Friday, February 18, 2005

the weirdness in me

_pagan helps unleash the weird:


What is your weird quotient? Click to find out!


Last Song Syndrome : Anak ng Pasig - Geneva Cruz
(ok now tell me that isn't weird...)

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

celebrate life amidst acts of death

I'm glad I'm alive. I'm glad that no one in my immediate circle was in the vicinity of the Ayala-Edsa blast (don't know how close y_slaybelle was though), nor the GenSan and Davao bombings. I cannot imagine how those who lost their loved ones could feel. Unlike the Rizal Day bombing of 2000, I was nowhere near the area, as we were wary of the commercial district on Valentine's Day. When we got home, however, it was on the news, and I can't help but condemn groups like these, which make it their business to sow terror in the common tao without any notable or worthwhile (well at least not to us) goals.

However, in the midst of the shock, there was jubilation. The former boss, who now works in the Singapore office of StingyCo is finally pregnant, after trying for more than eight years. I remember everything about her life being so perfect except for that one aspect that she and her husband really wanted. Their prayers have finally been answered, thankfully. And then of course DaMike is turningthirty today, this huggable, moody-yet-lovable, action-figure-collecting good friend of mine. My wish for him is that he remains that strange blend of childlike and cynical; and that his lovelife will finally be sorted out.

Events like the bombing as well as Ms. R's answered prayers and turningthirty make you re-evaluate your faith, both in people and in your Higher Power. How can we be happy with a life about to burst forth when they will be entering a world with soulless bastards that bomb anonymously, killing husbands, wives, fathers, friends? But we are, because in the midst of despair, new birth always signifies hope.

[Congratulations, Ms. R. You will now be in my prayers often because a first pregnancy at 42 is quite difficult. Heck, stress nowadays contributes to difficult pregnancies at any age. But I'm sure that your exultation regarding this welcome news will more than make up for that. Here's to life!]

viva geneva
One officemate asked, "Kailan?" and then JP and I simultaneously burst into song: "Kailan, kailan mo ba mapapansin ang aking lihim?" Hahahaha! Viva la Smokey Mountain! The songs of our youth come back to haunt us at the strangest times.

Last Song Syndrome : Kailan - Smokey Mountain

the ones that weren't guessed

Thanks to amyslayer for the reminder to post those songs that weren't guessed. I had meant to do this last weekend but between Phantom, A Very Long Engagement and a visit to DnA, I didn't have time to blog over the weekend.

Anyway here they are:

4. A clouded dream on an earthly night / Hangs upon the crescent moon / A voiceless song in an ageless light / Sings at the coming dawn - The Mystic's Dream by Loreena McKennitt. Also the theme of the Mists of Avalon miniseries, which though a bit disappointing was nonetheless heartening that they would dramatize Marion Zimmer Bradley's book.

5. Lately it’s occurred to me / That I’ve had enough of that / And lately I’ve been satisfied by simple things like breathing in and breathing out - Not In This Life by Natalie Merchant. Anthem.

6. Oh, that boy of mine / By my side / The silver moon and the evening tide
Oh, some sweet day / Gonna take away / This hurting inside - Blue Bayou, Linda Ronstadt. Hee. Just a simple, nice, old standard.

8. Time casts a spell on you, but you won't forget me / I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me - Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac. Baby, I don't wanna know. You go, Stevie Nicks!

10. Always I am mistaken / I look for love I find a stone / Of all the seasons winter befriends me - Momentum by Vienna Teng. Is beautiful.

13. I've no more ways to hide that I'm a desolate and empty, hollow place inside - Jezebel by 10,000 Maniacs. Natalie. I love this desolate song. Was in my head for most of 1997 and I'm still listening to it now. "I know your feelings are tender, I know inside you the embers still glow... but I'm a shadow, I'm only a bed of blackened coal."

16. I draw a jackal-headed woman in the sand, sing of a lover's fate sealed by jealous hate then wash my hand in the sea. - Verdi Cries, also by 10,000 Maniacs. Am such a fangirl.

