Still on the "committee" meeting. One of the projects that we'll be working on is Silver, a Facebook-ish type of updated yearbook/directory with lots of here's-what-I-look-like-now photos and just one "before" photo. Yes, we need not see shoulder pads and hair pumped up with Aqua Net ever again!
And instead of the usual listing of milestones and accomplishments (a.k.a. graduate of Katipunan University, CEO of the country's 100th biggest company), we thought of making our own version of the slumbook. Okay, let's not call it a slumbook since we are already out of high school. Let's just say we're doing a takeoff of the Proust Questionnaire in Vanity Fair with such fill-in-the-blanks as, "What is the one thing that you do not regret?" (... walking out on my marriage) and "What is the one thing that you do regret?" (... not having done it sooner bwahahaha)
Still, not every question requires serious thought. We'll also have stuff like, "What is your most embarrassing high school moment?" (... being caught by my clasmates while out on a date, so not cool!) and "Who was your secret crush?" (... I crush you, Jeff del Mundo! Mwahahaha)
The committee says we should distribute the questions Friday night before everybody starts drinking. I say give it right smack in the middle of the party, when everyone has had a drink or two, and for sure, we're going to have a lot of pretty interesting and pretty hilarious replies. We'll see!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Class of '85
"We never really grow old," my sister B says. And she is absolutely right. We were on one of our periodic telebabad calls and I was telling her about the night before when I met up with friends from high school. It pains me to say this but it's been 25 years since we graduated from high school and to celebrate, there's this big homecoming celebration in December.
Normally, I wouldn't be involved. I'm not really much of a reunion type of person but then because my friend A is active in the "committee," and because I would do anything for A, well, you could just say that I got sucked in. Truth to tell, I almost didn't go. It had been a particularly good day and I didn't want to end it bored out of my wits.
And so, I settled down with my soup and Super Dry, and prepared for the worst. Surprise! Surprise! It turned out to be a blast! While J-J valiantly tried to keep everybody on point, we can't just help but talk about whoever and whatever: C talked about sending her beloved crush a "love" letter and K talked about her experience body painting a hot male model. J was adamant in saying that this particular teacher was still alive (Yes, sad to say but they are now dying on us). P gave us a sneak peek into the games that are going to be played on Friday Acoustic Nite.
And though we were at this cute little restaurant, we might as well be in the basement canteen: we laughed so hard and talked so loud that I wouldn't have been surprised if Ms.Telen suddenly appeared and shouted, "Quiet!"
Normally, I wouldn't be involved. I'm not really much of a reunion type of person but then because my friend A is active in the "committee," and because I would do anything for A, well, you could just say that I got sucked in. Truth to tell, I almost didn't go. It had been a particularly good day and I didn't want to end it bored out of my wits.
And so, I settled down with my soup and Super Dry, and prepared for the worst. Surprise! Surprise! It turned out to be a blast! While J-J valiantly tried to keep everybody on point, we can't just help but talk about whoever and whatever: C talked about sending her beloved crush a "love" letter and K talked about her experience body painting a hot male model. J was adamant in saying that this particular teacher was still alive (Yes, sad to say but they are now dying on us). P gave us a sneak peek into the games that are going to be played on Friday Acoustic Nite.
And though we were at this cute little restaurant, we might as well be in the basement canteen: we laughed so hard and talked so loud that I wouldn't have been surprised if Ms.Telen suddenly appeared and shouted, "Quiet!"
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Ondine
I love this Neil Jordan film. First of all, it is set in an Irish fishing village with fantastic views of the sea. I hate the rain but I love the sea. And it's always been my dream to grow old near the sea--to wake up hearing the splashing of waves, to wake up running towards the ocean, the sand wet but warm under my feet. But I digress.
The quiet fishing village is only the setting for this quiet little movie about the possibility of a miracle. Syracuse finds a lady caught in his fishing net. The lady, who calls herself Ondine and who is ethereally beautiful, is believed by his sick daughter to be a selkie, a seal who became human by some miracle. At the end of the tale, we find out that Ondine is actually a drug mule from Romania but that is beside the point.
The thing that Jordan would like us to believe is that "miracles" could happen in everyday life, no matter how numbingly ordinary or woefully hopeless. I particularly liked what the priest, played by the magnificent Stephen Rea, said: "It's easy to be miserable. You have to work at being happy" or something like that.
So, work it!
The quiet fishing village is only the setting for this quiet little movie about the possibility of a miracle. Syracuse finds a lady caught in his fishing net. The lady, who calls herself Ondine and who is ethereally beautiful, is believed by his sick daughter to be a selkie, a seal who became human by some miracle. At the end of the tale, we find out that Ondine is actually a drug mule from Romania but that is beside the point.
