You might think I am actively posting, but no. More like "actively Copy-pasting".

I got tagged for this one before:

PHOTOGRAPHY MEME
1. Give me as many things/people/places as you want. (i.e my job, my family, my room, my computer, my coffee cup etc) - - - > [jeffer: or my ex's grave and the shovel I used to dig it with]
2. If you decide to do this, post it in your blog too! (optional) [jeffer: and let me know so I can return the favor, a hundredfold!]
3. Check back at the deadline to see the pictures you requested! [jeffer: I have no deadline, and I will post the pics at my whim.]

....I won't call it my photography meme, though, because Photography is an art, and I am no artist. Let's just call it....snapping shots??

Anyway, I need a good reason to pay attention to more stuff around me, animate or inanimate, so I was hoping this'll help me accomplish that.

You can give me as many as you want, it's not like I'd do them all anyway (lol), but I shall pick the ones that I like (and will try my best to do majority of those).

FIRST BATCH (my friends list in that other journal asked quite a lot, and I am still accomplishing those, but all in good time, my dears.....)

Fanny asks: What your screen looks like when you're subbing:

Basically, when I start, all programs are turned off. Yes, I even turn off the internet. :)

Becki asks:  photo of a place that you visit that makes always makes me happy.

Ok, before I answer, the pix first. (Drats....I should upload more pix of these here!!!)





Two pics above are the BATAD RICE TERRACES in Banaue. AWESOME PLACE. I love trekking. We spent six hours of downward trek to get to a hidden waterfalls. Then trek back up again. Killer to the legs, but I LOVE IT.



Also these ones, taken during my week-long trip in Palawan. I'D LOVE TO GO BACK. I went there for free the first time, I need another FREE trip. It has to be free. It costs an arm and a leg (and probably even one's soul).





And this one....Sagada Cave (where a river runs through it)



The rock formations are AWESOME. They look slippery but they're not. The water's icy cold, and icy water flows through the rocks as we slip through the crevices. At some parts we had to haul ourselves up rock faces using ropes. FUN! Going down initially would entail us going in barefoot, and almost slipping on BAT POO. But....IT IS STILL FUN!

So, basically, I am happiest when I am close to nature, or somewhere where I can feel a sense of freedom, unencumbered by anything or anyone.

Angela asks: the strawberry fields in La Trinidad (my hometown)

I cheated with this one, coz these were taken a couple of years ago. I hope to take new ones.



I live close by. :) La Trinidad is known as the Strawberry Fields of the Philippines.



Those people are tourists who come to buy strawberries but they also get to experience handpicking the berries themselves.

Tayuri asks: photo of my pet.

His name's HIRO. *coughs* Oh, and did I mention he keeps humping my leg???



This is where it'll start to get (slightly) gory.

tayuri asks again: my bed

I told you I love blue.

I have two sets of those sheets, SAME DESIGN. When I fixate, I FIXATE.

The Harry Potter pillow was a present. I...sleep with it beside me. I don't use it for my head, because I made the mistake of doing that one, and I woke up to find Daniel's face so close to mine, his lips right THERE, and I got wigged out.

I thought: "I AM SO ROBBING THE CRADLE."

Moriah asks: Your closet or shelf.

Hell if I'd post pix of my closet. My heart bleeds with all the mess. But a peek of shelves.

These tiny things were put in ther by my nephew. I wanna throw them away, but....



The plushies were all presents when I was in high school. Yeah. I stuff them somewhere hidden.

The boxes at the side...contained audio files on cassette tapes, mostly messages from peeps. Also the official Fan Club audio interviews with some eye candies. Haha! I was THAT hardcore. :) Still am, actually, but who the hell cares.

I'd be posting more....not that you actually check these out but I swore to not let this blog die, damnit.

Ok.....I'll get to the rest next time. (my pace, 'kay?)

Sorry, my dear Multiply. I got (wonderfully) distracted. I promise to - amid pretty distractions - nurture you from now on.

Darn it, I need to draw lines. Do some 'spring cleaning' in here. Soon. Like....the day after tomorrow.

And since I cannot force myself to make sense right now, I succumb to the art that is COPY-PASTE.

Two memes I've been tagged with in my other journal. Who said cross-posting ain't fun??

Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given!

I... was given five topics to talk about, but since I said I want to draw lines, I'm keeping the other one out of the list, and only discuss the other four.

Bon Jovi.

I think the first Western I've watched was YOUNG GUNS. And I fell in love with the songs. Blaze of Glory, in particular. Jon Bon Jovi penned the songs, and even won an Oscar for it.

I appreciate evolution in an artist. They were doing rock, and I liked them. They mellowed and I liked them. They went all-acoustic and I loved them even more. They're doing country now and I still dig their sound. I couldn't say much about their personal lives or choices, but as long as they sound good and can still play the songs I associate with my growing-up years, then I'm good.

