Be careful what you wish for

Lately, I've been complaining about my ho-hum life. Then comes this magazine, asking me if I was willing to do a challenge for them. "How would you like to train to become an exotic dancer?" asked one of the staffers. I was laughing along with her until I realized she was serious. "I thought you were kidding!" I yelped. She wasn't. It sounded interesting enough. I figured it'd be a lot like the cardio striptease class at the gym. Then she told me about the grand finale: "In the end, you'll be performing at Air Force One."

I may be bored, but that ain't exactly the kind of adventure I was looking for! Fine, call me a Stepford Wife, call me Charlotte, whatever you wish, but I do have certain limits. Sure, Bree did this whole S&M thing--but bondage is one thing, and performing an "exotic dance" in front of a crowd of manyak men is a different thing altogether! (I'm left to wonder why they thought I'd say yes in the first place.)

On that note, if anyone's interested in taking on the challenge, let me know. They're still on the lookout for a willing victim, er, participant.

NOOOOO!!!

Rowling: Two 'Potter' characters will die
AP

Author J.K. Rowling said two characters will die in the last installment of her boy wizard series, and she hinted Harry Potter might not survive either.

"I have never been tempted to kill him off before the final because I've always planned seven books, and I want to finish on seven books," Rowling said Monday on TV here.

"I can completely understand, however, the mentality of an author who thinks, `Well, I'm gonna kill them off because that means there can be no non-author-written sequels. So it will end with me, and after I'm dead and gone they won't be able to bring back the character'."

Rowling declined to commit herself about Harry, saying she doesn't want to receive hate mail.

"The last book is not finished. But I'm well into it now. I wrote the final chapter in something like 1990, so I've known exactly how the series is going to end," she said.

Some characters might die, but the blockbuster movie franchise lives on. Warner Bros. Pictures has announced that the fifth installment will be released in U.S. theaters, including Imax screens, on July 13, 2007.

In "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," directed by David Yates, the teenage Harry continues to battle the evil Lord Voldemort (again played by Ralph Fiennes) and his followers. Daniel Radcliffe is returning as the title character, and Emma Watson and Rupert Grint reprise their roles as Hermione and Ron. Oscar-nominated actress Imelda Staunton plays the malicious, frumpy Professor Dolores Umbridge, who tortures Harry.

In her Monday interview on the "Richard and Judy" show, Rowling said people are sometimes shocked to hear that she wrote the end of book seven before she had a publisher for the first book in the series.

"The final chapter is hidden away, although it's now changed very slightly. One character got a reprieve. But I have to say two die that I didn't intend to die," she said. "A price has to be paid. We are dealing with pure evil here. They don't target extras do they? They go for the main characters. Well, I do."

Rowling is the richest woman in Britain — wealthier than even the queen — with a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine last year at more than $1 billion.

Whatever she writes next, Rowling is sure of one thing: It won't be as successful as Harry Potter.

"I don't think I'm ever going to have anything like Harry again. You just get one like Harry."

~*~*~*~

And since I can't seem to figure out how to paste a video onto this entry, you can just download the interview from Mugglenet.

Groundhog Day

I came across an article called "Shake It Up," and it said, "Ever get the feeling that every day of your life is the same? Time to drag yourself out of that rut."

Uh-oh. This story had my name all over it. Lately, I've been feeling like there's a lack of excitement in my life, and I'm just getting plain bored. And bored is a dangerous thing to be. I do have a non-desk job, and I have great friends, and I've got no complaints in the love department (which, according to the article, is "an area where many of us hanker for change"). But lately I've been thinking I'm ready for more. Much more.

I was talking to a co-worker earlier and I said I realized that, while there are some people who have all the luck in the world, and others who have the most rotten luck, I'm just sailing through life somewhere in the middle. What was it that Aristotle said about "moderation" again? That it was a boring load of crap? (Hmm, must brush up on Nicomachean Ethics.) I never win anything major, but I don't lose anything major either. And co-worker said that at least, I didn't fall under the category of the negative extreme. True, and I am thankful, no matter how much I bitch about boredom. But it'd be nice to shake things up a bit.

