1) Guess who has jury duty tomorrow? Same day as her interview (but its at 6pm so it's not THAT terrible?). Yeah, you guessed right.
2) Guess who can't sing? Yeah, right again. And I have to do it in public in three days. I can't tell if it's my out-of-tune piano, lack of practice, or too much smoking lately. Hmmm, ponder, ponder, ponder.
Yeah, I'd say a miracle would save me right about now.
There's also a neat piece about the place I spent much of my childhood in LegManila. Tomorrow I hope to direct you to an even neater piece about Baguio-based visual artist Santiago Bose in maARTe
Hey there's a detailed article about Divisoria, one of my fave places in Manila, in Localvibe. Now if only it came with pictures. It can't be THAT dangerous to shoot some decent photographs, can it?
I think I'm suffering from "Post-they-just-had-2-days-in-a-row-of-prayer-meetings-at-my-house" trauma. If I hear another "Sister this" or Brother that" or "Praise the Lord" I think I'll f***ing scream.
Note to self: upload seething satirical rant on the hypocracies of Filipino Prayer Groups in short story form entitled, "Gift of Tongues" soon.
Oh, happy day! Is this why I couldn't stop thinking about the job all day?
Received your resume and cover letter. Wondering if you would be available to come in for an interview next week. I know you work full time -- if lunch time is the only time you can come in then perhaps the week following would be better (I am booked solid during lunch hour next week). let me know. Thanks very much and I look forward to speaking with you.
I did it! I really did it! I just faxed my resume for the position! I hope I get it! Cross your fingers for me okay? A little prayer would help too:) Good night:)
I'm actually applying for a new job. Like, for real. As in, I'm actually writing a cover letter. Yikes. How can I convince them that I am PERFECT for this job? Without sounding cocky of course. Hehe.
That last post didn't make sense, did it? I'll fix it later.
In the meantime, wouldn't it be cool to be a travel agent that specialized in Spa vacations? This is my new favorite site. Hmmm, maybe I could start a section on different spa resorts. Wouldn't that be cool?
B. and I went to the opening of Paul Pfeiffer's one-man show at El Proyecto. Mighty cool. If you're in to digital art, you should definitely catch the show, he's beginning to experiment more and more with that medium. Be warned though, that the works at this particular show, as Paul himself stated, is more conceptual than it is visual. YOu might even compare it to that old "riddle":
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to see it, did it really fall?
To which Paul's likely answer would be, in light of his current works, "Do some some research to find out yourself!" The running theme is Absence. For example, there is a 3 minute video that runs on a loop, of a boxing match, except that the two main figures, the fighters are literally erased, so all you see are these two shadowy, almost ghost-like figures moving across the screen. The background, the onlookers outside the ring, in turn, become the foreground, and you see their heads looking left to right as the ghost boxers fight on. Pretty cool.
Incidentally, Paul used to be an active member of Arkipelagoand has since been very supportive of it's members by facilitating some workshops for us...
Dang, we're getting so much feedback and submissions for maARTe than ever before. More than I can handle. I guess we need to write up an ad to recruit more volunteer staffers. [Note to self: This is a GOOD thing:)]
Speaking of maARTe, at this point, it looks like looney sistah, Monica will be maARTe's sole representative at the Philippine Webby's this Friday. [Thanks, grrl!] Maybe she can bring the other looneys with her. We get four complimentary tickets, you know as finalists. Shoot, if I was in Manila (or independently wealthy, choose one;), I'd go in a snap! Do you think we have a chance at winning?
I'm really sad and disappointed about Miriam. She had such promise in the previous elections. She seemed to carry herself as a no nonsense, take no crap, remain independent type of politician, Very gung-ho, very strict, very matapang. My cousin, Chat, who was barely a teenager at the time totally rooted for her, cheering on the passerbys on the way to vote at the '92 (was it? the year Ramos won), "Vote Miriam!" And now, because her stupid husband is tied up with Erap (that's the only logical explanation for it), she has to make stupid, uncharacteristic statements like this.
Last night, B. and I attended a "kick-off activity" to the Erap Resign Movement-NYC. Sponsored by a few progressive Filipino groups, I thought it was smart of them to not only use a church auditorium in a Filipino neighborhood to gather the Filipino community, but to utilize prayer in getting the message out about the current conditions in the Philippines. Instead of "preaching to the converted" i.e. only reaching out to the already "progressive" members of the community, this event presented an opportunity to reach out to people you would not normally find at protest rallies. They began with an Ecumenical service, had a choir group perform a few songs, and then the split the attendees (nearly 100) into small groups to discuss the current situation. By the end of the discussion, each group was to come up with a prayer/petition to alleviate the crisis happening. That was the most interesting part, seeing what kind of things the groups would come up with. They not only prayed for Erap's enlightenment (Ha!) but also for Filipinos, though miles away from the Philippines to be given the drive to become involved in improving the current conditions there. And of course for Filipinos acutally in the Philippines to rise up against Erap and to never let it happen again. Again. Even multi-millionaire Loida Nicolas Lewis was there (why was she the only one to get introductory applause??:) to add her 2 cents (Ha!). What a practical activist she was! Tell you about that later...
Today was one of those I-haven't-done-the-laundry-and-nothing-fits-me-anymore-so-I-have-to-wear-my-geeky-gray-corduoroy-pants kind of day. Know what I mean?
