Five-day leave, plus a normal two-day weekend. Then come to work for two days. Then another five-day break (three holidays sandwiching the weekend). This taught me that it’s possible to get too much vacation time, and I realized this when I went out tonight to pick up my wife at her weekly badminton game – getting out in the open could be such a rush after all! There wasn’t anything new, it just happened that during the last loooong weekend I got cooped up in the house and did nothing but flex my abs (by stuffing it with food, hehehe), cuddle with the PS2 and hit the online jungle. So bored I actually planned to crash at Mike’s place with Markku and the HR ladies +1 (what +1? ask Markku, hehehe). Alas, none of them would consent, for various reasons.
So what else did I do during this lengthy break? My three most favorite pasttimes, of course. Think, mull, and contemplate. And here’s what I reasoned:
- Picture an NBA team with the following roster: Dwyane Wade, Kirk Heinrich, Ben Gordon, Ben Wallace, Samuel Dalembert, Andris Biedrins, Damien Wilkins, Mike Miller, Steven Hunter, Shane Battier, Eddie Griffin, Daniel Ewing. What do you think would happen with a team like this?
- People seem to put more credibility to pretty faces, don’t you think? Like, if Jamie King claimed Terry Crews was stalking her and the latter insisted that he doesn’t even come within ten feet of her, who would you believe? (Got this one from LN)
- Okay, combine this item with the one above and slightly sharper minds would conclude that one of the things I did during the break was chug that Wayans riot-fest White Chicks. One of the little but good things that came out of that heap of comedic mess (that made of roffle just the same) was doing away with image stereotypes. I’m talking about Latrell Spencer (played by Crews), a burly hoopster brutha who couldn’t shoot a three-pointer to save his life, singing along with the cutesy teen-pop Vanessa Carlton song A Thousand Miles. Like, we really could learn from this bit of gag: if you like a song, don’t pretend to get all goose-bumpy just because the song is Hello Kitty pink and you’re a boyz-in-da-hood wannabe. Be true to yourself.
- Conversely, I despise Pinoy Big Brother in all its mundanely gimmicky, desperately-grovelling-for-viewership forms. But I think it’s unfair to label me as a conio Am-boy just because. I hate it, period.
- BLACK GULAMAN IS DA BOMB!!!
- I’m proud to say that when my circle gather round for lunch, Hana’s pastry treats or to feed tigers with dressed chicken, we don’t instinctively talk about or make fun of other people. We only talk about and make fun of each other =D (just don’t let anyone sing Lifehouse’s You and Me – that ruins my day completely)
- Metal Gear Solid 2: the video game, at one point speaks of the stereotype role-conflict element that says “Don’t freaking tell me what to do. You’re at home base, I’m the one in the field. You have no bloody idea what it’s like to be in my place.” Trite, but nevertheless true. None of us have a right to tell another person what or what not to do when we don’t have the tiniest inkling of what it’s like being in the same predicament. Two things to avoid: (a) being judgmental, and (b) being self-righteous.
- “If I could do that to someone I love [drive an axe into the person’s skull], imagine what I can do to someone I hate.” — Tarik. From the movie The Jackal. Which about sums it all up. I care about you, yes. But don’t push your luck.
- “Lets not kill the Karma, lets not start a fight. Its not worth the drama for a beautiful liar” — Beyonce (this is the answer)
- American Idol season 6 is fast turning up to be like season 3: one contestant is poised to win in a landslide the way Fantasia Barino did. Melinda Doolittle simply pwns them all, hands down. Personally, though, my favorite is Jordin Sparks. Not only because she’s a very good singer, but also because she’s perhaps the more adorable AI contestant ever. I could only agree wholeheartedly when Paula Abdul described Jordin as a joy magnet. Still, the music person in me says Doolittle – to date – outsings her at every turn. But what the hell, still nine weeks to go. And Ryan Seacrest is also rooting for Jordin, so nyah =)
- When your friend is in love, smile. Don’t roll your eyes. We all fall in love.
