PERHAPS she was thinking of the frog prince. That’s why when she saw the frog, she asked, Is that you, Love?
If you’re a Cagayanon and you still have no idea why people were posting about frogs on Facebook a few weeks ago, I gotta feeling you’ve been hiding under a rock since May. Pag-Marites pud ‘pag may time. Which is unfair to anyone named Marites, which now means “Mare, what’s the latest?”
The murder happened on May 9, but it was only on August 11, or three months later, that the “latest” went trending on social media. Hopefully, by the time this column is published, the latest update on that heinous crime is the truth and nothing but the truth, and not merely another version of the frog story.
Facebook can be a source of inspiration. And it can also be the opposite—the source of desperation.
Logging into Facebook the moment I’m awake is now one of my hard habits to break. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve promised to ignore the phone upon waking up, that instead of scrolling down my newsfeed, I should read a book instead, or pray, meditate, or exercise.
Facebook used to be a happy place. That’s where I learned about Pet Society and FarmVille. I remember a friend who posted that he was going to harvest his farm, and his friends commented, Congratulations! They didn’t know it was a game.
Now, Facebook is here, there, and everywhere, it’s almost like the world exists only inside the social network. You’re depressingly clueless if you’re not logged in, and this is when FOMO—fear of missing out—enters your thought bubble. So, whether it’s 2 am or 2 pm, there you are, checking it out for the latest.
One of the secrets to a good night’s sleep is to stop using gadgets after dinner. No TV, too. No stimulation, unless it’s that delish activity between the sheets. Wink, wink.
Slowing down starting at 8 pm is a must. For a person of a certain age, if he’s still outside attending parties and events, and will be home at 3 am, then there’s the hangover the morning after even if all he had was diet soda. Only the young ones can have sleepless nights and still have the energy to work the next day. The young once, on the other hand, need a recovery period of at least three days.
But even the young ones will have difficulty working after a sleepless night. They’ll be walking around the office like zombies while trying to shake off their tunnel visions, muffled hearing, and cotton heads.
The body will then need nourishment to make up for the lack of sleep and this is usually accomplished through emotional eating. The tummy is not exactly hungry but the mind says it is. So, the sleepless employee will now binge on the office’s 3-in-1 coffee, and whatever the suki food vendor has in her basket of goodies: puto, cochinta, biko, doughnuts, shakoy, pancake, banana cake, banana cue, banana turon, maruya, boiled peanuts, fried peanuts. How about fried frog legs? Ugh.
