The eternal calendar

reason. My brother Edwin, who lives in Switzerland, also used to send us beautiful wall calendars with picturesque Swiss views, and with the pages bound by some nicely designed springs. The dates were smaller and the holidays marked were foreign—but the pictures were lovely. Snowcapped alps! Green valleys filled with flowers! Crystal-clear lakes!

What’s not to love? I preferred these compared to that common gargantuan calendar that always seemed to be too big for any wall it was set on. [In my house, it cap melts, permafrost thaws, acidification of rising oceans, and global temperatures getting hotter have occurred. So why have these happened?

Worldwide, it is observed that materialism is learned and shaped by culture , with the desire to accumulate stuff. Should the inclination to be materialistic be extreme, to the point of our own destruction? Is it because our belongings can offer us a sense of security and status?

Humans are naturally disposed to disregard issues that are challenging their daily lives or those which dilute their convenience.

Nevertheless, as Prof. Abraham Loeb of Harvard University puts it, “The mark of intelligence is the ability to promote a better future. If we continue to behave this way, we might not survive very long. On the other hand, our actions could be a source of pride for our descendants if they sustain a civilization intelligent enough to endure for many centuries to come.”

Now is the time to act: Let us love Planet Earth!

***** people—fictionist Raissa Rivera Falgui and poet Mila D. Aguilar—agree with me about this calendar’s “ugliness”!] usually ended up on a kitchen wall.] It also didn’t help that I seem to have a hardwired trait of ignoring the very existence [and essence] of calendars, and even until now I have a strange difficulty determining dates.

Happy birthday, Sherlene!

Still, so many people have great affection for this calendar style, which has been in circulation for decades. I discovered this when I witnessed my boyfriend and his mother become frantic one December because all their suki stores had already ran out of inventory of these calendars, which were usually given away to customers.

[Case in point: I used to design posters for the SU Culture & Arts Council, and I remember tasking one fellow member to always check the dates I put in on the posters because I always got them wrong. I have “calendar blindness.” So, yes: calendars and me don’t mesh well together.]

But that’s just me. [And apparently, some other

Apparently, this kind of calendar disappears pretty fast every year. Their earnest search for this type of calendar puzzled me, which led me to realize that so many other people actually love this calendar. I was shocked, and amused. But I also totally understood. When it comes down to it, this calendar is frills-free, and reminds you of each date, in your face, with their humongous type. And then all the other information stored in it basically makes this type of calendar an almanac for regular Filipinos.

PakistaniDumaguete-based farmer/poet

Mohammed Malik tells me: “This year is my first time using it and I find it a very compelling design. [It’s] extremely functional.” It’s the functionality of the design that its fans point out the most, conveniently summed by writer Janet Villa: “My Mama loved those calendars, Ian. Kay dako ug letra, red ang Sunday, and then naay phases of the moon [Mama was superstitious] plus naay high and low tides [important if living near the beach].”

PONCIANO LIGUTOM