Wimbledon 09: The Grass Would Always Be Greener

Ladies' and Gentlemen's Champions.

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Always A Venus, Not A Serena

So it was almost a repeat of last year, a Williams won the Venus Rosewater dish while the Williamses won the doubles title. This time, there was an exchange of first names for the singles trophy. This is Serena's year for Wimbledon, while last year's was Venus'. I'm a genuine Williams fan, but when they face each other, I'm Venus all the way. Personality-wise and in all other things, I'm still Venus all the way. Too bad those I root for always tend to not win. Sorry, Ana Ivanovic and Daniela Hantuchova, it's my fault sometimes though it's mostly your fault as well that's why you don't win as much. Always a Venus, never a Serena. Okay, it could also be always a Venus, sometimes a Serena. In Gossip Girl, I'm still never a Serena (hello, Blair for the win!). But yeah, when it was a Serena Williams - Elena Dementieva match, I was for the Williams. So how do I handle losses? (Prepare for narrow-mindedness in the next 2 lines!) Never a graceful loser, wait, that's so pathetic - graceful in defeat. Perhaps it's applicable to those who are not competitive enough. (End of narrow-mindedness.) Last time, when Dinara Safina lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the French Open, I was in the Tagaytay while my friends were drinking, and now, it was my friends' combined birthday party. Since, the party place was just walking distance from us, I left with too much excitement to watch the Finals and then returned with a broken spirit. I was so dang frustrated. So how do I handle losses, defeats? Violence? Exercise? Alcohol? Gluttony? Depression? Revitalized ambitions? I won't answer.

Venus, why? My hopes and dreams, why?

My title could go in two ways, because Venus Williams is the underachieving sister. Yeah, she may have 7 singles titles and an Olympic gold medal under her belt but compared to her younger sister, hrmmm. I'd still be a Venus. She's pro-equality hello, she answers with a lot of humility hello, and she loves her sister hello.

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No Tears But Smiles

It was an epic final, but there were not much of rallies, just serving lessons. One could serve with blinding speed while the other proves that shot placement dictates play. Roddick was the better player as he gave fantabulous shots both from the forehand and backhand sides. Roger had more errors, well, except that Andy can do a lot more on his slices. His slices were fugly compared to the other parts of his game today. Andy Roddick thinks Federer's in cahoots with the HawkEye challenge system. Roger may not be the best in challenging, certainly the only faulty part in him. Roddick could be nominated as the sweatiest player (while Roger doesn't seem to perspire at all) or could even be the man with the most unnecessary gestures. He lifts his arm, adjusts his cap, keeps on pulling his shirt, adjusts his uhh err scratches his "inner thigh" and all that. So I got bored with the first set, it's a serving contest. I have seen so much of Brooklyn Decker to appreciate her that much, because the more you see someone the more you'll appreciate him/her (although this is not applicable to everyone). They have shown Gavin Rossdale so many times as well. I think I have a crush on Brooklyn and Gavin already. Mirka may have the biggest bump around, I'm just waiting for the moment she'll pop out her baby, 8 months baby, 8 months. Maybe her tummy doesn't have any child in it, just lots and lots and lots of tennis balls.

The Greatest Player in Grand Slam Record. Back to World Number 1. Such a pity for everyone else. (Else may include but not limited to: Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, and Andy Roddick.)

OUCH PETE SAMPRAS. Talk about rubbing salt into the wait, not just wound, to an open surgery. Without the anaesthesia. You get invited (and everyone expects you to attend) to see the history you built with your greatness crumble in front of you. And people still expect you to be happy about it. The sad thing in sports? No one cares about the runner-up, the number 2, the "person who used to hold the record for [insert something here]." That's life, that's sports, that's entertainment, and that's just plain sad.

MORAL: If you're good at it, be the best you can be at it. After all, if something's worth your time, make the most of it. I'm not just coining phrases or something, but hey it is true! When you get something from the investment you have poured for anything you truly believe in, it is always, always, the greatest thing you could ever have.

Wimbledon Semifinals

July 2, 2009

Dear Ladies' Semifinal,

So, Serena and Elena Dementieva made a fantabulous match, making people stand on their toes and give spectators high-blood

pressure. Meanwhile, Venus Williams made Dinara Safina forget that they're having a semifinal match, not a serving practice. She whipped Dinara with everything she got, 6-1 6-0, beating the world number 1 like crazy. So the semifinals featured the top 4 seeds, same with the women's doubles, the top 4 seeds as well. Here's the thing, Venus and Serena also won their semifinal match against the top seeds Liezel Huber and Cara Black with a 6-1 6-2 beating while Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubs had to go through 3 sets. Don't hate the Williamses, if no one's up to the challenge to challenge them (thank you, Elena Dementieva), then let them reap the Grand Slams. I'm in for Venus Williams. Grass is her weed. And yeah, after 132 years of tradition, Wimbledon dropped the Miss/Mrs in the scoreboard. Strange.

