random updates

this is getting to be a habit...

1. watched the librarian last night. it's a cool movie which involves the spear of destiny yet again. (yet again, because i just watched hbo's blockbuster movie of the month: constantine) the librarian is in charge of safekeeping mankind's greatest secrets. i like how they portrayed shangrila, nestled in the awesome himalayan mountains. plus, kelly hu rocks as an evil rocker chick in the movie.

2. i finally got my computer... and lost three-fourths of my desk space. heh. you win some, you lose some. anyhoo, thanks for the fast work i.t., simply remarkable! if you were any faster, you wouldn't have a job anymore...

3. whatever happened to the gossip girls movie??! i wanna see blair, serena and nate in action.

4. i'll be going to bicol this friday night and will be coming back early tuesday morning. hello whale sharks, mayon volcano and pili nuts!!! goodbye japanese shipowners' association and evil business proposals!!! (i gave a d to regent and a borderline d-/f to i.t.) [note to self: bring red ballpen to office tomorrow. it's much more satisfying to check documents with a bloody red pen. i didn't really get a kick out of it using my black pen. maybe i should reconsider a career in the academe.]

5. i want to go to italy... 6 months in the sun-dappled mediterranean country sipping bellinis, surveying the countryside, cruising the riviera, and ogling the locals should do it.

spoiled?

got this from anj who got it from ate jess. obviously, there's a dearth of work to be done in the office. :)

Do you have:
(x) your own cell phone
(x) a television in your bedroom
(x) an iPod/MP3 player (mp4!)
( ) a photo printer
(x) your own phone line (in the office though)
( ) TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
(x) high-speed internet access (i.e., not dialup) (this is iffy, in the office as well)
( ) a surround sound system in bedroom
(x) DVD player in bedroom
( ) at least a hundred DVDs (with my dad in his buy-lots-of-dvds phase... soon)
( ) a childfree bathroom
( ) your own in-house office (somehow, i don't think the kitchen counts)
( ) a pool (i wish!!!)
( ) a guest house
( ) a game room
( ) a queen-size bed or larger (i wish!!!)
( ) a stocked bar (no bar, but we're sure stocked c/o my brother)
( ) a working dishwasher
( ) an icemaker (what? the freezer isn't enough?)
(x) a working washer and dryer (dryer only)
(x) more than 20 pairs of shoes (together with my mom and shobs)
( ) at least ten things from a designer store
( ) expensive sunglasses (hell no...)
( ) framed original art (not lithographs or prints)
( ) Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
( ) a multi-speed bike (not for someone who doesn't know how to ride a bike)
( ) a gym membership (snort! yeah right!)
( ) large exercise equipment at home (it's called a bed...)
( ) your own set of golf clubs (i sincerely believe that golf is for old fogeys... and anya)
( ) a pool table (I WISH!!!)
( ) a tennis court
(x) local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea (does tagaytay highlands count? )
( ) your own pair of skis
( ) enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
( ) a boat
( ) a jet ski
( ) a neighborhood committee membership
( ) a beach house or a vacation house/cabin
( ) wealthy family members
(x) two or more family cars
( ) a walk-in closet or pantry
(x) a yard
( ) a hammock
( ) a personal trainer
( ) good credit
( ) expensive jewelry
( ) a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
( ) at least $100 cash in your possession right now
( ) more than two credit cards bearing your name (not counting gas cards or debit cards)
( ) a stock portfolio
(x) passport
( ) a horse (i wish)
( ) a trust fund (either for you or created by you)
( ) private medical insurance
(x) a college degree, and no outstanding student loans

Do you:
( ) shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week
( ) do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
(x) pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes (not counting dry-cleaning)
(x) go on weekend mini-vacations (tagaytay highlands forever)
( ) send dinners back with every flaw
(x) wear perfume or cologne (not body spray)
( ) regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon (anj and anya know the answer to this)
( ) have a job but don't need the money OR
( ) stay at home with little financial sacrifice
( ) pay someone else to cook your meals
( ) pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs
( ) regularly pay someone else to drive you
( ) expect a gift after you fight with your partner (what partner?)

Are you:
( ) an only child
( ) married/partnered to a wealthy person
( ) baffled/surprised when you don't get your way
( ) been on a cruise
(x) traveled out of the country
(x) met a celebrity (i cannot hang out with my brother and not meet a celebrity)
( ) been to the Caribbean (I WISH!!!)
(x) been to Europe (YES!!!)
(x) been to Hawaii (stopovers count, right?)
( ) been to New York (nope, but planning on visiting my cousin there someday soon)
( ) eaten at the space needle in Seattle
( ) been to the Mall of America
(x) been on the Eiffel tower in Paris (actually at the foot of the eiffel)
( ) been on the Statue of Liberty in New York
( ) moved more than three times because you wanted to
(x) dined with local political figures
( ) been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast

Did you:
( ) go to another country for your honeymoon
( ) hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
(x) take riding or swimming lessons as a child (swimming!!!)
(x) attend private school
( ) have a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown for you

24 out of 90... i'd say that's pretty down-to-earth. :)

random updates

i finally got together with the kadiri gang last friday. albeit incomplete (no anya, jig, val, and frey), i had loads of fun. i've been feeling the crippling grip of work on my life and, frankly, i needed to chill. the night was filled with good food, yummy desserts, great friends, and new rants. it always amazes me how right things are when i'm with these people.