20. With an aching inside / I'll watch as her body is raised from the tide...
Her life has been taken, and I'll never know why / But I feel in that moment, a part of me died... - The Shores of The Swilly, Sinead O'Connor singing. Have a lot of Celtic-inspired songs playing.

22. When there was just a gang of us / Storming the town by train and bus
A moment of thought this heart sends to old friends - Old Friends, Everything But the Girl. Tracey rocks. This is one of my favorite EBTG songs (memories of high school) aside from Didn't Know I Was Looking for Love, Missing and Talk To Me Like the Sea.

A lot of these are really favorite songs because the playlist I used was the AchTung Baby playlist, and my memory card is only 128MB.

Last Song Syndrome : The Shores of the Swilly

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

you go, girl

Highest point of the 2005 Grammys, aside from a fun-fun opening number, was Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge belting out Janis Joplin's Piece of My Heart. Love the song, love the people who were singing. Especially Ms. Etheridge. She was openly lesbian, and she didn't care what other people were saying. She was diagnosed with cancer middle of last year, but still she rocks. My kind of woman.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

my playlist meme

Filched from ballerynna:

Step 1: Get your playlist together, put it on random, and play!
Step 2: Pick your favorite lines from the first 25 songs that play!
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song the lines come from!
Step 4: Cross out the songs when someone guesses correctly!


1. How do you measure a year in the life?

2. Bye bye baby, don’t be long

3. Here’s a photo I’ve been looking for / It’s a picture of the boy next door

4. A clouded dream on an earthly night / Hangs upon the crescent moon / A voiceless song in an ageless light / Sings at the coming dawn

5. Lately it’s occurred to me / That I’ve had enough of that / And lately I’ve been satisfied by simple things like breathing in and breathing out

6. Oh, that boy of mine / By my side / The silver moon and the evening tide
Oh, some sweet day / Gonna take away / This hurting inside

7. I'm not depressed / I don't get down that much
I'm not despondent / I am not dark as such

8. Time casts a spell on you, but you won't forget me / I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me

9. Just before our love got lost you said, I am as constant as a northern star / And I said, constant in the darkness, Where’s that at? / If you want me I’ll be in the bar

10. Always I am mistaken / I look for love I find a stone / Of all the seasons winter befriends me

11. Dear Marcus, you rocked my world / You had a charismatic way about you with the women / And you got me seriously thinking about spirituality

12. Years go by / Will I choke on my tears / Till finally there is nothing left
One more casualty / You know we're too easy

13. I've no more ways to hide that I'm a desolate and empty, hollow place inside

14. Since I’m only dead to you, I’m saying stay away

15. I’ll let it pass and hold my tongue / And you will think that I’ve moved on

16. I draw a jackal-headed woman in the sand, sing of a lover's fate sealed by jealous hate then wash my hand in the sea.

17. Please don’t say “I love you”, those words touch me much too deeply

18. I’d rather you be mean than love and lie / I’d rather hear the truth and have to say goodbye

19. What exactly do you do? Have you ever thought it's you that's boring?

20. With an aching inside / I'll watch as her body is raised from the tide...
Her life has been taken, and I'll never know why / But I feel in that moment, a part of me died...

21. When her days are grey / And her nights are black / Different shades of mundane

22. When there was just a gang of us / Storming the town by train and bus
A moment of thought this heart sends to old friends

23. Today is gone but tomorrow will be okay

24. I might want to marry you one day if you watch that weight and keep your firm body

25. Well, I’ve been afraid of changing ’cause I’ve built my life around you / But time makes you bolder / Children get older

