Friday, November 11, 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Claim to fame
Dahil pinaghirapan ko ito...At dahil may araw na alas-tres ako papasok at alas-diyes ng umaga kinabukasan na ako umuuwi...
At dahil hindi ko na nakikita ang nanay ko...
At dahil sa totoo lang, hindi ko na alam kung anong petsa ngayon...
At dahil malapit na naman ang birthday ko, kahit hindi ko nararamdaman na malapit na siya...
Favor naman o...
Sign-up ka sa Groupee. Ako yung gumawa niyan.
(Alam ko may bug pa yung sa email confirmation, paki-ignore muna inaayos ko pa siya.)
Tapos sagutan mo yung profile questions. Maaaliw ka. Ako yung nag-isip ng mga tanong diyan.
Tapos i-add mo ako. Para friends na tayo.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Happy anniversary
I only realized a couple of minutes ago that I've been with this company for a year now yesterday. I started on the fifth of November last year.Funnily enough, I realized it when, while taking a break from work (I'm pulling an all-nighter), I was browsing through some job classifieds. It's something I do to relax, really; I find it good to know that if I ever get fired I would still have some options.
Not that I'm leaving anytime soon. I would say that I'm not thinking about leaving, but that wouldn't be honest. I wake up every morning with this burning desire to run away.
It reminds me of several years back, in college, when Angel and I were still together, and (the ass that I am), I would tell her about how much I wanted to run away. I could sort of understand why a girl would not be so thrilled with the idea of her boyfriend running away (or at least constantly babbling on about it).
I don't know, I guess I'm a bit of a flake that way. The year I've spent with this company is the longest time I've spent in the same place.
But again, I'm not leaving. I'm enjoying working for this company too much, and right now, I have a hard time imagining myself having as good a time in any other workplace. I mean, the other day, I woke up at 10am, watched the Suns game on TV, had lunch, and then started thinking about going to work. As toxic as work gets sometimes, I'm never too busy to ever miss out on dates with friends whenever there are plans for getting together. I get along well with my work mates and my bosses, and I've made quite a few real friends here at the office. I also see pretty girls quite often, which, as shallow as it sounds, actually amounts to a lot.
(Also, terms like chorva have slowly made their way to my vocabulary. I don't know what to make of it.)
On the flipside, I think I'm performing well enough. Oh fuck it, I'm perfect for this job! Sure, anybody can develop web applications and do Apache server configurations, but can you find anyone who does that and knows otherwise really really (really) useless information like "American Adobo" being the last movie where Christopher de Leon and Sandy Andolong were together, and that "Dear Heart" was Sharon Cuneta's first movie, and that the first episode of "Young Love, Sweet Love" starred the love team of Romnick Sarmienta and Jennifer Sevilla.
Oh, and I also fill in from time to time for the graphics guys. Here's my favorite, which was created for this piece.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Toilet humor
A few moments ago, here at the office.Kage: "Hey, our banyo is like totally flooded!"
Me: "I know... that's why I'm tumatae upstairs!"
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Booking
Last Saturday, I picked up a bunch of books at Megamall (as always, off avalon.ph). I got Eating the Cheshire Cat by Helen Ellis, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, and a copy of Nick Hornby's Songbook, which is a step closer to making my Hornby collection complete. Speak with an Angel, The Polysyllabic Spree, at A Long Way Down na lang yung kulang, kasi bibigyan ako ni Richelle ng extra copy niya ng How to Be Good. The best kasi si Richelle eh. Also got a copy of The Unknown Error of Our Lives by Chitra Divakaruni for Darwin, although I got to take it home until I saw him again at the office. As if these weren't enough, I bought a copy of Dave Barry's Greatest Hits at a Goodwill Bookstore sale. I must be addicted to buying books. These books along with the ones I bought last time kept me company for most of the long weekend.Things started off brilliantly with Werewolves in their Youth, a collection of short stories from Michael Chabon, who also wrote Summerland and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Most of the stories dealt with with relationships falling apart, underscoring the frailty of human connections in the face of life's circumstances. What I love most about Chabon though, aside from the almost-Gothic tone and his dark sense of humour, is the affection he has for his characters, giving them a shot at redemption before their tales wind down. I saw a copy of his first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, at Fully Booked in Cubao the other night, and I'm probably buying the one next time.
Then I moved on to Kurt Vonnegut's classic Slaughterhouse Five. It's equal parts satire, science fiction, memoir, literary criticism, and pulp fiction. Its reputation is well-deserved, and I loved every moment reading it.
After that came Sandra Cisneros The House on Mango Street. It was alright, a light read of around a hundred pages consisting of short vignettes. In a way it's refreshing, as Cisneros nails perfectly the voice of a teenage Mexican-American girl who would grow up to be a feminist writer.
And then there was The Unknown Error of Our Lives, a short story collection from Chitra Divakaruni. The stories were okay. I don't know if this is a fair comparison, but her writing kind of reminds me of Amy Tan, which probably has to do with the fact that they're both Asian-American writers dealing with the cultural gap between their old and new countries. And just like Amy Tan, sentimentality and melodramy reeks in all her stories. I guess it's alright if you don't mind that sort of thing.
To lighten things up, I read Dave Barry's Greatest Hits. Dave Barry's writing is like the literary equivalent of a Naked Gun movie: a million jokes flying at you, with that certain desperation to make you laugh. And you do end up laughing, if only for the sheer quantity of the jokes.
