Me and my M4 Carbine

We-ell, it's not actually mine.

Thanks to Wowoo for letting me experience how it feels to hold a real weapon (I'm told that this is the kind used by US Marines) in my hands.

It's heavy, man! My arms would have become toned if I had held on to it for a couple of hours more, or so. The thought actually appealed to me, but I simply couldn't bear the weight. The longest that I could hold it up was five minutes, max. I couldn't imagine how soldiers manage to actually run around carrying this thing.

*thanks, Mae, for the photos.
;p

Found: blogs worth checking out

I found this beauty blog, the heading of which I absolutely love.

To the girls/women out there who, like me, are frequently on the look-out for smart, pretty high heels and other ways to appear, um, just a wee bit taller (like making sure to avoid wearing low-slung jeans, or shunning large prints that overpower our frames, etc.), go to petitefashionista.com to check it out.

Ain't it lovely, the way there's always something for us, tiny ones? Go visit the site. There are gems of articles there that you just might find useful. I adore their semi-candid shots of petite women who dress smart and chic on their "Petite on the Street" posts.

And, while I'm in the mood to blog-plug, here's one more stop to visit: thescentedlife.com. It's a site that would be particularly attractive to women who are into fragrances and perfumes. I go there almost everyday.

Enjoy!

Goodbye, Mr. Newman

Friday, September 26, 2008.

Actor Paul Newman, who starred in, among many others, movies such as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and "Road to Perdition," died of cancer. He was 83.

Read more here.

Prayer of St. Francis

This is a beautiful, beautiful prayer, and The Philippine Madrigal Singers' version is simply breathtaking. The silence in the music will, indeed, make you fall into prayer, and make you realize that, at the state the world is in right now, we could all help heal it by spreading some peace and love (big words right there, I know, but for some reason, I don't have qualms of using them here, now). This prayer speaks of selflessness and what beauty there is in giving.

Take some time to listen, and think. In every person's heart, there is much goodwill waiting to be shared.



Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

*video from youtube.

pics with pat

Pat is climbing up fame's ladder, so I had to have pictures taken with him.
Bwahaha

Another bank follows suit

And it happens again.

Washington Mutual finds itself taken over by JP Morgan Chase in what seems to be an endless series of gigantic banking losses.

Click here to learn more.

(Reuters photo)

And we gave them a show they knew they were not going to forget...

Many thanks go to:

our VP, John Savillo, for his steadfast support and appreciation for each member's time and effort;

my coach and mentor, Jemille Beso, for his show of leadership, accountability and motivational skills; for believing in me when I doubted my capabilities and for not giving up in me when I was about to give up on myself;

teacher Phai, for coaching me to "let it out!" and "make it snappy!"

Renz, Ryan and NJ, for lifting me (literally) and teaching me to overcome my fear of heights and falling, through their sheer efforts at showing me that they will catch me if I do fall, in whatever way they can;

Rowell, Daryl, Kat, LJ, Celine, Cyr, Mommy Gie, Sheloi, Ed, Honey, CV, Princess, Jay, JQ, and Hernz, for the good times, the dance tips, the courage and determination under pressure, the laughter despite the almost unbearable stress, the priceless friendship... This experience is something that I will not forget.

I am proud to have worked and danced with you, all. Truly, we have set the benchmark and raised the bar for HSBC Manila 1's cheerdance mania.

Rock on, John's World! Let's continue raising the bar!

Special thanks to Sheila and Nico, for the pompoms; to John, for leading the cheer; to DK, for carrying the banner and propping up the cheat sheet; to our SAMOs, Tal and Wema; our MOs, Channa and Mother; to Myts, for cheering me on, through it all; and to my team, the Rugrats, for helping out with the props and being there on the big day, and all the people who extended their help to make the feat possible. Thanks, guys! Mwah mwah

Video can also be viewed here.

Pat Galang: Opening doors

Left: page from Preview's September '08 issue
Right: Russian-inspired Metal Zipper Top and Skirt by Patrick Galang

My good friend, Pat Galang is one of the young, up-and-coming designers introduced in the September '08 issue of Preview magazine (the only mag I buy month after month, without fail), in a feature called "Out of the Box" and he's really rockin'! He's fast making a name for himself in the fashion industry and am currently making an attempt to bribe him to design and make a dress for me. Ü

I've been privy to his flashes of brilliance, and the determination with which he pursues his life's passion is nothing short of amazing. What more, his feet are firmly planted on the ground, and that's really saying something.

Ten of his designs, collectively called Improvised Reflections, was among the collections featured in the recently concluded Philippine Fashion Week. My cousin, Dang, was one of his models in the show.

