Two Five from Facebook

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it is because I want to know more about you.

To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on you profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type 25 random things, tag 25 people in right corner of app, then click publish.

im posting here what i have posted in my facebook account. yes, kaith has invaded facebook already. =p

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1. i have a very volatile temper. although these days, it takes so much to get me all worked up. this temper i got from my mother who, despite her sweetness and motherly candor, turns into a raging madwoman (i swear!) whenever we irk her. i don't like myself when i am mad, and neither would you. i tear and throw and lash at anything and anyone who gets in my way. i once tore a whole book to release my anger.

2. i never mastered the art of drawing and sewing. it makes me frustrated, being unable to come up even with a decent stick man when i have to but i guess, my other skills have compensated for this inability.

3. my parents wanted me to take up accountancy as my pre-law course. i never had the heart to tell them i just hate numbers so what i did, i flunked the math subject and aced the english part in my entrance exams at one of the universities in the province. then i explained to them that you know, i don't want to take up a course where my intelligence (kintahay), skills and abilities would be compromised. that's how i ended taking up masscom instead. hehehe.

4. i earned my masscom degree from silliman university. my mother was at first hesitant to let me go there but with the help of my godmother and godsiblings, she said "yes" and even accompanied me on my first trip to dumaguete.

5. when i got in dumaguete, the only bisaya words i know were "asa" and "unsa."

6. i am sociable but i kinda filter the people who i allow into my circle. sure, i've lots of acquaintances but they're just that - acquaintances.

7. i never liked barbie dolls. the ones my father bought for me were just displayed in a glass shelf. however, i used to have this rag doll whom i named lyka. i don't know what happened to her but all i can remember was she got lost or something and i kept crying and looking for her.

8. i still get stage fright until now, countless declamation and oratorical and extemporaneous speeches after.

9. i never had a playmate growing up which maybe explains my atrocious and amazing superiority complex in my younger years (i told you, it all boils down to childhood).

10. speaking of superiority complex, i even cried once after losing in an essay writing contest (and it was my first loss so really, how painful can it get?) not only because i lost, but because i lost to somebody who i never thought could win against me (she was from another smaller public school). me and my huge ego. hahaha.

11. somebody very close to me has proven that not all good-looking guys are dumb. hahaha.

12. i can say that i am very patient and tolerant with my friends and family but once puno na ang salop, don't expect any niceties from me. i can be evil as well.

13. some people don't like me because i can get too loud, too flambouyant, too mean for them. well, they're too boring for me. hahaha.

14. my right eye is bigger than my left. one of my younger sisters also have the same oddity.

15. i don't have straight legs. it seems that a pound of muscle protrudes from the sides of my knees. the only thing i guess that distracts anybody from noticing it is that i have fairly slim calves.

16. i love bathrooms! except for those dingy and yucky ones of course. i clean our bathroom myself every week. i scrub, disinfect and wipe every tile and corner. i don't like feetmarks on the floor so i am thinking of getting a rubber mat for the dry portion of our bathroom, where the toilet is located. we'll be having our own bathroom in the master's bedroom of our house where i'll put my walk in closet and maybe, a tub. i just like the feeling of being in a bathroom. it's usually cooler there and uh, more serene? hahaha. i guess, this "bathroom fetish" also stems from the fact that i love taking baths as well.

17. i don't have any interior decorating talent and that makes my mother frustrated. i hate it when we have to spend hours in the furnishing and housewares section of the mall so she can buy stuff and other whatchacamaliits to adorn our home.

18. i loooove eating! most of my bonding time with friends almost always include sumptuous overflowing food.

19. i am more known as alveel to elementary and high school friends and schoolmates. i am kaith or kikay to family and close and online friends.

20. when people ask for my favorite color, the default answer would have to be purple. then pink. on uncreative days, i'd say white. but really, i stopped having a favorite color when i reached college.

21. when i arrive in the office, the first thing i open as soon as my computer starts is my business email. then my personal email. then my favorite persons' blogs. i start replying to my business emails when i'm done reading blogs. ssssh...

22. i'd want to lose 10 pounds before i turn 27. and i'd especially want to reduce my waistline to at least 25. i am nearing size 29 now. isn't it tragic?

23. i'm getting better at budgeting but i know i still have a lot to learn, especially on the restraining part. hahaha.

24. one day i'd want to have a library slash entertainment space at home, as big as our space would allow. then i'd put in a couch or a sofa bed in there so it will be our exclusive space when we want to read or just relax. but of course, it's either you go for the books or you go for the dvds. no watching movies in there while i am reading!

25. i am very blessed. it's just that sometimes, i fail to be grateful. but i am working on it.

there, 25 somethings about me. it took me 6 hours to finish this list! whew!

Smart vs Pretty

i found this cool, feel-good book in fully booked - smart vs pretty. i just wasn't able to buy it because i am quite below the poverty line these days. hehe. growing up, i wondered how it feels to be you know, pretty. or beautiful. or even just plain attractive. those were never adjectives you'd use to describe me some 12 years ago. i was dark-skinned, with boring hair and boring facial features. it didn't help that i always had this snooty look on my face. boys never flocked to me to ask for my name or phone number. they'd come to me to ask for academic help. for the longest time, i wished i was popular because of my long hair or long eyelashes or very pretty face instead of being the editor of the school paper or being one of the top three in our batch. hahaha.

i know, i know! intelligence is still more important than say, gorgeous-ness, but it was only later in college when the term, intelligence is sexy, has been coined. before, being a smart-ass doesn't make boys fall on your feet. well, geeky ones would but really, i never wanted a nerd for a boyfriend. hahaha. your crush might know and admire you for your amazing speed in solving calculus problems but he'd never want a girlfriend smarter than his basketball-dreaming brains.