K-dramas

The last K-drama I watched after a long time (and still watching, a couple more eps left) is East of Eden. After that, I plan on checking out Cain & Abel, with So Ji Sub. Coz he's just an amazing actor, and he made me cry in MISA, and when I want a good cry (coz I rarely, if ever, do) he'd be the go-to guy. Him and Won Bin, but I don't see much of him anymore.

I just get sick of the quadrangle love stories that most K-dramas cultivate of late. Like Lead Guy loves Lead Girl. Other Girl goes after Lead Guy, and Other Guy also hankers for Lead Girl. Somewhere along the way one becomes a martyr, another goes insane, the works. So anything offbeat, I am willing to check out. Just...PLEASE DON'T BE MORE THAN 20 EPISODES!! I have a short attention span!!!! (EoE is an exception, though. Because the cast is too pretty. Lolz)

And....I haven't even watched past Boys Over Flowers Ep1. Hmmm.

Screenwriting.

A dream always ALWAYS in me. It's a continuous learning experience. I just hate that it costs an arm and a leg (that I'd much rather fork out to Johnny-san for Arashi prettiness) to get 'formal' training on it, even in my country. But for now, Syd Field is guiding me wonderfully. It's still a long road, but one I'd be willing to travel. After all, it's what I love doing.

Blue, the color.

Blue's been my favorite color ever since.  I find the color soothing, calming, and other emotions, depending on its shade. The liberating blue of the sky, the deep blue of the ocean, the tumultous dark blue of an oncoming storm...I think it is the color that could embody ANY emotion at one time, as compared to Black, which can only be dark. Or red, which could be passion? Just...something fiery...

I'm spouting nonsense, aren't I.

Another one. (MAJO, IT'S BAD TO LURK, SO I PUNISH YOU BY MAKING THIS POST LONG.)

Rules: It's harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 7 people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real . . . nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. What is your name: Jennifer

2. A four Letter Word: Jump

3. A boy's Name: Jensen. *heckles* but no, really, the first thing that came to mind was JOSH.

4. A girl's Name: Jizen, the name of my bestfriend back in Grade School

5. An occupation: Juggler

6. A color: Jade, but if you insist that's a stone, I'd say jet-black. That counts!

7. Something you wear: Jacket

9. A Food: I asked my friend, and she went jackfruit...junk food....juayabano....LOL

10. Something found in the bathroom: Something J found in the bathroom?!! Again she says JAVON. Hmmm....A joke When I'm inside, there is a joke inside the bathroom. XD

11. A place: JAPAN~!!!

12. A reason for being late: Traffic JAM~!! Or motorists JOSTLING each other. Why don't they just go on a head-to-head collision and be over and done with??

13. Something you shout: Jackass!! I love saying that out loud to my friend and colleague Pete, ESPECIALLY when he wears his Jackass shirt. I'm not nice.

14. A movie title: Jurassic Park. JACKASS! Jaws, Jumper
*chortling* See I am doing this meme while bugging my friend for answers, so she added in Jackass! then a couple of minutes later, she says,
Lala: "Jackass has Bruce WIllis on it, right?"
Me: .....?....
Lala: *in horror* That WAS Jackal!!

Hm. So random.

15. Something you drink: Juice, not too often though. I prefer H20.

16. A musical group: ....J Brothers? It's a Filipino group...and I think they've disbanded already. OH! JONAS BROTHERS.

17. An animal: Jaguar

18. A street name: J. Luna Street

19. A type of car: Jaguar! What! It hurts to think.

What would happen if I don't tag 7 specific people??

Author:  Jeffer
Title: Half-truths
Summary: A con artist gets caught in his web of lies
Prompt used: The photo above
Word Count: 879
Type: Original fiction
Notes: No decapitations, quite wholesome methinks. Totally unbeta'd, written on the fly.
Critique Request: Yes please, anything at all

Simon watched in silence as the fresh-faced detective pored over the inch-thick file, a frown creasing that smooth forehead. Two, three years on the force, give or take, he thought. Still green, but clearly dedicated to his job.

Marner was exactly Simon's kind of cop. Young, intelligent - but not so smart - and gullible.

The woman, though, was another story. She sat in silence the whole time since he was ushered into the interrogation room. She did not say a word, simply watched and listened.

Stared at him with blank blue eyes.

"Detective Lawson, is it?" he asked mildly, his smile in his voice. 

Lawson said nothing, just continued staring at him. At 60, Simon had his share of appreciation from the womenfolk, and this Lawson didn't look too bad herself. In fact, she was quite stunning. Tall, raven hair, deep blue eyes. Now if only she smiled a little then she'd be a knockout. Simon guessed her to be in her late twenties, no older than that.

Marner spoke and, grateful for the interruption, Simon fixed his attention on the younger man.

"Simon Fess, a.k.a. Arthur Jones, a.k.a. Zachary More, a.k.a. Chester Stanton...among others--"

"I'm a man of many talents, what can I say." 

"-- 60 years old --"

"I don't lie about my real age, by the way."

