Tis the Season to be sickly

image source: http://LifeAs.NickStarr.com/

Seems everyone is sick for the holidays... or under medication, at least.

Someone is having a HepA New Year
Someone is has FEVER, not the Madonna Fever
Someone is in the hospital with Tonsillitis
Someone is on antibiotics for his worst case of cough in years
Someone (me) had a tooth extracted.

Seems it's a season for illness.... maybe everyone over exerted themselves... maybe the world is getting dirtier and dirtier

Happy holidays

belated Christmas greetings

I may have lost a molar, but instead of making me stop facebooking and blogging, I just went on and on... I found this group singing and figured I should share it with everyone...



in a nutshell, i think christmas has always been this confusing, yet fun.

happy holidays

ouch!

photo, obviously from istockphoto.com

I had a tooth extracted today. The actual thing looked 1,000,000 times grosser than the image i posted. I decided on doing that to get a permanent bridge rather than going through the root canal sessions. Stupid me.

I regretted it a little, but now it's here... I look at myself in the mirror and laugh.... It's always funny to see someone missing a tooth.

Amy Winehouse-ing

image and some text lifted from http://www.funlol.com/funpages/internet-addiction-disorder.html


Amy Winehouse made the song REHAB so popular... I guess that's what I need now! I'm addicted to blog hopping, blog writing, and facebook. Here's what the funlol.com page says and my comments are in parentheses...

1) I will have a cup of coffee in the morning and read my newspaper like I used to, before the Internet. (i used to have coffee and read the morning papers before I hit the internet... now, it' right beside my bed. I practically eat and sleep with my computer.... not that i don't have a social life)

2) I will eat breakfast with a knife and fork and not with one hand typing. (OMG! I've done this a few times! I will make a conscious effort never to do this again)

3) I will get dressed before noon. (i used to be up and out of the house before lunch. Now, I don't even shower until after lunch. That's why I avoid morning appointments)

4) I will make an attempt to clean the house, wash clothes, and plan dinner before even thinking of the Internet. (my room is a mess. it's even worse of a mess now that I have 24-hour broadband! I promise to clean it before the new year's!)

5) I will sit down and write a letter to those unfortunate few friends and family that are Internet-deprived. (as my former officemate called me "an apathetic atenean", I will rest on those laurels on this one)

6) I will call someone on the phone who I cannot contact via the Internet. (at least i still do this!)

7) I will read a book...if I still remember how. (oh, that's one thing the internet cannot take away from me... my love for books)

8) I will listen to those around me and their needs and stop telling them to turn the TV down so I can hear the music on the Internet. (heehee... i'd love to tell those noisy neighbors to tape their kids to the walls so they'd quiet down and not keep running down my street)

9) I will not be tempted during TV commercials to check for email. (hmmm... come to think of it... i haven't been watching TV as much as I used to)

10) I will try and get out of the house at least once a week, if it is necessary or not. (oh, I loooove getting out of the house)

11) I will remember that my bank is not forgiving if I forget to balance my checkbook because I was too busy on the Internet. (i think i've done this once or twice. help!!!)

12) Last, but not least, I will remember that I must go to bed sometime...and the Internet will always be there tomorrow! (ugh!!! i should stop playing those mindless games that make the hours go by so fast!!!)

I guess I do need rehab from the net... I'll work on it tomorrow... I'll work on my social life tonight :)

happy holidays with zippo

i was commissioned by my friend to do 1 layout for zippo's christmas thing... since my designs were rejected, i'm posting them here for posterity purposes

here's my favorite



here's another



if i get inspired, i'll prolly post other stuff i did

Simply, Amazing!

I was blog surfing and chanced upon this video



I just wish the I spoke french so I'd understand the judge's reactions. Although I did pick up a few bits... like how the old judge asked him how he does it with his mouth and lips... anyway, here he is bringing sexy back



now, if that's not enough, you should check out his other performances, which include an excerpt from Britney's "Slave for you"



The guy is seriously talented! I'm seriously wondering if he has two sets of lips, patellas, and a whole lot of other extra mouth parts hidden inside his head.

I am contented with my long legged...

photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigshock/

This line is a classic quote from Melanie Marquez when she competed for 1979 Miss International: "No, of course no, because I am proud and contented with my long-legged." (Whew! Had to do a bit of research to get my facts straight).

