Molting Hot Skin

So I went to Subic last weekend with my relatives after my LS199.6 class, wherein we watched the old school movie Hoosiers. My cousins and I arrived there around 4 or 5pm, and ate like refugees. My mom and sister, my balikbayan relatives, and other relatives from the country were already there a day before us. There were so many food my sister asked, "We're already leaving tomorrow right? It's like we have enough food for three days." But of course, instead of being idle, try gluttony. We ate breakfast food (we're accustomed to eat corned beef, pan de sal, egg, etc. in the morning) for supper. Great. (There were a lot of junk food there. And oh, factory outlets in Subic are smokin'! The discounts are great deals. If there were stores like those here in Manila, I would really be financially-disabled already.)

Anyway, after a lot of activities, and burning under the climate-change-affected sun, a while ago, I was like molting. I saw it when I was in my first class, MIS121. I saw my arm, and I was flabbergasted. OMGosh - skin. Next class came and it was worse. I thought my skin would peel too much and then my dermis would show up followed by muscles, tissues, etc.


MORAL: Sunblock, baby, is a necessity. Unless you are willing to toast your skin under the sun with all those ultraviolet (why aren't there ultrapurple?) rays. Deadly. Raawwr.

Shortless

No Sharapova, no shorts.
No shorts, wow.

Day 4 in Wimbledon - A day of upsets.
What is an upset? In tennis, it is when a higher ranked player is being sent off court by a lower ranked one. It has no relationship to what you feel. "Oh my gosh, I feel so upset today." Ooookkaaay. I am upset, though. These are players I wanted to watch progress a little further in the tournament.

The list of casualties:

[3] Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-4
[10] Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 4-6 6-1
[13] Vera Zvonareva 7-6 (12-10), 4-6, 6-3
[25] Lindsay Davenport walkover
[6] Andy Roddick 6-7(5) 7-5 6-4 7-6(4)
[9] James Blake 6-3 6-7(8) 4-6 6-4 6-4

My Maria Mystery still lingers. The one with the match thing. I didn't watch her match at all (the tv was off) because I was busy writing something. The next thing I saw when I checked the live scoreboard, she shamefully lost 6-2 6-4 without contest. So, the when-I-watch-Sharapova-wins-even-on-the-brink-of-defeat thing is still ON but I am so sad to see the waistcoat aka blazer go. It looks nice.

Daniela Hantuchova. I freaking hate this world. Dear Daniela, what the crap on earth did you do that you lost?! OK, considering Shriekapova ranks higher than Daniela and Shriekapova/Shortsapova lost, it would be acceptable to see Dani leave the court while her opponent celebrates. However, I really wanted Daniela to win more matches. Arggh.

Vera Zvonareva. Who wouldn't love her last name?! She really had a temper there, stuffing her racquets inside her bag with much power I thought she was going to break the bag/racket whichever comes first.

Lindsay Davenport lost without even appearing on court. She walked home. Yes, back to the US of A.

Roddick is always a delight to watch, and he does what he does best - talk too much. He says a lot of thing to the umpire, a lot of negative things. I remembered he said before, "Kids study hard so that you won't be an umpire." Eyeloveit!

James Blake. WHYYYYYY?!?!

(In day 3, Novak just had Marat Safin's hug as his consolation prize as he was punished in straight sets.)


MORAL: In tennis, there are only two players. A net divides the court between them. A ball may go on either side and the umpire is not God, he is just there to shush the crowd and say your score loudly. What I'm trying to say is that, anything can happen. Even though sometimes (or a lot of times) it sucks.

Wimbledonya!

This is a very, very, very good day for tennis.

Let's start with the first match in Center Court at the All England Club. Novak Djokovic and former world no.1 *drum roll please* Marat Safin. Yay! Honestly, I used to be a big fan of Novak. Not until he talked too much about beating Roger and the decline of Roger's domination in men's tennis. On the other hand, Rafa was as humble as a rock still arguing that Roger is the man to beat in Wimbledon and all that. See, even Rafa is lovable. Anyway, the deal here is that after having all of those Marat+hon = Marathon, Marat finally quenched his thirst for victories (since he's always losing in the first and second rounds of tournaments). And the best way to celebrate the win is.... to whack Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon. Macho Marat drained the life force from Novak with 6-4 7-6 6-2. Take that Novak!