NYC weather has been pretty bad the last 2 days, but not really that awful. With the combination of dreary, rain-filled days and the impending onslaught of the "holiday season," I should be feeling extremely depressed. But I'm not. I even took a nice leisurely walk in the rain during lunch today. What's wrong with me?
Aya! My idol, the bestest photographer in the world (besides Brian and Red of course:) has a whole site to herself! I had the rare opportunity to see Mary Ellen Mark passionately at work, at the Maskara Festival in Bacolod when I was living in the Philippines in 1995. I should put up more pictures that I took from that event. It was a photographers' dream. Here's one from my photos section to whet your whistle...
I have this theory that there is a direct correlation between the corniness of Pinoy music with English lyrics and the corniness of a Pinoy song once it is translated into English. I think this is why my favorite Eraserheads songs are the ones in Tagalog. This is as deep and serious as I'm gonna get for a while...bear with it...
Okay, that lasted for about 2 seconds. Speaking of my uncle, the businesman, are the "rally battles" going on in the Philippines right now really just part of the on going tryanny of the elite?
If you believe in demanding a re-vote for the Presidential race in Palm Beach County, Florida, do something about it. I'm sort of undecided on what should be done.
Too busy?? If he doesn't get ousted or assasinated or arrested soon, then talagang tanga na ang mga tao sa Pilipinas. I mean, really, screw the impeachment process if Erap's cronies continue with their lame attempts to delay it. Parliament of the streets, people! Considering people like my uncle, a businessman, are even taking to the streets, Erap will be ousted one way or another. I no longer have one shred of sympathy for that idiot of a president. I usually have this annoying sympathy for the underdog, no matter how corrupt or stupid, I just can't stand to watch anyone get defeated in any respect. It kills me.
Athena is right, maybe
"threatening" moving to Canada is a bit rash, but where else can we go? Is there an ideal place to live these days? Where one can actually put their trust in the government, people earn a just wage for their hard work (unlike me who pretty much blogs all day, hehe), equal rights exist across the board, teachers are respected with decent sized classes and educational resources in working condition. God, I could go on all day, bringing me farther and farther from the Utopia I create in my head.
What I look like though is another story. Under my sweater, I'm wearing an anti-erap t-shirt that has a caricature of erap, and "What are you jueteng for? Resign!" Hehe...love them pasalubongs...Mom's back today! Yippee! Dad already threw out the Chinese take out menus. Harhar...
Less than two days before the U.S. elections, and I'm still undecided on who to vote for. No, it's not the Bush-Gore thing, but the Gore-Nader thing. Arrrgh, don't even start on the Clinton-Lazio race here in NY! I dunno Mike, I don't really like Gore, and I most certainly do not want Bush in office, DUI or not! But Nader? What do I really know about him? Does he have enough experience to be president? And despite your insistence that a "vote for nader is NOT a voter for bush" I don't know if I'd want to take that chance. Hehe, I love these delusions of thinking my one measly vote actually means anything.
Yay, B. just got here. Time to start cleaning. He'll dust and I'll vacuum:)
Shhhhhh! In the time that my parents have been away, B. and I have been playing house. And even though we only cooked dinner once (okay, fine, he did most of the cooking) it has been really, really nice. Arrgh...honeymoon's over for a while...
Although, we have found a way to waste some of my unused vacation days. It's time for another bed and breakfast adventure. Probably in early December. I'm so psyched! Even though I was uncharacteristically craving for the trashiness (and cheap - meaning inexpensive) of Las Vegas for some time. Besides, isn't there a Star Trek Museum there? Yeah, I'm the geek, and he's the romantic. Hehe.
I have about 4 hours to clean the house. Dad's coming back tomorrow and Mom's coming back on Tuesday. And where am I? On the computer of course. A friend of mine from church came home from school in Canada for a well needed rest from her studies. So, we're all going out tonite and score some free drinks from another friend who happens to be a bartender at a bar in the city. I hear he makes excellent Long Island Ice Teas. And I don't have to drive! Yippee! And I don't have work tomorrow. Woohoo! Now if I could just find out where the heck B. is right now, everything will be just peachy. Did I just say "peachy"? Uh, yeah, anyway...
And also, what's the point of having an article on hottie Diether Ocampo with out a picture? I mean, really. I was going through the list of Filipino egroups one day (I was extremely bored and plagued by classic procrastination) and found that there was a Diether Ocampo fans egroups list. With one member. See what I mean?
I sent the articles to some of my single female friends and have been getting interesting comments already! Here's some:
Sounds like a good idea to me! I mean, haven't you been on those dates
where you know right away you don't like the person, but have to suffer
through the night anyway? 7 minutes is perfect. I am a true believer that
chemistry is essential, and it's either on.. or it's not. Takes no time at
all to realize that.
...first impressions are everything and determine a lot. After
talking to someone for about 5 minutes or so, you can gather whether or not
it's worth pursuing.
and another book a friend lent me that's still sitting in the pocket of my guitar cover.
And even though I link these books back to Amazon, if you plan to purchase these books (well the first three anyway) buy them at the AAWW, if you can, or your local neighborhood bookstore.
The cool thing though is that I didn't even have to buy the one of the books. I got it free -- as in reviewer's copy! Very cool. Yes, I do think I've found my calling.
