photo archive #006

speaking of

athletic shoes... i went to the "sportsaholic sale" at mondragon house in makati last friday. i was looking at shoes when i heard an unfamiliar male voice ask "are you into running?" some stranger was trying to start a conversation in the middle of shoe-shopping. normally i wouldn't talk to strangers, but in this case my curiosity got the best of me. it's not everyday that a decent-looking guy approaches me and makes small talk. in short, we got into a conversation and ended up swapping calling cards. he suggeseted having lunch together sometime next week.

less than 36 hours later, he sent me sms. talk about a quick follow-up.

this kind of experience is totally alien to me. if i were living in some amercian city, it probably won't bother me as much. but i'm in manila. and i acted manhanattanesque. it just doesn't fit. and if my folks found out, they would freak. heck, i am beginning to freak.

in fairness, he looks quite safe and normal. plus, i have back-up. he's in advertising. so i asked my friend in advertising to do some background checks. until she gets back to me, i am going to sit pretty and let things flow. maybe have some panic attacks now and then. presently, i am yoyo-ing between relishing the novelty of the experience and pushing disturbing thoughts to the back of my mind.

what if he's some psycho-stalker type? (this is my worst fear.)
what if he's intel for kidnapping? (this is what my parents would think.)
what if he's armed and dangerous?
what if he's not who he says he is?

the questions are enough to drive me nuts. better not think about it. but we all know that you can't really just forget things as weird as this.

i think i'm going to be spending a lot of time praying today.

funny

my friend saw this while driving around town. he just had to stop, take a picture, and share it with me. it sounded funnier on the phone, really. and by the way, whatever happened to reebok?

unwritten

sung by Natasha Bedingfield

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition, sometimes my tries are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

update

yes yes, i haven't been posting anything substantial lately. blame it on work, and work. so here's what i've been up to, or will be up to in the next few weeks. (read: here are my excuses.)

1. spent most of my first two weeks designing the set and props for our church's production. will probably spend next few weeks putting the stuff together.
2. pulled all-nighters to finish working drawings for my previous firm. got sick in the process. the things i do for extra cash.
3. doing the above, while counting calories. both ingested and burned. courtesy of trackyourdiet.com
4. third week was mostly real work. went to my boss's house. (not the young boss, the old boss. the one whose name actually appears on office signage and the blueprints.) had to take as-built dimensions and draw up plans. of the whole 3,000 sq m property. on which stands a 1,800 sq m house. that's just the ground floor. fun.
5. scouted for spanish and german classes. was supposed to start taking them today. (right now, actually.) decided to take them at a later date. stage production will probably take up most of my weekends.
6. erratically working out at the gym. trying to get endurance up for 10k run, which my track-and-field-buff of a friend got me into. haven't really registered for it yet. still thinking about it. i might not survive 10k. (btw, marathon is on feb 27.)
7. spending more time reading. currently in the middle of green architecture and the truth behind the da vinci code. the da vinci code sucks, by the way. i agree with this review. (link courtesy of boytakeslife.) more on that some other time.
8. list of upcoming things, beginning with continuing to remodel my friend's apartment. hopefully things go well, and i'll have more remodelling comissions through her.
9. aside from language lessons, i am thinking of taking up dressmaking. if it fits into my schedule.
10. adult conference / retreat during holy week. might or might not go. leaning towards not. want to have an unplanned holiday for a change. because...
11. i might take an out-of-town trip with my friends in april. just four of us single, unattached, and very attractive girls. yeah!
12. counselling for the church's youth summer conference. that includes training and seminars in the next few months prior to the conference in late april. i can't believe i got myself into this. me, a counsellor??? yaaaagh!
13. helping my friend prepare for her wedding in june. which includes my own personal scrapbook project for the couple (ssshhhh... it's a surprise!)

i also have two other weddings to attend this first half of the year. (i just survived the first wedding of the year two weekends ago.) looks like i have my hands full until june. which is just about right, 'cause i'll be leaving in the third quarter of this year. that reminds me, i have to go through my requirements and scholarship applications this first quarter.

it's going to be one heck of a year.

blah.

blah blah blah blah blah. BLAH!