Marat was asked how far does he see himself on the draw, and he said something like when he saw Novak's name as his opponent for the 2nd round, he didn't care to look further. See. Humility is a prime factor to be world no. 1. Djokovic should be jotting down notes in the "How to be World Number 1" class. Rafa is still taking the class.



Aside from that, Nicole Vaidisova avoided an upset from Samantha Stosur aka shades-girl 6-2 0-6 6-4. I go ballistic whenever she, (sometimes) Anna Chakvetadze, and Daniela Hantuchova lose to unseeded players. Add Maria Kirilenko who lost in first round. (Maria Kirilenko wears Stella McCartney for Adidas clothing and damn! Stella's designs for Adidas are so beautiful it makes me want to cry.)

Then Ana Ivanovic survived a 6-7 7-6 10-8 from Nathalie Dechy with the help of the net cord which saved her on a match point. I love it when the ball hits the net cord and then it's floating in the air with no one knowing which side it would land. I knew she would win it, just like yesterday how I hoped/prayed/wished Marat would win over Novak Djokovic. (Nicole, Anna Chakvetadze, Maria Kirilenko, and Daniela are the ones I get the chills when they are faced with even unseeded opponents). 'Nuff said.

Then Serena won her match today 6-4 6-4 to Urszula Radwanska, younger sister of Agnieszka Radwanska. Never knew she had a sister. Cool. For women's tennis, aside from the Williams sisters, now we have the Bondarenko sisters, and the Radwanska sisters. Tennis is a big family, no?

I'm confident Roger would win his match against Robin Soderling. I'm just waiting for Anna Chakvetadze's match which is progressing (she won first set) as I type these shizzles. She sends me the chills, no? I believe she'll win her match, though.

Oh, I just read from Yahoo! news that Dinara Safina (Marat's younger sister - told you tennis is a big family, no?) is added to the Russian Olympic team. Funny how in the French Open she beat three Olympic teammates—Sharapova, Dementieva and Kuznetsova en route to her first Grand Slam final. C'mon, whenever tennis players compete, it's like an Olympic match already. Players from different countries beat the holy crap out of each other in tournaments.


MORAL: I just love this tennis day. Words are not enough to express it. Not even Megatron can rain on my parade. However, there is still a photo that uhm, interests me.. How sweet is that?!

Noah's Ark in San Juan

I heard a woman preach the Gospel of the Lord inside a moving bus while commuting home. She was talking about those who listen to the words of God and those who don't. That those who listen are to be saved (I listened to every word she said, even though I was wearing earphones, my iPod's turned off) and that those who do not mind the words of the Lord are to be punished. Then she handed envelopes for donation. "Manong, stop!" I have to leave the bus. (I was saved from donating money from my org-drained wallet.) Saved by my destination.

That was the end of my commuting adventure. Now, let's begin the day.

I ran from our van to the safety of the LRT station which was guarded heavily by water warriors. Water warriors aka tambays na may dalang tabo, balde at water guns who would rip themselves just to soak you in water. The guards in the LRT station were in cahoots with them because when I was walking (before I ran) he said, "Ito oh!" So it brings light to why there were a lot of "stranded" passengers at the stairs of the LRT stations.

Today is San Juan Day. The Feast of St. John the Baptist. Him, being a baptist, the mini-city (I can't still get over the fact that San Juan is now a city) celebrates their patron by drenching each other in much precious water. Why is San Juan Day infamous? Well aside from the similarity that it is celebrated same day with Manila Day, this town (ok, shush up, it's a city alright) is notorious for throwing pail-loads of water to commuting passengers inside jeepneys and tricycles, and most often than not, cause the rumble when cyclists and motorbikers all of a sudden treat the asphalt road like their beds. Then there are those who still wear white clothing while walking around the town (city). The tambays who hose people down are probably enjoying the feast when these white ladies are now white, wet ladies. It's a see-through world!

When God said, "Let there be water!" Certainly the people of San Juan collected all of them for the annual celebration. But atleast the food is great.


MORAL: If you do not have extra clothes and a sense of humor, don't even dare set foot in San Juan on June 24. Unless you bring your own vehicle, because even fire volunteers suck the water out from the fire hydrants just to blow the people away like there's a rally in the middle/side/back/front/underneath of the road.

