Monday, May 30, 2005

i have no words


aida's
Originally uploaded by odeguzman.
spotted this during my last tagaytay trip.

(would've posted this earlier had i been more patient in figuring out how to upload pictures using a mac. tonight, i wasted an hour of my semiprecious time just so i could share this . . . eherm . . . meaty pic.)

Friday, May 27, 2005

taking it slow

i've figured out what's wrong with me (or maybe it's an asset? let me know).

i'm fascinated by slo-o-o-ow events. these include, but are not limited to:

- color-coded defragmentation of PCs (i used lie in bed watching the monitor flicker until the wee small hours of the morning.)

- a candle burning to the end of its wick (much difficult now that gargantuan candles are in style. sadly, most of the newer candles are considered purely decorative. see that wick, guys??? use it.)

- download bars filling up (this is considered a slow event thanks to my archaic dialup connection)

these days, i've been tempted to watch the semi-dead plants in lanai-3 spring back to life while i hose them down. i may or may not have a green thumb so i'm testing the waters (pun so happily intended).

forgive me for not warning you that this entry, along with 99% of this blog, has no point.

Monday, May 23, 2005

about a ball

why have i not blogged for weeks? my brain has officially turned into fruit puree.

who have i become? i am orange and i am addicted to super dx ball.

what is super dx ball? (and what's with all these questions?) super dx ball, simply put, is a glorified version of the old arcade game involving a ball (no way), bricks (tiles? blocks?) and a paddle you can move from left to right.

after hours and hours of playing super dx ball, one begins to learn a few vital things about oneself and about life in general. these are, in no particular order:

1. i like activities that do not involve a higher level of thinking. this will explain my previous love affair with loony labyrinth (the greatest pinball game ever).

2. it is very satisfying to see multicolored bricks explode.

3. one of the biggest advantages of laptops is being able to play in front of the tv (see #4 for related learning).

4. our brains are so highly evolved that even if we are deeply focused on a cursed arcade game, we can still understand a full hour of one tree hill, but not THAT highly evolved that we can still follow csi (if you haven't turned on the tv in 2 years, that should give you an idea of what kind of shows those are).

5. sometimes, we really DON'T learn from mistakes.

6. I AM breathtakingly S.T.U.P.I.D. (this realization usually comes after a particularly idiotic move, such as rushing to meet the special block that kills you, or moving to the left when you want to go right.)

back to the game.

Monday, May 09, 2005

the king of wistful thinking

went to the grocery with juancho and his parents last week (he turned 3 today! why did he grow up??? why??? why???). on the way to the store, he was showing me his "go-se-wee wist", which was actually a blank sheet of paper that juancho hung on to as if his life depended on it.

we placed him in one of those kiddie carts, the kind that was part-car and part-shopping cart, and every so often, juancho would get out of his "car" (while it was in motion, mind you. note to self: a few years from now, let nephew pursue career as stuntman), look at his wist and put random items in the cart. apparently, juancho needed:

- a small carton of juice ("that's not a good brand, juanch.");
- a small bag of chips ahoy;
- lighter fluid (you can imagine his mom's reaction to that one);
- a bag of corn chips; and
- a huge bucket of assorted biscuits (ok, this one he only TRIED to carry. it was bigger than juanch).

of course we dutifully put every item back on the shelf when the little shopper wasn't looking (i admit, i tried to leave the chips ahoy but his mom discovered it anyway).

we decided to eat out afterwards, and juancho thought it would be a good idea to bring his wist to the restaurant. unfortunately, he forgot all about it when we left.

a few minutes after we left the parking space, juancho started shouting, "MOM!!! i forgot my wist!!!"

"you can make another one, juanch."

"no, mom! i need my wist! we have to go back! let's go back!"

"you can have tatay's list, juanch"

"no no no! i need my wist! i weft it on the table!"

"it was dirty, juanch. remember we spilled sauce on it?"

"it's not dowty, mom! i forgot my wist!" (friends, if you have never seen a hysterical 3-year-old then you don't know what it's like to be trapped inside a car with one. let me just say that it is an amusing/frustrating/deafening experience.)

and so it went on and on and on (and on) until my sister ("mom") successfully diverted her son's attention and they started discussing how to make confetti for juancho's upcoming party. the forgotten list was forgotten.

all throughout the ruckus, i had been busy humming ambrosia's "biggest part of me" in my head (didn't want to contribute to the noise pollution). in between a dialogue break, i suddenly felt the urge to sing part of the song out loud:

"make a LIST, baby!"

. . . which, of course, was followed by juancho's:

"MOM!!! I FORGOT MY WIST!!!"

this, of course, prompted a "gee thaaanks" from juancho's parents. it will be a long (loooong) time before i get invited to future grocery trips.