~* AMERICAN IDOL BETS *~

Here are my top three bets: Melinda Doolittle, Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks. Who are your favorites?

~* NO, MAN.THAT WAS NOT COOL.*~

No, Armando Ducat, that was NOT cool at all, man! Tsk, tsk.

His Messianic Complex landed us on CNN .

I say: the end does not justify the means. What do you think?

Oh, and was that a politician's publicity stunt?

~* RANDOM RULES *~

Ok, I got this blog post idea from sillypipedreams who also referred to this site wherein "The A.V. Club asks its favorite rockers, writers, comics, or whatevers to set their MP3 players to shuffle and comment on the first few tracks that come up—no cheating or skipping embarrassing tracks allowed."

It's a cool way to take a peek into someone's music collection. So shall I say, "tell me what's on your player and I'll tell you who you are?" ;-)

Here's mine...

THIS WAY (JEWEL)

Oh wow, I didn't even know it was there! It's not really a memorable nor a fave song from Jewel so umm, I'd rather listen to Hands, Foolish Games or You Were Meant For Me the next time I'm in a Jewel-y mood.

IN DA CLUB [REMIX] (50 CENT feat. 702)

I sooo love this trippy happy remix of In Da Club. The cheerful bouncy melody and feminine touch of 702 makes it better than the original version.

LOVE ME STILL (CHAKA KHAN)

I think this started my obsession with TV show soundtracks. This nice dramatic song is from the 90s tv drama Party of 5 (remember Matthew Fox a.k.a Jack from Lost? I think he was Charlie in Party of 5.) Luckily, I was a practicum trainee in Studio 23 back in college. Party of Five was being aired by Studio 23 back then and at the end of our practicum, our boss gave us a Party of Five soundtrack CD as a token. See, I was really lucky back then...

BLIND (LIFEHOUSE)

I totally dig Lifehouse's sappy love songs and this is one of them. I love it so much that I actually have three versions of it on my PC. One album version and two different live/acoustic versions. I am a sucker for hot band guys with gravelly singing voice. Jason Wade, will you marry me?

GONE [N'SYNC COVER] (JOHN MAYER)

Now this one's really funny! John Mayer takes a jab on the boyband craze. The mp3 starts off with John Mayer doing some funny adlib and then proceeding with a storytelling interspersed with Gone verses. Really cute of John to do that. I love his humor. I've seen this concert DVD of his and his commentaries were really goofy-funny :-)

LET ME HOLD YOU (BOW WOW feat. OMARION)

Nice collab between Bow Wow and Omario but uhh, since I'm not a big fan, I don't know who's singing what in the track. But I love the melody of this one. I am having visuals of Bow Wow/Omarion doing that let-me-hold-you part in the video...

IT DON'T MATTER TO THE SUN (ROSIE THOMAS)

Not a big playlist mainstay but it's a pretty decent song. It's from one of the Grey's Anatomy episodes. Umm, I can't remember which one though.

INSENSITIVE [ACOUSTIC] (JANN ARDEN)

Haven't you noticed that I keep acoustic versions of songs? I'm a sucker for acoustic versions and this is one of those songs which sound nicer in its acoustic version. Did this come from a Julia Roberts movie? I forget. Or maybe I'm just too sleepy to recall. Anyway, this is the classic "I'm pining away here, can't you see that I'm in love with you, you jerk?!?" kind of song.

EWAN [APO HIKING SOCIETY COVER] (IMAGO)

Hey don't get me wrong, I really think Aia is a wonderful vocalist and I like most of Imago's songs (esp. Taning and Akap. But I could never ever like Taralets...) but I am really annoyed with the way she sings "mahal kita, mahal kita hindi to bohhhl-lahh" part. The really arte way she says "bola" is driving me nuts! Which brings me to the thought that I should probably delete this annoying song on my PC...

BREATHE ME (SIA)

This has got to be one of the most amazing song discoveries I've had in my channel surfing history! I LOVE THIS SONG! I don't really watch Six Feet Under on HBO but I just happened to channel surf my way there one night and apparently, the finale of the series was airing. This girl was driving along the highway while vignettes in between were showing how each cast member dies over the years. This was the background music during that long final scene. I didn't know the title nor the artist of the song back then so I searched for "Six Feet Under final episode soundtrack" on Multiply. And voila! Thank you my dear Multiply!

I BET YOU LOOK GOOD ON THE DANCEFLOOR (ARCTIC MONKEYS)

I've been hearing the buzz on Arctic Monkeys so I got curious about their music... and so I downloaded this coz it was the most prevalent track over at Sharezaa back then. Nothing spectacular but it sounds cool when I want some energetic music going on.

