i love going to the post office and mailing off letters. i love them as much as i love getting snail mail. :) that's why i was really glad when i found out that our office here in ortigas is just a few steps away from the local PO.

one of the wedding "duties" i really enjoyed was sending off mail (invites and thank you cards) to our guests. today, i went out and walked to the tiny post office to send the last batch of thank you cards.

when i got to the counter, i handed 2 large envelopes and 3 small #3 envelopes to the man in charge. he took the small envelopes and handed them back to me.

MIC (man-in-charge): ay, hindi pwede 'to. masyadong maliit. maiiwan lang sa sako. (oh, you can't mail these. they're too small. they might be overlooked and left in the sack.)
me: *WTF look* so... hindi ko po ito pwedeng ipadala?! (so... i can't send these out?!)
MIC: ilagay mo na lang sa mas malaking envelope. maiiwan lang kasi yan sa sako. (you can just put them in a bigger envelope. because they're just going to be overlooked in the sack.)
me: ah... okay. (oh... okay)

a voice in my head was shouting, "ibig sabihin, hindi nyo chine-check yung sako?!" (you mean you don't check the sack for letters that might have been left in there?!) and "but i was able to send envelopes of the same size from another post office just a few weeks back!"

but i knew it was futile. how can my logic argue with his infallible brand of reasoning?! my 28 years of existence has taught me to choose my battles. my gut told me this wasn't one of them.

besides, that means i get to go to the other post office, which has pretty cool facilities. my apologies to those who will receive their thank you cards later than usual. THIS is what happened to them.

last night, susie and i were talking about upcoming birthdays.

susie: alam ko merong may birthday sa 17 eh.
me: si zach. (inaanak niya) sa 18 din, meron.
susie: SINO?!
me: *silence*
susie: kakilala mo?
me: *silence*
susie: *silence*

after two minutes...
susie: AAAAAAH! IKAW! *gets his phone* i'll change the alarm to 4am, so before we leave for the airport, i can greet you. *fiddles with phone* wow, you're turning 28 in two days!
me: are you sure it's 28?
susie: it says so right here! *shows me his phone*

ano, sapakin ko na ba? :p

i would have to say that this is the most eventful, most colorful, most challenging year i've had so far. i started the year feeling quite blank, and i'm ending it with a life brimming with things to do.

i can't say that it was a fantastic year--how can i, with deaths, disappointments, calamities, deadlines, and other stressful elements hounding me and most everyone i know the whole year?

yet i can't say it was a terrible year either. i definitely learned a lot from 2009, and every down was met with an incredible high.

goals-wise, i'm not proud of how i fared. financially, things are stable, thankfully. career is also going well. but in most of the goals i've set for the year, all i can report are dismal results.

so for 2010, i vow to be more focused. to concentrate on the things i've always wanted to do and achieve, and hopefully, make a bigger splash in people's lives.

i also want to be more confident, more at ease with myself. stop being wishy-washy, and be brave enough to speak my mind. i've actually started this last month, and i'm pretty proud of the results.

more importantly, i want to help. i had a few opportunities to personally lend a hand to random strangers this year, and it was enlightening to know that i can make a difference, even for just a couple of people. maybe eventually, i can help in bigger ways, but i'll start small and work my way up.

i've got so much more lined up for myself, and i'm really determined to do it all next year! :)

how about you? what's in store for you in 2010?

the holidays are almost here! :D and while we've gone through quite a few blows, i really feel it in my bones--christmas is going to be fun!

the holiday card above is by mary blair, and i stumbled upon it on ffffound! (thanks, brian sergio and google reader for leading me there). i've been getting lost in the site the whole day, and at the moment, i have about 10 ffffound! tabs open, each one of an image that i find beautiful.

i seem to gravitate towards mary blair's style, and after googling, i found out that she did color styling for disney's peter pan, alice in wonderland, and cinderella. she was given the honor of a disney legend in 1991. after disney, she worked as a graphic designer and launched ad campaigns for big companies like nabisco and pepsodent. she also became an illustrator for golden books.

if you want to see more of her work, check out this flickr page by pekochan. she has collected quite a number of mary blair creations on the net, and they're all pretty cool.

some of the stuff i like:

following mikey arroyo's media suicide (watch part 1 and part 2) with winnie monsod, the ombudsman has issued a new memorandum circular in obtaining copies of statements of assets and liabilities.

the memo goes:

Whereas, while the Office of the Ombudsman is willing to furnish copies of the statements of assets and liabilities of public officials and employees filed before it, including those of its officials and employees to persons requesting the same, the reason for the request must be legitimate.