so much to write, no time to write. which is probably why i am beginning to crack. i've noticed that the times i am happiest or most relaxed or at least NOT BUGGED are those times i blog a lot. and i thought giving up blogging would help me get the rest of my life on track.

and yes, i am still in my PMS funk.

great. now i don't know WHAT TO WRITE. i have this compulsion to just jam this keyboard through the monitor.

the world is replete with idiots and insensitive morons. the types who don't care if you don't take your lunch break. the types who just stare blankly after you ask them if there's room at the table for one more. and just continue their happy-happy-joy-joy power lunch with each other, LAUGHING boisterously enough so you could hear them all the way in your own desk. where you happen to be having your own lunch. alone. wishing for all the world someone would show you a little concern. even if it were just a put-on.

work is work. and life is life. and i am always the odd one out.

sometimes it's not so fun being weird.

rowr!!!

today is an off day. not that anything bad actually happened. (though a lot things could have gone wrong. starting with a potential near-fatal accident.) i just feel absolutely out of sorts. my bad knee is acting up. my nose is still stuffy. i didn't have a decent lunch, but i'm not hungry. the thought of food makes me feel sick. that's saying a lot from a girl who perenially binges.

i'm not enjoying work, although i'm not under pressure to do anything at the moment. i can't focus on any task. i feel fat, bloated, and ugly. it must be those d**n hormones again.

most importantly, i can't think. i can't write. argh!!! what is WRONG with me today?!?!?!

everyday miracles

i am so proud of my little sister!!! she's doing something for the greater good. please support her worthwhile project! i'll post a banner and a link on my sidebar once i come up with a suitable banner art. in the meantime, copy and paste this message and send it to your friends. thanks!

January 5, 2005
Dear Friends,

You know that the Christmas season and its accompanying joy and cheer is coming when the months start ending with 'ber's. This year, however, the coming of the 'ber months also brought with them a number of calamities. Locally, a string of typhoons hit the Bicol region and triggered a number of other calamities that killed thousands and left more homeless. More recently, an earthquake hit the coast of Indonesia, causing a huge tidal wave to engulf countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Maldives, Africa, etc. Today, the death toll stands at a total of 139,394; the destruction was so bad that some countries have even stopped counting. While we may seem far from all the pain and destruction, I am compelled, as I see the various images and read the news about the aftermath of this calamity, to do something about it. The world as we know it changed on December 26, 2004, and we have to do something about it.
When typhoons Winnie and Yoyong hit our country, Ateneo set up Task Force Noah and collected donations from people to send to the badly hit provinces. Working as a volunteer for two days, it amazed me to see how hundreds of people- strangers- from all walks of life put aside their differences and worked together to help those in need. In the end, we were able to deliver more than 6,000 relief good packs as well as provide clothing for those in need. It was then that I realized how powerful the human spirit is. Hence, the birth of the project: A Million Miracles.
As the effects of the tsunami leave thousands hungry and homeless, I feel that the most basic need that has to be met right now is to have an ample supply of food and clean water. A Million Miracles' goal is simple: to raise Php 1,000,000 (or almost US$18,000) and have this letter reach at least 1,000,000 people in 1 month. This money will then be forwarded to the United Nations World Food Programme, under the name of the project, so they can use the money for their different feeding programs for the tsunami victims. (For more information, you may refer to http://www.wfp.org/.)

You can help in a number of ways.
You can send in your pledges or inquiries to me through: amillionmiracles@gmail.com, or 0917-5183720 with the amount you wish to donate and when you plan to donate it.
Then you can give me the money personally or by depositing it in the bank account I have opened for A Million Miracles. (BPI FAMILY BANK ACCOUNT NO. 6856-0434-42). ** anonymous donors may deposit their donations directly to the bank account as well.
You can copy this letter and send it to everyone you know, who will hopefully, send it to other people and let the news spread.
If you would like to be updated every week on the status of the project, please leave complete contact information with your pledges so that I can keep you updated. Any amount you wish to donate will be greatly appreciated- from sacrificing your Php20 bag of chips to your Php100++ cup of Starbucks coffee, or giving up a part of your allowance or salary for the month; any amount will surely go a long way to achieving this dream.
Now, you may ask, what guarantee do you have that I am not just one of those con artists tugging at your heart's strings? Although a resume and an NBI clearance may be available upon request, I guess all I ask from you right now is to have a little faith in a 20-year-old who wants to reach out to those who are in dire need of help.
While Php1,000,000 may seem like a lot right now, and raising that much money in just 1 month sounds even crazier, I am taking a leap of faith, and I pray that you will take that leap with me.

