one day in hp

Because the SO was meeting his friend at said friend's condo along Vito Cruz, we found ourselves at Harrison Plaza. I haven't been to this place in ages; the last two times were just at the Village Square's Seattle's Best (with Bespren J while she was studying for the US boards, and with G! on his birthday two years ago (has it been just two years?!) when I had just broken up with the SO and C!&G! were just starting to get together).

Is a fun and funky place... where else can you find a tattoo booth right beside Rustan's, people getting away with smoking inside the mall, a good-sized chapel, an SM Light Shop with a myriad of lightbulbs on display, tons of bargain/surplus stores, little tiangges sprouting everywhere, dibidi-dibidi stores and an off-track betting site? You go, HP!

Was able to scour Booksale and bought home decor magazines (Maleen's and my current passion) and a Simple Wicca book (was pretty, and, well, Wicca). There's also something to be said about the Rustan's in HP which stocks more pedestrian garb than the other branches. And of course, there's SM. 'Nuff said.

bye bye little boy
Zeester#2 found a better home for Dallas. He was causing the mother-unit's asthma attacks, so he had to go. It was sad, after being attached to the little guy for more than a month despite declaring that his only use was being cute. Any suggestions for a cute, small, but short-haired dog with a good temperament? We don't like mini-pins nor chihuahuas. Do Jack Russells have good temperaments?

the other little boy
Wasn't sure if it was a Freudian slip but I was talking to the SO about G!, but I ended up saying the little boy's name. SO was on my case for a whole minute. And then, well, no more. He's great like that, although sometimes I wonder if it's percolating somewhere within, just waiting to blow. Anyway, about the little boy, I read this testimonial that he wrote on friendster about this girl, and he reused the parting words on my testimonial for him! Haha!

Last Song Syndrome : Across the Universe - Fiona Apple (thanks boi_bitch!)

sick again

Sir Nick had ominous words during my going-away dinner at Zong a few weeks ago: "take care of your health." I thought that was a jibe at my constant sick leaves (which was to take care of my employment requirements at GeeksForHire). Well now it seems it was some sort of hex. I've been sick a whole lot more often now compared to before. Oh well. I hope it's not true that sickness is a manifestation of ill feelings and suppressed desires or rage. I think I like my work now, I'm happy with the SO... if anything it would probably be caused by stuff at the homefront. Oh well. I'm not well.

Listening to : Putumayo - Celtic Tides

not incommunicado for long

Somebody was bound to die, again. Once more, one of my favorite characters. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince started out sluggish, definitely, but momentum and tension built until that ending that left us shaking and teary-eyes. What can I say? Rowling has definitely left us hungry for more. Personally, Prisoner of Azkaban remains at the top of my list, but this story, with its romantic subplots (oh yes, at 16 the Hogwarts barkada should definitely be thinking about romance) and its little jokes, was thoroughly entertaining. It was also thinner than Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, making for an easier read (I think I took 5 hours, give or take some breaks).

People weren't lining up for it like before, though. By 7:45am, the "crowd" had thinned at Powerbooks Greenbelt 4. Of course, stalwarts like myself had to be there early, if only to read about how -bleep!- ended up kissing -bleep!- and that -bleep!- was (surprise!) the Half-Blood Prince. Hermione does a little cheating, Ron's place on the Quidditch team is tenuous, and Harry, well, Harry has been anointed "The Chosen One". Neo, much? There is still some politics, Percy is still the hated Weasley, Draco is still sinister (even more so that his father is in Azkaban), there's a new Minister of Magic, and there's a whole lot more Fleur Delacourt and a lot less of the Dursleys, although not enough Luna Lovegood. Hee!

Harry is definitely older, not much wiser (unfortunately), but altogether, the penultimate book does not disappoint. It is, however, definitely reading like the first act of a two-part ending. Rowling! Give us book 7 soon!

incommunicado

Between two birthday parties, overtime work, mom in the hospital and Harry Potter, I'm going to be pretty incommunicado this weekend. Meanwhile, here's some form of "deeper insight" into my personality based on my birthdate (yeah, duh):

Your Birthdate: October 30

Your birthday on the 30th day of the month shows individual self-expression is necessary for your happiness. You tend to have a good way of expressing yourself with words, certainly in a manner that is clear and understandable. You have a good chance of success in fields requiring skill with words. You can be very dramatic in your presentation and you may be a good actor or a natural mimic. You have a vivid imagination that can assist you in becoming a good writer or story-teller. Strong in your opinions, you always tend to think you are on the right side of an issue. There may be a tendency to scatter your energies and have a lot of loose ends in your work. You may have significant artistic talent and be very creative.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

don't you worry 'bout a thing, baby

One of the team leads over at GeeksForHire went impulse-buying and got herself a P910i free with a Globe G-Max plan. Myself, I've got an 800-peso plan that I maximize, although I don't think I would be able to handle the 1,200-peso plan. Got a Motorola E398 to go along with it.

Got to thinking about how many cellphones I've had over the past few years. I started out with a heavy-duty batuta-like Nokia (analog) when I got my Smart line ages ago; then I graduated to a slightly smaller although equally batuta-like Nokia 200 I believe, the phone that Globe was giving free with a 250-peso a month subscription with, yes, free text. From then I went through a Nokia 5110, two 6110s, a strange Motorola one-liner that was so hard to use (that I think belonged to A.), a 6210, an 8310, and now a 6220 and a Motorola E398 (hello Moto!).