"-- no permanent address, no permanent job, wanted in seven states for multiple counts of swindling, theft, and a few other crimes I won't care to mention."

"Let's make this clear, though. I never killed anybody."

Marner was staring hard at him, and Simon recognized that look. He used to get that look whenever he sat on this same chair before a young and impressionable officer of the law. A mixture of wonder and distaste. He'd bet his top dollar - if he had one - that this Marner was probably comparing him right now to a dignified university professor and not the petty thief that he really was.

"How come?" The quiet question came from Lawson, and the sound of her voice actually surprised Simon. It was soft, almost melodic, but still with that unmistakable toughness that came with the job description.

"How come I never killed anyone?" Simon grinned, leaning back on his seat and raising his voice for the benefit of whoever stood behind the two-way mirror. "I steal things, not lives. That's where I draw the line."

"Thieves know how to draw lines? I thought they only knew how to cross them." 

Simon looked at her, wondering if that was sarcasm he heard in her voice. But her face gave nothing away. 

Marner cleared his throat. "What about family?"

"What about family?" Simon repeated, throwing the question back at Marner.

"Your file mentioned something about being married when you were thirty-four, then nothing else. What happened to them?"

Simon was quiet for a long minute, wondering how he should answer. He shrugged. "They died."

This was clearly not the answer the younger man expected. "Died? H-how? When? Why wasn't this in the file?"

Again, Simon shrugged. "It's a touchy subject. They got into an accident, my wife and my four-year-old daughter." He leaned his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. "It still haunts me to this day, how she carried our daughter and got into the car, on the way to the doctor..."

"And...?" Marner prompted.

"My wife lost control of the car....fell into a ditch. She died on the spot."

"And your daughter?"

Simon shrugged. "Gone, too." Lifting his face, he said, "Look, I don't see how this has anything to do with why I am here right now. I don't even know the guy accusing me of conning his mother's money!"

Both men turned as Lawson got up from her seat. She gave Marner a pointed look. "Wrap this up."

Simon watched her stride to the door. As she pulled it open, she turned her head to take one last look at him.

Simon went still. There was something vaguely familiar about this scene....Deja vu?

Lawson closed the door behind her.

She went straight to the adjoining room where Martin, her partner and mentor, stood watching the interrogation room through the two-way mirror.

"Either he's good, or he's telling the truth." Martin was shaking his head in disgusted amazement.

"Oh, he's good, alright," Lawson said, leaning against the far wall, watching the arrested suspect speak with Marner on the other side. "A very good liar."

Martin threw her a questioning glance.

Lawson explained herself. "His wife died, but not of an accident. It was terminal cancer. And her daughter didn't die, either."

"He didn't?"

"He sold her off. Auctioned her."

Martin was clearly baffled. "And you know this, how? Those weren't on any of his files."

She walked closer to the mirror, her eyes on Simon Fess. "She was crying, begging for him not to give her away. He promised he'd come back for her, but he never did."

Martin threw his hands up in confusion. "How do you know all these? You weren't even there!"

A beat.

"Sure I was."

Lawson threw one last long look at Simon Fess and left the room.

Martin was left staring after her in shocked silence.

FIN.

I've left this place unattended for so long. *shakes head*

Author: jeffer
Title: Turns
Summary: A young woman faces the literal meaning of "Life Can't Wait" 
Prompt used: "Write about someone who has waited in line too long."
Word Count: 851
Type: Original fiction
Notes: Written after a prompt I received, because I missed writing, and I''ll  take any prompt given to me, really. I really did not give a lot of thought to this, so forgive it for its lameness. I just wrote about the first thing that came to mind. :) This is totally unbeta'd
Critique Request: Yes please. I'm a big girl, I can take it. It's a way to grow. Thank you very much!

The antiseptic air assailed her senses as she stumbled through the glass doors. There was a tingling somewhere on her side, right below her ribcage, but she ignored it and wove her way to the nurses’ station, barely noting the racket going on in the hospital floor. 

Thank goodness for this face, my day yesterday brightened a bit.

Before anything, let me rant about my April Fools' Day.

April Fools. Does 'stupid' count?

I'm bored. It's the week before the Holy Week, and already it's a deafening lull.

I was tagged by a friend yuubi 'someblog else'.

Game rules：
A. People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves. Tag 8 people. Those who are tagged cannot refuse.
B. These 8 people must state who they were tagged by. You cannot tag the person who tagged you. Continue this game by sending this to 8 other people. People who are tagged will be blessed and their wishes will come true in the future.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
Initially I'd feel outrage, but I was never confrontational, and never one to cry over spilled milk. And then, it's Sayonara.

2. What will you do if you do not share the same feelings as the person who likes you?
I keep my distance. And I've become sooo good at doing that.

3. What will your dream wedding be like?
I don't dream of it....:)

4. Are you confused as to what lies ahead of you?
I try not to be. Sometimes I wonder, but I shake it off. Just look forward, therein lies the answer.

