter a scratch from a newspaper page with a photo of several people toppled on top of each other against a closed door with a “Pull” sign on it; the headline reads “Ozone inferno kills 150.”

[blessydbe]

Toxic

Toxic is anything that has the ability or at least the potential to harm someone or something. It can take on many forms; for one, it can exist on objects, in the form of wastes and substances. Toxicity is how much a synthetic substance or a particular attribute of something can damage another. That’s why, when immaterial things or situations (i.e relationships, friends, masculinity, etc) manifest characteristics that already harm someone, they’re usually also defined to be toxic.

[blessydbe]

Off the Grid

— Charlotte Ager, Times Square

As someone who was born already amidst the transition between analog machinery to automated devices, it’s especially hard for me to imagine what life would be like without technology given that I didn’t get to experience it. Therefore, at least for me, I would have to agree. However, one thing that I find it fascinating is the fact that even after many years since computers first came, we still have to talk about it like it’s something that is new.

A possible reason for this is the variation in terms of people’s dependence on technology based on factors such as age, culture, socio-economic status, etc. Places that rely on industries are more likely to have a higher dependence on it. Therefore, people in developing countries might be less dependent compared to people in developed states like Japan, for instance. This goes the same way ethnic minorities have customs that rest mostly on cultural heritage and nature and therefore do not depend or at the very least, find it a necessity to have technology. Poor people who don’t have the means to afford technology, has to learn to survive with little to no aid coming from it. These are only some of the instances that manifest how dependence on technology is not absolute and that it still requires some level of privilege to access. This is particularly harmful, especially for the poor that tries to hustle in the same environment that requires at least basic knowledge of technology. It makes them automatically fall short within the race.

But on a larger scale, regardless of these factors, technology has contributed a lot to different fields of study. It paved the way for a great deal of scientific and medical breakthroughs, allowing us to live in the world that scientists of our past envisioned. It lets us connect to people like never before; serving as a platform of communication and commerce. If anything, some people have become overly dependent on technology not because they choose to, but because it has already become an integral part of societies and deemed essential for progress. The only thing is, there are people being left behind; and as everything becomes easier for us, it becomes harder for them to keep up.