the problem is, requests for copies of SALns will have to be filed with the ombudsman's public assistance bureau, who will say if the said request is legitimate or not before releasing the documents.

agree na lang ako sa sinabi ni KMU chair elmer labog:

It says that its new rules did not arise because of the public outcry over the content of investigative reports on the wealth of the Arroyos. We know better: Come on! The Ombudsman cannot even deceive the public that it’s unbiased towards the Arroyos.

i've always had a hard time answering when asked why i travel. i knew what the answer was, i just couldn't put it into the right words.

but while reading "a hat full of sky," the second book of tiffany aching's adventures written by my beloved terry pratchett, i found this quote, and it hit the nail right on the head:

Why do you go away? So you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.

since i know a lot of you are gaiman fans, i thought telling you about avalon.ph's latest contest is a good way to revive this space.

avalon.ph, one of my most reliable book sources, is celebrating its 10th year, and is giving away a signed copy of neil gaiman's adventures in the dream trade.

all you have to do to get a chance to win is complete the phrase "Ten years ago..."

there are two ways to submit an entry:

a) Answering in the comments section of this page gives you one (1) point.

b) Answering in your blog, with a link back to this post gives you three (3) points. You must mention Avalon.ph in your blog entry. Note: one blog per person/entry.

an extra point will be awarded if jasper, the man behind avalon.ph, likes your answer.

more information available here.

contest runs from august 26 to september 22, 2009. :)

now let me try and remember what i was doing 10 years ago...

i haven't had a packed and productive weekend in a while, and it sure feels good to actually want to go out and do things with people again.

friday saw me with kate, des, and g, catching the 25th annual putnam county spelling bee at rcbc. vice principal panch was hilarious, crush na namin siya. after that, we headed to the new chili's at gbelt 5, had a few mugs of beer, some nachos, pork steak for me, and birthday cake for g! :D

saturday, i took 'sus to charlie's grind and grill at kapitolyo, where we finally had their famous black angus burgers. verrrry, verrry good. i'm not too happy with their milkshakes, though. best to order a beer next time.

and sunday, i met up with miyatch for some ukay shopping and girly chika. we attacked anonas for 4 hours, and got ourselves a pretty good haul. we didn't even notice how exhausted we were until we were on our way back to cubao. no wonder i had a fitful sleep last night.

this weekend's looking to be another packed weekend, and i'm really glad to be back in this routine. yay, i have a life again!

the MRT from ortigas was packed when i got on, but i still managed to squeeze myself in. when the train stopped at shaw, a lot of of people shuffled out, and i found a seat just beside the door.

seeing that nobody else was going to take the seat, i took it. right when i had made myself comfy, this woman stood by the handrail beside me. her stomach was right in front of my face, and my brain instantly screamed, "she's pregnant!" i was about to stand up, when another voice in my head went, "wait! she might get insulted if you offer your seat! what if she's not pregnant?"

and because i was thinking too much, the girl beside me beat me to offering the pregnant (or not) lady a seat, even managing to throw me a dirty look to boot.

i wanted to tell that other girl that i WAS going to stand up already. i wanted to tell the pregnant lady, who was already sitting beside me, that i didn't mean to take her seat. but what will those things do?

aye. it felt really bad being judged like that, and i realized that i, too, shouldn't be quick to judge other people who are seemingly inconsiderate. there's always another side to the story.

but again, to the pregnant lady on the train. i'm really sorry.

...ako kagabi, habang pinapanood yung memorial for mj. i just have a soft spot for the guy.

i agree wholeheartedly with rev. al sharpton:

"I want his children to know there was nothing strange about your daddy, it was strange what your daddy had to deal with."

and after that, i cried buckets when usher sang "gone too soon." i just realized that i will never ever have a chance to see him perform live anymore. it was nice to have that dream before, that "someday, mapapanood ko rin siya." but those dreams are gone.

but he will live forever. RIP, michael joseph jackson.

...was my first thought when mike told me the news: "michael jackson is dead, he was pronounced dead by his doctors at UCLA med center after arriving in d hosp in a deep coma."

WTF, world?!

i should have seen it coming, though. my week has not been the best, and this is just the depressing cherry it needed to top it off.

on the way to work, a radio station played "black and white," and i couldn't help but cry.

i really believe Death has the wrong list. it was just too soon.