For others in a similar rut, the magazine advises:

1. Take a different route to work.
2. Enrol in (or at least enquire about) a dance class/uni course/yoga workshop.
3. Try a new cuisine or dish.
4. Try a new sport: book a friend for next Saturday morning and hire rollerblades, kayaks or golf clubs together. Bonus: you'll tone all the muscles you don't normally use.
5. Volunteer for a team project or fundraising committee.
6. Start a blog--be creative and get it off your chest.
7. Visit an area of your city or town that you've never explored before.
8. Read a book by an author you've never tried.
9. Send someone flowers "just because" or buy some for yourself.
10. Rearrange you living room.

I think I just need to take off.

And then there were nine

My last pic of Reese as "Rizza Reyes," taken during her surprise bridal shower. She is now Rizza Reyes Yenko, the first in our barkada (in the country at least) to take the plunge. More on the wedding in a yet-to-be-posted entry.

New toy

I should be in bed by now. Was feeling nauseated the whole day, and my whole body was sore (thanks to my boxing trainer, who made me pay yesterday for not showing up for about six months)--couldn't even bring myself to run, even though I haven't in over a week. Blast it. I'd love to just crawl into bed but I'm rather enjoying tinkering with this new laptop. Yay!

But no, dial-up pa rin! I'm hopin' my 'hood will be a wifi zone soon.

Just came from my tita's, where I spent the first part of the evening gorging on ice cream--I asked for just a little, and they gave me three scoops! Apparently my five-year-old nephew Harley can go through six scoops in one go. Tita doesn't burn calories the way she used to.

The kids showed me their artwork and their yearbooks, I teased Francene about a boy ("Eyew! Girls don't like boys!" I'm givin' her three more years), and Gedo and Mavic introduced me to House. For my part, it would've been cool to sleep over, pretending that I'm on summer break too (they're from an international school) and watching DVDs 'til four in the morning. But it'd be way uncool for the kids to have their 26-year-old tita with them. Especially after they saw my 80s hair in one of their mom's old albums this evening. Yikes.

Things have been crazy, and not always in a good way. I wish I could say that I spent the last week on some remote island where there was no internet. Or that I just had so many gimiks and met up with all these friends every night. Or that I did something I'd never done before (which, I think, is something people should regularly do), and the experience was just so awesome that I had to process it for a few days. But lately it's just been about work, and trying to keep up, and trying to remember to breathe. It's been about realizing what my Phoenix side is and wondering how long I can keep up being Jean. (Forever.) It's about wanting to break down but knowing that I have no real reason to. Which makes me want to just break down all the more.

I have a good job. I have great friends. I have a normal family...well, at least we've come a long way from where we used to be. I have no reason to complain. It feels selfish to. But for a few days, I couldn't help feeling tired. Of making an effort. Of being. Of everything. For a few days after that, I was fine. Perhaps I was preoccupied with other people's happiness, and for a while that was enough, basking in the glow of other people's good fortune. But today, I'm just exhausted.

A football star is born!

Literally born! Please welcome my new nephew, Diego! He made his grand entrance into this world at 11:14 pm on June 8, 2006. So he and his bro Anton (born June 7, 2003) will be celebrating their birthdays together every year.:)

Doncha

H and I celebrated our bi-anniversary on--of all days--06-06-06. Since most of our relevant special occasions are in December and January (anniversary, Christmas, both our birthdays), we decided to invent one so that we'd have an excuse to celebrate midway through the year. And thus the bi-anniv was born.

We were to have dinner at a nice place that evening, so I cleaned up a bit--wore my camisole top (Mr. Mally: "Ba't ka nakapantulog?") and finally got my hair trimmed. A couple of people said I looked hot (one said "so hot"! Ha!) which is something I rarely hear from people other than H! Yup, I was feelin' it. But no, Murphy's Law had to catch up with me. By the end of the day, after helping True Friend lug some clothes back to Glorietta and taking care of my own pullouts, there I was on a street corner in Makati, waiting for H, sweaty and haggard, my camisole top sticking to my damp skin. It was a My Name Is Earl-esque moment that now has me thinking about my evil deeds and the karma that's yet to hit.

So H picked me up, getting an intense workout just by loading my pullouts onto his car. "I wanted to look hot for you today," I said, "but now I look like trapo!" And of course, the good boyfriend that he is, he replied: "You still look hot." And that's why we've been together for five-and-a-half years.

Ate at Fig and Olive--entry to follow in my other blog.