It's funny, these phones. They're like ex-boyfriends the way I remember some of them. There were forgettable ones (like that Motorola); there were cherished memories (loved the 6110). [Although now, I have two phones... but I've never had two boyfriends at once!] I know a friend who just recently gave up his well-worn, ages old 3210; much like he just recently gave up his well-worn, ages-old love for his ex. Like me, he sometimes waxes sentimental, but we both like what we have right now.

-oOo-

Am dreading the end of the month because season 5 of C.S.I. (the original is always the best) is coming to a close, although it's also a highly-anticipated season finale directed by none other than Quentin Tarantino. Much fun is expected to be had!

-oOo-

pDVDs gathering dust on my shelf which I should be watching sometime soon:

Earthsea

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

I (heart) Huckabee's

Robots

Angels in America

-oOo-

Great going for the Anglican Church, which has allowed woman priests and are now voting for the installation of woman bishops in Britain... Per BBC, at present only Anglican churches in the United States, Canada, Polynesia and New Zealand have women working as bishops. Still, yay for them. Er, Catholics? CBCP?

-oOo-

Have been given different tasks at GeeksForHire because I finished the previous ones on time, relatively. The new project-within-a-project is something new and a bit more challenging than what I was previously doing. I had settled into a good schedule with what I had been doing, and was looking forward to coasting a little this week; instead I'm looking at more than a few overtime days and maybe work on the weekend. Feh. The other geeks on my team are still doing what we were originally scheduled to do. This is the price I pay for being efficient, then.

And the work goes ever on...

Last Song Syndrome : Don't Phunk With My Heart - Black-Eyed Peas

new look

And now I've had to go and change my template. Something was wrong with my old original template (huhuhu... two years old na yun!), pushing the text of the first post down below the sidebar. This new template is temporary although knowing me this will last for quite a while.

Uh-huh, two posts in one day. Am I back or what? Hehehehe! I guess with everything that's going on in the world, our embattled President (I still stick with you, Madam President... at least for due process), the London bombing, the break-up of Kristine and Diether... blogging makes for a sense of normalcy. Besides, I haven't been able to write in the longest time. I miss it, terribly.

Last Song Syndrome : Untitled - Simple Plan

hiatus

The supposed "comebank" post was a week early. I just really had to greet the Ger-ber on this medium because of the, um, shared history (heh!). I've been told to stop and smell the blogs, er, roses every once in a while, so here this is. I haven't been able to go online for ages, but I'm going to try to do so more often.

Things I did while on blogging hiatus:

Started actually working for GeeksForHire. Imbibed some of the culture (it's easier to imbibe denim Fridays than, say, having to log all your hours for your billable work).

Actually attended a training thingy, within one month of being with the company (which was actually equivalent to the training I attended with StingyCo in four years).

Looked for freelance work. Failed. Still looking.

Adjusted to twice-a-month salary payouts. Is actually quite convenient. Of course it helps that the salary is also relatively higher. Am still earning less than USD1,000 a month though. Grrr!

Had our househelp (who happened to be gay) up and leave us, stealing the life savings of his fellow househelp, her jewelry, bags, my cousin's expensive shirts, and a whole lot of my dad's shirts and pants. Seems he was also planning dognap Dallas (huh!). It wasn't nice because some people in the vicinity made prejudicial comments regarding the third sex and I thought it wasn't fair. However, I do abhor what he did. After we trusted him (well, sort of).

Bought a Rottweiler (actually half, she's shared with the SO). Her name is Heart. Hee!

Tried to be more understanding of the SO, and I think I succeeded. Although I'd have to ask him.

Was glad to be back in the loop now that the work email can receive YahooGroups mail. Yay!

Made a complete and utter mess of my room. It's easier to do that when you have a sister-roommate who has five times as many shoes and bags as you do. I've had to cram all my stuff into half of what was once my room. Hayy!

Got the old Duron up with the help of the SO. At least zeester#2 will have a workable PC for school stuff (and not bother us for the laptop, heh).

Looked for a contractor for the house that would give us what we wanted for the demolition and rebuilding within our budget. No luck. UncleArchitect's detailed plans were apparently too detailed and very expensive. We're looking into just giving the contractor the floor plans and do as you wish within x.xM pesos.

Gained weight. Just a hypothesis but with all the eating out (hazards of being in a relationship) and with all the fricking food at GeekForHire (it's worse than StingyCo! everyone has food!)...

Speaking of the hazards of being in a relationship... watched roughly a movie a week since getting back together. In one weekend we watched both Hitchhiker's Guide and Sin City. Interesting.

Saw papa Neil Gaiman at PowerPlant. Just yesterday. Sigh... Actually was a star-studded day at PowerPlant (saw John Estrada, Brad Turvey), but papa Neil and Jojo Lastimosa in one day...?! Just wonderful.

to my first blog-friend

Thought it was fitting that I post my "comeback" post on the birthday of the person who got me involved in blogging in the first place.

Happy Birthday Ger!

Last Song Syndrome : Same Ground - Kitchie Nadal