In writing this entry, I'm taking a departure from the usual "man has wife killed" and "the narcissism in me" themes to instead send my thoughts to all the people held hostage in Afghanistan -- the Afghans, the Koreans, the Germans, the many of them -- and their families.

I'll be the first to admit my being an ignoramus -- to not use the word autistic, which I find insulting -- when it comes to news -- local, regional, global, you name it. That is, anything other than sports. For instance, I'd known about the Tim Donaghy scandal long before I knew that our Pilkada would take place on Aug 8.

So, it's no wonder that I've come to know about this South Korean hostage thing only recently. And even then, admittedly, it wasn't that big a deal for me. I mean, yes, it's a sad and the most unfortunate thing. But I could hardly relate to it. Some people trapped among a warring nation. I feel sorry for them and that's about it.

Until I read this morning that the latest South Korean victim was Shim Sung-Min, who "had quit his job at a Seoul IT company two months ago to become a teacher to the disabled at a Seoul church which had then sent him to Afghanistan on an aid mission."

OMG, an IT guy! Left the IT position to pursue what he must've been certain was his calling.

Two months ago. That was roughly the time I decided to tender my own resignation, to take a break from the hectic IT world -- to explore possibilities on what I wanted to do in life. One of those possibilities -- those of you close to me were aware of this -- was to follow our Red Shoe Lady on her mission to East Timor.

Then things (read: shit) happened in quick succession and now, I'm still here. Lazing around in my parents' house, enjoying my mom's food and my brothers' DVDs. Only leaving home for some tennis, which BTW, I now suck at. Not that I was ever good, of course.

But there you go, the relation. And suddenly, I could picture myself as the poor guy. Far from home, on a foreign land, wanting to do good for fellow people, only to stare at gun barrels everyday -- I'm sorry, it's so Hollywood stereotype, but that's all I have -- before finally getting killed. I wonder what had gone through his mind just before the inevitable happened. Did he ever question his calling?

And so, here's an entry for them. A prayer. An arguably meaningless prayer, but a prayer nonetheless. For those hostages to remain strong. For their families to stay hopeful. For what will work best for all the parties involved.

For we're all people. And people don't kill one another -- greater good or not. That's just wrong.

When I click the Publish (read: Save) button, the 0730 GMT deadline will have expired for three and a half hours and so far, no more hostages have been killed.

Stay hopeful.

Current music: none
Current mood: somber