~* NOW I KNOW WHY DAN BROWN ROCKS *~

Since last year, I haven't been really interested at all to read any of Dan Brown's work. Not even during the months when there was soooo much buzz about The Da Vinci Code that its copies were all sold out at National Bookstore and Powerbooks. One look at the thick book and I told myself that I'd just wait for it to come out in the movies! :P I'm too lazy to read books as thick as those :P (I never even read a single Harry Potter book! I just refuse to be Potterized despite the worldwide phenomenon over Rowling's books :P Oh but I watched all three HP movies. hehe.)

So anyway, I was wondering what the big fuss was about so I just asked my officemate to tell me what exactly Da Vinci Code was about. I mean yeah, I heard that it was highly controversial on a religious angle and all but I did not really know exactly why until then. Upon hearing her "long story short", I understood why everyone wanted to read the book. BUT, I still did not bother to read it. No burning desire at all to read aaaaalll those pages! But then, after quite awhile of mentioning to me how Dan Brown's books were really good, my sister lent me both her Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code books. So I said to myself, "okay, why not give it a try..."

I started with Angels and Demons last week. And WHOA. Astiiiig. Kaya pala. I read the book practically in two days! I started a coupla pages last Tuesday but went full-blast in reading it virtually non-stop last Saturday and Sunday. It was hard to put down the freakin book! It's also cool how I learned about Roman art pieces and tourist spots (Bernini's sculptures and all those obelisks! I am so intrigued with Bernini's works that I have started googling the images already... Syempre, I googled The Ecstasy of St. Teresa first!:P). Catholic rites of electing a new pope. The Vatican City's inner workings. And all those Illuminati ambigrams and interpretations...! Conspiracy theories!

Oooh, and another good thing is that I'm learning new words while reading it :) I always had my dictionary by my side coz whenever I see an unfamiliar word, I get way too OC that I couldn't resist the urge to look it up even if I could understand it in context. Imagine, I was sooo engrossed in the book that, by 9pm, I realized I hadn't taken a bath at all! Haha! I read on and on until I finished the book around 1am. (I could not bring myself to sleep without finishing the damn book! I just HAD TO finish it!).

Grabe. Dan Brown is clever. His twists are so mind-blowing. Totally ingenious. Now I know why he rocks!

I can't wait to start reading The Da Vinci Code! (bad trip though coz I know na the gist so it won't be as surprising... but still, I'm sure the details and how he cleverly crafted his story will still blow me away.)

~* AND THE OSCAR GOES TO...*~

'Have just caught snippets of the Oscars. I'm so fond of Adam Sandler :) That Catherine Zeta shtick of his with Chris Rock was funny! Now why is Beyonce all over The 77th Academy Awards???? Why oh why oh why? I saw her doing the Phantom of the Opera number... Hellllooo. She looked like a freakin' chandelier wearing all those chunky earrings, necklace AND bracelet all at the same time. Excuse me, whoever the heck was responsible for that garish ensemble, it is not the Bling-bling Pimp My Accessories awards night! It's just way too... blinding. Classic minimalism was probably not in her stylist's dictionary.

... eureka! i've found the missing chandeliers!!!

I'm disappointed that Natalie Portman did not win Best Supporting Actress :( I really liked her role in Closer (one of my fave movies now!).

Shameless plug: THE WORLD'S BEST MOVIES ARE SHOT ON KODAK FILM :) All nominees for Best Picture and Achievement in Cinematography were shot on our films :) For the 77th consecutive year, the Oscar for Best Picture has always gone to a movie produced on Kodak film. Yey! :)

~*IF I COULD ONLY SPEAK THAI & OTHER RANDOM STUFF *~

I spoke to Thai people all day at the office. I have been calling Hard Rock Cafe in Pattaya, Thailand, this certain company who is organizing the upcoming Asia Pacific Ad Fest and Royal Cliff Beach Hotel. Our Thailand office was way too busy and understaffed to help us with logistics so I had to do the arrangements myself. I must've racked up quite a lot of overseas call minutes since it was not easy speaking to Thais. They don't pronounce end consonant sounds... their "r"s are missing... and English is not exactly their second language. One time I found myself saying "No, no. English! English!" when someone greeted (I presume?) me and started speaking to me in Thai. I tried to use basic/simple English words and repeated myself a few times just to make sure we understood each other correctly. The Thai dude from Hard Rock kept addressing me as "sir". Do I sound like a man over the phone?! I am pretty sure my voice is high pitch enough to be female! :P

I remember about a year ago, I was speaking to a Hungarian lady from Hungary's immigration office over the phone. I was trying to check if the visa of this U.P. film student whom we sponsored for a Budapest summer internship was already approved. We could barely understand each other! Finally, it was just a matter of me asking her if it was "Okay or Not Okay?"... "Problem or No Problem?". That was a funny cultural experience for me. Basically, the key to communicating with people who are not well-versed in English is to use extremely simple and universally-understood words: Okay/Not okay, Yes/No...

