after the storm

typhoon reming mercifully spared the metro last friday, veering southwards but wreaking havoc in bicolandia, batangas, marinduque, mindoro and romblon before heading out to sea.

it caused the most damage in bicol, however, where the heavy rains caused mudflows  from mt. mayon's slopes. at this time, about 400 people are confirmed dead or missing in the areas devastated by reming. it's far worse than milenyo ever was.

and i'm thankful that it spared manila.

*****

here's a photograb from the abs-cbn news website, showing bodies retrieved from the mudflow in albay. there are several more missing.

i pray for those who were affected.

*****

happy thanksgiving!

although not considered as a philippine holiday, i've learned to celebrate thanksgiving in my own little way ever since i joined the world of call centers. after all, it's not about the turkey and the trimmings (i hate turkey anyway — so tough, gamy and bony). it's in the name…THANKSgiving.

there's a lot to be thankful for in my life. my family, my friends, my job, my talents, my faith. and also, there's muymuy to be thankful for. after all, he's brought nothing but joy to our lives since he was born, and today marks his 4th month of life.

unfaithful

why the title?

well, let's just put it this way. my mom and i were talking earlier and she told me that not a few people of their her and my dad's acquaintance were carrying on extramarital relationships. i was surprised at one of the names mentioned because i could not imagine, for the life of me, people like this person flirting around at his age.

the topic came about because mom told me that for two nights or so someone has been calling them up at night. when my dad answers, he just stays on the phone for less than a minute and then puts it down. mom thought that some girl was flirting around with my dad. then i realized that on the nights in question, i had called home after i set up my headset at work, so i told her that it was me who called, and i did because i wanted to test my set-up, and also to inform them that i was safe at work. so we cleared the matter up.

anyway, going back to those extramarital affairs. one of our neighbors here, who happened to be my baptismal godfather, suffered a stroke while visiting his mistress and died in a hospital somewhere out of town. another neighbor was caught when his wife checked out his cellphone message inbox and saw sweet messages not from her but from another woman (stupid guy, really). 

my mom's not worried that my dad will be unfaithful to her, and i'm not worried either. for one thing, my parents have a happy, healthy relationship, without competition on either part. even if my mom's in the island every week end, they still talk, and my dad joins her there every other week end or so. they've had their ups and downs, and they lived through those to have the good relationship they have today. besides, they pray together and do a lot of stuff together, like attend Rotary activities. i even set up a friendster account for them.

this is the kind of marriage that i would like to have, in the future.

23 hours…

…since i woke up last night to go to work. so that means i've been awake for the last 23 hours, give or take a few moments dozing off while praying at greenbelt chapel. good thing i don't have work tonight and tomorrow night, because of the shift rotation, so i can sleep later, maybe for about 5 or six hours, and feel refreshed.

as i write this i am downloading songs to be loaded into my mp4 player, and running a scan on the computer using the anti-spyware system i installed. i am turning into a tech geek these days, probably because i'm in a technical account. which surprises me, because i am doing something i never thought i could do. it's much like the sales account to which i belonged previously. i've never been much of either a salesperson nor a tech freak — i hated anything that had to do with marketing/selling and stuff with computers, electronics or mechanics. heck, that's why i majored in english lit and went to law school.

but keeping an open mind and a willing spirit (duh, what am i talking about here?) has transformed me in ways i never expected to.

i remember my report on madonna for our pre process training. i recall telling the class that i liked her because she constantly reinvented herself to keep in tune with the changing times. like her, i want to constantly reinvent myself, and maybe discover a hidden talent that i may be the master of. i'm hoping it will be a mastery of the law, but who knows.

(i don't really know what i'm talking about here. must sleep…zzz….)

the mentos syndrome

i feel guilty whenever someone asks me for help and i'm not able to do it because a) i already have a lot on my hands, b) i'm too tired to think, or c) i can't do anything about it. especially (c). i know i shouldn't feel guilty that i couldn't do anything about the situation, but it's my nature to feel that way.

maybe because i try too much to be nice and to please everyone. i know there's a saying that one can't please everybody, but it's in my nature to do that although it's impossible. and the pathetic thing about it is that i keep on doing it despite promises to myself that i should learn to limit myself to what is doable, possible and workable.

blame it on my "pusong mamon" or soft-heartedness. i may appear to be tough/scary/suplada, but like mentos candy, i am soft on the inside. appeal to my soft side (argumentum ad vericundiam, as my logic teacher puts it), and i'm yours, hook, line, sinker, wallet, everything but the proverbial kitchen sink. and the bad part is, i tend to believe everything thrown at me by the appellee.

this is how my first disaster of a relationship came to be. my soft side came into the picture and i believed everything the schmuck told me. i'm just glad he's out of the picture, because if not, i would not have awoken to the idea of how pathetic i can get, and i may have become his slave forever and ever (i can't imagine, hahahaha). looking back, i can't even be merciful to myself and to the memories. i cringe at the thought of those black months of my life (yes, months, because luckily the relationship only lasted for less than 3 months).

right now i am working on my resolve not to be too nice or too gullible. i realize that my offer of assistance/friendship/help might be taken advantage of as has been in the past. i don't want to be just looking back all the time and realizing that i was duped/taken advantage of/fooled into doing things.

i just don't want to be too nice. otherwise, i would have to remove that last sentence on my profile about being a bitch.

pinoy ang tumapos….

the philippines does it again.

manny pacquiao beat erik morales via a technical knock out in the third round of their match in las vegas.

(that was long.)

manny does the filipino people proud. he deserves the monicker "people's champ."

and he prevents street crimes, forces politicians to stop bickering and be united, and puts the philippines on the map of the boxing world.

earlier, another pinoy, ronato alcano, beat ralf souquet to become the 2006 world pool champion. here's to another "people's champ".

*****

today we went to landmark to do some serious shopping. i got me a pair of black pumps, a pink blouse, and some pairs of short stockings. also bought dianne a pair of slacks as a birthday gift. then we had an early dinner at chef d'angelo at glorietta 2. we had the chef supreme pizza, caesars salad, sachertorte (german chocolate cake) and new york cheesecake. lovely.

*****