Sincerely,
Minnie L. Fong

when it rains...

it pours.

i have a stuffy nose, which i have acquired from my younger sister. normally i don't get sick that easily, but i've been keeping long nights (consecutively!) and now my resistance is down. because of said cold and all-nighters, i couldn't get out of bed this morning. i woke up an hour and a half late if i were to make the 9am cut. (which is already an hour later than the official 8am sign-in time.) as if i weren't already late, i was in a bind as to how to get to work. my car was still in the shop because nobody went to get it yet. (the rest of the people at home apparently thought it was impossible to bring the car home without the driver, who was absent yesterday.) the spare car mom used. so i have to take the train to work. which is ok.

when i got to the station there was a technical problem and they wouldn't let anyone on the trains. so i decided there was already no point in rushing. i went home and went to the shop with the driver to reclaim my car. it turns out that my car's batteries need to be changed, and dad told the driver to wait until after lunch to get the replacement. whoopee doo. so i had to bring the "hands-off" car to work. which is not a bad thing, really, except that i don't like driving around in a kidnapping-waiting-to-happen vehicle. but i had to get to work by 1pm, so waiting for the new batteries was not an option.

i left the house a little past noon. and traffic was a killer. i took the wrong route, i suppose. and while being stuck in traffic, i saw trains pass me by, travelling 10x faster than i am. the railway system was up again. oh yes, mr. murphy is at work. hurrah.

when i got to work i found out that the boss was looking for me. ugh. and the idiots at work didn't tell him i already finished whatever it was that he had me do before christmas break. i already printed out a copy for the boss to review, but i handed it to one of the newer, younger (and i think stupider) people because said employee was doing something related to my work. of course he didn't show the boss my stuff. of course he didn't say i had it done eons ago, even before this year. but then, what can you expect from someone who only knows how to cover his own ass?

suffice it to say, i am not happy. and i have a head cold.

thank god tomorrow is a friday.

100 things...

we didn't know this time last year.

some of the more interesting trivia from the bbc news article of the same title. check out the whole list and related stories.

1. Street brawlers sometimes arm themselves with potato peelers, according to the Home Office, which wants to make them banned weapons.

3. Brussels sprouts have three times as much vitamin C as oranges.

4. Crows apparently like the taste of windscreen-wiper blades.

9. Some pigeons follow roads and turn off at motorway junctions to navigate their way round.

19. The collective noun for rhinos is "crash".

26. The full names of Scooby Doo's Mystery Inc members are: Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Scooby "Scoobert" Doo. Shaggy is actually Norville Rogers.

30. The Sydney Harbour Bridge contains just 16 nuts and bolts. The rest is held together by rivets, because it doesn't need to be dismantled.

31. Herrings break wind to communicate and keep the school together.

37. Although it's nearly 24 years since Jimmy Carter was US president, he still receives about 4,000 letters a month.

38. Yoda was based on Albert Einstein.

43. In 1911, Pablo Picasso was one of the suspects arrested for the theft of the Mona Lisa.

47. A "jiffy" is 10 milliseconds in computer science terms.

50. A tribe living in a remote part of Brazil's Amazon rainforest has no words for numbers beyond two. The Piraha use "one" to mean one or roughly one, two means two, while any larger number is just "many".

51. The day after the atomic bomb exploded on Hiroshima, the banks re-opened. They had one customer, John Reader's book Cities recorded.

62. The founder of the Natural History Museum, Sir Richard Owen, was the man we have to thank for the word "dinosaur", literally meaning "terrible lizard".

