I thought I stopped being obsessive of my work. But yesterday two persons noted my busyness. One said, "Seryoso ka yata ah." Another, "Anong ginagawa mo? Di ba tapos na tayo?" Well, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm going to be the next one evicted out of this company. After working as a writer, language editor, proofreader, content developer, beta tester, and copyright applicant (um, this one's pending), I think they'll think my job here's done (at least for Vol. 1). No matter. Last week I dreamt of being awarded the company's very first Employee of the Month award -- the very first because after they called my name they started roll calling other employees for the same award. So much for "Employee" of the Month. Hahaha. Kanina while I was walking to catch a tryke, I thought, "Is this how it's supposed to be? That I won't catch the tryke which just passed by my house because I should be in a different one?" I don't want to read into my future. Not that I believe that the future is bleak, but that I don't know what else to do... yet. I should get a night job. My day job's pretty dull. I'm not saying I don't like it. Although I think I can do without it. I'll just meditate my entire life. That would be a dream come true. If I were a male, I would probably be a Buddhist monk. Since I'm a female, I ended up taking Philosophy which, now that I think about it, doesn't make any sense. Sh!t. DanGat was right! Philosophy should not be a course. On the contrary though, it should be taught to everyone, like an appendix to every course. This way, everybody would be bitten by the gadfly and his followers. I'm listening to The Matrix's soundtrack (which I digged up from another local disk drive from the previous users of this PC), the song is Wake Up.

Today, I smelled sampaguita...

These days, there are so many things you can be sad about. GMA, natural disasters, the boss telling you you're not doing it right, lack of cash to buy what you want, your weight gain and pimples, etc etc. But then there are those other things... the things that blow you away (literally and figuratively) and the things that cure your distraught heart (even for a few fleeting moments).

You are hearing these from me because I went to the EuroStar Carnival last Friday with Kristyl and Luis!!! Never, in my entire life, have I screamed like that -- i.e., in the amazing Joker ride in imitation of a seesaw but with vertically rotatable seats back-to-back for four people, and of a swing that goes all the way round and round! And I wish another round but happiness was not meant to last that long. Before we go to the bad part though, I'd like to state that prior to the Joker, we headed for the bumper cars after the ferris wheel and there, bumped cars with Jay-R of Sun cell and Colgate fame, and also, almost lost consciousness when, a few seconds before the buzzer rang to signify the end of our turn, about four bumper cars bumped on me. B u m p e d   o n   M E. The shokshok on my hair went loose, and I nearly popped out of my car like a clueless Jack in the box. I may be exaggerating a bit here, but in the next ride after we drank iced tea after having a blast with the Joker, nothing that I say could illustrate to you how deranged we were in picking that "sissy" ride. Make way for [drum rolls please...] The Flipper -- the one ride that halted pleasure and abetted torment. It was their version of the octopus, only, not even a stark raving mad octopus would inflict that much pain in their victims. You don't believe me? Read the Feb. 05 blog of notsquare that I found thru Google. In our case, the only rides we took after Flipper were the bumper cars (again) and the wet 'n wild one, wherein the water soaked my ass despite the quickness of the route. Well, because all the rides that we tried, except for Flipper, which luckily, Luis didn't take, were awesome, they all seemed bitin. Kristyl and I could have ridden the Joker over and over maybe until we spilled our guts out but because of good ol' Flipper's namesake, we never even had the chance to ride it again, and the Ranger that looked just as fantastic. Tsk tsk tsk. We both would rather have drunk 10 shots of vodka tuluy-tuloy than ride in 1/10th of the time that we were in the Flipper. Pakaway-kaway pa ko tsaka nagtutulug-tulugan pa kami ni Kristyl bago magsimula tapos ganun pala kalupit 'yung ride na 'yun, hehehehe. Flipper should have a disclaimer saying "Don't even think about it." Because of Flipper Papa L. had to treat us in Starbucks Libis as well, after what we'd been through. ;) And, yeah, we went to UP Fair after that and he got a di-sulit na Henna tattoo. We hardly listened to the Ultraelectromagneticjam bands, Kristyl even had a party on her own with Papa L.'s iPod Shuffle. I was home at 4am, still a bit dizzy from Flipper.