It's A Morph Thing

I have a Lindsay Lohan thing. No, I don't do drugs, drive under the influence (I don't really drive) or get myself wasted. (I have nothing against Lindsay Lohan. In fact, she's included in my mental list of Favorite People.) Then there's Zhang Ziyi. Zhang is her last name so that's why she changed it to Ziyi Zhang to conform with the Western way of naming themselves. Anyway, there is a site called MorphThing and it lets you waste your time by picking out pictures of other people/creature/artwork/monster and combine it with the picture of another person/creature/artwork/monster/unknown species. It's quite tedious deciding over which celebrity to pick to morph with another celebrity or creature or monster or whatever, there are a lot of choices though their database is not that vast yet.

I chose Zhang Ziyi and Lindsay Lohan's pictures out of randomness. Funny their initials have the same letters. Zhang Ziyi = ZZ; Lindsay Lohan = LL. Honestly, as-a-matter-of-factly, it's not funny. It's a bit pathetic. (Remember: Eyelove Zhang Ziyi and Lindsay Lohan! They are REALLY included in my mental list of Favorite People which I would reveal some time.)

Here's how they would look like and is definitely NOT pathetic:



Then there are other annoying things like when you morph two of my other favorite people, Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley, my dear, they just frickin' look the same. I read before that their parents can't even distinguish both of them (Keira and Natalie) when they were in the set of Star Wars wherein Keira played Natalie's double. Well, except that Keira is lankier, very little difference. (What if both of them were casted on The Other Boleyn Girl? Who would really be the other Boleyn girl? Hmmm....)



Brittany Snow is always contrasted to the Olsen Twins. Haha. Come to think (or imagine) of it, she looks like the Olsen Twins. She could join them and have the SnOwlsen Trio/Triplets. Ok, that's annoying, but this one isn't:



Oh, don't even think of morphing twins together. You're really wasting your time. Just go read my other entries, they are ALL educational.


MORAL: If you have other things to do, don't go web-surfing. You'll just blame yourself in the end for missing all of your appointments and abandoning your tasks. Internet is the real temptation today. It is the devil.

Boohoo

After a tragedy comes a..... comedy.

"And Safina has done a Safin." -> Winner!

When Marat Safin was on the brink of losing, I turned the computer off. I didn't want to know if he lost to Nikolay Davydenko or not. After that, I didn't watch the French Open for some time. Then news of the Williams sisters being eliminated reached me and I was going downhill. Americans are not really good on clay, so they say. (I'm considering Shriekapova as American already.)

I was not watching the French Open when a highschool friend texted me that it's Safina-Sharapova ripping each other on the tennis court. I then prepared my laptop to watch the live internet streaming. Then it struck me. I wouldn't dare watch the match, because doing so means Maria Sharapova would win the match. (I have written before that everytime I watch a Shriekapova match, even if she's a point away from losing, she comes back from the grave and eats her opponent - right before my eyes. Mind you, it never fails. Promise.) I wouldn't dare jinx Dinara Safina (the sister of my ever beloved Marat Safin) and let her lose this all-Russian-big-girls-with-broad-shoulders slugfest. Third set came and Joppet texted me. After a few while, he texted again if I want to know who won and he gave a clue: Russian. Then the moment of truth came, Dinara Safina won 6-7 7-6 6-2. Woooohoooo! It's like, yeah! My jinx still holds true at this moment. I didn't watch, she didn't win. Hmm...

Let's start with the amazing statistics from the French Open site first:

Men's Double Fault Leaders
	Rank		Player		Country		Matches		Double Faults
	1	G.Monfils	FRA	4	32
	2	J.Chardy	FRA	4	28
	3	F.Verdasco	ESP	4	27

Women's Double Fault Leaders
	Rank		Player		Country		Matches		Double Faults
	1	M.Sharapova	RUS	4	43
	2	A.Chakvetadze	RUS	2	19
	3	A.Szavay	HUN	3	18
	4	D.Safina	RUS	4	16
	5	V.Williams	USA	3	15

That's a whole lot of double faults for those who play best of 3 sets. Men play best of 5 sets and the stats say a lot of things.

I cannot deny I want to read write-ups about Shriekapova. I mean, c'mon, if you have read her post-match press interviews, she says the smartest, meanest, and lamest of things. It's like she's vying to be the next Serena Williams +/- Martina Hingis with regards to interviews.