It's funny how this line has been crossing my head for the past two weeks, but there really is a logical explanation for this. -- Our family dog is more than 15 years old. His old age has resulted in very poor eyesight and very weak legs (poor thing), and he has had more than 3 nasty tumbles down the stairs. Now, the only way for him not to climb upstairs is to block the stairwell with our sofas.

With these sofas in place, people have to exert a certain amount of effort to go upstairs. The sofa seats have to be moved to and fro.. and with the coasters not working properly, it does take a bit of pushing and pulling.

Now for the story.

Being the tallest member of the family (not so tall as I'm only 5'8"), I'm the one with the longest legs. I also have the tendency to be a tad lazy when getting around things. Owing to my laziness, I always hike over the sofa to get to the other side. Of course, at times, i'd be straddling the backrest of the sofa as if I were riding a horse. I think I'm the only one here at home and I've become thankful for having the longest legs in the family.

As soon as that thought popped in my head, Melanie Marquez' classic quote came to mind and I've been thinking it every time I hike over the sofa seat to get to the stairs.

Honestly, there's no point to this blog. I just thought that it was a strange thought in my head and that I am attributing this blogpost to utter boredom due to procrastination.

it hurts

you hurt me
you left a mark
you do your thing
when the light is dark?

you left me
you never really stay
when i already notice you
you turn and go away

... in case anyone gets the wrong idea... this is about the mosquito that keeps biting me.

for some strange reason, i'm the only one in the family who gets bitten by all mosquitos. in a group of people, i'll be the first to suffer from their blood-sucking frenzy.

earlier today, I was comfortably seated in the living room when i got bitten by mosquitos. I saw the damned insect fat with my blood, but it strangely flew beyond my reach. My dad bought an electric insect zapper shaped like a pelota racket and I stood up to get it. By the time I had the racket in my hand, the curious insect had hidden in some unknown place. I left my work station in the living room to have dinner. The moment i let go of the zapper, the damned mosquito shows up and bites me again.

makes me think... do mosquitos have brains?

para maiba

everyone blogged about last Nov 29. I don't have any good words about that person but i won't write about him now... maybe some other day...

as of now, i just got myself a daemon


my first test showed an ocelot, but i figured it didn't fit right...

South of North

photo from http://www.wowphilippines.com

I was fortunate enough to visit one of the richest places in the Philippines for work... and we managed to insert a very good deal of leisure in, too.

Ilocos is a blessed province. It is rich in natural resources, history, and culture. Historically and culturally speaking, we can probably attribute it to the way the Ilocanos know how to preserve things. It also helps that they had probably the most number of presidents who held office there. The house of the Sy Quias in Ilocos Sur, which served as Elpidio Quirino's Malacanang of the North, is still preserved in its next-to-pristine state with all the original furnishing in it. En route to Ilocos Sur from Laoag airport, you pass the Malacanang of the North in Paoay, which Ferdinand Marcos built.

I am proud of the Ilocanos for preserving history and culture the way they did. They even protect and support family industries that have been handed down from generation to generation. The architecture is preserved quite well and they have passed laws requiring modern establishments to build in the same format as the old houses to preserve the beauty of the place.

One other aspect of the province that people should know about is the beautiful beaches and nature scenes.

Ilocos probably has the most number of natural streams where people can still bathe and fish the way they used to in olden times. I can't count the number of times I craned my neck to see the scenery. The skyline is extremely pristine that you can see the various hues and shapes in the sky that you can never see in Manila.

The beaches in Ilocos Sur are amazing! The sand is so fine, it's almost like powder. It doesn't matter if it's not "white sand" it looks beige-ish and is still clean. One beach would give you varying degrees with one end being rocky that progresses to the other end that has the finest powdery sand. The waves are so much fun, too!

The food is something that one should not miss when going to the province. Miki, bagnet, longganisa, pinakbet, upo, and all the native delicacies. There is also a place at the Vigan Heritage Center that one should not miss. Cafe Leona serves the best four cheese pizza topped with Chorizo slices. I guess it tastes that way because it's not the typical oven that uses gas -- they use a actual wood to fire the pizza.

Overall, I would invest in a trip to visit the entire Ilocos province and experience everything they have to offer. Including the surfing spots and the cockpits. One thing i regret though is not being able to sample the empanadas everyone has been raving about.

Here's looking forward to my next trip :)