5. What's your ideal lover like?
I once read something like, "being with someone you can sit with for hours, in complete silence, then walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you ever had." I want a connection of the subconscious.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone else?
Loving and being loved alone is good. It is love. I don't try to measure or compare.

7. If the person you like does not accept you, would you continue to wait for them to change their feelings?
I'm the worst at waiting. I don't have the patience. Plus, I believe in constantly being mobile, so I want to keep moving forward.

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?
'He was mine before.' Haha! Anyway, I'm too selfish; I don't like to share.

9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently?
Perhaps, but I think of those that made me happy and make them bury the others.

10. What do you want most in life?
Live my life FREELY.

11. Is being tagged fun?
It's all about the timing. :)

12. If you find out that your best friend is going out with your boyfriend/girlfriend, how would you react?
Happened a long time ago. :) Forgive (can't forget, though), then move forward, but I shall reassess my choice of friends and boyfriend.

13. Who is currently the most important person to you?
Mom and Dad.

14. What kind of person do you think suits you?
It's not shoe size, it is? But if it fits, it will. There shouldn't be a measure.

15. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?
Hypothetically, single and well-off.

16. If the person you secretly like cannot recognize you, what would you do/how would you react?
Ouch. But hey, I didn't bleed, did I?

17. Would you give your all in a relationship?
Never. As I've said, I'm selfish.

18. If you fall in love with two persons simultaneously, who would you pick?
No one. I'd hate compromises, especially in love.

19. What type of friends do you like?
Those who've seen me at my best and liked me, and seen me at my worst and loved me. Thank heavens I have them.

20. If you played a prank on someone, and he/she fell for the trick, what would you do?
I do this a lot. I'd also laugh my ass off.

tagging whoever's up to it....( do let me know if you do it on your blog, too, coz I'd love to see your answers and find out how twisted my way of thinking is compared to yours.)

The man I love turns a year older today, 4th of March 2008.

Not one for big celebrations, he opted for dinner outside on Saturday, since my Mom's out of town on one of her business trips yet again.

Many times I look at him and think how LUCKY and BLESSED I am to be born his daughter. I am sure somewhere, sometime, as most fathers do, he wished for a son. It's a guy thing. But he never showed it. Instead, he made me his girl. (I also know he was a bit relieved I did not turn TOO much into a girl....frills, sugar and spice and everything nice...)

I always thought he and my mom made a good combination. As a couple, they personify equilibrium and amplifies that with perfect timing. When one goes crazy, the other is sane; vice versa. When they both go crazy, it's actually fun. But I NEVER.SAW.THEM.FIGHT. Petty arguments, yes, but they just don't talk for a couple of hours, then everything's back to normal.

As parents, they are more like best friends. I can tell my mom secrets, my innermost thoughts. I could fool around with my dad like boys playing. And he gives the BEST back massage!

My Dad's got one mean sense of humor. I think I got that from him. He's so sunny of disposition that no one would think he's already 54. Such youthfulness. There's just one thing I don't get.

He's afraid of me.

*rotfl

Even my mom says that. She goes, "tell your Dad......." and I go, "Why should I?" She'll say, "He'll obey you because he's afraid of you."

Really. I don't get that at all.

But I love the guy. He's the man I love the most in the whole wide world.....!

MB: Oh!

Me: (blankly) Yes?

MB: It's you!

Me: (looks around, sees no one) Yeah...so?

MB: What happened?

Me: (thinks hard) With what?

MB: Where've you been?

Me: (realization dawns) Ah. Er...Around. You know...here and there. But mostly here.

MB: I thought something might've happened.

Me: Lots of things happened. Work happened. Life happened. But you know...nothing of consequence, really.

MB: I thought you'd drowned yourself somewhere...

Me: Oh, you'd love that, won't you!

MB: The Flowerfestival in your City's going on, right? For the entire month of February?

Me: *Ho-hum* Err, yeah.

MB: I hear it's a big success. Tourists came flocking for the parades and stuff.

Me: I guess.

MB: You joined the festivities?

Me: (glares at MB) Hell, no! Did you see that crowd? I hated it, hate, hate hate!

MB: Right, right, chill. Didn't mean to upset you. Geez. You're in a surly mood lately, aren't you?

Me: (smiles brightly) Says who?

MB: (shakes head) So...where do we go from here?

Me: From where?

................

Bill protecting unwanted babies filed

MANILA, Jan. 17 (PNA) -- A lawmaker has filed a measure seeking to stop abortion, child abuse and other anti-child acts by allowing the parents of unwanted babies to give up their children to the government without fear of arrest and prosecution.

Rep. Eduardo C. Zialcita said House Bill 3227, also known as The Safe Haven Act of 2007 or The Moses Law, permits parents to entrust the custody and care of their baby 60 days or younger, unharmed, to a member of any hospital, medical emergency facility, police or fire station or to an office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The baby shall receipt prompt action.

Read more.

