The Anna Howard Shaw Day

In leiu of the more popular celebrations being Valentines Day and The Chinese New Year, Liz Lemon decides to celebrate Anna Howard Shaw Day instead. I go with her on this one. Even though she was branded the "Picasso of Loneliness" (Donaghy, 2010) Or is it, because she was branded "Picasso of Loneliness"? Can't really tell. Don't want to tell? Hahaha.

Anna Howard Shaw the hero of American women's suffrage -- noble person really but for me an excuse to "skip" Valentines :p

To add to my list of wonderful women to celebrate this Valentines, to join Anna Howard Shaw and Liz Lemon, I give you Cathy Guisewite's Cathy. Here are pieces of my mind Cathy ever so brilliantly translated to comics form. My life satirized, and well immortalized. Dig in.

Today in a Nutshell

Aaaack!

I'd post this on Facebook, but it's a little too naked -- figuratively and well, literally. My hormones have gone haywire. I'm a too angry to be functional.

Brainfarting to Tide Though the 2PM Lull

I've been struggling with 2 particular tasks since the new year came in. These 2 are big tasks, the kind that will determine the performance of my division for this year, and both are overwhelming the shxt out of me. Both involve tedious planning and thinking and creativity. I've had both tasks in my weekly work plan since the first one I submitted for 2010 -- and it still is there up until this week. Clincher? Very  LITTLE progress. Dito applicable talaga yung, "Anung petsa na?!"

I think it's the ADD talking. I feel seriously overwhelmed at the gravity of the task. Just thinking about it is enough to to drown me in the enormity of it. I know I have to break it down to smaller activities to finally get through with it. But you know how when you keep  evading something it just gets all the more difficult and it takes so much more from you to be able to do it? Argh. It's frustrating really. And I know unless I get through with it there will forever be this dark cloud over my head hovering like crazy. I think the longer I put off doing it, the more difficult I perceive it.

I really want to get it over and done with. Not just for the sake of finishing it but also because I can't give certain answers for my other work things because both are prerequisites to accomplishing the others. STRESS.

Now off with the whining. Let's get some work done.

P.S. On other things, it's 3 days past the last day of regular registration and we still aren't listed for the Superbods run. I called the Secretariat and they said only 21K slots are available for now. Noooo! I will try our luck at Second Wind later. Cross your fingers for me. I got all worked up for this run i cannot NOT run :( 

I really wish we didn't put this off. This is what we get. Dear heavens, pull some strings for us, i really, badly want this. Please?

Passive-Agrressive Signing In

I think I have pretty good reason to be alarmed. I've been so cranky lately I give off that quiet hostile air even without being provoked. That dormant passive-aggressiva (diva) is coming out.

I have (so much) less tolerance for people I dislike. I tune out of conversations faster than the person talking getting the gist of the story. I roll my eyes (at least in my head) A LOT. I pass judgment like that stereotypical judgmental religious old lady in church. And if I don't feel like talking to you (and by 'you' I mean any person who isn't interesting enough, and the bar's pretty high up) I won't even look at you to dignify your existence.

It's gotten so bad that it is becoming a way of life. The list of people moving from my 'indifferent list' to my 'dislike list' is growing. I am worried I have lost genuine interest in other people, not that I was poster kid for 'other-centeredness' but you know, I've seen better days. I feel like the turning out to this kind of person whose only concern is to prove that I am right. Ugh.

Poor chicken!

I think about this every time I eat my chicken with eggs. Poor Momma chicken must feel so bad for her babies!

This really cracked me up :p

Enjoy more tasty Maneggs at maneggs.com

P.S. Dear God, I mean no disrespect. We humans try to make sense of you with our little tiny brains. Sometimes, stupid ideas come to us :p

Shoe Daydreams

Went online shoe window shopping/snooping (wow, thatsa lotta qualifiers!) yesterday and this I would think is how the end of a rainbow looks like! New Steve Madden shoes/sandals/boots to drool over. Sigh.

