Dispatches by Adrian Conoza

Hours are now remaining before December 25: Christmas Day. Let us not forget the true meaning of Christmas: CHRIST MOST. In Christmas, we should not "X" Christ. It's a celebration of His birthday, and He is the heart of this season. In Him, there is peace , there is salvation . I learned them in Our Daily Bread . May we all enjoy this celebration of the birth of our Savior. Grace....Peace....and Love be with us all! Here are some bits and pieces regarding Christmas..Merry Christmas! Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where He lay, The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. "Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind.  To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy,  is to have the real spirit of Christmas." -Calvin Coolidge "The best of all gifts around any  Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family  all wrapped up in each other." -Burton Hill

This Christmas would be a different Christmas for me, even for others. First, after lots of work at school, I still couldn't feel it's Christmas. I think it's because I'm strained at working and toiling for the sake of good grades, forgetting that I have to enjoy Christmas. But now, I can enjoy it at last. Also, I'll learn to be creative and meaningful of my gifts. I won't buy and buy. Those are just examples of how my Christmas would be different. But here's the thing that really makes this Christmas different: It's two Christmases.   One Christmas would be almost a cold season, with parols shining everywhere and Christmas trees flashing with colorful lights. The other is a tragedy of flashfloods. People swimming through vast of floods, people around rubble, people around darkness.  One Christmas would be a joyous celebration for families, for relatives. They'll be together in a table, eating that delicious noche buena, the Christmas ham being the

As a young boy, I'll usually get to listen to RJ 100 , an adult contemporary--that's the genre of the music they're playing--radio station in the Philippines. Also, I'll listen to songs from CDs containing mostly 80s music. And as I grew up, my interest in old school music went on. As a freshman, I listened to such stations like 99.5 RT , Magic 89.9 , 96.3 Easy Rock and 105.1 Crossover for nice old school music. I listened and searched for music from bands like Men Without Hats, Fra Lippo Lippi, V.S.T and Co., Bee Gees, Naked Eyes, Eurythmics, Industry, JoBoxers, The Go Go's, Nena, Toto, Huey Lewis and The News, Hall and Oates; and artists like Rick Astley, Phil Collins, and Michael Jackson on the Internet. But most of all, my interest for old school music grew during this recent summer and as a sophomore. As I spent my sweet summer before I went on 2nd year in high school, I learned about Tears for Fears, China Crisis,Level 42,our very own bands here like The Daw

Author's Note : Whoever might be offended by my post, apologies in advance. Doing school works at very long hours makes me zapped at times. Since I was a sophomore, my hours if work at my house extended; and my body had to go on hard times.I'll usually sleep at 2 a.m.,1 a.m, or at midnight (probably, the earliest of them). Every now and then, effort seems to be similar to staying late at night. But not every time I extend my working hours, I become productive or get good grades. Even before I enjoy Christmas, I have to toil and exert effort. Decenber15.Thursday. One day left before the Christmas party and before I can break myself free. I spent long hours doing a project. I made and painted cards, It took me 6 hours (starting at Wednesday) to do that. Patience and effort was kindly kept as I painted my drawings on the cards. I then slept for but a short while: at least 2-3 hours. I continued doing that project at school. From the time I went inside, I refurnished and finished m