Thanks to Yahoo! Sports News:
" PARIS - Maria Sharapova did not go quietly. No, her departure from the French Open was filled with sound and fury: her stroke-accompanying shrieks, her self-loathing shouts between points and the spectators' hearty boos and high-pitched whistles that ushered the No. 1-seeded woman to the exit.

After blowing the second set point, she (Dinara Safina) spiked her racket precisely the way Marat does, drawing a warning from the chair umpire.

"I'm not the girl to keep all the emotions I have inside," Safina said. "I guess I have to pay lots of fines because that's the way I am."

As play proceeded, her (Sharapova) yells became louder and louder as she berated herself, at least once with colorful language.

"You sometimes get a little too negative on yourself," Sharapova said.

When it ended, Safina dropped to her knees to celebrate. Sharapova quickly collected her things and left without acknowledging the fans who jeered her on the way out.

"I can't please everyone. That's not in my 'J.D.' — not in my job description," she said.

"I mean, they paid the ticket to watch me," she added, "so they must appreciate me on some level, right?"

Sharapova moved up from No. 2 to No. 1 when Henin quit, but the stay might be brief. Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Kuznetsova all could lead the rankings by the end of the week. Sharapova was asked about the possibility of losing her spot at the top.

Her reply? "Boohoo." "

Eyeloveit. Haha.


MORAL: They say tennis is an open field with regards to rankings, it is anybody's ball game. However, if there is a Ms Personality ranking in the tennis tour, there are only a few who are worthy of being in the top 5. Sometimes, personality wins a lot. Oh yeah.

What Would You Do If You're Not Afraid?

5/29/08
Dear Virtual Diary also known as Blog,

It suddenly keeps on raining in France. I am referring to the Roland Garros (French Open). They don't have retractable roof unlike the other Grand Slams. Why? It's because it doesn't really rain at this part of the year in France. However, rain delays and match suspension are the common sight in live scoreboards. Maybe it won't rain in Wimbledon. Even tennis people hate climate change.

I've seen a lot of students read the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It's a love story between - a girl and a boy. Duh. It's a love story about a vampire boy and a human girl. The book is getting more attention than it had before, because a movie about it is going to be shown pretty soon - 12.12.08 as the trailer shows.

It was enlistment time once again. Yes, online enlistment. This enlistment procedure is something that makes my heart beat not just a little faster, but really fast - just like having tachycardia. Anyway, I just hope I have classmates whom I know. Third year is a drag.

Anyway, I'm loving the question I got from the book Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson and it goes like this,
"What would you do if you're not afraid?"

The question is really tough, and answering it gives me the jitters because just by thinking of all the things I will do (or would've done) if I am not afraid is already making me afraid by so much.


MORAL: Think of the things that you would do if you are not afraid. I'm sure the list would be a long one. If it isn't, I envy you. It is a pain if the list is a long one, because come to think of it, just by being afraid restricts you to being able to do things by so much.

Pinoy Big Bonkers

I don't really watch Pinoy Big Brother but since I am not watching my daily dose of live internet streaming of Roland Garros for some reasons, actually tennis is getting me all stressed out, I did watch it last night.

There's this teen contestant who was crying his eyes out and thinking if he would change his attitude because he got nominated for the reason of "never being serious" whenever he's talking to someone. His dilemma is that if he has to change his personality, when he
is just "nagpapakatotoo" or being real to himself.

All I can say is... CRAP. A bootload of crap. C'mon! Grow-up! He said it's okay that he got nominated, but he just can't accept the reason, because he's just being true. Let's take different sides.

On the nominated's side... I think he doesn't have to change, especially he has already suggested strongly that he doesn't want to change. And said that it's better for him to leave the house rather than change his personality, because it is who he is.

On the one who nominated him because of that reason, she's also just being "totoo" because she nominated him on the reason she really thinks. Not because of stupid reasons PBB contestants usually use such as "s/he really misses his/her mother/father/etc. outside, OR the outside world, etc." Lame. I won't blame them for using those reasons. Maybe they were advised not to say, "wala lang" or "trip lang." 'Cause I think, sometimes, "wala lang" or "trip ko lang" is the dominant thought.