I always thought this country has a lot of good heads up there; it was just a question of whether they were on the right shoulders. His intentions are good, the bill is also something remarkable (unlike a recent local legislation in my city moving to provide roughly Php20 million worth of cars to city lawmakers when the city's waste management system lacks disposal trucks. Anyway, I digress.)

It sounds humane. It probably is intended to be so. And lately, in this setting, humanity + intelligence is a rare mix.

But there is a downside to their intelligence: they tend to look a kilometer ahead without seeing the glaring hole barely a yard from their noses.

They can't even find a way to address the problem of streetchildren begging in the streets. The Social Welfare centers are not even equipped enough because the funds due them already went through some politician's deep pockets. How on earth do they expect to take in more?
In a way, won't this also encourage more irresponsibility among the individuals concerned? It's like giving them a license to be even more reckless. "It's fine, I can just let the government take care of the child...."

And they can 'reclaim' the child they left in the government custody? What is this, a bloody human pawnshop?

I have nothing but distaste for people, mothers, who dump their children - alive or stillborn - no matter what their reason or justification is. It's a life. They created it. Whether they wanted to or not, it's LIFE.

If one can't be responsible for anything else, at least be responsible with LIFE, whether it's one's own or not.

Sometimes their stupidity knows no bounds......

ANYWAY. My January's hellish so far, but work is work, and we all have to deal one way or another.

This is one of those times I am glad I am out of high school and primary school: there are no more teachers telling me to write my New Year's Resolutions on a piece of paper, to be passed to her, then read in front of the whole class. During those times, one had to be creative with what to write, I mean, we're talking about earning creds and props.

If I were to take stock of my 2007, I would say it was better than I hoped it would be. Work demands aside, I got to live my life the way I wanted it. I got started on the LIST, regained that spontaneity which I felt was slipping away from me. The latter part of the year kinda revolved around reconnecting and reunions...(part of this entails me having to be more Friendster-friendly, which I haven't been due to reasons I've already discussed. Phew! The things we do....) Of course there were frustrations; it won't be as fun as it was without those stumbling blocks. But we are given two feet and two strong hands to pick ourselves up. It would be such a waste to not use them.

They say one has to resolve to change something, or have something new...Be a better this, do that thing better, yadda yadda yadda....

Truth be told, in the back of my mind, I have my 2008 mapped out, albeit vaguely. There are things I have hoped to accomplish, slowly piling up in that corner until they somehow got embedded into my subconscious that, looking back, made me realize that everything - significant or not so much - I ever did in the past are just small steps towards it. (cue: Collin Raye's All My Roads re: they could not be mistakes when they brought me here.)

So it's all about moving forward, facing a new year in our lifetime's timeline. I won't make resolutions; i'll just go on as I have trudged before. Dissolutions...well...there are simply things that are meant to be wrapped up, ended, left behind...and THAT I will do. As much as I don't fall for that Year of this or that hoolabaloo, during this Year of the Rat, I am going to nip my way to anything handed to me (and anything I can put my hands on).

And with that, Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

I blinked and Christmas Day passed in a blur. It was a flurry of motions, leading up to that day, what with us juggling work, planning our office activities, and generally getting into the mood of the season.

In a nutshell, December saw me at ZillerNet torturing myself sweetly, trying to wrap my tongue around foreign words and hurting my eyes from 'attempting' to read Kanji....(well, I cheated, most of the time)...sampling a couple new restos and vowing to make it a part of my not-so-structured routine...

Our office had 2 Christmas parties, the first one at a reservation park type with these middle-aged folks acting like kids, and the actual younger ones just laughing at their antics. Afterwards there was a bowling tournament, second half of which I had to skip out on for reasons I am not about to disclose. (Kuya Ric: Mam Almay's team, which included Kuya Bong, Lala, Ate Racquel and Tita Claire won in a sweep! You should've seen the look on Sir Tony's face!)

The next party was an all-nighter (yet again) at the private vacation house at Rosario. Again, it involved the old-er ones making utter fools of themselves. I had a problem with my jaw the next morning, more from laughing too much. Really. There's a thin line between respectability and hilarity; our superiors are masters at crossing that line time and time again.

This year, I decided to do something different for my birthday. In the past, they were more private affairs, with my immediate family together, and my closest friends pulling an allnighter at my place with a video marathon or something...This time I thought, why not go out of town, or something? So there was this small resort outside the city, called Riverview....and I told my folks a month ago that I wanted to go there. (Our high school class is planning to have a gathering of sorts at the same place anyway, so I wanted to hit two birds with one stone.)

The next thing I knew, cousins and nephews and nieces heard about it. What the whole thing ended up in is  a children pool party. Right. A twenty-bleep girl with a children's party. And it doesn't help that 'Addee and Mama were acting like kids as well.

Define "festive", then. December 24 and 25 were brief respites from work; Christmas. I lost a lot of sleep from doing marathons of......BLOOD+ and half of MONSTER. Festive enough? *heckles*

Merry Christmas indeed!

I leave thee with a pic of my godson, Ronn Marius Gabriel. SMILE FOR ME!!!