Right now, I'm almost done with Eating the Cheshire Cat by Helen Ellis. I'm loving it so far. It's a funny gothic novel about social climbing mothers and daughters in the south, a mix of Mean Girls, Desperate Housewives, and Stephen King. Can't wait to finish it!
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Mas masarap magmahal ang taga-UP
Naaalala niyo ba si Lynne? Yung magandang babae na kasama palagi ni Alekos sa mga picture na nire-request niyang i-post ko?Nakakatawa, kasi madalas siyang mag-forward sa akin ng mga text joke at inspirational messages na para bang year 2001 ngayon. Hindi pa niya siguro nakuha yung memo.
Hindi naman ako nagrereklamo. Natuwa pa nga ako doon sa isang ipinadala niya sa akin nung isang araw.
Bakit mas masarap magmahal ang taga-UP?
1. Kasi matiyaga
2. Kasi madiskarte
3. Kasi matalino
4. Magaling maglambing
And lastly...
5. Mabilis sa kama
Tapos siyempre may karugtong.
Kapag matutulog. Laging puyat eh :p
Hindi ako sigurado kung bakit, pero naaliw ako rito sa forwarded message, pero sa tingin ko, may kinalaman rito ang pagiging stuck ng sense of humor ko sa grade school level.
Pero hindi rin ako siguradong totoo yung nilalaman ng text message. Lately kasi, nagkaka-problema na naman ako sa pagtulog. Nagsimula yung paglala nito nung Huwebes nang gabi, nang magkayayaan kaming mag-inuman ng mga nag-gagandahan kong officemates na sina Bam, Binky, Darwin, at Fay. Nakaubos ako ng dalawang macho (o mucho) mug, na tig-isang litro na beer ang laman.
(Buti na lang, wala na akong computer sa bahay, kung hindi, siguro nag-blog na naman ako nang nakakahiyang kwento tungkol sa mga babae sa buhay ko.)
Alas-kwatro na nang makarating ako sa bahay, at agad naman akong nakatulog. Ang problema, alas-siyete pa lang, nagising na ako, at hindi na ulit makatulog. Nag-antay dalawin ng antok habang nanonood ng TV, pero tinalo na ni Doogie Howser si Shannon Elizabeth sa Celebrity Poker, hindi pa rin ako nakatulog. Maya-maya, oras na para kumain nang tanghalian, at pumasok na lang ako sa opisina nang halos walang tulog.
Maaga akong umalis ng opisina nung Biyernes. Dinaanan ako ni Luz para sabay kaming bumisita sa PGH kay Hannah at kay Sam. Inabot kami doon ng alas-dos sa pakikipag-chikahan kay Han, na sinamahan namin sa pag-aantay kay Mark.
Kahit madaling-araw na, nakahabol pa naman ako sa party ng boss sa Astoria Plaza ko nang mga alas-tres. Marami pa namang tao, at nakainom pa ako ng tatlong bote ng beer. Umabot ang party ng mga alas-sais, kung kelan nag-breakfast kami nina Binky at Wanggo. Kailangan kong pumunta sa Megamall nang alas-dose ng tanghali para kumuha ng mga libro, kaya naisip kong umidlip muna ulit sa taas. Hindi na naman ako nakatulog, kaya ginawa ko na lang ang ginagawa ng mga taong katulad ko sa ganoong sitwasyon: nanood ako ng Gimik: The Reunion sa Cinema One.
(O baka kaya hindi ako makatulog, dahil nanood ako ng Gimik: The Reunion sa Cinema One? Iniisip ko kasi talagang di hamak na mas maganda ang Gimik: The Reunion kesa sa TGIS: The Movie. Pero mas maganda pa rin ang TGIS kesa sa Gimik. Isipin mo, wala namang memorable na storyline sa Gimik, samantalang sa TGIS, naalala ko pa nung nangaliwa si Cris kay Mickey nung nasa States ito, at nung na-develop si Kiko at si Mich, at nung na-miss ni Wacks yung birthday party ni Peachy dahil kay Angel. Pucha, naaalala ko 'tong mga punyetang episode na 'to, pero di ko maalala yung ginawa ko twenty minutes ago.)
Nakauwi naman ako nang maayos, at buong Sabado ako natulog. Pero nagising ako ng Sabado ng gabi, at hindi na ulit makatulog hanggang Linggo. Nagbasa na lang ako ng libro hanggang tanghali ng sumunod na araw, at pagkatapos mananghali, pumunta ako sa Araneta para sana manood ng game ng Purefoods at Talk N Text. Pagdating ko sa coliseum, wala nang ticket, dahil hindi ko napansin na Ginebra pala yung first game. Dumiretso na lang ako sa opisina, kung saan tumambay at nagtrabaho ako hanggang alas-dos ng umaga. Pag-uwi, hindi na naman ako makatulog hanggang alas-singko nang umaga.
Nung Lunes, nagkita-kita kami nina Alekos, Frank, JAm, Jem, at Ria, para bumisita ulit kina Mark, Hannah, at Sam sa PGH. Masaya naman ang bisita, kahit sandali lang kami doon dahil palabas na ng ospital ang Gamis family. Lahat naman kami ay may iba pang pupuntahan, tulad ko, na kailangan pang sumunod sa pamilya ko na bumisita na sa sementeryo. Sa sobrang antok, hindi ko na nakwento sa kanila yung business idea ko. Basically, magbebenta kami ng mga t-shirt na may naka-print sa harap:
Mas masarap magmahal ang taga-UP