The thing that Jordan would like us to believe is that "miracles" could happen in everyday life, no matter how numbingly ordinary or woefully hopeless. I particularly liked what the priest, played by the magnificent Stephen Rea, said: "It's easy to be miserable. You have to work at being happy" or something like that.
So, work it!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Cyclone Basyang Part 2: Catwalking
Basyang knocked out power all over Metro Manila. The next day, we had to deal with the aftermath of her wrath. We saw an iron sheet precariously lying atop electricity wires. Rows of greens looked like they were run over by a bulldozer. On the streets, branches big and small were strewn about. Our yard, it was a mess: a couple of branches of the malunggay tree had broken off (and still remain on top of our neighbor's roof; nyak!), a branch from some unknown tree lay on top of our cable wire, bamboo sticks on top of our roof (where from, I do not know), leaves all over.
Everybody worked to put some semblance of order into our home. By the afternoon, we were powerless and waterless (yes, water both for drinking and bathing, had ran out). It felt like we were in the Middle Ages. But fortunately, there were no more rains. By nightfall, we found out that my sister, who lived a couple of villages away, already had power. It was only a matter of time, I thought, before we got ours back too.
I fell in and out of sleep; it was sticky hot. Suddenly, I heard a loud clanking in the kitchen. A cat had wandered into the house. We had left the living room window open and now the cat was climb-clawing its way on the screen, trying to find the opening, which it had stupidly closed on the way in. I grabbed an umbrella (What is it with me??!!) and started shooing it away. It gnarled at me!! And a really mean scary cat gnarl at that! I went to my son F, woke him up, and told him about the cat. This time, he didn't get up. What am I to do?!! I woke up my two boys, who were sleeping in the living room, and told them to go to my room. The gnarly cat had by this time posted itself near the television; with the umbrella, I opened the window, hoping the gnarly cat had enough smarts to know that it was the way out. I then went inside my room and prayed that the lights would go on soon, and scare the gnarly cat away.
It only took a couple of minutes before I heard the beautiful sound of the fan running. When I opened my door, the light were all lit up. And the gnarly cat was gone. Thank the Lord for answered prayers!
Everybody worked to put some semblance of order into our home. By the afternoon, we were powerless and waterless (yes, water both for drinking and bathing, had ran out). It felt like we were in the Middle Ages. But fortunately, there were no more rains. By nightfall, we found out that my sister, who lived a couple of villages away, already had power. It was only a matter of time, I thought, before we got ours back too.
I fell in and out of sleep; it was sticky hot. Suddenly, I heard a loud clanking in the kitchen. A cat had wandered into the house. We had left the living room window open and now the cat was climb-clawing its way on the screen, trying to find the opening, which it had stupidly closed on the way in. I grabbed an umbrella (What is it with me??!!) and started shooing it away. It gnarled at me!! And a really mean scary cat gnarl at that! I went to my son F, woke him up, and told him about the cat. This time, he didn't get up. What am I to do?!! I woke up my two boys, who were sleeping in the living room, and told them to go to my room. The gnarly cat had by this time posted itself near the television; with the umbrella, I opened the window, hoping the gnarly cat had enough smarts to know that it was the way out. I then went inside my room and prayed that the lights would go on soon, and scare the gnarly cat away.
It only took a couple of minutes before I heard the beautiful sound of the fan running. When I opened my door, the light were all lit up. And the gnarly cat was gone. Thank the Lord for answered prayers!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Cyclone Basyang Part 1: Breakdancing
The day started pleasantly enough with a quickie catchup lunch with my girlfriend M. I read somewhere that we were going to be hit by a cyclone but I didn't pay much attention to it. When the rains didn't let up in the afternoon, I started getting a bit concerned. When the power went out at night, I started getting worried. When the winds roared, I started freaking out.
You see, our house is surrounded by trees, something that I've always liked. There's a slim, ancient, insides-eaten-out tree in front of our home, which has seen many a howling storm. We also have a malunggay tree on one side; and other trees from our neighbors' yards skimming over our rooftop.
These trees, they all look so lovely but when the winds howled, they started breakdancing like mad, their branches pounding our roof, making loud clickity-clackity sounds. When the clickity sounds got louder around my sons' room, I woke them up and told them to sleep in the living room. I thought of calling my sister B and asking her husband B to pick us up, but then we'd be traveling with branches and iron sheets flying around, which would be even more dangerous. The winds bellowed even louder, and now, the tree in our front yard was rapping its branches on our water tank while the malunggay kept tapping our roof. It was crazy. I opened one of our windows and I could see the ancient tree, making like a Chinese acrobat, stretching up and out.