RIP, MJ. i will keep dancing to your music.

feeling a little frustrated at the world today, but these people cheered me up with their courage and confidence to celebrate their bodily "anomalies" with tattoos.

got these from mental floss.

i don't care who's playing alice, and it doesn't matter that anne hathaway is cast in this movie, too, but tim burton's alice in wonderland is looking to be an exciting movie to watch out for!

taken from seattle weekly:

Bourdain slammed Batali's PBS show "Spain... On the Road Again" which follows him and Gwyneth Paltrow wining and dining across the country.
"Why would you go to Spain with the one bitch who refuses to eat ham?" Bourdain asked with a wide grin.

bwiset ka, gwyneth.
i love you, mr. bourdain.

minsan, malabo lang talaga mag-react ang mga tao.

gaya na lang kanina sa MRT buendia station. nung nakita kong iisa lang ang nakapila sa exact fare line, pumila na rin ako for my stored value card.

but all of a sudden, may um-appear na isang babae, at nakapila rin siya, kaso, andun nga lang siya sa exit lane nung line namin. hinahalukay na niya yung bag niya, ready to pay for her ticket.

aba, syempre, di naman ako papayag. tatatlo na nga lang tayo dito sa pila, sisingit ka pa!

so i tap her on the shoulder. "miss, may pila po," sabay turo dun sa vast empty space sa likod ko.

tumigil siya sa kakahalungkat sa bag niya, tapos tinitigan niya ko (siguro, that was about three mississippis), and then...

"EH DI MAUNA KA! 'DI NAMAN PROBLEMA YUN EH!"

kelangan talaga ganun yung level ng reaction niya? napa-WTF?! yung isa sa mga boses sa utak ko eh.

pero oks lang naman, kasi sinunod ko naman siya. nauna talaga 'ko. tapos siya, di pa rin pumila ng maayos, eh dumami na yung tao sa likod ko.

it's a long weekend, and i don't have plans. thank goodness pao told me about this.

so if i don't get an attack of the lazies, i'll probably go. :D

schedule:

MINI BAZAAR:
3:00PM-12MN

WORKSHOPS: RSVP to roam@octobereighty.com
4:00-4:45: Lomo Roaming Workshop by Bong Rojales & Allan Floreindo of Lomomanila

4:45-5:30: PiliPinas: Why Travel in the Philippines Workshop by Clare Amador of YTRIP

5:30-6:15: Alternative Traveling Workshop by Leia Nagal of Travel Factor

PHOTO EXHIBITS/PROJECTIONS:
6:30-7:00: EU:Roam Launch by Rossy Yabut & Bong Rojales

7:00-8:00: ROAM CUBE: A collab project of Lomomanila and Weewilldoodle

8:00-8:20: Lomographic Travels by Lomomanila

8:20-8:40: Turo-Turo photo projections

8:40-9:00: LAUNCH OF ROAM MAGAZINE (Issue 02)

9:00: TRAIN OF THOUGHTS by Jake Verzosa, Bahaghari, Veejay Villafranca & Paolo Picones

9:30PM: Pilipinas Street Plan

10:00-11:00PM: Replay of Train of Thoughts, Lomomanila and Turo-Turo photo projections

10:00PM onwards: PARTY time!

in between work stuff, i managed to squeeze in some time to read conrado de quiros's column, there's the rub, from the inquirer.

just some quotes i want to remember:

from premises:
"The world is in recession, and despite the predictions of some analysts the light will soon be glimpsed at the end of the tunnel, no one is in a rush to believe it. Least of all people who know what bull looks like, being used to dishing it out, if not indeed being full of it."

"At the very least, as shown by predecessors, foremost herself (arroyo), when someone becomes president, all his or her promises go out the window faster than you can say, 'I will not run.' Everyone who gains power internalizes that power. A potential successor will guarantee Arroyo the moon, but all he’ll give afterward is the Sun—cellular."

"More importantly, if you’re the kind who says one thing and does another, would you trust anyone, man or woman, child or beast, to do otherwise?"

"She broke her word not to run, and she broke everything else afterward. Someone who is not deterred from ruling illegally today will not be deterred from ruling illegally tomorrow."

"But the seeming apathy of the public over the last few years will be an added incentive for Arroyo to dare the unthinkable, to bare the obscene."

from honor:
"But the sums are irrelevant. It could have been $60, and being hounded for presumably swiping it might still have driven Roh to do what he did. For some people at least, if not for some cultures, nothing is too trifling that taints a good name. Or for some people at least, if not for some cultures—a concept we have yet to grasp in all its tragic and dazzling fullness—honor is more valuable than life."

"There and then you see why countries like Korea and Japan which believe in those things have gone boldly where few Asian countries have gone before economically."