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I think I'm getting fat. I am not imagining. I have noticed that every month when I am about to get my period, I tend to pig out. I crave for salty junk foods, chocolates or even spicy siomai. I pigged out on Cadbury Break Bites this afternoon. It seems to be a new kind of Cadbury chocolate. It's like little squares of KitKat. Yummmmy! While I was falling in line at the terminal on my way home, I ate some left-over garlic peanuts I got from our office cafeteria and then I ate Henlin shark's fin. I have mastered the art of eating siomai while standing up in line much the same expertise as eating fries with ketchup (while also falling in line).

I can feel my tummy getting marshmallowy. I could hardly breathe in my size 25 jeans. My office pants are tight while the other slightly big ones are suddenly snug. In a digital pic taken last Sunday in the province, my arms look bigger. Ugh. If only all fats went to my boobs then I would not mind at all. I have yet to check if I still fit in my Speedo. I'm pretty sure I won't fit into my board shorts anymore coz the velcros were already half-way stuck last year. This year, I might not be able to overlap the velcros at all. (Note to self: Good luck on that.) I must lose weight by Holy Week (we're going to Subic!). It's cheaper than buying a new Speedo swimsuit.

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I still had SM gift certificates from our company X-mas party last year. I tried to look for office pants or shoes but I could not find anything nice so I bought 3 CDs instead. I will always be happy with CDs! =) I got Maria Mena's White Turns Blue ( I soooo love "Sorry". Gee, it's my song...), the Full Volume compilation (because I sooo love "Broken Sonnet" by Hale. There's another nice track there... a rock remake of Sade's "No Ordinary Love". Of course, Stonefree's "Kapag Nawala Ka" is there too.), and the first Bridget Jones's Diary soundtrack (because my pirated one skips already! Ugh.)

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It's a long weekend! Hurray! My sister lent me her Dan Brown books (Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code). I will read as much as I can this weekend. I wonder what's the big fuss about Dan Brown's writings...

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I have been meaning to post my "things to do before I die" kind of thing and another "anger management exercise"... If I'm not too engrossed in Angels and Demons, I will try to blog about it over the weekend.

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I'm sleepy and my email is full of unread messages. Labooo. Good night, netizens.

~* PIMPING IS CONFUSING *~

Pimping my PC (think MTV Pimp My Ride!:P) is confusing the hell out of me. I am lost in the technology of DVD-ROM vs. DVD-RW. The DVD+R, DVD-R and DVD+RWs confound me. I was almost set on buying an Asus 16X DVD-ROM along with 512MB RAM and 80GB HDD but my dad suddenly wanted me to check out the DVD RWs-- he's even gonna shell out some moolah (IF it's WITHIN his budget) to add to my "pimping" money. I remember reading from somewhere that you gotta have a gargantuan memory to burn DVD movies and such. I think that's why I gave up on the idea of getting myself a DVD burner. Plus, it's freaking expensive. And what the f*** are Blu-Ray discs and HD-DVDs??? And that region-locking thing. Gee, I took quite some time researching about it. Apparently there's hardware-based and software-based region counter thingiemajigs. I forgot which one is easier to hack. Downloading firmwares... flashing bin files whatever. Arghhhh. *pulls hair in frustration*

My Googling abilities have been way too tested with researching about DVD-ROMs and DVD-RWs.

~* ANGER MANAGEMENT EXERCISE NO. 2 *~

Bitter
by Jill Sobule

I could slip, I could fall
In that mean and awful hall
With the other jealous bitches
And the bitter grumbling men

I could sneer, I could glare say that
life is so unfair And the one who
made it, made it `Cuz her breasts
were really big

Well I don't wanna get bitter
I don't wanna turn cruel
I don't wanna get old before I have to

I could bitch, I could moan
Say I want to be left alone
But that's not really true,
Because I like my time with you

Till you rant and you rave
Wishing fat folks to their grave
But I feel sorry for them
You say they get what they deserve

Well I don't wanna get bitter
I don't wanna turn cruel
I don't wanna get old before I have to

I don't wanna get jaded
Petrified and weighted
I don't wanna get bitter like you
Like you, with the darts in your eyes
Like you, with disdain for mankind
I was charmed, now I wonder

Well I don't wanna get bitter
I don't wanna turn cruel
I don't wanna get old before I have to
So I'll smile with the rest
I'll wish everyone the best
And know the one who made it,
Made it cuz she was actually pretty good
Well I don't wanna get bitter
I don't wanna turn cruel
I don't wanna get old before I have to

~* MUSICAL TAG *~

I've been musical tagged by Abbie and Mitzi!