It was at this point that I saw a man standing outside our gate. And because it was dark and raining and I was freaking out, the scene sort of reminded me of The Strangers. Immediately, I grabbed a broom, woke up my son F, and together, we went to our yaya's room to get her to the main house. Afterwards, F and I went outside. The tree was still breakdancing but there was no sign of the man.
As it turns out, the man was just our neighbor. He had parked his car in front of our house, and it was dangerously close to the breakdancing tree. He got nervous and decided to move it.
In the morning, I told my kids the mom-went-momentarily-insane-again story, which came as no surprise to them actually. And as it turns out, my son F wanted to laugh when he saw me looking all freaked out and armed with a broom. Mercifully, he didn't. It would have spoiled the ongoing drama running inside my head. I didn't know what I was thinking. What was I going to do? Sweep him away with the broom?! Mwahahaha
You see, our house is surrounded by trees, something that I've always liked. There's a slim, ancient, insides-eaten-out tree in front of our home, which has seen many a howling storm. We also have a malunggay tree on one side; and other trees from our neighbors' yards skimming over our rooftop.
These trees, they all look so lovely but when the winds howled, they started breakdancing like mad, their branches pounding our roof, making loud clickity-clackity sounds. When the clickity sounds got louder around my sons' room, I woke them up and told them to sleep in the living room. I thought of calling my sister B and asking her husband B to pick us up, but then we'd be traveling with branches and iron sheets flying around, which would be even more dangerous. The winds bellowed even louder, and now, the tree in our front yard was rapping its branches on our water tank while the malunggay kept tapping our roof. It was crazy. I opened one of our windows and I could see the ancient tree, making like a Chinese acrobat, stretching up and out.
It was at this point that I saw a man standing outside our gate. And because it was dark and raining and I was freaking out, the scene sort of reminded me of The Strangers. Immediately, I grabbed a broom, woke up my son F, and together, we went to our yaya's room to get her to the main house. Afterwards, F and I went outside. The tree was still breakdancing but there was no sign of the man.
As it turns out, the man was just our neighbor. He had parked his car in front of our house, and it was dangerously close to the breakdancing tree. He got nervous and decided to move it.
In the morning, I told my kids the mom-went-momentarily-insane-again story, which came as no surprise to them actually. And as it turns out, my son F wanted to laugh when he saw me looking all freaked out and armed with a broom. Mercifully, he didn't. It would have spoiled the ongoing drama running inside my head. I didn't know what I was thinking. What was I going to do? Sweep him away with the broom?! Mwahahaha
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The Everyday
Having been gone for a few weeks, I am now visiting each and every one of my favorite blogs. Even though I do not know most of these fabulous bloggers personally, I am quite excited to know what's been happening in their lives: who celebrated a birthday, who threw a birthday party, who had a great day, who had a bad day, who took a picture of something awfully fantastic, who took a picture of something beautifully ordinary, who ate what, who went to where. Most of the blogs I like speak of the everyday, 24 hours of living and loving and making the most of everything, which is what life is all about.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Elmo Pillow
Every so often, my mom and dad would "kidnap" us in the middle of the night to drive off somewhere. That somewhere could be anywhere but because my mom loves the classics, that somewhere would most often be Aristocrat Restaurant at Roxas Boulevard. There, she would order her favorite Chicken Barbeque and take spoonfuls of Halo-halo from one of the kids.
And because we'd always end up going home late, the kids would often nod off to sleep. My son S is usually the first to dreamland. He loves sleeping. He can fall asleep anywhere, it seems. And that particular night, he had a one-of-kind pillow to cuddle.
Elmo Pillow
Sleeping S
And because Baby S can't be without something soft and fluffy and S had sequestered her Elmo, she ended up sleeping with a soft and fluffy mamon.
And because we'd always end up going home late, the kids would often nod off to sleep. My son S is usually the first to dreamland. He loves sleeping. He can fall asleep anywhere, it seems. And that particular night, he had a one-of-kind pillow to cuddle.
Elmo Pillow
Sleeping S
And because Baby S can't be without something soft and fluffy and S had sequestered her Elmo, she ended up sleeping with a soft and fluffy mamon.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Voltaggio
I fell in love with Top Chef when I saw Hung Huynh whopping those chickens to pieces. He was so fast it was like his hands just glided over those dressed chickens and they came out all cut and clean. And while I couldn't taste any of the dishes that the chefs prepared, it was a delight to see them create all those beautiful-looking dishes. After that, I bought all the Top Chef DVDs that I could get my hands on.
A couple of days ago, we finished Season 6 and it was awesome. I love it that they got these two awfully talented brothers, trying to outdo each other at every challenge. That they had a lot of issues between them was quite obvious but in the end, I'd like to think that they were able to somewhat resolve them. I wouldn't want to be in their mom's shoes, however. One of the things that I hate about being a mother is having to referee everyday fights. And at times, I just stay out and let them go at it, hoping that they'd get tired of butting heads... eventually.
