Channeling Mr. Scrooge (A Christmas Wish List)

It's just a few days away until the 25th but I'm still not feeling the holiday cheer. At home, the tree and lights are already up, the city malls are bustling with holiday festivities, and reunions are being scheduled here and there. This particular holiday has been fantastically hyped up, like always, but it all feels flat somehow. There's none of that it's-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year vibe that I usually pair up with this time of the year.

Oh pshaw, don't listen to the Scrooge, I'm one year older but still none the wiser. Hey, it might not feel like Christmas yet, but so what? There will still be gifts come Christmas day.

This post is dedicated to the fantastic, fabulous, gorgeous, generous AND overall awesome people who actually are thinking of getting me gifts this year. You are wonderful. And awesome. Oh, I already said that.


This Christmas would be jollier if I had these.

1. An external keyboard for my Nokia 5800

Touch screens are fine and dandy, but after a while, it gets tedious to type in sentences. I want to be able to use my SmartPhone for more than just calling and listening to music. With a keyboard, I can take down notes, write email, and Plurk at work surf the web efficiently.

2. A mini watering can/spritzer.

My recently acquired office plant, known as Bonggang Bonggang Bongbong (don't ask why), Bong for short, has been unhealthy as of late. I've had me my first dead stem this week. *sniff* Quite honestly, I have no idea how to take care of a plant (or any other living creature for that matter) and I've been using my tumbler to water it. It would be nice to have a mini-watering can/plant spritzer for it. So it doesn't die.

3. The entire Archie Americana Series

I would be eternally grateful to anyone who finds me this set. I've only managed to salvage Best of the Forties, the others have unfortunately perished along with other childhood books when the roof leaked. The bookstores don't seem to carry this line anymore and that's just sad.

4. USB Powered Heated Gloves (Yes, they exist)


Anyone who's worked with me, or has been with me in an air-conditioned room for extended periods of time, would know that my hands get insanely cold. My body can be perfectly warm but my hands would be stiff and deathly cold. These USB powered heated gloves would really, really be nifty to have around.

5. Fingerless Gloves

Normal gloves make it very difficult to type, and they won't pay me around here unless I type. If USB powered heated gloves seem too frivolous, these fingerless cuties would be the next best thing.

6. A Wii nunchuck

Wii Sports Boxing is a hoot. I've been playing against a bot because I have two Wiimotes but only one Wii nunchuck. Second hand ones would work just as well, and those are fairly priced over at TipidPC. And then we get ready to rumble.

7. Boy Bawang

Vats of it. Adobo flavored Boy Bawang is my current favorite but I also like the garlic flavored ones. My new officemates munch on Boy Bawang (to them Boyboy) on a daily basis and the cornick love has infected me badly.

and lastly,

8. Candy Canes

I. LOVE. THESE. I once bought a can of mini mint candy canes and decorated my cube with them. And as soon as cubicle judging was done, I ate each and every one of those minty hardened sugar. And had a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

And that's that. The things I want this Christmas. Aside from world peace, of course.

I'm infinitely cheerier about the holidays now.
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Short and Sweet

Everyone has so much to say these days. On one hand, it's a good thing because people have an alternative outlet for whatever's on their minds. On the the other, there are a ton of reading material that just drone on and on with barely any point. My short attention span makes me drift off midway through the first paragraph. It's getting harder to filter out what are good reads and what's garbage.

Who am I to complain, really? I myself am guilty of oversharing. I've cluttered the Internet enough on this blog, there's also LiveJournal, I have microblogging accounts over at Plurk and Twitter, there's Facebook , and a dash of random forums. All garbage.



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Drama Is Not Exclusive To LJ

Tainting the new blog with drops of emo wasn't in the plan. I was trying my darndest to stay as far away from that topic as possible. But tonight, because I wanted a no-qualms audience while I fumble for words, I have decided to use this channel the way it was meant to be used, as a personal emotional toilet, without the convenience of a flush.

Like the song goes, it's my party and I'll cry if I want to. Be warned though, this may be the most gag-inducing entry in this blog as of present. That is, here in Blogspot. LJ posts still top the list of things that can make Elmo want to slash his wrist.

After all that intro, I'd hate to disappoint. Let's get on with the crying, shall we?

Before the boohoos, I apologize for the LJ putdown. I do not hate LiveJournal nor do I dislike it. I have an account, actually. But for tonight, it is precisely the reason for my wanting to take an emotional dump.

There are things in life that tear you apart, and once damaged, you will never be the same again.

