All wedding-ed out

Two down, two to go. At least til next month.

This post could have been entitled Four Weddings and a Funeral--mine. OK, that's morbid. (Scratch that. I'm sending good vibes out to the universe!) I just have a severe case of wedding fatigue right now.

A checklist of weddings:

• My ka-barkada's (check. I had to emcee that so I couldn't wear just any old thing.)
• H's friend's (check. I snuck in a pick-up game between the ceremony and the reception.)
• H's cousin's (pending)
• My blockmate's (pending. Although he hasn't given me the invite, so I think that's a valid excuse for not going...)

I went to a wedding last Monday and last Saturday, and the two more lined up are to take place this weekend and next. Good grief. I intended to boycott weddings after last Saturday's, but felt kinda guilty about it. Have to get all dolled up again in a couple of days. Sigh.

I've heard it a number of times from other friends/teammates: "Parang palagi ka na lang may pinupuntahang kasal, o shower, o despedida de soltera!" Tell me about it!

I am so an advocate of eloping now. Been trying to convince H that this is the way to go. I just don't like how people seem to be focusing on the wrong things--topping the last wedding, making it unique, perfecting the program. It really should be about two people making a beautiful commitment, not about a fancy photo booth or a Hollywood-style video recap. "The meaning gets lost in the details," H offered. Yes! That's exactly it! So let's elope, keep the meaning, and not hassle our friends! No?

People have also been having visions of or have been dreaming about my wedding. How strange. The latest dream supposedly had me and a dreamer-friend looking for a reception venue in some hilly village like La Vista.

C: You were looking for a football field.
Me: A football field? Who was I marrying? David Beckham?

Despite being a jaded wedding attendee, I do wish all the best for my friends who have tied/are about to tie the knot. It is a huge step, committing to someone else forever and ever, no matter what, and I applaud you for it! Just please pardon the rants of a makeup-averse girl who's had to put on a face way too often lately. I do love you all!

(And despite being this way, I still tear up whenever the bride walks down the aisle. Every. Frickin'. Time. What's up widdat?)

Dem disc peeps sure know how to par-tey.

This post is over a week delayed. Just gotta say that the Monsoon League 2008 Party was totally bitchin'!

Hindi naman obvious na nag-enjoy ako di ba? More pics here.

Highlights:

• Watching people attempt to stay on the mechanical bull. And the winner is...manong! The bull operator showed us how it was done.
• Seeing Czar's hidden hula-hooping talent.
• Mike voluntarily taking his shirt off while he was dancing with the Superstar. (Mike, WTF?!)
• The Rape of: Shane, QBF, Lawee Boy, Peng.
• The Superstar Sandwich.
  
• The dance showdown featuring: QBF's moves, Jaguar PO's split (the crowd went wild!), Czar's dolphin dive, and Fel's Chinese getup! Who knew my teammates had such tricks up their sleeves?
• Lei's "Fans Day at Glorietta" pic! One mission accomplished!
• Heading to Mr. Kabab after, and hanging out with my teammates til sunrise.

So...when's the next party?

P.S.
I just realized I didn't get to blog about the Monsoon Finals. Twas rained out. We played two games; the third (for ranking purposes) was canceled. Highlight: our brand-spankin' new uniforms, thanks to Ivy!

What if?

A friend has found himself at a crossroads, and we were discussing his next career move. He was torn between something he had to do, and something he needed to do. I wasn't quite sure I completely understood the nuances of "have-tos" and "need-tos" versus "have-tos" and "want-tos," but I could see where he was coming from, and I could somehow relate.

I used to think that deciding on something--whether on a course, a career, a relationship, a friendship--meant that all the what-ifs went out the window. I mistakenly believed that "being sure of something" meant that you would never wonder about all the other enticing options that come your way. But I've realized something: Life is so rich that one can never experience everything there is to experience, no matter how hard one tries. The human mind is perpetually curious (at least, the non-idle ones--the best kind!--are), so that it will always have questions about paths that its host didn't choose. It is impossible for one person to satisfy all of his or her curiosity, and so I've realized that it is also quite impossible to rid oneself of what-ifs.

No matter what path you take, there will always be what-ifs. It is a matter of making a choice and sticking to it, of recognizing what is truly important despite all the alluring, yet off-tangent, paths that spring up. It's about being comfortable in not knowing what the what-ifs would have brought.

Monsoon Madness 2008: Day 3

A picture paints a thousand words. So let this baby do the talkin'...

Photo c/o Cel

Well, OK, to better appreciate this magical moment, you have to know about the events leading up to it.

This happened after Game 1, Ultimate Warriors versus Monster 2. This day, we weren't really expecting to win any of our games. We didn't know how we would do versus Monster, which had beaten us by universal point (en route to the Pool B championship) during Summer League.

I was proud of the Warriors for being so patient, for swinging to break the cup, rather than forcing the huck. At the last point, the game was tied, and I was again on the field. I watched as Mundz was trapped in a cup near the corner of Monster's end zone, before he threw a Hail-Mary huck. I watched as it curved out of bounds, and winced as I saw it avoid branches and leaves. I willed with all my might for it to bend...and bend it did into Mina's waiting hands! Warriors (myself included) ran to the nearly defender-less end zone. It was three short passes before Jaguar PO scored the final point. Universal point. Warriors win! Warriors win! I again collapsed onto the ground out of exhaustion and relief. Happiness!