MORAL: It's going to be a nice Independence Day celebration in the United States. Well, the lesson here is that, no matter how hard you try, Venus Williams was born on grass. She gets superhuman abilities when playing on grass. Hmmm...

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July 3, 2009

Dear Gentlemen's Semifinal,

Roger Federer defeated Tommy Haas. Tadah. He does this suspended action of play. He sets up, then he waits for a little until Tommy Haas makes a guess of where would Roger hit the ball. So when he starts moving to a direction (it's just either left or right), Federer hits a clean winner. It was a battle of the one-hand backhands and amazing slices. There were a lot of aces involved as well, though Roddick can serve like a speeding truck (hello Venus Williams' male counterpart).

If there's one thing Roger is not good at, it's at making challenges. His challenges were waaaaaaaaay waaaaaaaaaay far. It's like he only does those challenges to somehow break the momentum of his opponent. Well, whatever. Battle of the Andy's. Andy Murray and Andy Roddick. Roddick fires aces like it's the only thing he's good at. He just threw dirt at the hope of the British fans. He defeated Andy Murray in 4 sets, and he can't even cry a big "YEEEEES" or something. He just cried, I bet he's afraid of the British fans. Well, of course, you aren't pretty sure what could happen to you, after all, they're still waiting for a British hero after 73 years and now they'll have to wait for next year again. It's not a Nike match/finals, thank God!

MORAL: It's really going to be an amazing Independence Day for the Americans. Never make the wife of another player sit behind the wife of another player. Just imagine how awkward it was for Mrs. Haas and Mrs. Federer. Sorry, Tommy, that's life. You still look good, though.

Tennis' Face Value

Blogging from phone! You know the beauty of wifi ready phones or mp3 players? It's not that they can replace the Internet experience from a computer, but they're just accessible when you just need to do something that takes up a short period of time, like checking if your professor sent any email about class suspension, while doing something else that takes a longer period of time, like diarrhea attacks. Anyway, the quarterfinal matches for the gentlemen feature the gwapos, of course they're not so much compared to Marat Safin but hey, they might have a contest for Marat's biceps if they combine their charisma.

Imagine this.

Gentlemen's QuarterFinal Set-Up: (Hotness alert! That is in terms of skills and face value.)

Tommy Haas vs Novak Djokovic

Lleyton Hewitt vs Andy Roddick

Andy Murray vs Juan Carlos Ferrero

Roger Federer vs Ivo Karlovic (This pair wins the skill-set criteria, but in terms of face value, please refer to the other three pairs.)

Ladies' QuarterFinal Set-Up:

Dinara Safina vs Sabine Lisicki

Victoria Azarenka vs Serena Williams

Venus Williams vs Agnieszka Radwanska

Francesca Schiavone vs Elena Dementieva

I want Dinara to win a Grand Slam, but I root for a Williams-Williams Finals with Venus whacking Serena to tennis political fallout.

Don't make me provide pictures. It will take me forever, and this page might just be like another Flickr account you might have.

MORAL: Sports entertainment. Seriously, you can watch all the greatness of tennis in Grand Slam events; also, you could see the fashion displayed there, as well as sportsmanship which is sometimes non-existent. Though sometimes others just watch because, "I heard there's someone named (insert tennis player's name here often mispronounced) in tennis is hawt." Well, if you don't follow the circuit, that could be a start for following the sport. Might not be an ideal reason, but it's still a start. You could begin with the appreciation in face value (no pun intended) then slowly appreciate the sport - its grace and intensity. Why is tennis not that popular here in the country? I believe that Filipinos are dang "but I don't want to have too much melanin in my skin!" No wonder whitening lotions are in the top priority in the shopping list. Forget about vegetables, we could buy whitening lotions instead. But I don't judge, we always want for things we do not have. :) (Yes, include those who want to have curly hair when you have a straight one and vice versa.)

BTW, don't discriminate against people who are sick. Tsk.