As for me, what caused irreparable damage was getting a close look at my current flame's brighter flames. (wipe your frowns away please) In less dramatic words, I've read several years worth of very public LJ entries of two people madly and passionately in love, and wrote about it daily for the world to see. Their flames burned so bright that it was awe-inspiring in its grandeur. And because I had an insider's point of view, watching from the sidelines as they professed their burning love for each other, as if I was with them while the fire was very much alive, I was burned.

It's as if watching a chick flick of your partner paired up with perfection. Say for example, the sappy The Notebook. If you've seen it, you'd know that the movie revolves around the story of the characters, Noah and Allie. They fell in love when they were young, and although certain events drove them apart, their love for each other never went away. They eventually ended up together despite all the obstacles. And when they were older, Noah patiently stayed by Allie's side reading her their love story day by day, as she whiles away with Alzheimer's disease, not remembering herself, more so the people around her. It is a beautiful story of fiery love, enduring love, unending love.

It is unbearably sweet, but in line with the analogy; your man is Noah, you're not Allie and you have front row tickets to watch them be mesmerized by each other.

That is how knowing past intimate details feels like. That knowledge has created for me my own personal monster; it eats me, gnaws at my strength, nibbles away my confidence, creeps up on me, shows up its ugly head in the most inopportune moments, and I hate it. I'm beginning to hate myself for it too.

The funny thing about all this is that I have been accused often enough, by a number of people, of being distant, aloof, and even uncaring at times. I AM distant, aloof, and uncaring at times. In all honesty, this being greatly affected by the past, it's a very new and scary thing for me. It is extremely frustrating, because for once in my life, I cannot keep these unruly emotions in check. Read more...

You're scared of.. what now?

Everyone seems to be on a listing spree for the Halloween, so I thought to jump on the bandwagon.

October. It is the month that is usually linked to ghouls, dead people, the dark, and generally all things creepy. But those mentioned are fears common to most, there are truckloads of articles written about them already. I wanted a topic that's not as overused as the others, so after weighing my topic ideas, I settled on writing about people's weird fears (who am I kidding, this topic has already been used and abused). It was a toss up between the top five things we are all afraid of and this. And as always, I went with weird.

So here I present to you, the TOP 5 WEIRDEST FEARS, according to me.

First up, at number five, we have:
5. BOGYPHOBIA

This one's pretty easy to figure out. As you probably already guessed, Bogyphobia is the fear of bogeys. While I too, am not very fond of the bogeyman, the term for this fear just gives me the LOLs. Couldn't anyone have thought of a better, less snicker-inducing name? Something more ominous sounding perhaps?

Next up on the list, at 4th place is:
4. CACOPHOBIA.

Cacophobia's a bit harder to guess, by the name alone. It is, by definition, the fear of ugliness. You read it correctly. Ugliness is scary. How something like this can be an actual condition, I do not know.

Taking the 3rd spot, we've got:
3. CONSECOTALEOPHOBIA

This is the fear of.. -wait for it- ..chopsticks. I kid you not. There are actually people who balk at seeing those tiny little sticks. Imagine this person going to China. And dying.

Now on to the runner up, at number two is:
2. HIPPOPOTOMONSTROSESQUIPEDIALIOPHOBIA

I salute you if you can read that out loud without fumbling the first time. Can you guess what this is a fear of? Ironically, hippopotomonstrosesquipedialiophobia is the fear of long words. Come on now, people-who-make-these-names-up, this was the only name you could think of? REALLY?!

Psychologist: "So.. what phobias do you have?"
Person with this phobia: "I have Hippopotomo-" *faints*

You just can't give them a break, can you?

And we are now down to last item on the list. This, ladies and gentlemen, has got to take the cake as the weirdest phobia of all time, bar none.

Taking the number one spot on this list is:
1. ARACHIBUTYROPHOBIA

You will not see this coming. This phobia is the fear of.. peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. For SRZ. Peanut butter. sticking. to. the. roof. of. the. mouth. PEANUT BUTTER! *pauses and sighs* What more can I say?

Homer has it?

Well, that's that. The top five weirdest phobias I could find on the intarwebz. If you have any of these fears, I am very sorry, but you are weird. And slightly disturbing.

Runners up include: POGONOPHOBIA, the fear of beards; SYPHILOPHOBIA, the fear of.. you guessed it.. syphilis (I would like to think that we all suffer from this fear); and, PELADOPHOBIA, the fear of bald people (Mr. Clean looks like he can pummel you with a meat cleaver).