On my side, no one's telling him to change. It maybe implied that they don't want that part of his attitude. That he takes things too lightly and thinks everything is just a joke. However, why change when you don't want to change in the first place, and if you got nominated because of that, then tell them you're like that, and if they think it's a flaw in you, hey you know better.

PBB is fun to watch. It tells you that not everyone is as matured as you think. And they call the bunch, "kabataang Pinoy". Yeah. And it shows you how people are when their daily comforts are
taken from them all of a sudden.

I think I'd die in the Big Brother house. Just the thought of not having a clock/watch by my side would make me go crazy. Aside from the fact that the restroom and bedroom have
cameras. Nooo!! They would see you salivating (if you do) or snoring (if you do snore) or both. (I don't.) Then the restroom is the fatal nightmare. No need to elaborate.


MORAL: Appreciate the little luxuries you have in life. You don't know if you'll lose them all of a sudden. Who knows that your parents submitted an application form for Big Brother, with
your name, picture, and details about you written all over it. Then the next day, people from PBB knocks at your door and relieves you of all the mundane things you enjoy. PBB is just a metaphor. Go figure.

More Than This

Edit: I forgot to publish this post. What a prick. -_-

May 10, 2008 - This is the second time I've been so low, low, low in my life. Well, not because something happened, but it's just that you suddenly feel so sad, useless, then you just think of life and its profanity. I attribute the feeling to these factors: Vanessa Carlton (when I watch a concert/show/performance of an artist I really really like, I feel depressed soon after don't know why), Ana Ivanovic and Roger Federer's loss on the clay-court tournaments, wanting to be really good playing the piano (the guitar was my first love, and there are times when you want to try something new), drinking on PET bottles (they hurt the environment), MIS21 project, sudden realizations I don't know how long I would remember, and what I want to do/be in life.

I have been thinking, when you ask someone what they want in life, most often than not, "I want to be rich", "I want to be successful in my chosen career", it's always "I want (insert your mundane desires here)". I won't be indifferent, I used to have similar wants but as the years move along, my list of what I want seem to be really simple. I thought wanting to be rich is limitless, what is one's definition of being rich? Fifty million? Twelve environment-polluting cars? Success is what, being the president, CEO, CIO, COO (not child-of-owner)? Mine's specific, my definition of rich was having cars available without worrying of number-coding scheme, having a modern-looking house in a subdivision where I can jog around each morning, and being able to travel around the world with no constraints on time and money. Success for me is having a huge paycheck AND having a booming business that doesn't involve hurting anyone (children, elderly, animals, etc.). Then I realized they all boil down to material things. So now, if someone would ask me (there are times people ask questions about life) what I want to have in life, my answer would be - contentment. As Vanessa Carlton puts it, "I'll never need more than this." 'Cause right now, things I want (and tell myself that I need) are a car and camera.

However my brother told me that there would be things I would want in the future that I still don't know. Maybe he's right. Gosh, Lord, please point to me the right direction, or maybe you could give me hints and clues.

I pasted the lyrics of Vanessa Carlton's song, More than This. It's about well, as you read it, you'll know the point and it would be redundant if I say something about it again. Some of the parts go like this:

Cradling stones hold fire bright
As crickets call out to the moonlight
As you lean in to steal a kiss
I'll never need more than this

We all share the pain of our histories
But the ache goes away if you could see
This night under stars, well, I call it peace
If you say, I'll never need more than this

The trees grow so thick
You can barely see through
But the forest bestows the simplest of truths
You think you'll be happy if granted one more wish
But the truth is you'll never need more,
You'll never need more
You'll never need more than this

Want so much in this life,
There's so much to be
We sail through our youth so impatiently
Until we see
That the years move along
And soldiers and heroes come home
And they carry a song,

Don't live in forgotten times
May this always remind you
Of the sea under the skies blue looking glass
Let's make this our story, let's live in the glory
Time, it fades away,
Precious as a song
Cause someday we'll be gone

Cradling stones hold fire bright
As we watch the glow of the morning light
Someday our bones here they will lie, and so we sing

As the years move along and soldiers and heroes come home
And they carry a song
Let's make this our story,
Let's live in the glory
Time, it fades away,
Precious as a song
Cause someday we'll be gone


MORAL: She said it was from a Buddhist thinking, that we'll never need more than this. Maybe. I think of it like that as well.