 

I saw these three really pretty walking sandals perfect for casual Friday movie nights, or girls' dinner, or random day at the mall. Classy and comfy and snazzy with just the right amount of oomph without being over the top. How do you not want these?

Special mention goes out to this colorful and tribal-looking sandal-bootie with all the right color beads! It's like Steve Madden grabbed one of my shoe daydreams and molded it into an actual leather slipper! This is why I love shoes. Hay.

 After many a frequent trip online to search for that perfect slouchy flat boot, Steve Madden hits the jackpot again. Just like in my head. Now how to get my hands on these.  Flat and round-toed and just the right color. These are the kinds of boots that you can wear out and not get weird looks.

I really wished it rained cash so I have all the liberty I want to buy all these pretty things and maybe throw in some irrationally-colored shoes. Ay yayay.

Kid's running!

Today I enlist with Mahal for a slot in the Century Superbods 5K run on the the 21st. Nope I wasn't taunted to join, yes I get giddy thinking about running for a marathon, and yes THIZZIZIT! :)

I've always wanted to be athletic. Even as a kid, one of my secret dreams is to be part of any sports varsity. There was the karate phase, the tae kwondo phase, the swimming phase, the tennis phase, the basketball phase (which was majorly imagined), a badminton phase, among many other sports dreams. But yeah, none of them really panned out.

And then roughly over a year ago, the gym happened. All of  a sudden, I had this new outlet for all this raw (and directionally-challenged ) athleticism in me. The past year spent in the gym really did me good. The losing weight part is still a struggle, but in terms of endurance and strength training I would have to say the gym is paying off well. Even I get surprised at the improvement of my endurance. Beaming with pride FIVE!

 And in total fairness, I am happy to say that my enthusiasm for gym-ming hasn't wavered even after the first year hurdle. For the most part, the gym was about Body Combat which I think somehow fed my secret karate and tae kwondo dreams :p It doesn't hurt that I made new friends along the way which cemented the gym as one of my 'happy places' :)

Now I am looking for more and this is why running is the next step. I think this is me looking at my limits and testing how far I have gone. It's good not only for my body but also for my well-being. I am happy to have something to channel my energies to that not only serves as a diversion from work but also a new goal to look forward to.

I am now on my fourth week of training for the Superbods run and it's been really fun. It makes proud to see how I have gone from running out of breath from running barely a fourth of the UP acad oval to running it 2 rounds non-stop. Small victories <3

I'll see from here where all the running takes me. If my 3-marathon target this year comes through, who knows, I might actually get to run my full marathon in a bit. And what the heck, Iron Man!

This is me going through my Before-30 Bucket List and smiling at myself for being able to tick my to-do's one by one :)

Happiness is where you find it :)

Small moments of magic like this are precious :)

Photocredit: PostSecret

From One Weirdo to Another

I kind of always knew I was different. I have my own little world where wit is top priority, SMS are fully spelled out, and the difference between 'your' & 'you're' and 'there' & 'their' are sacred. That among all the other things only I (and maybe a handful of other people who I happen to have not met yet) find amusing.

My rhythm has always been different. In hindsight, even back in grade school, I'd always been different. Sometimes it felt like the world held this Life Orientation that everyone turned up for that I was not told about. So I walk around feeling like this kid from a parallel universe, quietly looking if there are any in my circles who are part of my people.

It wasn't like I was ashamed of it or anything. I was secretly fascinated about being different. And then I met Tet and all of a sudden there was this person I can share 'being different' with. It was fun while it lasted, but he moved so the looking went on again.

Imagine my surprise when in one fascinating conversation, a new friend told me that she thinks I ~was born in the wrong country. Her words not mine, which made it all the more interesting. I've kept this parallel universe theory to myself  and it was a nice surprise to know someone else gets gets it :)

My favorite part of that Wednesday conversation has got to be this:

Me: I'm getting a little disturbed, I am talking to myself a lot lately.

Blanche: Don't worry, you're good. I role play in the bathroom!