This is one of my favorite episodes, the chefs cooking for the chef of the century, Joel Robuchon
My favorite brother, Bryan
A couple of days ago, we finished Season 6 and it was awesome. I love it that they got these two awfully talented brothers, trying to outdo each other at every challenge. That they had a lot of issues between them was quite obvious but in the end, I'd like to think that they were able to somewhat resolve them. I wouldn't want to be in their mom's shoes, however. One of the things that I hate about being a mother is having to referee everyday fights. And at times, I just stay out and let them go at it, hoping that they'd get tired of butting heads... eventually.
This is one of my favorite episodes, the chefs cooking for the chef of the century, Joel Robuchon
My favorite brother, Bryan
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Most Beautiful
Piolo Pascual is lying down at my feet. With his jacket open and his torso peeking out from under his shirt, he takes a deep sigh and gives out a stare that would melt any woman’s heart. No, this is not a dream sequence. We are at Raymund Isaac’s studio, shooting YES! Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful. But hey, you can’t blame a girl for dreaming, can you?
Papa Piolo lying down (Despite all the rumors, he is incredibly good-looking and sweet-smelling too!)
At my feet, what did I tell ya?
For a couple of weeks about two months ago, I found myself interviewing all these showbiz celebrities, some of them quite iconic actually, and it proved to be a most rewarding experience. At the time, I was a bit rusty at this writing thing. I had just left a highly stressful job where I hardly did any writing. And so I was quite nervous about interviewing all these celebrities and submitting my work to one of the toughest editors this side of town, Joann Maglipon. I labored over my first few submissions but then, after I got the hang of it, I just let go. It was liberating.
Because I got to speak to all these colorful personalities, the experience was quite exciting too. It was fun hanging out with Kim Chiu in her van, distracting to be interviewing Piolo Pascual with his shirt off, and heartbreaking almost to hear Lorna T still so in love with her husband. Juday was terribly nice, and so was her mom. Alex da Rossi was a force of nature. And Lotlot de Leon, this woman has lived; I'm sure her story, if ever fully told, would make one wonderfully interesting read.
Here, the boys setting up for the Kim Chiu shoot.
So pretty! Love, love, love her in this gown; note the fringe edges
This white gown had a life of its own,love all the layers
Here's another shot of Piolo
And Kim's lovely legs
Papa Piolo lying down (Despite all the rumors, he is incredibly good-looking and sweet-smelling too!)
At my feet, what did I tell ya?
For a couple of weeks about two months ago, I found myself interviewing all these showbiz celebrities, some of them quite iconic actually, and it proved to be a most rewarding experience. At the time, I was a bit rusty at this writing thing. I had just left a highly stressful job where I hardly did any writing. And so I was quite nervous about interviewing all these celebrities and submitting my work to one of the toughest editors this side of town, Joann Maglipon. I labored over my first few submissions but then, after I got the hang of it, I just let go. It was liberating.
Because I got to speak to all these colorful personalities, the experience was quite exciting too. It was fun hanging out with Kim Chiu in her van, distracting to be interviewing Piolo Pascual with his shirt off, and heartbreaking almost to hear Lorna T still so in love with her husband. Juday was terribly nice, and so was her mom. Alex da Rossi was a force of nature. And Lotlot de Leon, this woman has lived; I'm sure her story, if ever fully told, would make one wonderfully interesting read.
Here, the boys setting up for the Kim Chiu shoot.
So pretty! Love, love, love her in this gown; note the fringe edges
This white gown had a life of its own,love all the layers
Here's another shot of Piolo
And Kim's lovely legs
Monday, July 5, 2010
Crash
I am writing this entry on my kids' PC. My notebook crashed a week ago, and now I am one notebook-less mommy boohoo!
The very first time I had a computer crash on me, I was heavy into Sims. Because all my files were in diskettes (yes, it was that long ago!!), I didn't lose much in the way of work. What I did lose were all those levels for my various virtual characters, all those virtual houses I've built and furnished, all those promotions I've earned for them, all those relationships I've nurtured for them. I was, quite honestly, shell-shocked! All those gaming hours lost, I was depressed for days.
This time around, the shock of seeing a blank screen where my moonwalking Star Trooper wallpaper used to be wasn't as daunting. To tell you the truth, there is something liberating about losing everything in your virtual world. I figured, if I didn't deem something so important that I didn't back it up then it probably wasn't worth saving. As far as I can reconstruct it in my mind, I think I've lost a couple of folders of pictures, a couple of folders of finished articles, a couple of folders of raw files, and an unedited manuscript. Not too bad, I think. Nothing I could not do all over again.
And so, the slate is clean. Reformat. Reboot. Restart...
... if only life was that easy :)
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