I'm not exactly one to criticize, because I am deathly afraid of stairs, specially winding ones in very close quarters. It's a weird combination of climacophobia and claustrophobia (someone, come up with a funny name for it already).

What about you, what are you weirdly afraid of?

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Mii and my Wii

Every time I get a new toy, I tend to obsess about it until all possible research channels (and resources) have been exhausted. Such is the case with the 2nd hand Wii I recently acquired, a steal at the price I got it for (TipidPC, thank you). Originally bought in February of this year, it is an unmodified US unit, barely used, and it came packaged with an extra Wiimote, the Wii Fit board, four original game discs, all the original packaging and a bunch of other accessories. In other words, I'm very happy with the deal.

The Miis

The first thing you do is to create a profile, to specify where to log all your activities, called the Mii. It serves as your Wii self, basically you in 3D likeness. And while making them can take a while, the end result is usually a hoot. Here are a some of the Miis I made, you tell me if they give justice to their real-life counterparts.

The MEL Mii -hair's a little off, but otherwise a good resemblance.

The PAPA Mii -not bad, could be better, but it's close enough.

The MAMA Mii -SPOT ON! It looks so much like her, it's scary.

The BIM Mii -I'd say this is pretty darn close.

The JANINE Mii -I didn't make this one, her sister Jamie did, but it's too cute to not share.



The Games

Of course, what would a gaming console be for if not for the games? Although mine came with a few games when I got it, I've collected four additional games for it within a week, namely:

• Super Mario Galaxy -a gift from the awesome Bim
• Resident Evil -because of glowing reviews from everywhere in the interwebs and IRL
• Super Smash Bros Brawl -ranked 4th in the Wii All-time Best game rankings, and
• Wii Play -bought at a great bargain, a better Wii Sports with decent ranking

Anyway, after getting all those games in a span of four days, I am done. No more new ones until next year. Absolutely no more! I promise. That is.. after I get Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party disc and a dance pad. But those will be the absolute final purchases for the Wii for this year. Promise. No, really.

So far, of all my games, the Wii Fit has been the most fun. It extends the Wii to something more than just a hand game by making you get up on your feet and move. It's also a good way to keep a less sedentary lifestyle, and it provides the entire family with a lot of laughs too (chunky dad attempting to do a yoga pose is a precious sight to see).

This is my tita, Tita Ging and her mini-me, Jamie,
enjoying the Wii with the rest of the family just this weekend.

In too many words, what I was just saying is that the Wii is a boatload of fun!

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Selfish Acts

09/30/09. This was the day that Kate and I set aside to help out the typhoon victims in our own little way.

We had already decided on a place to offer our services to: Whitespace over at Pasong Tamo Extension in Makati. Armed with a meager budget, Kate and I met up early in the afternoon to grocery shop. It's good to note that noodle and canned good racks were most nearly empty; it hopefully means that what was in the racks were already donated. With our car filled with loot a couple hours and some bargains later, we happily made our way to Makati.

Finding the relief center was easy enough, as it was next to landmarks that were impossible to miss. Right as I was about to enter the gates of Whitespace, a red motorcycle came hurtling towards us from the other direction. And because we were going at a snail's pace, I was able to stop the car so as not to hit the biker. He hit us instead.


*spot the unintentional ad and you get a prize

That's the biker in the red helmet, Joel, who incidentally had been driving for less than 6 months, and was on an errand to buy a pack of gum for his boss. Those people standing around him were my witnesses, all of them saying the biker was going too fast. That's Cherry, my secondhand car; plate bent, bumper dented.

On a cheerier note, the MAPSA enforcer who helped us with this case was Renato (i-forgot-his-last-name); local celebrity copper, that guy on the news who returned the million pesos he found on the streets (he proudly told us this bit of information after everything was settled). The first thing he asked was if the bike toppled over with the impact. It didn't.

He assured me by saying that if a bike stays upright after impact, it usually means that the bike rammed into the car rather than the other way around. Otherwise, the biker would've been flung to the ground and injured. Bim arrived on the scene a few minutes later, he slipped away from work to come to my rescue... by laughing like there's no tomorrow with Mang Renato. And more importantly, he came armed with a hug reserved for me.

It took a good hour and a half to settle things before we went inside to unload the goods. Kate and I shortly found things to busy ourselves with and once we did, we were happy campers working like little ants part of the ant colony, part of the bigger picture. We were joined later by respective office mates and friends, who all headed straight over after work to help out as well.