Of his collection, Pat has this to say:

"The woman I'm giving life to in this collection is a subtle raver. i was inspired by artworks that are made to last. abstract drawings that are not attached to a particular function and are infused with encouraging colors, like a "new wave" inspired collage replicating minimalist geometric forms. i tried to visualize them and think of a woman who is spontaneous and freethinking. a woman who loves to challenge herself along with a life enhancing playfulness that is compelling. 10 designs came out from my elaboration on simple principles of construction and form. In trapeze and cylindrical shapes, harmonized in different hues are dresses calculated to frame a personality rather than sexiness."
-from undernourished.multiply.com-

Congratulations, Pat! Greater things are waiting at your porch, so go, swing open that door!

Click here to go to Pat's website.

For the on-the-go buttered toast-lover:

Found!

If you're following the developments in the U.S. financial crisis, you might want to go over this interesting article by James Surowiecki in newyorker.com.

And, while you're there, go ahead and check out Deborah Treisman's piece on David Foster Wallace.

Treisman ends the article with a really strong, lingering paragraph:

"Great literature, Wallace once said, made him feel “unalone—intellectually, emotionally, spiritually.” He was one of the few satirists able to avoid meanness; he was moral without being judgmental. He took on the absurdities of modern life in an attempt to understand or to parse them, not to mock them. Debating the tone of the title of “Good People,” he noted, “My own terror of appearing sentimental is so strong that I’ve decided to fight against it, some; but the terror is still there. . . . Do you identify with a distaste/fear about sentimentality? Do you agree that, past a certain line, such distaste can turn everything arch and sneering and too ironic? Or do you have your own set of abstract questions to drive yourself nuts with?” Gleefully compacted as his language could be, it was designed to be unwrapped—and there was always a gift inside for those who took the trouble. Wallace, who had moved to California in 2002, purposely stayed away from the noise of New York City publishing, but, even in his absence, he had a definite, gracious presence in the world of letters. This new absence will be far harder to bear."

*

Let's talk about scents

This is my all-time favorite scent. I started wearing it back in High School, when my lola gave me my first bottle. I fell in love with it and we've been together ever since--from one bottle to another, that is.

From Perfumestation.com:
Floral, Fruity, Marine. Created by Elizabeth Arden in 1993, Sunflowers for women is a refined, aquatic fragrance. It's fragrant nature explores essences of melon, peach and jasmine. Blended with notes of tea rose, sandalwood and moss, Sunflowers is a casual type of fragrance.

Aha! So, that is why I feel a connection with this fragrance... the words are "marine" and "aquatic." I'm Pisces and Pisces is a water sign. Arrggh! I don't even know how to swim!

But why did I even go there?

Anyway.

Following a close second are Clinique Happy (the bottle's almost empty) and Elizabeth Arden's 5th Avenue (it's...how shall I call it--half-empty or half-full?). Haven't touched them recently, though. I have no idea what I'm saving them for. 5th Avenue is a dressy scent and I seldom wear it. Having it on makes me feel tall and all dolled-up, though, and gives me that heady feeling of empowerment and emancipation. Wehehe.

My everyday scent is Victoria's Secret's Pure Seduction. I'm addicted to its deep, floral rush. I love it so much, I've snubbed the other Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body sprays sitting on my dresser.

On days when I feel bitchy, I wear Paris Hilton's Just Me.

Go figure.

Suddenly Homesick

My dad called me earlier to remind me that it was fiesta at home. I was shocked to realize that I had completely forgotten all about it.

I must have been that busy with work and that caught up with my issues.

Oh, but I want so badly to go home.

When I said "fiesta at home," I meant the Peñafrancia festival of Bicolandia.

From THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT TRAVEL CONFEDERATION:
Peñafrancia Fiesta
A triumphant, water-borne procession carrying a statue of the Virgin is the highlight of Naga City's biggest annual celebration, the Peñafrancia Fiesta. An image of the Blessed Virgin of Peñafrancia travels back to her Basilica on the Bicol River from the Metropolitan Cathedral. The procession is a phenomenal spectacle - the statue bobbing on the decorated boat is surrounded by her devotees and cheered by hundreds of locals. The week preceding the celebration features parades, a sports festival, exhibitions, a regatta and a beauty pageant.


For pictures, click here and here.
For the festival's history, click here.
To find out just how famous this festival is, click here.

It's been ages since I was home for the festivities and I must say that I miss it sorely. Talking to my dad this morning made me feel homesick all of a sudden, wishing badly that I could be back in Naga if only for a few days, re-living my childhood and High School days, when my most serious predicament would be the anxiety that every Math exam brings.

But, hey, I'm digressing. There are no exams during Peñafrancia.

What I will be missing are: the processions and the parades, the food, the food, the food (Daddy said my brother was grilling pork ribs as we were talking), the joyous frenzy shared by the Bicolanos, the expressions of devotion to the Virgin of Peñafrancia, the fairs.