OBLIVION (30 SECONDS TO MARS)

I think this is from their first album? The self-titled one. Not a memorable 30STM song for me but rockin' enough anyway.

Ok I'm really sleepy na so I'll stop. Nitey-nite!

~* DRAMARAMA: THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE LIGHT *~

So I've been pretty much depressed lately and I'm making a wild guess that it's coz my birthday is coming up again. Ahh, another year. One step closer to the edge of the calendar days. And still freaking single. Fudge.

I remember the last time Abbie, Tin and I went out drinking (Charo, we missed you that night!)... we were supposed to watch Music & Lyrics but we were so bummed out with our personal dramas that we decided to just drink and talk the night away. After that, I resolved that I might as well start saving up and hope to be filthy rich when I'm older so that I can at least be artificially happy with an obscenely expensive vacation or whatever uneconomical material thing money can buy. I will always go back to that Dogbert mantra : "The key to happiness is self-delusion. Don't think of yourself as an organic pain collector racing toward oblivion." Can you smell the pessimism in the air?

Well anyway, I think the positive effect that my freaking-out-about-turning-29 has brought upon me was that I've learned to be *super* financially-conscious. I've read these two bestselling locally-authored books (one was by Francisco Colayco and the other by Efren Cruz) that teach one how to be financially prepared and be responsible in terms of handling moolah. Sorta like a Rich Dad, Poor Dad kind of thing (though I haven't read this book yet). Last year, I was done with paying off a pre-need plan (a term life insurance which has a lump sum amount at its maturity date which I can opt to just let them keep for my future pension plan). This month, I applied for a life insurance with endowment and dividend payouts which I can also just opt to accumulate til I'm retired from work. And then I re-evaluated my liquidity as well as net worth and have done some measures to save up some more moolah on the bank and also some investment on mutual fund stocks. Basically, I'm trying to make compounding interest work for me. I have also religiously listed down my expenses and have come up with a monthly budget. Not a strict budget though coz I just blew some money buying new office pants and this cute bandeau for summer. Arghh. Got. to. fight. the. shopping. spirit.

Now back to turning 29 and still not *categorically* moving on...

It just sucks how some people just pop up out of nowhere when you think you are almost there at the finish line where it says "Congratulations, you have *finally* moved on!". Whatever popped up last 02.16 is still in my freaking inbox. Why did I not delete it?! (I am scolding myself and I'm figuratively banging my head on the desk in disgrace.) And whatever THAT was disappeared into thin air the same way as it came -- quicker than the brown fox that jumped over the lazy dog.

I remember hearing Chico and Delamar talking about viewing someone in a negative light in order to let them go. (The topic was the Top 10 Break-up Lyrics...) Yeah. I think I did that already. I remember being *very* pissed to the point of feeling animosity towards a person. And boy, look at me now! Gee, that sure worked *rolls eyes*.

Anyway, I was multiply'ing and saw this post from a friend of a friend: "The sadness you will feel once someone is taken away from you is directly proportional to how happy you were when you were with that person."

So do I still have a long way to go? Dammit, where the heck is that friggin' finish line?!?

~* IPOD WHEEL OF FORTUNE *~

Abbie and Tin have done this already so now that I'm in a blogging mood, here goes...

HOW THE IPOD GAME GOES:
1. Put your iPod/music player in shuffle mode.
2. Answer the questions below through the song being played.
3. Click the forward button as you move along the questions.


how are you feeling today?
Doo-wop (That Thing) ~ Lauryn Hill

will you get far in life?
Love and Affection ~ Nelson Brothers

how do your friends see you?
Again ~ Lenny Kravitz

will you get married?
Just Take My Heart (acoustic) ~ Mr. Big

what is your best friend's theme song?
Tattooed on my Mind ~ D'Sound

what is the story of your life?
Volcano ('97 demo) ~ Damien Rice

what was high school like?
I Remember You ~ Skid Row

how can you get ahead in life?
Opposite Direction ~ Union of Knives

what is the best thing about your friends?
She Runs Away (acoustic) ~ Duncan Sheik

what is today going to be like?
Every Rose Has It's Thorn ~ Poison

what is in store for this weekend?
Last Request (piano acoustic) ~ Paolo Nutini

what song describes you?
Liar - 8mm ===> {to my dear iPod:} ugghh! you traitor! :p

to describe your grandparents?
Bend ~ Stonefree

how is your life going?
The Scientist (KCRW live session) ~ Coldplay

what song will they play at your funeral?
In Bloom ~ Nirvana ==> wow, totally done in rock chick fashion. this is feasible ;-)

how does the world see you?
Karma Police (Radiohead cover) ~ Tori Amos ===> I'd have to agree on this one!