MY CURRENT RANDOM SONGS:

The Scientist by Coldplay/Natasha Bedingfield - one of my ultimate faves

"Nobody said it was easy. Oh it's such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard.
Oh let's go back to the start."

The Blower's Daughter by Damien Rice - super poignant. Hearing it played in Closer (starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law) made me like it more.

"And so it is just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me most of the time.
And so it is, the shorter story:
No love, no glory.
No hero in her sky.
Can't take my eyes off you... "

The Trouble with Love by Kelly Clarkson - one of my fave tracks in the Love Actually soundtrack.

"The trouble with love is it can tear you up inside
Make your heart believe a lie
It's stronger than your pride
The trouble with love is it doesn't care how fast you fall
And you can't refuse the call."

Here with Me by Dido - ahh, the Max and Liz song from Roswell. I even have the version with sound bites from Roswell spoken by the lovers. The song offered an entirely new perception to me when I heard it in Love Actually -- that scene when Kiera Knightly saw the wedding video shot by the groom's best friend. "To me you are perfect..." *sigh*

"I won't go, I won't sleep
I can't breathe until you're resting here with me..."

Walking After You by Foo Fighters - the only Foo Fighter song that I like. I think it was in the X-Files soundtrack. I love the breathy vocals and lulling melody.

"I cannot be without you, matter of fact..."

Firewoman by Hungry Young Poets - still having a Barbie Almabis hang-over.

"Coz I've seen the world from down there
and it wasn't a pretty sight.
Now the circle is turning
Are you armed for the fight?
I wanna be a firewoman.
I'll water down your desire.
Coz I know this love is a killer."

Soon by Moonpools and Caterpillars - always nice to hear

"How was I to know
No one told me so
I just landed here and struggled to get by
Nothing much to see
Oh so naive
and then it hit me like it has 1,000 times

One day soon its going to happen to you
And when it does it wont be pretty."

Sweetest Goodbye by Maroon5 - two different versions from Songs About Jane and Love Actually soundtrack.

"Dream away everyday
Try so hard to disregard
the rhythm of the rain that drops
and coincides with the beating of my heart.

How does it feel to know you never have to be alone
when you get home?"

WHAT IS THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF MUSIC IN YOUR PC?

My Music folder is 5.67 GB with 1,832 files. Plus My Shared Folder for Kazaa which contains newly-downloaded songs and incomplete DLs is 437MB with 270 files.

THE LAST CD I BOUGHT:

Keane's Hopes and Fears - I bought it because of the song This is The Last Time

THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO BEFORE THIS MESSAGE?

Texas' I'll See it Through. Track 9. The Love Actually OST is currently playing on my CD player.

5 SONGS YOU LISTEN TO THAT MEAN A LOT TO YOU:

1. Wish You Were Here by Incubus - it's a hero song
2. You Won't See Me Crying by Passage - the bullsh*t duet song
3. Out of Reach by Gabrielle & ...On the Radio by Nelly Furtado (tie!) - asswipe songs
4. Let Me Be the One by Jimmy Bondoc & What If by Babyface (tie!) - T2 songs...
5. Strange and Beautiful by Aqualung - most fave Wicker Park song that gave me the quote "Sometimes the last thing you want comes in first. Sometimes the first thing you want never comes. I know that waiting is all you can do sometimes."
   

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE YOU'RE GOING TO PASS THIS ON?

Tin
Charo
Fay
Kiko
Teena
Mic

~* ANGER MANAGEMENT EXERCISE NO. 1 *~

Please keep in mind that I am only a biatch when provoked.

TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU

1. I hate your being an asswipe. It's unbelievably appalling coz I thought you have grown up. Apparently, the vodka sprite impaired my judgement.

2. I hate you coz that was like "oops, u f***ing did it again" to me.

3. I hate you coz now I can't sing without ever thinking of OTB. And OTB memories are baaaad.

4. I hate that you come in and out of my life anytime you want.

5. I hate how I now can't wear my cool fuchsia Jamaican Dream Terranova shirt coz I friggin' remember you everytime I see that shirt in my closet.

6. I hate how we looked so good in those pictures on my fone. It kills me. Could've been so beautiful. Could've been so right. I'll never hold what could have been on a cold and lonely night.

7. I hate you coz you have made me lose my trust in the sincerity of men.

8. I hate you coz you have ultimately made me jaded.

9. I hate how I remember you everytime I see a black Honda car.

10. I hate it but I think I will still apply the law of superseding actions to you.