trust me, this is the only time I used my title, so please just call me V.
would you
…
allow me to write –
devour the blank pages?
Inscribe the thunder of emotions
translated into prose & verses.
would you
…
allow me to write –
freely, wholeheartedly?
allow me to write –
fearlessly, consistenly?
please do
…
allow me to write –
allow me to breathe.
allow me to write –
the space to be nothing but me.
They called it quarter life crisis,
an existential dilemma one cannot escape.
A phase one simply goes through,
forget even as the worlds keeps on spinning.
A period of confusion and epiphany,
a small hurdle in the long run of fate.
Is this the face of failure or shot in success –
oh such feeling of youth, full of unrest.
In celebration of Bad Poetry Day (18th August), I made a little poem that talks about the ‘bad’ phase one goes through at 25.
A faint light is trying to seep in through the curtains draped with flower patterns of blue and green. The air felt damp – it has been drizzling all night again. Her room sets a scene of a melancholic view – the way the light touches the deep blue wall, the feeling of sadness eminent in the space. Staring at the ceiling, she took a deep breath, what came out was a heavy sigh. Then another.
“Life”, she grumbled to herself. It’s a start of a new day and she knows better than to fill it with worries and the problems of yesterday. She knows better, yes. But the bed is holding on to her, cradling her in the stream of her emotions.
She took another deep breath. 1…2… inhale. 1…2… She let it all out. A series of more focused breathing that made her seem like trapped in a trance if anyone sees her. In her mind, that’s all there is to it – the flow of the air through her nose, her core, her peace. A much needed serenity. Her escape from the harsh toll of reality.
Hurried knocks on the door broke her meditation. It brought her back to the world in a snap. Like a switch that clicked, she gathered up all the courage to face the day that she could muster, all while quickly fixing her hair in a tight bun. Two more banging on the door as she grab hold of the handle.
She knows exactly who is waiting impatiently on the other side of the door – the reason for her fight, the purpose of her being. She looked down and saw the dark brown eyes that resembles hers, the soft warm cheek against the pale weather, the grin that keeps her world spinning. “Mom, I want pancakes”, the little boy demanded.
Tried to write a bit of a short fictional piece inspired by the The Mindful Modus’ Beginners Guide to Mindfulness, and a short chat with my mom after not being able to talk to her for a few weeks.
If you’re on social media, I’m pretty sure you have encountered a couple of picture or stories of cute animal characters from your peers, friends, and even celebrities you follow. Released on March, just about when quarantine started on most countries, Animal Crossing: New Horizons took the world by storm. It’s an addition to the Animal Crossing franchise from Nintendo, but this latest game caters to their newly portable console, the Nintendo Switch and its Lite variant. Nintendo sales have garnered an all time high during this period and this game is one of the reasons why.
The Animal Crossing: New Horizons was surrounded by so much hype mainly due to the reason that it has been eight years since the last game in the franchise was introduced, and that it offers an endless possibility in a controlled and limited life in quarantine. The addition boasts of features that gamers are excited about from autosaves to remote island life. Here are some of the reasons why everyone took on the Dodo Airline Ride:
Animal Crossing: New Horizons paved a way for us escape the harsh reality that we get to face everyday. Even with the above stated features, I believe that the main selling point of the game was the open-ended style and the freedom of the players to take control of their own world – an option you don’t really get to enjoy in real life. Endless possibilities, escape from the pandemic, and witty animal friends – I mean what’s not to like?
I’m planning on doing a giveaway of my stuff and bells as I plan to start my island from scratch. If you want to join or simply looking for an item or colorway of an item, let me know in the comment below. 🙂
Skulls and roses,
the heart and the mind,
Thoughts and emotions,
butterflies and bones;
each are alike,
yet each seems to oppose.
*
Through rise and fall,
of celestial orbs;
Through the constant tick and tock
of mechanical clocks;
Through doubts and indecision,
suddenly,
a magical moment found.
*
Years passed,
caged in an enchanted sleep;
Yet in this magical night,
and the splendor of words,
ignites the sleeping beast
The notebook in the photo was what I once called as my perfect notebook the moment I laid my eyes on it. I can’t seem to find the courage to start writing on it since it was given to me as a gift. I hold it with so much reverie that I think that my thoughts and my emotions aren’t worthy enough for the blank pages it beholds. In fact, I even searched and bought for a new one. Yet, just only last night, this magical moment happened, and I was finally able to gather up the confidence that I need to start devouring the pages and fill it with my own wonder.
I stare at the keys, taunting me
illuminating blue light, dark thoughts
it’s crazy how these feelings do.
Raw, unfiltered, unmasked
letting it all go in heavy, little presses.
Where to start, how to continue?
Ten thousand more hours I need,
to make little pieces that count.