Hindi Explicit sa Job Description 1.0

Ang "Hindi Explicit Sa Job Description" (Pero Kasama) ay isang bahagi ng buhay ko na malalaman niyo lang ang buong kuwento kapag natapos na ang isang taon. Nasa kontrata iyon, pinirmahan ko ng aking dugo, pawis, laway, at libag. Orihinal na naisip ko ipangalan ay "Hindi Ko Akalaing Ganito Pala" ngunit wala lang, mahirap kasi ilagay sa tags/labels. Babala lamang dahil pawang mabigat ang tema ng mga entries na maisasama rito. Minsan Ingles ang gagamitin kong paraan ng pagsulat, minsan Filipino, minsan Pranses, minsan Rusyo, minsan Inglipino (Taglish kumbaga), minsan pawang kahibangan lang din. Maaaring basahin, dahil may mapupulot ka na aral, tiyak na tiyak iyon, as in super duper ultra mega sureball. At kung sa palagay mo ay wala kang natutuhan, alien ka. Kokey, ikaw ba yan?

Mahirap magpanggap na walang alam. Alam mo yun? 'Yung kunwari hindi mo alam yung sinasabi niya, yung tinutukoy niya, kasi kapag sinabi mo na alam mo na yun, baka isipin niya na ang yabang mo or may void sa pagitan niyo or "I was just saying" ang sasabihin niya pabalik sa iyo. May mga taong ganyan. Oo, malamang may kilala kang ganyan. Baka nga ikaw mismo, ganyan din. Kung working relationship lang ang nagbubuklod sa atin at hindi friendship, at ikaw ay tulad ng tinutukoy ko sa taas, para sa iyo ito:

Matagal na akong nagpapanggap na kunwari hindi ko alam yung ikukuwento mo. Well, minsan talaga kahit ilang beses nang ikinuwento sa iyo ng kaibigan mo ang isang bagay, okay lang yun. Natutuhan ko noon pa man, na kapag binabanggit mo ang mga, "Ah oo nabasa ko na yan," "Ah, alam ko na yan eh," "Ngayon mo lang nalaman yan?" o "Nakuwento mo na yan eh," ay tatamarin na ang mga kaibigan mo kuwentuhan ka kasi ang insensitive mo, excited pa naman siya ikuwento iyon at ikaw pa ang napili niya bahagian ng kanyang experience tapos ganun sasabihin mo? Oo, nagsasabi ka nga lang ng katotohanan pero naman, aminin na natin, hindi dapat sinasabi ang mga ganyan. Okay naman mga sinasabi mo sa akin, may laman nga. Sobrang kapal nga lang.

Oo, mahirap ang sacrifice. Kung madali lang iyon, hindi na siya sacrifice. Duh.

Kung marami kang sinasabi tungkol sa isang bagay na pinag-uusapan natin o ninyo, hindi ibig sabihin eh marami kang alam tungkol doon o di kaya'y yung suggestion mo ay napakahusay. Hindi mo ba mabasa yung kausap mo? Inaantok siya kapag nagsasalita ka. [Ikaw ba si Jigglypuff? Pokemon ka?] Hindi rin kasi okay eh, pinapahaba mo lang yung usapan, nagsasayang ka lang ng laway mo at oras namin (o kung sinuman ang minalas mong kausap). Sana straight to the point na lang. Hindi mo ito reflection paper o oral exam o individual consultation. At, applicable rin pala ito sa text messaging.

Utusan niyo (hindi lang ikaw) ako, okay lang. Hindi lang naman ako uupo sa tabi at mamamatay na lang bigla sa stress.

Dude, hindi ako academically indifferent/unfamiliar o kung anuman, pero kung gusto mo ako maging masaya, puwede na akong hindi magpilit bumaba sa antas ng pag-unawa mo. Kung may pinapatunayan ka, kuhang kuha ko na (o namin) ang gusto mong patunayan. Annoying ka (minsan). Nakakainis (minsan), nakakairita (kadalasan minsan). Pero siyempre, hindi ko masasabi sa iyo yun, hindi pa ngayon ang tamang panahon. Malalaman mo na lang isang araw, at parang sinturon ni Voltes V ang bigat ng ipapahiwatig ko. (Hmm, hindi ko lang sigurado kung aabot tayo sa araw na iyon.)

Pero ikaw, adik ka ba? Sabihin mo lang. Maghahanap ako ng sponsor para sa pagpapagamot mo.

MORAL: May mga panahong dapat makisabay at makibagay ka. Hindi mo kailangan ibigay ang resume mo para malaman nila na matalino/maabilidad/may pangarap ka, kasi minsan kahit matalino ka, magaling ka sa larangang pinili mo, at bongga ang pangarap mo sa buhay, "whatever" ka parin para sa iba. Mas maliit pa sa alikabok sa lamesa niyo ang tingin nila sa iyo. (Pero ano naman pakialam mo sa kanila diba? Wala.) At kung hindi mo nagets, hindi magandang bagay iyon.