66. An American girl aged between three and 11 has, on average, 10 Barbie dolls in her toy box.

68. Bill Clinton revealed in his autobiography that he didn't learn to ride a bike properly until he was 22.

70. And reports of UFOs have dwindled since the late 1990s. In the UK, sightings have gone from about 30 a week to almost zero; it's a trend echoed in the US and Norway.

73. Ducks have regional accents. London ducks shout out a rough quack to be heard above the urban din; those in the West Country make a quieter, softer sound.

79. Space is only 62 miles away. That's 100 kilometres.

81 . When people are in love, weird things happen. Men get more female hormones, and women get more male. Scientist Donatella Marazziti says it's as if nature wants to eliminate what can be different in men and women, perhaps to help the mating process.

83. There's no mobile reception at the top of the Gherkin in London - it's too high up at 40 storeys. The phone companies hadn't expected a tower so tall, and it's above the reception area.

87. One gigabyte of information - about a quarter of the memory of an iPod mini - is the equivalent of a pick-up truck load of paper.

91. Scientists have developed cress which changes from green to red when it comes near explosives - ideal for spotting landmines...

92. ...which is a good job as there are still about 100m undiscovered landmines in the world, just waiting to go off.

100. Bill Clinton sent just two e-mails while he was president.

documentaries

spent new year's weekend watching documentaries. namely farenheit 9/11 and supersize me. two words - they rock!!! michael moore and morgan spurlock are geniuses. and they're funny, too!

turns out americans aren't as stupid as i thought they were. (oh man, i am SO going to get flamed for this...) just a few months back, me and my colleagues have come to the conclusion that a lot of the world's evils are the result of stupid americans. and every time we hear of something idiotic or humorous that came from the usa, we say two words - stupid americans.

michael moore showed me that not all americans are stupid. right now i'd put the marker on 50-50. (go ahead, flame me, this is my blog, after all.) i thought the reason bush got elected president in 2000 was because americans weren't very smart in ballot-casting. again, sweeping generalization. surprise!!! the philippines isn't the only professed democratic nation who engages in election fraud and voting rights violations. now my slogan will be "screwy republicans!" they did it in 2000, and i'm sure they did it again in last november's elections. what's sad is that the country which often calls itself the "leader of the free world" just squelched the rights of many to preserve the interests of the few. and i thought george w bush was just another war freak. the lives of the many innocent iraqis will be on his head. not the mention the young american soldiers who died thinking they were fighting for liberty and justice, when the truth is they were simply pawns of avarice and greed. my heart goes out to mothers like lila lipscomb, who lost their children to a war which was absolutely unnecessary and completely selfish. thank goodness the american constitution only allows a president to hold two terms. i'd hate to think of what would happen if george w is still in the oval office after november 2008.

ok, now let's talk about food. after watching morgan spurlock go through his mcdonald's diet, i think i will swear off fast food for a month. at the very least. urgh. i've always known that fast food is not good for you (and those mcdonald's fries DO taste kinda fishy...) but i had no idea it could run your liver down in a month!!! forget alcohol... fast food is definitely a killer! reasons not to go to mcdonald's, kfc, or any other similar establishment. fat. sugar. fat. carbs. fat. msg... and, oh, did i mention fat? i thought gaining ten pounds in three months was bad... twenty pounds in thirty days?!?!? ick. ick ick ick. i admire morgan that he actually finished the whole mc-diet program for the sake of research and public education. it definitely scared the bejeepers out of me. enough to make me go take a 500m swim this morning.

hats off the documentary geniuses like moore and spurlock. may you continue to enlighten thousands with your films this year, and in the years to come. and try not to get killed in the process.

question of the month #004

apparently, my current question is a bomb. what do you expect from a spur-of-the-moment idea? oh well... i wanted to ask "what's your christmas wish?" but i thought it promoted materialism. (not to mention undermined the true meaning of the season.) anyhoo, i'm posting a new question (a more interesting one, i might add) and i'm keeping it on the site until the end of january. here goes...



as for me... i have a list! (see profile on sidebar.) right up there is strong christian faith / devotion to the lord. a very close second would be intellectual compatibility (are you not surprised???)

happy holidays, everyone. and try not to get caught up in the commercial definition of christmas. cheers.