Last Song Syndrome : all of the above

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

texts, dermot, batteries and the chumscrubber

The other night, I was jolted out of my late-night-just-about-to-sleep reverie by a sudden text from Co-conspirator. We’re way past booty calls (or booty texts, for this matter), so I wondered what the ‘favor’ was. Apparently, CC the office lothario was looking for KP’s phone number because he ‘accidentally deleted it’. Puh-lease, how lame can you get? (Okay, benefit of the doubt.) KP was one of his first frustrated conquests in the office, although I know for a fact that they’re getting friendly now. I still gave him the number. I don’t know how KP will react to that but they’re both adults anyway, and reputation notwithstanding, I still think that CC is a nice enough guy to understand the word no, if ever. Who knows, maybe KP with her sassy, independent woman, devil-may-care attitude is just what he needs…

After that, I couldn’t seem to lull myself back to sleep. Thanks to that though, I caught Dermot in-which-backwoods-have-you-been-hiding Mulroney on Conan. Apparently, he and Debra Messing have a movie together called The Wedding Day. I then flip channels and land on AXN where, hehe, I catch the ending of My Best Friend’s Wedding. Dermot’s still yummy, even with the salt-and-pepper hair thing going. Still looks like Stallone, but who’s complaining.

I’m reading through what I’ve written and I’ve been hyphen-happy. Hee!

-oOo-

At Glorietta last weekend, PhotoWorld 2005 was underway. Browsed through various booths such as those for Kodak, Epson, Canon, and photographers such as Passion Photography and John Mateos Ong. The Apacer booth was particularly interesting because their 60X 512MB SD cards were selling for PhP3,000. Unfortunately they did not accept charge transactions so I’ll have to wait until (a) next payday or (b) sudden windfall from Factory jobs (still no word on that matter). I was able to get a 4-pack of 2300mAH rechargeable batteries for PhP348 only, though, and that made my trip a good one already. I remember the last time I scouted for 2100mAH batteries, a pair was about PhP400.

-oOo-

The Chumscrubber recently premiered at the Sundance film festival and I'm quite excited about it being shown over here. Billy Elliot's Jamie Bell plays a suburban kid taking on the craziness of suburbia, with a cast composed of (swoon) Jason Isaacs and Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Richard Gleason, Allison Janney, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lauren Holly, Rita Wilson, John Heard, William Fichtner, and cute little Camilla Belle, in a film that tackles the "hypocrisy and muted subjects of our times", said the director in a post-screening interview, using comic book superheroes as an allegory. What fun.

Last Song Syndrome : Pippin's song for Denethor

Monday, February 07, 2005

congratulations New England

The New York Times > Sports > Pro Football > Patriots 24, Eagles 21: The Dynasty Is Official

I don't really follow American football, I'd take a Real Madarid game over any helmet-clad guys any day. However, I saw a Leno feature on the two teams vying for the Superbowl, and the New England patriots were much more fun. Hehe! I'd much rather have a team that was playing with some tongue-in-cheek humor stashed away.

it's monday and i'm swamped...

nicked from gamhanan:





You Have A Type A- Personality



A-





You are one of the most balanced people around
Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want
You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you.

When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back
Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love!
You live life to the fullest - encorporating the best of both worlds


Wednesday, February 02, 2005

how to lose a guy in...

about five weeks ago:
SlimyGuy#2: (through text and IM) hey, let's meet up soon, see a movie or something, and let's see what happens after that...
Ri: sure, but i'm really quite busy, maybe next week?

about four weeks ago:
SG2: well, what about our plans?
Ri: maybe next week, i'm really swamped, Christmas season and all...

about three weeks ago:
a YM conversation
SG2: so how are you na? what have you been up to?
Ri: work, lots of work, freelancing, the like... i haven't been going out
SG2: what about the lovelife? aren't you seeing anyone?
Ri: don't really need a relationship or commitment right now, so i'm not actively looking.
SG2: got a point there. so when are we going out?!
Ri: sometime soon, just text me.
( pointless chat banter )
Ri: by the way, i'm so fat right now. as in.
SG2: oh, really?

since then until now:
SG2: (hasn't texted or chatted)

I can only say this: Mwahahahahaha! At least I've gotten rid of him. How obvious naman. Well, obviously, it's not my loss. Heehee!

Last Song Syndrome : These Days - Bamboo