dream_smasher

Farmville

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:38:30 GMT

I can't stop farming in facebook's farmville. I've been neglecting raket work and Christmas shopping because I'd rather grow watermelons and pink roses in my online farm. I am officially regressing into an eight-year old. My addiction is such that I have been advising officemates who have no facebook accounts on how to properly care for farmville crops.

A couple of days ago, I submitted my resume to another government agency. An insider told me that one of the questions asked during the panel interview is what talent does the applicant possess. I complained to a friend that she has better chances of being hired in the agency - she being a singer, a ballroom dancer and an actress (in school plays, at least.) Friend thought hard about my talent and said: May talent ka!
I asked, "Ano?" And she said, "Marunong kang mag-farm!"

I'm adding stand-up comedy to the list of my friend's talents.

somebody save me

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:38:48 GMT

I feel rotten. There are simply some things that you must not let others decide for you. This I'm learning the hard way.
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I read The Class by Erich Segal more than a decade ago and his account of the compromises the main characters had to make as they reached adulthood - the end of bright-eyed, youthful idealism - stuck in my mind long after I read the book. Now I am in a similar position in the sense that I am continually making compromises. It used to bother me then; now it still does but to a much lesser degree. I have become jaded and worse, a weakling and a coward.

Ironies

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:50:52 GMT

I greeted a relative who is celebrating her 40th bday. She said thanks, told me she feels so old, and reminded me to do the things I want to do now. I said I seem to be doing the reverse of that: I'm not doing what I don't want to do - most of the time, at least.

Sometimes I think I'm not meant to be doing what I'm doing. The strange thing is, I seem to be good at some aspects of what I do. Thus, I am stuck doing what I'm not certain I still want to do.

A friend and I were horsing around and we ended up trashtalking. I told her she is an evil ex to her ex. She pointed out that at least she has an ex. I said she can have her ex. I wouldn't dream of taking your ex away from you, honey. Are most people really proud of having exes even if they've all managed to make enemies out of each other at the end of the relationship? That is so weird. It's just like saying: So I have this ex and I screwed him up pretty badly for life, but hey, I am so glad it happened.

A coworker - a non-lawyer - sought my legal advice about a personal matter yesterday. As we talked, I got the impression that she wanted me to advise her in accordance with what she wanted to do - even if it was clearly incorrect. As a rule, I do not pull punches when I give a person some legal advice. My thinking is that If I am a client asking for legal advice, I'd want my lawyer to be frank and forthcoming about what I should expect in a case. However, it appears that my officemate didn't like my legal advice. She's now pretending I don't exist, which is fine because I don't obsess about everyone who I share breathing space with. What's ironic is that I think I just made an enemy by trying to help.

the bar

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:18:48 GMT

I was looking at a friend's Facebook photos of this year's bar exams, and I feel extremely grateful that I don't have to take the bar exams again in this lifetime. Almost every lawyer I know loathed going through the torture of the bar exams: bar review, taking the bar exams and waiting for the bar results.

Of the three, I would say that I abhorred bar review the most. I never liked studying for long hours and I hated not having a life during the bar review. For a lakwatsera like myself, it was sheer torture to sit still and limit my interactions with friends in order to focus on my review. Para akong preso. But I can only speak for myself. I'm sure my more disciplined peers and those blessed with more organized study habits all have different - if not positive - experiences in reviewing for the bar.

In the remote chance that someone taking this year's bar exams is reading this, I say good luck, have faith and watch out for the trick questions. Anything is possible if you put your heart into it. Just answer the effin' questions the best way you can:)

Jologs

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:08:44 GMT

I just saw Richard Gomez at the mall. He's very dark. He also looks great from afar. He was standing more than ten meters away from where my friend and I was - with his back turned on us - when he slightly turned around and flashed a smile (I don't know if he was smiling at someone or if he was just smiling period). I was starstruck.

