Been Busy Lately with Other Writing Sites

Freelance writers have so many works to do.

One day I may find myself hooked in a paid-to-write site when a good client asked for some articles. Then another day in a revenue-sharing site that pays so much among the sites today. I returned to that site after being inactive for some months since December 2013 due to some issues. Returned in June when I found my cash nearing redemption. So I said I will "test the waters" if I will get my payment.

I got it! They paid me. That was nice, a very good income for a home-based Mom like me who wants to still write and earn, and enjoy home at the same time.

So now, I am back there, along with other revenue-sharing sites that I visit once in while. Strike while the  iron is hot, so they say. So am doing that. In the meantime, I may post here once in a while to be in touch with you my dear friends.

Thanks for visiting and reading.

Karma Works

While at my sister-in-law's wake, I got to talk with the mother of my best friend, who was slain while inside a cargo ship years ago. This was a continuation of my other blog last  July 4 entitled: Old Songs Remind Us of Past Events.

It was good she was there, to fill in the missing data in my blog. It was a clear story of karma.

She said my friend will soon be installed as the captain of the cargo ship that was then sailing in Norway. But he was found dead inside his cabin with stab wound. The suspect was a Filipino who got jealous for the position given to my best friend.

The suspect allegedly was about to dump the body of my best friend into the sea, but some nuns discovered the plan, so the suspect got caught and penalized for his crime. It was unclear how the nuns got into the ship. The nuns were the ones who communicated with my best friend's wife about the incident. They helped repatriate the body (cadaver).

It reminded me that my best friend served as altar helper, or a priest's assistant during Mass. It could be the first work of good karma for him. He was religious and served the church, so the nuns, gave back to him his good deeds as church helper.

The suspect served his sentence in a jail in Norway for several years. The suspect returned to his province in Northern Luzon, Philippines. It was reported that while in a drinking spree, he was stabbed by one of his drinking buddies. That was the second case of the workings of karma for my best friend.

What do you think?

Old Songs Remind Us of Past Events

When you hear an old song, does it remind you of the past, it could be a happy or a sad one. It could be about a person, a relative, or anybody important to you.

Just this morning, while my husband was listening to old favorites, those folk songs from the early 70's or 80's, the song "The Greenfields" by Brothers Four, was played. (I just searched the internet for the name of the singers).

That song was always sung by my best friend, who was also a close relative,  during high school. He had such a nice voice, that he was always the one tasked to sing after the nightly rosary and floral offering held during vacation, in May.We were neighbors, almost all related to each other, who met after dinner,  prayed and offered flowers to the image of the Virgin Mary. 

We perform  the so-called "Flores de Mayo," (Flowers of May) where we offered flowers to the image of the Virgin Mary. We had a makeshift "chapel," the front terrace in the home of a former teacher/researcher at the University of Maine. She was a very intelligent woman, a former Philippine government scholar, a Chemical Engineer, who opted to retire and went back to the Philippines. She became our leader in the nightly floral offerings and rosaries. 

And so my best friend, always sang his masterpiece, "The Greenfields." We were in high school then. 

I got no news what happened to him when I went to college. I was already in my day job as a journalist when I learned that he died mysteriously in the cargo ship where he served as its Captain. He was intelligent, specially in Mathematics. Maybe he studied about Seamanship or Navigation Course in college.

His death remained a mystery. His mother said she did not know if there was foul play. I did not have the detailed account of the cause of his death. Communication then from Manila to the province was hard, unlike today where there is internet and mobile phones. So news like that happen without the knowledge of relatives in some far places. 

Joining Fraternities Could Be Fatal

Joining fraternities could be fatal these days.

One such incident happened recently when an 18-year old student from the College of St.Benilde in Manila died during an initiation rite of a fraternity.

I was thinking of a topic for a post at one of my writing sites, the Day2daytips.com, a Filipino-owned revenue-sharing site, when I heard and saw on television, aired by Jiggy Manicad of GMA channel 7 about the incident.

It was heartbreaking to see a young man being dragged by some two or three companions out of a room apparently to take him to a hospital or somewhere.

The victim was clad in green basketball shorts, usually worn by a La Salle student. My son is always wearing one, which he got when he was still a member of the lawn tennis varsity team at La Salle.

For a mother who also has a son almost that age, I was terrified. How much more of the real parents of the victim? It was tragic, so senseless loss.

How could the culprits done it? Were they in their right minds when they did the hazing? Didn't they know the limits of physical endurance?

Were they intoxicated with liquour or banned drugs that they inflicted that torture to a young man?

Hope that the justice be served and the culprits learn their lessons.

Though there are laws against hazing, it has no teeth, and even if schools banned fraternities, it is the student who should have the right discretion.