Yesterday naman, Tita Elvie and I met with Uncle Frank at Glorietta, dined at Ilonggo Grill, and made kwento kwento kwento. After bidding Uncle Frank adieu, we shopped -- Tita Elvie for Robie stickers and a shopping bag, I for a book at Powerbooks. Then we hailed a cab going to Manansala Bldg. near Rockwell because Tita Elvie had to pick her daughter's padala from her balae Dra. Jimenez, who, together with her doctor husband, is only here for a medical mission. They are actually practitioners in the States. The day before they were in Morong, Rizal giving free cleft palate operations, medicines, and anesthetic equipment to the residents. They had a huge HDTV in their unit, which I operated and, with their DVD player tested the VCD Doc bought (it was Spielberg's E.T.). I thought I will be able to catch Viloria's fight but I dozed off at their lush sofa first (they were waiting for Doc, who went to the grocery for tons of fruits) before heeding Dra.'s offer to turn on the tv (it took us about 10 minutes to figure out how to switch it on, hehehe). We headed for Rockwell (which was about 30 steps away from the bldg.) after two hours of staying there and enjoying the view of the Pasig River and making chika with Dra. Looking at our bitbit, the guard at the PowerPlant told Tita Elvie, "Saan niyo 'yan dadalin?" He was referring to the balikbayans' (both Uncle Frank's and Dra.'s) pasalubongs. Hahaha. Up and down we went (we feasted our eyes at the most beautiful cars ever: bmw, benz, porsche, volkswagen, ford, and so on), loitered at Fully Booked (where I found "The Early Ayn Rand" at Php432.00 that I wasn't able to buy for lack of cash), then ate at NachoFast. The piano player just arrived when we were choosing where to eat, so when I sat at the rattan chair (which felt good to the back) I savored the music and immersed myself in peace and calm after a long day's larga. I even watched him play up close and applauded with the crowd that gathered around (later I dropped Php20.00 at his tupperware). One of the requests was La Vie en Rose, and it darned brought back memories of my French 10 class. Here's a midi file for your auditory pleasure. La Vie en Rose translates to "life through rose-colored glasses." I was home at 4:30pm, still a bit elated from the piano piece.

'T@ng !n@, ano ba?

Bad words => strong emotions. I don't say bad words, therefore I don't express strong emotions. I've always been polite and I've seldom exhibited anger towards people other than my mom, hehehe. (A former officemate told me once, "Nothing seems to bring you down." And college friends know very well that I'm simply kebs.) Au contraire, Ma has quite a vocabulary. When I was a young fat kid I remember her telling me, telling me -- ok, I don't want to go there. Too ugly a memory. Anyway, I know people that can curse while smiling or giggling. Like ayi! Last time when she arrived an hour before me at SM North (on the 1st day of the 3-day Sale), she called me on my cell to tell me, "Putang ina ida, saan ba tayo? Gutom na ko!" And that mura was a term of endearment, hihihi, she wasn't actually cursing me. My co-worker says PI everyday, even puk!ng!na -- without having to be mad about anything. Sometimes he just says it says it. It's like my version of "Talaga?" 'Yun ang sa kanya, mura. Hahaha. But this day, from another co-worker, I heard total anger from his swearing. He is mad at the obvious injustice done to him and is pretty vocal about it. Who can blame him, given the circumstances that I shan't tell you? Today may be the day of LOVE for most people, but here in this office it isn't. I myself am not feeling pretty well. You know, the empath that I am. A teammate of mine was pissed off the whole day. Children were screaming out of pain from dog bites and the injections against dog bites (haven't I told you, the unit beside our office is an anti-rabies clinic, and today and yesterday are probably its busiest days). Co-workers were overloaded with work, so don't expect sunny dispositions from us. Lastly, my mechanical chick named Doublemint is bored and sleepy, despite getting his mohawk done. Such is life.

PS: Ne joue pas avec moi! Hahaha, I learned this from a not-so-PG13 site. Don't even think about Googling for it, ok?