Post San Juan Fiesta

June 24 is the Feast of St. John the Baptist. Living in San Juan, St. John is more like our patron saint here. Hello?! Saint John ~ San Juan? Gets? Of course you do! So, how was the feeeyestah (it's fiesta in case you can't read/understand Russian) here? Errmmm. I haven't participated in the fiesta for sometime because well, I'm currently not studying in San Juan or Manila (June 24 is Manila Day or something like that), so I have class on the day itself. It has been raining pretty much in the past few days. Morning comes and the heavens decided to cry and San Juan is having free water for the wet celebration. Our kid neighbor was still having fun splashing everyone around even though he's appearing to have some kind of hypothermia already.

Good thing my class starts at 12:30pm, because if it's before noon, I'll be in big, wet trouble. Hailing a cab would be so difficult, unless I wear a rain coat, and usually San Juan fiesta is one of those days that are really good for business so my dad just can't drop me to school. Last year, I have to go to school around 10am, so I was to be dropped off at the LRT station. It wasn't an easy-breezy thing to do because others were waiting at the sides for those who would go inside the LRT station! I can see other passengers "stranded" in the second floor, eyeing those water-bearing people painfully almost sending them the negative vibes. We waited for some time, parked in front of the station (no, it's not allowed) and I made a run for it when I noticed them refilling their carriers. Me, 2 points, Water People, 0.

San Juan during it's fiesta mode is not the place to be when you're in a hurry, you easily get pissed off, or when you dislike getting wet. Even if you're just going to pass through, the citizens of San Juan will surely baptize you, without the prayers, but you'll be mentioning God a lot when you get "baptized". "Oh my God!" Yeah, that's life. It's just once a year, too bad if that once a year is an important meeting that will decide if you're getting that promotion or not.

Hallelujah!

MORAL: San Juan Fiesta is that day when you suddenly have a lot of old friends visiting your house because they know you'll be preparing a lot of food. Also, it's the day when excess is normal. A lot of wasted fresh water, a lot of money spent for the food and drinks, and a lot of patience down the drain.

Don't Blow Another's Instrument

When a violin master tries to play a different musical instrument, and in this case an alto sax is the chosen tool, just check the picture.

Immil can play a neat Careless Whisper in his saxophone.

Mark, please, just play your violin. I thought I heard the Titanic come to life when you tried to play the saxophone.

I think the Psyche people in the org room were traumatized.

MORAL: Use your own instrument. The mouthpiece may have been changed for the safety of the owner of the saxophone, but please. Hahaha.

Telecommunication Nightmare

When naturally, inspiration (which you need to accomplish your task) strikes you in the middle of the night, and you have to submit that requirement early in the morning, you're in BIG trouble. How do I know? I am ALWAYS in that situation.

So I slept late and attended JumpStart, a morning event for our MIS freshmen. It's going to be a mini orientation seminar for them, as their orientation seminar or OrSem has been postponed to next month. The event ended lunch time, and I had nothing to eat, except the usual side dish of carrots and corn. I didn't want to be a repository of vegetables and I was going to attend a Father's Day celebration/reunion in Marikina later in the day so it was nothing if I skipped lunch. So what am I going to do for a few hours? I attended the Externals Officers GA and First Skills

Training, while watching how EServices is going to film their video presentation. So a few hours saved, but I was dead tired and sleepy. I had trouble sending messages and calling people. One said the problem is my phone. Whut?! I borrowed a friend's phone and had difficulty sending messages as well. She told me maybe my mom's number is broken. Boo. Impossible. Externals pizza came, I welcomed the delivery dude who brought lollipop with him - he said 2 lollipops come with the package. Hello Hawaiian Pizza and Bacon Supreme! I had nothing to eat again! I can hear my stomach being grumpy and my gastric juices slushing inside, burning the walls of my intestines like a fire in the midst of hay. So that was it, a lot of people complained about our network provider. And all the while I thought my phone went kaput, it was the cellular network after all. Sheesh. My parents finally picked me up. I ate some bread and pastries they brought and I fell asleep on the way there.

A lizard who in death was peaceful on a step towards Faura AVR. :(

So we were supposed to have a YM Conference about our homework later in the day. I had trouble logging-in in my YM. It kept on saying that my password is incorrect while right there, in the browser, I am logged in my email account. Hello. I know my password by heart. I have tried different IM clients and that didn't help. I hated it. I can't access my messenger from my phone and any computer available. It was like punishment, wherein you get tortured again and again and again and - yes - again.

EDIT: I finally got my Yahoo! Messenger to work during Father's Day. Amen! (Well that was after being so stressed and annoyed during the time it wasn't working.)

MORAL: If it doesn't work, stay calm and look for alternatives. There's always a way, and that can be seen with a peaceful mind and a hopeful heart. Telecom glitches can make you crazy.