Checklist for Ateneans

From Karen.:)

(X) eat at Manang's -- LIEMPOOO!
(X) learn the alma mater -- AS A CHEERDANCER, I WAS REQUIRED TO!
(X ) get on the dean's list -- WOOHOO!
(X) sleep on a bench -- THERE WERE JUST DAYS WHEN I COULDN'T HELP IT.
( ) be a TNT! -- THOUGHT ABOUT IT...
(X) jog around the campus in the evening -- BEFORE OR AFTER DANCE PRACTICE
(X) visit the art gallery -- YUP. LOVED THIS MOVING SCULPTURE CALLED "THE TREE OF LIFE."
(X) know at least one xerox lady, manong, or technician by name -- ATE ALMA. ONE OF THE ASSOC XEROX LADIES DIDN'T SEEM TO LIKE ME AT FIRST...I THINK SHE HAD A THING FOR H...
(X) get a Jesuit for a teacher -- DACANAY, ARCILLA, FERRIOLS, NICK CRUZ...
(X) itch from higad bites -- YUP, FRESHMAN YEAR.
(X) have gotten an F in something -- A SUBJECT? NO! A QUIZ, DEFINITELY. HEHE.
(X) have taken a crap in school -- GUILTY RIN. HAHAHA.
(X) watch a La Salle vs. Ateneo UAAP game -- OF COURSE!
(X) give a powerpoint presentation -- UMMM...MANILA PAPER PA ATA USO NO'N EH. HAHA. BUT YEAH.
(X) study in the caf upstairs -- DO MEETINGS COUNT?
(X) watch a T.A play -- YUP!
(X ) sit on the SEC ledge and watch the stars -- I THINK SO...
(X) eat in Full House, Martha's Kitchen, and Ken Afford -- FULL HOUSE, YES. NOT TOO SURE ABOUT THE TWO OTHERS...
(X) sleep in the lib -- YEEES!
(X ) visit Mr. San Andres -- UNFORTUNATELY...
(X) go to the chapel
(X) have gotten a pebble stuck in your shoe/slippers in the middle of the quad
( ) cut class with your block to watch a movie -- NOT MY BLOCK ATA. BAKA MY BENCH.
(X) sign up for those institutional (i.e. difficult but brilliant) teachers: Ferriols, Dacanay, David, Manacsa, Ang, Escaler, Arcilla, Totanes, and many others -- ALL OF THE ABOVE! OH EXCEPT ANG.
(X ) go to CERSA night -- EVEN DANCED ONSTAGE.:)
(X) have tried siomai rice -- MMMM.
( ) learn how to smoke -- NEVER HAVE.
(X) fall in love -- I HAVE THE VIDEO TO PROVE IT.:)
( ) actually read the book you keep borrowing from the lib -- I DON'T THINK I ACTUALLY EVER BORROWED A BOOK...HAHA.
(X) play cards during your free time -- PROBABLY A FEW TIMES.
(X) dress in business attire -- FOR THESIS PRESENTATION!
(X) learn to stay awake for more than 24 hours straight -- YES! I WAS IN DAVID'S CLASS!
(X) have gotten side comments from ASSOC -- UM, THE BOYFRIEND WAS THE TAIPAN SO... THEY CALLED ME "FIRST LADY." HAHA.
(X) take (and enjoy) Saturday classes -- TAKE, YES. ENJOY? NO.
(X) go to your immersion -- YEAH, WITH THE AETAS IN TARLAC. HAD TO TAKE A BATH AT THE POSO.
(X) eat Food for Thought sandwiches -- YUP! I'D GET ONE WITH HAM, MAYO, AND MUSTARD.
(X) get a boyfriend/girlfriend -- YUP.
(X) take time to read the vandalism in the CR doors -- HAHA, YUP.
( ) watch "Minsan Lang Sila Bata" and "Macho Dancer" for class --
(X) do a last minute paper -- IT WAS THE ONLY WAY TO WORK.:)
(X) have spent a lot for 1x1 ID pictures (for index cards and teachers' seat plans)
(X) get exempted from final exams -- YES! ONE OF THE BEST FEELINGS IN THE WORLD! HAHA.
(X) attend a college mass -- YUP.
( ) promise to quit smoking
( ) play hide-and-seek in the mini-forest
(X) know where the best restrooms are on campus -- TOP FLOOR OF GONZAGA. SOLO MO EH. HAHA.
(X) join an org -- CADS!!! IT WAS PRETTY MUCH ALL I HAD TIME FOR. BUT I WAS IN BABBLE, SANGGU, AND WAS TRAINING FOR THE TRACK TEAM.
(X) allow yourself to make mistakes -- I DIDN'T ALLOW MYSELF... I JUST SORTA DID.
( ) take summer classes
(X) admire the sacred heart statue in the evening -- ADMIRE? WAS SURPRISED AT HOW BIG IT WAS UP CLOSE.