After some rest, we prepared ourselves for Game 2 versus Summer League Pool B champs BC. We weren't expecting to win--this was a team that beat us with just four players against our seven! Homayged. "Ang pag-asa lang natin kung may party sila the night before," people said. "Pero kahit kulang sila, panalo pa rin eh!"

But, man, the Warriors stepped up. And how!

Blocks, dives (including Enteng's layout to save a disc), spectacular scores (including Mina's one-hand catch to tie the game)--the Warriors scored the first point, kept scoring, were neck-and-neck with the top-seeded BC. We were down two, but caught up to them 9-9 before last point was called.

On our possession, El Capitan passed to a waiting Lawee Boy, who again scored the universal point! Totoo ba ito? Warriors win? WARRIORS WIN! (And H drove all the way from QC to witness it! To think I told him, "Papano'rin mo 'yung game against BC? Tatambakan lang kami nu'n!")

Win or lose, we always enjoy playing with this team. But on this day, I must admit it felt good to win. Damn good.

Warriors rejoicing and running to Lawee, who made yet another game-winning point

Game 3 versus Ultimate Weekend Karma...what can I say? It was a bad-juju game. We were all just tired, and affected by negative vibes. We lost by 2. I wasn't playing during the final point, so I therefore conclude that I have to be in there for the final point for the Warriors to win. Haha. Sigh. Bad game, but it didn't stop us from celebrating being 6-3, and playing two great games earlier in the day.

In other news...

People kept picking on me for wearing "hip-hop shorts." They weren't used to me in this getup.

Photo c/o Cel

Respect the shorts, dawg!

Before and after

We interrupt regular programming to bring you this Vanity Post. Compare and contrast:

Tisha with a Naked Face versus Tisha All Dolled Up
(Both photos by my forever photog, Ocs)

On the left, we have a test shot of me before a shoot. No make-up, un-styled hair (no blowout!), comfy dress. On the right, we have a glam shot, full-on makeup (courtesy of Maris delos Reyes), sexy hair (c/o Franklin Reponte), and a blingy dress (c/o stylist extraordinaire Pam Q). It's fun to be Right Me sometimes. But the Left Me is the Real Me.

Lalala. Forgive me. It is Monday and I am delaying the inevitable...

July 2008 highlights

"You know you make me wanna shout..." Tearin' up the dance floor at Marnie's wedding

• Manicad-Pulumbarit wedding. Two years in the making.
• My first hat tourney. Too bad I have no pics to show for it. Boo. But fun! Before the championship game, someone had a slab of lechon in his hands, and people were just tearing off pieces from it. Savage.
  
• The beginning of the Monsoon league. The first day felt more like Summer League. The second day? That's how Monsoon was supposed to be, all rain and mud and madness. Bonus! We won a heated game versus Molokai!

My formerly white socks

• Wall climbing. And so it began. Potentially something I could also get addicted to.
• Family time. Poker, bowling, food trip, cam-whoring. Ate Udes's homecoming after nine long years.
• Mamma Mia! with mumsy. This falls under "family time" as well, but it deserves its own space in this entry. I'll say it again: I love my mother.
  

Because it's there

Mostly for lack of other activity options, my teammates and I started climbing a few weeks ago. Disc was canceled and we had no other shoes but kleats, so we had to figure out what we could do sans trainers. We headed to PowerUp, and have gone back twice since then (a couple of others went on their own for "secret training sessions").

Yesterday was my third time there, and I was beginning to understand why Marie is a hardcore climber. At first, it was just an alternative workout, but last night, I began to see that it was possible for me to love it, too. I was hanging on that pesky Wall 4, on my third attempt to finish it, and it hit me: It's really about challenging yourself. True, I raced with a Man-Who-Shall-Remain-Unnamed (haha) and that was fun. But there's something to be said about climbing alone, just you, the wall, and some seemingly impossible-to-grasp rocks. It's about tapping into yourself and finding the determination to finish something you started, no matter how difficult or daunting or painful.

Papa G asked why we do it, and I answered that it's a lot like climbing Mt. Everest--because it's there. Personally, I've realized: It's because I can, if only I try hard enough.

Shameless!

Poor Morgan Freeman. It's not enough that he was hurt--I can't believe people were actually trying to snap pictures of it! Now that is just...crass. No class at all.

5-1

So the mighty Eagles have finally fallen, creating a triple tie for first place. With the way the boys in blue were playing yesterday, they were bound to lose--Al-Hussaini had the game of his life (was it 33 points and 20-something boards?). Unfortunately, his effort was wasted because no one else on the team showed up at the game--not even The Heartthrob. (Hmm, I just realized Rabeh scored half the team's output. Everyone else? Single digits.)

Still, losing was all good for two reasons: 1) We lost to the Tams, who are all emotion-fueled and on a mission after losing main man Baracael, and 2) at least we're not the target anymore--let's hope the attention shifts back to last season's champs.

But dude, that dunk in the end was totally uncalled for.