Dream Job

I am in college studying to be a CPA. Whoa, I never really ever dream of being a bean counter – a shrink, probably – but an Accountant? No way. I just cannot picture myself in a world of business, commerce – and worse – numbers. Numbers and me… we just don’t get along well. But what a twist of fate, I am now aiming to be a CPA. Yes, I aim to be one. But still, back when I was a kid, when asked if what I want to be when I grow up, I didn’t reply that I want to be an Accountant.

My first dream – I was in Nursery back then – was to be an astronaut. I was an ignorant toddler. I did not know that the Philippines have no space program.

I also dreamt of being a pilot. A fighter plane pilot. One who pilots an F-14 Tomcat. Again, reality bites. The planes of the Philippine Air Force are not the same as those of the U.S. Navy. But nevertheless, it is still a dream I entertain up to these days. To be a pilot of a fighter plane.

In high school, I fantasize of being a writer of books. Best selling books. But novelists do not thrive in our country, another reality. But I still want to be published someday. I still carry that dream.

I also had the wild fantasy of being a professional musician. Playing lead guitar in some show band. Though I really love to play in a band, I don’t really take that dream seriously. But who knows.

I have many boyhood dreams. I wanted to be a spy, because James Bond made it appeared like an n attractive job. But 007 is fiction, though espionage and secret agents are not. Plus, I don’t know if I care much of being tortured. Scratch that one. A detective like Sherlock Holmes, perhaps? Maybe… but I don’t have the talents of a fictional character like Holmes. Scratch that one, too.

Growing up and reading comicbooks, I also wanted to draw them as a job. But although I can draw, I cannot say I can draw as much as the pros do. Besides, I don’t think I have the patience for it.

In high school, I thought of being a Mechanical Engineer, designing cars, or planes, or be an Imagineer in Disneyland. But I chose Mechanical Engineer as my second choice in my BUCET. And I passed my first choice which is (sigh) Accountancy.

No. Those dream jobs of mine are not from my chosen course. All those dream jobs I still prefer them than being a CPA. But I want to be a CPA. It may not be a boyhood dream but a “forced-on-me” dream, but a dream nonetheless, and I value all my dreams. Though it is not part of my original plans, I sincerely want to be an Accountant.

Who knows, maybe after getting my degree and then passing the board and taking up law and passing the bar, I might be able to do my other dream jobs. I could be a CPA lawyer who pilots fighter planes, writes bestselling books, plays guitar once in a while in gigs, solves mysteries as a side line, designs Disney rides in free time, contributes pencils to Marvel Comics’ special projects, and is secretly working for the government’s Intelligence. Now that’s cool.

Dream on, Bernz. Dream on.

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Collections and Collectors

I was always into collecting. Collections fascinate me. Collectors fascinate me more (especially if they are famous). And even if somebody’s collection is not the same as mine, or not a collection I think not interesting to collect, I am still fascinated by it, because of just the concept of collecting and the collectors’ zeal and happiness of collecting them. There is something magical and exciting in collecting. Probably, the best hobbies on Earth are those that involve collecting.

My collections are, mostly, literature and toys. I collected them for about ten years now. My literature collection ranges from novels, encyclopedias, biographies, comicbooks, magazines, newspapers cartoon strips, and others – as long as it is decent literature, I collect them. My toy collection ranges from toy soldiers to those that came from fast food chains. Sure, these collections fill my room, but compared to big time collections, mine is small in comparison. Nonetheless, my collections – which are stacked in cabinets and displayed on shelves of my room – are my treasures.

I used to have a big “tex” – the Filipino counterpart of trading cards, only smaller and less quality – collection. You got to enlarge your stack of them by either of the two: a) you buy more or b) you win them in games like “kapulan”, “tatchian”, “bangkuhan”, or any other “gambling” games. A tex’s popularity was dependent on the present popular TV show. Example, if Dragon Ball Z was hot, Dragon Ball Z tex were hot also, and they are the only kind of tex that can be traded or played with. And when Ghost Fighter became the hit, the Dragon Ball Z tex got obsolete. But I was a good collector and though one kind of tex was no longer popular, I still kept them. My only mistake was not being able to maintain my interest in them, and by and by, they disappeared (one of the worst mistakes in my life). I don’t know what happened to them. I miss them… especially the Marvel Vs. DC and the Streetfighter tex…arg!

The same thing happened with my pogs collection. And my robot, zoo, and Wild West toy collection. And my 4wd Let's Go kit. And I also lost some comcbooks…. Enough said about all those mistakes; it brings some bad feelings.  What is important is that I should take care of what I have now and not allow any of those mistakes to happen again.

My collection reflects to what I am economically. One’s collection is proportional to one’s economic status. That is absolutely true. Just look at celebrities and their collections. They are rich, so they can afford a large collection – or even several collections. It is fascinating to look at their collections. Sharon Cuneta has mugs, books and DVDs. German Morena got movies, tapes of shows, movies, clowns stuff, toys, memorabilia and others. Jay Taruc has paintings and toys. Former Senator Webb got Star Wars stuff and others. Senator Chiz Escudero has vintage cars. And there are many other personalities that have collections that are worth mentioning, but it will go a long way (a list of Hollywood personalities that collect comicbooks would go a long way already.)

Collecting is exciting with all the thrills of a find, the satisfaction obtained when looking at them, and the gentle greed that motivates a collector to make his collection bigger – and of course, I experience all of this… I want to make my collection bigger as time goes by and start new collections, too, like DVDs, guitars and other things. There is nothing wrong with collecting, but we should not always live in our collections. Yes, I said that my collections are my treasures. But my collection of friends and family are more valuable treasures. There are important things that we should not forget when we are engrossed in collecting and in our collection. There is danger when your addiction and love for your collection is greater than the more important things in life... or your life.

There are many good things derived in collecting. When you are with your collection, and making it improve or grow bigger, you are happy, and makes you forget some of your current stress or problems. You also get to learn patience, perseverance, and other values when you collect. The bottomline, though, is to be happy with collecting and your collection without sacrificing the most important things in your life and never forgetting your priorities – the right priorities.

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