Most of all, I shall miss the sense of belonging and the comforts of home, because every Peñafrancia festival is a reunion between friends and family, a reaffirmation of one's roots, a reminder that one is loved and protected.

Happy Fiesta to my fellow Bicolanos.

32 Flavors (Ani Difranco)

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am thirty-two flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
Cause someday you're going to get hungry
And eat most of the words you just said

Both my parents taught me about good will
And I have done well by their names
Just the kindness Ive lavished on strangers
Is more than I can explain
Still there's many who've turned out their porch lights
Just so I would think they were not home
And hid in the dark of their windows
Til Id passed and left them alone

And God help you if you are an ugly girl
Course too pretty is also your doom
Cause everyone harbors a secret hatred
For the prettiest girl in the room
And God help you if you are a pheonix
And you dare to rise up from the ash
A thousand eyes will smolder with jealousy
While you are just flying back

I'm not trying to give my life meaning
By demeaning you
And I would like to state for the record
I did everything that I could do
I'm not saying that I'm a saint
I just don't want to live that way
No, I will never be a saint
But I will always say

Squint your eyes and look closer
I'm not between you and your ambition
I am a poster girl with no poster
I am thirty-two flavors and then some
And I'm beyond your peripheral vision
So you might want to turn your head
Cause someday you might find you're starving
And eating all of the words you said.

Click here to view the video.
Alana Davis has a very nice version, as well. Click here for the video.

To do: Work and good days

This has been a very productive day.

My typical work week is busy and hectic, where "busy" and "hectic" do not necessarily connote "useful." Rushing off to impromptu meetings (which could take up to two, even three hours to wrap up), or breaking my back to finish ad hocs on time are not my idea of a fruitful day. Call it multitasking, or a test of time management skills, if you must, but truth is, they interrupt my momentum and drain me to a point where all I want to do is slouch on my chair and close my eyes. And drift into slumber, or catatonia, or something.

Thank goodness there's coffee. Oh, what would I do without coffee?

Anyway.

In an ideal world, it's the well-planned, carefully executed tasks that prove most satisfying to work on.

Now, this is something that seldom comes my way, as it is very easy to get distracted and stray from one's checklist or calendar, but what do you know, I had just such the thing today. I won't go into the details--jargon will most inevitably come up and, what more, a description of my job will most definitely not appeal to most people. Suffice it to say that owing to the fact that I was able to work according to plan (and with much focus and determination), I finished on time, and am proud to say that I am, at present, on track with my deliverables.

To top it all, at the grocery store later during the day, my son turned to me and said, from out of the blue,"Mommy, you're the best mommy in the whole world."

Don't you just love good days?

Happy weekend!

So, what's your take on this?

Like, um, hello?

This, folks, is another fine example of Rocket Science.

Sign of the times

And this is where it all began...

Cartoon depicting Uncle Sam's present financial crisis, so glaringly magnified by the downslide of such Wall Street giants as Lehman, Merrill Lynch and Co. and AIG.

Faith and Prayer

So this is what it feels like to have faith; to know how it is to look for the good in the worst of situations, to find the light hiding in the darkness, to have one's way illuminated by that light.

The power of prayer is often underestimated, its very existence overlooked. But if we only try, if we only trust enough that the answer to our pleas need not be the thing itself that we ask for, then, perhaps, the number of lonely people will be less.

Cynicism is difficult to unlearn. It is harder to believe, and learning to trust that there is good in this world often proves to be a tougher task than most of us think.

But, in time, we learn. As I have learned.

That this is what faith is.

This is faith.

Have a blessed week ahead.

The ubiquitous kikay bag

This is my trusty silver-colored kikay kit. I feel that it deserves a place in my blog, what with all the times it has stood faithfully by me.

This little bag contains my:

a) Neutrogena SPF 15 moisturizer
b) Maybelline concealer
c) Chipipay eyeliner
d) Burt's Bees lip balm
e) 3 favorite shades of lipstick (red and pink-Maybelline and wine-ALmay)
f) Maybelline cream blush
g) Bloom lipgloss (in melon)
h) Pond's face powder (it's the best)
i) Paris Hilton spray
j) Freshies wet tissues
k) sanity

The last item might seem like an exaggeration to some, but, in all honesty, the few times I discovered having left this little bag at home, I totally freaked out! Women can be awfully vain, some might say.

So sue us. Come on and try.

David Foster Wallace Dies at 46

A good friend and fellow blogger is devastated at the news of this incredibly talented writer's demise.

I, myself, know how much of a loss this is to the Literary World.

For details, click on this link.