Congratulations to Singapore! Their Idol won the Asian Idol title. :) All 6 contestants were very good, really, although I refuse to declare myself biased for thinking Philippines' Mau Marcelo is the best singer of the lot. Anyway. As they said, whoever gets the title, ASIA wins.

*shakes self awake after having slept merely three hours. Damn live telecasts and the importance of commercials!*

I'm in a bind right now, and it's due to something trivial: preparing Christmas presents I am to send to my friends. And they have to be done BEFORE Friday this week so I can send them via courier and they get to receive it before Christmas. Not that I was late doing Christmas shopping; I didn't do any. It was more like, I haven't had enough time to MAKE them.

Piss myself for deciding to MAKE the presents this year instead of buy them, THEN realizing only too late that I don't have the luxury of time! *sighs, then looks dolefully at PC and burner*

So! I was teasing my unmarried aunt a couple of days ago via SMS, asking her what present she'd give me. (One good thing about having your mom's closest sister unmarried is you get to be her favorite. Nyahaha!) She went, "why should I give you one? You're already much too old!"

Ouch on the 'old' bit. But indignation took over. WHO SAYS SO!? Out here in my country, there's a saying that goes "Ang pasko ay para sa mga bata", literally translates to "Christmas is for the children." My nephew seemingly hammered this into his brain that now he pesters me to give him something (a) he REALLY likes; and (b) is REALLY over-the-top expensive. As a result, I notice him being more obedient than usual. I somehow miss the bickering we have before he actually does what I tell him to. He's sucking up.

And it's so not working. I am immune to it. I mean, IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE, right?

I posed the question to my mom. "What'll she give me for Christmas?" She goes, "Why should I give you anything? You're already earning!"

Ack.

But she relents in this respect, and she told me she has something for me.

Now THE trick question: What about my birthday present?

This time I get a dirty look.

*sigh* Having your birthday quite close to Christmas is really not as fun as it appears to be.

Disbelief update: With the scarcity of time I am having, I can't believe I am watching a tokusatsu show. Kamen  Rider Kabuto. And two, I can't believe I am actually hooked!

How are your holidays?????

My brain's on overdrive. I can't keep up.

This, after months of its hibernation, despite proddings here and there to get it back in working order. I guess it took a mountain and chill-factor mist to actually accomplish it. Now I feel like this thing between my ears is running high on steroids. Not that I know how that exactly feels, but...I seriously can't keep up. My Arkarna phase is back with a vengeance.

(This, my friends, is an early warning. Post-influx, full speed ahead!)

So. November. The month before December. Before I turn another year older (and wiser. Yes, this, I can say for sure.) Before the Christmas rush is at it again (which reminds me to start planning my Christmas pressie purchases before the crowd gets too thick for comfort). Before the deadlines and closing of accounts insinuate themselves into RL again.

This is like the calm before the storm. And what calm it is.

October, my mom had to be at the hospital. November was Dad's turn. I am seriously rethinking helping them change addresses, y'know. They are already 'regulars', no other word for it. Already, my Mom's getting VIP treatment (stemming from her regular status and her job title). Not that they are sickly. She just works herself to the ground, and one of these days, if she doesn't pace herself, she might as well be working herself UNDERground. My dad...well, that's a different case. As unsavory as this might sound, he got....amoebiasis.

*heckles* Sorry. I know I shouldn't be laughing, but I am. He's laughing, too. Especially when I point out how he has to wear diapers.

OK. Enough humiliation for my old man. I love him to bits.

See, here, this is the resilience I was referring to. I got it from him. For who else would be assailed with such an ailment and still keep laughing...in between bouts of nausea, vomitting and.....you know what else amoebiasis brings.

He's such a trooper about the whole thing. And I'd like to think I got that from him. Among other things.

Two things I don't want to inherit from them, though...Stomach ulcer...and High blood pressure. They are hereditary, right? Both of them have it. I am their only child, the only one to inherit. *face goes white with dread* Holymotherof....*Looks for ways to enjoy life while still young and healthy*

I got an SMS about a  fun climb and rappel activity on Nov 30-Dec 1. Blast it. I had earlier plans to go traipsing to Laguna and push my friends underwater in the Rio Grande Rapids at EK. BY THE WAY, if anyone here ever gave the Pagsanjan Falls SHOOTING THE RAPIDS a shot, kindly PM me. Like, NOW.

I won't make this long. *note to self: don't freakin' ramble*

November 2 to 4 was the fulfillment of yet another of my to-do's. Another item ticked off in my List of Things To Do Before I Die. I went on a 3-day trek up Mt. Pulag, the 2nd highest peak in my country.

It was a long time coming. I was practically neighbors with it. It was right in my home province. Two thwarted planning attempts in the past year, and finally it came into fruition.

One word. FANTASTIC.