* * *

my week started out crappy-dull though. i was thisclose to losing it when i was handed the surprising assignment of making a business proposal (aside from the 7 other projects i'm handling). since this was for a very important account in the states, i felt it was my professional duty to remind them that i DO NOT KNOW HOW TO MAKE A FREAKING BUSINESS PROPOSAL. mind you, i've never written a single business proposal ever in my life. want a research paper done on global governance? i'm your girl. want a document translated from english to french and vice versa? alors, my french has improved several times over. want someone to read fr. david's enormous pile of readings? lemme grab my glasses. but business proposals are as foreign to me as... college calculus.

fortunately i'm a quick study, and enjoy learning new things (sometimes, to a very unhealthy masochistic level). thank you google and essca.

* * *

shobs is in bora.

the parental units are in bora as well.

which leaves society-boy powers and academic snob barbie all alone in the house.

i used this time of significant absence by furthering my state of mental relaxation (a.k.a. cleaning the house) last sunday. i must say that if this occured during 3 consecutive no-working days, i might have been able to revamp the dining room, spare bedroom and the kiddies room. suffice to say, i'm well-pleased with myself.

i can't wait to arrange my book collection properly.

* * *

i am itching to get my hands on:

1. maryjanice davidson's dead and loving it
2. lisa cach's have glass slippers will travel
3. dvds of:

• some kind of wonderful
• just one of the guys
• the breakfast club
• st. elmo's fire
• fast times at ridgemont high
• legend
• the lost boys
• the complete season of john woo's once a thief

4. flowy white top from zara

road rage

why do moronic biker mice from hell persist in attaching loud-ass stereos on their pathetic-looking bikes?

a) they have no idea how lame their so-called music sounds like (and i mean blech...)
b) as a means to really wake up (i have an ingenious idea... it's called a cold shower- they should try it some time...)
c) to grab some unfortunate chick's attention (boy! with moves like that, it's simply a wonder why girls aren't beating down their doors to get to them... with loaded shotguns)

the rest of the populace isn't deaf. please do not contribute to the noise pollution, assholes.

complacency

it rises
unbidden
from the darkest recesses of my soul

it twines its silken arms ‘round my being
lover-like
it clasps me to its enticing embrace

and i fall
drift down
the endless abyss

screams, desperate scrambling
unheard, unnoticed
desires
my nirvana
lost...

* * *

i'm feeling complacent and lost.

which means i need to light a fire under my ass.

given the size of this particular feeling of complacency, anything smaller than a full-fledged forest fire will have the effect of a light sunburn.

fuck a duck.

all messed up

i'm so in love with this song, i could listen to it over and over again for the next x weeks...


all messed up
breaking point

i hope i never wake up
i dream about you all the time now
and i don't wanna face
another night without you here
someday, someway, somehow
we will be together again
you know i've always wanted
just to feel the touch of your love
you know i've always hated
knowing how far apart we are
someday, someway, somehow
we will be together again
i just want you to know

[chorus:]
baby i'm all messed up in you
you're far away
but you're here with me
baby i'm all messed up in you
you're all i need
my everything

every night i wake up
hoping that i'll find you here and
there's not a day that goes by
i don't think about your smile
someday, someway, somehow
we will be together again
i just want you to know

[chorus]

and i know that we will find a way
to be together someday
and i promise you that i won't leave
i'll be here forever

[chorus]

i want you i need you
i'm lost here without you
i'm all messed up in you
i hope i never wake up
i dream about you all the time now

apres france et les autres choses

alright. after months of being mia, i've decided to come back to the land of the undead and... write something in my sadly neglected virtual space. not surprising since i'm not the most reliable correspondent, but those of you in the loop know that i've been dealing with employment issues, depression and domestic mayhem.

it has been 2 months and 18 days since i left france, and it has not been any easier on me. i miss the new friends i've made, the food, the places, the parties... everything. and before this turns into a major rant session, i'm cutting this train of thought right in its proverbial bud.

currently, i'm dealing with my newfound life as an employee. from the safety-blanket of my ivory tower, to the land of baguettes and vins, to the prototypical cubicle, i'm still confused as to the direction my life is taking. obviously, this sucks because i'm anal about my career trajectory. i feel my job matrix losing its grip, my job timeline losing its meaning and my job nirvana losing its appeal.

france has opened a whole new world for me. a world not inhabited by samuel huntington, the economist or great political thinkers, but by pmes, the bcg matrix and porter's five forces. this isn't necessarily bad, but neither does it make things easier for me. i thought i knew what i truly wanted (generally at least), but this just proves to me that what i wanted was derived from what i knew, what i was comfortable with.

i've reached a premature and uncomfortable conclusion that i have been manipulating my world as per my instructions, and as per what i deem is right. it is in human nature to do so, but now i'm starting to think that this time, it came with a higher price.

this post is obviously whacked, so i better stop this one before it becomes blog vomit. hopefully, this little exercise has been beneficial to my confused mind and i'll be better off after this.

***

in other news:

1. kudos to my sister for graduating from ica. i never doubted, bubu.
2. kudos to mr. madrona for passing the bar with nary a peek at the books. the fso exam should be a joy ride.;p
3. kudos to anj for surviving a week in hell, emerging fresh as a daisy and ready to party in thailand.
4. belated kudos to kai kai for getting into the med school she wants.
5. belated kudos to anya for finally disengaging herself from mizuno.
6. i miss nice!
7. i miss val!
8. cher, aimee, liszy- vous me manquez beaucoup!
9. ina- tu me manques beaucoup aussi!
10. i'm gonna be in davao during the weekend of april 8-10. ciao bellas!