a lot has changed since college and it's not because i have at least looked human. hahaha. more than one person has observed that i am quite a headturner whenever we'd roam the malls and it's funny how i still had suitors when i was bursting with my first pregnancy. looking back now, i am glad i did well in both academics and extra curricular activities. people give you something more than a pretty face allows. they actually give you respect because you are well, smart. people look up to you because you have something in between your ears and it's not just a seductive pair of eyes. sometimes i get too smug knowing that yes, i have the face and the brains to match. it still amuses me that some get taken aback when i spew sensible sentences and ideas. i reckon they don't usually get that from halter- and short skirt-wearing barbie dolls. hahaha.

now i know better. there's always a cure for plain looking-ness. but there's almost no remedy for being uh, stupid. ang law-ay, may chance pa mag-gwapa. ang ma-ngo, wala na tsansa mag alam. :)

Batch '95

class picture

it was a hastily-drawn plan, the get together. if it weren't, more than 9 people would show up, i bet. but then, considering my penchant for last-minute deals these days, i came up with the idea of having a small tapok-tapok for our elementary friends (not really batch because that would require a bigger venue than our humble abode. hehe) well, 2 days before our target date. it was supposed to be on december 31 but my parents had to say no because we just cannot host a party, even a small one at that, when some of our relatives would be there. so we had the get-together moved to jan 1.

oh, we had fun! it was amazing how we still have very vivid memories of our elementary years considering how long ago it was (just 13. hehehe). they cannot get over my story about how i used to ask this one classmate to buy me something from the lunch counter (that's the canteen or cafeteria for you) because i was too lazy to go out. then i'd give her like, P5.00, and tell her to keep the change. hahaha. i am not proud of that but i was happy because when i saw that particular classmate when we were in college already, she has improved a lot - looks and personality-wise. so she doesn't seem like somebody you'd want to boss around. and i swear, i am not like that anymore. hahaha.

let's see what else i have remembered from that few hours of non-stop talking over leftover spaghetti, ham, grilled pork steak, lumpia, and cake:

• the nonstop playing of hopscotch (piko gud. haha), shakay, chinese garter and kick (we use calachuchi flowers for this particular game). classes in the afternoon start at 1:30 but most of us would go back at 12:30nn so we can play first. then we'd continue it after school. i remember my nanay grumbling everytime i'd go home with dirty uniform (yes, niagi ko kabulingit. hahaha) and unkempt hair. my tatay would always scold me when he'd see me wearing only slippers to school. i mean, everybody's wearing rubber slippers so why can't i???
• every year during homeroom, a birthday celebrator would stand in front so everybody can sing happy birthday for her. and then yes, all classmates get to kiss her. even her crush. hahaha.
  
• most of our classmates loved our THE classes (technology and home economics). the boys were particularly good at industrial arts while the more domesticated girls got high grades in home economics. unfortunately, i got my first (and only! in my whole academic career!) 75 during my grade 5 IA class. i wasn't good at drawing so i didn't submit a project. so the teacher gave me an almost failing grade. it was a good thing i impressed my HE and agriculture (can you imagine me digging earth and watering plants at 11 freaking 30 am??) teachers so my 75 was pulled up by my 98 or so grades in the other subject areas.
• i miss the ice scramble, miswa, mango shake and arroz caldo we'd usually have for recess. and there was this one vendor, murray, who is well known in our town because she doesn't only sell in our school but in the government offices as well. she had polio when she was a kid so she has difficulty walking and speaking. the kids used to make fun of her but looking back now, i admire her for working so hard so she can support her nephews and nieces.
• i was in grade 4 when my nanay decided that i'm old enough to walk to her office after class hours so we can go home together. she usually doesn't like me playing at school because i go home late and i end up looking and smelling very yucky. hahaha. so what i'd do, i'd bring my friends at her office so we can play in their lawn and she can monitor me.
• it is our pride to be one of those batches who won a regional award in verse choir. the winning piece? john durham something. hahaha.
  
• you wouldn't believe it but i used to join singing contests. you don't have to know that i lose everytime. hahaha.
  
• but i was always among the "leaders" during field demonstrations. i can't sing but i can dance. hahaha.
  
• i was a star scout and eventually a girl scout. but i never did any of those camping things. except in grades 1-3 where we get to stay in a classroom with a decent bathroom. but when i reached grade 4, girl scout level, and we had to pitch our own tents, cook food outdoors and, this is the biggest problem of all, take a bath with our clothes on while fetching water from a well situated at least half a kilometer from the campsite, i packed my bags and said, "my allergies are kicking in. i can't do this." and then i called my mother to pick me up. i joined the daytime activities but i'd always go home every night. i know, there's no fun in that but i am a primadonna like that. at 11.
  
• we had this teacher in grade 6 who made us sell pulvoron and yema everyday. we took turns selling, 1 pack of pulvoron and 1 pack of yema per day. when it would be my turn to sell, i'd bring the packs home and let my mother buy everything. easy profit! but i guess it's now illegal for teachers to sell stuff to their students or to make their students sell something for them. back then, it was no big deal.
  
• i also sold serg's egg chocolates when i was in grade 1. P0.50/piece if i remember it right. hehehe.
  

gosh, i can go on and on! we did enjoy bringing all those memories back and laughing over the good and not-so good ones. we're planning to do another get together this december but we have to do all the organizing way earlier so we don't end up eating leftovers again. hahaha.