"There and then, too, you see why those countries have so few lawyers but have so much law, a law as resplendent, majestic and binding as though God himself commanded it. And there and then you see why countries like ours have so many lawyers but have so little law, and only the kind that is abject, supine and with only Gloria to choose whom to apply it to."

"Other countries have law—or the kind associated with restoring balance in the universe—because their people have internalized the law. Because their values and morals and codes of behavior shaped by tradition and sharpened by repetition have become so ingrained in them that they cannot think of doing things differently. We do not have law—or the kind that is associated with justice, which is rewarding the good and punishing the wicked—because the law is merely an external force for us. And not even a force—it is merely an inconvenience, a suggestion (as they say about traffic lights), an entity (a cop, a judge, a tax assessor) to bribe."

and finally, from winners:
"Where Lebron comes from, of course, you will constantly hear people saying, “Winning is everything” or “At the end of the day, it’s the ‘W’ that matters.” It’s a philosophy that has led to horrible attitudes, if not indeed to war. It’s not just harbored by Lebron, it’s harbored by American culture, a culture that likes being brash, loud, and trash-talking, a culture that likes to intimidate, dominate, and crush. It’s not without its virtues, the competition with others driving people to achieve things beyond belief. But it’s also not without its vices, failing as it does to understand something “Star Trek” has always known, which is that the final frontier isn’t outer space, it is inner space."

"Winning is everything? Maybe. But what do you mean by winning?"

screenings at shang cineplex cinema 3 from june 6-14

JUNE 6 (SATURDAY)
Un Secret (1:40) [R-13] 12:30pm
Ca Brule (1:50) {R-18] 3:00pm
Jean dela Fontaine (1:40) [R-13] 5:30pm
Van Gogh (2:35) [R-13] 8:00 pm

JUNE 7 (SUNDAY)
Home (2:00) [GP] 12:30pm
Marie-Jo et Ses Deux Amours (2:05) [R-18] 3:00pm
Flandres (1:30) [R-18] 5:30pm
Ma Saison Preferee (2:05) [R-13] 8:00pm

JUNE 8 (MONDAY)
Van Gogh (2:35) [R-13] 12:30pm
Flandres (1:30) [R-18] 3:30pm
Ca Brule (1:50) [R-18] 5:30pm
Zim et Co (1:30) [PG-13] 8:00pm

JUNE 9 (TUESDAY)
Zim et Co (1:30) [PG-13] 12:30pm
Marie-Jo et Ses Deux Amours (2:05) [R-18] 3:00pm
Flandres (1:30) [R-18] 5:30pm
Jean dela Fontaine (1:40) [R-13] 8:00pm

JUNE 10 (WEDNESDAY)
Ca Brule (1:50) [R-18] 12:30pm
Home (2:00) [GP] 3:00pm
Van Gogh (2:35) [R-13] 5:30pm
Un Secret (1:40) [R-13] 8:30pm

JUNE 11 (THURSDAY)
Dix-Sept Fois Cecile Cassard (1:45) 12:30pm
Les Quatre Cent Coups (1:35) 3:00pm
L `Esquive (1:55) 5:30pm
La Pianiste (2:10) [R-18] 8:00pm

JUNE 12 (FRIDAY)
(Tribute to Philippine Cinema) Andong / Sabongero 3:00pm
Serbis 5:30pm
Independencia 8:00pm

JUNE 13 (SATURDAY)
Ridicule (1:45) 12:30pm
Dix-Sept Fois Cecile Cassard (1:45) 3:00pm
L `Esquive (1:55) 5:30pm
Flandres (1:30) [R-18] 8:00pm

JUNE 14 (SUNDAY)
Un Secret (1:40) [R-13] 12:30pm
Jean dela Fontaine (1:40) [R-13] 3:00pm
Les Quatre Cent Coups (1:35) 5:30pm
Van Gogh (2:35) [R-13] 8:00pm

i'm kicking myself a little for finding out just now, but terry pratchett, one of my favorite word weavers, has been knighted last december!

check out how he reacts:


"it's amazing what can be achieved if you just do something very quietly, quite well, for a very long time."

i've just finished reading the wee free men, and as is usual when i finish a pratchett, i'm all hung up in his world.

imagine my surprise when i learned that there's a place in england that has street names taken from the discworld novels! i'll be scouring the net for sources, so i can go there the next time i have the chance!

and as if that's not enough, i also found the discworld emporium! currently estimating how many tins of jolly sailor tobacco i should get.