(X) make a video for a project -- YES. AND AS A RESULT, I'M HAPPILY COMMITTED.:)
( ) have a crush on a teacher
(X ) attend a Jesuit retreat (a must for everyone) -- IT WAS A THREE-DAY SILENT RETREAT.
( ) have gotten a parking ticket
(X) come to school in your crappiest yet most comfy clothes -- "SI TISHA HANGGANG DITO ANG BAHAY." - ONE TEACHER DURING A CLASS. HAHA. WAS WEARING SHORTS, A TANK, AND FLIPFLOPS.
( ) learn how to use the Bayantel pay phones
(X) participate in school activities -- DANCED, MODELED, CHEERED DURING GAMES.:)
(X) catch the Blue Babble Battalion tryouts -- HAHAHA. WELL, YEAH!
(X) date an Atenean -- YUP.
(X) ride a tricycle on campus -- YUP. BUT I DIDN'T MIND WALKING EITHER.
(X) find a tambayan -- WAS A BIT OF A NOMAD. OUTSIDE THE CAF (WITH D BENCH), ASSOC, LIB STEPS, SANGGU, AND SEC.
(X) admire the marikina valley at night
(X ) go drinking along Katipunan -- DIDN'T DO THE ACTUAL DRINKING. WAS WITH FRIENDS WHO DID. HEHE.
(X ) learn how to beg for a higher grade -- DID IT ONCE. AND IT WAS MORE OF NEGOTIATING.
( ) use your cuts wisely -- HINDI WISELY EH. HAHA. I WASN'T ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO TRACKED THEIR CUTS ON THE BACK OF THEIR NOTEBOOKS!
( ) volunteer to be class beadle
(X) had the worst lottery schedule for reg -- I THINK WE'VE ALL BEEN THERE.
(X) admire the trees on campus -- LOVE THOSE FIRE TREES. MAHIGAD NGA LANG. AND THEY'RE MAGICAL DURING THE HOLIDAYS.
( ) have forgotten about your freecut and gone to that class
(X ) eat in the ISO canteen - I THINK SO...
(X) be active in your org -- WAS PRESIDENT.:) AND EVEN IF I WASN'T, I STILL WOULDA BEEN ACTIVE.
( ) have signed up on an ACP class just because the girl or guy u like signed up for it
( ) get as many app forms as you can during the job fair -- NOTHING FOR COMM MAJORS
(X) learn how to cram (and still get A's) -- IT'S SUPPOSEDLY ONE OF MY TALENTS.:)
( ) sell tickets (or watch) an org-sponsored movie premiere
(X) save money to Xerox all of your seatmate's notes -- ALTHOUGH MAY MGA NAGXEXEROX NG AKIN. AND ANG KAPAL PA NG MUKHA MAGREKLAMO ABOUT MY PENMANSHIP. HAHA.
( ) have accidentally seen a make-out session
(X) check out the Meron Lagoon and Lambingan Bridge -- FOR ES!
(X ) have dozed off in class in Bel right after a class in CTC/SOM/Comm. Bldg or vice-versa -- I DOZED OFF DURING A CLASS IN BEL... AND I WAS SITTING FRONT AND CENTER! JAHE!
(X) learn how to work with groupmates from hell -- HAAAY.
( ) perfect the art of parking on campus
(X ) had a bad encounter with one of the guards on campus -- PROBABLY AT MIDNIGHT DURING PRACTICE, WHEN THEY WERE TRYING TO GET US OUT OF THE CAMPUS.
(X) develop a love for sisig -- DIDN'T HAVE TO DEVELOP IT. LOVE AT FIRST BITE.:)
(X) learn how to pronounce "AEGIS" properly -- UMM...PA'NO NGA BA?:)
(X) have used typing rooms at the library -- ONCE, I THINK.
(X) have reserved a classroom, AVR, etc. for a class or org function
( ) have asked the library for an endorsement to research in other libraries -- I DID THIS IN HIGH SCHOOL THOUGH. HAHAHA. DORK ALERT.
( ) have lost a perfectly functioning umbrella -- I'VE LOST TWO BEAUTIFUL DRESSES AND A KICK-ASS PAIR OF SHORTS THOUGH.:(
(X) have used consultation hours properly -- ONCE OR TWICE.
(X) Looked forward to lab breakage refund, in case you didn't break any equipment -- YES, BUT I FORGOT ABOUT IT FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS.:S
(X) visit the Guidance Office -- YUP.
(X) and Infirmary -- ACCIDENT- AND STOMACH CRAMP-PRONE ME? OF COURSE.:)

