February 2009

1. I am not experimental with food. When I look at a restaurant’s menu, I scan for the most familiar and tend to order the same tried-and-tested dishes every time. I only discovered sashimi a few years ago.

2. I love cats. I think they’re the most beautiful creatures. I currently own 12 of them right now, much to my mother’s chagrin. Some of them are strays I pick up from the street. One of the most agonizing moments for me is whenever I see a little stray kitten crying by the side of the road, and I deliberate if I should take it home or leave it to die. If I win the lotto, one of things I’ll do with my money is set up a shelter for strays.

3. I was a nerd when I was little. One of the things I did to pass the time was to watch the traffic from our second floor window and count the “ba-o” (Volkswagen Beetles) that passed by. I’d consider it a good day if I counted a hundred. I loved going to school and counted the days in the summer until the classes start in June.

4. I wish I had become: a) a concert violinist, b) a veterinarian, or c) a pre-school teacher. There’s still time :)

5. I rarely get sick. I don’t easily catch a cold or fever. I have never been admitted to a hospital. I secretly fear that I’ll get my fair share of sickness all in one go and then I’ll die quickly.

6. I am good at flirting. Not necessarily to hook up, but I can think of a quick come back to every lame pick up line. My friends and I wanted to write a book around 3 years ago on flirting, dating and relationships, a la “The Rules” or “He’s Just Not That Into You” and might have been minted millionaires by now. But sometime in the course of drafting the book, I fell in love and personally broke every single rule. Because when I fall in love, I become an idiot. A happy, tortured, desperate idiot.

7. The most beautiful place I have been to is Barcelona in the spring. The weather is beautiful, the language is beautiful, the people are beautiful. Even the cab drivers are hot. Nobody can say the same of our local taxi drivers.

8. Mantra for 2009: Why not? Life is short.

9. I love soccer. It’s the only sport I understand inside and out. I am a rabid fan of Real Madrid and Ronaldo.

10. I can never figure out why people think Brad Pitt is so hot. I mean he’s okay, but really, I’d prefer someone like Edward Norton over him in a heartbeat. Has more depth, appears much more intelligent and interesting. Big muscles turn me off. My hands-down favorite romantic lead is Nino Quincampoix from the French movie “Amelie”. If you know him, he pretty much represents someone I’d likely have a crush on.

To illustrate my point:

Ralph Fiennes over David Beckham;

Hua Ze Lei over Dao Ming Su;

Barack Obama over any given Sexiest Man Alive;

Francisco Barretto over everyone else.

11. I am forever trying to learn a new language. I once enrolled in a Spanish class, and quit after 3 sessions. I have tons of French language CDs and books, gathering dust in my room.

12. I have a love/hate relationship with coffee. I love its taste, but hate how quickly it can turn against you. Just a little more caffeine than I need, and I get palpitations and shortness of breath. So I think coffee is lovely, but it has cruel beauty.

13. I am not good at planning for the long-term. That’s short of saying my life has no direction hehehe. But God has been really good to me and have given me easy choices in life so far. It’s all in His hands. I live by Jeremiah 29:11.

14. I am not a morning person. I think it’s an amazing feat for people to wake up early and get to the office on time every single day. I usually stay in the office after every one else is gone and find that between 6 to 8 pm are my most productive hours.

15. I love wine. I don’t know if I’m in the scale of being an alcoholic, but my friends make it so much fun hehe. And just for the record, some of them have it so much worse than me. Ain’t that right, Kris John Castro? Hehehe.

16. I hate the rain. I think it’s highly inconvenient. In my self-absorbed world, it should only rain on Sundays, the perfect ruse to curl up and stay in bed the whole day.

17. Money is not everything. I have very little patience with people who make it their religion.

18. I am generous, to a fault. I am loath to come to a birthday party without bringing a gift. I lavish my loved ones with presents, just because. I make a big fuss out of occasions, to the point of being OC. I get hurt when they don’t appreciate my efforts, but I try not to show it.

19. I almost drowned once, in a beach in Moalboal. I owe my second chance at life to my friend Eden, whom I clung to as she swam for the both of us. I love the beach, even if I don’t know how to swim. Go figure.

20. I can live without TV.

21. I only recently appreciated the value of family. It took my father’s death for me to realize I have a very healthy family. Not without its imperfections, but I wouldn’t choose another set of people to love, even if someone paid me.

22. I love my friends, in all their complicated glory. We grew up together, seen each other in our best and worst; we have perfected a certain kind of dynamic, known what makes each other tick. We are each other’s fiercest protectors and worst enemies.

23. I am touchy-feely. I see no problem in kissing mere acquaintances on the cheek. I am the first one to offer my hand when meeting people. This leads to some inconvenient misunderstanding sometimes. Every now and then, I have to remind myself that other people define their physical boundaries differently.

24. When I was 11, I formed an imaginary band called The Crush. I was the bass player. I’ll spare you the other details. The first records (cassette tapes) I bought were by Billy Joel and The Beatles. By my fifth grade, I knew the lyrics to all of the Beatles songs. My favorite Beatle is Paul.

25. I totally expect you to try and give back 25 things about you. Come on, it’s fun.

Leia o post completo...

Another wishlist, another reason to goad my private donors (you know who you are) into buying me my obsession du jour. I should know better, and some people will wag their fingers at me if I say that sometimes we exist solely to acquire a succession of material possessions. A cellphone, a car, the newest iPod, bragging rights to having traveled to the Maldives.

Shallow, I know. Morally bankrupt if that's the only philosophy you subscribe to. But nonetheless an astute observation of the way of life in the 21st century. You are what you own. And besides if you shop - as long as you can pay for it, you help the economy. I know, Obama says so. And we all need heroes in times like these, so yes: SHOP SHOP SHOP!

Actually, what a convoluted way of saying that I'm really only salivating after one thing, a laptop bag for my new laptop. I'm going to stare at the below images of positively chic laptop bags, and summon the powers of attraction, a la The Secret, until they physically materialize before my eyes. Or maybe I can just buy one, to save time.