Trying times, jaded mind,
the white canvas, blank lines
my bunker underneath this mess.
A scream of plea, a cry for help,
created a world to keep me safe.
She stared at the mirror, familiarizing her every feature. Trying to hold on to her own identity, the one unstained, untouched by him.
Her eyes – dark as her soul, outlined by a regal thin wall of blue as he said. Her nose – how often does he pinch it when in a playful mood. Her lips – how his brushed it softly, passionately, intensely. Her hair – he has always loved the wild, long curves of her hair. Has always admired how it falls gracefully right down her shoulders and chest.
She stared at the mirror, she can only see traces of him. Traces he left behind when he shut the door. Traces of him all over her body. How badly does she want to take all of him out of her; out of her body, out of her mind, out of her life.
She stared at the mirror.
In her eyes, she see fire. A fire set on her soul. A fire that burns brightly, so bright he could not even touch the surface. A fire so pure, no remnants of him can be found.
She stared at the mirror. Closed her eyes, took hold of her hair. Snip. Snip. Snip. The wild long curves falling recklessly on the ground. Snip. Snip. Snip.
She stared at the mirror. She saw herself.
one last time, I told myself
look you in the eyes,
feel the tenderness of your lips.
one last bottle, as i empty another
enough tears and such sad music,
shut these mem’ries that linger.
one last drag, huffed and puffed.
the warm comfort of your touch,
now part of my haunting past.
must’ve been kismet, or call it fate
maybe just my own sinful measure.
count the chug, the drag, all the tears i’ve shed
in your arms, my walls could never deliver.
again, staring at those deep dark eyes,
forever – my undoing, i’ll surrender.
A week from now, I will be conducting a training on a Power BI for a private firm in the Philippines. As our organization’s technology specialist in Data Analytics, talking about Power BI should pose as an as easy task given my familiarity with the tool. However, as days pass, I find myself a bit nervous. So I decided to finally write about something data related in this blog. After all, there’s a whole page dedicated to this.
I was first exposed to the world of business intelligence in my first job – I was hired as an Associate Software Engineer for a known multinational outsourcing company just right after I passed my board exam. It was not in direct relation to my degree (Electronics and Communication Engineering), however I find myself pleased and doing well during the bootcamp. That’s when I find myself deeply interested in the field of business intelligence and data analytics. Needless to say, I was taught various tools to be used in this field, which includes Power BI.
Power BI is a Microsoft’s business analytics service consisting of apps, services, and connectors that turns data into reports and dashboards. It is composed of an application called the Power BI Desktop wherein reports are curated and made from various compatible data sources and connectors using immersive and interactive visuals, a Software as a Service (SaaS) called as Power BI service where dashboards can be seen and made online, and the Power BI mobile application which is available for both Android and IOS devices.
Being another Microsoft product, Power BI Desktop shares the ease of use and UI most people are familiar with. It helps that it follows and shares functions used in Power Query in Excel, which makes formulating your calculations easier. It also has intellisense enabled when creating your calculations or queries, which helps beginners and professionals alike when using built-in functions. The Power BI Desktop is pretty straightforward and can be used by beginners and hobbyists to create their own reports. Of course, complexity of the measures or data transformation may vary, but generally speaking, it is easy enough to learn and use even for people without much data science or math background.
In addition to it being dubbed as self-service BI tool, it also has a lots of supported data sources both on cloud and on premise such as Azure SQL Database, local Excel files, flat files on One Drive, SharePoint lists, Salesforce, Dynamics 365, and OData feed to name a few. Once published to its SaaS Power BI Service, a refresh schedule can be arranged so that your report always have the freshest data available to your use.
These data sources can be easily prepped, manipulated and transformed to create visually immersive reports with interactive visuals by simply using the old but reliable drag and drop function into the report canvas. Published reports can be shared to the organization with secure features such as row level security or can easily be embedded to websites and applications.
As for its benefits, Power BI when used to show insights on data can provide data driven decisions for an organization. Business intelligence is an emerging trend in the industry now, and as we move further along with technology, a bit of knowledge on this fields can benefit us in the long run. Here are some reasons why you should consider learning this easy to learn but powerful tool.
If you have questions or need some tips, kindly let me know by commenting on this post. I’ll be glad to help! 🙂
My whole body trembling,
pressed my foot, held tighter,
Going on superhuman speed,
the world flashing in red and green.
The chance I see is all it takes,
my fate to be etched forever.
A silver knight riding before me,
an opportunity to seize – I’m ready.
The voice urged; I pushed further,
took the battle to the sharp curve.
A fraction of a second it took,
the knight, the curb, my world.
I fought, I spun, and shuddered –
more is what I deserved.
Inspired by one of the moments in the eventful race that begins the Formula 1 2020 season. Looking forward to see more exciting races for the rest of the season.
engr. v writes 