cuckoo

I wonder how my life would be like had I been born as the 4th Miller sister.

I already posted an entry on my favorite nephew, Paolo. I have yet to meet another 9 year old who thinks and talks the way he does. Some anecdotes:

"When I die, please have me cremated and please put my ashes in a Nutella jar."

"Is it true that if our environment doesn't get fixed, we are all going to die in 50 years? (dramatic pause) But Tita Tessa, I'm only just a child!"
- after watching An Inconvenient Truth

"Do you know that you don't get fat from eating fat?"
- after I told him he needs to eat all the fat he can afford to eat (i.e., chicken skin)

"It's an animal Tita Tessa. A chinchilla is an animal. It looks like a mouse but it has bigger ears and a shorter tail."
- after he asked me if I knew what that damned creature was and I just gave him a blank stare

"Look who's talking."
- after I told him that he's so skinny and he needs to eat more

Sigh. God bless the kids of today's generation.

I refuse to kiss ass.
I do my job and I do it right.
I refuse to take part in office politics.
I'd rather let the quality of my work speak for itself.

Some pictures from last December's trip with Ron, Via, Mackoy, and Marlon. Travelling is something everyone should experience. If I can afford it, I'd invest on a trip every quarter (emphasis on IF).

Whenever I feel bummed, I just look at these for an instant lift.

Started in Bangkok:

On queue at the Tiger Temple

At a closer look, our studio-esque background happens to be a bus

Dumbette meet and greet

Floating Market

Kanchanaburi

River Kwai Bridge

Si Lom by night

En route to Koh Phangan

And then New Year in Koh Phangan:

I can't think of captions for these. I guess the pictures say it all.

And last stop was Kuala Lumpur:

Of course, the token Petronas shot

I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move. ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Or lack of music is deafening. Especially if you're in an environment which makes too much noise and tuning everything out to retreat to your own private world is your only form of salvation.

IT guys surely did a good job on blocking non-work related websites. I'm beginning to wonder if: 1) they had a hefty merit increase this year - hence they decided to try to get some work done or 2) they are not expecting any increase, so they decided to take it out on everyone by restricting all PC's at work. Hmmm, I think #2 is applicable. Either way, they're a bunch of bitter, vindictive bastards.

But wait, there's more. Pixie, my MP3, is currently in a vegetative state, and she's been like this since last week. Everytime I turn her on, she gets stuck on the welcome screen. I'm terrified to have her checked since I might have to deal with the inevitable - either she's dead, or she's lost her memory. I don't have a player at home, and I don't have unlimited access to our PC, so music is no longer a staple, but a luxury item.

Now I know how withdrawal feels like. This is worse than quitting smoking. Seriously.

Thank God this link still works, it's legit since it's a travel link. I can vent and bitch endlessly. The circumstances now dictate me to look for a new emotional outlet at work. Blogging. Wah! Somebody save me!

Anyway, I would just like to say thank you to the first few people I saw at work today, your sincere "Good Morning Tessa's" helped brighten up my shitty disposition. Carl, Jerome, EJ, Joanna. Hmmmm. I guess, this is a good day for human interaction.

Have a good week ahead of you, boys and girls. And for those of you who don't have surf control, have working Ipods, and players in their rooms at home, be grateful. There are lots of less-privileged people in this world, and I'm one of them.

For probably 90% of the labor force who work mainly for income and not for any of that self-actualization crap, today is a happy day.

Work=income=purchasing power. Yay!

Spent the first half of my weekend having brunch with my dear, beloved friend, Joyce. I finally used one of the many promo coupons I got from Figaro.

Below is a list of the all the stuff I bought which I don't really need, but I was nevertheless very pleased with:

1. Scrapbook and glue (the pictures have been waiting for years)
2. Ballpens @ Php9 a piece! And they write really well. I remember getting them at a higher price tag a few years back. Hmm.. recession? Oh whatever.
3. A Rustan's grocery bag made out of 'katsa' printed with one of Amorsolo's paintings. My best buy for the day @ Php150.
4. Couch-potato weekends' supply of DVDs at Makati Cinema Square. One of them is an interesting, (not so) new series, Weeds, starring Mary Louise Parker.

I hope my next entry will be a progress report on my life savings instead of a documentation of my daily spending habits.

Today is Chili's birthday. He would have turned 31.

As a no-brainer tradition, I paid him a visit.

Friends would always ask me why I would go to the memorial regularly, thinking that it must be upsetting. I gave up explaining that going there was one of the few ways I can cope. Just being there, alone, with a solid memory of him, was enough to keep me from losing my wits for the past year or so. I didn't want to bother people talking about something most of them can't relate to. Unless it gets really bad and gets too much for me to handle (which happens sometimes), that would be the only time that I'll seek out the help of closest friends. But on most times, I'd much rather deal with my issues on my own.

I paid less frequent visits to him since the year started. Not on purpose, but mainly because I don't feel as restless anymore if I don't get to go there once a week. Then came the happy realization that I have probably taken the first step to move on. I guess it's true that you learn to cope better in time.

I noticed that the grass on his lot was greener and healthier compared to how it looked the last time I was there. It set out the flowers that I got for him. It was a pretty sight. I offered a prayer as I lit a candle for him and as I always do, I wished that he is happy now, wherever he may be.

I still miss him everyday. And sometimes, I still can't help but think of all of our lost chances. That will probably never change. But I'm glad that it doesn't hurt as much anymore.

Today, I decided to wear open-toed sandals to work.
And then God decided to make it rain.

Anger is one of the most interesting emotions...

Ok, I'm not being self righteous by posting this entry because I am very much aware of the fact that I have a baaad temper myself. It's just that something happened this morning which made me realize you are at the losing end if you give in to your anger.

I was taking my usual daily commute to work and traffic was pretty bad (given the fact that it was only a little past 5 am) and sitting right across me was a girl who was obviously getting upset over the situation. I deliberately tried to ignore her but it can prove to be quite a challenge if the rest of the passengers in the jeep are quiet (most of them were half asleep) and here is little miss sunshine drawing all the attention to herself by clicking her tongue, looking at her watch every 5 seconds, and muttering obscenities.

Turns out, there was a pretty bad accident which involved 2 cars smashing the rear of a container truck. The scene looked pretty nasty. Miss sunshine, however, did not even stop to consider that there might have been some injured or even casualties from the wreck. The muttering and clicking never ceased and it was starting to get pretty a-n-n-o-y-i-n-g. I was close to telling her to just get off the damn jeep and walk if she can't afford to be late. Jesus.

It was then that I realized that I have lots of those sunshine moments (but I glare more rather than click my tongue) and God, it can be stressful. Especially when you are stuck and your bitching won't help at all. Sure, commuting is a pain in the ass. And dupang Manila drivers who won't take off unless their jeepneys are packed are even more painful. And should I even elaborate on traffic?

But unless you want to drive or take a cab everyday to save you all the hassle, then you don't really have much of a choice but sweat it out and grin through it. Try to cut down on the bitching.

And to little miss sunshine (who can't even get more articulate beyond 'bwiset') I hope you didn't flunk your subject or lose your job for being late this morning. Someone else might have lost his arm or even his life from that road accident.

If ever a relative or a friend based in the States gets to read this entry and is considering giving me a present for Christmas, I would really, really want a Marc Jacobs Sonic Youth t-shirt. Dammit. I want it really bad. Promise, I've been good this year.