Last song syndrome

Netnet Camomot

“I CAN’T help falling in love/I fall deeper and deeper the further I go/Kisses sent from heaven above/They get sweeter and sweeter the more that I know.”

Last song syndrome a.k.a. LSS galore. Kanta na lang you?

Sing is the English translation of the verb version of kanta. Urban Dictionary says it means “to rat on someone, or to report on them, usually to the police.” The same dictionary says it has an acronym—SING—which means “Sorry I’m Not Gay.” It further explains: “It’s when young girls say something like, I love you! And then they say SING… to tell the other person that it is in a no homo way.”

And Urban Dictionary provides an example. “Person 1: Hey man! I love you, but SING! Person 2: SING too.”

President Rody Duterte has been extremely vocal even during his presidential campaign about his war on drugs. When he became president, it should have been understood among all Pinoys that his term won’t be friendly to anything related to drugs. So, if you’re using, buying, selling, or merely looking at illegal drugs, the rule is to make a 180-degree turn and take advantage of this war as your hibernation period. There are many addictions not covered by the Philippines’ Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act (RA 9165). Take your pick: food, alcohol, smoking cigars, cigarettes, e-cigarettes.

Better yet, you should have read RA 9165 before it’s too late.

Illegal drugs have ruined many lives. And in the present administration and the extrajudicial killings that it’s alleged to have condoned, ruin may mean more than the addiction itself.

There are videos showing the effects of the zombie drug, fentanyl, whose victims do resemble zombies.

Videos of the victims of the street drug, Flakka, are also posted on Facebook like as if they’re simply a day in paradise.

Addiction has to start somewhere. There’s this new research that reveals any form of addiction as a result of the lack of love in one’s life.

I always see faith as faith in oneself. There are people who have faith in God, but they use that as some foundation they can lean on.

A bank has this ad, “Para kang nakasandal sa pader.” And that’s who or what God is to some believers: Bahala na ang Diyos.

Uncle Ben in the movie, “Spider-Man,” has this oft-quoted line: “With great power comes great responsibility.” That must be how God feels whenever Pinoys say, Bahala na ang Diyos.

Faith in God should also translate to faith in yourself.

Faith equals love. So, if you have faith, you have love. And that’s supposed to be the source of all your decisions. If you love yourself, then you’ll take good care of yourself and not destroy yourself. Simple.

But human beings love to complicate things. Like speeding up communication lines. Thus, he invents the phone that can do everything, with the aim of simplifying his life, but ends up alone, communicating only through that phone.

If he has no time to cook his own food, there’s fast food, instant coffee, instant noodles. The health suffers but, hey, craving sated.

If there’s one thing Homescapes and Gardenscapes are teaching me, it’s this: I’m wasting precious time with online games. No, wait, that’s not…

Repeat. If there’s one thing online games are teaching me, it’s this: Patience is a virtue.

Being stuck in one level for at least a month can be a test of one’s perseverance in reaching the goals set by these games’ creators. They do give hints, which usually have me thinking, Yeah, right. Because I gotta feeling those hints are meant to extend the month to a year of wasting time with that level. Praning much? Haha!

By the way, that’s one of the effects of addiction: Praning. But that’s for illegal drugs.

For food, the effects are fats, bilbil, spare tires, mile-wide hips, logs in lieu of legs, cottage-cheese thighs, recovering knee, and the siopao face, kulang na lang that yellow or red dot on the nose to be an exact replica of that siopao. How do I know all these? I’m staring at myself in the mirror right now, and…

For alcohol, there’s the damaged liver.

For smoking cigarettes—damaged lungs.

And then, there’s video game addiction. Effect: Louis Vuitton luggage under the eyes.

A friend reads e-books instead of playing online games. Good for him.

I should be reading, too. The unread books and magazines are still waiting—they’re in cabinets, on top of chairs and tables. But all I see are the tablet and phone, and the possibilities these two can offer, which include Spotify. Oh, well. Let’s listen to Madonna again: “All the little things you do/Will end up coming back to you.”