The goods had to be collected, distributed in family packs, moved to the collecting area to be counted and then finally loaded in the truck for distribution. It was tiring, manual labor, but it was also fulfilling and well worth it. Although what we had to offer was little, we were still welcomed. Everyone of different classes, of different ages were working together for a singular cause. Seeing everyone contribute whatever they can to help our countrymen who were hit badly by the storm gives one a sense of pride; that we know and we've proven that we can come together at a time like this, there's hope for us yet.

Someone told me that people volunteer to feel good about themselves, that it is a selfish act more than anything else. If that is the case, what the hell, then so be it. We feel better about ourselves AND we are able to help those who need helping. It's a win-win situation from all angles.

A couple of weeks after Ondoy wrecked a good part of the country, things seem calm. The hype has died down. Classes have resumed. Adults have gone back to work. Donations come in fewer and further in between. Now, more than ever, relief operation centers need more volunteers and donations. The disaster isn't over yet, there still are thousands of families in evacuation centers with no food to eat, and no houses to live in.

Let us still try to help in whatever way we can. Here is the list of places to donate and volunteer. Every little bit counts.
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Monsters in the Closet

If for example, you are inside your bedroom, relaxing and reading a book before bedtime and an alien, slimy and huge, smashes its way through your door. You notice that it's badly wounded, and it seems to be on a rampage, with purpose to kill and destroy everything along its path, and you're next up. In front of you, he stops, lowers his eyes, and growls reverberatingly with its hand ready to strike, what would you do?

Option 1: Assume a fighting stance, snarl, lock eyes and meet it head on?

Option 2: Bait it, say you can help it?

Option 3: Run for your life, screaming and flailing in the other direction?

What would you do? Which option would you pick?

We are all afraid of something. The dark, a rabid dog, rejection, needles, attention, enclosed spaces, death, childbirth, among many others. We each have our own personal scares to deal with. But what do we do when we're faced with them?

As with everything, we have the power to choose our own ending to the story. If we choose the first option, we face the alien monster head on. We face it, knowing full well that the chance of winning a fight with a more powerful extraterrestrial is slim to nil. If we choose the second, we talk our way through the compromising situation. If the wounded alien believes us, and then we can't, what then? And with the third option, we flee in an attempt to escape it. And hope against all hope that it never comes back. But these scaries, they do, eventually they do.

What really, is the best way to go about that monster in your closet?

*Stairs. I am not-so-secretly afraid of stairs. Read more...

09/09/09 - Time to Smell the Roses

09/09/09 - Time to Smell the Roses
Originally uploaded by meltesorero

Waking up to a good morning message softens the cynic in me for some unfathomable reason. I like it.
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That Green-Eyed Bitch

Last night, I had an up close and personal with the lover's ex. I was so close that I could see the clear and unblemished pores of her fair skin, so close that I could have touched the impressive double mounds of frontal flesh, so close that I felt the strong will radiating from her intelligent doe eyes.

And how can I forget to mention the legs, which are long, smooth, and perfectly shaped.

She makes her way to the restroom, giving us a good view of her lower half.
Me to him: Wow, fantastic legs.
Him to me: *looks appreciatively* Meh, they're nice.
Him to himself: *mentally bites fist* Bobdamn, what sexy stems.

After a few minutes in a conversation with them feeling like the third wheel, I excused myself to get some fresh air and found myself spending the night forgotten and alone.


To clear things up, she isn't green-eyed. And it was all a dream.

That green-eyed bitch getting under my skin is no one but myself and my jealousy.

Now, in a fair view of things, there really shouldn't be anything wrong with befriending an ex. Why? One, this person was once an important factor in your life. Two, there should be enough things in common to be friends even without the romance. And three, good friends are hard to come by.

So, a sensible person would look past the awkwardness and let the ex in their lives. Is it a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer? Come to think of it, with the ex in the same circle, you'd have an insider's view of things (by "things" I actually mean "motives"). That makes sense, kind of. But for us who are weak of heart and strong of feelings of selfishness, it's not an idea that's easy to swallow.

Props to those of you who are smart enough to befriend their current's past flames. I let my own monsters eat me up once in a while. Try keeping yours at bay.
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String around my finger.

Come to think of it, why do we tie a string around our finger to help us remember things? There's probably no scientific basis for that belief, but we believe it anyway.

EDIT: And because things like this bug me unless answered, I researched a bit and this was the only thing I could find attempting to explain it.

I am easily distracted and I tend to forget things easily, so I thought to post an online note to remind me of the things I need done ASAP.

Oh look, a squirrel!

I mean, here's my to-do list for this week.


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