Hella tiring but utterly fulfilling. The trek itself, the summit. It was all about climbing. Dealing with all that camping gear on your back. Grab at whatever handhold is available, try to find secure footholds (unsuccessful more than half the time). We're talking about a trail (aptly named Enchanted Trail) which was never trodden before. It was a new trail, a new route up the mountain. It took a good  8-9 hours trek. And even that was moderately fast. (Because the last ones up took almost 14 hours).

But I digress. I'm not to talk about them, this is about ME. (Yeah, edeeot me, selfish me.)

The park superintendent early on said that climbing the mountain is a test of character. Damn if mine wasn't tested. But there were stuff I learned about myself through it, and that's what I will talk about now. (After all, if I were to describe the trek itself, then this piece would be really long,  and the best way for you is to experience it firsthand. Ah. Now I am rambling.)

I confirmed one thing. My masochistic tendencies go deeper than I thought. Right. I paid to torture myself for hours on end. At the top, we probably looked like some scraggly creatures with mud around our shoes, up our pants, our palms not unscathed. I am such a glutton for punishment that I begin to wonder what I've done in my past life to be like this now.

But I love it. Every minute of it. Even when the oxygen was thinning as we rose higher, even as I wanted to just toss my camping gear down the side of the mountain. Which, thankfully, I didn't, because that would be the best way to commit suicide come nightfall and dawn at the campsite. (My masochist self has not gone so far as to commit bloody murder on myself.)

Another thing I learned. I love the company I have now. The two  best friends I went with are going to be my best friends for life. All friends can go, but these two, I am keeping. Those people in our group, virtual strangers at first but fun buddies as the elevation rose higher, I wish to meet them again in future mountaineering jaunts. Because, come hell or high water, this won't be the last time I'm gonna do this.

At the summit, staring at the silhouette of the setting sun, I was thinking one thing. I could die right now, and I'd be the at my happiest. It's the closest to heaven I will ever be while I breathe, and I felt so at peace.

Screw those beaches where you see nothing but sand and miles and miles of water. Go up a mountain, lose yourself in the untouched forest and wonder at the Creator's genius for creating such beauty that many of us fail to see and appreciate for the glory that it is.

I rambled. My deepest apologies.

But I am feeling hella good!

Just when I thought August could not get any worse and I was glad it was over, September smacks me hard with something else.

It's been two nights since we had to rush my Mom to the hospital (hypertension, headache, hyperacidity. I call it the H-curse). I miss my bed for two nights straight. Looks like there'll be two more nights of this, but seeing as I can't miss work, my Dad's taking the watch until then.

She isn't the healthiest person out there, but it's still disconcerting to see her in so much pain. And I have to do what I do best: try to inject a bit of normalcy into anything. I only hope her injections lessen. They come by every 4 hours that I lost count.

Rather. I stopped losing count. Too depressing. Not my cuppatea.

Meanwhile, GAMBARIMASU! (To be honest, though, 'being an adult' is hard.)

Ja ne!!!!

"What is it with guys and their wheels?"

I've asked this question countless times before. I still do, only now, it's more like a rhetorical question than an actual inquiry.

(My second post in two days. In other places, this'll be considered spamming. I call it 'me thrashing about'.)

I remember when I was a high school sophomore, where curfews are implemented at home and I had fun breaking it since my parents don't fully grasp the meaning of the word GROUNDED anyways. At one time, my Dad had no choice but to lend his wheels to a nephew. It's still  6 in the evening, and he is restless, constantly checking out the window if his nephew's returned yet. He was totally worked up over it, worrying and thinking up worst-case scenarios.

I go home at 10 at night after one of my jaunts with my friends, and my Dad's already fast asleep since 8 o'clock.

Whoa.

Even now, there are some guys I know who could talk for hours about cars, engines, the latest and the hottest. They could sit by the windows checking out this set of wheels, how cool that one is, how not cool this one is. They are worse than film critics and, unlike the film critics, they don't earn their living by handing over their analyses.

It's funny, at the same time annoying. Well, yeah, it does, when you hear nothing but the same talk over and over....and then you don't hear anything new anyway, because it's just like a broken record on replay. Yes. Broken record. On constant replay.

But I learned to accept it as part of my listening routine. It's their thing. Guys and their wheels. Kinda like "Billy Crawford and his caps & do-rags or bandannas". Or "Britney Spears and her scene-stealers".

Or "my nephew Mel and fried chickens". Or "my mom and mobile phone games".

Or "Jhing and books." Or "Jhing and movies."

Or "Jhing and She and Mama Roj."

(I just had to put that last one.)

All of the abovementioned, are INSEPARABLE.

When did darkness become synonymous to 'evil', or 'bad'...or anything unsavory?

My nephew is already 10 years old, but he is still afraid of the dark. Now I have no idea why (since he only came to live with us when he was six). Maybe it's that boogeymen myth that kids nurture while growing up.

Since I am always the last one to hit the sack, it's my duty to turn off the lights in his room when it's already 11. Turn it off earlier than that, and then he wakes up, gets pissed and turns it back on again. He must have an alarm system for that, because he somehow feels it when the light's off.