Me to my friend: Uy, uy, si Richard o!
Friend (walking towards Aldo): Ay hindi ako fan.
Me: Ang gwapo nya!
Friend: Hindi ako interesado.
Me: Ayan tumalikod na. Ang layo na nya!
Friend: Ha? Asan, asan na?
Me: Ayun yung nakaputi. Di mo tuloy nakita. Pakipot ka pa kasi e!

Now I understand why Lucy fell for Goma. He may not be the most eloquent speaker, but he is freaking gorgeous.

Nothing like artista sighting to get me back to blogging again.

Malabong kausap

Sat, 30 May 2009 14:46:11 GMT

Don't you just hate them?

I got a text message from an aunt this morning asking me if my mother and I could meet her tomorrow. She also requested me to text her back. After checking with my mother, I told my aunt that we will see her tomorrow. I also asked her the exact hour when we are supposed to meet. My aunt hasn't bothered to reply since.

Don't you just hate it when someone does that to you? When you ask a person to text you back, is it not a matter of common sense and courtesy that you should reply to the other person's question too if she bothered to text you back in the first place?

This reminds me of a couple of classmates who I am "friends" with in Friendster. I wasn't particularly close to them (FYI, they invited me to be part of their friends' list), so I was surprised to get a message from each of them asking me how I was doing. Not wanting to be rude, I replied to both messages and asked them how they were doing too. Both did not reply to my message. I could only shake my head at their rudeness. Hey, if you don't really want to talk to someone, don't bother to chat them up. Chances are, they'd rather not talk to you too.

Sorry for the negative vibes on a Saturday. I just have to get this out of my system. So there. I'm much calmer now. I think.

Do you believe in signs?

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:48:56 GMT

I am a reluctant believer in signs.

I've been drafting a decision in a complicated labor case that has drained me of considerable time and energy. In the early stages of trying to decide how I am going to rule on the merits of the case, I kept wondering how Prof X - one of my favorite professors in my first law school - would decide the case if he were in my shoes. At the back of my mind, I knew that I had to decide the case in favor of labor. But god, it was a tough case. All related cases were decided against the union members. The pleadings of private respondents were drafted by one of the best law firms in the country, while the pleadings of petitioners are at best, mediocre.

Over the weekend, I finally decided to rule against the union members by reason of a technicality. On my way to the office this morning, I saw someone who looks a lot like Professor X. I was dumbfounded. What are the chances of my seeing someone who resembles a dead person who I've been thinking about lately?

I nevertheless persisted on my plan to dismiss the case against the union members. However, as I went over the records of the case for the nth time, I realized that my first instinct was correct: I must rule in favor of labor. It was simply the right thing to do.

So now I am back to drafting the decision - this time in favor of labor - in memory of Prof X. May the universe bless his soul.
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A sign I've been trying to decipher lately originated from a dream I had several nights ago. I dreamt that I was in Palawan. When I arrived in the place, the sea was very calm. I was uncharacteristically unimpressed. I thought the sea was boring. I felt so tired when I woke up from the dream. Strangely, I felt as if I actually swam through the waveless waters of the sea.

Past forward several days. I was discussing sea travel with someone. I told the person that I am not a water person and that I hate traveling by motor boats. The big waves of the sea scare the hell out of me. The person I was talking to then told me: Di mo maeenjoy ang dagat pag walang alon. LOL.

Is that a sign that I should reread The Old Man And The Sea? Darn, I think I just lost my copy.

Sticks and stones

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:28:16 GMT

Yesterday, my youngest brother borrowed my laptop to use it in our terrace. I reluctanly agreed. He happily laid the laptop on a small table and left the terrace for a minutes to get something inside the house. When he came back, the laptop was gone. Our gate - which was padlocked when he left the terrace - was wide open the moment he returned. Youngest brother dashed outside the gate to run after the culprit. When he didn't see the thief, he started crying. He is almost twenty-four, by the way. Our male neighbor saw him shedding tears as he pathetically looked for the person who might have taken the laptop. When his search proved futile, youngest brother went home. He asked my father if our dog got out of our gate earlier. My father said no. When my father noticed that youngest brother was shaking with tears, he ran to his car and brought out the laptop. It turned out that my father was just pulling a prank on youngest brother.