I do have a question, one which I posed to my friend after having heard the sad news. To all the David Foster Wallace fans out there, after having read his works, do you think the cause of his death was illogical?

This, perhaps, is one of the grim sides of being an artist.

"It's hard to be humble when you can jump, stunt, and tumble!" Author Unknown

Found some fabulous lines on cheerleading:
Check it out!

"Dancing is the poetry of the foot." -John Dryden-

New talents discovered and developed, self-confidence boosted and self-esteem shooting up several meters higher, ideas exchanged and creativity shared and used to come up with innovative concepts, new people met and friendships formed... these, perhaps, are the best things about being part of a new team with one common goal.

And, if I may add, wearing a cheerdancer's outfit, once more, brings back memories of youth and high school, of being a sixteen-year-old all excited to be center-stage, showing the crowd how dancing and movement could go beyond being a physical art form to become such an emotionally liberating and spiritually invigorating experience.

Only this time, the dancer could boast of more years lived, more things achieved, more hurdles surpassed.

There's a nice little quote, the source of which is unknown, which goes:

"Socrates learned to dance when he was seventy because he felt that an essential part of himself had been neglected."

Happy Sunday, everyone! And take a few of minutes of your time to dance. It does wonders for the heart and the soul.

More pictures to come. Will upload the video soon.
;p

Sleepless

I have been awake for nineteen straight hours.

Whew.

Gotta hit the sack now, have to be up at 1 am.
That'll be, uh, roughly four hours of sleep.

Yup, this is my life.

By the way, there has been some unusual, startling movement in my blog tracker. It's gone berserk, all because of the post before this one.

G'night.

Zzzzz...

UP tops The 2008 UAAP Cheerdance Competition

Portents of the victory at hand were all over: the frills-and-pop-song-free, adrenalin-pumping music, dominated by indigenous elements, so unlike those used by the other schools'; the well-coordinated, smart, snappy moves; the difficult, but well-performed stunts; the complicated lifts and pyramids; cheerdancer Frances Fleta bringing home the Samsung Stunner Award. This last one may have been a consequence of the win, but what the heck.

Fact is, people...

UP won!

The cheerdancers did a wonderful job, not to mention the lifters, the spotters, and, of course, their coach. Not everyone would get to appreciate all the hard, grueling work involved in putting together a performance like this. Congratulations go to everyone involved in the preparation for the event and, of course, to every Isko and Iska out there.

As the event's host said, we've won the bragging rights for yet another year.

Push on, UP!

Sign of the times

Image from cartoonstock.com.

Got the lines below from Em's blog:

"Here's an update for you.

Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage, why?
Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire Pig, just to get a little sausage."

My week

I haven't written in a week, so here's an overview:

Monday was exclusive for Jackie and Kim. My department was having a party that same night and my boss and colleagues were texting me to join them, but quality time with the kids came first. We had a grand time, to boot.

Tuesday was boring. So boring, in fact, that I've forgotten what had transpired, or if anything did.

Wednesday's highlight was pep squad practice, which was held in the actual venue where we were to perform this coming Saturday--yikes, it's that soon!

Thursday was a normal, stressful day. This sentence gets me thinking: if stress has become normal, then there must be something wrong.

Friday was spent rushing work deadlines in time for the following week (which promises other deadlier deadlines).

Saturday was...yesterday. And I have four new bruises (a gigantic one on the right knee, a medium-sized one on the left and two small ones on each elbow) to show for the 6-hour pep squad practice that we had.

These bruises are courtesy of the egg rolls, the head stands, the kneeling, and the like. In two days' time, they will turn blue. Next, they'd be purple. My limbs, too, are aching like crazy and a climb up the stairs is proving much harder than it's supposed to be.

But, hey, who's complaining? (If it seemed like I was, I apologize.)We've made so much progress and I think we're more than ready for the performance, which is coming in, um, less than a week's time (pressure, pressure).

And besides, there's something so liberating about dancing and being lifted (we're talking full lifts here, not the cutesy pyramids of high school yore) and being expected to balance yourself and being told not to look down, because looking down increases the gravity and there's nothing but the floor to catch you if you fall. Kidding. Our lifters are very much able and, as one of them said, "don't be scared of falling because if you do fall, one of us is sure to catch you--it doesn't matter how, but we will catch you. And that's a promise."

Today is Sunday.

So, how was your week?
;p

What everybody's talking about

For bits on The Eraserheads' concert, click on this and this.
For the KC Concepcion/Richard Gutierrez flick, click on this and this.

I would have wanted to write about both, except that I've seen neither.
Enjoy!

PORN FOR WOMEN

A good friend, Jo-An, sent me an e-mail with the title above. It's fabulous and I thought of posting some of the pictures here.
Guess which one's my favorite?

Lovin' Purple

Purple and coffee to complete my day.