My earliest memory was not being able to sleep with the lights on. It has to be turned off. (I am the power company's less favored client, then. I make up for that with my endless hours-long burning with the PC and  video marathons when the couch bugs bite me. Harhar!)

Why do they associate darkness with not-so-desirable stuff? Like when they say battle of good versus evil, they say, Light versus Darkness. Night versus Day. It is during the Night that creatures of darkness creep out of their burrows and scare the bejesus out of unsuspecting mortals.

Funny. When do we get the most comfort out of rest (read: sleep)? Night, right?

Yabai. I just rambled nonsensical things yet again. Some things never change, eh?

Unload: *kicks CDJapan.com* Unbe-fuggin'-lievable. I receive an info email about an item I'm watching out for, click the preorder link, only to read OUT OF PRINT. OK! SO NOT FINE! 

I opened the preorder link an hour AFTER the email got to me. Are they telling me it took about an hour for EVERYTHING to be sold out? I'd hate to think I am the slow one. Either everyone else on the planet clicked the preorder button before me in those 60 minutes, or CDJapan sucks at their market projections and does not hold enough stocks. (And to think the item won't still be released October 16. Bleh.) Good thing yesasia.com is there. *sigh*

I am so gonna pull a Light Yagami act and create a new world (dis)order. First on my list: take over CDJapan. (No. I don't have a murderous streak. Yet.)

If there's one person who wants August to end quickly, that'll be me.

(My apologies, dearest She. It IS, after all, your birth month....but let's just say that is one good day out of the 31 that was unkind to me.)

The fact that it IS August, and storms are synonymous with this month is something I'd let slip. After all, I'm not too stupid to contend with Nature.

Four times I got marked Late coming in to work. Four is not such a huge number. However, add the other four I had last July and you get a whopping EIGHT. Fine, then. Part of the reason I was late those times are partly my fault, the weather's fault, the motorists' fault...Bottomline: I take part of the blame.

Imagine my chagrin when I found out that we were given  5 minutes allowance. Like, if you got in at 8:05, that would still count as 8:00. Holy mother --- Out of those 8 times I was late, 5 were well within the 8:00 to 8:05 range. It turns out I wasn't the only one who did NOT know about such a thing.

I was never one to cry UNFAIR but damn if I don't feel cheated. Cause I am, big-time. Just thinking of these past few days  with me fidgeting nervously if this was the day I'd get a memo for my punctuality problems.

That's the thing, even. Punctuality was never a problem when it came to me. In the past, I was 95% on time or early in my appointments. Until I learned my lesson. (You tend to, especially when you decide to be a few minutes later only to find out that you're still the earliest and you STILL have to wait...) But when it comes to serious stuff (stuff that earns you memos and reprimands), I know how to keep time.

Then there's that thing with the postal system. I was on the verge of going postal over the lack of system in our postal system. What usually takes a couple of weeks took almost a month to get to me. I was courting notoriety with my daily jaunt to the post office downstairs to check if  I had anything. Everyday, the answer would be NONE, and I end up getting the mail of everyone at the office and handing them over. I was thinking I should've earned good karma simply by doing that.

At least, I am still thankful my parcel arrived, and in good condition. Although I would've preferred it to arrive earlier so I could've handed She's pressie on the day that mattered. Ah. Better late than never.

Then there's my dental 'appointment'. The dentist, when we were leaving, was like "Come again!" I couldn't help myself. I gave her a dirty look. She laughed, clarifying that I should come back for my routine dental checks, and not for anything involving cutting, slicing and pulling. Ok. Got it.

I am totally being whiny right now. I won't mention more of the mishaps I've met this month to spare you.  A few more hours and September comes in. I hope life's better by then.

Meanwhile, let me just bang my head to Orange Range's Ikenai Tayou......YO!

To Kuya RIC: You told me to keep you updated. Here's something to laugh at. (At least WE did laugh) Birthday ni Sir Mon idi kalman, tapos ada  natanggap na nga bouquet of three red roses. Ijay card na ket nakasurat: "Happy Birthday, from your secret admirer." Naks! ....(xet, tsismosa ak gayam)

I love my dentist.

......

A complete turnaround. I know, I know, no need to tell me.

I didn't feel any twinge of pain. So I was lying there, my right palm gripping my left wrist (Yeah, that's how I deal.), waiting for the pain. Nada. Maybe it helped that she had to use three shots of anesthesia, AFTER swabbing it with what she called "kiddie anesthesia". Whatever, it worked.

I gotta lay off real food for at least a day more, though. Geh.

On a more somber note, my prayers go to the souls of the 14 men in uniform, members of the Philippine Marines whose lives were cut short because of service to the country. To the Powers-That-Be, the bold all-out war against the domestic terrorist is all well and good, just...please make sure that those you send into the front lines are well-equipped and well-backed. Easy for you to make decisions, you are at the comfort of your own luxury cars and plush offices and homes....