Wasn't that a mean joke? Hehehe. The last time someone played a practical joke on me was when I was in the fifth grade. I was bickering with a female classmate until our verbal fight turned ugly. I called her anak-araw (albino) and she retaliated by calling me negra. Enraged, we started hurling small stones at each other. At that time, we were both waiting for our respective school buses that would take us home. Since my classmate was already murderous with rage and I was running out of rocks to throw at her, I ran away from her until she could no longer see me. Minutes later, I returned armed with more stones. To my surprise, she asked for a truce. Relieved, I gladly accepted her offer of truce and slung my gigantic school bag over my shoulder. It was heavy. I then waited for my perennially late school bus. When I arrived home, I opened my bag and saw inside it two large rocks about the size of a hollow block. My books were filthy with sand and particles of rocks. I started laughing hysterically. When I saw my classmate the next day, the first thing she asked me was, "Kamusta yung bag mo? Mabigat ba?" I liked her much better from that day onward.

Why I'm writing about practical jokes on a Good Friday is beyond me. But I'm sure god understands. He must have a great sense of humor, and I mean that in the most respectful way.

While I wasn't sleeping

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 06:39:35 GMT

In keeping with this blog's theme (all related to sleep, in case you haven't noticed), I've listed down some of the things that occurred to me recently during my odd moments of rumination and my more frequent hours of sulking in the corner.

While I wasn't sleeping, I learned:

1. That life will take us only as far as we're ever willing to go.
2. That trust must never be given away gratuitously.
3. That we all take comfort in the predictable and the familiar.
4. That indiscriminate niceness to everyone is equivalent to having a "Pushover" sign on my forehead.
5. That pistachio macaroons are good for the soul but not for my waistline.
6. That Jim Carrey is indeed a funny guy.
7. That I must use my head - not listen to my feelings - to get things done.
8. That the closest friends I made in high school, college and law school are probably the ones most likely to stick with me ten, twenty, thirty years from now.
9. That living each day at a time is the key to remaining sane when life gets tough.
10. That looks could never kill, but words could make or break you.

Mean Girls, In An Unqueen Bee Sort of Way

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 11:19:38 GMT

I don't have the balls to be a girl. Vicious, spiteful, caustic, cliquish, snobbish, irrational -- I am not. The most girly thing I can say about myself is that I often mistake my emotions for brain activity. Lately and unavoidably, however, I've learned to get a grip on my reactions to unpleasant situations. I was probably a man in a past-but-not-completely-forgotten life. I value logic more than intuition - which, mind you - is not to say that I am more logical than intuitive. I prefer silence to mindless chatter. I am offended by loud people and don't want them within my hearing distance. I generally avoid hurling vitriolic and unjust comments against someone behind her back, especially if I don't know the person well enough to backbite her.

An earlier conversation with a number of girls I know quite well, however, has reminded me why I sometimes prefer talking with men than with women. Girls could be quite unkind to their fellow females if they don't like the way the latter look, speak or act. I've always been drawn - not in a sexual way, of course - to women who speak their minds out with candidness sans malice. I don't really get it why some girls abhor their more outspoken counterparts. What is admirable about being meek if you have something you think you must say or ask? Should we all aspire to be each other's clones to preserve camaraderie and avoid conflict? Is it not possible for us to be more tolerant of each other's flaws and uniqueness without putting each other down for our differences?

I hardly ever hear my brothers, close male cousins and former male classmates (still males as of present, I think) diss other men for being frank and forthcoming, slutty or
even - god forbid - Alpha male. I wish we women could be that equally accepting of females who are perhaps a lot more aggressive than we ever care to be. While there is admittedly safety in numbers, there must also be something worth unraveling about the complexity of variety.