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Showing posts from February, 2012

Long-Distance Relationship--Love Actually!

This kind of relationship existed long before technology is as sophisticated as it is today. No calling, no texting, no emailing--nothing. Only a letter delivered by a postman that could connect one with his or her lover. Yet, despite technological limitations, long-distance relationships persisted. I should be grateful then because I live in an era where communication is not a real hindrance. However, to be fair, the dissemination of technology in communication still has not reached remote areas. My husband lives in Sumatera, an island whose development is said to be second to Java in its advancement. The connection in his hometown is really poor. Domestic calling and texting are still okay, but international calling, texting, whatsoever chatting via internet are far from okay. With hundreds of miles apart and half a day of time difference, I found it really hard just to grasp the reality that it's so hard for me to just "talk" to my husband on a daily basis. We really d

Saul Bellow and Sukarno

The former is a novelist, and the latter is a president--a former and the first President of Indonesia to be precise. So, what is the connection? No way I put the two names with the conjunction "and" in the title if there is no connection. So, I did find the connection between the two. It's not an intimate connection at all, certainly. I doubt the two people knew each other. But, certainly, Bellow knew Sukarno. How do I know? Because in his novel entitled Herzog that I am currently reading for my "Saul Bellow and Louise Erdrich" class, the name of this first president of Indonesia is mentioned, even though in passing.  Here is the excerpt where Sukarno's name can be found: "Through a Japanese trade mission she also met Mr. Nasser and Mr. Sukarno and the Secretary of State and the President." (172) Bellow's narrator, Herzog, is talking about the life of Sono Ozuka, his Japanese lover. Sono is said to be involved with the UN, with a degree of

Me, Women, and PMS or PMDD

Today, as just any other day if I get my menstruation, my stomach really ached. I remember watching an advertisement for  correction of the term referring to the psychological condition  of women before menstruation comes. It said, "PMDD not PMS." PMDD stands for PreMenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, while PMS stands for PreMenstruation Symptoms. The former is not so popular as the latter. Then, I read this particular article which basically says that the two terms co-exist, instead of replacing each other. It is the difference in the degree of severity of the symptoms that distinguish the two. If you are interested in knowing more, you can this article:  http://www.medicinenet.com/premenstrual_dysphoric_disorder_pmdd/article.htm . So, I guess I'm having PMS because PMDD is really severe, according to the article. So severe that one could get so irritable for trivial things. I was irritable too with my husband; we argued over trivial things. I believed I said something that