will you have a happy life?
You Turn Me Around ~ Aqualung

what do your friends really think of you?
In Repair ~ John Mayer

do people secretly lust after you?
Take Away ~ Missy Elliot feat. Ginuwine & Tweet

how can I make myself happy?
Somedays ~ Regina Spektor

what should you do with your life?
When I Look into Your Eyes ~ Firehouse

will you ever have children?
Say it Right ~ Nelly Furtado

~* SHOPPING & GREY'S ANATOMY *~

My calves hurt. As in. When I woke up today, I felt the muscle ache on my calves. Reminds me of the saying "shop til you drop"...

My Saturday started early coz my college friends Rose, She and I had planned to go shopping at 168 Shopping Mall. I met up with She at Sucat at 6:45am, then we picked up Rose at Las Piñas and then we drove to Divisoria, arriving at exactly 8:01am at 168. We ate breakfast at the nearby Chowking and then started to comb through the 168 stalls around 9am. We went through each and every frigging pasilyo alphabet on all three floors! I spent a total of Php1,700 and took home all these: 1 black office bag, 2 puff-sleeved plain colored shirts, 3 lace-trimmed tank tops, 1 chocolate brown asymmetrical blouse, 1 puff-sleeved office blouse, 1 pink & brown plaid clamdiggers, 1 basketball shorts (for my nephew) and 1 plain cotton shirt (for our househelp).

It was my first time to go to 168 and I was thrilled with all that good bargain! You'll definitely get a lot more bang for your buck when you shop there. Anyway, here are some tips which I learned from my friend Rose who is a seasoned 168 shopper (plus some of my own input):

1. Bring cash. Everything is on cash basis transaction so leave your credit cards at home.
2. Spread your cash. Don't keep everything in one place. I had some money on my wallet which was in my bag, some on my left pants pocket, some on my pants' tiny right pocket.
3. Don't bring your ATM card. If you want to be on a strict budget, leave your ATM card at home so you won't be tempted to withdraw more money just to buy some more unplanned stuff.
4. Dress simply. No bling-blings, no expensive watch. Avoid looking hmm *rich* so you can be believable when you make barat/tawad to the tindera.
5. Wear comfy footwear. Your feet are your friend in this journey to retail therapy!
6. If you must bring a bag, go for a body bag or belt bag. Don't bring shoulder bags that tend to dangle on your shoulders and become very accessible to pickpockets. Hold your bag closely and keep it in front (not even on your side) where you can see it.
7. Avoid flashing around your gadgets. Expensive celfones, iPods, PDAs or whathaveyous may tempt the pickpockets. Better be safe than sorry!
8. Always try to make tawad. Don't just buy at quoted price. Haggle and negotiate first for a really big discount. The vendor will usually disagree with your quoted price and will make a higher-priced counter-offer. Haggle some more until you reach a middle ground. It helps if you chika the tindera and talk nicely. If they don't give you your tawad, sometimes it helps if you feign losing interest and start walking away from the stall. More often than not, they call you back in and concede to your bargain price ;-)
9. Bring one huge sturdy bag. Put every item you buy inside this huge bag so that you won't have to struggle in lugging around a lot of plastic bags from the different stalls you buy from.
10. If you're bringing a car, strive to be at 168 by 8am (or even way earlier during peak season like Christmas time) so you can still get a good parking space.

We finished shopping and left the mall around 4pm. Wow. Imagine that! Virtually 7 freaking hours of walking! No wonder my calves hurt now :-(

After bonding with my college friends through shopping, I spent some q-time with my dear high school friends Abbie, Tin and Charo who went over to our house around 9pm last night. We scheduled a Grey's Anatomy "DVDthon" and watched the first 5 eps of season 3 in my room. We ate some junk food (No crumbs on my bed! I give them 5 stars!) while watching McDreamy, McSteamy and annoyingly pa-cute Ellen Pompeo [Meredith].

Tin had a grand time copying some of my mp3s into her portable hard drive. I heard her exclaiming over finding Jeremy Jordan, Wilson Philips and Tiffany songs in my PC :D On the other hand, Abbie "checked out" (yeah, I have a log book for anything borrowed from me, hehe! I'm OC with my possessions!) some of my CDs so she can OC-ly rip them at hmm 320kbps? ;-)

We were supposed to finish all 7 eps of GA on the DVD but we were too sleepy na by 3am so they all headed home. We'll just have to schedule another DVDthon for the rest of the 3rd season eps! ;-)