I miss Ateneo.

A fork on the road (and I really mean "on")

I lost a fork in SM yesterday.

That's a very odd sentence to type. I was in SM Makati for a pullout and was walking along an aisle near all the framed paintings when I heard the clink of metal against the floor. I thought nothing of it, telling myself that I didn't have anything metallic in my shoulder bag, and that I wore no heavy bangles that day. I heard a dude go, "Ay, nahulog!" and just kept on walking.

About an hour later, I noticed that a spoon was sticking out of my other bag. (Fine, it's a lunch box! Feel free to make fun of me now. I just got tired of bringing a paper bag to work...) Apparently, I hadn't closed the zipper properly. I opened it to find that my fork was gone.

Oh.

I told True Friend about it and she said, "Ano ba yan, hindi man lang sumigaw ng 'Ay, tinidor!'" which I found hilarious. I mean, who says that? And even if the dude had said that, I wouldn't have looked back, completely forgetting that I had a lunch box in tow.

The incident made me think about the possible scenario later that night when the maintenance crew would be cleaning. Lo and behold, there in the middle of the floor, they'd find a fork. And it was nowhere near the kitchenware section. What possible stories would they concoct?

This led me to think about out-of-place stuff I've seen or found in all these places, and the stories behind these lost (and found) items. I've always wondered, for example, how a single slipper or shoe, still perfectly wearable, finds itself on some sidewalk. Was it a snatcher's, left behind a la Cinderella as he ran pell-mell away from the cops? A woman's, after she was nearly sideswiped? Perhaps in the confusion and shock, she absentmindedly walked away from the scene. Or was it left over from some street game I've never heard of? Not too far-fetched--my cousins and I used to pile into our big swing, leave our slippers on the platform, and swing away; the person who owned the last slipper to fall off the swing would win. Maybe it was a similar made-up game. Only, I can't imagine going home at the end of the day, not noticing that I had only one beslippered foot.

Would the SM people think that the fork was part of some elaborate shoplifting scheme? That a strange fight had broken out in the kitchenware section, way on the other side of the floor? I was voicing all these out to H when he offered a possible theory that the cleaning crew would come up with: "Ah, may babaeng nakahulog nito kanina." Inventive.

The end of an era

The last one standing has finally stepped down.

Jaja, the last of my batch in my old office, has resigned, and is off to bigger and better things. After breaking a few hearts at the office, she's now moving on to law school, where she will sharpen her skills and train to become the next principal in charge of the Tax Bull. (Now that would be coming full circle, if ever there was such a thing!)

I'm no longer working for that office, but I can't help but feel sad that she's leaving. I know, ang kapal ng mukha ko, nauna ako. Haha. It's a little sentimental of me, but it feels like a chapter has closed, now that the last original MC editor has left. It's the whole idea that things can't go back to the way they were. I'm ok with change, I can cope, I can even embrace it, but don't you get days when you just wish things were the way they were before?

Jaja used to tiptoe into the office when she was late, and one time didn't realize that the boss was right behind her. She tried to con Ms. Vicky out of P20. She would pile her plate high with food at every event, gleefully mixing dessert with karne. She'd take a picture with every bigwig that happened to swing by. She'd save our kabarokans in her celphone (mine was in a dream! It doesn't count!), but would conveniently forget to include hers. She'd stress over piles of financial statements, management letters, proposals, and the Tax Bull, plus a few letters, because she was too nice to say no. She would be genuinely happy for any of us whenever something good came our way. She remained strong through all the difficulties (including working under "Mama"). She was always there.

She deserves all the success and happiness she could get. Maybe in the arms of a certain B.S.