After three stinkin' days without Internet, at last, we're online! They are, I mean. My connection's still maggotty. On-off 0n-off. Yesterday, when I taught at NCBA Fairview, I wanted to conserve electricity so I decided to turn off the computers in front. After all, there were only three teachers -- Ma'am Olive, Sir Jun, and Ma'am Tess -- present for the Web Design training and they were all sitting in the second row. When I got to the second PC, it won't turn off. That's when I heard the teachers say "Ayyy...." I was shutting down the server. Silly me. Hehehe. After our Jollibee lunch, a brownout occurred; a few minutes later may ilaw na ulit. Anyway, the training went well. The teachers were helping me teach them the right way. I actually think I'm getting the hang of it. I was really reluctant to teach again, but when I heard there was only a small number I had to teach, I agreed at the last minute (besides, Sir Arch is such a sweetpea). Small number = small stress. That's the formula for a better seminar. Ma'ams and Sir, we had fun with tables right? =)

Prof. Michael Tan's analysis of the Wowowee stampede, published yesterday on the front page of the Inquirer, seems to be out of track. He said that "celebrities to die for" has taken a more literal meaning. On the contrary, I think the people who flocked Ultra for the first anniv of the noontime show weren't really there for Willie Revillame, but rather for the show's promise of cash prizes, taxis, tricycles, and house and lot, all to be given away last Saturday. They didn't die for Willie. He's just the host. So what if a family member of one of the deceased claims "Mahal na mahal ka ng nanay ko, Willie"? Is it really the idolatry that made the mother line up for his show? Or is it poverty? I believe it's the latter, which clearly applies to (almost) all the 60,000 others who went there, at least in that particular day. Pakikipagsapalaran. Pagbabakasakali. These are the things that brought the frenzy, the tragedy. Not the celebrity.

To GMA: stop being ma-showbiz. You may be a celebrity (with not that much of a following), but you are also the President (need I remind you?). Can't you see the state of the economy on the faces of the dead? Futile have their hopes been -- no adequate food and water, and terrible hygiene for days just to get past the gates. Can't you see how low the people's state of morality is? People were dying in the stampede but those who were inside Ultra still wanted the show to go on. The only thing the people needs now is a leader. Not a tearjerker.

On a much lighter note, last Saturday (on RPN9) there was a celebrity that blew me away -- he is Mr. Magic Man David Blaine. His card tricks were amazing. I particularly liked the one where he made the girl pick a card and then, without caring where the girl put it back in the deck, he threw the cards all over the place. Get this: the one with the girl's name landed on the INSIDE of a beer bottle. Whoa. And you should see him levitate while standing straight, my golly!! Even Leonardo DiCaprio, the one interviewing David Blaine (can you see how authentic this magician is? hehe) for this "Street Magic" sort-of-documentary, stressed the effects of this awesome power of his on the people he entertained (more like dumbfounded to me, hahaha, with myself included!). What's weird is I've only heard of him last year; the end credit of the show posted ©1995, strengthened by the fact that Leo's cuuuuuuute haircut was so fresh from Titanic. A man like David Blaine is one that would send ripples on the ocean. Why did I notice him a decade late? Basta, di ko papalampasin ang "Frozen in Time" next week, on RPN9 @ 9pm.

Nakarinig ka na ba ng pusang nauulol? Ako rin hindi pa. Pero kagabi, antindi! Sobrang ingay ng mga pusa sa tabi! Nakakarindi!

If I were a cook, I would have sliced them and diced them, and then made them into siopao. Two unidentified cats were mating earlier this day at around 4am. They are the reason why I'm several hours short of sleep. Their baying was probably heard within an eight-mile radius -- and I was at ground zero. I was making reklamo pa naman how I've been hard of hearing these past few days, tapos ganyan mangyayari, hehehe. The other day I was called to a meeting with our new writers; Doc Caro told me, "May writers na tayo for video production." I said, "Wala pa po." Then he said, "Sila na nga, sila na ung writers," after which he laughed at me. Nyahahaha. Given that my right ear was only half a ruler away from his mouth ha. :p I thought maybe Joy's deafness (this is only a joke) is contagious. Pano ba naman, he listens to music at a dangerously high volume (dangerous enough to have an irate person smite him, hehehe). Here's the catch: this past few days he's been listening to '50s music. Ayuz! Joy, my seatmate, went home early today because our common files folder crashed. Now, of all days! Our team is so damn busy we can't afford to lose a day over lousy systems and Internet connection. They better retrieve our files. Or else, I'm going to continue editing our works at the S:/ folder, bwahahaha!

When will the new Superman movie be released? I remember when I was young, I and my cousin RJ whose birthday is today used to watch Superman III almost every day when we were at Inang's. And every time we play it, we follow it up with Robocop. Ah, the good old days. Which reminds me, here is our prized picture from my other site: